Andrew's expression shifted, and he was already a hundred meters away. Looking down, he saw that the Dark Demonic Ape's bone club had smashed a crater where he had been standing. The stones on the ground had been pulverized beneath its tremendous strength.
"It really does deserve to be called a high-ranking magical beast. Its natural strength and its use of that strength are both on par with a high-ranking warrior's."
Andrew moved again, rising several meters and darting diagonally through the air. When he reappeared, he was standing on the Dark Demonic Ape's head. Realizing this, the enraged ape immediately smashed its bone club at its own head without a care. Clearly, it had lost its reason.
Andrew hopped lightly, avoiding the blow, while the Dark Demonic Ape howled from hitting itself. Andrew had seen it clearly: the ape had put its full strength into that strike. No wonder it had hurt itself.
Still, the Dark Demonic Ape's body truly was formidable.
After that blow, the bone club in its right hand snapped in two, and it threw it away. Yet its head had only suffered a small cut, hardly a serious injury.
"Magical beasts generally have powerful bodies, especially their heads." Andrew recalled how the grand elder had killed the Iron-Armored Boar with a seemingly weightless palm strike to its head. He probably still could not manage something like that. It required not only great strength but also a profound understanding of strength. That level should lie somewhere between complete mastery of the basics and wielding something light as though it were heavy, already beyond Andrew's realm.
Even without its bone club, the Dark Demonic Ape refused to give up. Reaching out, it uprooted a small tree beside it. It swung the roughly three-meter-long tree as a weapon, giving it an even greater attack range than before.
Andrew's heart remained as still as an ancient well, and his gaze did not change in the slightest as he waited quietly for the ape's attack.
"Roar!"
The Dark Demonic Ape swung hard, and the trunk sliced through the air with a piercing sound. Though the trunk might not be as hard as the bone club, it was more flexible, and its destructive power was considerable. Amid the whistling air, Andrew struck the trunk with the back of his saber and was driven back again.
"Is this what strength is?"
Andrew felt the vibrations in his saber, carefully savoring the sensation from that exchange. His main purpose in tempering himself was to seek a breakthrough and comprehend how to use strength. Not long ago, he had successfully reached complete mastery of the basics. His next goal was wielding something light as though it were heavy. And along that path, the Dark Demonic Ape had gone further than he had.
"Come on, let me see just how much you understand about strength!"
Having made up his mind, Andrew put away his saber and pointed at the Dark Demonic Ape, hurling insults to enrage it. As a high-ranking magical beast, the Dark Demonic Ape was familiar with human speech. Sure enough, Andrew's provocation made it even angrier, and it smashed its tree trunk wildly about.
Under its frenzied assault, Andrew could only defend. Without using battle-qi or his saber, he could not destroy its weapon for the moment. Each time, he relied on his powerful perception and speed to block the Dark Demonic Ape's furious blows with his fists.
"This is insane!"
In little more than ten seconds, the Dark Demonic Ape struck over a hundred times, and Andrew threw over a hundred punches. Each time his fists met the trunk, he had to retreat several steps to dissipate the force. That force traveled through his arms into his body, jarring his internal organs until they ached faintly.
"Strength alone still isn't enough to defeat a high-ranking magical beast. If this goes on, I'll get hurt."
Andrew's body could not compare to the Dark Demonic Ape's and could not withstand such jolts. In the end, he drew his saber again.
Swish!
The saber's edge flashed as it swept through the air, its azure fused battle-qi slicing the trunk in the Dark Demonic Ape's hands in two. Then, without slowing, the blade cut into its abdomen before its savage eyes and severed it at the waist.
Thud!
The Dark Demonic Ape's body fell in two pieces.
Severed at the waist, the Dark Demonic Ape finally lost its ability to attack. Andrew relaxed and walked easily toward it. He was quite satisfied with this opponent.
Suddenly, Andrew's heart pounded wildly, and an urgent sense of danger seized him. Without thinking, he hurriedly darted aside, pushing Explosive Steps to its limit and even leaving an afterimage behind.
He had barely dodged when a black column of energy dispersed his afterimage and blasted the ground. Strangely, despite the ferocity of its approach, the ground struck by the black column showed no change at all.
Dark magic!
Andrew's expression was grim, though he also felt somewhat fortunate. He knew what that column of energy was and silently cursed himself for being too careless.
The black column of energy was none other than the Dark Demonic Ape's innate magic-Soul Scorch. Its innate magic was extremely powerful, but casting it also required tremendous spiritual power. In its frenzy, the Dark Demonic Ape's mental faculties had declined, leaving it unable to cast the spell. After Andrew cut it in half, however, it regained its reason and unleashed its magic.
Based on the grand elder's description, Andrew suspected that this spell did not affect the body but attacked the soul directly. The Laws of Darkness already leaned toward the soul, so it was hardly surprising that the Dark Demonic Ape possessed such innate magic.
Without Andrew's keen premonition of danger, he would certainly have failed to escape just now. If that dark magic had struck him, he had no confidence that he could withstand it.
This time, he dared not hold back any longer and cut off the ape's head with a single stroke.
After reviewing what had happened, Andrew dug out the ape's magic core. The magic cores of high-ranking magical beasts were quite valuable, especially those of rare attributes such as darkness and light. The Dark Demonic Ape's magic core was worth at least a hundred thousand gold coins or more, so naturally, he could not let it go to waste.
After killing the ape, Andrew did not intend to leave immediately. This battle had given him a deeper understanding of his own strength.
"Once I've accumulated enough battle-qi, I'll be able to become a high-ranking warrior. When that happens, the power of my fused battle-qi will definitely be even more terrifying."
Andrew was completely confident of that.
"Once I break through, I'll leave the grasslands. Eventually, I still need to return to a human city."
Andrew reflected that although life on the grasslands was free and easy, it also limited his growth. Throughout his cultivation, apart from the guidance Howard and Janice had given him at the very beginning, he had been feeling his way forward alone. Despite the advantage of his foreknowledge, many issues in cultivation remained unclear to him. To resolve them, he needed systematic instruction, something the grasslands could not provide.
"The Yulan Empire is vast and renowned, with countless experts. From now on, they'll be the ones I challenge. Only through constant battle can I quickly comprehend the laws, enter the Saint-level, and become a Deity-level expert!"
Andrew was very clear about his future, so his plans were equally clear: move his whole family to a major city, become a noble, make a name for himself, challenge others, and improve. That was his plan.
Beyond that, he had another concern: his family.
Whether warriors or magi, the stronger they became, the longer they lived. Generally speaking, it was not unusual for a warrior of the seventh rank to live two hundred years, while a warrior of the ninth rank could live five hundred. After breaking through to the Saint-level, as long as they did not die unexpectedly, their lifespan was endless.
Andrew was completely confident of reaching the Saint-level, but that alone did not satisfy him. He could live forever, but what about his family? His parents? His younger sister? Was he supposed to watch helplessly as they died?
No, I must share my glory with my family!
At that thought, Andrew clenched his fists tightly. He resolved that he would help his family reach the Saint-level!
Yet this would be extremely difficult to accomplish.
Howard had obtained the Rushing Thunder Secret Manual three years ago, but he still had not broken through. Janice was only a magus of the fifth rank, showing that her talent was relatively low. Ling'er was now eight and had not yet begun cultivating, so her talent was unknown. For these three, he truly had no way to help them reach the Saint-level in the short term.
Andrew pondered for a long time. Howard's talent as a warrior should not be poor; his long delay in breaking through was mainly due to his lack of a battle-qi secret manual of the corresponding attribute. Janice's problem was more serious. Magi demanded too much talent. Even with sufficient resources, he could at most help her become a magus of the sixth rank. A breakthrough beyond that would still be impossible.
"Even if I become a Deity-level expert, I probably won't be able to help Janice, unless I ask him for help..."
Asking Beirut for help was the only method Andrew could think of.
As a Sovereign, Beirut's tremendous strength went without saying. In the original novel, he had given Delia a divine spark at Linley's wedding. The divine spark was wrapped in a mysterious substance that helped Delia quickly become a Saint-level magus. That was exactly what Andrew wanted.
He had thought of a method, but how to persuade Beirut to act was another major problem.
As for Ling'er, Andrew realized that he had to begin urging her to cultivate, whether in battle-qi or magic.
"Ling'er is already eight, just the right age to cultivate. Once I return this time, we'll move to a major city and find an academy for her to study at."
After considering everything, Andrew felt much more at ease. At least he still had plenty of time.
"Within ten years, I'll definitely reach the Saint-level. Before fifty, I'll definitely become a deity. By then, Howard and Janice will only be seventy. There will still be time to refine a divine spark."
With his plans settled, Andrew felt much lighter. Ever since coming to this world, he had always felt a sense of urgency. As his strength grew and his confidence increased, that urgency had faded considerably.