The Level Eight Magical Beast, Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard
Luo Feng remembered that Linley's path to becoming an expert had begun with the long journey he would undertake later. At that time, Linley had not yet mastered Wielding Something Heavy as Though It Were Light. In truth, on the path of cultivation, fighting blindly and cultivating battle-qi blindly were both futile.
What mattered more was contemplation and insight. Just like Linley in the original story, who had spent more of his time gaining insights while crossing the Magical Beast Forest. He had actually fought magical beasts only a few times, yet his approach had yielded better results than those of many others.
So after breaking through to become a Seventh-level Warrior, Luo Feng rarely fought magical beasts. Besides, with a level nine silver dragon flying overhead, how many magical beasts down below would dare provoke him? Unless Luo Feng attacked them first.
Luo Feng did not practice the same way without change. Instead, he practiced with thought, using the few descriptions of how his predecessors had cultivated in the books at Philipzi Warrior Academy, together with the cultivation methods of those people in the original story, to deduce a correct path of cultivation.
Early spring, midsummer, cool autumn, and cold winter. No matter the season, Luo Feng always wore the linen trousers that had been torn by the thorns covering the ground.
Luo Feng learned from Linley's habit of gaining insights during his long journey, trying to sense nature with his body. Just as Linley had said, being barefoot allowed one to feel the pulsations of the earth more clearly. With his feet on the earth, his heart was as steady as the earth itself.
Luo Feng felt the wind blowing against his upper body. The wind was like a fresh, ethereal melody, carrying hope as it awakened slumbering life. Luo Feng felt as though his entire being had become part of the wind. The wind was formless to begin with; it was free and graceful, impossible to touch or catch.
At that moment, Luo Feng himself seemed to have an air of drifting gracefully with the wind.
Sometimes, when he saw a roaring waterfall in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Luo Feng would act on a whim and cultivate beneath it. When he saw a pristine river, he might wander through its waters. Luo Feng liked water. He enjoyed cultivating beneath waterfalls, and he liked gaining insights there. Feeling the chill in his palms, Luo Feng felt a comfort unlike anything he had ever known. He felt an indescribable affinity for wind and water, perhaps because of his supreme magical talent for both elements.
Luo Feng's heart was closer to nature than ever before. As he cultivated this way, he completely forgot the passage of time. He felt only his strength growing by the day, and every improvement filled him with heartfelt joy and emotion.
The path of cultivation was winding and long. More often than not, burying oneself in arduous practice was not enough to succeed. Sometimes, an insight into nature was far more useful than ten times the effort spent cultivating. Luo Feng spent most of his time experiencing nature, only sitting down to cultivate battle-qi at night. Even so, his cultivation progressed no more slowly than when he had buried himself in arduous practice, and was even faster than before.
The waterfall, nearly a hundred meters high, roared down from above and crashed heavily into the deep pool below, throwing up countless sprays of water. Beside the pool, close to the waterfall, a solid rock jutted out.
A person sat cross-legged on the rock, a massive mercenary greatsword resting across his thighs.
It was early morning, and the sky was just beginning to brighten. Deep in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Luo Feng greedily took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.
"Ah." Luo Feng opened his eyes, which were full of excitement. Two years, a full two years, and he had finally broken through. An Eighth-level Warrior! Countless days and nights, every day spent either gaining insights into nature or cultivating battle-qi. Even so, it had taken him a full two years to break through and become an Eighth-level Warrior.
Over those two years, Luo Feng had grown a beard, and his once shoulder-length hair had gradually lengthened until it now reached his waist. His eyes, which had sometimes carried a murderous air in battle, had also grown calm and natural after being immersed in nature for so long.
Only occasionally, when he was cultivating, would his gaze become frighteningly sharp.
Rumble... Luo Feng turned back and heard the mighty roar of the waterfall. A thought stirred in his heart, and he picked up his greatsword and slashed at it. However sharp a blade was, though it could cut through water, the flow would not stop because of the "blade." Yet Luo Feng defied that saying.
He swung his sword, and surging battle-qi burst forth. With an impact as powerful as a volcanic eruption, it carved a complete rift through the waterfall and sent its flow backward. Cutting off water with a blade-Luo Feng had actually done it with a single strike.
"Almost. Why am I still just short? What exactly am I missing? Every day, I can clearly feel that I'm about to achieve Wielding Something Heavy as Though It Were Light. Why is that feeling right in front of me, yet I still can't grasp it?" Luo Feng murmured.
"Forget it. Let's go. I won't think about it anymore. Now that I've broken through to become an Eighth-level Warrior, it's time to venture deeper into the Magical Beast Forest." Luo Feng pushed off the rock with one foot. Like the wind, he floated straight across the deep pool, dozens of meters wide, and landed on the shore.
"Wa'ersi, let's go," Luo Feng said calmly.
The silver dragon Wa'ersi beat his wings and became a white blur, landing directly above Luo Feng's head.
The man and the beast set off once more.
But after they had gone only a short way, Wa'ersi suddenly stopped. Luo Feng seemed to understand what Wa'ersi meant and immediately calmed himself to listen to the wind. Only after a while did he notice a magical beast about a thousand meters ahead.
As expected of a Level Nine Magical Beast. I didn't sense it at all, but he had already discovered it. The magical beast's steps were light, and Luo Feng could not feel it moving across the ground at all, but its movement stirred the wind.
Luo Feng walked along as though nothing were amiss.
On a branch not far ahead, an azure leopard a full three meters long stood on the trunk, proud and motionless.
There were only a few kinds of leopard-type magical beasts, but this one was almost entirely azure, with dense, nearly curved azure markings, and naturally possessed the speed for which leopard-type magical beasts were best known. Its explosive speed in an instant surpassed even that of ordinary Level Nine Magical Beasts.
It was a level eight wind-type magical beast, the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard.
At last, the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard, standing motionless on the branch, moved and pushed off with all four limbs.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
With one leap, it landed directly on another tree. Leopard-type magical beasts were best at running through trees, something they were very well known for. Through the gaps in the dense foliage, the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard had already spotted the human in the distance.
The Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard waited quietly for the human to approach. Unfortunately, Luo Feng did not come over. He closed his eyes and stood there blankly.
Whoosh. With a sudden kick against the tree trunk, the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard became an azure blur and charged toward Luo Feng along an erratic path.
The human, who had made no move at all until then, suddenly
drew the mercenary greatsword on his back as fast as lightning and used the momentum to retreat. At the same time, he followed through with a direct slash at the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard, carrying tremendous force.
As expected of a Level Eight Magical Beast with the bloodline of the Saint-level Magical Beast, the Thunder-Racing Electric Leopard. Its speed really is terrifying. Even that Warrior of the Ninth Rank from before probably couldn't match it.
The mercenary greatsword was swift as lightning, striking the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard's body with a sudden blow. Yet its body was only dented slightly by the strike.
The Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard's sneak attack had failed, but it did not give up. It darted onto a nearby tree, kicked off with its hind legs, and leaped down, its movements unusually graceful.
The leopard looked at Luo Feng with interest, then walked toward him one elegant step at a time. There was indeed great beauty in the way it moved.
Sensing how difficult the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard was to deal with, Luo Feng held his greatsword and stared at the azure leopard before him.
But the moment the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard landed, it fixed its cold eyes on Luo Feng and let out a low growl. Clearly, it intended to use its full strength this time. It pushed off the ground and leaped toward him at extreme speed, so fast it was enough to make one's heart tremble.
At that moment, Luo Feng dove close to the ground, shooting out directly beneath the leaping Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard's belly. At the same time, he thrust his heavy sword toward its abdomen.
Clang! The greatsword rang out. Terrifying, formidable defenses and monstrous speed. Is this Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard really a Level Eight Magical Beast?
Luo Feng now found it extremely troublesome. He had no advantage over it at all, and if this continued, he would only be forced onto the defensive.