Sunset Forest · Earth Fierce Bear King

After returning from the quarry, Nan Feng stayed in Gengxin City for another three months.

For most of those three months, he shut himself in his room, circulating the Primordial World Qi Refining Art and gradually compacting the Soul Power that had surged after he fused with the Soul Ring and Soul Bone.

His Soul Power had jumped from level twenty to level twenty-five, a gain of five levels. The walls of his meridians had barely held up under the constant repairs of the Power of Mountain Suppression, and his foundation still needed time to settle.

Old Huai had made it clear: "The faster your Soul Power grows, the more easily your foundation becomes unstable. You're at level twenty-five now. There's no shortcut between here and level thirty; you can only grind away at it over time. Thicken the walls of your meridians, compact your Soul Power, and fill the gaps between your bones and your Soul Bone. Three months at least."

Nan Feng spent three months doing just that.

During the day, he went to a clearing in the hills behind Gengxin City to practice combining Tower Suppression with his Soul Bone Skills. By the time he finished, sweat from his back had soaked through his underclothes, and the wind turned them cold against his skin. After fusing with the External Soul Bone in his right hand, his close-combat ability had risen a notch. Tiger Claw · Star Shattering could unleash cutting power at short range, while Space Rending let him move instantly anywhere within five steps.

He practiced those two skills hundreds of times every day. He practiced until the claw shadows sprang out as quickly as he could think when he spread his fingers, and until he could land within half a step of his intended destination with Space Rending.

At night, he returned to the inn and sat cross-legged on the bed boards, circulating the Primordial World Qi Refining Art. He sent his Soul Power through cycle after cycle, compressing it until it was dense and firm. After a full night of circulation, the mass of Qi in his dantian would be a little denser at dawn than it had been the day before.

Ye Lingling stayed in Gengxin City for half a month before leaving for Heaven Dou City. Before she left, she gave Nan Feng her contact address. Dugu Yan's injuries had long since healed, and she had returned to the Dugu Family.

Nan Feng stayed in Gengxin City alone, repeating the same routine every day. The Gravity Field worked on him continuously, tempering every inch of muscle and every bone over and over.

After three months, his body's density had increased by ten percent compared to when he first arrived in Gengxin City. The purple underlying light of the Soul Ring in his palm pulsed against his skin, its color deeper and denser than before.

After three months, his Soul Power stabilized at level twenty-eight.

Nan Feng turned his palm over and examined the underlying light several times. It was purple, with a layer of dark-gold light beneath it-the trace left by the tower's suppressive power seeping into the Soul Ring. His Second Soul Ring was two thousand one hundred years old.

But he could feel that his Soul Power had begun to grow more slowly after reaching level twenty-eight. Each level he pushed through took more time and deeper accumulation. Old Huai said this was normal: the higher he climbed, the harder it became, and the gap between each level was greater than the last. Going from twenty-eight to twenty-nine might take a month, and from twenty-nine to thirty might take two.

Nan Feng did not stop. He stayed in Gengxin City for another two months, pushing his Soul Power from twenty-eight to twenty-nine, then grinding his way from twenty-nine to thirty.

On the night he reached level thirty, he sat cross-legged on the bed boards, circulating the Primordial World Qi Refining Art. On the fifth cycle, his Soul Power suddenly contracted, and what had been scattered throughout his meridians was pulled back into the center of his dantian.

His Soul Power's density rose by thirty percent. The walls of his meridians swelled under the force, and the Power of Mountain Suppression surged out through the crack in the door and wrapped around them.

His Soul Power broke through to level thirty.

Nan Feng opened his eyes. The purple light in his palm was twice as bright, and the layer of dark gold within it had deepened. He clenched his fist a few times. His Soul Power circulated fifty percent more smoothly than it had at level twenty-eight, and the width and resilience of his meridians had risen a notch.

But when his Soul Power reached the bottom of his dantian, it struck a wall. No matter how hard it pushed, it bounced back.

"Level thirty. Once you reach a multiple of ten, you'll be stuck there forever unless you absorb a Soul Ring. You need a Third Soul Ring." Old Huai's voice came from the crack.

Nan Feng nodded. The light in his palm pulsed against his skin. He had waited a long time for this day. Before leaving Gengxin City, he had packed everything he needed. All that remained was this trip.

Before dawn the next day, Nan Feng left Gengxin City alone through the west gate. He followed a secluded path for two days and found the spot Old Huai had indicated, in a mountain hollow on the outskirts of Sunset Forest.

Slopes enclosed the hollow on three sides, covered in dense shrubs and dwarf pines, with a dry streambed at the bottom. A faint, fetid smell hung in the air. Nan Feng's Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light caught a dark-gold point of light moving slowly through the dense forest at the deepest end of the hollow.

The Earth Fierce Bear King.

It was even bigger than Nan Feng had expected. It stood seven chi at the shoulder, its limbs were thicker than an adult's waist, and each paw was as large as a small shield. Overlapping plates of keratin covered its gray-brown fur, glinting with a greasy, dark sheen in the light at the cave entrance. Its eyes were deep brown, their pupils narrowed to slits.

Old Huai said, "Twelve thousand years. Earth attribute, strong in both attack and defense, not fast, and thick-skinned and tough. You can't cut through its hide with your short staff. Only its joints and eyes are soft spots."

"Your Tower Suppression is strong enough to suppress it now, but you don't have enough Soul Power for a drawn-out fight. You have to finish it quickly. If it drags on, your Soul Power will run out first."

Nan Feng spent five days scouting. He recorded the times the Fierce Bear King left and returned to its cave, walked back and forth along a ridge half a li away more than a dozen times, and familiarized himself with the terrain from the cave entrance to the clearing.

The Fierce Bear King's territory lay at the deepest end of the hollow. A natural stone cave stood among the trees, its entrance three chi wide and the earth around it clawed to pieces by the bear. A level clearing lay outside, with several dead trees knocked down at its edge, deep claw marks gouged into their bark.

It left the cave to forage at sunrise each day, returned at noon for a nap, then went out again in the evening. Its sense of smell was extremely keen; downwind, it could pick up a human scent from a hundred paces away. Nan Feng always stayed at least half a li away, sensing it from afar with Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light.

After five days, Nan Feng began setting traps. He took the broken stones and several thick vines he had collected along the way from his bundle and buried three Soul Power bombs in the clearing using the Compression Method.

For each one, he used Soul Power to bind the stones and vines together, buried it half a cun deep, then covered it with fallen leaves for camouflage.

When the Fierce Bear King stepped on one, the bomb would detonate, sending the stones blasting outward, while the vines tangled around the bear's legs to slow it down. He did not expect these to hurt a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. As long as they delayed it for one breath, he would have a chance to close in.

When he finished, Nan Feng withdrew behind a large tree at the edge of the clearing.

Before dawn on the sixth day, Nan Feng made one final inspection of the clearing.

The morning mist had not yet dispersed, and the light beneath the trees was gray and dim. The Fierce Bear King's snores came from deep inside the cave, low and resonant, making the loose stones on the ground tremble.

He stood behind the tree, gripping his short staff with both hands, an iron hammer tucked into his belt. He adjusted the Soul Power in his dantian into a state of readiness for the Compression Method, channeling Soul Power throughout his body into his meridians, where it flowed twenty percent faster than usual. The morning mist dampened his cuffs, and the short staff felt cold in his hands.

This was the day he had been waiting for. The time for the Fierce Bear King to leave its cave and forage was drawing near, and the morning mist was the best cover.

Level-thirty Soul Power. His First External Soul Bone secured. A two-thousand-one-hundred-year Second Soul Ring. He took one last look at the purple light in his palm, then closed his hand around it. He faced a twelve-thousand-year Fierce Bear King. He had no confidence in the outcome, but he had no way back either.

He crouched behind the tree, his knees pressing into a layer of soaked leaves, his gaze fixed on the cave entrance through gaps in the foliage. The purple light in his palm pulsed against his skin, answering the blue-green light in the crack at the base of the tower as the two rose and fell.

After the first level had been pushed open, thirty percent of the bronze corrosion had flaked away, exposing a dark-gold light beneath. The Gravity Field continued to work, pressing his bones and muscles tight.

His level-thirty Soul Power flowed through his meridians, nearly twice as dense as that of a Soul Master at the same level.

Deep by the cave entrance, the birds in the dense forest fell silent too. The snoring stopped.

Nan Feng heard a low breath carrying the earthy, fetid smell of soil. The enormous creature rolled over, and its paw landed on the loose stones at the bottom of the cave with a dull thud.

Three breaths after the snoring stopped, the loose stones in the cave clattered. It was coming out.

Nan Feng tightened his grip on the short staff. Sweat slicked his palms, making them slip against the shaft, and he tightened his fingers further. The red hair ribbon around his left wrist fluttered in the morning wind. He drew a deep breath, cool air filling his lungs, then held it.

The Fierce Bear King poked half its head out of the cave. Dark plates covered its gray-brown fur, and its two small, deep-brown eyes opened in the morning light.

Nan Feng darted out from behind the tree.