Hu—

Lin Xun’s silhouette sped through the morning wind.

In just one month, Lin Xun’s thin and frail body had grown much taller and more built. Every part of his body was flowing with energy and vitality.

His young face was no longer pale, and instead was luminous and had a hint of a carefree look.

All his changes were a result of his diligent practice and the daily consumption of the Aeth Refining Decoction and the flesh and blood of snow spotted leopard and one-horned lizard. He felt as though he had thoroughly remolded himself and been reborn. It was like he was a completely different person.

As a cultivator at the third-layer True Martial Stage, he could run like the wind and, with the support of aeth power, travel at full speed for more than an hour without feeling tired.

Basically, he had reached the point where he was as swift as a galloping horse and could leap as high as a leopard!

All cultivators of the Organ Opening Stage were at this point.

Now, a journey that took an hour in the past would only take a quarter of an hour.

The vast ancient sea-like forest once again came into sight. Lin Xun removed the bone bow strung across his back and pulled an ink-colored arrow from his quiver before vanishing into the dark forest.

……

A moment later.

Bang!

An arrow flew like a lightning bolt, shot into a striped tiger and sent its huge body flying across several feet. Blood sputtered everywhere. With a howl of pain, it lost its life.

A figure leaped down from a tree and darted over to the striped tiger’s body. He was tall and slim, had sharp facial features, and wielded a huge bone bow. It was Lin Xun.

The bow was constructed from the snow spotted leopard’s backbone and the bow string was from the one-horned lizard’s tendon. It had been polished and refined for days, making it incredibly tough. It required vast strength from the archer to pull back the bow and aim.

Lin Xun had put a lot of thought into creating the bow. The bowstring had been sharpened for seven days with a mixture of ground Feiyun Fire Copper and various kinds of rune materials. This made it extremely tough and ordinary swords and blades could not cut it.

A powerful bow such as this obviously required special arrows.

The four foot-long arrows in Lin Xun’s quiver were all made from the one-horned lizard’s leg bones. Each arrow was jet-black and weighed at least three hundred grams. They were not only sharp but also tougher than fine steel.

Due to Lin Xun’s weak constitution, Mister Lu had told him that ordinary weapons weren’t suitable for him and advised him to choose bow and arrows as weapons.

Archery used strength from the whole body and aimed to kill with one strike. It was ideal for those weak and unable to fight for long in battle.

From then on, Lin Xun began to practice archery and he fell in love with the idea of killing with one hit.

Although his body was now reborn and completely different than before, he didn’t plan to abandon his archery skills.

Sometimes using a bow and arrow could make it easier to kill an opponent, such as for long range and surprise attacks. Additionally, he could better protect himself as well as flee easily in unfavorable situations.

In short, although Lin Xun’s combat methods were simple, they were extremely comprehensive. He had bows and arrows for long-range attacks and he could use his blade and fist arts for close-range attacks.

However, Lin Xun knew it would be even better if he had learned escaping body arts. Unfortunately, Mister Lu didn’t seem to be good at them and so he hadn’t taught Lin Xun any.

PU!

Lin Xun pulled the arrow from the striped tiger’s body and swiftly covered the tiger’s corpse with the prepared rotten fish plant to mask the stench of blood.

Then, he tied the striped tiger’s corpse with a long and flexible sorrow ghost vine and hid it in the nearby bushes.

The striped tiger was a savage beast even more powerful than a snow spotted leopard, but it still posed no threat to Lin Xun.

After marking nearby, Lin Xun continued into the depths of the forest.

Soon, the ground quaked and the mountains shook. With a flash, Lin Xun darted up a tree. He quickly drew his bow, ready to shoot.

From the noise it was obvious that a huge creature was heading his way!

As expected, a three-horned bull was charging over, tearing down many ancient trees in its way. It looked extremely fierce and violent.

Lin Xun’s chest tightened. ‘That beast could kill experts at the fifth-layer True Martial Stage with its incredible strength. It’s so bloodthirsty that even tigers and leopards fled at the sight of it!’

But Lin Xun soon noticed something was wrong. The three-horned bull seemed to be terrified and was fleeing in panic.

Lin Xun finally decided to not do anything. The bull was too dangerous for his current cultivation level, so unless he had no choice, he wouldn’t want to risk his life.

Fortunately, the bull bolted past and didn’t seem to notice Lin Xun hiding on the huge tree. It quickly disappeared without a trace.

Lin Xun continued his exploration in the forest when suddenly, roars rang in every direction.

The roars were all filled with terror as though all the beasts in the forest were startled by something.

Rumble—

The ground violently quaked, the trees shook, and the branches and leaves rattled endlessly. If a person looked down from above, they would see beasts and animals bolting in every area of the forest. The creatures resembled torrents of water as they knocked down and smashed into towering trees along the way.

What had happened?

Lin Xun also realized that the situation didn’t look good. He abandoned his hunt and put away his bow and arrow. With a flash, he appeared on the top of the tree canopy and peered into the distance. A battle was happening in a very far place.

A black bear over tens of feet tall roared skywards. Its roar echoed like rumbling thunder. The bear pulverized several ancient trees with one palm strike. It simply possessed earth-shaking power.

Its eyes shined like a pair of lanterns and its fur glowed with dark light. Fiendish qi was madly rushing out from it. Lin Xun felt oppressed even from watching it from a distance.

Barbarian bear!

In the Record of All Spirits, the barbarian bear was said to be an overlord in the mountain and possessed remarkable strength that could devastate mountains and destroy Spirit Dipper experts!

The barbarian bear’s opponent was a burly and tall figure that emitted dazzling golden light. Lin Xun couldn’t see his face from that distance.

But what made Lin Xun’s heart quiver was that the burly figure seemed unafraid of the bear’s attacks. He roamed freely in the air and suppressed the barbarian bear with just his fist. It was to the point that the bear couldn’t raise its head and could only roar in fury.

A powerful barbarian bear that could destroy Spirit Dipper experts was being completely suppressed by that unknown figure. In fact, that person was maneuvering with ease in the air!

The tall and burly figure had to be a Spirit Sea cultivator!

Only Spirit Sea cultivators had the ability to fly in the air!

Lin Xun’s heart quivered with shock. Why would a Spirit Sea cultivator appear in a poor mountain village of the Great Three Thousand Mountains?

Boom!

Before Lin Xun could figure out the reason, he heard a loud thud. The ancient tree he was standing atop was knocked down and made him tumble off the tree.

However, Lin Xun’s reaction was undoubtedly quick. He somersaulted in the air, tapped his feet on a branch and landed safely on the ground like a sparrowhawk.

“Huh?!”

Lin Xun noticed a five to six-year-old girl speeding towards him. She wore an animal skin dress and her snow-white feet were bare. Her long black hair billowed behind her as she bolted, highlighting her beautiful and perfect face.

The little girl was visibly surprised to see Lin Xun, She frantically babbled, as if telling Lin Xun to run.

Lin Xun also knew that the situation didn’t look good. He nodded and was about to thank her when his vision suddenly blurred. The little girl grabbed him by his lapel as she rushed past.

Lin Xun couldn't help but tremble. A six to seven old little girl who didn’t quite reach Lin Xun’s chest was able to effortlessly pick him up like a little chick.

But what shocked him the most was that she grabbed him before he could even see what happened let alone dodge!

Hu— Hu—

The sound of the wind rushing past his ears was the only sound he heard. When Lin Xun realized that the little girl seemed to have no bad intentions towards him, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately afterwards, he felt waves surging in his heart. ‘I am now at the third-layer True Martial Stage yet a little girl could lift me up while running. How much stronger is her cultivation compared to mine?’

Rumble!

Lin Xun couldn’t think about it too much because he saw sections of forest collapse one after another and all kinds of beasts fleeing chaotically.

It was indeed best to leave as soon as possible if he wanted to live.

Soon, the little girl rushed out of the forest with Lin Xun. Then, Lin Xun couldn't help asking, “Little girl…”

He abruptly stopped.

A shaft of golden light suddenly streaked across the sky.

Boom!

Almost at the same time, a fist filled with aeth power blasted down from the sky towards the little girl!

As though she was able to predict the future, the little girl swiftly evaded the attack with Lin Xun, leaving the fist to smash a huge pit into the ground.

The terrifying shockwaves from the impact rapidly spread across the area, causing the little girl's slim body to totter side to side until she lost her balance and fell with Lin Xun.

So terrifying!

Lin Xun’s pupils shrank, but before he could react, another fist shrouded in dazzling golden light smashed through the air.

One punch followed another. Let alone the fact that Lin Xun only possessed the strength of the third-layer True Martial Stage, even if he was at the Spirit Dipper Stage, he couldn’t evade in time.

The attacks were too terrifying and came too suddenly. It was impossible to strike back.

However, at that critical moment, Lin Xun heard a voice explode in his ears. “A mere brute dares to act so arrogantly in the Ziyao Empire’s territory!”

Every word echoed like thunder, shaking the world.

Lin Xun felt everything blur before an unparalleled force engulfed him and the little girl. They just barely avoided the terrifying destructive punch and landed ten feet away.

It was then that Lin Xun could clearly see that under the blue sky stood a man clad in a resplendent azure wide-sleeved robe. His hair was tied up in a bun and he hovered gracefully in the air on a blue pine patterned sword.

His ethereal and graceful bearing made him resemble an immortal!