"Thistle Mountains, no friends! Only benefits!" Huo Yong said resentfully, staring fiercely at Wang Chen and gazing enviously at his package.

  "No friends, only benefits?" Along with Huo Yong's gaze, Wang Chen looked at the package on his body, a cold smile and anger appearing at the corner of his mouth.

  Just a few days ago, I had just saved his life, and now he has done such a thing, which is chilling. If it weren't for the fact that I had survived in the thorny mountains for over 40 days, my vigilance would not have increased so much, and I would also have been on guard against this guy, and the result just now can be imagined.

  Is this really the survival rule in the thorny mountain range? Ah, no friends, only interests. Thinking of this, Wang Chen's eyes turned cold.

  "Die!" Just as Wang Chen was distracted, Huo Yong suddenly jumped up from the ground and pounced on Wang Chen again, his short knife emitting a chilling aura.

  "Cutting through the void!" With a fierce motion, he drew out the giant crimson sword from behind his back and swung it down in a swift slash.

  "With a dull thud...". In the midst of a muffled sound, Huo Yong's eyes widened as he slowly slumped down, his long sword sinking into his body.

  Drawing his long sword, Wang Chen felt a sense of loss and an unprecedented feeling of fatigue that invaded his entire body.

  "Hey, kiddo, what's wrong? Can't handle it? Hmph, that's how it is in the Thorny Mountains. I've already told you the rules of survival here - there's no such thing as sympathy, only enemies! It's either you die or I do!" Ling Zhan asked with a smile, sensing Wang Chen's emotional shift.

  It's a place that evokes deep emotions, and it's indeed a great test for Wang Chen. Especially since he came out to trial alone, if he had come with a team, perhaps they wouldn't have encountered so many things.

  This side is the paradise of adventurers, the domain of adventurers, and it's not suitable for people like them to come. Even if they are disciples of a sect or young masters of a noble family, they usually come in teams to try out the trial.

  Looking at Wang Chen, Ling Zhan couldn't help but sigh. This little guy had already done too many things that his peers could not do.

  "I understand!" Wang Chen said in a deep voice after taking a deep breath.

  I tidied up the clothes and casually searched the body of He Yong in front of me, unfortunately, perhaps it was looted before, so there were no gains.

  At the age of sixteen, Wang Chen deeply experienced the test of life and death in the thorny mountain range, deeply felt the cruelty of human nature, and gradually adapted to the survival mode of the thorny mountain range.

  ……………………

  Another twenty days have passed. Today is the seventy-first day in the thorny mountain range. Wang Chen opened his eyes from meditation, and a flash of insight gleamed across his face.

  After just forty days of being an Eighth-Stage True Martial Artist, Wang Chen had already entered the ranks of a Ninth-Stage True Martial Artist amidst constant life-and-death battles.

  As he broke through to the 9th rank of Zhen Wu, Wang Chen's true yuan force had also condensed a lot. At the same time, within these 71 days, his Star Refining Body had also made great progress.

  At present, under the ranks of the 9th stage Zhen Wu master, his physical strength has reached 10,200 kilograms, exceeding the power of a general 9th stage Zhen Wu master by 1,000 kilograms.

  "Finally reached the 9th rank of True Martial Artist!" Feeling his own strength, Wang Chen's mouth curled up into an excited smile.

  At the time in Qingfeng City, a 9th-stage True Martial Artist was already considered an extraordinary figure in his eyes. A 9th-stage True Martial Artist, the first person below the Spiritual Martial Artist. In a small town like Qingfeng City, he could barely be counted as a top-notch expert.

  In just nine short months, Wang Chen had grown from a young man who was once called a waste of talent at the third stage of Body Tempering to where he is today, and thinking back on it filled him with emotion.

  "Twenty Overlapping Wave Palms!" With a low roar, Wang Chen unleashed his Overlapping Wave Palms on this empty ground.

  10,000-20,000 jin of power can unleash 15,600 jin of power under the amplification of 130% from the Twenty Overlapping Wave Palms! In terms of power, it's enough to rival a Second-Order Spiritual Warrior!

  "Twenty-One Overlapping Wave Palms!" The Twenty Overlapping Wave Palms could no longer hold back Wang Chen's limits, and with a loud roar, Wang Chen successfully executed the Twenty-One Overlapping Wave Palms.

  Under the unsatisfied intention, Wang Chen continued to display twenty-two overlapping wave palms.

  Under the power of a 9th-level True Martial Artist, the Twenty-Two Overlapping Wave Palms were executed in response! Although it seemed somewhat laborious, they were still unleashed.

  The practice of Emperor Dragon's Dominating Way, the continuous tempering of Star Body, allowed Wang Chen's body to make great progress. Now, the 22nd layer of Overlapping Wave Palm can finally be displayed, and it can be used smoothly without opening the door.

  Twenty-two Overlapping Wave Palms, power increased by 135%, which means that at this moment, under the Twenty-two Overlapping Wave Palms, Wang Chen can exert a force of 16,200 catties! Surpassing the power of a second-stage Spirit Martial Artist.

  With the control of power, it can exert seven layers of substantial power. At present, Wang Chen should have the strength to fight against a third-order spiritual martial artist! In terms of power, there is an opportunity to compete with a fourth-order spiritual martial artist!

  If you also count the 1.2-fold increase in all aspects after opening the door, then he has a complete chance to defeat the three-stage spiritual martial artist and strongly compete with the four-stage spiritual martial artist.

  Of course, this is on the premise that the other party has not yet mastered the control of their power. As for those spiritual warriors who have already grasped the method of controlling their power, Wang Chen can only avoid their sharp edges! After all, compared to true warriors, spiritual warriors have increased their strength in all aspects by too much.

  Thinking of all this, Wang Chen's heart revealed a hint of joy!

  "Hmm, not bad, kid. However, don't underestimate the Spiritual Warriors too much either. The gap between realms isn't as simple as you think it is. How strong is your body now?" Ling Zhan asked with a smile as he walked up to Wang Chen's side.

  "My physical strength should have reached six thousand jin by now!" Wang Chen exclaimed excitedly after taking a deep breath.

  Physical strength is simply a person's physical defensive power.

  Normally, a 9th-level True Martial Artist's physical strength would be at most around 3,000 catties, but Wang Chen had already reached the level of 6,000 catties.

  This is equivalent to Wang Chen standing still, allowing the four-stage True Martial Artist to attack with all his might without suffering any damage, and even a five-stage True Martial Artist would find it difficult to harm him.

  Among them, the Star Body Tempering naturally played a major role. The triple flesh body's defensive power can directly reach 5,000 jin of strength, plus the Emperor Dragon Manual's own effect of tyrannical cultivation method, which also strengthened Wang Chen's physical defense from another aspect.

  Under the double effect, Wang Chen has reached a level that ordinary people can hardly imagine. This physical strength is already comparable to that of high-ranking spiritual warriors, even initial-stage revered warriors.

  "Hmm, not bad, very good! Haha... Kid, train well. You've been here for over two months now, hmm... With one month left, you need to reach the town of Qingyun in front to resupply and try to increase your strength as much as possible!"

  The Tianling fruit can almost be used. When you reach the peak of the 9th rank Zhenwu and feel the bottleneck, it can directly send you into the ranks of Lingwu!

  Wang Chen's words made Ling Zhan hesitate for a long time before speaking up.

  Tianling fruit, this rare and precious good thing can't be forgotten! This is the reward that Wang Chen got from Taizong for his outstanding performance during the inner gate selection!

  One Tianling fruit can send anyone into the ranks of Lingwu. If it were an ordinary person, they would have used it up long ago. After all, under the energy effect of Tianling fruit, a true martial artist can greatly increase their cultivation speed and reduce a lot of time to rush into the ranks of Lingwu.

  Ling Zhan didn't let Wang Chen use Tianling Fruit at the beginning, and there was his reason for it! Using Tianling Fruit ahead of time could shorten Wang Chen's cultivation period, perhaps now he is already a first-grade spiritual warrior.

  However, for a true martial artist, this kind of improvement is clearly not very beneficial when laying the foundation, and will make his foundation not solid enough.

  Only after reaching the 9th rank of True Martial can it be used again to achieve its best effect. The energy is equally abundant, and not a bit will let Wang Chen suffer!

  That's the role of experience, under which Ling Zhan helped Wang Chen avoid another detour.

  "Ah, Tianling fruit!" Hearing Ling Zhan's words, Wang Chen also nodded heavily, with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

  Ling Wu Zhe didn't expect to see the edge of Ling Wu so soon, this was something he couldn't have imagined before.

  In Qingfeng City, the Spirit Warriors were so high and mighty in their eyes that they were inviolable. The Han family became one of the three major families in Qingfeng City because of their strong strength, wasn't it because there were several Spirit Warriors in their family?

  Thinking of this, Wang Chen's eyes were firm and determined. Power was the only way to go, he had not forgotten the humiliation he suffered in the past, nor the danger of death during the Han family competition, nor the hatred of his family, nor did he give up on his family's revival.

  "Alright, young one, it's time to set off!" Ling Zhan reminded him at the right moment.

  Upon hearing Ling Zhan's words, a hint of emotion flashed across Wang Chen's eyes as he gazed around him, letting out a sigh before walking forward.

  Entering the Thorny Mountain Range for seventy-one days, fighting countless battles, and experiencing too many things made Wang Chen grow a lot.

  Here is the translation:

  On this side, he encountered batch after batch of adventurers. The original adventurers who entered the thorny mountain range with him had changed so many batches, or gone in and out so many times, but he never went out.

  At this moment, it's early in the morning, I suppose another group of adventurers will be entering this hell-like forest today.

  And as a matter of fact, it was just as Wang Chen had expected. With the sunrise, another group of people embarked on their adventurous journey.

  At this moment, a group of twenty or thirty people was heading into the thorny mountain range from somewhere on its edge. This was absolutely a large team. So big that it couldn't be ignored.

  "Head, I said that kid shouldn't have died in there already, right? Damn it, we've been to the Thorny Mountain Range for two months now, and this is our sixth time going in and out! From the beginning at Star Moon City to this godforsaken tiny village, damn it, not even a shadow of that kid can be seen!" A young man in his early twenties couldn't help but complain.

  "When alive, one must see the person; when dead, one must see the corpse. Even if it's just bones, they must be brought back. Don't forget what our master ordered!" The middle-aged man in charge said coldly and calmly.

  "Hey, I hope we can find it this time. Dammit, the Thorny Mountains have already cost us two ninth-rank True Martial brothers! I don't know why your Luo family is going to such great lengths to find him!" The young man continued to complain.

  "Less nonsense, if you have any opinions, you can leave! Otherwise, shut up for me! This time we three will still follow the original plan, divided into three groups, and start searching from three areas! I estimate that kid should be in this generation!" The middle-aged man's brow furrowed as he coldly instructed.