Chapter 15: Seven ges

  The sound from afar gradually faded away.

  Feng no longer used his movement teique. His breathing was slow and deliberate, and he moved with eveer caution. His eyes gleamed with sharpness as his perception reached its peak.

  "Shadow Panther, Iron-scaled Python, Mighty Berserk Bear..."

  These were the three most fearsome first-level, ninth-rank demos in the Wànmù Forest. They could easily kill ordinary body-refi cultivators at the ninth transformation, and even top-tier practitioners at the ninth transformation would find it difficult to defeat them.

  As Feng’s thoughts turned, his body involuntarily shivered. A chilling ess spread from deep within, rapidly reag every part of his body. The hairs on his body stood on end as a series of indescribable heart-poundiions assaulted him.

  Carefully, Feng shrank his body behind a rge tree, holding his breath. A sharp rustling sound came from the distance, growing nearer and nearer. It sounded as if something cold and slippery was slithering across his body, sending a wave of chill through him.

  Feng cautiously peeked out, and in the distance, around a hundred meters away, the shrubbery shook violently. He could vaguely make out a long, bck body with scales that glimmered faintly.

  "Iron-scaled Python!"

  Feng’s heart skipped a beat.

  The form, the terrifying aura—it was defihe Iron-scaled Python.

  His luck was truly terrible.

  First, he had been ambushed by the Shadow Panther, and now, he had entered the Iron-scaled Python.

  Thinking about it, Feng couldn’t help but feel a thrill mixed with dread.

  "I wonder if I’ll run into the Mighty Berserk Bear?" Feng mused to himself.

  His heart was torween unease and anticipation.

  This feeling was exhirating. The mysterious God’s Seal within his mind quivered, sending out more ripples.

  In a daze, Fe as though he were her fully awake nor asleep, his body and mind in a state of perfect stillness, profound and elusive, as if to be uood only through feeling.

  He didn’t know how much time had passed, but suddenly, he snapped out of his trance, as though he had just woken from a deep sleep. He felt refreshed, and without realizing it, he had gained a deeper uanding of the Wind Shadow Sword Teique and the Nine Shadows Phantom Body. It felt as if he could break through his limitations at any moment and elevate his skills to a higher level.

  However, wheried to think it through carefully, something was missing. Moreover, the current location was not the right pce to dwell on such matters, so he decided to set it aside for the time being.

  "Where did the Iron-scaled Python go?"

  He looked carefully, but it had disappeared without a trace. Cautiously, Feng approached and examihe area where the Iron-scaled Python had slithered through the shrubbery. He found a rge trail the size of a human waist and could still feel the lingering cold, which made his body tremble involuntarily.

  "That’s..."

  Feng’s sharp eyes locked onto something.

  Three bright red fruits appeared among the shrubbery, partially hidden.

  After a moment of careful scrutiny, Feng couldn’t help but reveal a smile of joy.

  "The pce is dark and damp, the color is a deep crimson, and it smells like blood mixed with a fragrant st—this must be the Bloodfruit!"

  Feng’s excitement surged.

  Just like the Snake Venom Fruit he had obtained earlier, the Bloodfruit was even more valuable. More importantly, the Bloodfruit was one of the main ingredients for the Vitality-Enhang Pill, a precious herb known to boost one’s vitality and aid in cultivation.

  "The Bloodfruit is worth around twenty to thirty taels of silver. If I have three of them, could they be worth as much as a Vitality-Enhang Pill?"

  Certainly, it would be more effit to refihe Bloodfruit into the pill, but Feng was well aware of his current situation.

  Without hesitation, he plucked the three Bloodfruits and swallowed them.

  With the help of the God’s Seal, the three Bloodfruits were quickly refined into pure energy.

  Vitality surged within him, a yer of blood-red light enveloping his body, growing more intense by the moment.

  In his ears, it was as though the sound of a stream was growing louder, and the flowing vitality seemed to se his ans, gradually strengthening them.

  Previously, after ing three Vitality-Enhang Pills, Feng’s cultivation had already reached the limit of the sixth transformation of body refi. His ans were being tempered, but the process had stalled due to insuffit energy. Now, as he tihe refi, his ans quivered lightly, his heart pounding powerfully like a drum, and his iines rumbled with deep sounds.

  A new force began to emanate from his internal ans—formless and intangible, but stretg far and deep, its lingering power immense, like a stream gradually being grander.

  The blood-red light slowly faded.

  Feng exhaled, and a gust of wind howled out, striking the leaves a few meters away, scattering them in all dires.

  "The strength of the internal ans is indeed long-sting and powerful."

  Feng mused.

  "Skin and flesh strength, borength, internal an strength—all of these are essentially the force fed through vitality. In theory, they should be vertible and ied..."

  Suddenly, aruck him, and he immediately tried it out, initially sensing some resistance.

  Theory was theory, but the els through which these forces were refined were different, so there were distins.

  Feng tried again and again, and with the help of the God’s Seal, a wave of inspiration struck. He uood.

  The long-sting, powerful internal an strength gradually verted into borength, slowly rest the bone power he had previously ed.

  Moreover, Feng could feel that his bones had gained a bit of the internal an strength’s unique power—long-sting and mighty.

  "I wonder if I’m now strong enough to fight a ninth-rank, first-level demo?"

  Feng thought to himself but then g the broken sword in his hand, and the thought faded away.

  "With my cultivatiohrough to the seventh transformation of body refi, I now qualify to participate in the assessment of the Miantia. But there’s still time..."

  At the same age, the higher one’s cultivation, the more solid their foundation, making it easier to pass the Miantia’s assessment.

  Moreover, he still o make moo buy a Hundred-Refi Sword.

  As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Feng carefully sed his surroundings, using the experience passed down by Stone Peak and the others to determine which dire to go.

  Both dires—into the deeper parts of Wànmù Forest or back out—left traces behind. But to a novice, it all looked the same. Only experienced veterans could tell the difference.

  Though Feng was still a beginner, with the aid of the God’s Seal, he had memorized and applied all the experieaught by the Windfire Squad.

  The sound of the attack cut through the air as Feng's sword sliced through the space with overwhelming speed, aiming straight for the source of the disturbance. His senses, now heightened from the numerous enters and the refining of his skills, guided his sword strike with uny precision.

  The figure before him recoiled, clearly taken aback by the sudden assault. The glow in its eyes flickered in surprise, but it quickly regais posure, moving with a swifthat matched Feng's own. In an instant, the figure's silhouette blurred, and it vanished from Feng's line of sight, reappearing several meters away.

  Feng's sword tio cut through the air with relentless speed, leaving a trail of shimmering light in its wake. His movements were fluid, almost as if he were oh the wind itself, as he adjusted his stand prepared for the exge.

  “Who’s there?” Feng’s voice rang out, firm and authoritative, his eyes sing the area around him with a sharphat pierced through the darkness.

  A low, chilling ugh echoed from the shadows, the sound almost serpentine in nature. "So, you’ve bee quite skilled, haven't you? But I wonder... you truly match the likes of me?" The voice was ced with both amusement and a hint of danger.

  A shadow emerged from the darkness, revealing a tall, lean figure cloaked in dark robes. Its face was obscured by a mask, but its aura was unmistakable — this was no ordinary oppo. The air around them seemed to ripple with a suffog pressure, ohat sent a chill down Feng’s spine.

  Feng’s grip tightened around the hilt of his sword as he instinctively shifted into a defeance, his heart rag with anticipation. This wasn’t just any enemy; this was someone whose presence alone could send shivers through the soul.

  The masked figure’s eyes gleamed from behind the mask, and it spoke again, this time with a more sinister edge. "You’re brave, stepping into my territory. But I don’t believe you’re ready for what lies ahead."

  Feng narrowed his eyes. "We'll see about that," he muttered under his breath, as his body tensed, ready to strike at the slightest movement.

  The masked figure tilted its head slightly, as if sizing Feng up, before suddenly vanishing once more, moving faster than the eye could follow. Feed instantly, his body flowing into motion like a well-oiled mae. His sword sshed through the air in a wide ard just as his bde was about to make tact, the figure reappeared behind him.

  With a swift twist of his body, Feng brought the sword around in a rapid terattack. However, the figure was already gone, fading into the shadows once more.

  "Not bad," the masked figure remarked, its voiow tinged with both resped malice. "But let’s see how you hahis."

  Before Feng could react, the grouh him seemed to crad split open, and from the fissures, tendrils of dark energy shot up, coiling around his legs, arms, and sword. It was a teique desigo immobilize him, to prevent any further attacks.

  Feng gritted his teeth as he struggled against the restraints, his heart pounding in his chest. His mind raced, searg for a way out. The dark energy stricted around him, its cold, suffog grip making it harder to breathe.

  In that moment of peril, a surge of energy erupted from deep within him. It was the power he had been cultivating, the strength of his body and mind, all ing together as one. His muscles tensed, and with a mighty roar, Feng shattered the dark tendrils, sending waves of force rippling through the air.

  The masked figure's eyes widened for a split sed, clearly taken aback by Feng's sudden burst of power. But it quickly recovered, a dark smile creeping across its face.

  "Impressive," the figure mused. "But that won’t be enough to defeat me."

  With a sudden, fluid motion, the figure lunged forward, its hand outstretched. Dark energy surged around its fingers, f into a bde of pure shadow. It was a on fed from the very essence of darkness, and its aura radiated death.

  Feng's heart skipped a beat as he saw the on ing toward him. There was no time to evade. The only option was to meet it head-on. With a swift motion, he raised his sword to block, the two ons colliding in a fsh of dark and light.

  The shockwave from the impact sent a tremor through the air, and for a moment, it seemed as if time itself had frozen. But as the dust settled, both batants remaianding, their expressions filled with resolve.

  "You're strong," the masked figure admitted, its voice calm despite the iy of the battle. "But strength alone won’t win this fight."

  Feng’s eyes gleamed with determination. "We’ll see about that," he said, his grip tightening on his sword once more, ready for whatever came .

  The masked figure took a step back, analyzing Feng's unwavering stahere was a flicker of something behind its eyes — perhaps reition, or maybe amusement. It had clearly uimated the young warrior in front of it. However, that would not stop it from attempting to break Feng's will.

  With a sudden, sharp motion, the figure vanished once again, this time moving not just through the shadows, but also blending into the very elements around them. The air became thick with a dense fog, and the once-clear path through the forest became obscured by an eerie mist.

  Feng’s senses fred, every instinct screaming at him to remai. The temperature dropped, and his breath became visible in the frigid air. He could feel the presence of his oppo — it was near, but the exact location remained elusive.

  He didn’t hesitate. He activated his Wind Shadow Sword Teique, every part of his body being as light and fluid as the wind itself. His movements became a blur, twisting and turning in the fog, sword sshing in rapid succession. Each strike was desigo cleave through the mist, but each time his sword met oiness.

  "You're faster than I thought," came the voiow eg from multiple dires. "But speed alone won’t witle. It's all about trol."

  The voice taunted him from all sides, and with each word, Fe a wave of unease crash over him. He had to stay focused, had to keep his wits sharp. His grip tightened on his sword, the only anchor in this swirling fusion.

  He slowed his movements, f himself to trate, waiting for the right moment. The Wind Shadow Sword Teique required finesse, not brute force. He o feel his oppo’s rhythm, to uand their move before they made it.

  And then, it came.

  The grouh Feng’s feet trembled slightly. The air shifted, and a faint whisper brushed against his ear. He spun, sword raised, just in time to intercept a swift, shadowy bde that came crashing down from above.

  The force of the strike nearly sent him to his knees, but he held his ground, his feet digging into the earth. The csh of the two o a sharp, ringing sound through the fog, and for a brief moment, Feng could see his oppo’s form — dark, imposing, with eyes that gleamed like twin embers.

  The figure pulled back quickly, assessing the situation, and this time, it did not strike immediately. Instead, it circled around, vanishing into the mist once more, leaving Feng to pos move.

  Feng's breathing was heavy, his heart pounding in his chest. His mind raced, analyzing every move the figure had made, every shift imosphere. This battle was far from over.

  "e out," Feng called, his voice steady but filled with a quiet determination. "I’m not afraid of you."

  A low ugh echoed in the fog, and the figure reappeared before him in a fsh, its shadowy bde raised. But this time, Feng was ready. He met the attack head-on, his sword fshing with newfound brilliance as the csh rang out once again.

  Each strike, each ter, was a battle of wills, a daween light and dark. And with every passing moment, Fe himself growing stronger, his uanding of his swordsmanship deepening with eaent, with each strike.

  The fight was far from over, but Feng’s resolve was unwavering. He would push forward, no matter the cost.

  [----------------°-------------]

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