Before Yan Liang’s team was even within one thousand square miles of Swarm Forest, many other teams had already arrived from different directions.
The nest was protected by Swarm Forest, making it difficult for ordinary people to enter, but their outrageous behaviour provoked the Fighting Dragons Sect. So the sect ordered the School of Yuehua, nearest to the nest, to ambush them.
The dark-moon horse of Yan Liang was formidable. Many weaker beasts were scared off by it. The strength of the horse was about the same as Guxing. The wolf had more advantages in actual fights, but it would surely have its ribs broken if receiving a kick from the horse.
The feeling of a Ghost Wolf inside Guxing also warned the beasts dwelling in the forest to stay away. They knew very well about the rule of the jungle – the strong will devour the weak.
However, there were still many bugs and flies hovering above, such as Ice Blue Mosquitoes and Heart-Numbing Bugs. They looked tiny and insignificant, but it would be a hassle even for a warrior if they received a bite. If fighters were bitten, their blood would freeze and their heart would slowly numb until it stopped beating. The tiny spikes on the bugs and mosquitoes were like sharp mini swords. Xuanyuan didn’t doubt that those small bugs could inflict great pain.
Yan Liang shielded his team from the bugs by releasing his fighter Qi, killing the bugs instantly. "Everyone stay alert. We are only at the edge of the forest. Those bugs were not strong, but as we approach the heart of the forest, stronger beasts will show up, as well as poisonous plants and insects. If you are hurt, then you would definitely die unless you have antidotes." Yan Liang’s words put everyone on edge.
Yan Ziyun was impressed by Xuanyuan for being prepared, buying the medicine and antidotes beforehand. He’s obviously used to living in the wild. His instinct is much stronger than those who were spoiled from living in the School of Yuehua, like herself.
Without saying a word, Xuanyuan smiled and took out his Sword of Swimming Dragons. His sword was made from the bones of a swimming dragon, combining with many precious materials. The aura of a dragon radiated out from the sword, threatening every beast that approached.
Yan Liang was stunned by Xuanyuan’s weapon. He was about to breakthrough to the king realm, and yet he still only had a top ranking spiritual instrument, the same rank as Xuanyuan’s sword. This boy must have come from an extraordinary background. He was more and more mysterious in the eyes of Shi Congyu and Liu Piaoxu. Yan Ziyun was the only one who knew the truth.
Swarm Forest was much more difficult to traverse than a normal forest. They had to fend off poisonous insects and watch where they stepped. They encountered poisonous pythons hiding in the water a few times. Luckily, no one was hurt because of Yan Liang and Yan Ziyun’s protection.
After a day of travelling, they were six hundred miles into the forest. Yan Liang found a place to rest and gestured to his team and said, "We’ll rest here for the night and set off the tomorrow morning."
They all jumped off their horses and stayed inside a small circle of five metres. There were many beasts with strength comparable to warriors and even some as fierce as master realm fighters inside the forest. The beasts avoided them because of Yan Liang’s strength. There might even be beasts with strength comparable to the spiritual realm as they moved deeper. They were rare, but not impossible to find.
Yan Liang also had great survival skills. He sprinkled some powder that repelled the insects, and used some dried faeces of spiritual realm beasts. He quickly rushed towards Shi Congyu and Liu Piaoxu when they tried to start a fire,
"You want to get us killed? Fire attracts powerful beasts. I put the dried faeces around us to trick them. All that would be useless if you set up a fire." He lectured Shi Congyu and Liu Piaoxu.
"You are right, Elder Brother Yan" They both realized their mistake.
"All right, you should all get some rest. It’ll be a gruesome fight, but the rewards are also great. Your hard work will be rewarded by the sect. Our first true brother, Tung Xuan made a great contribution once. Even though he was not chosen by the sect, he was rewarded with an elixir with king realm strength, which helped him breakthrough to the king realm." Yan Liang encouraged.
"Really? An elixir of king realm strength!"
"I heard that story before. We should definitely do our best tomorrow."
"That’s right. Gather your strength and we’ll destroy the Mo race’s nest tomorrow."
All the inner disciple rallied their morale. A king realm elixir is a grade six elixir and it can aid with the breakthrough into the king realm. Those elixirs were extremely difficult to acquire. It’d cost you at least fifty thousand wild coins, a wealth that many people wouldn’t be able to earn even with a lifetime of hard work.
Xuanyuan knew that Yan Liang was only trying to raise morale, but he was also very excited. He spent almost all his money, the only money bag left was the feminine looking one he took from Yuerong. It contained five hundred master coins.
Xuanyuan learnt from his chat with Yan Ziyun that alchemists and instrument smiths were very popular in this world and you should avoid getting on their wrong side at all costs. Since practitioners could not produce medicine and instruments themselves these professions had a vast web of connections. The techniques required to make medicine and instruments were difficult to learn, and most of these techniques were not compatible with the martial arts techniques which most people studied.
There were some exceptions, of course - the makers who understood the secrets of using their inner fire. Fire existed among the universe and would feed on the essence of everything. In turn, it could destroy almost everything. There were seventy two kinds of inner fire in the world. This was the basic knowledge of the world.
Medicine and instruments could be refined to a higher quality when using inner fire techniques. Different kinds of inner fire would give the medicine and instruments various special qualities.
The products made by inner fire were all very expensive, which is why people yearned for money to buy the better medicines and instruments. This would allow them to better protect their lives and enhance their strengths.
"The Way to Refine Bones" was recited automatically by Xuanyuan’s Body of All Creation. When he stepped into the master realm, he discovered the technique of "The Heavenly Dragon" appearing in his mind and showing the way to refine bones. He didn’t know how the technique appeared in his mind, but he still recited it. He realized his bones now contained the scent of dragons.
"The Heavenly Dragon" was also a fighting art with incredible power. When he stood up, his body was like giant vortex, sucking in the bottomless spiritual Qi of the world. He started practicing the technique in his mind called "Bone Crushing Fist". The technique taught him the weakest points of the human body. It also taught him how to reconstruct bones after breaking them.
The greedy old bugger looked down on the Yin family techniques, but Xuanyuan regarded everything Yin Zhenluo gave him as a precious gift. His fist rushed through the air and a dragon formed from the white waves of energy it emitted.
Yan Liang and Yan Ziyun were astonished. Each of his fists contained the power of at least a hundred and sixty bulls of strength, and they got more powerful with each punch. Shi Congyu and Liu Piaoxu wouldn’t have thought the boy they encountered a month ago with only eighteen bulls of strength, would now be this strong. They were amazed by him, not knowing that he was suffering from intense pain.
In order to use "Bone Crushing Fist", the practitioners had to crush their own bones first.
He was refining all of the spiritual Qi in his body and it formed into the shape of tiny dragons which were released with his punches. His punches crushed his own bones again and again, while the Qi formed again and again.
Xuanyuan was not tired from his night of practice. By the time the sun rose, he had absorbed an enormous amount of spiritual Qi. However, he was still hiding his power beneath the surface. Everyone thought he was very mysterious.
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