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Chapter 44: Forest Training

In the blink of an eye, more than 3 months passed.

In the dense woods on the outskirts of Beast Forest, a black-haired youth faced off against a tier-4 iron-armored beast.

The youth was Ashura, who had gone out to temper himself, and by now the warrior uniform on his body hung in tatters, the tears clearly revealing the many large and small wounds on his young frame.

A faint stubble had grown on his once-boyish face, and together with the sharp glint in his eyes it gave him an even more heroic air.

Ashura seemed to have grown taller again, and although 3 months of eating and sleeping in the open had made him suffer, the harvest was abundant.

The space belt his grandfather had given him was stuffed full of beast hides and other treasures, and it even held 2 tier-4 beast cores, which delighted him even as he cursed its meager capacity.

At his current Martial Master Stage-3 level Ashura should have been able to duel tier-3 beasts of equal rank, yet thanks to his dual mage-warrior strength he could leap ranks to kill tier-4 beasts.

Of course, he chose tier-4 beasts whose offense was not too strong, such as the iron-armored beast before him whose defense was extraordinary but whose attack was average.

The beastology books in the academy library had helped him enormously.

After 3 months of real combat with beasts, especially those leap-rank fights against tier-4 beasts, Ashura felt that his magic and martial techniques now blended seamlessly.

By now every punch of his family art Thunderclap Fist boomed with triple thunder, and when it landed on a beast it left a charred fist mark; this was due to his dual mage-warrior nature, lightning traveling through his fists to strike the target, an effect even his father A Fengtian could not achieve.

As for Tower Ascension sword art, after the ninth slash each cut that struck a beast carried a numbing effect, making the creature sluggish as if shocked by electricity for several moments.

Chasing Wind, Pursuing Thunder footwork was faster than rolling thunder, and ordinary tier-4 beasts could hardly outrun him!

Yet behind this rise in strength lay plenty of hardship; during the first few nights of meditation he was stung by venomous insects until his face bloated.

When the leaf of a poisonous plant sliced his hand the searing pain lasted the whole night, to say nothing of the dozen or so wounds the beasts left all over his body.

Except for the wounds on his face that he treated with scar-removing ointment, he kept every other scar once they healed.

Whenever he saw those scars he could recall how he had been hurt, how to avoid such damage in the future, and thus teach himself a lesson!

Staring at the iron-armored beast before him, Ashura curled his lips in a wicked smile, then closed in and unleashed Tower Ascension sword art, every slash striking the same wound on the beast’s neck faster than the last.

The iron-armored beast roared in anger, dodging his swords while charging Ashura with brute force.

Pairing the sword art with Chasing Wind, Pursuing Thunder footwork, Ashura deftly evaded the charges and kept locking onto the wound with his sword.

On the fifteenth slash the iron-armored beast finally could not bear the damage, let out a pained cry, and crashed to the ground.

Ashura beamed; the last time he had slain an iron-armored beast he had needed to reach the sixteenth slash of Tower Ascension, so this was obvious progress.

He swept his gaze around to confirm safety, walked to the beast’s head, and used the dagger Lan Yu had given him to cut into the skull and rummage inside.

He had no choice, for his Twin Swords could not cleave that rock-hard skull, and after many days of fierce fighting the Twin Swords were worn nearly to scrap.

Suddenly joy flashed in Ashura’s heart as the dagger tip pried out a yellow core the size of a peach pit… an earth-element core from the iron-armored beast.

In general, the higher the beast’s tier, the higher the chance of a core; Ashura had killed more than a dozen tier-4 beasts and this was only the 3rd core he had dug out, and he had never extracted a single core from a tier-3 beast.

Even though it was only a tier-4 core, the money-minded Ashura was overjoyed; one such core could fetch 300 gold coins in Triumph Town, and a single coin could feed an ordinary person on the continent for a year.

He planned to save up for a new pair of Twin Swords, for he was accustomed to that weapon; even when casting lightning spells he habitually raised the Twin Swords and brought them down hard.

Aside from the core, the only valuable part of the iron-armored beast was its steel-like hide, and while Triumph Town had buyers who would take hides for equipment, Ashura’s space belt could hold no more, so he could only give it up in frustration.

Ashura found a small creek, washed away the blood left from the fight, then climbed a tall tree by the bank, leaned against a broad branch, and took out some dry rations to restore his strength.

Although this was the fringe of Beast Forest where beasts were generally low tier, in theory he could light a fire to cook, yet he feared drawing high-level beasts or other adventurers, so he rarely roasted food.

Only when he had slain a tender tier-3 beast did he hide in a cave to enjoy a barbecue.

Gradually he honed a rather good grilling skill!

While eating, Ashura pondered how to plan his future cultivation, for he knew he was about to break through; it was only a matter of time.

Unfortunately, his space belt was full, so he needed to return to Triumph Town to deal with the items inside; otherwise, if he encountered something valuable he would have no place to stash it.

He therefore decided to head back to Triumph Town tomorrow or the day after to empty the belt and then return to the forest; having made up his mind, he glanced at the iron-armored beast’s corpse not far away, gathered his resolve, and leapt from the tree.

Once more he drew the dagger, dismembered the corpse, piled the pieces, and scattered them in the woods by the creek, then climbed the tree above the remains and waited quietly for other beasts to come feed.

The thick odor of blood spread instantly, and before long several tier-2 beasts arrived to gnaw on the carcass; Ashura ignored them, holding his breath and waiting for the prey he desired.

When several pairs of emerald eyes emerged from the forest, the tier-2 beasts bolted instinctively, and soon 5 three-eyed demon wolves stepped out of the thicket.

They cast greedy looks at the corpse, seemed to smell a human scent and hesitated, but appetite soon overcame caution and the 5 wolves lunged forward to feast.

Perched in the tree, Ashura sighed under his breath… how had he lured so many three-eyed demon wolves?

Although a single three-eyed demon wolf was only a tier-3 beast, a pack of them was fearsome, especially with their speed and coordinated attacks.

Once you were wounded they would circle you, wear you down until exhaustion, and then deliver the killing blow.

Ashura had originally not planned to provoke these 5 brutes, but he reconsidered… he would leave tomorrow, and he might not meet such suitable opponents then.

With that thought he hesitated no longer, seized the moment, and dived from the tree.

The instant he landed he swung the Twin Swords and sliced the 2 three-eyed demon wolves that were still tearing at the iron-armored corpse clean in half at his feet….

And the battle had only just begun.

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