Chapter One Hundred and Two: The Hunt

After leaving the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Yang Yan did not return to the Zhang residence, nor did he go to the Zhang family’s rear mountain. Instead, he headed for the Duanyun Mountain Range on the outskirts of Jinhuan City.

At the moment, he could be said to be penniless. Aside from the equipment cauldron, he had no extra spirit crystals to buy the other materials needed for refinement. So he decided to personally venture into the Duanyun Mountain Range and hunt magical beasts to obtain the materials required for forging.

The Redfeather Bristleboar and the Emerald-Scaled Snake were both considered second-tier spirit beasts, equivalent to the strength of a human cultivator at the third level of the Sense-Perception Realm. Their power was roughly on par with the Red-Scaled Tiger Yang Yan had encountered in the Hundred Hunts Grounds before. With Yang Yan’s current strength, dealing with a beast of that level would take some effort, but it was not overly troublesome. Only the third ingredient—the beast core—gave him some headache.

Beast cores only had a chance of forming inside magical beasts of spirit-beast level and above, and even then the odds were less than one in three. In the end, when Yang Yan had slain that Red-Scaled Tiger and obtained a beast core, there had been quite a bit of luck involved. But even with such a low probability, he had no better option now.

Besides, while fighting these spirit beasts did carry some risk, it would surely benefit him greatly in terms of improving his strength and tempering his combat experience. With that in mind, Yang Yan no longer resisted the idea.

Of course, the reason he could make such a decision was that Elder Yang was guiding him. Otherwise, trying to find a Redfeather Bristleboar and an Emerald-Scaled Snake in the vast Duanyun Mountain Range would have taken a great deal of effort. And if his luck turned bad and he accidentally strayed into the territory of some more ferocious magical beast, then with his current strength, he would likely be in grave danger.

“Two miles to the left, I can sense its aura.”

Yang Yan’s figure moved swiftly through the dense forest. If anyone were present, they would notice a faint mist of milky white color rising beneath his feet, making it seem as though he were walking through clouds. Each seemingly casual step sent his body darting several yards forward in an instant, a sight both strange and wondrous.

Hearing Elder Yang’s voice, Yang Yan did not hesitate at all. He turned at once and shot off toward the left.

Though the old fellow was usually rather unreliable, Yang Yan still chose to trust him. At a crucial time like this, the old man would not likely let him down.

As he flew onward, Yang Yan also did not neglect his practice of the Cloud-Walking Step. However, he did not push it to the limit, for that movement art consumed a considerable amount of the spiritual energy within his body. He did not want to exhaust himself before even finding his prey. In this perilous mountain range, being left spiritually depleted was certainly no good thing.

“So it really is a Redfeather Bristleboar…”

Yang Yan’s body came to rest atop a thick tree trunk. His gaze swept toward the forest below, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

Not far away, about two hundred meters from where he stood, there was a magical beast covered all over in crimson scales that resembled feathers, with a pair of long, razor-sharp tusks. It was currently gnawing on a corpse. Blood stained its fierce and savage head, and as it fed, it occasionally let out a low growl, adding still more savagery to its already brutal aura.

“Move!”

Since he had already found the target, and the other party was in the middle of eating, Yang Yan would naturally not let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by. He gave a low cry in his heart, and a vast surge of spiritual energy instantly roared down to his feet, unleashing the Cloud-Walking Step!

In the blink of an eye after Yang Yan stepped forward, afterimages appeared atop the tree trunk where he had been standing. Yet his body had already appeared less than five yards from the Redfeather Bristleboar!

“Shattering Seal!”

Yang Yan’s hand formed shifting seals in rapid succession. A transparent, crystal-like handprint then appeared above his right palm.

The moment the seal appeared, Yang Yan did not hesitate in the slightest. He thrust his right palm violently toward the Redfeather Bristleboar. At the same time, the shimmering seal in his palm, originally no larger than a hand, rapidly expanded as it flew, soon enveloping the boar’s massive body entirely. Carrying an immensely terrifying storm of energy, it crashed brutally into the beast!

“Roar!”

Amid the deafening boom, the Redfeather Bristleboar, suddenly struck by such a heavy blow, also let out an enraged howl. Its huge body was blasted backward by the earlier attack, then slammed heavily onto the ground. It slid across the earth for dozens of yards before finally stopping, kicking up clouds of dust.

“Did I finish it?”

Yang Yan stared unblinkingly at the dust-choked patch of ground and murmured to himself.

Although the Shattering Seal was only the first of the Shattered Three Seals, in terms of destructive power it was even superior to the second seal, the Soul-Devouring Seal. It could be said to be the strongest offensive means Yang Yan currently possessed. Though he had not used the power of the Moon Essence when forming the seal just now, he believed that even with only water-attribute spiritual energy, the Shattering Seal should be enough to deal with the Redfeather Bristleboar.

But reality was obviously far harsher than he had imagined. Just as the thought rose in Yang Yan’s mind, the swirling dust finally dispersed, and the Redfeather Bristleboar, its eyes blazing red, came once more into view.

At this moment, although it had suffered a fierce attack from Yang Yan, only a patch of the crimson scales on its body had fallen away. Thin streams of blood trickled down the lustrous red scales, but for a creature with such thick flesh and skin, this was clearly not a real injury.

“How can its hide be this hard?”

Yang Yan was slightly startled. He had not expected the Redfeather Bristleboar’s defenses to be so formidable, surpassing even the Red-Scaled Tiger from the Hundred Hunts Grounds.

“Roar!”

But this was clearly no time to dwell on the matter. Yang Yan saw the Redfeather Bristleboar, enraged by his sneak attack, throw back its head and bellow with furious violence. Its long tusks glinted with cold light, and its powerful hind legs scraped furiously against the ground. Judging by that posture, it was about to launch a ferocious assault.

The boar’s fury was entirely understandable. Anyone interrupted in the middle of enjoying a meal in such a crude manner would be displeased, much less a spirit beast already brimming with ferocity and savagery!

Thump, thump, thump!

The Redfeather Bristleboar, which was a full yard and a half long, suddenly issued a roar. Then its thick hind legs kicked off the ground, its head dipped low to aim those sharp tusks directly at Yang Yan, and its entire body charged forward like a tank in a way that was shocking to behold. The momentum of the attack even made the ground beneath Yang Yan’s feet tremble slightly.

“This beast moves so fast!”

Yang Yan was startled. The creature’s speed was utterly disproportionate to its massive build. Moreover, from the sharp tusks flashing with cold light, he sensed an extremely dangerous aura. He knew that if he took that blow even with the protection of the Dark Frost Chain Armor, he would likely be pierced into a bloody hole.

With that thought, Yang Yan’s mind moved. The Cloud-Walking Step surged to its utmost, and as he retreated to the side, his hand swept rapidly across his storage pouch, and the Moonshadow Frost Sword appeared in his grasp.

Bang!

Yang Yan dodged the impact, but the tree that had stood behind him and could only be embraced by a grown man was not so fortunate. Under the boar’s violent charge, the tree showed no resistance at all and was snapped cleanly in two at the waist. Chips of wood and broken branches flew everywhere, making Yang Yan feel a chill run through his heart.

Missing its target in a single strike, the blood in the Redfeather Bristleboar’s eyes burned even more fiercely. With a low growl, it charged at Yang Yan once again!

“Beast, take my sword!”

By now Yang Yan had grown somewhat annoyed at being chased by this thing. While evading the terrifying charge, he swung the Moonshadow Frost Sword in a flurry of pale traces, slashing toward the Redfeather Bristleboar’s body!

Clang, clang, clang!

The sword strikes landed, but instead of the sound of steel cutting flesh, they produced a series of metallic clashes. Yang Yan was greatly shocked by this. He had not imagined that the beast’s defenses would be this much stronger than the Red-Scaled Tiger’s!

His estimate was not wrong. Although the Redfeather Bristleboar and the Red-Scaled Tiger were both second-tier spirit beasts, the former was in fact a peak second-tier magical beast, only one step away from the third tier. Its defensive strength was naturally far beyond the latter’s comparison.

“Heh heh, youngster, trying to test your strength against it like this is not very wise…”

At that moment, Elder Yang’s somewhat unkind, peculiar laughter suddenly rang in Yang Yan’s mind.

“You know its weakness, don’t you? Tell me quickly, or I won’t help you look for spirit weapons to devour and recover your strength!”

Yang Yan was first taken aback by the words, then immediately understood there was more to them. He at once became merciless and used Elder Yang’s weak point to threaten him.

“You brat! Sigh, who told me I’m now living under someone else’s roof… With your current strength, that Redfeather Bristleboar is like an iron wall standing before you. Breaking through its defenses is extremely difficult, so you can only attack its internal weakness. There are only two places you can aim for: one is its rear, and the other is its mouth…”

Though Yang Yan’s threat left Elder Yang rather unhappy, after a little grumbling he still offered a solution.

“The mouth, then…”

As for the first place, Yang Yan chose to ignore it selectively. He had no desire to play some obscene game of death with a ferocious Redfeather Bristleboar. Just imagining his pale Moonshadow Frost Sword thrusting into such a filthy place was enough to make him feel nauseated.

“Roar!”

At that moment, the Redfeather Bristleboar not far away let out another roar, almost frenzied in tone. The savagery in its eyes and the violence in its bearing had both reached their peak. Clearly, the young human before it had enraged it to the utmost. Its thick hind legs scraped madly at the ground below, and it was about to charge at Yang Yan once more!

“Beast, do you really think I can’t deal with you?”

Seeing this, Yang Yan let out a cold snort. This time, however, he did not choose to keep dodging. Instead, his body shot forward as he took the initiative and lunged straight toward the Redfeather Bristleboar!

What followed was not the boar’s roar, but Yang Yan’s own!

As his body drew close, sound waves condensed into a tangible force under the wrapping of his vast soul power and burst from Yang Yan’s mouth, sweeping outward like layered invisible waves toward the savage Redfeather Bristleboar.

“Now!”

In that instant, Yang Yan’s eyes narrowed sharply in midair. Looking at the Redfeather Bristleboar, whose movements had frozen for a moment under his soul assault, he did not hesitate in the slightest. Moonshadow Frost flashed in his hand as he thrust the sword straight into its mouth!

Puchi!

This strike clearly achieved its purpose. The sword plunged all the way in along the boar’s mouth without the slightest obstruction, until even the entire blade was swallowed within it.

A moment later, the life in the Redfeather Bristleboar’s crimson eyes quickly drained away, and its massive body, mountain-like in size, finally crashed to the ground with a thunderous sound.

“Heh heh, lad, good comprehension. At such a young age, you can already channel soul power into sound and unleash a sonic attack.”

This time, Elder Yang did not mock or belittle him again. His tone carried genuine praise.

Yang Yan had no time to pay attention to him at the moment. He simply waved the Moonshadow Frost Sword, cutting repeatedly down through the boar’s mouth until he reached its abdomen. But the result left him somewhat disappointed.

“No beast core?”

He could not help letting out a soft sigh. It seemed that the beast core he had obtained from the Red-Scaled Tiger last time had truly been a matter of extraordinary luck.

“Heh heh, no need to be discouraged, little fellow. Take the tusks of this Redfeather Bristleboar and hurry on to find the other materials. If you perform well today, and if this old man feels pleased, I may casually reward you with something…”

At this point, Elder Yang’s voice carried a hint of temptation as it echoed in Yang Yan’s mind.

“What reward?”

Yang Yan’s spirits lifted at once. One had to know that this old fellow’s standards were notoriously high. Even something casually taken out by him would by no means be comparable to what the tiny Zhang family in Jinhuan City could offer. Thus he asked with great interest.

“Heh heh, a secret. Kid, hurry and get to work. If this old man is not satisfied, you will get nothing at all!”

Seeing that the old fellow would not be moved by either persuasion or force, Yang Yan could only shrug helplessly, then took the Redfeather Bristleboar’s two long tusks and put them into his storage pouch before vanishing in a flash.

In the time that followed, under Elder Yang’s guidance, Yang Yan found and successfully dealt with an Emerald-Scaled Snake. The old saying that a snake should be struck at seven inches remained true even for a spirit beast of this level, so dealing with it was not nearly as laborious as when he had fought the Redfeather Bristleboar.

However, his luck was clearly still not very good this time. He again failed to find a beast core within the Emerald-Scaled Snake’s corpse.

Although he already had a fire-attribute Red-Scaled Tiger core in his storage pouch, it was obviously still not enough to cover the consumption needed for forging. Thus, over the next stretch of time, Yang Yan began his beast-hunting campaign.

At last, after nearly an entire day of fierce struggle, Yang Yan’s gains were quite gratifying, for he had obtained a full six sets of forging materials.

Not only that, after a full day of life-and-death combat, though Yang Yan was exhausted, after sitting down with his eyes closed to rest and recover, he faintly discovered that the spiritual energy in his sea of qi had actually increased once more compared to before. At this rate, it would probably not be long before he could attempt to break through to the third level of the Sense-Perception Realm.

Returning to the Zhang residence somewhat excitedly, Yang Yan’s bloodstained appearance truly gave Zhang Tai quite a fright. Yang Yan spent a great deal of breath and words to brush him off. After hastily stuffing a few mouthfuls of food into himself, he returned to his own room.

Because next came the time for refining artifacts.