Beast Race is probably the most ancient race of the Golden-Sky world. It is even older than the Devil Race. The beast race had actually been the true inhabitants of this world. But one day, other races started to emerge out of nowhere.
This completely enraged the beast race, the true masters of this world, and a huge war broke out. No one knows how this great war ended, but it clearly did not end in favor of the beast race.
In the end, the entire world split into ten pieces, and the beast race, who was once the true ruler of this world, ended up in the fifth rank.
But to this day, the beast race can still be found worldwide. The demonic beasts were from a branch of the beast race that lived in the Azure-Wind continent. They can cultivate like the beast race but cannot transform into humanoid form after reaching a threshold like the True Beast Race!
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Ace and Eva were now deep into this vast, unknown forest.
They were still relatively far from the Red Mountain City and needed to travel at least four more days to reach their destination.
In this region of the forest, the demonic beasts frequently roamed. This was the first time Ace had been so far away from River-Flower City; his heart was somewhat excited but also vigilant.
Eva was also very excited. She had traveled before with her father, but she didn't remember much about it; she was very young at that time. Also, her mother had just passed away, so it wasn't a pleasant memory.
While traveling on the dirt road, Ace suddenly noticed some movements behind him. He operated his Heavenly Qi, gathered it at his feet, and was ready to activate silent steps so that he could quickly dodge or attack at any time.
"Eva, something is approaching! Get ready for the battle! If we can't defeat it, I'll buy you time to escape..." He just warned Eva about the danger when...
'shua shua shua'
The faint yet powerful sounds of something incoming rang; then he saw a big tiger with a horn approaching them at high speed. He didn't expect that he would encounter a demonic beast this early after they just entered this part of the forest.
The eyes of the Horned Tiger were very ferocious and filled with murderous intent as he glared at Ace and Eva.
As soon as the tiger appeared, Ace took out a set of inky swords from his thief's space.
Ace felt as if they were part of his arm when he held those swords. He didn't have time to understand that feeling because that horned tiger had already leaped toward Ace at full speed.
The horned tiger's attack was straightforward, but at the same time, it was also quick and ruthless. The moment it leaped, two black lights flickered past Ace's eyes. Heavenly Qi circulated in his whole body and channeled into his swords.
The long sword burst with a mysterious aura, and Ace slashed his sword in a circular motion; a long arc congealed from Heavenly Qi appeared in the air; it quickly swooped towards the incoming horned tiger like a black beam of light. The moment that beam touched the horned tiger,
'chheeee'
The horned tiger didn't even have a chance to understand what had happened because he saw that his left and right vision started to become distant. That was the last thing the Horned Tiger saw before its eyes became noticeably sluggish and lost their luster, and he split into two halves. He died!
That horned tiger in front of the sword beam of Heavenly Qi released by the Dual Shadow Swords Technique was like butter in front of a hot knife. Its body was easily cut down in half with just a signal sweep of the sword slash!
Only with the help of a powerful and profound technique like Dual Shadow Swords was it possible to convert Qi into something tangible!
In this life-and-death situation, as well as with the help of his new special swords, Ace was able to comprehend the first realm of the Dual Shadow Swords technique, Sword as Arm.
All of this happened within a few seconds, and Eva didn't have a chance to react and help him. When everything was over, Eva came to her senses. She saw a huge tiger lying on the ground in two pieces. She hurriedly moved close to Ace, who was standing in a trance while holding two swords.
"Are you ok?" She asked him with concern.
Ace didn't notice Eva's arrival because he was in an enlightened state.
'So that's what it means by Sword as Arm. Without these two swords, I can't imagine how long it would've taken to understand this technique's true meaning. Now I know why I felt that feeling the first time I held these swords. It's because these swords are made for the Dual Shadow Swords Technique!'
Ace was still in a daze when he felt something soft touching his face and heard Eva's anxious voice. "Hey! Are you okay or not? Do you need any medicine pills? I have some in my bag!"
She was panicking after seeing Ace didn't reply to her, and placed her hand on his face to check if he was all right.
"I'm fine, don't worry, I just have an insight on my technique. Sorry to make you worried about nothing." He said in embarrassment after seeing her so worried about him.
He felt slightly warm in his heart as it was rare for someone else besides his family or sister to care about him. 'She's really nice to me.'
"Humph! I felt scared for nothing. Since you're fine, tell me what that technique was and where you got these amazing swords. Did you get them from Rylan's storage ring?" Since Ace was alright, she relaxed and started to question him like some curious child.
Ace smiled lightly after seeing Eva returning to her usual self.
He retrieved something from his thief's space. It was a blue 1-foot long and 1-inch wide single-edged short sword. There were two blue gems on its hilt. It was clearly a sword for women.
"Here, this sword is a 2-Star weapon. I found it inside Rylan's storage ring; this is for you. Use it until we reach the city since it is dangerous in this region of the forest. Once we reach there, you have to give it back because we can't show this kind of weapon in the open." He gave that short sword to Eva.
Eva's eyes instantly brighten, seeing the beautiful short sword. She didn't hear Ace's warning and quickly grasped the sword and started to swing it around to test it.
A short sword was very suitable for her Shadow-Devil clan's skills. She smiled sweetly after she checked the sword and said, "You don't have to worry about me. I can hide this sword with my new skill that can change my appearance; it can even change a treasure's appearance. It's an illusion skill of the Shadow-Devil Clan."
Eva waved her hand, and Qi formed a blue mist, which enveloped the sword completely. After a moment, the mist faded, and that sword turned into a normal-looking sword.
Beside her, Ace exclaimed after seeing this skill and couldn't help but think enviously, 'It is more useful than my two-face mask.'
But when he used true and false eyes, he saw the normal-looking sword turn into its original appearance. 'It appears she didn't master this skill to its full potential. It can only deceive early Qi Foundation Building realm cultivator.'
Eva didn't know that Ace had already checked her skill and true prowess. She wrapped her hands around her big chest and said haughtily, "What do you think of my Shadow Deception Skill? With it, I could change my appearance and not have to be afraid of the Qi River Realm cultivators after mastering my skill to perfection. It can only work against the early-stage Qi Foundation Building realm, though. But it's enough for the Red Mountain City."
Ace was bewildered after seeing Eva showing her beautiful curves. He quickly looked down while he replied with a slightly reddened face, "Y-yes! It is a very good skill!"
To avoid embarrassment, he started to collect the big tiger meat that was now split into two pieces.
He didn't notice that Eva's eyes became even gentler while she was looking at him. She thought emotionally while she tenderly looked at him, 'After you have done all these things for me and freed me from my nightmare. You didn't even blink when you said you'd cover for me in the face of danger. You are an honest and caring person.
'Only you are worthy of knowing everything about me, and I will only show my true self in front of you; as for others, I'll become a true Shadow Devil for them!' Eva thought with determination.
Ace noticed a change in Eva's mood but didn't pay much attention to it since he thought it was because of the new sword he gave her. He was just done collecting all the meat of the demonic Horn-Tiger when he heard the system's voice in his mind,
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[You have killed a demonic beast of 2nd Gate!]
[Reward: 10 EXP]
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[EXP: 460/5000]
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