Zhao Fan felt that in the short week that he spent in the forest he had changed more than he himself knew. Before doing anything else, he went and got washed up before heading to the small clearing near the cave. Just like the last time he came to the field, he wanted to get familiarized with his strength. As he approached a tree covered with sword cuts he stopped for a moment. His sword from before was broken in the fight with the bear.
Shua
As Zhao Fan sent out a simple fist, the part of the tree he punched was completely shattered and the whole tree came crashing down. Zhao Fan grinned as he saw this, although the tree was not big, his progress definitely was. Most importantly, after refining his body he felt that using qi throughout his body was much easier. It was like his body was becoming a big meridian in which he could freely move his qi. When he willed it, qi instantly came over to his fists straight from his dantian instead of through his hand's meridians.
"I should come back to the city" He was so immersed in his new lifestyle he forgot that his father was probably worrying to death over him. Before he did that though, he needed to hunt some more beasts so he could trade it for some resources when he got back to the city. After his recent seclusion he realized that the meat he hunted from the wolves was losing its effect. Although it could still improve his body over time, it was not as immediate and noticeable as before.
After getting adjusted to his new strength, Zhao Fan set out to the forest. With his current strength, he was not scared of roaming the periphery of the forest. When he entered the area where he fought the bear before he saw a familiar sight. It was a black wolf. However, this one was far larger than the first one he killed. When Zhao Fan walked into the clearing, the black wolf turned around and locked its vicious eyes with his.
Smiling, Zhao Fan ran towards the wolf leaving gusts in the air. Although it was a little surprising, the wolf did not waste time and started to charge at him. They soon met in the middle of the clearing, and the wolf pounced at him with its mouth opened. Its maw contained two rows of sharp and deadly teeth which were approaching straight at Zhao Fan's chest.
In response, Zhao Fan did not defend or dodge, instead he unleashed his glowing fist straight at the side of the wolf's head.
BOOM
The wolf's body was instantly thrown away and it dropped to the ground heavily. It's skull was fractured from his punch and the wolf could barely stand up. Not giving it any time to recover, Zhao Fan ran next to it and swung his leg at its head.
Bang
The wolf's head instantly exploded as the kick came in contact with it and its lifeless body fell back to the ground.
"Not bad" Zhao Fan was feeling a little proud of himself at that moment. In just over a week of training his strength has soared by leaps and bounds. Working quickly, he cut away the meat and organs of the wolf before placing them in an empty rice sack. After spending so much time in the forest living in poor conditions every day he was starting to miss his old life. Despite being poor, his father never made him take on any jobs and provided for him which meant that he lived in relative comfort.
"I must make sure my father doesn't have to work a single day from now on" Zhao Fan's expression turned resolute and he headed out of the forest. Passing through the periphery of the forest was a breeze for him and soon he was outside. In the distance was the city which was covered in golden walls.
A while later a figure dressed in ragged clothes and carrying a sack appeared in the busy marketplace of the city. All around him people gathered at the multitudes of stalls and shops lining the street. Zhao Fan looked around and soon found what he was looking for. A decorated shop with a sign "Beast Shop" finally caught his attention.
Walking in, he looked around and saw heads of beasts decorating the walls. Zhao Fan walked to the clerk and took out his rice sack.
"Meat and organs of two darkhide wolves at the beginning and peak second rank, can be used to make pills and body strengthening powder." The middle-aged clerk was quick to summarize upon seeing the contents of the bag.
"Body strengthening powder?" Zhao Fan was confused since he did not know anything about body strengthening.
"How can a cultivator not even know what body strengthening powder is? The meat and organs of the wolf are dried and ground up into body strengthening powder. Then, body cultivators can either smear the powder on their bodies or bathe in diluted powder in order to improve their bodies" The clerk was seemingly used to giving out such trivial information to young cultivators.
"Isn't eating the meat and absorbing the essence the most effective way?" He thought that drying and diluting the essence of the meat was extremely wasteful.
"Hahaha, eating the meat? The essence in the meat can explode a cultivator if it is eaten, especially if raw. Only powerful body cultivators can use it to strengthen their insides. As for absorbing? Everyone knows that the beast essense in the beasts is not compatible with humans so it is not possible to absorb it." The clerk started laughing when he heard Zhao Fan's question, if someone could absorb beast essence, wouldn't body cultivating be extremely easy? Body cultivators have to undergo resistance training by using their bodies to resist the beast essence, as for absorbing, that was only for other beasts.
Hearing this, Zhao Fan almost puked blood. The first time he ate meat he indeed almost exploded, but after that he was able to absorb the essence and become stronger much faster. He thought it was because his body was stronger that he could absorb the essence but it seems like things weren't that simple.
"Anyway, for this meat I can give you 20 spirit stones." The man interrupted Zhao Fan's thought process.
"Sure" After taking the small bag of spirit stones Zhao Fan left the store. Having some money to his name, he first decided to visit the academy before handing over the money to his father. After all, he could just hunt and absorb beast essence which was much more potent than spirit stones anyways.
Navigating the busy city, Zhao Fan soon arrived in front of the academy. It was a big and majestic central building with many courtyards with classrooms for teachers and students around it. At the moment, everyone was training for the tournament so the classrooms were packed with students sparring against each other and getting pointers from their teachers. It was only a few people like Zhao Fan that chose to leave and train privately.
Creak
The door to his classroom opened and Zhao Fan walked in, seeing a lot of familiar faces all around. A man in a blue robe stood at the side and observed the students competing and cultivating, occasionally giving a pointer.
"Teacher Li" Zhao Fan walked up to his teacher and respectfully saluted. To him, his teacher was a great person who believed in him despite his poor background.
"Not bad, peak second rank, you have gone above my expectations" Teacher Li praised his diligent student. His teacher, who was in the Foundation Establishment realm, could naturally distinguish his student's progress.
"Zhao Fan's at the peak of the second rank already!? Come spar with us!" Many students wanted to see a fight and although he did not immediately agree, the adamant attitude of his peers made Zhao Fan eventually follow along. Turning around, he jumped on the sparring arena in the middle of the classroom. Immediately, a familiar face jumped on the other side.
A sinister smile formed on Li Peng's face as a strong aura radiated from his body. It was evident that he had broken through to the third rank.
"I heard that you went to the forest Zhao Fan. How are you still lower ranked than me! You must be an untalented nobody!"
Li Peng charged at an incredible speed. One of his hands was on his sword sheath at his side, waiting to be unleashed when the time was right. It seems that after underestimating his opponent last time, he did not leave himself any room for defeat.
While he was getting closer and closer, Zhao Fan just stood there. A frown formed on his face, Li Peng's aura was much weaker than the wolf he killed earlier.
Swish
A glowing sword was unleashed which created a whistle in the air. Zhao Fan who was facing the attack slowly reached towards Li Peng's arm.
"Hehe" Li Peng smiled at the sight of his sword hitting the side of his opponent's arm. He could already see the arm falling to the ground.
Dang
When the sword met Zhao Fan's forearm, it instantly rebounded away as though striking metal. Incredulity filled his mind as his attack was instantly thrown off. Instead, Zhao Fan's hand kept going and grabbed Li Peng's arm holding the sword. He turned around and drew closer to Li Peng, using his shoulder to flip him and throw him to the ground.
After he learned that he could freely use the power of his qi throughout his body, it wasn't difficult for Zhao Fan to create a barrier anywhere around his body, which meant that he could attack and defend at the same time.
Completely shocked, Li Peng remained motionless on the ground, seemingly contemplating his life choices. It seemed like his opponent didn't even need to defend against his strongest attack, even Foundation Establishment cultivators would not have such strong bodies. Meanwhile, Zhao Fan already got off the stage and walked back to his Teacher. Behind him, all the students who were paying attention to the stage were also speechless.
"Teacher, I have had some luck hunting in the forest, but I came this time to ask you for some new techniques" Zhao Fan realized that although his strength grew by a lot, he had no way to use it effectively. Teacher Li remained standing, deeply contemplating on something. After a moment of silence, he looked at his disciple deeply.
"Follow me"