Confirming his Strength, Heading to the Secret Realm
The two sides of the wolf demonic beast slowly flew from their low height and splattered onto the ground, spraying out bright red blood like a fountain.
However, Xue Bai didn't dodge it and let it stain his robe.
His robe cleaned itself automatically so that the stain wouldn't last long. Moreover, he wasn't much of a neat freak anyways, so a bit of blood didn't scare him.
Sheathing his Deep Glacier Sword, Xue Bai turned back at the Wang twins, who both had wry smiles on their faces.
Xue Bai's space element was beyond terrifying. Even though Xue Bai had a sword stronger than the wolf, it wasn't so overwhelmingly strong that it could cleanly cut through a beast with no tension.
Maybe only a high or peak Yellow-grade sword could do that.
"Young Master, your space element is terrifying as always." Little Wang complimented Xue Bai after he returned back to reality.
"Indeed, if your opponent weren't prepared and didn't defend themselves fully, they wouldn't even know how they died." Big Wang seconded.
Every element that a Martial Vein did something different when it was imbued into a weapon. The fire element would coat the sword with a layer of burning flames. The poison element would apply a layer of poison to it, and so on.
And from the three demonic beasts that Xue Bai had fought against, he realized that his Space element made his sword function as a separator. So whatever his sword slashed when imbued with his element would be cut through if it wasn't more than two realms stronger than him.
If Xue Bai had a clean attack against someone who wasn't prepared for it, a kill was almost guaranteed. It was a great revelation to figure out, and Xue Bai was happy he decided to test it out before entering the secret realm.
This would be one of his greatest tools in the future!
The wolf had assumed that Xue Bai's weak swing would only stab his fur and not mortally wound it. So it decided to go blow for blow and rip Xue Bai's jugular while he took a stab to the neck.
But sadly, the wolf didn't expect Xue Bai to cleanly sever its neck before it even reached him.
Sheathing his Deep Glacier Sword, Xue Bai went over to the wolf and started his attempt at dismantling it for its valuable parts.
Xue Bai knew that he would move away from home eventually, and once he did, he would also be left without any allowance.
However, cultivation needed just as many resources as talents, so if Xue Bai wanted any money, hunting demonic beasts would serve as a good way to get a large stable income.
Knowing that Xue Bai wanted to start practicing his dismantling skills on lower-level demonic beasts. Having a foundation in any skill was important, especially something that would be extremely important in his future endeavors.
And while skinning and gutting an animal wasn't the most fun activity, Xue Bai knew how much it would help him in the longer run.
Closing his nostrils with some Spiritual Qi, Xue Bai pulled out a large dagger made for dismantling demonic beasts and started his first attempt at the occupation.
Since the wolf's fur was already dyed beyond recognition and roughed up even before Xue Bai fought it, he decided not to skin it as it wouldn't sell. So he only took the claws and the teeth.
His practice session was short, but it was only the beginning. Xue Bai would have more time to practice another time.
"Alright, Big Wang, find another one, preferably one stronger than this. The last two didn't even fight back and were sliced in two instantly." Xue Bai ordered.
Big Wang smiled wryly at that.
'It's because your element is too strong against these mindless beasts. They don't even bother to protect themselves and just charge to their deaths.'
But Big Wang didn't say his thoughts and merely spread out his Spiritual Sense to search out stronger beasts.
As a peak Law Engraving Cultivator, Big Wang's Spiritual Sense could extend out for hundreds if not thousands of miles.
Using his Spiritual Sense like a long-range radar, Big Wang easily found a demonic beast just as strong as the wolf Xue Bai had just killed.
It was an oddly skinned leopard that was resting in a small lake only a few kilometers away.
Locking it down with his Spiritual Sense, Big Wang relayed his findings to his Young Master and disappeared from his original position, only leaving an afterimage behind.
However, just as quickly as he left, he returned, this time with a leopard in tow.
"Young Master, I brought the demonic beast." Bigg Wang spoke as he tossed it onto the ground roughly.
The leopard would die sooner or later. And the skin of a demonic beast was extremely tough and resilient. So even if it fell from a building, it wouldn't be damaged much, let alone a small toss from waist level.
On the side of the leopard, like the wolf from earlier, was having a horrible time.
Only a few minutes ago, it was peacefully enjoying its day when suddenly, it felt a god-like pressure immobilize it.
The leopard was arrogant, though. It had just evolved from a stupid and primitive beast into a demonic beast. After all, a bit of arrogance was normal.
However, this didn't last very long, as Big Wang's aura was too strong. And then, after it had unwillingly accepted its fate, a human came out of nowhere, grabbed it by the fur on its neck, and ran off with it.
Moreover, even after the human reached its destination, it was rudely thrown onto the ground.
'Who did I offend?!' The leopard wanted to cry.
Thankfully it seemed that it was dying. Rolling off the ground, it looked around and started to assess its situation.
'A human child?'
Now that it was able to move freely, the leopard finally sized up Xue Bai standing in front of it.
While it could detect some Spiritual Qi from Xue Bai, the leopard found that it was a lot less compared to its own.
And like the wolf from earlier, the leopard was confident in its physical strength.
The difference in physiques was huge. Xue Bai was a child with almost no muscles anywhere on his body.
But the leopard was something that lived, breathed, and existed for killing. From the thick thigh muscles, it constantly tempered during the day-to-day running to the dense calf muscles it used when pouncing on prey. The leopard beat Xue Bai in almost every physical regard.
Instantly, the leopard decided that Xue Bai was easy prey, and without any hesitation or regard, it leaped at Xue Bai using its thick thigh muscles.
Instantly, it arrived in front of Xue Bai, swiping its claw at his face.
The leopard was smarter than the previous demonic beasts, and instead of using its sharp and dangerous jaws capable of ripping through bones, it used the much more versatile and safer option of the claws.
Calm, Xue Bai jumped back to avoid the claw attack, letting the leopard miss by a few feet.
And, like his fight with Xiao'er, he started his offensive.
Xue Bai was weaker than the leopard, but at the same time, he also had a one-shot kill option in his back pocket.
Being close to the leopard was the best option for Xue Bai.
Lunging toward it, Xue Bai stabbed out with his Deep Glacier Sword, planning to skewer the beast like a kebab.
It was a simple move, yet an effective one. The leopard hadn't fully landed from its previous attack and was in the middle of a small recovering window that Xue Bai took advantage of perfectly.
However, the leopard's cat-like reflexes and instincts were too sharp, and it was able to respond in time, dodging the attack altogether by merely twisting its body irregularly in a way no other demonic beast could do.
"Tsk, this thing is too fast." Xue Bai mumbled angrily.
Feline demonic beasts were the species with one of the highest dexterity and agility among all demonic beasts. And while the leopard wasn't very talented, nor did it have a strong bloodline that gave it strength, its racial benefits were more than enough to give Xue Bai a headache.
But Xue Bai wasn't very annoyed. He was the one who wanted a good fight.
So without letting up on his opponent, onto the leopard once more!
He wanted to dictate the rhythm of the fight!
Sending out a flurry of sword slashes at the leopard, Xue Bai started to put more and more pressure on the leopard, trying to find a hole in its defenses.
Yet the demonic beast managed to dodge all of his attacks with ease.
The leopard didn't even use its powerful, fleshy body to deflect a sword strike and instead purely relied on its reflexes which annoyed Xue Bai even more as he didn't have a single chance to use his space element.
But in good news, Xue Bai gained valuable experience in this fight. Unlike his previous three fights, this one lasted longer than 5 minutes giving him the much-needed to adapt and grow that his other fights didn't give him.
And through this battle, Xue Bai finally understood how strong he was.
Xue Bai was currently in the 5th stage of the Vein Transformation realm. But despite that, he could leapfrog cultivation stages and was as strong as someone in the 2nd stage of the Blood Exchange realm.
It was a small amount, but Xue Bai had just started cultivating. After getting his goal in the secret realm, Xue Bai was confident that his combat power would take another huge jump!
Xue Bai fought with the leopard for another 10 minutes before the leopard grew tired and gave up. Finally, lying on the dirt with its head on the ground, the leopard accepted its fate.
At the beginning of the fight, the leopard thought the boy in front of it was easy prey. Considering that, it was confident in its chance to kill Xue Bai and possibly even escape.
But now, after almost 10 minutes of fighting, its dreams were extinguished.
Big Wang was nearby as well.
How could it possibly escape? So why bother to continue fighting this purple-haired boy and die later even more tired and pathetic? It was better to die now on its own accord.
Xue Bai sensed that and didn't bother to tease the demonic beast.
Infusing his Deep Glacier Sword with his space element, Xue Bai threw the sword at the motionless leopard, instantly piercing its skull.
Though the leopard had seemingly surrendered, Xue Bai would never trust the actions of a demonic beast. So rather than stupidly going near the thing and potentially dying, Xue Bai confirmed the kill before even getting near it.
After dismantling it for its skin, claws, and teeth, Xue Bai placed them all in his spatial ring before announcing his next move.
"Alright, we've been out here for almost a day. We are going to the secret realm now." Xue Bai spoke to the twins.
"We'll be right behind you, Young Master!'
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