TL: Etude
Refining one's skin was the first threshold Ye Tian needed to break. Consequently, he planned to create a top-tier defensive talent through a fusion process. Among humans, very few possessed such high-level defensive abilities, and no reports had come from the Demon Sea Base about anyone having high-tier or top-tier defensive talents; the highest reported were only of medium level. However, ferocious beasts with high-tier and top-tier defensive abilities were not uncommon.
Ye Tian realized that if he wanted to obtain high-tier or top-tier defensive talents, he would have to turn to these ferocious beasts for a solution.
"Last time I was lucky enough to encounter a beast with an high-tier defensive talent," Ye Tian mused. "But luck can't last forever. It's impossible to find all four top-tier talents within the Demon Sea Base. I must venture into the wilderness."
Originally, Ye Tian had intended to enter the wilderness only after becoming a Grandmaster, but now, to break his physical limitations and establish a perfect foundation, he had no choice but to leave the Demon Sea Base.
What relieved Ye Tian was that the Demon Sea Base had much more detailed information about these ferocious beasts compared to the Coastal Base. Beasts with defensive, strength, indestructible bone, and bloodline talents were all meticulously recorded, and the varieties were plentiful. Ye Tian purchased this information and prepared to leave the Demon Sea Base shortly.
Before leaving, Ye Tian instructed Xiao Zi and Xiao Jin: "Both of you must protect Xiao Yu, understand?"
Xiao Zi and Xiao Jin nodded vigorously, committing Ye Tian's command to memory. With Xiao Jin and Xiao Zi protecting his sister, he felt very at ease. Xiao Zi had already broken through to the top-tier ferocious beast level, and Xiao Jin was at the high-level ferocious beast limit. With their talents combined, they were more than capable of protecting his sister, Xiao Yu.
Additionally, the Demon Sea Base was very secure; he didn't worry about his sister's safety.
One day, Ye Tian left the Demon Sea Base. As he passed through the array gateway and entered the wilderness, five Grandmasters followed him from a distance.
"Five little rats?" Ye Tian perceived the presence of the five Grandmasters trailing him and couldn't help but smirk. He had already expected to be followed. After all, he had spent 190 billion at the Martial Pavilion auction, drawing a lot of attention.
Although he had managed to shake off his pursuers at that time, a careful investigation would surely reveal his identity. "Many must have investigated my background and found out I have no influential backing. They see me as a fat sheep ripe for the slaughter," Ye Tian reasoned.
Those five Grandmasters obviously intended to ambush him. Anyone else in his position would likely have been desperate, but not Ye Tian. He had the option to use teleportation or 120-fold supersonic speed to shake them off, but that would expose his top-tier speed and space talents. The second option was to eliminate these five Grandmasters to get rid of the nuisance.
After a mere second of contemplation, Ye Tian made his decision. "I'll just eliminate them," he muttered to himself.
Both parties seemed to have the same thought. Neither wanted to make a move near the Demon Sea Base, fearing unforeseen complications. They both traveled farther and farther away from the base.
"Here is good," Ye Tian stopped in front of a forest called Yun Hai (Cloud Sea) Forest, a place even larger than the Xiao Qianye Forest. It housed many top-tier ferocious beasts and even King-level ones. He chose to resolve the matter with the five 'rats' trailing him here, making this their final resting place.
Soon, the five Grandmasters arrived.
"Now!" Ye Tian commanded.
The five Grandmasters acted swiftly, unwilling to waste any time. Boom, boom, boom! Their immense auras seemed to pierce the heavens and the earth, launching an attack with overwhelming force. They moved at incredible speeds, nearly 20 times the speed of sound, far surpassing that of an ordinary martial warrior. Facing such a coordinated attack, only Yun Feng, the top combat genius at the Demon Sea Base, would have had a chance to counter. However, Ye Tian was a combat genius far surpassing Yunfeng.
"Ants!"
Ye Tian muttered under his breath and acted in an instant. Under the speed of 120 times the speed of sound, Ye Tian executed a lethal strike. Thud, thud, thud! Heads flew through the air. Like ordinary people, the five Grandmasters were effortlessly killed by Ye Tian. Their headless bodies thudded to the ground.
"Five storage bags, not bad; they'll allow me to carry more stuff!"
Ye Tian seized the five storage bags from the Grandmasters and instantly vanished into the Cloud Sea Forest.
Half a day later.
A middle-aged man arrived, searching the surroundings and quickly locating the bodies of the five Grandmasters.
"Killed in a single stroke—five Grandmasters dead in one hit. Could a top-level Grandmaster have done this?"
The middle-aged man was shocked. He himself was a top-level Grandmaster and knew well the terrifying abilities of his peers. The dead Grandmasters were merely ordinary ones, just a bit stronger than those who had recently advanced to that level. Against a top-level Grandmaster, these five had no chance to even counter.
"Damn, I thought that having five Grandmasters ambush a martial warrior would be a cinch. Who would've thought they'd get killed? Could the young man have a top-level Grandmaster protecting him secretly?"
Regret filled the middle-aged man. Had he known, he would have personally taken action. Now, he had lost five subordinates and gained nothing, clearly a significant loss.
He cast a long, forlorn glance at the Cloud Sea Forest before sighing and giving up on pursuing Ye Tian. Too much time had passed; he had no way to locate him. He was able to find the corpses of the Grandmasters only because of their wrist communicator locators. He buried the bodies of his five subordinates and left without delay.
Within the Cloud Sea Forest.
Ye Tian had searched for a long time. He found plenty of ferocious beasts but none with high-level or top-level defensive talents. According to the data, however, the Cloud Sea Forest was home to a wide variety of beasts, and the talents he needed could be found there. His spatial awareness extended, covering a range of 5000 meters. This extended range was mainly because Ye Tian's cultivation had reached the peak for a martial warrior, far surpassing his past abilities. As his cultivation improved, so did his spatial awareness.
Five days passed in a flash. Just when Ye Tian was furrowing his brows in frustration, a target beast appeared.
"Black Armor Bear!"
Ye Tian looked at a Black Armor Bear more than 4000 meters away and smiled. According to the information, the Black Armor Bear possibly possessed high-level defensive and strength talents. It was a high-level ferocious beast and nearly the overlord among high-level beasts. If not for its speed falling short compared to top-level beasts, it could have dominated most of them.
"That's the one!"
Ye Tian quickly chased after it. He needed to get within 600 meters of the Black Armor Bear to initiate the copying process. Even though his cultivation had improved, this range had increased by only 100 meters, much to his chagrin.