As they ventured into the heart of Sunset Forest, Su Chen found himself surrounded by a cacophony of roars and the enchanting symphony of birdsong. This verdant wilderness was a stark contrast to anything he had experienced in his previous life.
Their journey continued until darkness enveloped the forest. Setting up camp, they decided to rest until morning.
"Junior Brother Su Chen, can you keep watch tonight? We need to conserve energy for tomorrow's mission. If you notice anything wrong, alert us," requested Shu Feng.
"Ok senior brother," Su Chen replied, unable to refuse.
"Then brother Pang and sister Chen, we will rest until morning tomorrow," Shu Feng declared.
"Um," nodded Chen Ruyu.
Pang Bo shrugged and said, "Whatever," as he walked toward the camp.
Once they were all gone, Su Chen found himself alone on guard duty. With nothing else to do, he began to play around with his blood manipulation talent. He created daggers, strings, and even butterflies from his own blood, improving his skill over time.
After about an hour and a half, he sensed various howls from the forest. Using his new blood sensing technique, he noticed 25-30 sources of blood heading toward their camp. The strongest ones had over 10 times his own blood energy, while the weakest had about half. In the physical realm, cultivators increase the force their body applies, with the max force in the 9th layer being up to 60,000 kg (one-handed), while some freaks and powerful beings like divine beasts reaching up to 66,000 kg.
Seeing the large horde, Su Chen decided to inform the others. Although he could somehow defeat those beasts, revealing his strength might be detrimental in the future.
"What happened?" asked Pang Bo as he saw Su Chen returning towards camp.
"Senior Brother, there seems to be a horde of demonic beasts coming towards us."
"Tch, useless. Well, might as well warm up a bit before the main mission," Pang Bo dismissed with a smirk.
After saying that, he quickly flew up to the top of a tree. Watching him soar, Su Chen felt a bit jealous because only those who break through the spirit training realm can have enough spiritual energy to float like that. Even though Su Chen could float using his blood wings, it wasn't as smooth and required training to do what Pang Bo was doing.
After a few minutes, they heard constant howling from wolves. Seeing the shadows of wolves approaching, Pang Bo got really excited and laughed loudly.
"HEHAHAHAHAHAHA," Pang Bo laughed wildly as he jumped on an oncoming wolf, crushing it. What ensued was a massacre. Pang Bo vividly demonstrated the near-impossibility of anyone with low cultivation trying to challenge a cultivator with high cultivation.
Pang Bo shouted, "Thunder Armament," and suddenly his body was enveloped by what seemed to be clothes made of thunder.
This not only gave him a speed boost but also an additional penetration effect.
With this enhanced power, he effortlessly tore through each and every wolf before they could even react, leaving only the biggest wolf king alive.
Surrounded by the blood and bodies of its clanmates, the wolf king became even more bloodthirsty. With red eyes, it charged toward Pang Bo, crushing trees and rocks in its path.
"Oh, a monster in the 8th layer of physical training," came a voice. Su Chen turned around to find Shu Feng and Chen Ruyu standing on a tree beside him.
Turning his attention toward Pang Bo, Su Chen saw the wolf king about 10 meters away from him. In an instant, Pang Bo disappeared and reappeared beside the wolf king, holding its torn-off head. He casually threw the head back toward the decapitated body and made his way toward the camp.
Witnessing Pang Bo's impressive display of strength left Su Chen in awe. Now he understood how Pang Bo had achieved a top-10 ranking in the previous inner disciple selection. However, Su Chen remained confident that with his hard work and the assistance of the system, he would soon surpass Pang Bo and others. The only thing he lacked was time.
The rest of the night passed without any major disturbances, as other beasts in the area seemed to sense the danger and kept their distance. While the bodies of the wolf king and its clanmates could have served as valuable supplements, preserving their lives took precedence. Although the scent of the fresh kill attracted some unintelligent half-beasts, Su Chen easily dealt with them using simple fireballs.
Morning arrived, and they proceeded toward the center of the forest. As they approached the mission location, Shu Feng explained the task to Su Chen. Their mission was to hunt a demonic tiger at the 6th layer of spirit training, which had been posing a threat to disciples collecting herbs in the forest. Since they were all at the 5th layer of spirit training, taking down a beast at the 6th layer would be manageable if they collaborated.
Approaching the lair of the tiger demon, Su Chen noticed a decrease in temperature and a subtle scent of blood in the air.
Walking for about 5 minutes, they noticed a cave in their field of view. As they approached it, they heard a tiger roar, and soon a huge black tiger emerged from the cave.
"HAHAHAHA, let me try its power first, Brother Shu and Sister Chen," shouted Pang Bo as he rushed toward the tiger with thunder clothing enveloping his body.
In the blink of an eye, Pang Bo was in front of the tiger. "Thunder ape fist!" he shouted, delivering a powerful punch toward the black tiger. However, just as he was about to make contact, Pang Bo noticed a human-like look of amusement in the tiger's eyes, following which the tiger disappeared from his senses.
"Careful, Brother Pang!" shouted Brother Shu.
As Pang Bo turned to look for the black tiger, he felt a rush of hot air from behind, and then everything went dark.
Seeing Pang Bo's half-bitten body, Su Chen could only think, 'Oh, shit!'