On the way back to the base they didn't meet any other beasts. This was considered normal, since you would usually only meet the first weaker beasts upon entering about 5 km into the forest.
It was extremely strange for them to meet such a strong energy refinement beast after walking for just 3km. Usually beasts with the strength of the bear could only be found after entering at the very least 50km into the forest.
That is also the reason why they wanted to contact the stationed sect members. Such a developement was very strange and sometimes it was a sign for a beasttide in the making.
Cultivators in the bronze refinement stage like Alex could easily run with a speed of about 30km/h without getting exhausted. Their top speed usually reached about 50km/h. So they reached the base after just a few minutes.
Upon arrival Alex first went to a service that was responsible for delivering dead bodies to their parents or relatives. This way they could receive a proper burial and would be informed of the state of their loved ones.
Afterwards they parted ways. But not before exchanging their information and adding each other as friends in the system.
This way they could easily contact each other in the future.
„Me and Alex will probably head home now. We need to first take a pause for us to grief."
„Before that we will head to the leader of the base and inform him of the bear we met so close to use. This way other people hopefully won't have to deal with what we had to."
„What's your plan now? Are you still going to head into the forest and try your luck or go home?" Alex asked.
„I will head into the forest. I didn't really get the fighting experience I came here for yet."
„Okay good luck. Try to be careful though and don't enter too far."
Why would Kael head back already. He could pretty easily deal with early stage Energy Refinement stage and even had the confidence to run away from higher level beasts.
Additionally, when fighting with the bear he felt like he needed just another small push to further increase the mastery level of his techniques.
Kael estimated that if he fought with a 2nd stage Energy Refinement beast or above he should be able to easily push his mastery into the Limit-Breaker level.
Also, didn't he always wish for more action in this past life? Fighting stronger beasts is the beast way for the current Kael to get some action. Of course he could try to spar with other geniuses but there would be less danger, meaning less action as well.
With all that said, Kael finally headed into the forest after saying his goodbyes to the twins one last time.
On his way into the forest he killed all the small fry. Even though he felt kind of bad for those beasts, ultimately they were still worth a few credits. And since he could instantly put them up for sale in the system he didn't even need to store them anywhere.
When selling things over the system market they are stored in a subspace belonging to the system. This ensures that you can't break them or alter them after putting them up for sale.
After heading into the beastforest for a total of 20 km he finally met his first stage in the Energy Refinement realm.
‚It seems like the bear from before was really an anomaly. While this beast is also closer to the base than it's supposed to be, it's nowhere near as close as the bear.'
The beast in front of him was a single monkey with brown fur. Kael took the initiative and rushed towards it trying to get in the first hit.
The monkey, taken by surprise couldn't really defend in time and took some great damage from Kael's explosive fist technique. This way the fight was basically won already and he barely struggled to finish it off.
Kael continued on this way for another 2 hours, altering between fighting 1st stage Energy Refinement realm and Bronze Refinement beasts.
Finally when he felt like he was just on the brink of elevating both of his combat thechniques to the Limit Breaking mastery he met a second stage beast. It was a big grey wolf, about 2 meters tall and 4 meters long.
‚Weird, I thought that wolves always came in packs. Seems like it's different for ones that are able to cultivate.'
‚But it's just what I need right now to further elevate my techniques. So let's begin this fight already.'
This time Kael first drew the attention of the wolf, wanting to fight it in its top condition.
This way, the man and the wolf engaged in a bitter fight. But Kael seemed to gain the upper hand. While continuously using his technique you could see a sharp increase in his fighting strength, his movements became faster and more fluid, and his punches packed more strength.
In this way the wolf was slowly losing. Kael was able to dodge most of its attacks and his own hit even harder. But the wolf could still hold on until…
{WOOSSHH}
Kael exploded with a speed way faster than before, easily reaching over 100 km/h. This way he dodged a bite of the wolf and reached his flank. There, whilst still keeping his forward momentum, he pulled back his fist and punched out with all his strength.
It hit the wolf square in the side with a strength at least 1.5 times stronger than before. Kael's punch broke a few of the wolfes ribs and they punctured its vital organs, making the wolf cough up blood.
‚I've finally reached the maximum mastery in my techniques and took them over their limits. Ughh this took forever, I don't even know how other people with a lower comprehension deal with this.'
If any other being heard him these words, they would probably cough up blood.
But just before Kael wanted the finish this fight, the wolf lifted its head skywards and started howling.
„Haha, what are you trying to do? Call your friends? No one is going to come, you've lost already." Kael said, mocking the wolf. If the wolf heard him say this it would probably laugh at his ignorance.
At the next moment, Keal heard a lot of steps behind him and the sound of branches breaking. Suddenly over 10 wolves broke through the bushes behind him with a bloodthirsty look in their eyes.
„Seems like I was wrong, your friends did come." Kael cursed his luck. These wolves came from the direction of the base and their strength was mostly at the 2nd stage, with some even being in the 3rd and the leader of the pack at the 4th.
Kaels only option was to flee further into the forest through the thick bushes.
Luckily he was able to lose them after running for another 30 km. The critical factor for his ability to escape was probably the thick bushes and high trees.
With the spike in spiritual energy on earth, the average height for trees and bushes increased by five times since they grew way quicker and also in larger numbers. Therefore it was pretty easy to lose sight of an opponent in this thick forest where you couldn't even see more than 5 meters ahead most of the time.
‚Where am I even, I seem to have moved pretty far into the forest.'
Kael was surrounded by 50 meter tall trees and thick scrub. Behind him was a small mountain with an incline in terrain.
‚I hope there aren't any monsters here that are too strong otherwise I'm probably fu…'
At this moment Kael felt a strong aura coming from behind him. It was probably at the least in the 9th stage of the Energy Refinement Realm and could instantly kill Kael.
‚Fuck, Fuck what should I do? No other option, I gotta run away!'
As Kael moved through the bushes behind him that covered the bottom of the mountain he suddenly saw an opening leading into the mountain.
‚Ughh, I'm kind of between a rock and a hard place right now. Well no other option, I definitely can't win against the beast behind me. Better enter this cave and hope there's no on inside.'
The cave had a pretty small entry and from the sound the beast behind him made Kael was sure it wouldn't fit inside.
So instead of the sure death that waited for him outside he chose to gamble and entered the cave.