Slowly, the trails he used to entrap the bear faded, and it roared angrily. Earth swiftly gathered around its claw, compressing itself to form an extremely sharp tip. In a flash, the earthen claw swiped towards Iguro, seeming to cut him in half.
However, a moment later, he appeared behind the beast, and it quickly turned around and clawed again, cutting him in two. With a roar, it glared hatefully at Iguro about ten metres away, and suddenly pounced, releasing multiple claw swipes.
Once again, Iguro dodged all, even improving in his evasion, as it seemed like he hadn't moved throughout the entire process.
Suddenly, the bear looked around in fear, and quickly clawed at a fire trail that had appeared out of thin air. The flames quickly dispersed, but another flared right behind it, searing it's flesh. With a pained howl, it clawed at Iguro again, only to hit his afterimage, and the annoying human appearing again behind him.
Iguro paid no heed to the enraged creature, and continued to evade and dodge all of its attacks, all the while leaving no trace. After ten seconds, Iguro suddenly smiled and snapped his fingers.
"Ah! I'll call it Humble Fury!" With a grin, Iguro suddenly moved tens of metres away, leaving a magnificent blazing trail. Like a matchstick lighting up, the dormant trails all flared, transforming the area to a firestorm.
The surrounding bushery gave way to his tyrannical flames, and he smiled triumphantly as he witnessed the firestorm fade. However, how could a pinnacle Normal Grade beast be killed so easily? While the firestorm raged, it enclosed itself in an earthen material that covered it in a sphere. With a berserk roar, it rushed at him, clawing wildly.
Iguro grinned naturally and further annoyed it by pretending to slow down, giving it a slimmer of hope. A day slowly passed, and the bear suddenly lost all signs of interest. With an enraged and resentful growl, it turned away, it's short tail seeming to sway as it walked on its fours, a sight that he found quite comical for a beast attempting to claim his life. It's attitude was more like 'Hmph! Since you don't want me to kill you then I'll leave!'
The more he thought about it, the funnier it became.
After a while, he had fully consolidated his gains and flashed deeper towards the forest. The bear confirmed his hunch on his location, being at the core region. With his current depth, trying to go back would lead to certain death. Powerful as his movement skill was, using Blazing Steps was tasking, speak less of Humble Fury.
Though uncommon, cultivators ranked their progress in skills they utilized with ten steps. It's was simply grouped First Stage to Tenth Stage, with a subgrouping of small perfection, great perfection and consummate.
He estimated that he was in great perfection Second Stage right now with Blazing Steps. However, Burning Fists still remained at small perfection First Stage, as he had not found a suitable scenario to use it yet.
He quickly headed deeper into the forest, leaving faint red afterimages behind. Though he was anxious to find out the secrets or Korax, it was way too dangerous for an E Grade cultivator, akin to sending himself to death's door.
After passing through the core region, he found himself in the right side of the core region. If he continued further, he would pass through the mid and periphery regions again, but would proceed to a new place different from the one he was used to. The idea caused excitement within him, and he rapidly recuperated, then proceeded to reach the periphery in the least possible time.
Though he was exhausted due to the amounts of Qi he used up, he quickly regenerated his energies as he walked. Over time, he found himself atop a small hill, and a plain grassland stretching to the distance.
It was already sunset, and he spotted a nearby city, so he quickened his pace. Whether it was the torment of walking alone in a thick forest for nearly three weeks, or just the euphoria of entering a new environment, Iguro felt relieved as he reached the city.
Feeling himself suddenly pass through a membranous-like barrier, he heaved a sigh if relief and sought the city gates, finding it a short moment later. An influx of cultivators was normal for any city, even more so now that the Hunter Association had begun reeling in willing cultivators for the exploration and conquering of the realm everyone had had began to call Savanah Red.
This was due to the look of the realm. It was terrained like the usual savannahs, scattered trees and such. But everything in the realm was red.
Yes.
Red.
Like some sponge dipped into red paint, everything in this realm was tinged with a hue of red, including the flora and living organisms inhabiting this odd realm. The abiotic factors of this realm were even worse off in this regard. The only consolation was that no sentient beings housed within the realm.
As Iguro closely eavesdropped on the bunch talking about the odd place, he sneered. What sentient being could be bred from such factors?
"Though people say it's like a savannah, there are still regions that are desolate, regions that are flushed with forestry, and even coastal regions!"
"Huh?"
"It is called Savanah Red to give people the idea that it practically a sparse tree zone with a dominant red color, but that's not really the full truth."
Iguro's ears suddenly perked up, and he sipped a beverage leisurely as he saw the man who was speaking suddenly stare around with extreme vigilance.
Iguro nearly frowned. This person's perception was high, to be able to notice him even when he was extremely careful. After fifteen breaths, he seemed to drop his guard and silently whispered to the three around him, "It's called such because anything that dies within the realm, doesn't turn to a corpse, but a Malevolent Orb."
"Besides that, there are numerous Malevolent Orb Veins within the realm, which are ranked Lower, Upper and Peak."
"What's a Malevolent Orb?" Iguro sighed in relief as he heard this question. He had thought he was the only one to not know such a treasure.
"Normal cultivators are not expected to know Malevolent Orbs. Heck, some never even see it in their lives!" The man speaking chuckled darkly. Iguro frowned, noticing a faint evil aura emanating from the man.
"Only Evil cultivators know of this. Basically, a Malevolent Orb is the accumulation of a cultivator's strength into a crystalline blood colored orb. It's name is derived from the fact that it's refinery method involves using Evil Qi, but other than that, it can be absorbed seamlessly into one's dantian, boosting the said person's strength instantly."