CHAPTER 9: THE FIRST DEMONIC BEAST HUNT

Lu Chen fixed his gaze on the charging Iron-Armored Rhino, taking a deep breath and calming his mind. He had just been complaining about the possibility of the demonic beast crushing him to death, but now that it was truly upon him, he had no choice but to pull himself together and face it head-on. In that instant, he embodied the courage of a true cultivator—fearlessness against any enemy, no matter how overwhelming their strength.

Not daring to underestimate the Iron-Armored Rhino, Lu Chen promptly assumed an attack stance. Just as the rhino was about to reach him, he activated the Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment technique and darted behind it. He landed a solid punch right on its rear, followed closely by a powerful palm strike.

The Iron-Armored Rhino instantly let out a pained bellow. It tried to turn around, but due to its massive size, its movements were sluggish. By the time it managed to face him, Lu Chen had already landed five palm strikes.

Next, Lu Chen unleashed Silver Snake Emerges From Its Lair to restrict the rhino's movement. He followed up with Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment, reappearing behind it once again. He repeated this hit-and-run strategy several times. In response, the Iron-Armored Rhino grew increasingly frenzied and broke into a rampage.

Lu Chen leapt up to the closest treetop. By now, he had already figured out the rhino's attack patterns and rhythm. He also understood why Feng Tiancheng had said this demonic beast was perfect for a beginner's beast-hunting trial. He intended to take advantage of this opportunity to practice his movement techniques, martial skills, and divine abilities. As long as he kept the tempo right, he could wear the rhino down to death. It would also help him refine his control over spirit qi.

With that plan in mind, Lu Chen launched his assault. He kept circling the Iron-Armored Rhino and attacking nonstop. He unleashed every technique in his arsenal: fists, palms, Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment, Silver Snake Emerges From Its Lair, and the Green Sovereign Divine Vines. He made full use of this opportunity to practice everything he had learned, refining his control over spirit qi with every move.

In the process, the incredible defense of the Iron-Armored Rhino became apparent. Lu Chen had been attacking the rhino for quite a while, yet it had only suffered minor wounds. Even so, this worked to Lu Chen's advantage, allowing him to train longer without having to worry about killing it too quickly.

As Lu Chen continued practicing his techniques, the wounds on the rhino gradually deepened.

Suddenly, the Iron-Armored Rhino stopped moving and let out two bellows toward the sky. It began to swell, its horns growing thicker and longer.

Feng Tiancheng's voice rang out urgently, "Little Lu, be careful! That demonic beast is evolving!"

Lu Chen's heart sank.

This is bad! he thought as panic gripped him.

If the Iron-Armored Rhino evolved, it would advance to a level-seven Qi Absorption Realm demonic beast, which was far beyond what he could handle. He could no longer afford to keep training. He had to end this quickly.

Lu Chen increased the intensity of his attacks, hoping to take the Iron-Armored Rhino down before its transformation was complete. However, in the time it took him to land only two strikes, the Iron-Armored Rhino had already finished evolving.

Seeing that, Lu Chen quickly pulled back, trying to reassess the situation before making another move.

The Iron-Armored Rhino had doubled in size, and its horns were gleaming with a fiery red glow. It immediately charged at Lu Chen at more than twice its earlier speed. Lu Chen couldn't react in time. He was sent flying and crashed into a tree, snapping it in half.

He rubbed his chest, struggling to get back on his feet. Looks like I have underestimated this demonic beast. To think its evolved form would be this strong.

Lu Chen circled the rhino, looking for an opening. The extended fight had nearly entirely drained his spirit qi, and his stamina was running low.

The Iron-Armored Rhino stared him down, scraping its feet against the ground and snorting white mist from its nostrils. Moments later, it charged again.

As the Iron-Armored Rhino charged at him, Lu Chen quickly formed a hand seal. This was the first form of Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms—Blazing Sun Cleaves the Heaven.

He knew he only had one chance. If this strike could take the demonic beast down, he'd be safe. If not, he would have to retreat. Survival was the most important thing.

He drew the fire-attribute spirit qi from the Yang Ocean Pearl and channeled it into his palms, greatly enhancing the power of the technique. Earlier, he had noticed several gashes on the rhino's rear, and they were now oozing blood. Even if it didn't kill the beast outright, a clean hit on those wounds would still deal a serious injury.

As the final seal was completed, fire engulfed his hands. Lu Chen watched the rhino barrel toward him and used Silver Snake Emerges From Its Lair to slow its charge. At the same time, he activated the Green Sovereign Divine Vines and bound the rhino's four legs. He then used Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment to dash behind it.

Lu Chen focused on the rhino's wounded rear and unleashed the Blazing Sun Cleaves the Heaven directly onto one of the gashes. He hadn't expected the palm strike to be this devastating. The blazing force pierced straight into the Iron-Armored Rhino, draining Lu Chen's remaining spirit qi and strength.

The rhino let out a roar of pain and thrashed violently, flinging Lu Chen away. With no energy left, Lu Chen collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

The Iron-armored Rhino continued to struggle, smashing its surroundings. To Lu Chen's surprise, the Green Sovereign Divine Vines didn't vanish after his spirit qi was fully depleted. They remained tightly wrapped around the rhino's legs, continuously draining its life force and channeling it back into Lu Chen. They were slowly restoring his energy and stamina.

Eventually, the Iron-Armored Rhino collapsed and died.

Lu Chen burst into laughter as he stared at the pool of blood flowing from the rhino's rear. He had poured everything he had into the fight, and the thrill of battle left him exhilarated. The parts of his martial techniques he hadn't fully grasped before were now perfectly clear to him, and his control over spirit qi had reached a new level.

Forcing himself upright, he deactivated his divine ability and tended to his wounds. Once finished, he sat down cross-legged, beginning to recover.

Time passed quickly; before long, his spirit qi was nearly fully restored. This was when Feng Tiancheng flew out from the Twin-Fish Medallion.

Lu Chen walked over to the Iron-Armored Rhino's corpse. Its body had shriveled and lost its luster. The Green Sovereign Divine Vines had drained the rhino of every last drop of life essence.

Feng Tiancheng said, "Ever since your Green Sovereign Divine Vines appeared, they have mostly shown offensive power, with only minor support capabilities at best. I originally assumed the changes were due to you developing new abilities. But after what just happened, it seems your vines may have developed a hint of spiritual intelligence. They used to absorb only the life force from spirit plants, but now they can drain beasts too."

Lu Chen took in Feng Tiancheng's words. He had already sensed during the fight that the Green Sovereign Divine Vines could attack on their own without needing much direction. That was a good thing for Lu Chen.

Right now, his only truly powerful offensive art was Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms, and even then, he barely managed to throw out two palm strikes.

However, with the vines able to attack independently, it was like gaining an extra helper in battle. He now basically had a two-against-one advantage. Additionally, the vines could absorb life essence to restore his energy. In prolonged fights, this constant cycle of attacking and recovering could easily wear down even stronger enemies.

The thought made Lu Chen burst into laughter. Although the vines consumed a lot of spirit qi, their ability to replenish his energy more than made up for it. Compared to the toll of using the first form of Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms, relying on the vines felt much more worthwhile.

A sense of excitement welled up inside him. Who knows what other abilities the Green Sovereign Divine Vines might unlock in the future?

Feng Tiancheng said, "I don't know why your divine ability turned out this way, but when fighting others, avoid absorbing their life essence. In the eyes of the world, that's no different from being a demon."

Lu Chen nodded. "Got it, Grandpa Feng. I'll be careful."

He then pulled out the small knife he carried with him. It was time to collect the spoils from his first beast hunt.

He ran the blade across the Iron-Armored Rhino's belly. Without spirit qi to reinforce it, the Iron-Armored Rhino's hide split open with ease.

Lu Chen reached inside with his hand and began feeling around. Feng Tiancheng had said that a demonic beast's demon core was usually located in the abdominal cavity.

After some searching, Lu Chen finally pulled out a round demon core from a hidden spot.

The demon core still carried remnants of the Iron-Armored Rhino's aura, with faint traces of hatred lingering within. Lu Chen waved his hand to disperse the lingering aura, then examined the core. It was a high-grade Qi Absorption Realm demon core, brimming with spirit qi.

Human cultivators couldn't directly absorb demon cores, so they were usually used as materials for formations or medicinal pills. Sometimes, they were traded in human settlements for spirit stones or spirit liquid.

Spirit stones and spirit liquid were both extracted and refined from Heavenly Pools and were rich in spirit qi. One spirit stone was roughly equivalent to ten thousand drops of spirit liquid. Aside from being cultivation resources, they also served as currency among cultivators.

Lu Chen stared at the demon core in his hand, a sense of satisfaction blooming in his chest. He couldn't help but wonder how many spirit stones it could fetch. The thought of living a better life after rescuing his grandfather made him grin uncontrollably.

Just as he was about to put the demon core away, a vine suddenly shot out from his abdomen and snatched it away. Lu Chen instinctively tried to grab it back. After all, that core was worth money!

However, before he could grab it, the tip of the vine opened like a small mouth and swallowed the demon core whole. As it digested the core, Lu Chen could clearly feel the demonic energy being absorbed by the vines, while the spirit qi was channeled into the black and white fish within the sea of qi in his Heavenly Pool.

Perhaps out of guilt, the black and white twin fish quickly cleared a circular space at the intersection of the red and blue spirit qi, then signalled for the Green Sovereign Divine Vines to enter.

Lu Chen watched this unfold and nearly shouted, You bunch of thieves! This is my Heavenly Pool, my sea of qi, and my demon core! How could you just split it up among yourselves like that? This is outright robbery!

After the vines finished absorbing the demon energy and saw the space cleared by the twin fish, they gradually merged back into a single stalk and dove in without hesitation.

From its base, countless root-like tendrils stretched outward, burrowing deep into the red, yellow, and blue regions. These roots dug deeper and deeper into where two types of spirit qi were present, steadily drawing strength from both to replenish the main stalk. At the same time, the foundation at the bottom of the Heavenly Pool's sea of qi began to solidify, growing denser and more compact.

Lu Chen grumbled inwardly, but he also sensed that there was likely some hidden opportunity behind all this. Not daring to interfere, he quickly called Feng Tiancheng over to observe with him.