CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43 MOLTEN LION AND BREAKTHROUGH_1

What greeted their eyes was a massive creature.

It was clearly a giant lion, three meters tall, but with bull-like horns on its head. Its entire body was covered in red fur, and with each breath, white steam puffed from its nostrils.

"A Molten Lion. Once it reaches adulthood, it possesses the strength of a level 7 beast," Song Dongming’s voice held a rare hint of tension. "Judging by its size, this one isn’t fully grown yet, but it’s at least a level 6 beast."

"So, it’s equivalent to a level 7 Martial Artist. That doesn’t mean we can’t beat it," Wang Zhan gripped his dagger tightly.

However, Song Dongming shook his head slightly and said, "What I find strange is how a Molten Lion ended up in this area. They normally live deep within the Flame Valley. They prefer hot environments."

"Maybe it came out to cool off?" Huang Pufeng replied, earning disapproving glances from his two companions.

"COUGH, COUGH, I was just trying to lighten the tense mood," Huang Pufeng explained awkwardly.

Just then, the Molten Lion on the other side seemed to lose its patience.

It opened its mouth wide, and a deafening roar echoed through the valley, shaking Wang Zhan and the others so hard they saw stars.

Following that, heat began to concentrate in the Molten Lion’s mouth. In moments, a nearly white energy ball formed within its jaws.

"ROAR!"

The energy ball exploded violently in the direction of Wang Zhan’s team.

"Quick, scatter! We can’t withstand this kind of heat!" Song Dongming shouted urgently.

Even without his warning, all three had simultaneously dispersed, avoiding the brunt of the high-temperature energy ball’s attack.

However, the cave was ultimately too narrow, and with the Molten Lion blocking the exit, all three sustained some burns.

After the energy ball completely dissipated, Wang Zhan asked in bewilderment, "What was that just now?"

"The Molten Lion’s innate talent. This creature is one of the few low-level beasts that possess an innate talent for gathering energy. That’s why I was so startled when I first saw it."

"An innate talent for gathering energy?" Wang Zhan asked, confused.

"Just like how Human Martial Artists use martial arts to channel the energy between Heaven and Earth—what’s known as Essence Energy—this big guy can do it too."

Song Dongming explained quickly, "The Man-Eating Spider we encountered earlier, for instance, its ability was just spraying its own bodily fluids; that’s not an energy-type talent."

"Understood," Wang Zhan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the Molten Lion. He then added, "Let’s not hold anything back. We need to take this guy down as quickly as possible, or we’ll be in for a rough night."

As his words fell, Wang Zhan was the first to charge, dagger in hand. He had barely neared the Molten Lion when an oncoming swipe from its paw forced him to dodge sideways.

"I’ll chop off your paws!"

Wang Zhan viciously stabbed his dagger towards the Molten Lion’s paw, but the beast was extremely agile; sharp talons suddenly extended from its paw, deflecting Wang Zhan’s dagger.

Just as Wang Zhan’s attack was deflected, Song Dongming and Huang Pufeng also launched their attacks.

Both wielded their weapons—a sword and a saber respectively—with sweeping and powerful moves, though Song Dongming was noticeably faster.

He reached the Molten Lion first. His longsword flashed with a cold light. In Wang Zhan’s eyes, the blade of the longsword was clearly covered in extremely sharp Essence Energy. With one strike, he brought it down from above, leaving a huge gash on the Molten Lion’s body.

ROAR!

A pained roar echoed from the cave, startling birds in the surrounding jungle; they scattered in all directions.

Huang Pufeng seized the opportunity and also charged forward, raising his big saber above his head.

"Force Splitting Mount Hua!"

Whether it was a real martial arts technique or just shouted to build momentum, the power of this strike was undeniably at its peak.

Confined within the cave, the Molten Lion couldn’t retreat in time and could only raise its paw in an attempt to block the attack.

But ultimately, it was merely a level 6 beast; no matter how tough its body, it couldn’t withstand the full force of Huang Pufeng’s blade.

Fresh blood splattered from the Molten Lion as half of its right paw was completely severed.

At this point, it seemed to realize that the three humans before it were not to be trifled with and attempted to turn and flee.

But Wang Zhan wouldn’t give it the chance! After his initial attack was blocked, Wang Zhan had quietly moved to its rear.

When the Molten Lion turned around, it saw Wang Zhan leaping high into the air, his incredibly sharp dagger held ready.

SHLICK!

Wang Zhan landed on the Molten Lion’s head. He gripped its fur tightly with one hand to stabilize himself and plunged the dagger into the beast’s eye.

Even that wasn’t enough. Wang Zhan continued twisting the dagger.

A few seconds later, the Molten Lion’s body suddenly stiffened, then collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless.

Agility +7

Hearing the electronic sound in his ear, Wang Zhan smiled with satisfaction.

The three of them worked together to drag the Molten Lion’s body deeper into the cave. They then cleaned up the scene, eliminated the scent, and finally found new bushes to conceal the cave entrance.

「By then, the sky had darkened.」

Wang Zhan and his companions finally had some time to rest.

They lit torches, illuminating the entire cave, and sat around the Molten Lion’s corpse, figuring out how to skin and butcher it.

"I’ll do it. I’m good at this sort of thing," Huang Pufeng volunteered.

After getting permission, his big saber seemed to become a boning knife and a cleaver in his hands. In half an hour, the Molten Lion’s corpse was cleanly dismembered.

On one side lay various cuts of beast meat that looked incredibly appetizing; on the other were useless parts like organs and bones.

"Good craftsmanship. Is your family in the butchering business?" Wang Zhan was rather surprised by Huang Pufeng’s skills.

"You have such an awkward way of complimenting people," Huang Pufeng shook his head and explained, "My previous mentor was very skilled in this area, so I learned a lot from her."

"Previous mentor?" Wang Zhan was puzzled. "You’re only a sophomore and you already switched mentors?"

Song Dongming then explained, "He previously studied under Teacher Luofu. Teacher Luofu is the top materials scientist in the entire Federation, specializing in research on beasts. The soldier-level suits we’re wearing, and even some more advanced equipment, were all developed by Teacher Luofu."

"That impressive?" Wang Zhan was shocked. The Martial Arts Academy actually had such an incredible person. "So, where is Teacher Luofu now?"

"She was poached by the Federation. Now she’s the deputy director at the Federation’s main Research Institute," Huang Pufeng said helplessly. "That’s just how Teacher is; she goes wherever the research conditions are best."

"The Martial Arts Academy once offered an exorbitant price to have Teacher Luofu teach students and conduct research. It’s said the terms offered were enough to severely strain the Martial Arts Academy’s resources," Song Dongming said with a chuckle. "However, after Teacher Luofu left, the Federation gave the Martial Arts Academy a large sum in compensation. I heard the Martial Arts Academy actually profited by at least thirty or forty percent, so there are no hard feelings."

While they were talking, Huang Pufeng had already set up a makeshift grill with firewood and started roasting the meat.

"It’s a pity this Molten Lion is such a low level, a waste of all these bones. If it were a soldier-level beast, we’d have struck it rich," Huang Pufeng remarked casually.

"If it were a soldier-level beast, we’d be in its stomach by now. What are you thinking?" Wang Zhan retorted, exasperated.

Huang Pufeng paused, quickly realizing how absurd his comment had been. He chuckled awkwardly to cover his embarrassment.

After the meal, the three of them each found a spot and began their cultivation.

Like Wang Zhan, Huang Pufeng was also in the body refining stage using Mixed Essence Pills. Wang Zhan was at the limit of a level 3 Martial Artist, while Huang Pufeng was at the limit for level 4.

Song Dongming, on the other hand, had just recently broken through to level 5 and was cultivating to condense Essence Energy.

「Late at night.」

Wang Zhan had just completed a body refining session, and this time he felt a distinct increase in his body’s strength.

Even without checking my attribute panel, I can estimate that my three main attributes have each increased by around ten points. It must be because I fought two battles today, both of them challenging duels. Besides the rewards from the System, cultivation after battles is actually the best way to enhance attributes. In the previous ranking competition, I fought a hundred battles over three days. The System didn’t reward me with any attribute points, but in those three days, I managed to increase my attributes by over a hundred points through Mixed Essence Pills and body refining. That’s the benefit of combat.

Feeling his body nearing its limit, Wang Zhan took another bottle of Mixed Essence Pills and continued to cultivate.

「His cultivation session lasted until morning.」

He opened his attribute panel.

Host: Wang Zhan

Strength: 700

Agility: 700

Physique: 700

Charm: 30

Wisdom: 17

"As expected, all three of my main attributes have reached their maximum values, and my Wisdom has even increased by one point," Wang Zhan said, his face lighting up with joy.

With this, he had finally made up for the 50 extreme attribute points per level he had previously missed. His future cultivation wouldn’t be like his time as a level 3 Martial Artist, where he had to accumulate a full 150 extreme attribute points.

After a brief rest, Wang Zhan eagerly sat cross-legged and began to circulate the Essence Concentrating Skill.

The effectiveness of the Essence Concentrating Skill was such that the stronger the cultivator’s body, the faster their cultivation speed.

Typically, during the Martial Artist Stage, cultivators gained one hundred attribute points per level. If a Martial Artist with maxed-out attributes for their level cultivated using Essence Concentrating Skill, its effectiveness would be comparable to any top-tier cultivation method.

If, like Wang Zhan, they had surpassed their limits, the Essence Concentrating Skill would outperform any other cultivation method.

Although Wang Zhan was only a level 3 Martial Artist, his physical attributes were already equivalent to those of a level 5 Martial Artist with maxed-out stats. As a result, his Essence Energy condensation speed far surpassed the limit for level 3 Martial Artists, and was even much faster than Song Dongming’s.

After cultivating for over ten minutes, Wang Zhan distinctly sensed a feeling of congestion in his dantian, indicating it had reached its limit.

Wang Zhan hurriedly swallowed another Mixed Essence Pill.

The next moment, he felt a wave of fluctuations in his dantian. Immediately afterward, the congestion disappeared, replaced by a more robust dantian and wider body meridians.

"You broke through?!" Both Huang Pufeng and Song Dongming had already been disturbed by the commotion from Wang Zhan.

Wang Zhan burst into hearty laughter.

"Finally, level four."