Zhao Fan stood in front of the forest surrounding Golden Leaf city. This was his plan in order to rapidly increase his strength and place in the top five in the Academy competition. By hunting demonic beasts, he could not only secure a much needed cultivation resource but also increase his combat experience. After some thinking, he had decided to not follow his father’s advice.

However, just because he was in dire need of cultivation resources didn’t mean that he would place his life on the edge illogically. After all, he wasn’t like those insane cultivators that believed that “living on the edge” is a practical long term solution. It was because of this that he found a secluded place on the perimeter of the forest and made a safe shelter for him to spend every night and collect beast carcasses.

To the east of the forest was a huge mountain where the Sun clan resided. The Sun clan was established by one man who came back to his small village hometown after serving in the Empire’s military. For meritorious deeds, he was awarded a title of nobility and used it to establish a clan in the village. Using connections and his own power he managed to create a thriving city which was only fully established after his death. It was known that in order to protect his newly established clan, he fought a Nascent Soul cultivator, a legendary existence, until they both perished. If he survived, then with his tremendous strength Golden Leaf city would definitely not have remained a small city but would grow to become even more prosperous.

It is in that same mountain that Zhao Fan found an empty cave close to the edge of the forest and set up a temporary residence there. From the city to the surrounding forest was a wide, cleared-out area of a few tens of kilometers. That is why Zhao Fan decided to make a temporary shelter close to the forest in order to not have to travel back to the city every day. As he was staying there for two months, he could make periodic trips back to the city once he had a lot of valuable parts saved up.

As he set out during the morning, it was already mid day by the time he found the cave, cleared it and set everything up. With not much time to waste, Zhao Fan took a deep breath and entered the forest looking for some wild beasts.

In no time at all, he found some wild game but even after an hour he saw no signs of demonic beasts. The hunters and occasional cultivators tempering themselves probably made this area an uninhabitable zone for any demonic beasts leaving Zhao Fan with no other option but to go in deeper.

Cautiously, he made his way deeper and deeper, not daring to be careless. If he was reckless in the deeper parts of the forest where beasts truly reigned he would definitely die without a burial!

A short time later he could no longer see the grassland and the dazzling city, his view replaced by dense patches of trees everywhere. The sky was already growing dimmer, signaling the approaching night. Zhao Fan knew that he would have to head back soon as hunting in the dark forest was a borderline suicidal idea.

SWISH

Qi violently pulsated through Zhao Fan’s meridians as he instantly used Spirit Dash to dodge to the side.

He felt the aura of death envelop him when he saw a black figure double his size bolt by where he was just standing a fraction of a second ago. His sword immediately left his scabbard and it was instantly enveloped by a blue light as Zhao Fan lunged at the black figure a few meters away from him.

The black wolf was stunned that it missed the human and turned around to attack him. It was at this moment that it saw a sword emanating a deep blue aura already mid slash straight at his head. In that dangerous position, it could not try to dodge and could only turn itself and brace for the impact.

Shua!

Zhao Fan’s sword made a sharp sound in the wind and instantly blasted the wolf into the nearby tree. Not wasting a moment, he started to gather qi into the sword again and used his movement technique to approach the tree.

However, the huge wolf only received a minor slash wound on its side from Zhao Fan’s empowered attack. When it reoriented itself and stood up, it was met with an even brighter sword aimed straight at its head. Despite the proximity of the sword, the wolf jumped to the side with a frightening speed, narrowly dodging the sword.

Zhao Fan had long realized that he was not the wolf’s match. Because of its unsuccessful ambush he was still able to grasp some sort of advantage however now that he saw the beast he was extremely frightened. A normal wolf was smaller than a human and was at most half his size, however this wolf was double the size of a fully grown human. Furthermore, its pitch black fur almost fully resisted a qi-infused strike. This was definitely not a tier one demonic beast!

Zhao Fan took a deep breath and tried to run away while his opponent did not start attacking. He wildly circulated qi into his legs activating his movement technique despite the obvious pain in his legs.

After the last exchange where it barely escaped, the wolf did not dare to underestimate the human and it immediately lowered its body. Suddenly, it shot out of the ground straight at the retreating human at a terrifying speed, its mouth opening widely ready to snap Zhao Fan in half and its paws leaving behind craters on the ground.

Zhao Fan’s plan to escape did not work now that the wolf regained its composure and wanted to engage in a head on battle. Naturally, he wasn’t stupid and knew that even if he managed to kill the wolf with one strike to the head, it would have time to rip into him with its claws likely causing his death.

At the moment of life or death, Zhao Fan’s resolve wavered and his knees almost buckled. Almost everyone was scared of death and it’s only in the moment of life and death where someone’s true character would reveal itself. While facing a huge dark wolf with its maw opened wide, he knew that it was too late to retreat.

“Huaa!” Various emotions which made him waver previously surged through his mind, however they were all released through this shout.

At that moment, the wolf and him were only a couple of meters apart, but Zhao Fan regained his mental state!

Bang

A loud sound erupted as Zhao Fan instantly resumed his dash, trying to increase the distance between them and poured all of his remaining qi into his palm. Suddenly, as he shot backwards his grip on his sword changed, one hand holding it horizontally and the other palm which had a blue glow was positioned perpendicularly behind the sword.

SHENG

A terrifying surge of energy erupted from Zhao Fan’s dantian and through his meridians which exploded out from his palm, instantly sending the sword flying with a loud sound. Instantaneously, it appeared at the opened maw of the black wolf and without any time to react it smoothly traveled through its body. By the time the wolf realized what had happened, the sword with a new red finish was already ten meters away embedded in a tree.

However, unfortunately inertia isn’t influenced by life and death. Zhao Fan was blasted off his feet as the corpse of the wolf rammed into him with its mouth still open, sending both of them flying into a tree.