by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
Ever since then, whenever someone was injured, the villagers would all run over to the tree to be treated, and every time the tree would completely restore them.
In order to display their reverence and respect for the tree, they had begun to call it the forest god. Not long after they began to offer sacrifices to the tree, it actually began to communicate with them and established an agreement with them.
It could heal the villagers’ wounds, but they would need to offer sacrifices to it in reciprocation. As for the amount of sacrifices, it would depend on how heavy the wounds were.
This was just like a doctor asking for payment. But in all these years, the forest god had never asked for that much as a reward.
However, Long Chen was an exception now. The forest god had demanded a shocking price to save Long Chen.
“What did it want?” asked Long Chen.
Xiao Hua looked at Long Chen and ground her teeth. “Ten first rank Magical Beast and one second rank Magical Beast.”
Long Chen was shocked. A single first rank Magical Beast already required Xiao Hua’s entire village to prepare for a long time and it still posed an extremely great danger.
As for a second rank Magical Beast, that would require several Blood Condensation experts to join hands in order to kill one. To the villagers, that was something completely impossible. That so-called forest god’s price was far too great.
Looking at Long Chen’s indignant expression, Xiao Hua hastily said, “Long Chen, you definitely can’t feel any resentment towards the forest god; the forest god has always been extremely fair over all these years. No matter how heavily injured we were, it never required such a high price. There’s definitely a reason for it to demand so much this time. Plus, now you’re healed. You can help us, and I trust that we’ll be able to quickly repay our debt. Even if it was ten second rank Magical Beasts, we still would have accepted. We couldn’t just silently watch you die…”
In the end, Xiao Hua began to sob. She fell into Long Chen’s chest. Her grandpa sighed. “Long Chen, the forest god is absolutely fair. There’s definitely a reason for it to demand such a price. Don’t get angry.”
“I want to go see the forest god.” Long Chen wanted to figure out just what this forest god was.
As for the price that it had demanded, Long Chen wasn’t worried at all. Now that he had recovered, first rank Magical Beasts could be killed in an instant. As for a second rank Magical Beast, as long as he wasn’t careless, that was also something he could bring down.
A second rank Magical Beast was equivalent to a human Blood Condensation expert. However, due to how tough a Magical Beast’s physical body was, humans on equivalent levels were not an equal match for Magical Beasts.
But who was Long Chen? He had no fear for anyone below the Tendon Transformation realm. He didn’t like to have to owe anything. If he confirmed that this forest god wasn’t some fake swindler, he wanted to pay it back as fast as possible. He also wanted to know just what this god was.
Xiao Hua’s grandpa acquiesced and so, Long Chen followed Xiao Hua out of the village on a mountain path.
Xiao Hua was very familiar with this area. With a bow and quiver on her back, she would pause to listen to the surroundings every now and then.
She would also occasionally go bring Long Chen to check some of the surrounding traps and snares that they had set up to see if they had captured some wild beasts.
But there was only disappointment. They checked a dozen snares, but none of them had caught anything.
“It’s so sad that we have no meat. We need meat in order to strengthen our bodies. It’ll get very difficult to hunt without any more…” sighed Xiao Hua.
They were hunters, and meat was something that strengthened them. Having gone without any meat for several days, the villagers’ morale had been greatly impacted.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle that debt. Since it was because of me, just let me resolve it myself,” laughed Long Chen.
Xiao Hua’s expression changed and she angrily retorted, “What are you talking about? Your matters are my matters, which are also the village’s matters. How could we let you go face danger alone?”
Long Chen smiled and shut his mouth. He truly did like this village’s ambiance. There was no selfishness, only a peaceful coexistence. Just how luxurious and rare would such an ambiance be in the world of the royal capital where fights and schemes arose every day?
This was a beautiful place, but Long Chen couldn’t possibly stay, let alone muddle along to make kids.
But his life was saved by the villagers. He had to repay this debt before leaving.
“Wait a moment.”
Suddenly, Xiao Hua stopped. Looking at the footprints on the ground, her expression was completely serious.
“A bear has just recently gone past here. Based on the depth and size of the footprint, it should be a matured Burst Bear. It’s definitely longer than three meters and should have passed through just two hours ago based on the color of the soil.”
Xiao Hua was definitely worthy of being a highly and experienced huntress. She was able to tell so much from just a footprint. The Burst Bear was a first rank Magical Beast that was exceptionally berserk, making it extremely hard to deal with.
Even if the whole village joined hands, they still wouldn’t dare to handle this Burst Bear. They had the ability to attack the Cliff Leopard because its specialty was in its speed, and its attacking and defensive prowess were not particularly great.
As long as they paid attention to its movements and they had enough people, they definitely stood a good chance of killing it.
But the Burst Bear was not the same. It specialized in defensive strength and power. No matter how many people they had, it would all be useless.
“It looks like we should make a detour,” determined Xiao Hua.
“Why?” Long Chen didn’t understand.
“Fool, do you really have to ask? We aren’t a match for the Burst Bear. Even if all the fighters in the village assembled, we still wouldn’t have a high chance of beating it.”
“Says who?”
“You… you really are trying to piss me off!” Looking at Long Chen’s foolish wooden manner, Xiao Hua was both angered and anxious. But suddenly she thought of something and blinked. “You aren’t thinking of going to kill the Burst Bear, are you?”
“Of course.”
She was silent for a moment. She immediately thought of when Long Chen had fought with the Cliff Leopard. At that time, Long Chen had been an absolutely unstoppable god in her eyes.
And according to her grandpa, Long Chen had already received extremely heavy injuries before meeting the Cliff Leopard, otherwise, he probably would have been able to kill it on his own.
Now looking at Long Chen’s current expression, she finally realized that Long Chen might really possess the strength to kill a first rank Magical Beast.
“Have you killed a first rank Magical Beast before?” probed Xiao Hua.
“Nope.” Long Chen shook his head. This was the first time he had gone away from home, and although he had eaten Magical Beast meat several times, those had been defeated by Wilde.
But Long Chen muttered inside, “Although I haven’t killed a Magical Beast, I’ve slaughtered quite a few Blood Condensation experts.”
Xiao Hua shook her head. “Then let’s just let it go. Killing a Magical Beast isn’t done just by relying on a high cultivation base or who is stronger. You have to rely on waiting for a good opportunity. Skill and experience are extremely important. Since you haven’t killed a Magical Beast before, we should try to avoid such a risky scenario. Hunters never take such risks; otherwise, it would be the hunter who is turned into the prey.”
“You don’t take risks? Then what do you call what you did to save me?” laughed Long Chen.
“Tch, you’re not allowed to ever bring that up!” Her face reddened and she threateningly raised her fist.
“Haha, ok. I won’t
joke with you anymore. Don’t worry, I won’t risk our lives on a gamble,” said Long Chen firmly.
Long Chen no longer had any of his joking mischievous air. Now he was completely serious and gave off a feeling of great confidence and security.
She didn’t know why, but seeing him like that immediately caused her to calm down and relax. Even her terrifying impression of the Burst Bear became lighter.
With Xiao Hua guiding the both of them with her hunting experience, the two of them followed the tracks for two hours and found a large natural cave.
Within that cave, the originally sleeping Burst Bear suddenly opened its eyes, staring at the two people who had invaded his territory.
“ROAR!”
The Burst Bear suddenly jumped up. Its huge three-meter-tall figure violently charged towards the two of them.
Looking at the wildly charging Burst Bear, Xiao Hua turned pale with fright. That was the first time she had ever let herself be so exposed to a Magical Beast. That went against everything she knew as a huntress.
But Xiao Hua noticed that Long Chen remained as calm as ever. His gaze was indifferent as he punched out with his right hand.
Chapter 86 Killing With the Wave of a Hand
In front of Xiao Hua’s horrified eyes, the enormous Burst Bear charged at Long Chen, swatting at him with a huge bear claw.
The Burst Bear’s strongest point was its powerful claws. It could easily crush rock, so a human body would immediately turn to pulp.
That was also why the villagers had never dared place any intentions on the Burst Bear. Even their combined forces were unable to severely injure the Burst Bear, while the Burst Bear would be able to kill several of them with a single charge.
BANG! Xiao Hua covered her mouth, unable to believe her own eyes.
That Burst Bear’s terrifying attack was actually stiffly blocked by Long Chen. Waves of qi scattered and the land shook, but Long Chen didn’t even take a single step back.
Although his figure wasn’t imposing, he was able to easily block the huge Burst Bear which was several times his size. The current Long Chen’s hair was dancing in the wind, and he appeared like a god of war.
After blocking that Burst Bear with a single fist, Long Chen coldly smiled. If it was below Tendon Transformation, then even the Burst Bear which specialized in violence was still insufficient to even enter his gaze.
Long Chen made a few calculations. The Burst Bear’s attack had contained a force of over five tons. An ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator would be crushed to death in a single blow.
And even Blood Condensation cultivators would have to reach the mid stage first before just barely being able to block that attack. That was just how terrifying a Magical Beast which specialized in power was.
But in front of Long Chen, that attack posed no danger at all. At the same time, Long Chen thought of Wilde. If Wilde were here, he would probably also be able to block it and then wring its neck.
Long Chen didn’t waste any more time. Taking advantage of the Burst Bear stumbling in shock, a broadsword appeared in his hands and he slashed down.
Blood splattered as Long Chen broadsword slashed right through the Burst Bear’s head. It didn’t even have time to make a single sound as it tumbled to the ground.
Xiao Hua blankly watched it all. She felt as if she was dreaming. It wasn’t that she hadn’t killed a Magical Beast before, but it was the first time she had seen such an overbearing method.
Normally, when the villagers killed Magical Beasts, they had to make ample preparations. They had to set snares and traps and coat all their weapons with poison. To handle a single Magical Beast would require around a month’s preparations.
And despite all those preparations, despite gathering the entire village’s power, killing a Magical Beast still had to be done extremely carefully. A single mistake could cost many lives.
Yet in front of Long Chen, that incomparably frightening Burst Bear had been taken down effortlessly.
“How do we handle this thing?”
Only when Long Chen asked her a question did Xiao Hua awake from her stupor. Looking at that huge Burst Bear’s corpse, she said, “How about we directly bring this Magical Beast up in front of the forest god?”
“Or how about you keep it to eat, and only once you get some more prey do you offer more sacrifices?” proposed Long Chen.
The villagers were surviving only barely on porridge. That was no way to live or even survive in this wilderness. In any case, killing this kind of Magical Beast didn’t require any real effort on his part.
“We can’t! We can’t disappoint the forest god’s trust in us. That’s blasphemous.”
“Fine.” Long Chen was helpless. Waving his hand, he collected the Burst Bear’s massive corpse into his spatial ring.
“You… how did you do that? Are you a god?” Xiao Hua looked at Long Chen in astonishment.
That giant corpse had disappeared into thin air, and at the same time, she thought of how Long Chen had suddenly summoned his broadsword into his hands at the beginning.
When they had brought Long Chen back to the village back then, they had also brought along that broadsword. But it was so heavy that it had required two people to carry.
Later, they kept it permanently by Long Chen’s bed. Once he had awoken, Long Chen naturally had collected it. Thinking of that, Xiao Hua was completely bewildered.
Long Chen couldn’t help but laugh. “How am I a god? This is a spatial ring and can easily store objects.”
Long Chen rubbed his ring and the Burst Bear’s corpse once more appeared. Xiao Hua enviously looked at Long Chen’s ring, continuously praising it.
Obviously, Xiao Hua had never heard of things like spatial rings. Most likely due to how low quality their beast hides and crystal cores were, they were unable to make much money. They were unable to come into contact with expensive items like spatial rings.
“Xiao Hua, let me give you a present.”
Long Chen took out another ring. That ring had been his only harvest from killing Xia Changfeng.
Long Chen had looked over what was inside while being chased by Marquis Ying. Other than some money and weapons, the rest was all useless to him.
But there had been one good thing inside. There was the manual that Xia Changfeng had won from the auction, Three Style Parting Wind.
Within the surrounding empires, Earth class Battle Skills were already the highest rank of Battle Skills available. For Xia Changfeng to be able to obtain such a Battle Skill for just five hundred million gold coins was actually quite lucky.
But now that luck wasn’t his, but Long Chen’s. Other than taking out the Three Style Parting Wind, he left everything else inside the ring.
“No, Long Chen, I can’t accept your things.” Seeing Long Chen suddenly hand her a ring, she hastily jumped and refused.
“Why not? Didn’t you say I was your man? You don’t want what your man gives you?” Long Chen couldn’t help but joke.
Although he was kidding around a bit, he definitely did have a favorable opinion of how kind and lively Xiao Hua was. Although it wasn’t that kind of romantic feeling, he definitely did want to be friends.
“This… this….” Xiao Hua was obviously a young woman longing for love. She glanced at the ring in his hands with a conflicted expression.
She was extremely curious towards this practically divine ring, but she didn’t feel comfortable taking it.
“Just take it. Treat it as my gift.” Long Chen placed the ring in her hand. Xiao Hua’s hand was extremely beautiful, however, it had a layer of calluses, another mark of her being a huntress and often drawing a bow.
She lowered her completely red head and rubbed the ring in her hand over and over. That was the first time Long Chen had seen Xiao Hua actually show her shy side.
“Here, I’ll teach you how to use it. Gather your focus to the spot between your eyebrows and from that spot, focus your mind to within the ring. At the same time, injec
t a bit of spiritual qi with your other hand…”
Ordinary people weren’t able to open spatial rings, but cultivators could do it as long as they had reached the Qi Condensation realm. As long as they could use their qi and combine it with Spiritual Strength, they would be able to open it.
But Xiao Hua didn’t understand the slightest thing about Spiritual Strength. She needed Long Chen to guide her step by step. What surprised Long Chen was that Xiao Hua was extremely smart and quickly comprehended the method in just a few tries.
This made him shake his head inside. If Wilde had just half of Xiao Hua’s smarts, he wouldn’t have to worry so much about him.
Thinking of Wilde, Long Chen couldn’t help but become anxious. He didn’t know if Wilde had brought Little Snow back to the capital.
But according to Long Chen’s calculations, having held up Marquis Ying, there was no one who would recognize Wilde. It was highly likely that he would be able to return to the capital.
As long as he did and then went to ask grandmaster Yun Qi for help, that would shield the Long household from dangers. But plans could never be completely perfect. He also had to quickly return to the capital.
Of course, before that, he still had to complete two things. One of which was to repay the village’s debt, otherwise, with their guileless natures, if they really did go try killing a second rank Magical Beast, who knew how many of them would die.
And secondly, he had to increase his cultivation base. His fight with Marquis Ying had made him realize that he was still lacking. In front of a Tendon Transformation expert, he was powerless to resist. Such a feeling was not one he wanted to feel a second time.
“Ah, so much stuff!” Xiao Hua finally managed to open the spatial ring and saw what was inside.
Inside was a space over ten meters wide. There was a mountain of golden coins along with many weapons that shined coldly.
It was the first time she had seen such fine weapons. And as for the gold coins, she didn’t have any shock towards them because she didn’t even recognize what they were.
