His gaze followed a small squirrel as it leapt from branch to branch. ‘They aren’t strong enough to crush me instantly, so I don’t need to cheat. But they’re not weaklings either—I can’t kill them in a single blow. That’s what makes them ideal. They let me grow, not only in my mastery of various Cultivation Techniques and Methods, but also in my swordsmanship—my Sword Dao. And more importantly…’

He grew thoughtful. ‘It helps me use them together fluidly and gain combat experience. It may not sound like much, but it’s crucial. Knowing how to combine your Cultivation Techniques effectively and having real battle experience is what separates a greenhouse flower from a battle-hardened cultivator. At the same level, the battle-hardened one always wins.’

The reflection faded. His steps grew quieter, more deliberate. The deeper layers of the Savagefang Mountain Range were waiting.

It didn’t take long before he was attacked again. Having left the inner layers to recover, Mikael had drawn closer to the range’s outer edge—and with it, the strength of the demonic beasts had dropped sharply, back to the Body Forging Realm.

A single flash of Sangrelia was enough to send them into slumber. An eternal slumber.

Suddenly, he stopped mid-step, catching the scent of an herb with a rich medicinal fragrance. Mikael narrowed his eyes and followed it, weaving past a boulder until his gaze landed on a cluster of crimson blossoms nestled between the roots of a weathered tree. He crouched, examining the petals’ texture and the thin black veins threading through them.

Without rushing, he retrieved a thick book from his storage ring. The title? Herb Compendium. He had bought it from Norkal’s General Goods Store, knowing it might come in handy during exploration.

He flipped through the ink-lined pages, turning several at a time. He looked less like someone reading and more like skimming—but with his mind, comprehension came effortlessly. After a few moments, he found a match.

{Herb Compendium Page 482

Herb Name: Crimson Vein Orchid

Herb Tier: High-Grade – Body Forging Realm

Habitat: Commonly found in shaded regions with dense spiritual qi. Grows best near aged trees or rocky veins. Emits a sharp, iron-tinged fragrance when mature.

Appearance

: Blood-red petals with thin black vein-like patterns. Stem is short and thick, often rooted near tree bark or mossy ground.

Effect: Stimulates blood production and body vitality. Particularly useful for tempering flesh and regenerating lost muscle mass or bone fragments.

Compatibility: Most effective when consumed or refined by cultivators at the peak of the Body Forging Realm. Still beneficial at early Spiritual Foundation stages.

Harvesting Method: Cut cleanly at the stem with a spiritual blade. Do not disturb the surrounding root network—new growths may spawn in the same area if left intact.

Refinable Into: Can be processed into Blood Vitality Pills, Flesh-Knitting Paste, or Qi-Blood Harmonization Elixirs depending on secondary ingredients. Most effective when used as the core catalyst in body regeneration-focused recipes.

Notes: Excess consumption may cause overexcitation of blood qi—leads to aggression or internal imbalance. Best used in moderation or refined into blood vitality pills.}

‘So a “Body Tempering/Healing” type herb suitable for Body Forging Realm, useless for me but…’

He took out a spiritual blade—purchased specifically for this—and cleanly harvested the herb at the stem, taking care not to disturb the surrounding root network. With time, the plant might regrow.

‘Would be a shame not to take it. I can still sell it for some profit, so not a loss.’ He resumed walking deeper into the forest. ‘Wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep both my eyes and Divine Sense open for more herbs. At worst, I’ll make some money. At best, I find something useful for myself.’

The faint rustling of the Herb Compendium still in his hand drew his attention again. ‘Now that I think about it…’ his gaze dropped to the book, ‘it wouldn’t be a bad idea to memorize all the herbs listed inside. That way, harvesting would be easier—I wouldn’t have to check it every time I stumble across something new.’

With that thought, Mikael reopened the book and began reading once more—this time, with the clear intention of memorizing everything.

As he memorized it, a part of his mind returned to his earlier exploration in the Savagefang Mountain Range, ‘Now that I think about it I was really unlucky in my earlier exploration, I crossed a lot of distance and didn’t find a single herb? Talk about being unlucky.’ he shook his head while clicking his tongue before his attention returned to the book in his hand. 

Swish.

An ugly, deformed rat-like demonic beast lunged at him from an underbrush. Mikael didn’t even glance up, his attention still locked on the pages in front of him.

Flash.

In a blur of motion, Sangrelia sliced the beast cleanly in two. With a slight sidestep, Mikael evaded the two flying halves, continuing forward as if nothing had happened. Not once did he look up.

And so, the surreal scene played out—a lone human, leisurely reading a book while walking deeper into one of the most dangerous regions of the Suncrest Region.

Thanks to his incredibly powerful mind, it didn’t take long for Mikael to memorize the entire book. That was only natural. While the tome was thick and filled with thousands of entries, it was ultimately just a normal book.

Yes, it was dense with information, but it lacked the strange, complex properties inherent to Cultivation Methods or Cultivation Techniques, and anything related to cultivation. Taking that into account, it was no surprise that Mikael could finish it so quickly.

As he ventured deeper into the Savagefang Mountain Range, herbs finally began to appear—not in overwhelming abundance, where he might find one every five steps, but enough to mark a clear difference compared to his first exploration.

By the time he reached a similar depth to where he had encountered the extremely dangerous Mid-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm panther, he had already gathered around fifty herbs—most of them higher in quality than the Crimson Vein Orchid he had found before.

That was only logical. The deeper one went into the mountain range, the higher the Qi quality became. And that, in turn, meant stronger demonic beasts—and stronger, higher-grade herbs.

The world was always like that. Danger and opportunity came hand in hand. Face a stronger foe, and you gained the chance to seize a better reward. It was only natural.

Once Mikael reached the same depth as where he had fought the panther-type demonic beast, he halted his advance and officially began his ‘hunting’.

After all, the main reason he had come to this mountain range—and had remained here—was to temper himself against demonic beasts. He could admit that part of him also wanted to vent a bit, to cut loose in combat. But after the battles against the bandits and the demonic cultivators, most of his frustration over the two and a half months of disappointing research had already faded.

Now, he was here purely to train. His motives were no longer muddied by emotion—they were sharpened by focus, defined entirely by his drive to progress. In this mindset, Mikael had initially planned to fight numerous Mid-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm demonic beasts, and maybe even test himself against a Late-stage one or two. But after the brutally difficult clash against the Mid-stage panther, he revised his approach.

Instead, he decided to target Early-stage demonic beasts, saving the Mid-stage ones for later—once he was more familiar with the flow of battle.

In this way, he began tempering himself against the claws, fangs, and talons of demonic beasts—each battle sharpening him further.

By the time a week had passed, many demonic beasts had already fallen to Sangrelia. The exact numbers were thirty-five Early-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm demonic beasts—and even four at the Mid-stage. As for Body Forging Realm demonic beasts?

Mikael didn’t care enough to count them. He didn’t hunt them deliberately; they simply threw themselves to their deaths under his suppressed presence. Without him limiting his power, these beasts were far too weak to serve as training targets, and thus, not even worth keeping track of.

After all, the gap between them was absurd. He had crushed a Body Forging Realm beast into pulp with a single punch.

The difference was wider than that between a fit adult male and a newborn infant. And no matter how many babies flailed their tiny fists, could they beat him? Could they kill him?

The answer was obvious. The same logic applied to Body Forging Realm demonic beasts. That’s why Mikael didn’t even spare them a thought.

Another week passed. And this time, he hunted with greater intensity. In total, he slew forty-seven Early-stage and fourteen Mid-stage demonic beasts—a significant increase compared to the first week. This spike in numbers was mostly due to Mikael becoming more serious, especially in how he selected his targets.

During the first week, he had trained and hunted, yes—but there had been a caution to his actions, particularly when confronting Mid-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm beasts.

His first encounter with a Mid-stage beast had been against the Shadowfang Panther, which left him with a skewed perception of their overall strength. But after engaging in more fights, it didn’t take long for him to realize the truth.

That Shadowfang Panther had been an anomaly—far above the norm for its realm.

This realization grounded him. With his fear recalibrated, he began actively seeking out more Mid-stage targets. Of course, he didn’t overdo it. He always kept a portion of his strength in reserve. The last thing he wanted was to end up in a taxing battle that left him needing days of recovery. If that happened, he’d lose time—and his hunting rhythm for the week would suffer.

In this way, the third week arrived. During this week-long hunting session, Mikael killed 52 Early-stage and 23 Mid-stage demonic beasts. One of them—a serpent with obsidian scales and poison-infused fangs—managed to graze his arm, poisoning him mid-fight. He was still able to take it down, but the subsequent expelling and recovery from the potent poison made him waste several hours—a sharp reminder to stay cautious.

He was becoming increasingly prolific in his hunting sessions, week after week. But this time, the reason for his growth wasn’t due to a sudden surge of confidence or anything of the sort—it was pure progress.

His efficiency in using his two Cultivation Techniques together during combat was rising at high speed, showcasing his talents. At the same time, his combat experience as a cultivator was also steadily increasing.

But the thing that saw the biggest leap was undoubtedly his combat experience and combat efficiency against demonic beasts. Fighting demonic beasts wasn’t the same as fighting cultivators for various reasons. Primarily, demonic beasts had large bodies, high vitality, and immense physical strength—while at the same time, their intelligence remained low.

They didn’t cultivate any Cultivation Methods or Cultivation Techniques. The only things remotely similar were their innate traits, like the Shadowfang Panther’s stealth capabilities.

Mikael gradually learned all of this. He studied how demonic beasts fought, how they moved. He learned how to counter them—how to read them, anticipate them, and kill them. That alone accounted for a massive part of his increased efficiency.

All of this combined made Mikael grow stronger and stronger. Even if neither his Cultivation Realm nor his comprehension of Cultivation Methods and Techniques had improved, the progress would still be undeniable.

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Glad you’re walking this path with me.

— End of Chapter —