6

"Lin Feng, Black Wind Mountain covers a huge area. I'm afraid only the elders and the head of Yun Hai know how huge it really is. We must always stay close to the border, because the further we go deeper, the more powerful the beasts become! Han Man said as we reached the border of Black Wind Mountain.

I nodded. Han Man looks like a typical stupid jock, but the appearance is deceptive - in fact, he is definitely a smart guy.

Black Wind Mountain was densely covered with greenery: grass, trees, thistles, and thorny bushes. Here, the powerful tree trunks grew very densely, and it was very easy to hide among them. It was a paradise for wild animals.

- Level 5 Wind Wolf, catch it! Han Man suddenly whispered. A pair of glowing eyes could be seen from the shrubbery.

Qing Yi took out his moon-colored sword from behind his back. Silver quicksilver seemed to be flowing from his sword to the ground.

Qing Yi's sword made a faint hissing sound as it crashed down on the wind wolf's head. The blow killed him instantly.

"The wind wolf was killed in a second, as always a fine job, Brother Qing Yi. Han Man said, laughing. He helped Qing Yi pick up the treasures that the level five wild beast kept.

- We need to find stronger and more valuable animals, level 5 animals will not bring us particularly valuable resources. I say.

"I agree, so I suggest we go a little deeper, as long as Lin Feng is with us, even a Level 9 beast is not a threat to us!" Jin Feng agreed with me.

After the demonstration of strength, it became like silk. Not a single arrogant remark on the way, just a veiled sycophancy in my direction.

Then we began to come across level 6 and 7 animals. Most often, they were dealt with by Qing Yi and Han Man. Qing Yi had a wind spirit and, coupled with a passable sword handling, was quite easy to deal with opponents. Han Man had the spirit of the earth and crushed the beasts with his big fists.

"Haha, the bag is getting heavier. We already have about 30-40 items. Quite a good catch for the first time. The tall and burly Han Man, who had a bag slung over his shoulder, said with a satisfied smile. He couldn't help but smile as it grew bigger and bigger.

"But we have already traveled several tens of kilometers deep into Black Wind Mountain. We may encounter a very strong wild beast. We need to be careful. If a beast stronger than Jin Feng and Lin Feng appears, we will have to run for our lives. - reminded of the dangers of Qing Yi.

"Don't worry. I don't think we'll meet a Ling Qi stage beast here. A level 9 beast will be a good workout for me. "though it is said boldly, it is entirely true. The fight with Liu Fei was too fast, and it didn't let me fully understand my capabilities.

Shortly after my words, my dark spirit-enhanced senses allowed me to hear the beast's approach. Activating the sharingan, my perception skyrocketed, allowing me to see the real giant bear. It was over 4 meters tall, had dark brown fur, and its eyes were bloodshot. This bear was coming towards us with a special fury and was ready to kill us with a special cruelty.

- A large and strong wild beast of level 9 Ki is coming towards us. Better run, or you'll be crushed before you know it!"

Most likely, its skin has excellent protection. I don't think I can do any damage to him by drawing my Sword, so I'll have to rely on the trump cards.

"I, Han Man, have never been a coward! If we run away with our tails between our legs while you fight, which one of us is the team?! The big man exclaimed energetically. The others nodded in agreement, but only two of them had determination in their eyes. Jin Feng, on the other hand, didn't look so confident.

However, it was very nice to know that there are people in this dirty and perverted world who will remain fighting with me until the very end.

"Jing Yun, can we move some distance away while the professionals go about their business?" Looking at the beautiful curves of the girl's body, Jin Feng asked. "I didn't come here for death, but for Jing Yun," he thought irritably.

"How can you say that?" You are the second strongest after Lin Feng! You must fight in the front ranks! Jing Yun said in a stern tone, and Jin Feng could only chuckle in annoyance and go to stand closer to Lin Feng.

After about a couple of seconds, there was a thundering sound of footsteps. Everyone prepared for the fight, releasing their spirits to the maximum. A few seconds later, the bear appeared from the bushes. Clubfoot bear is clearly not collecting cones in the forest, but the corpses of fools that got in his way.

Standing on two legs, it towered like a mountain. This beast definitely belongs to the strongest at the 9th level of Ki. Testing your abilities on it at my level is pure suicide. We need to deal with it as soon as possible.

- RAAAAAAR! With a loud roar, he lowered his front paws, creating a mini-earthquake. The ground began to shake. Jin Feng's sword spirit made a thunderous sound, and the naked shining sword hit the beast's neck, but left no visible wound. Even the strongest weapon spirit couldn't break through the hide. Qing Yi launched the wind blades at his paws, but he couldn't even leave a scratch. This beast didn't have any weaknesses, except that it had a lower speed compared to other Level 9 Ki beasts.

The beast rose up and, emitting a fierce aura, brought its clawed paws down on Jin Feng, but he was able to defend himself with his spirit at the last moment, fending off the claws with his sword, but flew away from the collision by a dozen meters. The bear continued to advance on us, its paw already wanted to crush Jing Yun, who was considered the weakest among us, so she did not have a chance to repel or evade the bear's aggressive attack, so at this moment I had to act.

"Soru" sped me up, allowing me to take Jing Yun away from the deadly attack. With my speed, the bear won't be able to reach me, and I can easily retreat, but that means throwing the others to their deaths, and I don't like that!

"Thank you, Lin Feng," Jing Yun said, shaking as she gripped my hand tightly.

Teetering on the edge of life and death, Qing Yi and Han Man barely managed to evade the huge claws of the beast, and Jin Feng was still trying to recover from the bear's attack. If his defense and strength were at the highest level, then he was faster than even Level 8 Ki cultivators.

"Damn it! His defenses are impenetrable to us. Now all hope is in you, Lin Feng! Han Man said, trying to catch his breath. His fists were bleeding from the bear's thick hide.

"Stand back, I want to end it all with one attack!" "it's much easier to influence the mind of a non-intelligent being. Looking into my eyes, the bear got into a genjutsu, in which everyone but me disappeared. I did this so that he would not be distracted by outsiders.

His red eyes stared straight at me. The mad animal gaze would have chilled anyone to the bone, but not me. He got down on all fours and sped up, running straight towards me. I raise my sword high with both hands and bring it down.

"Rankyaku!"

A sharp stream of air flew towards the approaching bear. He tried to cover himself with his paws, but the blade easily passed through them, continuing on its way, completely cutting the beast in two.

Everyone stared in shock at the severed carcass. Such a spectacular victory took a lot of energy out of me. Applying this technique is still difficult at my current level.

"That was great, Lin Feng! We couldn't do anything to him, and you killed such a powerful beast with one attack! Han Man said, and the others agreed with him.

- Thank you for the praise. How is your condition? I asked in a serious tone. It would be bad if they broke something.

"Just bruises." Jin Feng was lucky, he landed gently in the bushes, " Qing Yi said, glancing at Jin Feng, who had only scratches, – we are all very lucky, and all thanks to you, Lin Feng, so you are the one who will take all the treasures from this carcass!"

Everyone nodded, agreeing with him, even Jin Feng did not appear.

- Hey! Actually, you were fighting, too. You all contributed to the battle, so everyone deserves their share, but I'll just get a little more! – that's what we decided, because it was too much for them to argue with their rescuers.

"Let's go back?" Jing Yun asked, glancing at me. This question is mostly asked of me, because now they considered me an unspoken leader.

"Since we've already come this far, why should we rush back?" Wouldn't it be better to hunt some more? I asked them. One battle with a bear didn't give me combat experience, which is what I went to Black Wind Mountain for, so it's too early to go back.

The others had nothing to fear. Lin Feng was with them, and if they didn't run into the Ling Qi beast, they wouldn't be in any danger.

"It would be nice to exchange what we found here for some deep-dive pills. Jing Yun said, clearly determined to kill a couple more wild beasts.

Deep dive pills are pills that allow you to improve your abilities and rise to a new level of Ki. They were invaluable to the followers of the path of Development. But to get even one deep-dive pill, one had to kill countless wild beasts. What could be exchanged for pills could only be found in high-level beasts, which were very dangerous to fight.

This pill is just what I need to break through to Level 8 Ki. As soon as I break through to the next level, the load on my body during the "Rankyaku" will decrease, and no one will be able to defeat me at the Ki stage!

Five days later, in the heart of the dense, mighty forest, a terrible wolf howl was heard. The battle between the level 9 Devil Wolf and the young guy was like a death dance. Lin Feng easily dodged the claws, counterattacking each time and leaving injuries. There were many cuts on the wolf's body, and blood dripped from them, turning the beast a deep red.

- It's time to finish! – I ran straight at the wolf, not caring about protecting my own body. The beast's face was contorted with anger, and its eyes shone with a cruel cold.

My body turned into a very bright streak, like a meteor, that suddenly appeared right in front of the wolf. In an instant, I was behind the Devil Wolf. The stupid animal fell on its side, its eyes filled with bewilderment. There was a mark on his neck that looked like a very thin silk thread, from which a never-ending stream of blood flowed.

"The devil wolf is dead!" Qing Yi and Han Man exclaimed as they surveyed the battlefield in front of them. They both gasped in surprise.

- Expected. Jin Feng snorted.

"Lin Feng, how are you feeling?" Jing Yun asked worriedly as she examined my body for signs of injuries.

"I'm fine." I said, stretching. "Drawing the sword" is a really useful technique, especially if you don't want to damage the carcass.

-Ooh! Jing Yun breathed out a sigh of relief. Even though she knew I could kill this beast, she was still worried about me.

Han Man started collecting materials from the dead wolf's body, muttering something about how he had come here to develop his abilities, hunt and kill some wild beasts, and instead he was collecting what Lin Feng had left behind. But he didn't mind, he liked to watch Lin Feng fight.

"Han Man, how many deep dive pills will we get for the materials we collected?" I ask. I wanted to get enough to break through right away.

Han Man's eyes were filled with excitement. They could not even imagine that they would collect so many materials. It was only thanks to Lin Feng. If he wasn't here, they wouldn't be able to fight so effectively and collect the treasure.

"Very well, we'll each get three pills. We can exchange the remaining materials for weapons. We can return to the sect and enjoy the fruits of our work.

Deep immersion pills were one of the most effective ways to increase one's strength on the path of Cultivation. The first three pills had the greatest effect. After each pill taken, the Qi energy inside the body began to resist more strongly. The first pill taken causes the Qi energy to flow throughout the body, so there is a very good chance to go to the next level. With each subsequent tablet, the effect decreases and, after the third tablet, decreases to a minimum level.

- Three deep dive pills! Han Man and the others were happy. If they break through to the next level, they will gain more privileges in the sect.

During the days they spent with Lin Feng, they began to understand his character and demeanor. Lin Feng is a fair and proud person who puts development first. Moderately selfish and cruel, but in communication his kind and pleasant nature is well revealed.

"Before we leave, I'd like to thank each of you. In the days that we spent together, I realized that I needed comrades. I hope we'll get together as a group to hunt again! I say with a smile. The worst way for me to cultivate is to avoid loneliness. Without communication and loyal friends to watch your back, life is definitely not fun.