C36 Improving Combat Experience

Gazing upon the vast forest that stretched out for at least several hundred thousand square meters, Wei Lulin was filled with respect for the ancestors of the royal family and the three great families.

Turning such an expansive natural forest into a unique Hunting Ground for Yao Country was no small feat. It was an even greater achievement to strategically place various grades of magical beasts in specific areas to enhance the strength of the younger generation.

Most of Wei's disciples rallied around Wei Luchong, but a small faction was led by two other experts who had attained Level Six of the Qi Refining Stage.

Wei Luchong, as the leader of the Wei family's younger generation, had unfortunately fallen short of expectations. His day-to-day performance was lackluster, and the title of leader seemed to be in name only.

Upon reaching the outskirts of the Hunting Ground, the Wei family's team split into four groups. Wei Luchong's group was the largest and most powerful. The other two groups were led by experts at the Qi Refining Stage Level Six.

Wei Lulin, however, was in a league of his own, with no one else in his team.

In fact, Wei Lulin had discreetly left the Wei family's group before they were near the Hunting Ground and entered with disciples from smaller families.

Wei Lulin had pondered before the Hunting Competition whether to stick with the Wei family contestants. This thought barely crossed his mind before he dismissed it outright.

It wasn't that Wei Lulin wasn't a team player or that he was too proud to associate with others; he simply felt too estranged from the Wei family contestants. From the moment he stood at the back of the group, aside from Wei Luchong, who noticed him for a specific reason, his presence went unrecognized by the others.

Given the unfamiliarity between Wei Lulin and the Wei family contestants, effective collaboration was unlikely. They might even end up at odds over the unfair distribution of rewards.

Take, for instance, the discovery of a Jade Plate: should it go to the strongest member or the one who found it first?

Moreover, Wei Lulin was aware that he was not in a position to join the Wei family contestants at the moment. Hence, he had resolved to go it alone right from the start.

While acting alone certainly increased the risks, it also presented significant opportunities.

The forest, though not as vast as the Endless Forest, was still expansive. In some respects, it even surpassed the Endless Forest in size. For instance, the territory frequented by Low Rank Grade Ten Magical Beasts was much larger than that of the Endless Forest. Just the area inhabited by these creatures alone was enough to keep various teams trekking for a considerable time. As a result, the hunters participating in the Hunting Competition quickly vanished into the depths of the forest after their arrival.

Wei Lulin, venturing into the forest solo, neither advanced with reckless haste nor did he intentionally seek out Jade Plates. Instead, he sought out encounters with Low Rank Grade Ten Magical Beasts.

Wei Lulin was acutely aware of his strengths and weaknesses.

His strength lay in the fact that despite his lower realm, his actual power was formidable. This often led adversaries to underestimate him, allowing him to gain the upper hand in combat.

However, Wei Lulin's weakness was his limited combat experience. Even though he had been sparring with the guards from the Silent Elegance Pavilion over the past ten days, and they had not held back, it was the experience gained from battles of life and death that would truly enrich his combat skills.

During the initial phase of the Hunting Competition, Wei Lulin aimed to engage in combat with various types of Magical Beasts to enhance his fighting prowess and overall strength.

Simultaneously, Wei Lulin intended to use the map provided by Wei Ying to locate a specific marked area. He was curious to discover the nature of the treasure that had prompted Wei Ying to leave him a detailed route. In the competition's final days, he would then focus on capturing the Jade Plates that would determine the final standings.

After about half an hour of travel, Wei Lulin came to an abrupt halt, his expression grave as he gazed ahead. There stood a massive Magical Beast, towering at three meters tall and stretching five meters in length—a porcupine.

This porcupine bore a striking resemblance to the wild boars he had seen in his previous life, but its viciousness far exceeded that of any ordinary wild boar. Not only was this porcupine extremely aggressive and carnivorous, but its power had also evolved to that of a Low Rank Grade Ten. Upon noticing the sudden appearance of a human, the porcupine, which had been feeding, instantly readied itself for combat and began to breathe heavily through its mouth.

Wei Lulin did not hesitate for a moment. He drew his Ten-refinement Essence steel blade, gripping it firmly with one hand, and stepped forward with his left leg, ready for the porcupine's onslaught.

The porcupine, breathing heavily, suddenly powered forward on all fours, charging at Wei Lulin with the speed of a thrown knife.

Wei Lulin, watching the porcupine barrel toward him, chose not to evade. He gathered nearly half of his Spiritual Force within his dantian, angled the blade's hilt downward and the tip upward, and unleashed the fundamental Blade Force of Hua Mountain Slashing directly at the oncoming creature.

The steel blade met the porcupine's body with a resounding crash.

The porcupine's body hurtled past Wei Lulin, splitting into two halves that fell to the ground, drenching the earth with thick blood.

Wei Lulin's decision to confront the porcupine directly, cleaving its body in one fell swoop while remaining unscathed himself, clearly demonstrated his superior strength compared to martial artists of the same realm.

It's well-known that Magical Beasts are generally stronger than humans. A Low Rank Grade Ten porcupine's strength is not much less than that of an ordinary Qi Refining Stage Level Four warrior. The fact that such a formidable Magical Beast couldn't withstand even one of Wei Lulin's attacks speaks volumes about his prowess.

Having dispatched a Low Rank Grade Ten Magical Beast with a single strike, Wei Lulin was not overly jubilant; rather, he immediately engaged in introspection.

He had expended nearly half of his Spiritual Force in the recent fight, and the power of that strike was on par with the strength of a Qi Refining Stage Level Five. In this context, his performance in slaying the porcupine with one blow was not particularly impressive.

Reflecting on the encounter, Wei Lulin realized that he only needed to use a sixth of his Spiritual Force, combined with the chopping blade technique, to easily dispatch the porcupine.

Through careful comparison and contemplation, Wei Lulin incrementally enhanced his combat experience.

In the time that followed, Wei Lulin faced several more Low Rank Grade Ten Magical Beasts. Apart from one that was adept in speed and required a bit more effort, the rest were swiftly defeated with a single slash, and he used merely a sixth of the Spiritual Force in his dantian.

As Wei Lulin faced an increasing number of Low Rank Grade Ten Magical Beasts, his combat experience grew richer. Initially, he had to expend one-sixth of his Spiritual Force and combine it with his blade technique to defeat the beasts. But as he honed his skills, he found he could use even less Spiritual Force to achieve the same result.

Eventually, when confronting a Low Rank Grade Ten Magical Beast, Wei Lulin didn't need to tap into his Spiritual Force at all. Relying solely on his Basic Blade Technique, he could effortlessly conclude the fight.

It was only when he came up against a Middle Rank Grade Ten Magical Beast that the battles began to challenge him. This was particularly true when Wei Lulin tried to minimize his use of Spiritual Force, or when he used a very small amount. Under those conditions, the encounters felt somewhat taxing. However, if he channeled more than half of the Spiritual Force within his dantian, dealing with an ordinary Middle Rank Grade Ten Magical Beast wasn't overly strenuous for him.

With each battle, Wei Lulin noticed not only a rapid improvement in his combat experience but also an enhancement in the purity of the Spiritual Force in his dantian, leading to a further increase in his strength. It's no surprise that everyone says combat is the quickest way to bolster one's abilities.

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