Chapter 18 - Entering the Frost Leaves Mad Like a Dog

The old man watched the wooden shavings falling like rain, deeply excited and unable to calm down for a long time.

Just a few seconds made a huge difference because of the impact of the slashing skill; it almost stopped the frail heart of the old man.

“How about that, how is the slashing skill?” Lu Hong, sitting back in his chair, boasted.

“Too…

too powerful!” The old man hurriedly ran to Lu Hong, pounding his back and tapping his legs, “Master, when will you teach me!”

“You want to learn?”

“Yes, yes, for sure I want to learn.

It’s too powerful.” The old man was extremely excited, wishing that Lu Hong could directly imprint the essence of the skill into his mind.

“Don’t think the slashing skill is powerful without limits,” Lu Hong cleared his throat and continued, “Firstly, the slashing skill can only be used against opponents not more than two levels higher than you.

Secondly, it requires charging up, and the most difficult part is that it only works when you hit the same wound on your opponent, which is why I first struck the tree.”

“Young master, no matter what, I really want to learn!” the old man affirmed again and again.

“Okay, but let me tell you beforehand, don’t use it in non-life-and-death fights.

Once deployed, the opponent will almost certainly not survive,” Lu Hong said seriously, fearing that the old man might turn on Tigris with a slashing skill after learning it, turning him into fireworks.

“Yes, yes, I’ll remember.”

Seeing the old man’s sincere attitude, Lu Hong directly explained the essence of the slashing skill to him, along with the methods of operating and infusing Fighting Spirit into weapons, especially the techniques vital for effectively using the slashing skill.

This skill essentially worked by transforming the weapon to channel all the Fighting Spirit through the opponent’s wound, creating a timed explosive within seconds.

No matter the creature, as their insides are generally the weakest, once it’s filled with this timed explosive, death is almost certain, hence the name “slashing skill.”

The two of them talked and taught each other until late at night before turning off the lights to rest.

The next morning, Lu Hong took the old man in a carriage straight to Frostleaf Forest.

This time, Lu Hong learned his lesson and didn’t seek speed; he wasn’t ready to lose his teeth.

“OK, don’t follow me; go find a place on your own to practice your skills,” Lu Hong casually indicated a path, “Come here every three days to restock supplies, and don’t wander off too far as we also need you to guard this place.”

“Young master, don’t you need me to come with you?” the old man asked, puzzled.

“Nonsense!

I was level one when I first entered, and now I’m level seven; would it not be embarrassing to have you follow me?” After saying this, Lu Hong packed some living supplies into his backpack and stepped deep into Frostleaf Forest, watching his young master walk away with such determination, the old man secretly vowed to diligently practice his skills and not to disappoint his master!

Frostleaf Forest was indeed a gathering place for Demon Beasts, and it wasn’t long before Lu Hong encountered a level-three Land Mole.

When Demon Beasts reach level three, they can perfectly master their innate abilities; for instance, this Land Mole’s best trick was burrowing!

Lu Hong didn’t disturb the distracted Land Mole; instead, he concentrated his Fighting Spirit and threw his giant sword like a hidden weapon.

However, a level-three Demon Beast has the strength nearly equivalent to a level eight or nine First Transition Profession, and with faster reactions, Lu Hong couldn’t easily succeed.

Just as the giant sword was about to hit, the Land Mole sensed the danger and swiftly burrowed underground.

Lu Hong, familiar with the nature of such beasts, quickly ran to the spot where his sword fell and picked up the weapon, counting the seconds.

“One, two, three, four!” Lu Hong was too familiar with the habits of these beasts.

He fiercely slammed his giant sword onto the ground behind him just as the Land Mole emerged, smashing its face into a shapeless mess with the impact.

Job done!

Although materials from a level-three Demon Beast could be sold for money or used to craft items, Lu Hong didn’t care about the small money; with his cheap apprentice around, what didn’t he have access to?

Actually, among level-three Demon Beasts, the Land Mole was one of the hardest to kill due to its agility and decent defense.

However, Lu Hong mastered the cross-level skill “Armor Piercing,” allowing him to kill with one strike.

He didn’t linger and continued on his way.

Soon, he spotted a new Demon Beast, a Green-Eyed Spider, which after a feeble struggle, was impaled by Lu Hong’s sword through its abdomen, turning into a bit of experience that nourished his spirit.

Thus, although the level-three Demon Beasts were strong, in the eyes of Lu Hong, who thoroughly grasped their habits and weaknesses, they were still as easy to handle as cutting vegetables.

As long as the strength of his Fighting Spirit was sufficient to break through their defenses, Lu Hong had no fear of not being able to kill them.

After three days of continuous hunting, Lu Hong returned to the camp and chatted with the old man for a while, replenished his supplies, and then re-entered the jungle.

This time, he aimed to sweep through deeper areas of Frostleaf Forest, thus he also told the old man to wait six days for his return.

“Sorted!” Lu Hong sat down on the ground, utterly exhausted this time.

As the saying goes, “the bolder the artist, the larger their canvas,” and in pursuit of efficiency, he targeted a group of Moon Wolves.

Following their hunting squad, he found their den, and the sight of over a hundred Moon Wolves made his mouth water.

Then, naturally, a tremendous battle erupted.

Just as it’s said, “It’s hard for one with two fists to fight against many hands.” When there are many wolves, some are bound to land a bite.

Lu Hong completely eradicated these Moon Wolves, but not without sustaining several bites himself.

“Ouch, that really hurts!” Lu Hong quickly bandaged his wound and sat down to rest.

The battle had nearly depleted his fighting spirit, and he needed to recover.

But his respite was short-lived.

Before he could regain much fighting spirit, a series of footsteps approached—it was a group of humans.

“Kid, did you kill this Moon Wolf?”

Lu Hong opened his eyes and looked at the burly man slowly approaching and surrounding him.

“Yes, but I don’t need anything from these Moon Wolves.

If you’re interested, feel free to take whatever you want, just don’t bother me.”

“Boss, you see…” At that moment, a sleazy man whispered something into the ear of their leader, who nodded repeatedly.

“Hey!

Kid!” the boss shouted at Lu Hong.

“My brother here says since you don’t care about the materials on the Moon Wolf, there must be something more valuable in your possession.

I advise you to hand it over to avoid fatal trouble.”

Hearing this, Lu Hong’s expression darkened.

“Don’t push your luck!”

“Oho?

You dare defy us?

Boys, kill him!” Following the boss’s order, the underling closest to Lu Hong charged first—for the glory of taking the lead, no doubt.

“Looking for death!” Lu Hong grabbed the giant sword beside him, stood up, and with a sweeping motion, the underling didn’t even have time to react before he was cut in half and fell among the wolf corpses with a thud.

“What incredible speed!” the boss exclaimed.

But, admiration aside, now that they had clashed, it was a fight to the death.

“Everyone, attack together!

He can’t fend us off!”

“Then come at me,” Lu Hong said.

Right after he spoke, three washbasin-sized fireballs smashed towards him—there was a mage in their team!

Lu Hong executed a brilliant rolling dodge to avoid the fireball’s impact and charged directly towards the mage’s position.

It had to be said that this group had some coordination.

Seeing Lu Hong charging at the mage, two knights reacted instantly, raising their shields to block Lu Hong’s inevitable path.

“Move!” Lu Hong shouted angrily.

His giant sword shone brightly.

With his fighting spirit poured into it, one sweeping sword strike—empowered with armor-breaking skill—shattered both knights and their shields.

“How can he be so powerful?!” The boss was stunned.

This kid looked merely at level seven, like his underlings, but cutting down his men was like slicing through vegetables.

The two knights fell, and the mage behind them got quite a scare, quickly casting a spell to create a firewall in front of Lu Hong.

Two fireballs shot from the firewall towards Lu Hong.

“So annoying!” Lu Hong had always disliked mages the most—troublesome to no end, and now he found them utterly detestable.

With two precise sword strikes, he sliced through the fireballs, disregarding the danger as he leaped through the firewall.

The three mages, having never seen someone breach a firewall so brazenly, couldn’t react in time and were swiftly decapitated by Lu Hong!

“I’m furious!” The boss was livid, seeing his men fall one after another.

With six subordinates lost, he was heartbroken.

“Don’t run, kid!

Take this!”

“As if I wouldn’t run!” Lu Hong laughed.

His fighting spirit hadn’t much recovered anyway, and fighting head-on would be suicidal.

Instead, he took the opportunity to escape, with the boss and the remaining eight underlings hot on his heels.

And so, they chased him for over an hour until Lu Hong’s inner fighting spirit was entirely depleted.

What to do?

At this critical juncture, Lu Hong spotted a mountain ravine ahead and darted into it.

Lu Hong escaped into it, but the boss dared not follow and immediately halted his underlings.

“Boss, why aren’t we chasing?” a subordinate asked, puzzled.

“Are you an idiot?” The boss slapped him across the face.

“This is exactly our target location, home to a fourth-level Demon Beast, the Water Marsh Dragon.”

Pacing at the entrance of the ravine, the boss spoke, “Send out the signal, summon all clan members here.

There’s only one way in and out of this ravine, that kid can’t escape.

Once everyone is gathered, we’ll take down the Water Marsh Dragon and that kid together!”

“Right away, boss!

I’m on it!”