Chapter 279: Half a Month of Soaring Cultivation

Chapter 279: Chapter 279: Half a Month of Soaring Cultivation

Thousands upon thousands of wolf-like beasts covered the ground, and just as many bat-like creatures swarmed the sky.

Only after the battle began did Chu Fan realize that every single beast, whether on the ground or in the air, possessed Combat Power comparable to Integration Realm Tier One.

They were more than just tough; the bat-like beasts could actually breathe fire.

Meanwhile, the wolf-like beasts on the ground could shoot out their silver fur, each strand like a sharp arrow.

Not only that, but as the silver wolves lunged, they could generate a shockwave of air. When it hit, it felt like being blasted by a high-pressure jet of water.

With every swipe of a silver wolf’s paw, three sharp attacks of Qi Power, akin to Sword Qi, would fly out.

In just a few short minutes of fighting, Chu Fan’s clothes were already in tatters.

To avoid damaging his Celestial Dragon Armor, Chu Fan obediently kept the Battle Armor concealed, not using it for defense.

Without the Battle Armor’s protection, his skin was soon seared in many places by the bats’ flames, the burns stinging with raw pain.

Surrounded by such a horde of beasts, Chu Fan had to devote his utmost focus to deal with them carefully.

This was no longer a trial; it was a desperate fight for survival.

Without the Celestial Dragon Armor, the pain was all too real. A moment of carelessness, and a pouncing silver wolf would truly tear into his flesh.

The stench of the saliva dripping from the silver wolves’ mouths was foul enough to kill.

Not only were these beasts ferocious in Combat Power and seamlessly coordinated, but their physical defenses were also incredibly strong. Unless he struck a vital point, a mere slash of Sword Qi against their fur would only knock them back a little without even breaking their skin.

Chu Fan fought this battle for three full days and three full nights.

When he finally slew the last "bat," he was utterly exhausted.

Exhaustion. He hadn’t felt this way in a long time, not since he began his Cultivation of the Miaolian Celestial Stabilization Technique.

After resting for an hour, they headed for the next location.

"Is that the Nine-Layered Tower?"

The mountain Chu Fan and the others were on was directly across from Moon Cang Mountain, where the Nine-Layered Tower was located at its peak.

Thus, Chu Fan could see the Nine-Layered Tower standing tall on the summit of Moon Cang Mountain from a distance.

The words had barely left his mouth when a white bone, as sharp as a sword, shot toward him.

The bone let out a piercing whistle as it sliced through the air, a testament to its incredible speed.

Having just survived the battle in the canyon, not only had Chu Fan’s Cultivation risen to Integration Realm Tier Four, but his combat awareness and reaction speed had also improved significantly.

Coupled with his formidable Spiritual Power, his sense for danger had become much sharper.

Just as the bone was about to hit him, he spun sharply and struck it with his Juntian Sword. The bone was knocked away, but the impact left the webbing between his thumb and forefinger, where he gripped the Sword, numb.

ROAR—

With a beastly roar, dozens of giant, bipedal apes appeared before him. They were over ten feet tall, and each one held a white bone.

One end of the bones was extremely sharp; it was impossible to tell what animal they came from.

Each bone was over seven feet long.

"How much will my Cultivation increase if I kill them all?"

"There are seventy-two in total. Killing them all will raise you by two Tiers."

Hearing that he could rise by two Tiers, Chu Fan didn’t hesitate for another moment and charged forward to kill.

Partway there, several of the giant apes hurled their bone clubs at Chu Fan.

Each bone whistled through the air.

Their speed was astonishing, and their power was unquestionable.

Chu Fan unleashed Walking Dragon Sword Shadow, only to be stunned to find that his Sword Qi and Sword Aura inflicted no damage on them whatsoever.

Even when his Sword Qi slammed into the giant apes, it couldn’t even slow their advance.

Furthermore, they all possessed immense strength. Each of their attacks carried the force of tens of thousands of pounds.

"Brother, it’s best not to use your Sword on them. Kill them with your physical strength."

Hearing the White Fox’s words, Chu Fan decisively put away his Juntian Sword.

He unleashed the Heaven-Reaching Palm Technique.

"Who’s that?"

Just as Chu Fan was locked in a desperate struggle with the giant apes, a group of people happened to be passing in the distance. Hearing the sounds of battle, they looked over.

"I think that’s Chu Fan, isn’t it? How did he end up all alone?"

"Should we go help him? Look at his clothes, they’re covered in blood. He’s probably badly injured."

"Help him? My ass! Look how tough-skinned those beasts are. Are you sure you’re stronger than Chu Fan, the eleventh-ranked on the Talent List?"

"Don’t go up there! We won’t be any help, and we’ll just get hurt by those animals. It’s not worth it!"

"Right, right, let’s get out of here. He’s just an Eastern Barbarian. Who cares if he lives or dies? Moon Cang Mountain is right over there. Let’s hurry to the Nine-Layered Tower!"

After watching for a moment, the group left.

Three days later, the same group was leaving Moon Cang Mountain and passed by the area again. They saw Chu Fan still fighting the giant apes. Many ape corpses littered the ground, but he was still surrounded by dozens of them.

They had all received their own fortuitous encounters in the Nine-Layered Tower, and their Combat Power had increased, yet still, not one of them offered to help.

They merely glanced over—some gloating, some pitying, some sympathetic—but they all left without hesitation.

Five days and five nights. Chu Fan fought this battle for five full days and nights before he finally smashed the last giant ape’s head with his fist.

In the days that followed, Chu Fan had almost no rest. He rushed to over a dozen different locations, slaying countless beasts. The shortest battle took only a matter of minutes, while the longest dragged on for two days and two nights.

The strongest beast was a giant bull whose body was covered in rock. Chu Fan fought it for two days and one night. After killing it, his Cultivation rose directly from Integration Realm Tier Eight to Tier Nine.

After slaying three more batches of beasts, his Cultivation reached Integration Realm Peak.

Throughout this entire process, several groups of people passed by the edge of Chu Fan’s battles, but not a single person ever offered to help. Most of them watched with gloating eyes; some even stood in the distance, enjoying the show as Chu Fan fought.

Reaching Integration Realm Peak had taken exactly half a month. Chu Fan actually wanted to continue fighting, to see if he could break through the Integration Realm’s bottleneck and step directly into the Void Realm.

But the White Fox told him that in this Secret Realm, the strongest beasts only had Combat Power equivalent to Integration Realm Peak. Even if he kept fighting, his progress would no longer be as significant.

In truth, Chu Fan could feel it too. The reason his later fights took less time wasn’t that the beasts were getting weaker, but that his own Combat Power was increasing.

This Combat Power wasn’t just an increase in his Cultivation; it included his combat awareness and his comprehension of the Sword Dao. Eventually, his attacks and defenses even formed a kind of instinct, allowing him to anticipate the beasts’ moves before they were even made.

No matter how seamlessly they coordinated, he could find an opening within a few exchanges and then pick them off one by one.

Therefore, over this half-month of fighting, his Cultivation had reached the peak of Integration Realm Tier Nine, but his greatest gains were in his combat awareness and experience.

It was no exaggeration to say that with his former Combat Power, at the same Cultivation Realm, an opponent he once needed ten moves to kill could now be defeated in three moves, or even fewer.

Combat awareness and experience couldn’t be grasped through quiet meditation; they had to be forged through the accumulation of one battle after another.

"It’s been half a month. I should go find the others. It’s time to deal with Yan Ying and Long Yinwen first."