Chapter 86

In Xiaohua's horrified gaze, a raging bear, over ten feet tall, lunged at Longchen, extending its paw, as large as a millstone, to strike him.

The most powerful part of the raging bear was its front claws, which could easily shatter rocks. If a human body were hit, it would instantly turn into a puddle of mush.

This was why Xiaohua and her companions never dared to challenge the raging bear. Their attacks could not truly harm the bear, while a single strike from the bear could be fatal.

*Bang*

A loud explosion echoed, and Xiaohua covered her mouth tightly, her eyes filled with disbelief.

The terrifying strike from the raging bear was actually blocked by Longchen. The shockwave rolled, and the earth trembled, but Longchen did not take a single step back.

Though his figure was not imposing, he effortlessly blocked the bear, which was several times larger than him. At that moment, Longchen's long hair fluttered, and he seemed like a god of war, inspiring awe.

With one punch, he blocked the raging bear's strike, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. Apart from those at the Yi Jin stage, even the strength of a raging bear was nothing to him.

Longchen roughly estimated that the bear's strike had the force of ten thousand pounds. A typical Qi Gathering stage expert would be killed instantly by such a blow.

Even a Blood Condensation stage expert would need to be at the mid-stage to barely withstand such a strike. This was the terrifying power of a strength-based magical beast.

However, in front of Longchen, this strike posed no threat. At the same time, Longchen thought of Ahman. If Ahman were here, he would probably pounce and snap the bear's neck.

*Huff*

Longchen, having blocked the raging bear, wasted no more time. Taking advantage of the bear's stagger, he drew a broadsword and slashed with a fierce glow.

*Puff*

Blood splattered as Longchen's broadsword heavily struck the bear's head, the terrifying force cutting off half of its head. The bear didn't even have time to groan before it fell to the ground with a thud.

Xiaohua watched all this in a daze, feeling as if she were in a dream. She had killed magical beasts before, but she had never seen such a method of killing.

Usually, when they killed magical beasts, they needed to prepare thoroughly, set traps, coat their weapons with poison, and choose advantageous terrain. To deal with a single magical beast, they would need to prepare for nearly a month.

Even then, the entire village would proceed with extreme caution, and a single mistake could result in injuries or even death.

But Longchen killed this terrifying raging bear as easily as slicing through melons and vegetables.

"What should we do with this thing?"

It wasn't until Longchen asked that Xiaohua snapped out of her daze. Looking at the huge bear's corpse, she said, "Why don't we return to the village and carry this magical beast to the Forest God?"

"Or we can keep it and offer it as a sacrifice later when we have more game," Longchen thought for a moment and suggested.

Everyone was living on thin gruel, and this wasn't a solution. Besides, killing such a magical beast didn't take much effort for him.

"No, we cannot betray the Forest God's trust. That would be a desecration," Xiaohua said solemnly.

"Alright then."

Longchen, helpless, extended his hand and stored the bear's corpse in his spatial ring.

"You... How did you do that? Are you a god?" Xiaohua looked at Longchen in shock.

She saw the huge bear's corpse disappear with a wave of Longchen's hand and remembered the broadsword that appeared out of nowhere in his hand.

When they brought Longchen back, they also brought the broadsword, but it was too heavy, requiring two people to carry it.

Later, the broadsword was placed by Longchen's bedside and then stored away. Recalling this, Xiaohua's face showed a mix of surprise and doubt.

Seeing Xiaohua's shocked expression, Longchen couldn't help but laugh, "I'm no god. This is a spatial ring, which can store items."

After saying this, Longchen waved his ring, and the bear's corpse reappeared. Xiaohua looked at Longchen's ring with envy, praising it nonstop.

Clearly, Xiaohua had never heard of spatial rings. They sold some game fur and cores, but as they were low-grade, they could only earn a small amount of gold coins. Such luxury items were beyond their reach.

"Xiaohua, I have a gift for you."

Longchen had an idea and took out a ring from his pocket, the only loot from killing Xia Changfeng.

During the chase by Ying Hou, Longchen had examined the contents. Apart from some gold coins and weapons, which were useless to him, there was one good thing—a secret manual, the *Lifeng Three Styles*. This was the treasure Xia Changfeng had bought at the auction.

In the surrounding empires, Earth Rank techniques were the pinnacle. Xia Changfeng's ability to buy this technique for five hundred million gold coins was considered lucky.

However, this luck belonged to Longchen. Apart from taking the *Lifeng Three Styles*, he hadn't touched anything else.

"No, Longchen, I can't accept your gift," Xiaohua was startled when Longchen handed her the ring and quickly refused.

"Why? Didn't you say I'm your man? How can you refuse a gift from your man?" Longchen laughed.

Though it was partly a joke, he genuinely liked this lively and kind girl. It wasn't romantic, but it made him want to be closer to her.

"This... this..." Xiaohua, clearly a young girl in love, looked at the ring in Longchen's hand, her conflicted expression obvious.

She was curious about the ring, which seemed like a divine object, but also felt embarrassed.

"Take it. Consider it a gift from me."

Longchen smiled and put the ring on Xiaohua's hand. Her hand was beautiful, but the tips of her fingers had a layer of hard calluses, a mark of a hunter from years of drawing the bow.

Xiaohua blushed, looking down and caressing the ring on her hand. This was the first time Longchen saw this shy side of her.

"I'll teach you how to use it. Focus your attention on your third eye, and use it to focus on the ring. At the same time, use your other hand to input a thread of spiritual energy..."

Ordinary people couldn't open spatial rings, but cultivators could. Once they reached the Qi Gathering stage and could drive true qi, combined with a bit of soul power, they could open the ring.

However, Xiaohua knew nothing about soul power, so Longchen had to guide her. To his surprise, Xiaohua was very smart and quickly understood the method after a few tries.

This made Longchen sigh. If Ahman were half as smart as Xiaohua, he would save a lot of trouble.

Thinking of Ahman, Longchen became worried. He didn't know if Ahman had taken Xiaoxue and returned to the capital.

But according to his calculations, he had delayed Ying Hou, and the others wouldn't recognize Ahman. Ahman had a good chance of returning to the capital.

Once Ahman returned to the capital and sought help from Master Yunqi, the Long family would be safe for a while. However, plans were never perfect, and he needed to return to the capital as soon as possible.

Before returning to the capital, he needed to do two things. First, he needed to pay off the village's debt. Otherwise, with their simple nature, if they tried to hunt a second-stage magical beast, many would die.

Second, he needed to improve his cultivation. The battle with Ying Hou had shown him his weaknesses. He was powerless against a Yi Jin stage expert, and he didn't like that feeling.

"Wow, so many things!"

After several attempts, Xiaohua finally opened the spatial ring and saw the contents, exclaiming in surprise.

Inside was a space about ten feet square, with a pile of gold coins like a small mountain and many weapons, gleaming coldly.

Xiaohua, who had never seen so many fine weapons, was more excited by the weapons than the gold coins, which she didn't recognize.

They went out to the mountains every one to two years, walking for nearly half a month to a remote town, where they exchanged cores and furs for iron tools, food, and daily necessities, rarely touching money.

The gleaming weapons, however, were a hunter's favorite. Xiaohua was almost overwhelmed with happiness.

"Spiritual energy is used to open the ring. To take things out or put things in, you need to use soul power. Try it," Longchen smiled, looking at the excited girl.

"Okay."

Xiaohua tried several times to use her soul power but failed. Her soul power was too weak, and not everyone had the robust soul power of an alchemist.

Additionally, Xiaohua was a novice with soul power, making it particularly difficult to use. Longchen had anticipated this and didn't rush her, instead encouraging her.

If Xiaohua could use the spatial ring, the weapons inside would greatly enhance the village's combat strength, reducing casualties during hunts.

Moreover, they wouldn't have to carry things back and forth, making it much more convenient.

*Clang*

After about an incense stick's time, Xiaohua finally used her soul power to take out a longsword from the spatial ring. However, due to her weak soul power, it didn't appear where she wanted and fell to the ground.

"Yay! Great, I can use the magical ring!"

Xiaohua picked up the longsword and hugged Longchen, excitedly shouting.

"Hey, be careful, your sword is almost poking me," Longchen laughed.

Xiaohua was still excited, examining the longsword in her hand and swinging it at a nearby tree as thick as her arm.

*Swish*

With a light sound, the tree was easily cut in half. The sharpness of the sword made Xiaohua exclaim in excitement. Clearly, the iron tools they exchanged in town couldn't compare to such weapons.

Seeing that Xiaohua had mastered the basics, Longchen helped her take out a spear from the ring. For a hunter, a spear was more practical than a sword.

The two continued on their way. Suddenly, a wild boar, weighing about three hundred pounds, charged at them, perhaps because they had entered its territory.

Seeing the boar, Xiaohua shook her spear, and the sharp spearhead easily pierced through the boar's tough hide, piercing its heart and emerging from the other side.

Today, Xiaohua had used up a lifetime's worth of excitement. Killing an adult boar with a single strike was an indescribable sense of achievement.

The two continued their journey, and by noon the next day, they reached a pond. A giant tree appeared before Longchen.