Chapter 9

Outside the valley where the snow ginseng used to grow, Zichen stood quietly.

Adjusting his mood, he was determined to kill a bear today.

A fifth-level ferocious beast.

Taking a deep breath, Zichen entered the valley, but to his surprise, there was only one ice bear, not the two from before.

"Roar!"

The ice bear, which had just woken up, let out another roar. As a fifth-level ferocious beast, it naturally had keen senses. No matter how careful Zichen was, the ice bear still detected him as he approached the valley.

Standing over three meters tall, the ice bear's fur bristled like steel needles, and its pitch-black eyes emitted a cold, icy gaze.

Seeing Zichen, the human, the ice bear roared and charged at him, its paw, as large as a fan, sweeping towards Zichen's face with a powerful gust of wind.

The ice bear hated humans intensely, and this strike was undoubtedly its full power.

"Come on then."

Zichen's eyes gleamed, and his aura instantly surged, like a crouching tiger ready to pounce.

"Roar!"

With a roar, Zichen unleashed the Three Tiger Strikes, transforming into a tiger that pounced on the ice bear.

A tiger and a bear clashed head-on.

"Bang!"

A dull collision echoed through the valley. Zichen's fist met the ice bear's paw, and his body trembled, forcing him to retreat several steps, his internal energy churning.

At the third level of True Qi, Zichen, with his resilient body, managed to match the ice bear, known for its immense strength, in a draw, which was simply incredible.

Zichen retreated several steps, and the ice bear's body also shook, forcing it to take two steps back. A hint of surprise flickered in its cold eyes, followed by even greater rage.

The ice bear roared and charged at Zichen again, the wind whipping up snowflakes on the ground.

"Roar!"

The roar of a tiger echoed, and a regal aura instantly filled the valley.

A tiger and a bear, two dominant forces, began their clash.

The dull thuds of their collision echoed continuously throughout the valley.

"Good, let's go again!"

Zichen was pushed back again, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes shone brightly. After several consecutive attacks, his True Qi was depleted, and he relied solely on his powerful physique to maintain his stance.

To be able to match a fifth-level ferocious beast in physical strength, Zichen's body was truly remarkable.

With a gust of wind, Zichen struck again, his fists moving with the force of a tiger.

The bear's paw descended, generating immense pressure.

"Flowing Cloud Step."

Zichen's feet moved, and his body flashed, unexpectedly dodging the ice bear's attack. The Three Tiger Strikes instantly struck the ice bear's body.

"Bang!"

The ice bear's massive body was knocked down for the first time.

With a roar, the ice bear rose again, and the two continued their intense battle, each blow meeting the other's with equal force.

An hour later,

A tiger's roar echoed, and the two clashed again. Zichen's body was sent flying, landing in the snow after flying several dozen meters.

After a full hour of battle, Zichen was exhausted. The intense fight with the ice bear made him realize that his physical strength was stronger than a fourth-level ferocious beast but weaker than a fifth-level one, placing him between the two levels.

Seeing Zichen fly away, blood gushing from his mouth, the ice bear's cold eyes finally showed a flicker of emotion. It roared to the sky, expressing its joy, and then quickly approached Zichen.

The human was exhausted and had no strength left to fight. The ice bear could see that it was time to claim its prize.

Zichen was indeed exhausted, with no strength left to fight or even flee. He had reached his limit, just like when he was on the brink of death.

But in Zichen's weary eyes, there was no fear, only a hint of anticipation.

"Buzz!"

At that moment, Zichen's heart suddenly trembled, and a pure silver energy surged from it, spreading throughout his body like rain watering a dry desert.

Every part of Zichen's body, his blood, and bones, absorbed this energy, and the strength he had lost was instantly restored, as if he had taken a miraculous elixir.

"This is the fastest way to progress with the Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering Technique." Zichen's eyes shone brightly. Under the nourishment of this energy, he could feel his body's strength increasing.

Reaching his limit and then absorbing the silver energy allowed Zichen's strength to grow rapidly, far surpassing the speed of his previous meditations.

The weary look vanished, and Zichen's eyes gleamed. He leaped to his feet and shouted, "Let's go again."

Looking at the ice bear, Zichen saw a rare and valuable opponent, a sparring partner, and his eyes glowed with a greenish light.

"Roar!"

The tiger's roar shook the forest, and Zichen, like a fierce tiger, charged at the ice bear once more.

The fifth-level ferocious beast, the ice bear, had some intelligence, but it couldn't understand why the exhausted human suddenly regained his vigor and emitted a stronger aura.

But the ice bear, being a beast, was cruel and didn't think much about it, choosing to fight directly.

A tiger and a bear clashed again.

This time, after another hour, Zichen gradually gained the upper hand. Although the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth increased, his eyes remained bright.

"Buzz!"

After reaching his limit again, Zichen's heart beat once more. This time, the pure energy entering his body made him feel a transformation, a significant improvement and a breakthrough.

"Physical strength comparable to a fifth-level ferocious beast." Zichen's eyes shone brightly.

After two hours of battle, the ice bear was also severely exhausted, reaching its limit. But when it saw the human regain his vigor, it was terrified and began to consider retreating.

However, at that moment, Zichen emitted an aura comparable to a fifth-level ferocious beast, transforming into a fifth-level tiger, which was extremely terrifying. The regal aura made the ice bear tremble even more.

This was the regal aura triggered by the Three Tiger Strikes.

"Roar!"

Another tiger's roar echoed, and Zichen delivered three consecutive strikes, fluid and powerful, hitting the ice bear.

"Bang!"

Amidst the dull sound, there was also the sound of bones breaking. The three-meter-tall ice bear was sent flying by Zichen's punch.

With the third level of True Qi and the physical strength of a fifth-level ferocious beast, Zichen's combined strength was terrifying.

The valley echoed with the ice bear's cries of pain. Already severely exhausted, the ice bear was powerless to avoid Zichen's relentless attacks.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

After several consecutive attacks, the ice bear finally lay motionless on the ground, either exhausted to death or beaten to death by Zichen.

The ice bear was dead, and Zichen sat on the ground, panting heavily.

To have killed a fifth-level ferocious beast today was something Zichen had never dared to imagine.

Taking out Lin Ying's long knife, Zichen cut off the bear's paw with a surge of True Qi.

A large bear would provide him with food for a long time.

Starting a fire in the icy snow was not easy, but with determination, it wasn't too difficult.

Smoke rose, and Zichen began roasting the bear's paw and eating the bear's meat in the icy snow.

With the ice bear dead, the valley became Zichen's territory.

After eating and resting for a while, Zichen took out the long knife and cut open the ice bear's body, retrieving a black bear gallbladder.

The bear gallbladder was a great tonic and an essential ingredient for some special elixirs, useful for cultivators. Although swallowing it directly was somewhat wasteful, Zichen had no other choice.

Breaking open the gallbladder, he found small, translucent spheres, occasionally emitting a faint golden light.

"This is actually a faint golden color, truly a good thing."

Seeing the faint golden spheres in the gallbladder, Zichen was surprised. The best color for a bear gallbladder was gold, followed by copper, black, and dark green. Faint gold was even better than copper.

Zichen's luck was good.

Without hesitation, he swallowed the small spheres.

A strong bitter taste spread in his mouth, but after swallowing them, a faint fragrance filled his senses.

The Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering Technique activated, and Zichen began to refine the faint golden bear gallbladder.

A warm, faintly golden light appeared in Zichen's body, traveling through his meridians and circulating.

After half a cycle, all the energy was absorbed by his heart. After surviving a great ordeal, Zichen discovered that his heart acted like a high-speed filter, absorbing all the energy and converting it into a purer silver energy.

Although Zichen didn't understand why, he knew that this was due to his previous encounter. Perhaps there was something in his heart, but with only True Qi level strength, he lacked the perception to discover it. Maybe he would find out at the Innate stage.

After a moment, his heart trembled and refined all the energy from the bear gallbladder, distributing it to his limbs and organs, and some of it reached his dantian.

The Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering Technique focused on refining the body, so the energy entering his bones always exceeded the energy entering his dantian.

If all the energy from the bear gallbladder were refined and entered his dantian, Zichen would have recovered to the fourth level of True Qi, or even reached the peak of the fourth level. However, more than half of the energy was absorbed by his body, and after the energy was absorbed, Zichen only reached the peak of the third level of True Qi.

"Peak of the third level of True Qi, in just a few days."

But Zichen was very satisfied. Besides his strong physique, he had progressed from a person with a damaged dantian to the third level of True Qi in just a few days, a growth rate that was truly terrifying.

"There's still one more ice bear. I must find it. Even if I don't kill it, I can use it as a sparring partner to further strengthen my physique."

Zichen's eyes were filled with anticipation.