Beasts for Practice

"Brother Xuan, Immortal Emperor Cang said a void rift appeared nearby, and the exotic beasts coming out of it happen to be at the Void Refinement realm. Plus, beasts with such low cultivation are hard to find, so he told us to clear them out as practice."

Jun Anshi's voice came from beneath the tree, carrying an eager excitement.

Two and a half years of cultivation had elevated her from the late stage of Soul Formation to the middle stage of Void Refinement. It was a solid, undeniable breakthrough in her realm.

However, on this small island inhabited only by the two of them, she never had the chance to truly test her combat strength.

While Immortal Emperor Cangwu's guidance was exquisite, what is learned on paper always feels superficial. She had long wanted to find a few Void Refinement realm beasts to try her hand against.

Gu Changyuan was lying on a thick branch of a parasol tree. A parasol leaf had fluttered down at some unknown moment, landing squarely on his face.

He picked up the leaf and tilted his head slightly to look down.

Jun Anshi stood beneath the tree, gripping her purple-gold spear, her eyes shining with eagerness.

He jumped down from the tree, clapped his hands to dust off non-existent dirt, and spoke in his usual flat tone:

"Let's go."

One after the other, the two traversed the sea of clouds, crossed several scattered islands, and arrived at a jungle in the northern part of the Cangwu Immortal Island.

There was a slanted rift, about three zhang long and one zhang at its widest.

The edges of the rift glowed with a faint blue light that flickered continuously. With every pulse, spatial power spilled out, slightly distorting the surrounding air.

Looking through the rift, one could only see a chaotic darkness.

Directly in front of the rift, over twenty Void Refinement realm beasts were fanned out.

They varied in size and darted back and forth around the rift, as if patrolling and standing guard.

They lined up on both sides, watching their surroundings vigilantly, yet refusing to stray too far from the rift.

Gu Changyuan swept his gaze over the pack of beasts, turned his head slightly to Jun Anshi, and said:

"I'll take the left; you take the right."

Before his words even faded, his figure had already dashed out.

Before Jun Anshi could even say "Wait," that silhouette had already shot forward dozens of zhang.

She looked at his retreating back, opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed the words "Wait for me," tightening her grip on her spear.

The moment Gu Changyuan dashed out, his right hand grasped at empty air.

A streak of black condensed from the void in the air, falling into his palm and transforming into a pitch-black long saber.

The moment the saber appeared, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.

Immediately after, a cluster of black flames spread from Gu Changyuan's palm, clinging to the blade.

The flames were silent and traceless. They emitted no heat and made no sound, yet they could make one feel a shudder originating from the depths of their soul.

Facing the direction of the beasts, he gripped the saber with both hands, raised it above his head, and brought it down in a single slash.

There was no earth-shattering boom, no dazzling light.

Only a black arc extended from the edge of the blade, slicing silently through space as it cleaved toward the dozen or so beasts.

Wherever the black arc passed, the air was torn apart, and space itself was sliced open.

The beasts' movements froze in the exact same instant. Their bodies were cleanly severed at the waist. Black flames burned quietly at the incisions; they did not spread nor extinguish, but only burned fiercer.

The flames spread to their torsos, then to their limbs, ultimately enveloping their entire corpses.

A dozen Void Refinement realm beasts were reduced to ashes in the black flames, leaving behind only scorched black marks on the ground.

From the appearance of the black arc to the scattering of ashes, no more than a single breath had passed.

Gu Changyuan twirled the long saber in his right hand. The blade traced a few graceful black arcs in the air, and the flames subsequently extinguished. After spinning the saber twice in his hand, he casually stored it back into the void.

He turned around, leaped lightly, and landed on the branch of a large tree behind Jun Anshi. Leaning casually against the trunk, his voice drifted down from above:

"Done. The rest is up to you."

Jun Anshi stood with her mouth agape and her eyes wide round. The expression on her face morphed from anticipation to shock, and then from shock to a helpless look of "This is way too absurd."

Wait, Void Refinement realm beasts, instantly killed with a single slash?

And a dozen of them instantly killed all at once?

She knew he was strong.

During their two and a half years on the Cangwu Immortal Island, although she had never seen him make a move, she could tell from Immortal Emperor Cangwu's attitude toward him.

Immortal Emperor Cangwu never interfered with his cultivation, not as if he thought Gu Changyuan was a disappointment, but rather as if he was completely at ease with him.

Furthermore, Jun Anshi herself was also cultivating the Great Dao of Cangwu.

Once she touched the thresholds of Space, Green Wood, and Reincarnation, she could clearly sense the aura of those four Great Daos emanating from Gu Changyuan.

In other words, he had actually mastered the essence of these four Great Daos long ago, and it was highly likely that he had already achieved the Great Dao of Cangwu.

But knowing was one thing; seeing it with her own eyes was another.

From those black flames, she felt the aura of Reincarnation.

But why was the aura of the Great Dao of Fire also mixed into the flames?

Jun Anshi's brain couldn't quite process it. A Void Refinement realm cultivator simultaneously mastering Time, Space, Green Wood, and Reincarnation was absurd enough.

Now there was the Great Dao of Fire on top of that? Five Great Daos?

If her Master knew of such a monstrous existence, she would probably snatch him right back to the Holy Land to be her disciple, right?

She had no time to continue complaining inwardly.

The few beasts on the right only reacted after Gu Changyuan's attack had ended.

Seeing their companions on the left reduced to ashes in the black flames, and watching that black figure land far away, several of them pounced simultaneously.

Jun Anshi took a deep breath, raised her right hand, spun the purple-gold spear in her palm, and pointed the tip forward.

She dashed forward, thrusting her spear.

The power of Time circulated on the spear tip, instantly increasing the thrust's speed by several times. It pierced right into the skull of an oncoming beast and exited through the back of its head.

The beast didn't even have time to let out a miserable shriek before it plummeted from the air.

Occasionally, she would also channel the power of Space, instantly teleporting behind a beast to launch a sneak attack.

She would also invoke the power of Green Wood, causing verdant vines to sprout from the ground, tangling the beasts' limbs and restricting their movements.

Dealing with these Void Refinement realm beasts was still very easy for her, just not as effortless as it had been for Gu Changyuan.

Jun Anshi withdrew her spear and stood tall. The spear spun in her hand before she planted the tip downwards into the ground.

She panted slightly, looking up at the man leaning against the tree trunk, who was watching her with a leisurely expression. Her tone carried a trace of speechlessness:

"Big brother, are you just going to stand there and watch?"

Gu Changyuan sensing that she had finished on her end, finally straightened up, his tone calm:

"Didn't Cangwu tell us to come deal with these beasts for the sake of experiential training?

If I solved them all for you, what would you use for practice?"