Chapter 217: Mishap in the Secret Realm
Deep within the mountain forest.
After resting in his Territory for a month, Duane returned to Thorn Valley.
Thanks to successive culls and constant patrols by the Guards, the Demon Beasts had come to consider areas of human activity dangerous and wouldn’t approach on their own.
As a result, even when Duane took a less-traveled route, he had a hard time finding any remotely powerful Demon Beasts.
The Level 3 Demon Beast that had just crawled out of the great river, a Freshwater Crocodile, was a rare exception in terms of strength.
But against the current Duane, it was no match at all.
PFFT—
The sharp Long Spear, carrying terrifying piercing power, shot straight through the Freshwater Crocodile’s head.
Duane withdrew the Long Spear, pulling a spray of blood along with it.
’The iron shaft really makes a difference!’
He used to use an oak shaft, which was fine for Low Level Demon Beasts, but it had a high chance of snapping against anything Level 3 or higher.
Before setting out this time, Duane had forged an iron shaft himself.
With the spearhead attached, it was a Long Spear. Without it, it was an iron staff, making it very convenient for practicing both his Basic Spear Skill and Basic Staff Skill.
Congratulations, your Basic Spear Skill has reached the Perfection Level.
Attribute Points +0.5
Your Perfection Level Basic Spear Skill has granted you an Enlightenment. You have acquired the Long Spear Combat Techniques: Rainbow Piercing and Mountain Collapse. Attribute Points +2.
Rainbow Piercing: A Celestial Tier Combat Technique. Condenses High-Pressure Fighting Qi into a linear Thrust with extreme piercing power.
Mountain Collapse: A Celestial Tier Combat Technique. Condenses High-Pressure Fighting Qi at the spear’s tip. Upon a heavy strike, the Fighting Qi erupts with the force of a collapsing mountain!
’Not bad!’
Duane looked satisfied.
Over the past two days, his Staff Skill had also reached Perfection, granting him two Combat Techniques: Earth Shaking and Thousand Shadow Chaos.
Now that his Spear Skill had reached Perfection, he had gained another two Combat Techniques.
’Counting Thunderous Triple Slash, I now have three Celestial Tier Combat Techniques.’
Celestial Tier Warriors were already rare, to say nothing of Celestial Tier Combat Techniques.
These three Celestial Tier Combat Techniques undoubtedly increased Duane’s power tremendously.
He immediately allocated his newly acquired attribute points to Spirit.
’My Spirit Attribute is at 23.0. I just need 7 more points to become a Level 4 Mage.’
’Now I just need to grind the Skill Levels for these new Skills.’
Over the next few days, Duane didn’t rush his journey, instead spending his time learning the new Combat Techniques and practicing Magic.
It wasn’t until the sixth day that he once again arrived outside the Secret Realm.
Duane looked at the Green Vines in front of the Secret Realm Teleportation Gate, a little surprised.
’In just over a month, the Green Vine has already grown to a meter long.’
He pinched a Green Vine, and as he infused it with Fighting Qi, the limp vine instantly tensed, becoming as rigid as a steel bar.
’It’s a bit thin. If it were thicker, I could use it as a spear shaft.’
He withdrew his Fighting Qi, and the Green Vine returned to its original state.
’Grow quickly now.’
He strode forward and entered the Secret Realm Space once more.
He had come alone this time, not to fight the giant Black Bear to the death, but to propagate the black vines and thus obtain an ample supply of fuel.
Although Duane’s individual power was immense, this was, after all, a Secret Realm that could drive a person mad and was teeming with Demon Beasts, so he remained extremely cautious.
It was this very caution that allowed him to dodge an incoming attack just in time.
ROAR—
The space shifted. Before Duane could even get a clear look at his surroundings, he heard a ferocious roar.
Without a second thought, he immediately dodged to the side.
BOOM!
A colossal, club-like shadow slammed down, unleashing an explosion of terrifying power.
’What the hell is that!’
Duane instantly activated his Scale Transformation to resist the oncoming shockwave, using the force of the blast to fling himself to the side.
As the dust settled, he finally got a clear view of the scene before him.
Three giant Long-armed Apes, each gripping a thick black staff, had him surrounded.
At the same time, there were two Mutated Black Panthers and a pack of a dozen or so Mutated Wind Wolves.
An absurd word popped into Duane’s mind—ambush.
Yes, he had been ambushed by Demon Beasts.
’There’s definitely a Commander Level Demon Beast in this Secret Realm!’
Duane’s thoughts immediately jumped to the giant Black Bear, but a quick scan of the area showed it was nowhere in sight.
AWOOOO—
One of the Mutated Black Panthers let out a howl, and the pack of Wind Wolves joined in, tilting their heads back to cry out in a show of force against the intruder.
Duane quietly cast the Level 2 Magic, Rapid Speed, on himself, further boosting his speed.
’Without the Black Bear, I should be able to handle this.’
He had barely experienced any intense battles during this trip to Thorn Valley.
Now that he had finally run into some Demon Beasts, it was the perfect chance to have a satisfying fight.
ROAR!
The three Mutated Steel Claw Long-armed Apes slammed their black staffs onto the ground, and the earth instantly seemed to ripple like water.
When the ripples reached Duane, the ground suddenly warped, transforming into dozens of earthen spears that shot toward him.
If it had been Gaius and his men, they would have been turned into pincushions.
Duane neither dodged nor evaded, simply raising his staff and smashing it down forcefully.
The power of his Earth-Shaking Combat Technique was even more immense than the Long-armed Apes’ combined attack. A single blow not only shattered the earthen spears but also violently reshaped the terrain within a fifteen-meter radius.
The Wind Wolves charging in were sent flying by the seismic wave. Only the Black Panthers and the pack’s alpha were agile enough to dodge the blow and press their attack on Duane.
"Bring it on!"
The corners of Duane’s mouth curled up as he charged forward to meet them.
Although the two Black Panthers and three Long-armed Apes were Level 5 Demon Beasts, with his current strength, he was completely unafraid.
He swept his staff horizontally, clashing with a Black Panther’s sharp claws. Man and beast were both forced to retreat.
The Wind Wolves that had been sent flying swarmed in again. Duane brought his staff down viciously on one of the Wind Wolf’s necks, the immense force crushing its throat.
Blood sprayed everywhere, but the creature didn’t die. It continued its frenzied assault.
Duane then remembered that these Demon Beasts couldn’t be killed easily.
It was just like that Black Panther outside the Secret Realm the other day; you had to sever the head from the body to truly kill it.
’In that case, I’ll use my spear!’
Duane took out the spearhead and attached it to the end of his iron staff. The Long Spear lunged like a dragon, piercing the Wind Wolf’s throat. His Fighting Qi erupted, blowing the creature’s head from its shoulders!
Just then, the three Long-armed Apes charged in.
He didn’t know what their black staffs were made of, but they were as hard as iron.
Perhaps it was because apes are natural staff-wielders, but even with his Perfection Level Staff Skill, Duane could only barely gain the upper hand against the three of them working in tandem.
"Rainbow Piercing!"
Duane’s Long Spear radiated immense power. As he thrust, a bolt of compressed Fighting Qi shot forth, piercing straight through a Long-armed Ape’s brow.
The Long-armed Ape instantly went limp and collapsed to the ground.
’So piercing them between the eyes works too.’
Duane’s spirits rose. Empowered by his Rapid Speed magic and his Perfection Level Swift Step, he carved a path back and forth through the horde. Even the invisible Black Panthers struggled to land a blow on him.
But after fighting for some time, he realized the number of Demon Beasts wasn’t decreasing. On the contrary, it was increasing.
’Something’s wrong...’
Even in the heat of battle, Duane wasn’t so intoxicated by his rapidly increasing Skill Levels that he lost his cool. He withdrew his Long Spear and scanned his surroundings warily.
He saw that large numbers of Demon Beasts were steadily arriving to join the fray.
He spotted Iron Armor Rhinoceroses, Poison Fang Pythons, Thorned Fierce Dogs, and more.
At the same time, the bodies of the Mutated Demon Beasts he had killed were emitting a strange, dark green energy that refused to dissipate.
’Something is wrong. Very wrong!’
Based on his last experience, he might have dismissed these Demon Beasts as mindless, fearless creatures that only knew how to charge to their deaths.
But the increasingly cold and sinister atmosphere put him on high alert.
’I can’t treat them as individuals.’
Duane’s mind flashed back to the giant Black Bear. If it could command all these different types of Demon Beasts, it could certainly give them orders.
So, was this fearless, death-defying charge deliberately orchestrated by the Black Bear?
A chill ran down Duane’s spine at the thought.
He could no longer treat his enemies in this battle as low-intelligence Demon Beasts; he had to treat them as he would a human opponent.
’A Level 7 Demon Beast?’
Duane guessed. ’I need to retreat before it arrives.’
He sidestepped, dodging the pounce of a Black Panther that had just joined the battle, then sprinted toward the Secret Realm Gate at top speed.
But just as he was about to pass through, the Space Gate rippled.
Immediately after, a Demon Beast came barging in from the other side, hunched over to fit through.
It let out a long howl and swung an entire tree it was carrying horizontally at Duane!