Chapter 300: Wooden Beasts

The ancient forest received them with an oppressive silence.

As soon as the green light dissipated, Kyrian felt the weight of wild Qi pressing against his body. The air was dense, humid, and filled with an almost suffocating vitality. Colossal trees rose like pillars of an ancient temple, their twisted trunks covered in glowing moss and thick roots that slithered across the ground like living veins. The dense canopy blocked almost all sunlight, creating an eternal twilight where long shadows danced between the trunks.

Kyrian looked around. His companions from the Verdant Sword Sect appeared one by one, materialized by the same green light that had brought them.

Mo Tianhai was the first to stabilize, rolling his shoulders with visible excitement. Mo Xia analyzed the environment with cold eyes. Long Xue held her leaf against her chest, breathing deeply to control her nervousness. Shen Yu and Wu Jian observed the forest in silence, already in combat stance.

Kyrian held his own leaf for a moment, feeling the golden rune pulse against his palm. “0” points. Still nothing.

He looked at the five and spoke in a calm voice, without unnecessary emotion.

“I’m going to hunt alone.”

Mo Tianhai raised an eyebrow, but did not seem surprised. He knew Kyrian well enough to understand that the young man preferred to act alone when possible.

“Understood.” Tianhai replied with a smile.

“We’ll stay together for now. We need to get used to the strength of the beasts here before we split up.”

Mo Xia nodded in agreement. Long Xue looked at Kyrian with a mixture of concern and understanding, but also nodded. Shen Yu and Wu Jian simply accepted the decision without question.

“Good hunting.” said Wu Jian in his deep voice.

Kyrian nodded once to the group and, without further words, turned and ran into the depths of the forest.

His feet barely touched the ground. His speed was impressive, driven by the peak of the Core Formation Realm and perfect control over his body. Trees passed like green and brown blurs. The cutting wind struck his face, carrying the strong scent of ancient wood, resin, and damp earth.

’Fights between cultivators should not happen so soon.’ He thought as he ran.

’No one has points yet to be stolen. For now, it is only hunting.’

He was curious. The wood beasts were something new. Artificial creatures sustained by the essence of the Ancestral Tree, the core of this Pocket Realm. He wanted to understand how they worked.

It did not take long.

A guttural howl echoed ahead. Kyrian slowed down and stopped behind a thick trunk. His special eyes caught the movement before he even saw the creature.

A Wood Wolf emerged between the trees. Its body was formed by intertwined trunks, dark and sharp bark, with eyes glowing a vivid green. It was at the 6° stage of the Qi Liberation Realm, somewhat strong, but far from a threat to Kyrian.

The wolf sniffed the air and turned its head directly toward where Kyrian was hiding. Without hesitation, the beast leaped.

Kyrian did not move immediately. He let the wolf attack first.

The wooden monster flew toward him with its claws extended, leaving a trail of leaves and broken bark. At the last instant, Kyrian raised his left hand and grabbed the creature’s neck midair.

The impact generated a shockwave that cracked the ground. The wolf struggled violently, its claws trying to tear Kyrian’s arm, but he held firm like an iron vise.

Kyrian observed carefully.

There was no blood. There was no flesh. Only living wood, intertwined roots, and concentrated Qi flowing like luminous green veins. The beast’s “eyes” were pulsing green crystals. There was no true breathing, no heartbeat. It was a construct, a puppet sustained by the energy of the Ancestral Tree.

’Interesting… They are not truly alive. They are extensions of the central tree’s will. If I destroy the Qi core within them…’

Kyrian tightened his grip. His sword intent exploded in his palm. An invisible blade cut through the interior of the wood wolf. The creature trembled violently, letting out a distorted howl, and then fell apart into pieces of wood and bark.

A green light left the destroyed body and flowed directly into the leaf inside Kyrian’s robe.

The golden rune now showed “6” points.

Kyrian looked at the fragments on the ground. There was no useful carcass, only ordinary wood. The beasts left no refinable or useful materials. Only points.

He stored the information and continued running.

The hunt had truly begun.

In the following hours, Kyrian traversed a large area of the forest. He encountered more wood wolves, then boars covered in plant-like spikes, serpents made of thick vines, and even a colossal black-barked bear at the 7° stage.

Each fight was methodical. He let the beasts attack first to observe their patterns, then counterattacked with surgical precision. His sword appeared and disappeared from the spatial ring in clean movements. His sword intent cut through reinforced wood with ease.

Points accumulated quickly.

12… 28… 50… 78…

Kyrian did not stop. He did not rest. His body was accustomed to long periods of intense activity. The more he hunted, the more he understood the beasts. They grew stronger the farther he moved away from the initial arrival area. Some seemed coordinated, as if the forest was sending them to specific zones.

At one point, he stopped at the top of a tall tree and observed the horizon. In the distance, columns of green smoke rose, likely from other participants fighting. Explosions of Qi occasionally lit up the sky.

’It is still too early for direct confrontations,’ he thought.

’But in a few days…’

He jumped down from the tree and continued.

While hunting, his mind remained calm. This type of trial suited him. No complicated rules. Only strength. He imagined that Mo Tianhai and the others were doing the same, hunting in a group, adapting to the environment, and learning the beasts’ patterns.

Kyrian found a clearing where a massive Wood Panther at the 8° stage prowled. Its body was more refined, with green crystal claws and eyes that glowed with primitive intelligence.

This time, he did not wait.

He moved first.

The panther reacted with impressive speed, but Kyrian was faster. His sword cut through the air in a pale green arc. The blade passed through the beast’s shoulder, tearing off splinters of wood and Qi. The panther roared and counterattacked, but Kyrian had already shifted to its blind side.

Three strikes later, the creature collapsed, turning into dead wood.

The rune on his leaf rose to 100 points.

Kyrian cleaned the sword blade and stored it. He looked up at the sky through the canopy. The day inside the Pocket Realm was ending, the light growing dimmer, and the shadows lengthening.

’Three weeks…’

He took a deep breath, feeling the wild Qi around him. There was much more to hunt.

And he intended to accumulate as many points as possible before the other participants began to turn on each other.

With a leap, Kyrian disappeared once again among the ancient trees, running toward new roars echoing in the distance.

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