Chapter 303: Cleaning the Central Area

Kyrian continued his relentless hunt through the ancient forest, moving ever deeper into the interior of the Pocket Realm.

The following days were a blur of plant blood, shattered bark, and green light constantly flowing into his leaf. The farther he moved from the peripheral zone, the denser and more hostile the forest became. The trees grew even more imposing, their trunks wide enough to house entire palaces, with roots that rose like natural walls and leaves so dense they turned day into a perpetual twilight.

On the fifth day, the beasts were already consistently in the Core Formation Realm. Kyrian faced a pack of Green Crystal Wolves at the 3° stage, then an Ancestral Thorn Bear at the 4° stage. Each battle was more demanding than the last, but for him they were still manageable challenges. His sword cut through reinforced bark with surgical precision, while his ancestral sword intent pierced Qi cores as if they were made of mist.

On the sixth day, he got closer to the core.

The Qi around him was so dense it felt liquid. The air vibrated with wild vitality. Here, all beasts were in the Core Formation Realm. Kyrian encountered a Wooden Shadow Panther at the 5° stage, then a Black Bark Titan Bear at the 6th. He defeated them without much difficulty but realized that his speed and precision needed to become even greater.

Then, on the seventh day, he encountered the strongest beast so far.

A Draconic Wooden Beast at the 7° stage of the Core Formation Realm.

The creature was colossal. Its body slithered between the trees like a living river of black bark and veins of bright green crystal. Its scales were thick like spiritual armor plates, and its emerald-gold eyes shone with a primitive and cruel intelligence. Kyrian judged immediately. None of the young participants from the fifty domains would be able to defeat it alone. Perhaps not even in a group. The difference in strength was far too great.

But for him… it was not that difficult.

The serpent detected him and attacked with terrifying speed. Its long body lashed out, destroying ancient trees like twigs. Kyrian dodged at the last instant, leaping into the air. The serpent turned, mouth open, revealing crystalline fangs dripping with corrosive venom.

Kyrian did not retreat.

He advanced directly, sword in hand. The first strike cut one of the scales, opening a deep wound. Green Qi gushed like blood. The serpent roared in fury and tried to crush him with its body. Kyrian ran along its scales, driving his sword in to maintain balance, and reached the head.

Two precise strikes to the skull. The third pierced directly into the Qi core.

The titanic serpent convulsed violently before collapsing, turning into dead wood.

Kyrian landed on the ground, breathing in a controlled manner. His robe had a few superficial cuts, but no serious injuries. He looked at the leaf on his chest.

The golden rune now displayed 4,012 points.

He sheathed his sword and looked toward the center of the realm. A colossal aura pulsed there, the true Ancestral Tree, the core of the entire Pocket Realm. A massive tree, so large it seemed to support the sky itself.

Kyrian decided it was enough.

He had already hunted practically all the main powerful beasts of the forest during the first week. There was no longer any real challenge in the wooden creatures. His interest had faded. He judged that he was comfortably in first place, the gap to second place must be enormous.

He did not need to accumulate more points now.

Kyrian calmly walked to the base of the Ancestral Tree. Its branches were as wide as roads, its bark glowing with ancient runes. He climbed it with ease, choosing a high and stable branch with a privileged view of much of the surrounding forest.

He sat there, cross-legged, and simply… waited.

The following days passed in relative calm.

Kyrian meditated, mentally reviewed his formations and pill refinements, and observed from afar the occasional bursts of Qi that indicated battles between other participants. He did not descend. He no longer hunted. He simply remained there, conserving energy, recovering his body and mind for what would come next.

His leaf remained at 4,012 points. Second place, whoever it was, probably had not surpassed 1,500 points.

In the second week, he saw from afar several signs of clashes between cultivators. Columns of green smoke, flashes of colored Qi, roars mixed with human screams. The stronger participants were beginning to encounter one another.

Kyrian observed everything calmly. He would not descend yet. He would let the others fight among themselves without concern.

When only one week remained before the end of the first trial, something changed.

Kyrian saw from afar several people approaching the core.

They were small groups and some individuals, moving cautiously between the colossal trees. Some were injured, with torn robes and dried blood. Others seemed relatively intact but carried visible tension in their eyes. There were disciples from the Flaming Sword, the Ancient Forest, the Shadow Valley, and other domains. Some walked alone, confident in their strength. Others hunted in groups of three or four, covering each other.

They were getting closer and closer to the Ancestral Tree.

Kyrian remained seated on the high branch, motionless like a statue. The gentle wind swayed the leaves around him, but he did not move. His leaf still showed 4,012 points. An absurd distance from any other participant.

Meanwhile, deeper in the forest, other cultivators began to notice something strange.

“Hey… where are the stronger beasts?” murmured a disciple from the Golden Mountain Sect, looking around with a frown.

“The closer we get to the center, the fewer we find. It should be the opposite.”

One of his companions nodded, wiping sweat from his face.

“That’s true. In the last few hours, we only found weak beasts, at most 7° or 9° stage of Qi Liberation. Where are the ones at the 1° or 2° stage of the Core Formation Realm? They seem to have disappeared.”

In another part of the forest, a group from the Flaming Sword Sect stopped in a clearing, confused.

“Something is wrong,” said Huo Ling, the second place in the ranking, with a frown.

“The closer we get to the core, the emptier the forest becomes. When the powerful beasts should be concentrated here.”

They did not know.

No one knew.

What they did not know was that Kyrian had hunted practically all the strongest beasts in the forest during the first week. Wolves, bears, serpents, panthers, eagles, and almost all creatures at the 5° stage or higher of the Core Formation Realm had been eliminated by him. Only the weaker ones remained, scattered along the edges or in small groups, for the other participants to hunt.

Kyrian had cleared the central region alone.

He watched calmly from atop the tree as the first cultivators drew closer. Some were already looking up, sensing the enormous presence of the Ancestral Tree.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep