G. Tolley
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Chapter 453 – Life 117, Age 21, Martial Master Peak
🕑 Added 2025-12-19 15:39:24 +0000 UTCWe were going to be trapped in this Small World for a total of seven days, and things would eventually spiral out of control. A beast tide was coming, and we needed to be prepared. As far as I could tell, none of the beasts that we had seen so far were part of the tide itself. They were just the weaklings that had fled in front of the tide’s advance.
I wasn’t certain when the actual tide would appear, but based on the fact that it was an illusion controlled by the Sect Affairs Bureau, I could only assume that it would arrive near the end of our time in this world—likely, on day six or seven. Until then, the only real threat to our survival would be the other cultivators.
At the moment, we were in the middle of a forest, with no way of knowing what might be lurking behind the next tree. Therefore, our first priority had to be establishing a fortified position that we could retreat to in times of danger—ideally, somewhere with a clear view of the surrounding terrain.
With no clue as to where we might be able to find such a place, though, all we could do was start walking in a random direction and hope for the best.
None of the Disciples who had joined me were warriors, and none of them had ever spent much time beyond the walls of our sect. So, while they moved through the forest’s dense foliage as stealthily as they could, these efforts were mostly in vain.
Of course, I hadn’t ever spent much time trekking through the wilderness myself, so I wasn’t much better. Elsewhere, I could have relied on the help of ambient wood qi, but in this Small World, things felt… empty. It was like the plants and trees had lost their soul, leaving me no option but to stumble forward on my own.
Thankfully, everyone was still too busy adjusting to this new world to start hunting their competitors, or, more likely, those who had started weren’t in our immediate vicinity. Either way, we didn’t run into any groups looking to kill us.
We did encounter a few low-level beasts, but I dispatched them without delay, not allowing them to cause a commotion that would reveal our location.
Considering the nature of this trial, I doubted there would be many defensible locations available, and those that did exist would likely draw a significant crowd. How many people would die fighting over sanctuaries that had no hope of holding back the coming horde? This put us in a precarious position, but why fight for a stronghold when we could just make one of our own?
Without access to elemental qi, the idea of constructing a fortification capable of warding off an entire beast tide was laughable. However, we did still have our blessings, and with them, creating a refuge that would deter our fellow cultivators was trivial.
After more than half a dozen random beast attacks, we finally found what we needed: a hill that rose high enough above its surroundings that we would be able to see over the forest canopy.
First, I had everyone fan out and check for traps. This appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary, mundane hill, but if it was going to serve as our stronghold, I wasn’t willing to take chances. Then, when nothing looked amiss and no hidden beasts tried to pounce on us, we began transforming the area into a hidden fortress that no one would even consider approaching.
Ye Sheng found a small patch of brambles and, using his blessing, forced them to grow at an accelerated rate. At first, the effect was subtle. Stems thickened, and their leaves darkened. Then, all at once, the plants practically exploded.
Vines surged outward in visible waves, crawling over roots and rocks, climbing trees, and knitting themselves together into a living barrier. The more the patch of brambles expanded, the more its growth accelerated, as if the new mass were feeding the blessing’s momentum.
The rest of us worked to help it along. We cut down shrubs that blocked the vines’ path and removed deadfall so the brambles could claim the ground in its stead.
Within a matter of hours, the entire hill was wrapped in thorny green armor. Only the top remained clear, with just enough space for a small campsite. Between the canopy overhead and the wall of thorns surrounding us, we were effectively invisible to anyone who didn’t already know where to look.
Of course, these brambles were simple, mortal plants, so they didn’t actually offer us that much protection. When the beast tide arrived, it would trample right over this hill without a second thought. Until then, however, we would be safe. Yes, even the weakest of cultivators would be able to cut through our defenses with ease, but why would they bother? Why would someone force their way through a dense thicket when it was easier to just go around?
With our camp coming together, Shi TieWen removed the thorns from a few vines and used his weaving skills to craft a couple of basic hammocks. I would have liked to use the resources in my inner world to make the camp even more livable, but I wanted to give the impression that I couldn’t access it from within this Small World.
We had been told that no one would be observing us, but I didn’t trust that for a second.
So, as far as any outsider was concerned, entering the Shattered Blades Realm had cut me off from whatever storage space I had been using before. I could use my blessing to construct a new storage space—one that existed within the confines of this world—but I had no way of reaching across a realm’s boundaries to access the old one.
Was there any practical value to this small ruse? Maybe not, but there was no harm in being cautious.
With that settled, it was time to move on to the next stage of our preparation. Our camp was secure, but a bramble thicket wouldn’t save us from the beast tide. For that, we could only rely on ourselves.
I needed to make sure our Disciples were ready for whatever this realm was about to throw at them.
After one last sweep of our surroundings, I led the group out of the thicket and back into the forest. As we moved, I pointed to specific herbs that Ye Sheng and Bao Ming needed to watch out for, instructing them to harvest any they found. The main purpose of this outing was to gain combat experience, but we would need a significant number of herbs in the days ahead. Gathering what we could now would help us stay ahead of whatever this realm decided to throw at us.
Before long, we ran across yet another demon boar. This time, however, I didn’t kill it. I crippled it—cleanly severing the tendons in its legs, then dragging it into a small clearing where my five Disciples could study it.
I nodded at the struggling creature. “All of you are pure elemental cultivators, so here, in this world, you can’t use your qi externally. That makes you far closer to this demon beast than you might like to admit.”
They stiffened at that, but they listened.
“The demonic energy in this boar’s body serves only one purpose. It boosts the toughness of the creature’s hide. Against mortals, that’s enough to make it unkillable. They can hack at it for hours, but they’ll never be able to break its skin.”
I let that settle, then tapped the haft of my guandao against the ground.
“Of course, against Rank 2 weapons, this defense is meaningless. To you, with the weapons you now possess, this is nothing more than an average mortal beast.”
To prove the point, I raised my guandao, flicked my wrist, and beheaded the boar in a single motion.
My Disciples stared, shocked—not by the death, but by how easily the ‘unkillable’ had been killed.
“At Rank 1, nearly every beast has this same enhancement. Very few do anything other than enhance their skin. This is because enhanced defenses give them the best chance of survival. However, you will find beasts that defy this trend.”
I activated a movement technique and vanished into the brush. For a few breaths, there was only the rustle of leaves. Then, there was a sharp yowling as I returned, dragging a struggling panther by the scruff of its neck.
“This one went a different route,” I said, dropping it in front of them. “It reinforced its muscles. This makes it deadly from ambush. But it’s also unstable. If it pushes too hard, it can easily tear itself apart. Therefore, it is cautious, never attacking until it was certain that it could take down its prey.”
I used my guandao to point at the panther’s limbs. “If it reinforces its tendons at Rank 2 and its bones at Rank 3, though, it will become a far more serious threat. It won’t have to worry about its body self-destructing, so it will be able to unleash its full strength without restraint.”
I let my gaze sweep over each of my Disciples, making sure they all understood. “Just remember, Rank 1 beasts are simple. Killing them is easy. However, the boosts they get with each new Rank reinforce each other. Your weapons should let you fight Rank 2 beasts on roughly even footing, but if you get arrogant and assume that they’ll behave like their Rank 1 counterparts, you will die.”
That covered all the essentials. The rest was just a matter of experience.
So, we pushed forward into the forest, and I made them take on every beast we came across. Boars, wolves, jaguars, and even deer—all were targets. I stayed close enough to intervene if something went wrong, but I didn’t step in unless they were in actual danger of being killed.
At first, they were hesitant. They flinched at every sudden movement, held their weapons too stiffly, and let fear lock their shoulders in place.
Then, the kills began to accumulate.
Their motions smoothed, and their timing improved. YuLong and Kan had already trained them in how to use their weapons. All they lacked was the confidence to apply that training.
As the light dimmed and the shadows thickened beneath the forest canopy, I looked at my wrist to find that the number on my gray bracer had climbed from 14 to 47. Other groups—those who had focused on hunting their fellow competitors—were no doubt far ahead of us. However, this was only the first day. Once the tide arrived in full, beasts would begin dropping by the dozen.
When we turned back, intending to retreat to our bramble-covered hill, the undergrowth in front of us exploded, revealing a brown bear as tall as my shoulders.
It was Rank 2, with demonic energy primarily focused in its hide and bones, but the interplay between these two regions had the additional effect of boosting the beast’s muscles beyond mortal limits.
This was not a beast that my Disciples could defeat—not alone.
Ye Sheng reacted first, using his blessing to rapidly grow roots beneath the bear’s feet and disrupt its charge. Against a normal animal, this might have been effective, but against this demon bear, with its reinforced hide and strengthened muscles, the roots snapped like threads.
The others circled, searching for an opening, but fear made them overly cautious. They danced out of range, then flinched back in, unwilling to commit to any strikes that might have ended the fight.
They needed a plan.
Finally, Ye Sheng looked over at Shi TieWen. The refiner’s blessing was specialized, but within its specialization, it was exceptional. He was able to reinforce threads while weaving. Where others were forced to rely on thick, heavy thread, TieWen could weave tapestries from the thinnest of fibers without any fear that they might snap.
In a heartbeat, the two of them began to improvise without exchanging a single word.
Ye Sheng used his blessing to grow a bundle of thick vines at TieWen’s feet. TieWen, in turn, gathered these vines together and wove them into a loose net, quickly and efficiently, pouring his blessing into his work.
TieWen’s creation was crude and uneven, but it was strong—strong enough, at least.
When the bear charged again, they threw the net forward and snapped it tight around the beast’s forelegs, causing the creature to stumble as it struggled to break free.
With TieWen’s blessing reinforcing each strand, the bear wasn’t able to do so immediately, but no blessing was all-powerful. Against the might of a Rank 2 demon bear, such a simple net would only last a few seconds.
This was all the time they needed, though.
With the bear temporarily incapacitated, Bao Ming lunged forward and used her guandao to carve a vicious gouge down the beast’s hindquarters, opening a wound deep enough to paint the nearby leaves red.
The fight shifted after that.
Once the bear was bleeding, my Disciples stopped treating it like an invincible force and started treating it like prey. They worked together, attacking like a pack of wolves—drawing its attention, striking, and retreating.
The beast thrashed. It roared. It nearly clipped Ye Sheng once with a swipe that would have broken ribs.
My Disciples didn’t scatter.
They held.
And eventually, the bear’s strength faltered. It stumbled and dropped to one knee. Then, it collapsed, bleeding out onto the forest floor. A moment later, a beam of light shot from the beast, and the counter on my bracer changed to 57, giving us 10 points for killing the higher-level beast.
Watching five Disciples take down a Rank 2 creature was impressive, but it also terrified me. This was only our first day in this realm, and we were already fighting Rank 2 beasts. What would we be facing on the final day?
I could keep my Disciples safe against even Rank 3 beasts, but was that the limit of what we would be up against? How far was the Bureau planning to push this? How long would I be able to keep everyone alive?
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Author's Note: Royal Road is paused for next week, and I am hoping to use some of this time to catch up. I won't guarantee anything schedule-wise, I've learned better than to do that, but if you want to see updates to know when to expect chapter drops, you can get the latest progress updates on Discord.
Thanks, and have a merry Christmas.
G. Tolley
Comments
Misiu
Why do you always leave so many comments? "???"
Michael Ferguson
Marry Christmas! ⛄
Michael Ferguson
If not that's just mean.
Michael Ferguson
I hope higher rank beasts are worth more tokens.
