Chen Feng sat cross-legged in the snow behind the blacksmith shop, and with every exhale and inhale, pure Fire Elemental Energy surged towards him, forming a faint mist around his dark upper garment.
The power of the Dark Cyclone flowed slowly along his meridians, gradually pouring into his Dantian.
With every rotation of the cyclone, the droplet within his Dantian condensed a fraction more, and the density of the mist from the cyclone's power also increased similarly, though this increase was exceedingly subtle—if Chen Feng hadn't been completely immersed in his cultivation, he might not have even noticed it.
If the cyclone's power were to fully condense into mist, it would signify achieving the level of an Eighth-rank Fighter! However, at the current rate of progress, it would likely take at least half a year to advance.
"Hoo…" "Hah…"
Following a series of violent breaths, Chen Feng’s muscles suddenly began to tremble intensely!
The surrounding air, under this vibration, emitted faint explosive sounds. The nearby accumulated snow seemed to meet scorching flames, sublimating directly into mist that permeated the woods.
With this tremor, Chen Feng’s eyes suddenly snapped open as he sprang up. If someone were before him now, they would surely see a flicker of pale blue flame ignite in his gaze!
Chen Feng’s body spun in the air, executing a Lily Stomp onto a giant tree nearby. Using the force of the kick, he flipped backward and then unleashed the Three Forms of the Sunflower, causing the air to shriek under the brute force of his technique, kicking up vast swaths of snow!
Dark Hook Hand, Reverse Peel, Ghost Burn… Chen Feng performed the series of movements seamlessly, one after another, before stopping to absorb the gains from executing these techniques!
Under the pressure of a Fourth-rank spell, Chen Feng had mastered his first combo. Because the situation had been urgent, he hadn't analyzed it properly, but executing it now felt utterly fluid, as if drawn from a single breath!
A combo wasn't merely chaining one move onto another; it was a process where the combination of moves created a qualitative transformation. Once initiated, a combo could establish a brief spatial restraint. If the timing between the connections of each move was mastered, this spatial restraint could generate enormous effects!
In other words, once the combo was formed, the opponent would be pinned within that space, unable to move—a completely exposed target!
What a formidable technique!
Yet, not all moves could connect. Take the Three Forms of the Sunflower: the final heavy strike would blast the opponent five meters away. This distance was beyond the controllable range, preventing the next move from linking up!
In his past life, Chen Feng was a master of King of Fighters, so he understood these mechanics inherently. He didn't expect to link the Sunflower series with Reverse Peel into a true combo; instead, he methodically practiced every move he had learned until familiar.
After realizing the concept of combos, Chen Feng gained a fresh perspective on his existing techniques, bringing him a step closer to the essence of martial arts.
The harvest from this recent battle had strengthened his fist techniques further. Although the increase wasn't massive, it still brought him a sense of quiet satisfaction.
After executing his moves, he stood still in the snow for another half hour, reviewing every detail of every technique from start to finish, before Chen Feng slowly made his way back toward the blacksmith shop.
Around noon, he encountered a flock of Wyverns, and concurrently, the 17 Wyverns that had performed the Dragon Blood Sacrifice for him. These Wyverns recognized him as the "True Dragon Lord" and displayed high-pitched excitement, apparently hoping for a chance to evolve as well.
However, upon seeing thousands of Wyverns, Chen Feng’s face turned grim. These were thousands of Wyverns!
The previous 17 Wyverns had required five drops of his blood each, consuming an entire night. Now, thousands of them—even draining every drop in his body and aging him white—would still not be enough!
After a moment of contemplation, Chen Feng decided to accept the sacrifice from only the Wyvern King. The Wyvern King held immense authority over the flock, evident in how every other Wyvern bowed to it. Thus, controlling the King meant controlling all of them—the same principle as controlling the Ice Rock Battle Wolves by controlling the White Wolf King.
With this thought, he communicated his decision to only accept the Wyvern King’s sacrifice. But Leander proved unexpectedly uncooperative, flatly refusing to undergo the Dragon Blood Sacrifice!
Seeing Chen Feng’s displeasure, the King explained the reason: he was at the peak of the Fourth-rank and on the verge of a breakthrough. After breaking through, a Dragon Blood Sacrifice would undoubtedly allow him to shatter his racial shackles and evolve into a Lesser Dragon. If he performed the sacrifice now, who knew how many years it would take to achieve another breakthrough!
Hearing this, Chen Feng couldn't help but admire the Wyvern King’s fortitude and shrewdness. To maintain such clarity of mind on the cusp of evolution—this Wyvern King’s intelligence was certainly no less than that of a human!
The news that a Fourth-rank Magical Beast possessed intelligence comparable to humans would surely cause an uproar if it spread, yet Chen Feng remained unbothered. Little Tiger was even smarter, and his cultivation was lower; Chen Feng hadn't found that strange, so why be shocked by the Wyvern King’s intelligence?
Even without the Dragon Blood Sacrifice, Leander pledged his fealty to Chen Feng, offering his obedience to the commands of the "True Dragon Lord"!
Commands? He needed no such thing. If obedience was all that was required, he might as well return to the Dragon Domain, where countless true dragons awaited his direction! Chen Feng had initially planned to send the Wyvern flock back to the Frozen Demonic Garden, but a sudden idea struck him: he needed to teach Jimmy a lesson today. At his current cultivation level, he could manage it, but escaping unscathed might prove difficult! If the opponent only brought a few hundred men, fine. But if they relied on sheer numbers, well, several thousand Wyverns could certainly raze the entire Lord’s Manor!
With these thoughts solidified, Chen Feng instructed Leander to keep the Wyvern flock disciplined and ready to follow his orders, while he himself returned to the back mountain where he usually cultivated to restore his stamina!
…………
Before he even reached the blacksmith shop, Chen Feng heard a clamor erupting ahead. From a distance, he saw that the area surrounding the blacksmith shop was completely filled with burly men clad uniformly in gray robes.
A chill ran down Chen Feng’s spine. He recognized this attire; the men accompanying Jimmy that morning were dressed exactly the same!
Could Jimmy have discovered his hideout? Was he planning to seize John and Arthur to blackmail him?
Thinking this, Chen Feng’s fist tightened, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes! He urged his legs faster, rushing down the back mountain like a gust of wind!
…………
“This must be done tonight! If you fail, start preparing your coffin, you fool who doesn't know his place!” Ryan kicked John hard in the backside, sending the old man sprawling!
“Grandpa…” Ast cried out, running over to hug John, his young eyes filled with fury toward Ryan: “You bad man!”
“Get lost! If you keep annoying me, I’ll kick you to death!” Ryan roared at Ast, grabbing the boy and tossing him into the snowdrift not far away!
Ryan was incandescently angry. The fact that he, the Deputy Manager of the Lord’s Manor, was reduced to handling such petty chores infuriated him!
In the manor, he commanded hundreds of men with a single word! Yet, a mere command from Young Master Jimmy forced him to endure this suffering: to find a blacksmith and forge 100 gold boxes overnight!
This was work for subordinates, yet he, a Deputy Manager, had to handle it personally—wasn't that a gross misuse of talent!
Seething, he scoured Gnam Town and only found five blacksmith shops! Could five shops possibly forge 100 gold boxes overnight? It was an extremely difficult task!
But failure was not an option! Twenty gold boxes per shop. He had arranged things smoothly with the other four, but this old fool claimed he couldn't complete the order—how dare he anger Ryan!
Looking at Old John lying on the ground, covered in mud and water, Ryan felt a surge of disgust! Old wretch, playing dumb. The other four shops had given him a little red envelope after he assigned the work, but this guy pretended to be poor! Damn it, after these gold boxes are finished, he’d have to beat the old bastard severely to vent his rage!
Brushing the dirt from his clothes, Ryan turned around, preparing to shout at the followers behind him, when an icy voice suddenly cut through the air: “Who are you planning to kick to death?”
Immediately following, he felt a sharp pain in his throat as his body was lifted up by the neck!
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