Chapter 151: Frightening Away the Pig Demon

"Put in some effort, everyone! Don't let our two junior schoolmates look down on us!" Wei Yiran shouted. Since the most powerful boar monster was being kept in check by Du Long, he clearly did not want to lose any more face in front of the two junior female students.

Encouraged by his words, the several fourth-year martial cultivation seniors from the Royal Academy finally erupted with formidable combat power, quickly resolving their respective opponents one by one.

Although they successfully defeated their foes, every single one of these seniors was covered in injuries and looked thoroughly disheveled, appearing as wretched as one could possibly imagine.

With that, the only battle left on the scene was the one between Du Long and the Tier 3 boar monster!

In truth, he could have finished off this big guy much earlier. However, it was so rare to encounter a demonic beast of fairly matched strength that Du Long had grown interested, deciding to use this opportunity to practice the practical application of the Profound Yang Triple Surge in actual combat!

With the assistance of the Zephyr Movement Technique, he dodged the Tier 3 Ferocious-Toothed Boar's frontal attacks time and time again, constantly slashing his blade across its body. With every single stroke he delivered, at least one wound was carved open.

As this went on for a long time, the condition of the Tier 3 Ferocious-Toothed Boar became utterly miserable. Scarcely any unblemished skin could be found on its entire body, which was instead covered in crisscrossing scars, and it was dyed red all over by the beast's own overflowing blood!

Living up to its reputation as a Ferocious-Toothed Boar—a creature that, when enraged, could even terrify higher-tier demonic beasts—it completely failed to run away despite suffering such heavy blows, and continued to launch wave after wave of fierce assaults against Du Long with bloodshot eyes!

Boom!

Successfully triggering the Profound Yang Triple Surge once again, the Crimson Flame Blade heavily cleaved into the back of the Ferocious-Toothed Boar. Instantly, its flesh split open, leaving a deep and long wound on the boar's back while the impact knocked it so off balance that it nearly dropped to its knees.

Du Long had lost count of how many times he had successfully unleashed the Profound Yang Triple Surge. At any rate, he had now entered a self-forgetful combat state, knowing only how to swing his blade downward stroke after stroke!

Awooo!

Suddenly letting out a cry of pain, the Tier 3 Ferocious-Toothed Boar turned tail and bolted right before the astonished gazes of everyone present. It seemed that even a being driven mad enough to frighten higher-tier demonic beasts could not withstand such torment from Du Long, who remained untouched while slicing its hide open inch by inch!

Dazedly watching the massive beast turn around and flee for its life in a frenzy, Du Long was momentarily dumbfounded. After hesitating for a moment, he put away the Crimson Flame Blade; since he had already hacked the poor creature until it was dripping with blood, he really felt too embarrassed to continue chasing and killing it!

"Husband! Why didn't you chase after it and finish it off?!" Seeing the battle conclude, Fire Phoenix immediately flashed over to Du Long's side and asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Forget it! Let it run if it wants to! We've already wounded the creature to that extent, there's no need to push it to extinction!" Du Long waved his hand dismissively and said.

"Haha! Brother Du Long, it's not surprising to be able to kill a Tier 3 Ferocious-Toothed Boar, but to actually frighten a Tier 3 Ferocious-Toothed Boar into running away—that is truly unprecedented!" Second Young Master Yang Yuntian walked over with a hearty laugh.

"Hahaha!" Everyone was amused by his comical remarks.

***

"Several seniors! What brings you all to venture into the Demonic Beast Forest?!" Only then did Du Long have the opportunity to voice the question lingering in his mind.

"Isn't it the eve of graduation? If we fourth-year students of the martial cultivation department want to graduate, we need to undergo a month-long trial in the Demonic Beast Forest before breaking through to the Qi Sea stage! We have to bring back at least three Tier 2 demonic cores that we killed ourselves to fulfill the requirement!" Yang Yuntian replied.

"That's perfect! There are seven demonic cores right here; you can divide them up among yourselves!" Realizing the reason behind this group's appearance in the Demonic Beast Forest, Du Long pointed at the seven Tier 2 Ferocious-Toothed Boar corpses on the ground and said with a beaming smile.

"Hehe! Then we won't stand on ceremony! Let's get to work!" Yang Yuntian immediately waved his hand to signal his teammates, and the several Royal Academy seniors finally stepped forward to harvest the demonic cores.

Seeing that lunchtime was approaching, Du Long gathered the remaining boar carcasses after the cores were extracted, and the group found a spot with a water source to prepare their midday meal!

The five seniors from the Royal Academy stared in stunned amazement as Du Long skillfully cleaned two of the boars, cut them into large chunks, used a large iron pot to simmer part of the meat into soup, and set up the rest to roast over an open fire!

"Good heavens! Junior Du Long! You actually dare to cook food like this deep inside the Demonic Beast Forest?!" asked the talkative senior sister with an expression of utter astonishment.

"Haha! Senior Sister Sun Lin, my territory is right around here, and I'm quite familiar with the conditions in this area. You guys shouldn't try to imitate me, though!" Du Long blinked mischievously at Senior Sister Sun Lin and smiled.

"That's true! The five of us have only been in the Demonic Beast Forest for three or five days, yet we've encountered several waves of powerful demonic beasts in succession, almost losing our lives here on multiple occasions! By contrast, the three junior schoolmates are so unrestrained and extraordinary, actually daring to frequently venture into this perilous Demonic Beast Forest!" Senior Sister Sun Lin replied with deep envy and admiration.

After a hearty meal, everyone offered unceasing praise for Du Long's culinary skills. During these past few days inside the Demonic Beast Forest, they had been living in an intensely stressful and dangerous state every single moment. These prospective graduates from Haotian Royal Academy who had come here for training had been gnawing on dry rations every day, and their palates had long since grown completely weary.

Under such conditions, anything roasted over a fire probably tasted utterly delicious to them, let alone food prepared with seasonings carefully concocted by Du Long.

A large pot of meat soup spiked with savory wild mushrooms, coupled with a generous amount of fragrant roasted meat, allowed this group of youths to thoroughly indulge their appetites!

In particular, Du Long took out some fresh fruit from his spatial ring to treat them. After gorging on heavy meat, being able to enjoy crisp and refreshing fruit made these seniors envy Du Long even more for knowing how to enjoy life to such an extent.

They had never imagined that anyone could be as relaxed and comfortable inside the Demonic Beast Forest as if they were having a picnic in their own backyard!

If Du Long hadn't been afraid of making mistakes due to intoxication, he would even have pulled out a few bottles of fine wine to entertain them!

"Haha! Now that we're well-fed and rested, it's time to part ways! You seniors must take good care of yourselves and make sure not to venture deep into the Demonic Beast Forest again! If you fall back a bit, the dangers will naturally decrease by a lot!" Du Long rubbed his round belly and bade farewell to the seniors.

"Junior Du Long, are you really not going to stay and accompany us for a couple more days?!" asked the talkative Senior Sister Sun Lin with a hint of lingering reluctance. For some reason, she always felt a greater sense of security when staying close to Du Long.

"Hehe! Senior Sister Sun Lin, I still have proper business to attend to, so I won't accompany you all on this trial! As long as you retreat twenty or thirty miles back, it will be much safer, and successfully completing the trial task won't be difficult either. Alright, farewell everyone!" Du Long smiled and declined.

"We shall surely repay this great life-saving grace in the future! Take good care, Brother Du Long!" Yang Yuntian, Wei Yiran, and the others cupped their fists in polite farewells. The five of them watched as Du Long and his companions quickly vanished into the dense depths of the Demonic Beast Forest.

"Sigh! In the past, I always thought there was a stroke of luck involved when Du Long won first place in the academy's actual combat assessment! Now it seems his title was entirely well-deserved!" Seeing the fiery red giant lion disappear into the deep woods, Wei Yiran could not help sighing with emotion.

"Indeed! I had the exact same thought as you before. Back during the actual combat assessment, I personally exchanged blows with him, and I could feel that his baseline combat power was even weaker than mine. The only reason he won was because of his bizarre movement technique and speed!" Yang Yuntian also shook his head with a bitter smile, having no idea that Du Long's strength had increased by two tiers since that assessment!

"Alright! This place is not somewhere to linger for long. Let's divide up this remaining roasted meat and get out of here quickly!" Wei Yiran nodded and said in a deep voice.

...

Inside the dense forest, Princess Fire Phoenix, who was sitting at the very front, turned her head back and said in a sweet voice, "Husband! In the past, I always felt that this demonic beast forest wasn't terrifying at all, and that coming and going through here was as simple as strolling through our own backyard! After what happened today, I realize that if the three of us didn't have Little Fierce, we might not even know whether we could safely reach those secret bases every time!"

"Haha! Our little Feng has finally grown up!" Du Long teased with a smile.

"Hehe! Needless to say!" Fire Phoenix declared not without a hint of smugness, before changing the subject. "Still, speaking of which, Senior Sister Qinglian's performance today was far too dashing, wasn't it?! She actually lopped off the Ferocious-Toothed Boar's head with a single sword strike!"

Xia Qinglian was seated behind Du Long, a gentle smile on her face as she remained silent. Instead, Du Long chuckled and explained, "Qinglian possesses the Profound Yin physique, which is completely different from our explosive postnatal Profound Yang physique! When we attack a target, we rely on the explosive accumulation of brute force. When she attacks a target, she relies on gentle and yielding force, especially since the Spirit Serpent Sword in her hand is incomparably sharp. Combined with the subtle strength she uses during her attacks, slicing off a boar's head is an absolute breeze for her!"

"Young Master is entirely right! Unfortunately, Qinglian's true comprehension of the profound meaning behind this set of Profound Yin sword techniques is still not deep enough. There is still a huge deficiency in her control over power and hidden force!" Xia Qinglian replied with a modest and sweet voice.

"Qinglian! You've already done wonderfully! Just look at that sword strike of yours from earlier—you pushed the gentleness and agility of the Spirit Serpent Sword to its absolute limit, and that decapitating strike at the end was clean and decisive! You have successfully brought out the first form of the Profound Yin Sword Technique to perfection. When I have time, I will teach you the second form!" Du Long praised her, following the guidance of the spirit ring beauty.

He didn't know any Profound Yin Sword Technique himself, and was completely clueless about the profound meaning of this gentle sword art. Everything he said to instruct Xia Qinglian came directly from the spirit ring beauty; he was merely acting as a messenger!

"Thank you, Young Master!" Xia Qinglian nodded and readily accepted.

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The internet dropped out earlier, now making up for the afternoon chapter...