The Jaded Forest was currently Eddie's final location. The forest itself had been covered in a purple cloud miasma for centuries. Rumored has it that a beast tide five hundred years ago came down from the heavens and swarm the human inhabitants. The inhabitants were nearly eradicated. The survivors fled and no longer been able to return to their lands. The beast tide for centuries has spawned numerous species.

Beasts and mana cultivator both possessed mana within their bodies. While cultivators have to temper their mana core by completing the breakthroughs throughout the three core realms to fully established their Mana Core. Beast are born with mana core or cores from birth. These cores are called Beast Cores. Quality of each beast core can be determined by rankings. Rank-One Beast Cores obtained the level of a Tempering Layer Realm.

Three stages that determine the potency. Primary, Middle, and Peak. For instance: a Primary Rank-One possessed mana of the lower tiers of the Tempering Layer Realm. The middle stage has potency the mana of a Fifth layer and above and peak stage would surmount the highest layer of the Tempering Layer Realm. This implies for the a Rank-2 Beast core and its stages are equivalent as the Soul Realm. 

Among the species of beast, were the Jaded Rhinoceros that occupied the outskirts of the forest. One unlucky fellow had encountered one of this these fiends. The individual was named Thorstien. He was a former human, transformed into a boar from a Volva's curse. For the rest of his life, he was to live out the remainder of his live as a wild boar. He had happened to stumbled across a zerg and now is being pursued by fifteen Rank-Two Jaded Rhinoceros and one Rank-3 Jaded Rhinoceros.

“You ungrateful fiends! You are very lucky that my Battle Spirit is having a breakthrough and cultivation have been sealed to the Tempering Layer Real or else this father would have refine your core and turned you into jerky.”

Thorstien continued to gallop away from Jaded Rhinoceros zerg. He was grunting like a wild boar as if it was about to be slaughter on a chopping block like a domestic hog. However, he came to a dead end at the edged of a cliff that had a outcropped rock. He backed up snarling and baring his fangs. Behind was a waterfall that had a hundred plus drop down to the stream. Thorstien knew that his body would not withstand the drop.

He knew that its either he jumps towards his death or devoured on the spot. Before he could make his decision, an angry roar of a youth had startled the zerg as they momentarily stopped their pursuit and glanced around to see where the direction the roar came from. They appeared not to be intimidated and frighten. Suddenly, the air around him began to distort as a crimson flash zipped past him.

There was an explosion of mana condense energy. Immediately, half the horde had been wipeout. A small figure descended down from the skies as it met the Rank-3 Jaded Rhinoceros head on. Thorstien squinted as the sun ray flashed within his eyes. As he got a better image of the human figure. His eyes widen. It was a youth. A very young half naked boy dressed in wolf pelt. He was wearing an orange headband. His hair was gold like blond. The boy's jaded eyes seemed all too familiar. 

In his hand was a eerie wolf head halberd. The rhinoceros roar as an almighty aura enveloped the youth in dominating fashion. Its back toes kick back like a bull, indicating that it was going to charge. The blond hair boy faced drenched in perspiration as he was being overwhelmed by the Jaded Rhinoceros's aura. Thorstein felt his gut churned as he was about to expected the boy to be pulverized or devoured.

The ground rumbled like an earthquake. The Rank-Three Jaded Rhinoceros charged ahead with its horn aimed at the boy. The blond head boy remained calm and pointed the halberd in the direction of the charging beast. At the tip of the halberd glowed crimson red and unleashed a horrifying, evil aura. A bubble sphere of condense crimson blood the size of a basketball accumulated at the tip of the halberd.

“Lacerate!”

The boy cried out and the bubble of condensed blood bursts into a ray of light and shout out like a bullet, impacting the body of the rhinoceros. It's body skidded across the forest for several hundred meters in miserable state. The blond head boy appeared to be exhausted as he sighed, watching the rank-three fleeing in the distance. 

“Incredible! This kid indeed is a rare genius able to repel the attack of a peak rank-three mystical beast with the cultivation of the Soul Realm is just mind blowing. At his current age, he has to be on the a Peerless Emperor potential and on the Junior Demon ranking list,” Thorstein said.

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“Ahhh! Why can't I kill it? Party pooper!”

“Boy! You are very lucky that you were able to scare it away. Or else, with your current cultivation, you would just be an afternoon snack in the eyes of that peak rank-three beast!” The Celestial Armament said. “Hurry and loot the blood, flesh and cores of its companions."

“Whatever you say, Doggy!” 

The blond head boy did just that that. All the blood started accumulating and was absorbed into the halberd. The flesh of a mystical beast could be devoured by a mana cultivator could temper their bodies and stabilize their cultivation. Some beast meat could increase one vitality. Mystical beast meat could only be devour by mana cultivator and not ordinary folks, which are label as commoners in the world of mana cultivation.

On the boys waist was a mystical storage satchel capable of storing item and belonging in an astral plain. Even storing food would not age or rot. When everything was set and done, Thorstein was courage enough to approach the half naked young lad. Suddenly the boy spun around and pointed the halberd at Thorstein's throat.

“Hey its a pig! What's a pig doing in this forest?"

“Such naivete! It's just a ordinary wild boar! It's flesh won't provide you with any benefits other than being nourishment for commoners.”

“Doggy! I want to kill it! I haven't eaten pork chops in awhile. Roasted pig on an open fire sound just fine,” the boy licked his lips as if recalling the deliciousness of pork meat he consumed in the past. Back in Midgard, his mother baked delicious roast pork.

Thorstein's complexion became pale.

“You ungrateful lad! How dare you threaten me! Begone or else you will suffer the consequences! You do not want to anger my master!”

The blond head youth was flabbergasted and at the same time astonished as a mere boar dares to threaten him and speak in human language with a human vocal.

“Super! A talking pig! That's supper cool! Can I keep it?"

Thorstien became stupefied as the boy had suddenly sealed his killing intent and suddenly had the intention of making Thorstien into his pet. Thorstien was not daft as he stared at the blond head youth appeared to be daydreaming. It was obvious that he was communicating to someone or something through telepathic transmission. He took this opportunity to flee the dangerous boy.

“That was close,” said Thorstien as he putted much distance between him and the boy. Only the gods knew what fate awaited him if he stood around any longer. He approaching was on the outskirts of the Jaded Forest. Soon he would depart from the forest and make his way back into Iron Fist village. Just before he approached the beginning of the trail and the exit, he was cut off when several arrows started flanking him.

Ordinary arrows had no effect on Thorstien, so he was not in a panic. He was surrounded by mountain bandits. There were thirty bandits. Only three of them were mana cultivators in the late Tempering Layer Realm. One of the bandits took out a portrait.

“It's him. Get the thieving swine!”

Most of the bandit were either swordsmen or were equipped daggers. They quickly swarmed him. Thorstein roared, establishing an almighty spiritual pressure. Know of them got within a foot of Thorstein as they were blown away. The only ones that were not effected were the mana cultivators of the Tempering Layer Realm. The scrawny bandit was ranked three. The second bandit was a greasy, obese fellow with the a Fifth Tempering Layer Realm cultivation. The third, a chubby fellow had a cultivation of the 7th Layer.

Thorstein started molding chakra from his mana network. Three spiritual war-hammer were conjured and floated around him and twisted around him like a tornado. This technique is called the Spiritual Warlord Hammer. It is a balance offensive and defensive mana skill that protects the caster and attacks incoming assailants and it the skill itself automatically attacks any hostile within range.

This is a basic Spiritualist technique for beginners. There are advance and elite versions of the Spiritual Warlord Hammer. The basic version could summon up to three hammers the max. Only peaks experts of the Tempering Layer Realm and above could summon three hammers at the same time.

“There is no were to run! You can either tell me were you hid the treasure armament or we will we drink your blood and feast on your flesh to night!” Said the chubby bandit.

“Over my dead body,” Thorstein charged towards the three bandit mana cultivators.

The three hammers that shielded him flown forwards like a homing missiles. Thunderous booms caused a mini tremor to generate. The hammers caused little to no damage. This was within Thorstein's expectations as he fled once again. The overgrowth path in front of him made him detour through and around as he carefully avoided the territories of a gargantuan Venus Fly Trap and a Devil Snare Vine.

 He could hear the sound broken branches and people stepping on dried leafs about a quarter mile behind him. The three bandit cultivators were cursing and shouting. Suddenly, the forest became silent. Following that, multiple horrifying screams could be heard from behind. The bandits were ambushed the mystical beast plants. The Venus Fly Traps devoured any band that got within range and the Devil Snare Vine roots twirl and pulled encroaching bandit beneath the ground. Anyone caught would become fertilizer for the demonic plant.

 “Ha ha ha! Serves them right!”