Tianyu had reached the forest and jumped off of the back of Red Hare. He tied his gate pass to the reigns and instructed Red Hare to head back on her own. There would be time to get more experience fighting from atop her, but in a densely wooded area wasn't that time. Red Hare seemed a little reluctant but would listen to his command. Red Hare was a war horse, born and bred for the battlefield. He felt a little guilty that during the entire time in which she had been his mount, he had never given her the opportunity to return. But with the tumultuous times they currently live, it may not be too long before he has the opportunity to.

As Red Hare galloped away, Tianyu pulled out his map and headed in the direction of the hunting cabin. He kept his guard up along the way, but other than a wild boar which was quickly dispatched, there were no issues. When arriving at the location he was taken aback, he was expecting a little cabin in the woods made from wood, but this was far beyond any of his expectations. What awaited him was a Pagoda made from red bricks and wood. The design of this building was exquisite. He had to double-check that he had arrived in the correct place, but he definitely had.

Tianyu walked up to the building in awe, admiring the craftsmanship. He paid special attention to the decoration, which looked out of character for a building like this. Unlocking the door with the key Mister Hao handed to him confirmed he was in the right place. When he walked into the building he was shocked even more so. It was like walking into a vortex of spiritual power. The density of the spirit gathering in this place was abnormally high. He was bewildered by this. Just what is actually going on? Was there more to Mister Hao than he knew?

Getting over his state of shock he then started to pay attention and noticed little details. There were markings engraved on the wooden floorboards with statues placed at certain points around the outside. There were also more engravings on the walls on the inside. Remembering one of his system prompts from when he ascended about unlocking spiritual formations from the system shop, he asked for some information from Sophia, he spent 100 exp points to purchase and absorb information about basic spiritual formations. A few moments later when all of the knowledge was transferred, he knew that the big formation in the middle of the floor was a spirit-gathering formation and the designs he paid attention to outside were actually wards to repel wildlife. Unfortunately, there was no information about the other formations which were engraved inside the pagoda.

He would definitely need to speak to Mister Hao again when he returns, but until then he would make the most of this spirit-gathering formation. It was starting to get a little late in the day at this point anyway, so he then sat in a lotus position in the middle of the formation and spent the rest of the day cultivating.

He was amazed by this formation, using this he could cultivate at least 2-3 times faster. He would definitely come back here to cultivate regularly in the future. He decided to go to sleep and get an early start tomorrow hunting beasts.

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Tianyu woke up with the sun and after dismissing his usual system notification he prepared to set out and hunt. He was excited that he didn't have to hide his soul weapon whilst being out here and was able to use it properly. He did try to communicate with the soul weapon again once he reached Peak Foundation Realm, but there was still no response.

He was out hunting all day until the sun started to set, however, he had only found another boar and a couple of snakes to kill. He had been at it all day and only picked up 35 exp points. This was far from what he was expecting when he made this plan.

He carried the boar that he killed back to the pagoda and made a meal out of it. He then went back to cultivating and slept early once again.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The next day led to similar results, and the day after results were even worse. He was getting frustrated. At this rate, it would be better for him to just stay inside the pagoda and cultivate here. He pulled out the map that Mister Hao gave him once again and checked around for if there was anywhere he could go for better results, and that's when he had an idea. Mister Hao specifically warned him to avoid the areas marked in red until he was strong enough. He decided to go and check out one of these areas tomorrow.

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The next day Tianyu once again rose with the sun, ate some left-over boar meat, and set off in the direction of one of the small areas marked in red. He was adamant that he would not leave this forest until he had reached his goal. And that would never happen if all he was fighting were boars and snakes.

The first area he went to took about an hour of walking before he arrived. He kept walking through the forest when he felt that the air had dropped in temperature. The once lively forest seemed to be silent. It was a very odd sensation, but there was definitely something different about this area. He slowly and quietly crept his way forward. Every step he took seemed exaggerated due to the deathly silence in the air. It was as if nothing dared to make a sound and Tianyu was going against nature whenever he did.

As Tianyu was creeping forward, he heard a snap off to the side. Twisting his head to look in the direction of the noise, his pupils shrank as he saw a giant monster barreling towards him. Unable to dodge in time, all Tianyu could do was raise his weapon and attempt to block the giant hand hurtling at his body.

Although he was able to raise his halberd in time, it didn't offer much protection. The giant beast had sent him flying through the air.

Twang!

Thud!

Tianyu was dazed, but he had to fight! He got back to his feet and that's when he saw what he was up against.

Standing opposite him in the clearing, roaring and batting its chest was a monstrous silverback gorilla. It stood about 10 feet tall and had arms as thick as tree trunks with menacingly sharp teeth. The most terrifying thing about this gorilla though, wasn't the sheer size, but the fact that its fur seemed to be made of stone.

It wasn't planning on giving Tianyu any time to think and came charging at him once again.

This time, he saw the beast coming and he managed to dodge to the side, striking out with his halberd.

Clang!

It was as though he had just struck a wall, and his arms felt the full force of the rebound. Feeling uncomfortable yet knowing he couldn't stop, he went on the offensive.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

It was no good. None of the hits that he landed seemed to have any effect. He couldn't penetrate his defense and he was suffering from the rebound of his attacks. His hands had already started to go numb.

Tianyu was at a loss for what he could do. The beast kept charging at him and swinging his meaty hands. If he were to be hit by any one of these he could be in big trouble. Luckily the beast was quite slow when he wasn't charging, so he was able to dodge just fine. However, this just left him at a stalemate. The beast couldn't hit him, and he couldn't do enough damage to the beast.

His only hope was to make this a battle of attrition. After coming up with his plan he stopped attacking completely, unable afford to wasting his energy.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The giant gorilla was swinging his arms trying its best to clobber him.

This went on for quite some time, unfortunately for Tianyu, it didn't seem like the beast was going to run out of stamina any time soon, and he was soon feeling the pressure of his situation. There is no way he could escape from a gorilla in a forest, yet he couldn't outlast it, or kill it.

While trying to think of a way out of his situation, he had an idea. He had been using his Qi to strengthen his body this whole time, but this was having no effect. What if he was to channel his Qi into his weapon?

He concentrated on doing so when he made a big mistake. He was concentrating so much on his Qi flowing, he wasn't paying attention to his footing, and he stumbled. Using this mistake to his advantage, the giant gorilla dashed forward and managed to smash Tianyu across the clearing once again.

Thump!

Crack!

Tianyu coughed up a large amount of blood. That hit just now seemed to have broken some ribs at the very least. Staggering to stand back to his feet, he swallowed a handful of recovery pills. It was pure adrenaline that was keeping him going. If he falls now, he dies.

The recovery pills worked quickly, but aren't as effective as they need to be.

He needed to channel his Qi and he needed to do it NOW!

Once again, the gorilla charged at Tianyu, out for blood. Tianyu managed to jump to the side and swing his halberd again.

ROAARRR!!

He looked over at the enraged beast to see blood dripping on the floor from its arm.

Tianyu smiled while barely able to keep himself standing. "This is where the fight truly begins, bastard monkey!"