Well over ten days had come and gone in the Crimson Tide Mountain Range. In a small valley, devoid of most life, there was a young teenager simply foraging around for food. Honed with years of survival experience alone, Lute was moving around quickly. He never completely focused on any one task, and he didn’t stay in any area for a prolonged amount of time. This was his secret to survival.

The only exception was where he had set up a shelter. Following the river of water towards the edge of the valley, there was a small offshoot that ended in a small pond. Next to this pond, Lute had found a large rock with as flat of an edge and as knife-like as possible. With his new bodily strength that he steadily was growing accustomed to, Lute dug into the side of the hill over the course of multiple days. After a space large enough inside of the hill was dug out just enough for Lute not to feel cramped, he went and found as large of a rock as he could carry to block the entrance.

It was a very crude shelter, and if a Vicious Beast really wanted to, it could simply dig in towards Lute from another direction. However, he was confident that wouldn’t happen, because a beast like that wouldn’t want to go through so much effort. It would instead probably search for easier prey.

This had become Lute’s new home for the time being. There was a small stash of twigs and dead logs that Lute used for a fire only when he was sure nothing was nearby. Now, his days were full of foraging and information gathering, and his nights were spent cultivating. And that was only an accidental discovery, as he couldn’t sense time changes; Lute had accidentally cultivated an entire night and discovered that it felt as if he had slept for six hours.

It wasn’t equal to a full night of sleep, but surely in the future, cultivation would be able to supplement it as a substitute.

Lute sighed as he came out of a state of cultivation. There wasn’t much to do at this moment in time. He had a small stash of edibles built up for when he felt hunger, but aside from that, he cultivated…and cultivated.

How long will it seriously take to break through to the third level? I broke into the second level within one day, and yet here I am….more than ten days later. Shouldn’t cultivation be quicker than this in the beginning? I even have the benefit of my intake of Qi being multiplicatively increased if I consciously focus on it with the Divine Chronicle of the Primordial Way. Even still… this is abysmal. I must really have no affinity towards cultivation.

With such depressing thoughts, Lute stretched his slightly stiff muscles. Leaving his crude make-shift shelter, he simply walked around aimlessly searching and exploring so he would be prepared for the eventual day that he left this secluded valley.

Very quickly, more than half the day went by, there was nothing important occurring. For the entire time he had left, all Lute was attempting to do was figure out a way to increase his cultivation speed.

I know that according to Master, simply rushing to increase the amount of Qi that I have is the wrong way of cultivating. I must temper my body, soul, and purity of my Qi. But certainly there must be ways to speed up the process.

Then almost as if he was struck by an epiphany, Lute came to a realization. He still had an advantage that he was sure of. The Spiritual God Inheritance was a chance he still had.

Lute began to laugh at his own ignorance. Hehe, of course, I am doing perfectly fine. It’s only natural that it will be harder for me to advance. I have those five doors. But in reality, aside from giving me a stronger body, and those doors that will kill me if even the first one is open, I don’t actually know anything about the Spiritual Gods Inheritance.

Virtually no information was granted. I wouldn’t have even known about the doors without Masters Aid. So, that only leaves one conclusion, I was only supposed to learn of their existence when I reached an approximate predetermined cultivation. For now, I must painstakingly and slowly advance until the day that I am worthy to learn of the true power that this blood has.

Lute felt refreshed upon the realization. Isla had also stated that he shouldn’t have been impressed with his body simply being changed. That wasn’t even enough to call it an inheritance. Especially of one rumored to be one of the most powerful existences from the Age of Immortals.

With his enlightenment, Lute began to return to the shelter he made. But after a few mere steps, his expression became extremely dangerous. Years of survival alone hadn’t all been for naught. Even if he didn’t have the ability to sense everything in his surroundings like Isla, Lute still had the "Sense" that someone or something was watching him.

Stopping in his tracks immediately, he scanned his surroundings for any moment. There was almost no movement to aid in finding the location of whatever was watching Lute…almost.

But, off to his right, Lute saw the slightest movement of the foliage, it was almost imperceptible. Quickly scooping up a stone from the ground; Lute threw it with as much strength as he could in that general direction.

The stone, almost the size of Lutes hand flew at an extreme speed off to his right. It broke all of the thin branches, vines and general foliage of the forest in its trajectory. Finally somewhere off in the distance, a thundering crash was heard as it landed, probably indented into the ground.

His action payed off, Lute soon saw his stalker. Coming from where he expected, the massive form of wolf came into view. When he locked eyes with it, Lute recognized immediately that this wolf was quite special…to him anyway.

"Heh, to think we’d meet again you bastard. You must love the scent of me so much that you waited and waited until I reappeared eh?" Lute said in a dangerously low and mocking voice.

Although it couldn’t understand human speech, the wolf clearly understood that the human before it was mocking it. In a short span of time, this little furless creature had a completely different air about it. To taunt so it so soon, the wolf was going to enjoy tearing the prey that it lost the first time to shreds.

Vicious Beasts were by no means unintelligent, no matter how weak they were. At the very least, they would hold enough intelligence to strategically judge a situation. Despite feeling a sense of danger from the seemingly defenseless Lute, it began to prowl forward while snapping it fangs.

Now I have your attention eh? Well, I guess this is as good a time as ever to figure out how to use Qi in a fight.

Strangely enough, instead of feeling fear at the sight of his would-be killer, Lute was extremely calm. His mind was ice-cold and clear. He wasn’t trembling in fear at all; instead adrenaline was rushing through his body. This was perhaps the first time Lute actually wanted fight of his own initiative. Even if he had no idea how to properly fight with his body alone…or even fight at all.

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"If it’s a battle you want… I shall give you a war instead." Lute said arrogantly

Without any feeling of distress despite the very real possibility he could be slaughtered, Lute simply stood there in the same position as if he was an immovable sentinel. Based upon instinct alone, he spread his legs shoulder width apart and readied his fist. Lute attempted to create a stance where one arm was like a shield, always ready to defend the vitals of his body, while the other was poised to strike in retaliation.

From a casual glance, it would actually seem as if Lute was very clumsily posing. However, if someone that wasn’t astronomically superior to Lute in cultivation was the opponent, he most definitely wouldn’t appear that way.

Almost as if on que, when Lute entered such an awkward stance and readied himself to the approaching Vicious Beast, his eyes seemed to change. The already ice-cold eyes now seemed to have an extremely sharp and murderous glint in them.

The approaching wolf momentarily paused. The dangerous feeling it felt from the furless beast intensified. An invisible pressure seemed to envelope it and began to push on the wolf. Its fur began to stand on end. But, from such a young furless beast, it must be bluff. Once again, it began to approach Lute. And finally, with bloodshot eyes and fangs thirsting for blood, it pounced.

The wolf pounced and the distance was rapidly closing between the two of them. Lute still remained calm despite this. Rather than retreating to regain better positioning. Lute stepped back with his right leg only and firmly planted it in the ground with as much strength as possible. Then, as the fangs were about to find their target which was Lutes throat, Lute brought up his defensive arm and slammed it upwards into the bottom of the wolfs jaw. Meanwhile, Lute brought his attacking arm, and slammed the forearm into the side of the wolf, connecting with the ribcage.

Not just Lute, but even the wolf was surprised. The trajectory of its lunge path was forcefully changed and it went flying off to the left and unable to stop itself from falling, it rolled on the ground until it slammed into a nearby tree.

Its breath was now coming in ragged gasps, but it forcefully stood itself up and despite spitting up some blood, the wolf stared at Lute. It was clearly was intelligent enough to wait and think about whether it should retreat or attempt to kill Lute again.

Lute on the other hand, while still being aware of his opponent, was thinking about his arm in wonder.

I…I could’ve sworn that I felt the ribs crack when I retaliated. Why don’t cultivators focus on tempering their bodies more?! Yes, Master was correct that simply amassing Qi doesn’t mean you are invincible. Wait?! I didn’t even attempt to revolve my Qi when I used that attack. What would happen if it was used while my fist was infused with Qi?

While Lute’s thoughts were running amuck, he was forced to snap back to reality. The Vicious Beast before him began to howl at the top of its lungs towards the sky. Off in the distance, countless return calls responded, some closer than others.

"So that is your strategy… That’s fine, let’s involve as many in the war as possible." Lute said with a murderous edge

Lute’s self-confidence rose when he successfully won the exchange without even using Qi. If all Vicious Beasts were like this wolf, then maybe he was worrying too much. With strength at this level, Lute felt confident he could take on as many of them that came, as long as he defeated them quick enough to where the numbers weren’t overwhelming.

This time I shall be the aggressor. There is no reason to hold back as long as I don’t waste the Qi within my body.

Furiously revolving his Qi as fast as possible, Lute chose not to encase his whole body with it or even attack with the full strength he felt he was capable of if he used it. Instead, he sent it towards his legs only.

Already strong legs now being used in conjunction with Qi, Lutes ability for instantaneous eruption of movement and his fastest speed increased multiple times. Such was the difference between fighting with Qi or without it.

Lute shot forward in a straight line, moving at his top speed, he arrived in front of the wolf before it even had time to comprehend what just occurred. This entire time, it had thought that Lute was already using Qi, now it was confused beyond help.

It quickly tried to snap at Lute with it long fangs, attempting to rip Lute to shreds. Despite the effort, it only managed to nip Lutes arm drawing only a small amount of blood.

In actuality that "Nip" on his arm would’ve went through any other Foundation Qi Realm practitioners arm, severely mangling it. This was clearly a tempered body showing its true strength. Fatal wounds for others would be mere scratches to Lute.

Lute didn’t even feel the pain in his battle haze. Now that he had the wolf in his sights he wasn’t going to let go. Spreading out both arms to the wolf that already lunged at his left arm, Lute grappled it into what appeared as a hug. Rather, it wasn’t that at all, without even infusing Qi into his arms, Lute began to squeeze and constrict the wolf in both of his arms.

Bones became strained and began to crack. Every time the wolf breathed, Lute would be able to squeeze a little tighter. However it was taking Lute to long, he knew that the other Vicious Beasts would appear momentarily. Infusing Qi only to his arms now, Lute squeezed even harder. The Vicious Beast that was weakly struggling went limp. All of its chest bones were shattered and some of the organs burst or became disfigured. It was impossible to live under those conditions.

Lute simply threw the beast onto the ground and surveyed is surroundings. Noise could be heard from all sides.

It seems I won’t be able to escape without slaughtering all of them, or making them retreat in fear. Fine then, let them come. The more experience the better.

If anyone that wasn’t Lutes Master knew what he was thinking, they’d think that he was insane. To any cultivator of a sect, or even if they were a rogue cultivator; it was common knowledge that you should fight a Vicious Beast only if they were weaker than you in strength. This was because in actuality, even if they were weaker in cultivation alone, their combat ability and bodies were far superior to a human. So if a Vicious Beast was comparable to a second level Foundational Qi practitioner, it was actually comparable in strength to that of a third level Foundational Qi practitioner.

And yet, here was Lute. Although he didn’t know how to determine the strength of this Vicious Beast, at the second level of the Foundational Qi Realm, he managed to kill it in a head on clash. Most cultivators would employ hit and run tactics against a Vicious Beast. It was widely accepted as suicide to enter a head on clash unless other variables made up for the weaker human, such as equipment, how strong their Arts and Techniques were, as well as talent.

If anyone knew that Lute didn’t even know how to properly use Qi either and hardly used it, they might just vomit blood and contemplate their existence. In the Mortal Realm at least this was phenomenal, not so much in the Divine Realm where many freak existences resided.

Quietly catching his breath, Lute consciously absorbed Qi, the speed instantly increased multiple times. The cut on his arm quickly stopped bleeding, but that was it. The Divine Chronicle of the Primordial Way was only at the first level so even a cut would take at the least one day to heal. At further levels, Lute had no doubt injuries this minor would heal within minutes.

However, the few minutes of rest he obtained were more than enough. The miniscule amount of Qi used was already restored. Lute was still battle ready. Quietly cultivating for a few minutes, the sounds of multiple beasts in the distance were coming ever closer.

Lute however was ready, killing the Vicious Beast that almost murdered him before had cleared away the doubt in his heart. He had a grasp of his true battle strength now, even if it was a barbaric, clumsy and unrefined style full of holes.

Lute slowly opened his eyes. Facing him on all sides was now four wolves, each with fur pitch black. And eyes full of hate piercing into him. Yet Lute still wasn’t worried about these ones, or even the wolf that was hiding in the thicket just ahead that was clearly stronger than the rest. Most likely it was the pack leader.

Standing up, Lute returned the hateful glares at him with one of his own. His icy blue eyes with a murderous glint, and his crimson hair danced under the light of the sunset and slight breeze, almost as if it was on fire.

Finally, Lute smirked; "If it’s a battle you want…I shall give you a war instead." Lute said with unmasked pride.