Before the tiger could react, Michael slashed at the beast with his sword, using his full strength.
The tiger had no chance to react as the attack fell toward its neck.
Driven by instinct, the beast tried to dodge, but it was too late—the blade energy passed through its neck.
Thud…
A loud sound echoed as the beast fell to the ground. Though its neck was cut, it was not completely dead, its body still twitching.
Without hesitation, Michael slashed again at the neck to finish it off.
He stored the beast's body in his space ring and approached the Bloomberry tree to collect the fruit.
After taking the fruit, he immediately began to leave the area—staying was not a safe option.
As Michael ran, he heard a loud beast roar from the direction he had just left and increased his speed to avoid attracting further attention.
A sudden sense of unease washed over him, and just as he registered the feeling, an attack bombarded him from the side.
BOOM…
The impact smashed Michael with great force into a tree branch.
Though his body armor reduced the force, he still felt intense pain.
He stood up, blood trickling from his mouth.
Michael looked ahead and saw a 40-foot-long, dark green snake beast at the late stage of the Warlord realm.
He flashed away as the snake's tail struck where he had just been.
Dodging to the side, he slashed his sword toward the serpent, but the beast was fast enough to evade.
"You're fast," Michael muttered.
The serpent, enraged, prepared to strike with its fangs.
But Michael vanished.
In a flash, he reappeared on the serpent's head.
"Let's end this."
He thrust his blade through its skull with all his strength.
A blinding light burst across the forest, accompanied by the serpent's deafening scream as it crashed to the ground.
Michael felt as though all his strength had been consumed.
He approached the dead body and stored it in his space ring.
"Where the hell did this guy come from?" he murmured.
There was no doubt the snake had also been eyeing the fruit. It must have seen him kill the tiger and waited at a safe distance to attack.
Shaking off the thought, Michael picked up his pace and ran deeper into the wilderness.
Soon, other beasts began to gather where he had just been.
This time, Michael encountered no further obstacles and rushed toward the human base camp.
When he was a few hundred kilometers from the base, he stopped to heal his wounds.
After a few hours, Michael began to move through the wilderness again.
"Let's hunt beasts to earn enough for the auction."
He ran for a while and soon encountered a group of wild boars. The leader was at the War General realm, while the rest were at the General realm.
The lead boar seemed more intelligent than the others.
"Roar--"
Seeing Michael, the boars let out roars and began charging toward him.
Michael disappeared from his position and reappeared behind them, slashing his sword toward the leader's neck.
Crack—
A crisp sound echoed as the boar leader's head separated from its body. The other boars were also killed by sword energy.
Michael collected the bodies and continued forward in search of more prey.
A few days later,
Michael stared at the corpse of another Warlord-level beast, blood flowing from its mouth.
"My fighting instincts still aren't fully adapted. I need to focus more on martial arts." Michael was dissatisfied with his progress.
He scanned the area for other beasts, then stored the body.
Looking at the mammoth elephant—a late-stage Warlord—he felt satisfied. Its rarity would fetch a high price, as elephant Warlords usually lived in herds, making them difficult to hunt for warriors of the same realm.
While using the Bloomberry fruits, Michael's realm had already broken through to the late stage of the Warlord realm.
"Spiritual power plays a crucial role in combat. I need to increase my soul power," Michael thought to himself.
Seeing the large number of corpses he had collected, he decided, "It's time to return to base."
Michael sped through the wilderness.
Soon, a fortress came into view, equipped with heavy missile launchers and anti-missile turrets strategically positioned to intercept threats from alien races.
As Michael approached the entry point, he saw groups of warriors either entering the base or leaving to hunt.
He entered the base, which resembled a large city on Blue Star.
Various groups were seeking teammates for wilderness expeditions, while others were looking to buy beast carcasses or other materials from returning warriors.
Michael arrived at a medium-sized apartment he had purchased when he first returned to the base.
He entered the room, which had been unoccupied for over two months due to his extended time in the wilderness.
Removing his body armor, he noted the damage it had sustained from frequent battles with Warlord-level beasts.
Michael turned his thoughts to the system.
[Panel]
Name: Michael K.
Age: 25 years old
Cultivation: Late-stage Warlord
Bloodline: ??? (Not activated)
Gene Level: 1 (Normal Human)
Cultivation Method: Qi Forged Path (Body and Mind Tempering Method)
Martial Art: Nine-Stage Thunder Sword Body (1st Stage)
Race: Human
[Information 1: In 2 months, a new inheritance space will open at 11:50 PM, midnight. It will remain unnoticed for the first 20 days, as spatial fluctuations will be minimal.
The inheritance contains 20 drops of dragon blood, which can help the host activate a portion of his bloodline. Location: 150 km from Ravine City.]
[Information 2: In 20 days, at the auction held by the Golden Stalk House, a crystal will be put up for auction. Though it appears ordinary, it contains a thunder core. The core greatly enhances the body and aids in domain formation.]
[Information 3: In 5 days, an alien group will find the body of an ancient beast. It contains ancient demon blood, which can help the host boost bloodline activation.]