BOOM!
The moment the bear's paw struck his Dantian, the Nebula Map inside Chen Han's body suddenly erupted with a tremendous light.
In that instant, his consciousness seemed to plunge into the Nebula Map.
Gazing at the Nebula Map within him, Chen Han felt as if he were floating in the middle of the entire Cosmos, boundless and infinite!
And in the very center of this Cosmos, a phantom figure slowly materialized.
Suddenly, the once-orderly rotating Fixed Stars fell into chaos.
All around the Cosmos, figures leaped into existence. They tore through the void, soaring with ethereal grace, an endless horde... and every one of them was targeting the figure that had emerged from the center of the Cosmos.
A world-shaking war erupted.
Fixed Stars fell from the sky, and planets shattered.
In the end, the figure at the center of the Cosmos could not withstand the masses and fell. However, just before dying, he transformed his life's inheritance into a shooting star that broke through the encirclement of countless enemies.
This scene seemed to last for tens of thousands of years in Chen Han's mind, yet it also felt like a mere instant.
His spirit trembled, and Chen Han opened his eyes.
But the vision vanished. In its place was the charging figure of the Brown Bear King.
All of a sudden, a voice echoed in Chen Han's mind.
"Inheritor, you who have received my legacy... you should not die so simply. Let me lend you a final helping hand. The path of the Martial Dao is endless; you must walk the rest of the way on your own."
The voice was ancient and majestic, filled with an aura that could look down upon the Eight Desolates.
It eventually faded away.
At the same time, a powerful suction force suddenly erupted from Chen Han's Dantian.
The Nebula Map began to spin madly.
"ROAR!"
The Brown Bear King, its paw still on his Dantian, let out a furious roar. Before Chen Han's disbelieving eyes, its massive body began to wither.
In what was almost the blink of an eye, the Brown Bear King that dominated the outer Cloud Heaven Forest was sucked dry by the Nebula Map in Chen Han's body... until nothing was left but a layer of skin.
The Brown Bear King's vast Life Power surged into Chen Han's body.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH...
Gradually, a tiny Fixed Star appeared in the Nebula Map inside him, and it began to revolve around the shooting star.
"BOOM!"
At the same time, a vigorous power burst forth from within his body.
With every breath, his qi and blood surged, powerful and unceasing.
'This is... the Martial Disciple Second Layer?'
Chen Han was slightly stunned.
He took aim at a large tree in front of him, one that would take three people to encircle. Holding his breath and concentrating his spirit, he settled into a horse stance and threw a fierce punch.
CRACK!
With a loud tearing sound, the great tree snapped in half at its trunk and crashed to the ground.
'It's real!'
Chen Han stared at his fist, unable to suppress the thrill in his heart. He had turned a disaster into a blessing, reaching the strength of a Martial Disciple Second Layer in one fell swoop.
A thought crossed his mind.
He recalled the voice he had heard in his head.
'It seems this shooting star must be the inheritance left behind by a fallen Ancient Divine Emperor, and I somehow managed to obtain it. He must have been the one who helped me out of that crisis just now.'
He focused his consciousness inward.
Chen Han discovered that the Nebula Map inside him was no longer just a solitary shooting star. There was now an additional, rotating Fixed Star... and this orbiting Fixed Star had actually opened up a Second Dantian for him.
'Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. By a stroke of luck, I now have a second Dantian. My cultivation speed will be twice as fast as before... It seems it won't be long before I can not only reach the Martial Disciple Third Layer, but perhaps even higher.'
Chen Han's face was filled with delight.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly noticed a skeleton not far from the Brown Bear King.
He walked over curiously.
It was impossible to tell how many years the person had been dead; their clothes and flesh were long gone, leaving only bones. Next to the skeleton lay a yellowed Secret Manual.
'This is...'
He picked it up.
Upon closer inspection, Chen Han's heart skipped a beat.
It was a High Level Martial Arts manual—the "Vast Sea Step"!
'Talk about a timely gift. I was just in need of a Qinggong technique...' Chen Han scanned the surroundings and noticed signs of the Brown Bear King's activity nearby. 'It looks like the Brown Bear King was likely this senior's pet. Though the senior is dead, the Spirit Beast remained loyal and refused to leave. Senior, now that I have your "Vast Sea Step," I will surely carry it forward and make it famous!'
Chen Han bowed respectfully to the skeleton, then greedily opened the Secret Manual.
Although the "Vast Sea Step" contained only a few thousand words, every one was a stroke of genius.
He read it back and forth three times.
Chen Han had already committed the entire Cultivation Technique to memory.
Just reaching the Entry-Level would increase his speed by twenty percent. If he could reach the Perfection realm, it would increase his speed by a hundred and twenty percent... Even other Qinggong techniques wouldn't dare make such an exaggerated claim.
This period of comprehension lasted the entire night. It wasn't until the moon was bright and the stars were few that Chen Han awoke from his Meditation.
His mastery of the Vast Sea Step had already reached the Entry-Level.
'Next, as long as I practice diligently, I should be able to reach the Initial Stage soon...' Chen Han thought to himself.
He put away the Secret Manual and strode out of the Cloud Heaven Forest.
Before long, pairs of cyan eyes lit up like lanterns in the dim, dense woods.
It was the same pack of Cyan-eyed Gray Wolves from the daytime.
It seemed they hadn't given up and were still waiting for Chen Han.
'Haha, this saves me the trouble of hunting for prey. Today, I'll use you all to test the power of the Vast Sea Step!' Chen Han thought.
AWOOO!
The wolf pack howled, bursting out from the dense forest to charge at Chen Han.
With the Vast Sea Step, Chen Han's speed was now about twenty percent faster than before. This made him just slightly faster than the Cyan-eyed Gray Wolves.
'The pack may be large, but they're just beasts after all,' he sneered inwardly.
Instead of retreating, he advanced. Using his speed, he rapidly closed in on a Cyan-eyed Gray Wolf and slashed with his Hunting Saber.
Man and wolf brushed past each other.
The former's momentum didn't stop as he swiftly met the rest of the pack.
The latter, however, froze mid-air before tumbling to the ground, its body convulsing as hot blood spurted from its throat.
He continuously executed the Vast Sea Step. Chen Han moved effortlessly through the wolf pack. Each time he swung his saber, he immediately used his superior speed to retreat, giving the Cyan-eyed Gray Wolves no chance to surround him. After just three brief encounters, four wolves were already dead on the ground.
Seeing how ferocious Chen Han was, the wolves began to feel fear.
They actually chose to scatter.
'Trying to escape? Not a chance!'
Watching the fleeing pack, Chen Han let out a cold snort and charged after them.
In just a few short moments, the same wolf pack that had chased Chen Han all over the place just a few hours ago now lay dead on the ground.
Counting the Golden Ring Snake and the Striped Fierce Tiger he had hunted earlier, plus these seventeen Cyan-eyed Gray Wolves... Chen Han's net worth had now reached a full three thousand taels of silver.
'With this silver, I can finally buy back our Chen Family's Ruo Shui Golden Saber from Wang Chong!'
Chen Han suppressed his excitement and quickly calmed himself.
'It's not enough. I don't just want to buy back the Ruo Shui Golden Saber; I also need to pay off all the family's debts... and to reach the Martial Disciple Third Layer as soon as possible, I'll need a large amount of silver taels to buy medicinal herbs!' he thought.
For the next few days, Chen Han used the "Vast Sea Step" to rampage through the Cloud Heaven Forest.
Everywhere he went, beasts were completely wiped out.
Every swing of his saber was accompanied by the miserable howls of a wild animal.
「In those three days.」
Chen Han's mastery of the "Vast Sea Step" grew more and more proficient, reaching the Initial Stage. Having experienced countless battles, he was no longer a fresh-faced rookie with zero combat experience. Now, he carried the nascent air of an expert.
Chen Han's current speed far surpassed that of other opponents at the Martial Disciple Second Layer, and could even rival that of a Martial Disciple Third Layer Martial Artist.
In those days, another dozen or so fierce beasts were added to Chen Han's haul.
It was just a shame that he never encountered another wolf pack, which left Chen Han slightly disappointed.
Covered in blood and grime, he shouldered four enormous bags and returned, panting, to Qingcheng Mountain.
He found a shop.
"Cyan-eyed Gray Wolf... pelts, completely intact. Seventeen in total, worth four thousand one hundred taels."
"Striped Fierce Tiger: gallbladder, bones, and penis. Worth eight hundred taels."
"Golden Ring Snake... worth four hundred and fifty taels."
...
"Brown Bear King... pelt, worth one thousand five hundred taels."
After everything was tallied up, what Chen Han had earned in the Cloud Heaven Forest amounted to a surprising thirteen thousand taels of silver.
The Shopkeeper was especially shocked when he got to the Brown Bear King.
The Brown Bear King was a famous Spirit Beast.
It was capable of contending with an expert at the Martial Disciple Twelfth Layer...
'This kid?'
The Shopkeeper glanced at Chen Han curiously. Seeing how young he was, he secretly shook his head. 'He was probably just lucky,' he thought. 'He must have found the Bear King's pelt after it was already dead.'
He didn't recognize, however, that the blood-soaked young man before him was the former genius who was now considered trash.
If he had recognized him, it probably would have only reinforced his assumption.
Thirteen thousand taels!
With the silver notes in hand, Chen Han's heart couldn't help but beat faster.
Even when his family was at its wealthiest, they had never possessed this much money.
But the next thing he had to do was go to Wang Chong's Money Shop and buy back his Ruo Shui Golden Saber!
At this thought, he strode toward Wang Chong's Money Shop!