The lake water was bone - chillingly cold, like countless tiny ice needles piercing through Silas' tattered clothes and into his scar - ridden body. But Silas kept his eyes tightly shut, enduring the searing pain and feigning death. He knew all too well that the slightest movement at this moment would ruin everything. After the manor lord's men threw him into the lake, they didn't linger for long and soon left. Gradually, the surface of the lake regained its calm.
Once everything was quiet, Silas began to mobilize the power within his body. Immediately, the spiritual energy around him flowed towards him like a warm current, slowly seeping in from the area near his navel and spreading throughout his body along the meridians. The large hole blasted through by the manor lord's force began to heal at a visible rate. Broken bones reconnected, and shattered muscle tissues gradually repaired. The bleeding stopped. First, a layer of tender new flesh grew at the wound, and then the skin slowly covered it, leaving only a faint scar in the end.
In Silas' heart, grief surged like a tide. Emma's departure had torn apart the softest part of his heart. Although he hadn't spoken many words with Emma, perhaps influenced by the original body's memories, her death was like a knife twisting in his chest. Suddenly, Silas remembered what Oshun had mentioned: that cultivating the Law of Life to a profound stage could bring the deceased back to life. These words were like a glimmer of dawn in the darkness, giving him the motivation to persevere. Silas secretly swore that he must embark on the path of a powerhouse, master the Law of Life, and bring his sister back to this world.
With this belief, Silas struggled to swim out of the lake bottom. After taking a deep breath, he swam towards the direction of the forest. Once on shore, without a moment's hesitation, he walked straight into that mysterious and dangerous forest.
After entering the forest, Silas first found a cave to rest in. As for why not stay in a tree, the memory of being entangled by a python last time still lingered vividly in his mind.
Recalling today's battle, that so - called martial art seemed quite impressive, but its power wasn't as great as he had imagined. However, after its.it did enhance the user's strength. Moreover, those cultivators of the same realm seemed much weaker than him. They could only use the ability of one kind of beast, and they had to be semi - beastified to some extent to use it. Unlike him, his abilities were ingrained in his body. For example, the boosts in speed and strength were as natural as if they were innate. Looking at his extraordinary regenerative ability, could all of this be brought about by the Law of Life?
Sure enough, as a divine miracle, how could it be inferior to ordinary people in this remote place? Even he hadn't fully exploited the power of the Law of Life yet, only relying on it passively to heal his injuries. Thinking of this, Silas picked up a branch and infused spiritual energy into it. As expected, with a flash of green light, the branch sprouted. Seeing this, a bold idea germinated in Silas' mind. Fusing with ordinary beasts had limited benefits for his body. As for demonic beasts, this was the edge of the Demonic Beast Forest, and it was impossible to encounter one, and even if he did, he might not be able to defeat it. According to the original body's memories, at the same realm, one demonic beast could fight three cultivators without being defeated. Moreover, demonic beasts had all kinds of special abilities. An ordinary cultivator would die if they couldn't escape when encountering one. Although he was confident in his strength, Silas didn't want to take risks. So, was there a creature that was stronger than an ordinary beast but not a demonic beast? There was, indeed. That was a dinosaur. Thinking of this, Silas became excited. Although this world was strange, it was still Earth. Maybe he could dig out dinosaur fossils. Combining this with his Law of Life, the opportunity to become stronger was right in front of him. But digging only with his bare hands would take who - knows - how long. Coincidentally, he had broken through to the mid - stage of the First Realm earlier, and his soul had been strengthened. Why not fuse with an animal good at digging holes? After much thought, a mouse seemed the most suitable. Judging from his current soul strength, he should still be able to fuse with five kinds of animals. The mouse had already reserved a spot. Then he decided to fuse with an eagle. After all, being able to fly would be much more convenient. He could think about the remaining three choices later.
As night fell, Silas began his hunting journey.
During the day, Silas caught some wild beasts and roasted them to eat. Now that his realm had increased, he needed a lot more food every day. He threw the remaining bones into the grass and quickly hid in a tree, waiting for prey to take the bait. Before long, several mice were attracted by the smell of the bones and couldn't wait to enjoy the delicious food. Silas wasn't in a hurry. Although he only needed to catch one mouse, he still wanted to catch the best one. Suddenly, the mouse group became restless, and then there was a flash of golden light. A "fat mouse" half a person tall appeared. The other mice quickly scattered, leaving it alone to enjoy the food. Silas immediately perked up, picked up the wooden spear beside him, and shot it at the mouse. With a "bang," it was like hitting a steel plate, and the mouse was unharmed. The mouse slowly looked towards Silas, not running away, but charging towards the tree where Silas was hiding. In mid - air, the mouse spun like a drill. Silas quickly dodged, and with a "boom," the big tree fell, raising a cloud of dust. Then it charged at Silas again.
Silas said, "Interesting."
After saying that, Silas threw a punch at the mouse. In an instant, blood splattered. Silas looked at his bleeding finger, then at the unharmed but slightly dazed mouse, and chuckled, "Unfortunately for you, you've met me." After that, Silas started punching the mouse frantically. Dust rose everywhere. When the dust cleared, the mouse had turned into a "mouse pancake," and Silas' hand had turned into a white bone. But with a flash of green light, the hand began to recover at a visible rate. Then, he circulated his cultivation technique, and a wave of pain hit him. Silas felt the changes in his body. First, he felt a sense of intimacy with the ground. With a gentle step and a thought, the soil automatically separated. More astonishing than this was the colorful world in his eyes. The surrounding plants and trees were all gray - white. There was a green light on the fallen big tree, and above the forest in the distance was a red light. The red light was easy to understand; it probably meant danger. So, what about the green light? He walked to the big tree, and among the tree (tree debris) a palm - sized fragment was particularly eye - catching, showing a dark green color. It was heavy in his hand. Carefully sensing it, he could feel a strong life force. What a good thing, but he didn't know what it was for. With a thought, he put it into the mirror space. Silas understood the truth that an innocent man may be murdered for his wealth. Although he didn't know what kind of mouse this was, there was no doubt that he had made a big profit this time.
Back in the cave, Silas began to plan the next step: catching an eagle. Moments later, Silas was holding an eagle. Although it was flying in the sky, by seizing the right moment, with Silas' current physical strength, he could jump up and catch it. Then he circulated his cultivation technique. He felt a tingling sensation on his back, and with a "whoosh," a pair of light wings unfolded behind Silas. So, this was what it felt like to fly.
"Yahoo!" Silas shouted, and roars echoed from the forest. Before Silas could respond, the light wings began to dim, and Silas felt that the spiritual energy in his body was almost exhausted.
Silas said, "It seems that these light wings are driven by the spiritual energy in my body. With my current strength, I can fly for at most an hour. But as my realm improves, the flying time will surely get longer."
One day, while Silas was practicing flying in the forest, a beast's roar suddenly came. The sound was extraordinary, capable of shaking one's soul, making one dizzy, and weakening the limbs. Then, a familiar tiger's roar followed.
Silas thought, "Could it be that tiger from that day? But listening to the voice, it's obviously weak. It must be injured. It should be that two beasts are fighting."
With the thought of taking advantage of the situation, Silas quickly walked towards the source of the sound.
He saw the tiger from that day confronting a mass of jelly. Yes, it was jelly.
Silas wondered in his heart, "Could this be a demonic beast?"
The next moment, the two started fighting.
The tiger's sharp claws tore through the air, and the jelly - like body of the demonic beast glowed with a blue sheen in the moonlight. The two beasts clashed fiercely on the edge of the swamp. The tiger's hind - leg muscles were knotted, and it pounced towards the demonic beast like an arrow leaving the bow. Its right paw, carrying a thousand - jun of force, slapped towards the demonic beast. The demonic beast's body suddenly liquefied, and the steel - like claws sank into the semi - transparent mucus. Viscous tentacles instantly wrapped around the tiger's front legs. The tiger's pupils shrank suddenly. Its hind paws kicked hard against the ground, splashing the rotting mud onto the surface of the demonic beast, which was absorbed and turned into a deeper blue. The demonic beast's body suddenly expanded, enveloping the tiger. The tiger struggled violently in the mucus. The wounds torn by its sharp tiger teeth healed quickly, but the feeling of suffocation grew stronger. It suddenly curled up its body and stabbed at the demonic beast with the spike on its tail, but to no avail. "Roar——" The tiger spat out its natal demon core from its throat, but the moment it touched the demonic beast, it was rebounded. The demon core turned into a beam of blood - colored light that pierced through the tiger's chest. When it fell to the ground, the demonic beast's mucus began to devour its flesh and blood, and a strange light of the fusion of the demon core and the magic core emerged at its core.
Silas exclaimed, "Damn, is this a demonic beast? It's better to run first."
Just then, the demonic beast discovered Silas' trail and wriggled towards him. Along the way, stones and trees were all broken, and it was extremely fast. Seeing this, Silas quickly grew light wings and flew into the distance. But in just a short while, the demonic beast caught up with Silas. The demonic beast quickly spread out like a large net flying towards Silas. Just as Silas stopped, waiting for death, the large net suddenly contracted and gathered back into a ball, wandering around as if it didn't see Silas.
Silas thought, "Could it be that... I know."
To confirm his guess, Silas suppressed the spiritual energy in his body and slowly walked towards the demonic beast. He picked up a wooden stick and, using only one - tenth of his physical strength, which was equivalent to that of an ordinary person, gently stabbed at the demonic beast. The place where the demonic beast was stabbed dissipated like green smoke. In a short while, only a pitch - black bead was left. This was the so - called principle of opposition and balance. If this demonic beast had no weaknesses, this Demonic Beast Forest would probably have been destroyed long ago. It turned out that this demonic beast only reacted to powerful forces, absorbing and rebounding them. If the force itself was extremely weak, it would be ignored.
Silas wondered, "Could this be the inner core of the demonic beast?"
At this moment, a bold idea emerged in Silas' mind. If he fused this bead, wouldn't he also be able to have this kind of power? Without hesitation, Silas circulated his cultivation technique. The bead dissipated quickly like snow in summer, and streaks of black lines poured into Silas' body.
After the fusion was complete, Silas rushed towards a huge boulder. Both he and the boulder were unharmed. But when Silas gathered the power accumulated in his body and punched out, the boulder shattered. However, this ability wasn't invincible. You could absorb the power from your opponent's attacks, but only if your physical body was strong enough. Otherwise, you might be torn apart by this power first.
Silas said, "I almost forgot about that tiger."
Silas quickly flew towards the tiger's body. He saw that the lower half of the tiger's body had completely disappeared. Not daring to delay, as the smell of blood would attract other wild beasts, Silas circulated his cultivation technique. In just a short while, the fusion was completed. He felt the power in his body, and then looked at the tiger's head. Out of the principle of not wasting, Silas pulled out the tiger's teeth.
Silas said, "These are good weapons. Tie them to a short wooden stick, and it'll be a fine dagger."
Without staying any longer, Silas summoned his light wings and flew into the distance.
Back in the cave, taking stock of his recent gains, Silas knew it was time to leave. Although he couldn't take revenge for the time being, he could definitely exact some revenge in the meantime.