Stepping onto Tianxing's surface was like entering an entirely different reality. The spiritual energy that permeated the atmosphere was so dense that Ryven could almost see it shimmering in the air like heat waves, and every breath filled his lungs with power that made his cultivation base resonate with excitement. The alien landscape stretched before him—rolling hills covered in vegetation that glowed with faint bioluminescence, crystalline formations that pulsed with spiritual energy, and in the distance, mountains that literally radiated light into the sky.
The Strathor family's territorial domain was marked by discrete boundary stones carved with protective arrays, but Ryven's destination lay beyond those safe zones. According to the inherited knowledge from his grandfather's territorial maps, the eastern beast hunting grounds contained creatures ranging from Foundation Realm to Soul Realm levels—perfect for testing his combat abilities without risking encounters with Law Realm monsters that could obliterate him regardless of his talent.
As Ryven began trekking toward the hunting grounds, he marveled at how his body adapted to Tianxing's unique conditions. The planet's gravity was slightly higher than Earth's, but his enhanced physique compensated effortlessly. More importantly, the dense spiritual energy was already beginning to affect his cultivation—his qi reserves were regenerating faster than ever before, and he could feel his foundation subtly strengthening just from environmental exposure.
The journey to the beast territories took several hours, giving Ryven time to fully appreciate the alien world around him. Strange plants grew in impossible patterns, their leaves seeming to channel spiritual energy in ways that Earth vegetation never could. Crystalline outcroppings hummed with power, and occasionally he spotted other cultivators in the distance—members of various families and sects pursuing their own training objectives.
Most fascinating were the signs of ancient civilization scattered throughout the landscape. Crumbling stone structures that radiated residual spiritual energy, carved symbols that his enhanced comprehension couldn't quite decipher, and mysterious formations that suggested Tianxing had once hosted cultivation societies far more advanced than anything currently existing. The planet's history was apparently as rich and complex as its current role as humanity's premier cultivation world.
Finally, Ryven reached the boundary of the designated hunting grounds. The spiritual energy density increased noticeably as he crossed into beast territory, and his enhanced senses immediately detected multiple powerful presences in the surrounding area. Unlike Earth's wildlife, these creatures had evolved in an environment saturated with spiritual energy, developing capabilities that made them formidable opponents even for skilled cultivators.
His first encounter came sooner than expected.
A thunderous roar echoed through the forest as something large crashed through the undergrowth toward his position. Ryven's combat instincts—enhanced by his bloodline awakening—immediately analyzed the approaching threat. The spiritual signature indicated a mid-Foundation Realm beast, roughly equivalent to his own cultivation level but with natural advantages that would make it a challenging opponent.
The creature that burst from the tree line was unlike anything from Earth's fossil record. Standing twelve feet tall at the shoulder, the Ironhide Razorclaw resembled a fusion of tiger and bear, but with metallic fur that gleamed like steel and claws that could probably cut through stone. Its eyes burned with spiritual fire, and when it roared again, the sound carried enough force to shake leaves from nearby trees.
"Perfect," Ryven murmured, drawing the Void Eclipse Sword from his dantian. The weapon materialized in his hand with its characteristic gleam of liquid obsidian, and he could feel it resonating with the spiritual energy of this alien world. "Let's see how my training holds up in real combat."
The Ironhide Razorclaw didn't hesitate. With speed that belied its massive size, the beast launched itself at Ryven in a leap that covered thirty feet in a single bound. Its claws extended like metallic spears, aiming to impale him before he could react.
But Ryven's enhanced reflexes and battle instincts were already in motion. Time seemed to slow as his consciousness accelerated, allowing him to analyze the beast's attack pattern, predict its landing point, and formulate a counter-strategy in the space of a heartbeat. His Ancestral Chaos Bloodline was proving its worth—not just in cultivation comprehension, but in battle analysis and tactical thinking.
Instead of dodging or blocking, Ryven stepped forward into the creature's attack, his movements flowing with the precision of the Nine Heaven Sword Arts. Heaven's Opening—the first form he had mastered to perfection—was designed exactly for this type of encounter.
The technique wasn't just a sword stroke; it was a complete integration of movement, timing, and spiritual energy that created effects far beyond simple physical force. As the Ironhide Razorclaw descended toward him with killing intent, Ryven's blade moved in a pattern that seemed to cut through more than just physical space.
The sword stroke connected at the exact moment of the beast's maximum vulnerability—the instant when its committed leap left it unable to change direction or defend itself. The Void Eclipse Sword passed through the creature's metallic hide without resistance, as though the supposedly impenetrable defense simply didn't exist.
But it was the secondary effects of Heaven's Opening that truly demonstrated the technique's power. The sword stroke created a spatial distortion that bypassed conventional defense entirely, striking directly at the beast's spiritual core while simultaneously disrupting its qi circulation. The Ironhide Razorclaw's roar of aggression became a cry of confusion as its spiritual energy scattered, leaving it vulnerable to the technique's finishing component.
The beast crashed to the ground with a tremendous impact, its massive form twitching once before going still. A single precise cut had ended what should have been a prolonged and dangerous battle, demonstrating both the power of the Nine Heaven Sword Arts and Ryven's extraordinary combat instincts.
"Incredible," Ryven breathed, examining his defeated opponent. The sword stroke had left virtually no external damage—just a hair-thin line across the creature's throat—but his spiritual perception revealed that the beast's internal energy systems had been completely disrupted. The technique had killed through qi manipulation rather than physical trauma, a level of sophistication that should have required decades of study to achieve.
More importantly, the entire battle had felt natural to him. His enhanced battle intelligence had automatically analyzed the threat, selected the optimal technique, and executed the attack with precision that surprised even himself. The combination of his bloodline's tactical enhancement and his physique's perfect qi control had created combat capabilities that far exceeded his cultivation level.
But one victory didn't constitute adequate testing. Ryven needed to understand his limits and develop real combat experience against varied opponents. Fortunately, the hunting grounds contained no shortage of challenges.
"Right, first lesson learned: always carry extraction tools," Ryven muttered, carefully removing the Flame Mane Lion's beast core with his utility knife. The crystallized spiritual energy pulsed with residual yang power—exactly what his cultivation technique craved. Into his spatial storage ring his dad gave him it went, along with choice cuts of meat that practically radiated spiritual energy.
"And second lesson: don't linger at crime scenes," he added, glancing nervously at the blood-soaked ground around him. The inherited memories had warned about this—fresh beast blood acted like a dinner bell for every carnivore in the area. Time to relocate before he found himself facing an entire pack instead of individual opponents.
Over the following hours, he encountered a succession of increasingly dangerous beasts, each teaching him valuable lessons about both combat and practical beast hunting. A pack of Wind Dash Wolves provided his first real test against coordinated opponents, but more importantly, they taught him the value of quick extraction techniques. Seven beast cores and enough spiritually-enhanced wolf meat to supply a cultivation feast—all stored safely in his spatial ring before their pack mates could arrive to investigate.
"Dad really knew what he was doing with this storage ring," Ryven admitted, admiring how the dimensional space preserved the spiritual energy in his harvested materials. What had initially seemed like paternal overprotection was proving to be essential survival equipment.
The Crystal Shell Tortoise he encountered next presented a different challenge—not just in combat, but in resource extraction. The creature's crystallized shell was valuable cultivation material in its own right, requiring careful removal techniques to preserve its spiritual properties. By the time he'd properly harvested everything useful from the massive beast, Ryven was beginning to understand why experienced cultivators often employed teams of support personnel for their hunting expeditions.
"No wonder the family maintains those specialized processing facilities," he mused, loading the last shell fragments into his increasingly crowded storage ring. "This is turning into quite the collection operation."
The most challenging encounter came near sunset, when Ryven faced a Flame Mane Lion that had clearly reached the peak of Foundation Realm and was beginning to develop Fusion Realm characteristics. The magnificent beast stood eight feet at the shoulder, its mane consisting of actual fire that burned without consuming fuel, and its roar carried enough spiritual pressure to make weaker cultivators freeze in terror.
This opponent forced Ryven to utilize more than just perfect technique execution. The lion's spiritual pressure was nearly overwhelming, its speed matched his own enhanced reflexes, and its flame attacks carried enough power to seriously injure him if they connected. For the first time since arriving on Tianxing, he faced a genuine challenge that required him to push his abilities to their limits.
The battle became a test of endurance as much as skill. The Flame Mane Lion's attacks created walls of spiritual fire that forced Ryven to constantly reposition himself, while its raw physical power left craters in the ground where his dodges had barely carried him to safety. His qi reserves began depleting under the sustained combat, despite Tianxing's energy-rich environment.
But it was exactly the kind of pressure that revealed the true depth of his abilities. Under extreme stress, Ryven's battle instincts reached new heights of clarity. He began to see patterns in the lion's attacks, recognize the subtle tells that preceded each technique, and identify the brief moments of vulnerability that appeared between its devastating flame strikes.
More importantly, there were moments during the most intense exchanges where his sword seemed to move independently of conscious thought, guided by something deeper than technique or training. His developing sword intent was beginning to manifest, though he didn't yet fully understand what was happening.
When the opportunity finally presented itself, Ryven's execution of Heaven's Opening was flawless. The lion had committed to a massive flame burst that left it momentarily unable to defend or reposition. Ryven's sword stroke carried not just technical perfection but something approaching true intent—a conceptual understanding of what it meant to cut that transcended mere physical motion.
The result was devastating. The spatial distortion effect of his technique didn't just disrupt the lion's qi circulation—it actually severed the spiritual connections that maintained its flame mane, causing the creature's most dangerous ability to simply disappear. Without its fire-based attacks and with its spiritual core disrupted, the magnificent beast collapsed in defeat.
As night fell over Tianxing's alien landscape, Ryven surveyed the results of his first day of real combat. He had faced seven different species of spiritual beasts, each presenting unique challenges that had forced him to adapt and improve his techniques. More importantly, he had discovered that his combat instincts were not just enhanced but genuinely extraordinary.
His battle intelligence allowed him to analyze opponent's abilities, predict their attack patterns, and identify optimal counter-strategies with speed and accuracy that should have required years of experience to develop. Combined with his perfect technique execution and superior qi quality, these instincts made him a far more dangerous opponent than his cultivation level would suggest.
But perhaps most significant was how effortlessly his body had adapted to the intense combat. Despite hours of sustained fighting against dangerous opponents, he felt energized rather than exhausted. Tianxing's spiritual energy density was continuously replenishing his reserves, while his enhanced physique showed no signs of fatigue or stress.
Setting up camp beside a crystal formation that provided both spiritual energy and defensive arrays, Ryven began planning his next phase of training. Today had proven that his basic combat abilities were sound, but he needed to test himself against Fusion Realm opponents to truly understand his limits.
Tomorrow, he would venture deeper into the hunting grounds, where ancient predators waited with power that could challenge even experienced cultivators. His inheritance had given him incredible potential, but turning that potential into genuine mastery would require facing dangers that pushed his abilities beyond their current boundaries.
As the alien stars emerged in Tianxing's night sky, Ryven allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. His real cultivation journey had begun, and already he could sense that his path would lead to heights that few cultivators ever achieved. The combination of his unique physique, extraordinary bloodline, and perfect cultivation resources had created possibilities that seemed limitless.
But with great power came equally great responsibilities. The strength he was developing would eventually attract attention from forces that viewed exceptional cultivators as either valuable assets or dangerous threats. For now, he could train in relative anonymity, but eventually he would need to decide how to use his abilities in a world where cultivation determined everything from social status to survival itself.
Those were concerns for the future. Right now, surrounded by the spiritual energy of an alien world and with the taste of victory fresh in his memory, Ryven focused on the immediate challenge of becoming strong enough to protect what mattered to him and pursuing the limits of what human cultivation could achieve.