In the silence of the night, a faint light began to rise on the eastern horizon, cautiously permeating the pale blue sky.
The next morning.
Lin Hao sat cross-legged at the head of his bed, consolidating the 'Sword Spirit Body' in his Dantian Galaxy. As he gained a deeper understanding of the Sword Spirit Body, Lin Hao became increasingly surprised. This was not an ordinary Sword Spirit Body; it was an extremely rare 'Weapon Spirit Body'! A single weapon could transform into myriad weapons, be it a saber, sword, halberd, or bow, all of which could be evolved from the Weapon Spirit Body, making it a combination of myriad weapons in one.
Moreover, Lin Hao discovered that this was far from being a simple ordinary Spirit Body. If it were truly an ordinary Spirit Body, it would not have reached such a level.
However, Lin Hao did not pay too much attention to it. The rank of the Spirit Body was not important to him. Currently, his cultivation had been consolidated at the third level of the Spirit Body realm, and he was slowly beginning to break through to the fourth level. As long as he redeemed that medium-grade Spirit Stone and absorbed its rich spiritual energy, breaking through to the fourth level would be easy.
After washing up, Lin Hao got up and left, heading directly to the back mountain. There was a trading area on the back mountain of the Lin family, where disciples who had returned from external training could trade the treasures they had obtained.
"I still have 110 silver notes, which should be enough to buy a better weapon."
Lin Hao's second Earth Gate had already been rebuilt, and he now needed some weapons before heading to the Tianrang Mountains, fifty miles outside of Liuyun City.
At the trading area on the back mountain.
At a glance, there were dozens of disciples setting up stalls. The items sold by the Lin family disciples were generally much cheaper than those in the city's shops, as they were all bought or exchanged by fellow disciples, so the prices were not exorbitant.
"Brother Lin Long, how much are you selling this sword for?" Lin Hao squatted down at a stall, examining a long sword.
"This sword is called Qingguang, made from the teeth of a Heavenly Silkworm Beast. If you need it, I'll sell it to you for thirty silver notes. If you go to the Divine Weapon Pavilion, it would cost at least this much..." The stall owner, Lin Long, held up four fingers.
"Alright, I'll take it." Lin Hao nodded, taking out thirty silver notes to buy the Qingguang sword.
This Qingguang sword was sharper than ordinary treasure swords, though it was not a Spirit Sword, its power was already considerable. Moreover, with limited funds, Lin Hao could not afford better weapons.
"Lin Hao, why did you start using a sword? I don't remember you saying that fists and feet were weapons before." After receiving the thirty silver notes, Lin Long asked curiously.
"Fists and feet are weapons... but weapons are also an extension of the hands and feet." Lin Hao said softly.
Hearing this, Lin Long shook his head, not understanding Lin Hao's words.
"By the way, if you're going to the Tianrang Mountains, remember to bring some ranged weapons. Recently, the birds in the Tianrang Mountains have been fierce, so you must be cautious." Lin Long thought for a moment and said.
Humans cannot fly, and if they use weapons like swords and knives, encountering birds would be a disaster. Even if one had a bird-type Spirit Body, they could only fly for a short time, and their spiritual energy would be exhausted in a few breaths, leaving them at the mercy of the birds.
Lin Hao naturally understood the truth in Lin Long's words and bought a red longbow and ten extremely sharp throwing knives from another stall. Lin Long, being a decent person, also gave Lin Hao twenty arrows.
After a round of purchases, Lin Hao had spent 100 silver notes, leaving him with 10 silver notes.
...
"Lin Hao! With your strength, going to the Tianrang Mountains is just asking for death. Do you want to buy some potent poison? It would be a perfect match with the longbow or throwing knives! Oh, and I have healing pills, you should buy some as well, just in case!"
From a distance of several meters, a young man shouted to Lin Hao.
Hearing this, Lin Hao shook his head, "No, thank you."
With that, Lin Hao turned and left.
He had silver needles, which could save his life as long as the injuries were not fatal, and they were not comparable to healing pills. If it were potent poison, Lin Hao would have wanted some, but his pockets were already empty, and he had no spare money to buy such poison. Moreover, if he encountered powerful beasts, the poison might not be effective.
"That kid, he values money more than his life, how can he be so stingy..." The young man, seeing Lin Hao leave without visiting his stall, grumbled in dissatisfaction.
After leaving the back mountain, Lin Hao led a good horse from the stable, mounted it, and left the Lin family, heading for the Tianrang Mountains. Lin Hao rode out of Liuyun City, heading straight for the fifty-mile distance.
The Tianrang Mountains were the closest training mountains to Liuyun City, filled with fierce beasts and birds. Disciples from various forces within a few hundred miles often trained there, and the four major families of Liuyun City were no exception. The mountains were filled with danger and opportunity; a moment's carelessness could lead to death, but there was also the chance to discover rare treasures, which were great wealth.
It was rumored that a few months ago, a demonic beast appeared in the Tianrang Mountains, causing the complete annihilation of several major forces' disciples, who became the demonic beast's meal.
Given Lin Hao's strength, if he encountered a demonic beast by bad luck, he would have no chance of survival and could only wait to die. Even powerful beasts could instantly crush the elite inner disciples of the four major families into meat paste.
After about an hour, Lin Hao arrived at the Tianrang Mountains. It was still early morning, and the mountains were relatively safe.
Lin Hao settled the horse and, in a flash, entered the mountains.
"I can hunt some wild animals or beasts, and also look for rare treasures. If I have good luck, the silver I owe will be paid off soon." Lin Hao thought to himself.
Then, Lin Hao exerted his strength, leaping onto a giant tree branch to look for suitable prey.
In the distance, the sound of a beast's roar echoed. Lin Hao focused his gaze and saw two beasts fighting. One was a green-spotted leopard, and the other was a black bear king, standing as tall as two men.
These two beasts were not weak, roughly equivalent to the seventh or eighth level of the Spirit Body realm in the first Earth Gate, but they posed no threat to Lin Hao.
Lin Hao did not know how much these beasts could sell for, but he thought that a dozen silver notes should not be a problem.
Lin Hao immediately took out the red longbow, intending to hunt the black bear king and the green-spotted leopard. The arrow was on the string, but Lin Hao put it away.
"I can't, I have a limited number of arrows." Lin Hao thought to himself. For beasts that posed no threat, using the Qingguang sword to hunt them was more appropriate.
Lin Hao's figure flickered, leaving a trail of afterimages, and he moved like a gentle breeze, instantly covering several meters.
The green-spotted leopard and the black bear king, who were fighting, suddenly stopped and pounced on Lin Hao.
Swoosh!
The sound of the arrow breaking through the air was accompanied by the beasts' cries. A flash of sword light pierced through the green-spotted leopard and the black bear king.
Lin Hao sheathed the Qingguang sword, punched the ground to create two deep pits, and buried the green-spotted leopard and the black bear king.
Then, Lin Hao quickly hid, using the blood of the two beasts to attract more beasts.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, the scent of blood attracted a pack of red wolves.
At a glance, there were over a dozen wolves. Without a word, Lin Hao, wielding the Qingguang sword, charged out and quickly exterminated the red wolf pack.
Even in one of the red wolves' bellies, Lin Hao found a human skeleton.
Then, Lin Hao repeated the process, and within a few hours, he had almost wiped out all the beasts within a few dozen miles, hunting over fifty beasts.
After waiting for a while, with no more beasts appearing, Lin Hao had to move to another place.
He buried all the beasts he had hunted here and marked the spot discreetly, planning to transfer them out of the Tianrang Mountains after his training was over.
"These dozens of beasts should be worth at least several hundred silver notes... but compared to the silver I owe, it's still too little." Lin Hao felt helpless. Low-level beasts were not worth much and had little value.
In the following half day, Lin Hao ventured deeper into the Tianrang Mountains, encountering beasts that ranged from low-level to mid-level and high-level.
...
Suddenly, a sharp cry echoed from the sky, accompanied by fierce gale winds.
Lin Hao, caught off guard, leaned slightly, almost being blown away by the gale.
Looking up, he saw a Qingluan fierce eagle spreading its wings. Each flap of its steel-like wings seemed to tear the sky, creating fierce gales.
The Qingluan fierce eagle was a high-level beast, much stronger than the ones Lin Hao had encountered before, and more difficult to deal with.
Lin Hao reacted quickly, immediately taking out the red longbow, with an arrow on the string, and pulling the bow to a full moon.
The Qingluan fierce eagle, enraged, instantly dove at Lin Hao. Its claws glowed with a cold light, like the sharpest daggers, capable of easily shattering mountains.
Seeing the Qingluan fierce eagle about to strike, Lin Hao held his breath, remaining still.
In a flash, a streak of light appeared in the sky, and the arrow broke through the air at an incredible speed.
In a split second, the Qingluan fierce eagle's head was pierced by the arrow, and its massive body fell heavily to the ground, dead on the spot.
"This high-level Qingluan should be worth a lot." Lin Hao leaped down from a tree branch and walked to the dead Qingluan eagle, muttering to himself.
"Hehe, indeed, a Qingluan eagle is worth 500 silver notes." Suddenly, three young men approached from behind, one of them saying coldly.
Hearing this, Lin Hao immediately turned to look at them.
"The Luo family..." Lin Hao's expression was indifferent. From their attire, they were all core disciples of the Luo family headquarters.
Lin Hao had no good feelings towards the Luo family. If it weren't for Luo Yan'er of the Luo family, he would not have had his bones broken and been expelled from the sect in the sect world.
"Which kid from the Lin family is this? Aren't you that toad Lin Hao?!" The leading young man suddenly laughed exaggeratedly.
"Brother Luo Peng, is this the kid who used to chase after Sister Yan'er?" A black-clothed young man glanced at Lin Hao.
"Yes, that toad. He doesn't even know his own weight. He's just an ordinary outer disciple of the Lin family, and he actually thought Sister Yan'er would like him." Luo Peng sneered.
The other two also looked at Lin Hao with disdain and contempt.
Hearing this, Lin Hao fell into deep thought.
In the sect world, Luo Yan'er had asked him to steal a scripture that could communicate with the fourth Earth Gate. At that time, Lin Hao had a crush on Luo Yan'er and followed her instructions, but in the end, he was betrayed by her.
He would settle this score personally, and he would not let any of those people in the sect off.