"Damn it, these beasts are surrounding me specifically!
Have I done anything that angered heaven and earth?"
As the encirclement tightened, Yang Hong grumbled internally.
"I think I only annihilated the Crimson Viper, I haven't done anything else. Is it that serious?"
The beasts couldn't understand Yang Hong's words, and even if they could, they wouldn't reply. They would only attack, attack, and attack again!
"Damn it, these beasts are truly fearless, fighting with their lives on the line. Stone Armor Technique!"
Yang Hong spat and cast the strongest defensive spell he knew on himself, then plunged back into the beast horde to fight. This time, he charged straight in one direction. It was difficult to discern directions at night, so Yang Hong aimed for the moon and unleashed his full power. He completely abandoned magical attacks and sheathed his sword and saber. With his bare fists, without even wearing gloves, he unleashed various boxing techniques. Every move and every strike in his boxing techniques carried the sentiment of [Valiant and Fearless].
The sounds of "snap snap snap" continuously echoed in front of Yang Hong. Occasionally, they would also resonate on him, on his back. Under the siege of countless beasts, he was inevitably struck.
"Damn it, these beasts are so strong, so energetic!"
"Although these attacks don't injure me, they really hurt!"
Feeling the pain on his body, especially his back, Yang Hong complained. Yet, even so, he had no thought of flying into the sky and escaping. He could still fight, and he would continue to fight!
During the battle, Yang Hong also discovered a problem with these beasts. Their eyes were blood-red, filled with brutality, lacking much liveliness and spirit. They didn't look like ordinary beasts, but more like some kind of puppet beasts.
"They've truly gone mad, or perhaps they are controlled by some secret technique."
Thinking of secret techniques, Yang Hong was no stranger to them. He knew them himself.
"I'll give it a try too."
"All of you, go back to sleep~~"
Yang Hong channeled his [Spring Scenery Demonic Sound] towards the front, roaring each word slowly.
"..."
The beasts within a mile in front of him actually stopped. The [Spring Scenery Demonic Sound] had some effect. Although the beasts didn't actually go back to sleep, under the influence of the demonic sound, they became motionless. However, as they stood still, more beasts behind them began to move.
"Tap tap~ tap tap~"
These stunned beasts were quickly trampled to death by the beasts behind them. Many of those who trampled them were their own kind.
"Holy crap, so ferocious. They must be controlled by some secret art."
"This secret realm has a problem."
Although Yang Hong had reached an accurate conclusion, he currently lacked the ability or time to resolve these issues. All he could do was kill and kill and kill!
Yang Hong moved forward step by step, throwing punches. His 77 boxing techniques became more and more proficient. Gradually, each punch he threw carried the shadow of several boxing techniques, appearing as one punch, yet also as several.
"This is comprehension and integration!"
"I've been using boxing techniques to evolve my cultivation methods for a long time, so I've somewhat forgotten the specific moves. Now, in this high-intensity battle, these boxing moves have re-emerged. However, due to the system's forgetting ability, I can't perform the complete boxing techniques very well."
"But this forgetting allows me to quickly integrate the moves of other boxing techniques, merging similar ones."
As the battle continued, Yang Hong, who should have been exhausted, became more and more energetic. A casual punch he threw had the same effect as the one he used against the herd of wild bulls.
"Boxing techniques can be merged, so other martial arts should be able to as well. I'll take this opportunity to merge my footwork and movement techniques."
By the time the moon was at its zenith, Yang Hong felt that his boxing techniques could no longer improve. It was a sense of incompleteness due to insufficient accumulation and understanding. He knew that to continue improving and merging, he needed to learn more martial arts. However, this was a rare opportunity, and he still had other martial arts to comprehend and integrate for continuous improvement.
Suddenly, Yang Hong's figure within the beast horde began to shift unpredictably. At times he moved erratically, at times he was ghost-like, and at times he was as solid as a mountain.
By the time the sun rose again, his movement techniques had completed their current stage of comprehension. In one night, he had killed no more than a hundred thousand beasts, all for the sake of cultivating his martial arts. One hundred thousand beasts at the Fusion Realm would have been enough to decimate all cultivators who entered a secret realm in previous trials. Of course, this number did not include the Golden Core cultivators who had secretly entered. But this was merely Yang Hong's achievement in one night, and it was done without him solely focusing on killing beasts. Consequently, the beasts around him grew more numerous, with all of them within a thirty-mile radius being at the Fusion Realm.
"I still have 118 swords, 26 sabers, and three axes. I'll cultivate my axe techniques first."
Even after a night of battle, Yang Hong's true qi was still two-thirds full. His Intermediate Breathing Technique also had a significant special effect in recovering true qi, allowing him to confidently engage in prolonged combat. This gave him the idea of continuing to cultivate other martial arts.
Taking out a Xuan Hua broadaxe, Yang Hong began to swing it. Empowered by his 550,000 jin of strength and the sentiment, the beasts died upon contact, perished upon collision. However, Yang Hong knew few axe techniques. In just two hours, he felt he could no longer continue the integration.
"As expected, this integration and comprehension is directly related to the martial arts I know. So, next will be saber techniques, and finally sword techniques."
Among the martial arts Yang Hong learned, sword techniques were the most numerous. To date, he had learned 3,237 sword techniques. It was worth noting that including various cultivation methods and martial skills, Yang Hong had barely surpassed four thousand types of martial arts learned. This also illustrated the prevalence of sword martial arts in the Great Sui Dynasty.
The cultivation of saber techniques, from morning until deep into the night, was finally completed. During this time, Yang Hong ate four fruits picked from the Crimson Viper's den. These spiritual fruits did not taste very good; they were like large chilies, slightly sour, slightly bitter, and very spicy. These fruits were suitable as seasonings or for alchemy. Eating them raw was definitely not a good choice. However, these were fifth-grade spiritual fruits. Just two of them made Yang Hong feel full, and after eating four, the true qi he had expended for a day and a night was almost completely replenished. They were excellent sustaining spiritual fruits.
The final cultivation of sword techniques took an unexpectedly long time. Yang Hong moved eastward, in the direction he had initially confirmed by the moon, and charged for a full seventeen days before he felt his sword techniques had been fully comprehended and integrated. It was at this moment that Yang Hong had a premonition, sheathed his sword, and stood still, slowly floating into the air.
"Just a casual strike~"
Yang Hong chuckled, and with his long sword in hand, he lightly, slowly thrust it forward.
*Snap~*
With a crisp sound, the third-grade magical artifact long sword in his hand directly disintegrated.
*Swish~*
A silver sword light flashed and shot forward. All the beasts within a ten-mile, 90° fan-shaped area in front of Yang Hong suddenly stood motionless.
*Crash~*
Immediately, all the beasts were cleanly sliced in half at a height of three feet from the ground.