The process of entering the Ancient Realm of Scholarly Inquiry was not complicated.
Jiang Ke’er simply used her ticket to pass through a gate and arrived in a suddenly expansive, different world.
The moment her feet touched solid ground, she didn’t rush to observe her surroundings. Instead, she let out a long sigh of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from her heart.
Although she only needed one ticket, both tickets were on her.
“I’m in now, so Qiao Xiaoxian won’t have a ticket and can’t get in, right?”
Finally, she could have some peace and quiet.
Only at this moment could her situation truly be called safe.
Jiang Ke’er, you must use this precious time to improve yourself as much as possible and turn the tables!
She secretly cheered herself on, and then eagerly began to investigate her environment.
It was better not to look; once she did, cold sweat immediately trickled down her back.
She quickly crouched down, trying not to make a sound.
This was a small clearing in a dense forest, with giant, messy footprints all over the ground.
And on the surrounding bushes, there were semi-black bloodstains, indicating that more than one killing had clearly occurred here.
Not far behind Jiang Ke’er, several piles of human bones formed a small hill.
In the deep eye sockets of the skulls, a few centipedes occasionally crawled, scuttling towards Jiang Ke’er with their pincers raised.
Where exactly had she been transported?
Jiang Ke’er wanted to cry but couldn’t… why was it a hellish start again?!
Calm down, calm down, Potato, get moving.
Judging from the footprints on the ground, this should be the lair of some large creature.
It could basically be confirmed as a man-eating creature, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many human bones piled up nearby.
Some of the bones still had undried flesh on them, and some bloodstains on the ground hadn’t turned black yet, which meant it had just eaten recently… it might have just left, but it was still nearby.
So she absolutely couldn’t make too much noise, to avoid attracting its attention.
“Boom boom–“
A series of explosions suddenly came from a distance.
Jiang Ke’er didn’t understand what was happening and immediately tensed up.
Fortunately, these explosions also helped her out.
She took the opportunity to scramble up a tree, hiding among the branches and leaves to observe.
“Roar–“
A giant roar that made her head ache came from not far away.
The ground trembled with thuds, and the branches and leaves in the forest parted as a swift silver shadow burst out of the dense forest, arriving at the spot where Jiang Ke’er had just been standing.
It had a mouth full of fine, sharp teeth, a very large mouth with no lips, and its huge maw stretched all the way to its ears.
There were three gaping wounds on its silvery-white skin, from which black blood was dripping.
It was about the size of a normal human, but its feet were large, and it moved exceptionally agilely. Moreover… its sense of smell and observation were excellent.
Jiang Ke’er knew that her hiding was like child’s play in front of it.
It had looked at her hiding place more than once, and a contemptuous expression subconsciously appeared on its face as saliva dripped onto the ground… If it hadn’t been severely wounded at this moment and pursued by others, she probably wouldn’t have escaped death.
She decisively used the Spirit Reversion Art and changed back into her fox form.
In her little fox form, she could activate Spirit Fox Perception for quick identification.
Coincidentally, the silver monster was dealing with its wounds.
It sprayed flames from its mouth, using the extremely high temperature to cauterize the torn wounds, stopping the bleeding.
Taking this opportunity, Jiang Ke’er stared at it for ten seconds and identified its information.
Beast Information
- Name: Second-tier Void Realm Black Iron Beast
- Identity: Void Realm Creature
- Realm: Early Stage of Two Energies
A Void Realm creature?
Jiang Ke’er quickly pulled out Mu Guoguo’s class notes, painstakingly deciphering the handwriting, turned to the crisis chapter, and found the Void Realm creature category.
As soon as she turned to the first page of Void Realm creatures, a glaring blood-red character immediately caught her eye!
DANGER!
Void Realm creatures are ferocious monsters of unknown origin that feed on cultivators and demon beasts in the Ancient Realm of Scholarly Inquiry.
They are extremely aggressive! Encountering one will inevitably lead to a life-or-death battle!
They possess different innate abilities according to their different attributes, making them extremely difficult for a single cultivator to deal with!
Following this, the notes recorded the characteristics and precautions for different Void Beasts.
The Void Realm Black Iron Beast that Jiang Ke’er was currently facing belonged to the metal-attributed Void Beasts. Its skin was as tough as steel, impervious to blades and spears, and its movements were agile. Even a second-tier one could easily overwhelm a third-tier one.
It was definitely not something Jiang Ke’er could face alone at her current level.
Fortunately, this time, the initial collapse wasn’t completely thorough.
“Running?”
“Are you running again?”
Three human cultivators dressed in leather hunter’s attire emerged from the forest, fanning out to surround the Black Iron Void Beast.
These three human cultivators were all sword cultivators, holding long swords of different standard designs.
All three swords were stained with black blood, which should be what wounded the Void Beast.
“Attack!”
One of them gave a meaningful look and lightly shouted. The other two immediately charged forward with their swords!
Jiang Ke’er was secretly startled.
These three people launched their attacks without any hesitation, their movements clean and sharp.
The Void Beast was fast, but the cultivators’ movements were even swifter and more decisive!
They had a clear division of labor.
One cultivator, whose cultivation technique was particularly fierce, glowed with golden light, and his flesh turned into armor. He used his bare hands to forcefully hold the Void Beast’s upper and lower jaws, pinning it in place.
The remaining two then targeted its tendons, tail, and the back of its neck.
Although simple, they effectively used their swords to tear through the Void Beast’s flesh little by little, causing it severe trauma.
Jiang Ke’er noticed that the style of cultivators in the Ancient Realm of Scholarly Inquiry was distinctly different from the outside world.
The cultivators here did not have flamboyant attire or flashy, useless moves.
Every action and decision was clearly honed in life-or-death situations.
They were difficult to deal with.
Jiang Ke’er put herself in the Void Beast’s shoes.
Even if she were at the Two Energies realm, it would be difficult to find an opportunity to counterattack under such a suffocating siege.
What about Qiao Xiaoxian?
Though unwilling to admit it, Jiang Ke’er had to concede that Qiao Xiaoxian, facing such a situation, might not even need to be at the Two Energies realm to resolve the crisis with ease.
During the few days they spent together, she had seen Qiao Xiaoxian fight six or seven cultivators. At that time, she was outmatched by a major realm, yet she won effortlessly.
This was the huge gap in combat experience, insight, and combat techniques.
The road was still long…
The system led the way, but cultivation was personal.
With a clear direction forward, she still needed to walk step by step, firmly, to make a name for herself.
Qiao Xiaoxian was undoubtedly a powerful opponent.
“But I won’t lose either,” Jiang Ke’er secretly clenched her fist.
“Crack–“
With a muffled sound of bone crushing, the Void Beast was finally pierced in the back of its head and died.
So, next, she would have to face these three cultivators—they had already discovered her location and were casting murderous glances towards the treetops.
Jiang Ke’er simply jumped down from the treetop.
“Huh?”
Seeing Jiang Ke’er’s appearance, the three cultivators were all stunned.
The strong-type cultivator who had previously held the Void Beast’s mouth hesitated, then tentatively asked, “A… squirrel?”
Jiang Ke’er was about to say something but was momentarily choked.
“No,” another cultivator shook his head.
“This is clearly just a common big rat.”
“Hahahaha, you two idiots!” At this moment, the cultivator who had delivered the fatal blow to the Void Beast laughed loudly, patting their shoulders.
“What squirrel or rat… ignorance is truly terrifying!”
“Then what do you say it is?” the two asked back, unconvinced.
“This is a relatively uncommon demon beast, rarely seen in our East Continent Divine State. It’s basically a specialty of the Southern Continent Jambudvipa.” The cultivator looked at Jiang Ke’er, his eyes gleaming. “This is a rare find; it can sell for a lot of demon crystal stones…”
Jiang Ke’er’s heart sank, thinking, “Oh no.”
She hadn’t expected to be recognized.
The cultivator proudly declared, “The academic name for this thing is a tree bear, also known as a koala.”
“Koala my foot! How am I like a koala?!”
But the confident cultivator didn’t stop; he continued to educate his two teammates.
“This is a particularly stupid demon beast. It usually eats poisonous eucalyptus leaves, and after eating, it poisons itself into a stupor, waking up to continue eating… Sometimes it eats until it falls from the tree and dies.”
“Fine, koala, yes, I’m a koala…” Jiang Ke’er looked up at the sky.
“Be careful when catching it; this thing grew up eating feces, so it’s stinky.” The confident cultivator said, “Does anyone have a demon-collecting orb? It’s best to just throw the orb and catch it.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Me neither. Demon-collecting orbs are too expensive; who would buy that stuff?”
Seeing his two teammates shaking their heads, the confident cultivator could only sigh regretfully.
“Then we’ll just have to tie it up and take it… Be careful, don’t hit its head later. This kind of demon beast has a head full of water; hitting its head won’t knock it out.”
“You’re the one with water in your head!”
And what was with this “Wild Jiang Ke’er appeared! Use a Poké Ball to catch it!” kind of vibe?!
She really couldn’t bear it anymore and shouted, unable to hold back, “I! AM! A! FOX!”
“Huh? It can talk?” The confident cultivator was stunned, stroking his chin.
“With a koala demon’s intelligence, it shouldn’t be able to learn human speech…”
He couldn’t help but feel a bit dejected.
“Looks like it’s a dog demon, probably a new species crossbred by some bored senior. Worthless… what a letdown.”
“Fine, whatever you say it is, it is,” Jiang Ke’er said weakly, burrowing into her clothes, releasing her Spirit Reversion Art, and transforming back into her youthful appearance.
She bowed to them.
“Thank you for saving me, seniors.”
“No problem, we came to hunt Void Beasts, it was just convenient,” the confident cultivator said.
“This is my first time in the Ancient Realm of Scholarly Inquiry. As a newcomer, I wonder if you seniors could take me along… I’ll pay for the journey,” Jiang Ke’er added.
The three cultivators looked hesitant.
Although there was no obvious aversion, they clearly weren’t close to demon beasts, which could be seen from their earlier attempt to capture her.
“If it’s inconvenient, could you seniors sell me a sword, just an extra one you don’t use?” Jiang Ke’er sought a compromise.
“I am a sword cultivator, but my sword and satchel were stolen by ruffians… Once we return to a village or town, I will repay you generously with a heavy reward!”
Jiang Ke’er didn’t tell the truth, and she deliberately pushed the payment time until after they returned to the city.
Because out in the wilderness, she had no means of self-defense, and if she revealed her wealth, it would surely lead to her demise.
“Sword cultivator?” However, the three cultivators’ focus was strange.
Upon hearing the words “sword cultivator,” all three laughed.
The laughter was tinged with mockery.
“Since when did demon beasts dare to practice the sword?” The confident cultivator looked at Jiang Ke’er with deep contempt.
“Do you know what kind of place this is?”
“No,” Jiang Ke’er shook her head.
“Then listen carefully!” The confident cultivator drew his sword and pointed it at the ground.
“This place is Myriad Blades State, the State of Sword Cultivators! The holy land for all sword cultivators under heaven!”
“This place gathers disciples from all human sword cultivation sects, hides countless masterful swordsmen, and countless exquisite and powerful sword techniques. Even some direct disciples of sects don’t dare to call themselves ‘sword cultivators’ here, referring to themselves as ‘sword students’…”
“And you, a demon beast, barbaric and crude, uneducated, lawless… are you worthy of calling yourself a sword cultivator? Are you worthy of practicing the sword?”
“Can you even learn it?”