Chapter 22: Severely Injured and Killed

  Feeling the unique aura in the air growing increasingly gloomy and cold, with an even more sinister and eerie atmosphere, Wang Tao's entire body was taut like a bowstring, storing up energy to be unleashed!

  "What an evil aura, it shouldn't be from either the immortal or demon cultivation paths, nor is it similar to the demonic beasts' ancestral lineages. I don't know what kind of life form could possess such enormous and terrifying abilities!" Wang Tao's brow furrowed deeply as he silently gazed at the blood light.

  "Roar!......"

  A low, muffled roar echoed in from a distance, as if some ferocious beast was approaching!

  "The power of the sacrifice is too obvious, and the fierce beast after the sacrifice must be extremely weak. It seems that there are fierce beasts who want to take advantage of it!" This was something Wang Tao had anticipated, and he couldn't avoid it. His face changed slightly before recovering, focusing on dealing with the current situation.

  The wild dog's body was trembling all over, its head and limbs twisted to a terrifying degree. It was clear that having its life force extracted wasn't a pleasant experience. As it let out a mournful howl, its blood-red pupils remained fixed on Wang Tao, who had now become its greatest enemy. No one had ever managed to drive it to such a desperate state before, so it was furious, and would have liked nothing more than to tear Wang Tao limb from limb!

  "Really?"

  The unique aura in the air suddenly paused, and in an instant, it intensified several times over. Wang Tao's pupils constricted to their limits in that moment!

  The blood-colored halo flickered uncertainly, as if it would shatter at any moment. Opportunity was about to arise, and the crucial moment had arrived. This sole place where sunlight illuminated seemed eerily quiet!

  "It's now!"

  His heart skipped a beat, the feeling of his entire body's blood coming to an abrupt halt made Wang Tao's whole body almost explode with congestion, his tense nerves and body reacting at their fastest speed!

  "Ah ha!!" With a burst of rage, he swung his single-edged sword and took a swift step forward, the nameless blade slashing down fiercely!

  At this moment, the world fell into silence, as if time had stopped. At this moment, Wang Tao only had one thought: to kill the beast! The slash of the nameless knife cutting through the air was clearly visible, leaving behind ripples that were the traces of the air being cut open before it could be replenished, and also the best interpretation of the power and speed of this knife.

  The halo of light around the wild dog's body suddenly trembled, and for a brief moment it weakened, revealing its true form. At this time, the slash that broke through the air arrived just in time!

  "Die!"

  With a determination in his heart to die and be reborn, he swung his sword out, going all the way without looking back!

  No sound, the knife directly cut into the wild dog's skull without blood light shield and earth element shield, instantly penetrating through. Another silence, Wang Tao silently looked at the wild dog in front of him, while the wild dog was also standing still...

  "Whoosh... buzz, boom! ~"

  Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere, covering Wang Tao's entire body. With a loud crack, the wild dog's skull split in two. The special aura that had been buzzing in the air suddenly converged, mixed with a deafening roar, and erupted into a frenzy!

  "Hmmph!......"

  Affected by the explosion, Wang Tao's body was violently blown out for tens of meters, with fresh blood spraying wildly from his mouth. In an instant, more than half of his body was buried in a raised mound of earth!

  "Who is it? Dare to challenge my authority, will surely..."

  Only Wang Tao could hear the voice that came from his soul, but it was cut off before he could finish speaking, leaving only an echo. Wang Tao knew that he had unintentionally offended some terrifying existence!

  "Cough, cough..." Wang Tao's upper body was half-buried in the slope's mud, his entire body a mess, and his mouth kept spewing out bright red blood and tiny pieces of flesh, clearly severely injured!

  Looking at the ferocious beast lying in a pool of blood, Wang Tao's face was slightly smiling: "Heh, I said I would kill you with my sword, and I will definitely do it! Cough cough..."

  Without stopping, he painstakingly took out a healing pill from the 'Tianmen Gate' and swallowed it, barely standing up. He squinted his eyes at the sunlight in the sky, feeling somewhat sentimental. But Wang Tao didn't indulge in sentimentality for long, as this place was extremely dangerous right now. Not to mention the person who made the threatening remark might come, even the ferocious beasts that were about to arrive soon were not something Wang Tao could handle at present!

  "Hmm, this Healing Pellet may be only the lowest grade of pellet, but it's still a pellet for cultivating immortals after all. It indeed has a great healing effect on physical injuries!" Feeling a slight surge of energy in his body, although he was still severely injured and had not yet escaped the danger of death, Wang Tao couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions.

  "I have to go back right away, it's too dangerous to stay outside!" Just as Wang Tao was about to leave, his eyes flickered slightly and swept towards the body of the fierce beast. Suddenly, a thought emerged in his mind, "I wonder if this corpse can be synthesized? Logically speaking, it shouldn't count as a living thing anymore, right?"

  No matter whether it can be synthesized or not, Wang Tao has no reason to refuse the idea of collecting this beast's corpse! After all, the things in the Butcher's Gate are not something he can use now, using the beast skin and other materials to make a few defensive inner armors or leather armors is still quite good!

  "Roar!......"

  The fierce beast's roar is getting very close to this area, Wang Tao hastily puts the fierce beast's corpse into the Butcher's Gate and quickly leaves without any hesitation.

  In the dense and gloomy forest, Wang Tao walked unsteadily, his eyes somewhat dizzy, with bloodstains constantly left at the corners of his mouth. He stopped in his tracks, stood up straight, like a pine tree, upright and majestic, gazing into the distance.

  "It seems that this injury is quite severe, I don't know if I can still return to the tree hole...". The heavily injured body, after releasing the tension, was extremely exhausted. At this moment, Wang Tao's state was absolutely in crisis. Being able to hold on until now was already a miracle, people from his past life would have long been shocked and waited for death to arrive, even if he were a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage, he would definitely be unable to withstand such injuries and would definitely fall into a coma!

  "I must persist... on Wang Tao's path, no one can stop me, including myself!" A hint of determination flashed in his eyes, but soon dimmed. His greyish-white pupils gleamed as he walked steadily forward with a slight stumble.

  Those who tread the path, must first tread on themselves! What's the point of talking about treading the path and cultivating immortality if one can't even control oneself? Cultivators, who hasn't gone through mountains of corpses and seas of blood? Who doesn't have an unyielding spirit? This road was never meant to be a return journey. Getting hurt is nothing unusual! Being able to make progress in the midst of pain and reducing future harm is what's truly important!

  "Rustle!" The urgent cry of the Fragrant Beast echoed in his ears, and Wang Tao's eyes flickered with a faint glow as he looked over.

  Still that ancient tree, still that place, a snow-white small beast came running anxiously from afar. Wang Tao's dusty and blood-stained face revealed a difficult and bitter smile, warmth surging in his heart.

  "It feels like someone cares about me... it's great! I sincerely hope that every time I go out, there will be someone who worries about me. There wasn't anyone before, but now there is, thanks to the fragrance beast..."

  At this moment, Wang Tao finally had an epiphany about the Hearsay Beast. As long as Wang Tao recognized someone, no matter who it was, even if it was a mouse, he would trust and protect them forever! This is Wang Tao's way of treating people...

  If others respect me by an inch, I will respect them by a foot! Those who offend him must also repay tenfold or even a hundredfold!

  PS: This isn't abuse, this is the protagonist's necessary growth process, right? Suffering before happiness? Please collect, almost 300 collections now, give me some support! Recommendations are also scarce... (Explaining a bit, because Wang Tao just entered this world, the first volume not only lets him understand the danger of this world but also lays the foundation for future development. The first 50 chapters won't leave this forest... But don't worry, the story will be exciting and not boring, hehe!)