# Chapter 40: The Forest of Darkness
The Forest of Darkness was filled with spirit beasts at every turn, fraught with danger. If Jian Wushuang wanted to reach Tiannan Province, he would have to traverse this Forest of Darkness.
The first day of setting foot in the Forest of Darkness.
Deep within the dense jungle.
"Roar!"
With an furious bellow, a azure shadow leapt up like a ghost, pouncing straight at Jian Wushuang and Sima Bu. Both of them reacted with extreme speed, their figures shifting as they calmly evaded it.
"It's a Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard. No wonder it's so fast." Sima Bu looked at the spirit beast that had suddenly launched a sneak attack on them, his voice low.
"Leave it to me." Jian Wushuang's eyes were icy cold. The Three Kills Sword behind him left its sheath, and with a flicker of sword light, he stabbed straight at the Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard.
"Careful—this Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard has already reached the great accomplishment stage of the Sea Transformation realm..." Sima Bu had only just begun to warn him when, the next moment, he saw the stunning, mesmerizing sword light that Jian Wushuang unleashed.
The sword light was like snow, vast and boundless, as his surging spiritual power erupted in an instant.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
Three consecutive strikes cleaved out, each sword light appearing incomparably beautiful. The Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard immediately erupted in response, its four hooves heavily trampling the ground before it transformed into a bolt of lightning, ferociously charging at Jian Wushuang.
Chi!
In a single exchange, that stunningly beautiful sword light easily tore a massive gash across the Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard's belly. Its blood and innards spilled out, covering the ground, and it quickly died.
"Too weak." Jian Wushuang glanced at the Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard's corpse and secretly shook his head.
Spirit beasts of the same level were indeed a tier stronger than humans in terms of raw strength, but when fighting, they relied entirely on beastly instinct, falling far short of human warriors who had cultivated battle techniques.
"After breaking through to the ninth level of the Divine Path, my spiritual power eruption is no weaker than the peak of great accomplishment in Sea Transformation. And with my swordsmanship, spirit beasts at the great accomplishment stage of Sea Transformation pose no threat to me at all. If I encountered a spirit beast at the perfection stage of Sea Transformation, it might still put some pressure on me." There was a trace of anticipation in Jian Wushuang's eyes.
In the Forest of Darkness, there was nothing in abundance except spirit beasts.
Here, spirit beasts that had reached the Sea Transformation realm were countless, and there were even quite a few that had reached the Golden Core realm. With so many formidable spirit beasts, while dangerous, it was also a perfect training ground.
"Kid, your swordsmanship is pretty good." Sima Bu walked over, looking at Jian Wushuang with surprise. "And your spiritual power cultivation isn't bad either. A Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard at the great accomplishment stage of Sea Transformation was slain by you in a single exchange. By the way, how old are you this year?"
"Sixteen." Jian Wushuang didn't hide anything.
Sima Bu couldn't help but widen his eyes.
"Big Brother Abu, starting today in this Forest of Darkness, unless absolutely necessary, you don't need to make a move. All the spirit beasts we encounter along the way, leave them all to me." Jian Wushuang said solemnly.
"Fine, that works for me—it's a good thing from my perspective." Sima Bu nodded with a smile. He knew Jian Wushuang's intentions and said nothing more.
Half a day later.
"Kid, be careful. What you're facing now is a Flowing Gold Rat that has reached the perfection stage of Sea Transformation. This Flowing Gold Rat is not only extremely fast, but its entire body is incomparably hard except for its eyes. However, its methods of attack are quite limited—it's its teeth. Its teeth are extremely sharp and can easily crush even hard bluestone, so whatever you do, don't let it bite you." Sima Bu warned from the side.
Jian Wushuang's gaze was piercing as he stared at the Flowing Gold Rat ahead—small in size, yet radiating an immense oppressive force.
"Squeak!"
The Flowing Gold Rat let out a shriek, its body immediately transforming into a streak of flowing light as it shot forward.
"Purple Fire Sword Art!"
Jian Wushuang swept out horizontally with his Three Kills Sword, the blade scorching hot, carrying a trace of savage ferocity, and in an instant he was locked in fierce combat with the Flowing Gold Rat.
This battle was exceptionally intense.
The Flowing Gold Rat's body was simply too hard. Several times, Jian Wushuang's long sword either thrust straight or slashed furiously at its body, yet failed to inflict much damage. Its only weak point was its eyes, but the target was too small and the Flowing Gold Rat was too fast, making it very difficult to actually strike. In the end, with no other choice, Jian Wushuang was forced to unleash the first form of the Nameless Sword Art—Blood Shadow. With astonishing speed, he swept directly across the Flowing Gold Rat's eyes, and only then did he manage to slay it.
His shoulder was also bitten by the Flowing Gold Rat, tearing off a large chunk of flesh, causing excruciating pain.
"Keep going!"
Jian Wushuang simply bandaged the wound on his shoulder, recovered his spiritual power through breathing exercises, and then continued onward.
At night, the moonlight was bright and clear, yet it could not pour into this forest. The nights in the Forest of Darkness were terrifyingly pitch black.
On the treetop of a large tree, Sima Bu eventually lay there chewing on a blade of grass, his head pillowed on his hands, his gaze occasionally drifting to the figure of Jian Wushuang cultivating beneath the tree.
"This little fellow really cultivates diligently enough, and he's quite ruthless to himself." Sima Bu smiled secretly.
Although they had only been in this Forest of Darkness for one day, Sima Bu could already feel that trace of madness in Jian Wushuang's bones.
Just this one day, and Jian Wushuang had already experienced a full eight battles. Of these eight battles, six of his opponents were spirit beasts at the great accomplishment stage of Sea Transformation, which were relatively easy to deal with, but the other two were both spirit beasts at the perfection stage of Sea Transformation.
With Jian Wushuang's current strength, unless he used the Soul Seizing Secret Art and fought desperately, battles against any spirit beast at the perfection stage of Sea Transformation would be extraordinarily brutal. Like today's battles against the two spirit beasts at perfection stage of Sea Transformation—although Jian Wushuang achieved the results of killing one and defeating the other, he himself was not entirely unscathed.
His shoulder had a large chunk of flesh bitten off by the Flowing Gold Rat, and his chest had been raked by the sharp claws of the other spirit beast at the perfection stage of Sea Transformation, leaving behind very clear blood-colored claw marks.
In reality, although the Forest of Darkness had extremely many spirit beasts, it was only their first day there—it would have been impossible for them to encounter so many spirit beasts at the great accomplishment and perfection stages of Sea Transformation. The reason it happened this way was because Jian Wushuang had deliberately sought out and hunted for these spirit beasts along the way.
Other warriors would avoid powerful spirit beasts at all costs, yet Jian Wushuang deliberately sought out these powerful spirit beasts to battle them.
"Although it's a bit crazy, the training results are there. And his swordsmanship is indeed quite good." Sima Bu thought to himself.
"Swordsmanship?" Sima Bu's heart suddenly stirred, and the next moment he fell into deep thought.
Early the next morning, Jian Wushuang, who had cultivated through the entire night, slowly opened his eyes, a trace of joy within them.
Over the course of the night, his spiritual power had improved by a few more degrees. Although his overall strength hadn't increased by much, at the very least he was making progress every day. Moreover, the life-and-death battles against spirit beasts in the Forest of Darkness also had an enormous stimulating effect on his swordsmanship.
"Today, continue..." Jian Wushuang clenched his fists tightly. The trace of madness in the depths of his eyes hadn't diminished in the slightest—instead, it had grown even stronger.
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