Chapter 36 Scarlet Sword Boar

The thick forest was quiet and peaceful. Several small beasts could occasionally be seen browsing for food, and every time they showed up, it startled the birds, which flew from the tree as fast as their wings could carry them.

Behind the shrubbery, a slender youth lay prone in the grass. He was motionless, only daring to breathe every once in a while. It seemed he was waiting for something.

It was Austin's first day on Beast Mountain.

He extended his spiritual sense. An image appeared in his mind, a large bright-red beast walking more than one hundred meters away from where he was hiding.

The Scarlet Sword Boar!

It seemed to be a one-level monster.

Scarlet Sword Boar resembled an ordinary wild boar, but was larger in size. Their skins were bright-red and rough, which people associated with rock.

That Scarlet Sword Boar had two crimson sword-shaped horns on its head. Its horns curved a little at the tips. Its mouth made a harsh sound. Its body gave off a stomach churning scent of blood.

It was grunting as if it were enjoying the idle afternoon. Leisurely, it ambled toward the shrubbery.

Austin had killed many low-level monsters when he went to Beast Mountain to practice his technique.

However, he'd been out of practice for three years, so his cultivation degraded to fourth level in the Energy Gathering Realm. Facing this fierce and cruel Scarlet Sword Boar, he was not certain that he could successfully kill it with vital energy.

He was about to actually fight a monster again. He was more excited than nervous about the actual combat. Holding the long sword tightly with his hands, he waited for the best time to attack.

Austin had attained perfection in several popular sword skills of the Sun Sect.

Recently, he had been reviewing and practicing these sword skills. Now the sword he held in his hands was one that he bought specially in a country market near the Sun Sect. It cost 5 vital energy crystals. It stood out from other ordinary long swords by dint of its sharpness.

And it was perfect for his purposes, because it was what he used to practice his kata, sword-breaking techniques, parrying, cutting, and thrusting, not to mention the techniques where he imbued the sword with spiritual energy, to make a more devastating strike. He knew he had lost some of the magic that he had, and he was hoping to prove himself on Beast Mountain.

Finally, the Scarlet Sword Boar moved close enough to him. Austin could even smell its foul breath, which had felled many a disciple because they couldn't fight while being nauseous. But Austin steeled his nerves and fought back the urge to vomit.

Austin was never an indecisive person. He decided to attack right now.

He sprang, gained momentum by kicking a tree nearby with his feet, and then he moved as quickly as a sharp arrow loosed from a bow.

Swoosh! In an instant he was on the left side of th

easily handle its attacks. He moved faster and more flexibly.

Suddenly...

During the fight with the Scarlet Sword Boar, Austin found he felt something more about the wind.

Earlier, during the meditation, he felt this same thing, but he could not understand it totally. It seemed that there was a barrier between him and the thing he wanted to understand.

But now, the barrier was disappearing bit by bit.

It was a hard-won opportunity to understand more about the wind. So Austin wasn't going to let it go to waste. To get the Scarlet Sword Boar to keep attacking him, Austin continuously hacked at it with his long sword.

The Scarlet Sword Boar brought a frightening gale every time it pounced on him with its huge body. Austin made good use of this and immersed himself in his understanding of the wind.

It was the advantage of actual combat. When he cultivated martial arts skills in his daily life, he was like a tree growing in a greenhouse. However, now he was like a tree growing in the storm.

These two environments had totally distinct effects on the cultivation of martial arts.

Gradually...

Austin found that he was in a weird state. Everything he saw was slowed way down. Time itself slowed around him. In comparison, his movement sped up.

The Scarlet Sword Boar attacking him. The withered leaves whirling in the air. The birds fleeing in fear. All of these things were in slow motion.

He had an epiphany and a feeling of control.

The essence of wind was the energy flowing in the air and it was affected by the speed of flowing energy.

Wind revealed the change of energy in the space around him. For example, wind could reveal how much energy it contained and in which direction it blew.

Reflexively, Austin closed his eyes tightly. Without physical sight and feeling with his spiritual sense, he tried to catch the small movements of everything by his understanding of the wind.