Path Of The Dragon (A Dark Fantasy Cultivation Wuxia Xianxia Progression Series)

Chapter 18 The Trial

"Do you have enough money or do I need to get the full fifty cores?" Jie asked.

"I have the money, but you should try to get as many cores as you can. Any rewards you could get would be good. It's also excellent practice for you to battle as many as you can.

"Reach out with your spirit sense and find some magical beasts. I'll be with you, but I doubt you'll need my help here," Ming said.

Jie nodded and picked up her pace. She activated her lightning step technique and dashed through the forest like a blur while she reached out her spirit sense and felt the nearby magical beasts.

She quickly sensed a magical beast of the same rank as her and sped toward it like an arrow released from a bow.

She drew closer, slowed, and crept up on it.

It was huge, easily four times her size. It looked like a gorilla, with powerful forearms and a massive chest, but the resemblance ended there. Needle-like fangs filled its jaw and its fingers ended in six-inch claws.

Jie's heart pounded in her chest. The biggest thing she'd ever killed herself was a cockroach. It wasn't just that this thing was horrifying and she wanted to scream and run away rather than get any closer, but that she'd never hurt an animal before.

Bugs didn't count. They were gross.

So was this thing... but...

"What are you waiting for, kiddo? You'll have to fight a lot worse than a little ninth-star needlefang gorilla. Get to it," Ming said.

Jie gritted her teeth, and her qi flowed through her dantian in the pattern she knew so well. A crackling glove of lightning qi formed around her fist, far more powerful than the one she'd used on the villagers.

She swallowed hard and leaped out at the gorilla. She zipped through the air and slammed her fist into the back of the needlefang gorilla's neck.

A thunderous boom ripped through the air, and the massive creature's head tore free from its body. Blood sprayed everywhere.

Jie jumped back and clamped her hands over her mouth, holding back a scream.

The needlefang gorilla's lifeless body slumped to the ground, blood pooling beneath it.

She stared at it with wide eyes. Her hand kept replaying the sensation of the creature's neck giving way like wet cardboard. She shuddered and took a step back, her skin crawling.

Ming flew over to where the needlefang gorilla's head had landed and ripped the red beast core out of its skull.

He appeared next to her in the blink of an eye. "Here you go, kiddo," he said.

Jie stretched out her palm without looking, and he dropped the glimmering gem into her hand.

She closed her fist around it, pushing down her horror, revulsion, and the sickening taste of blood in the air.

"Are you okay, kiddo? You look a little pale," Ming said.

Jie nodded. "I'm fine," she said.

Jie slipped the beast core into the red bag she'd been given, fighting down waves of nausea that threatened to bubble up her throat... Her skin felt cold and she suddenly felt so utterly filthy. She ached for a shower and to scrub every inch of her skin in a desperate attempt to make this feeling go away.

Instead, she reached out with her spirit sense and quickly found another needlefang gorilla. Jie let out a shuddering breath, steeled herself, and sped toward her next target.