Worrying for the Country (Part 2)

  Child, by the time you see this, you will have already become an outstanding second-level magician. I don't know what kind of hardships you've experienced in the deep mountains, but you should also discover that you are actually stronger than you imagined. I can slowly tell you all my experience in cultivating divine techniques. However, as for the secrets of the gods, I only explored up to this point, and what follows is just speculation.

  Awaken the power of both body and mind, cultivate martial arts and magic simultaneously according to a specific set of steps. In fact, it's more difficult than cultivating one or the other separately. However, based on Bell's information, I hope you'll take this arduous path. Become a 2nd-class magician, if the trial "Faith's Firmness" doesn't come soon, I suggest that while learning various low-level magic you can grasp, also persist in cultivating 2nd-class body techniques.

  If the second-level body technique is cultivated to its peak, the trial of the divine technique's upgrade will arrive immediately, then it proves that my conjecture is correct.

  On the mainland, in various city-states, it is not possible to reveal a magician's identity, but being a warrior is a good cover. If you accidentally leak out, you may pretend to be a divine technician from afar, but this can also be dangerous in countries that believe in different gods.

  In the jungle, there's no need to have this taboo, and you don't have to be afraid of the cave-dwelling savages. Just be careful that their bows and arrows may be poisonous. Using divine magic in front of them is a good way to intimidate them, especially fire elemental magic, as most cave-dwelling savages worship fire. You might encounter tribes of cave-dwelling savages, and if you're lucky, you might even be treated like a deity.

  Although you can't easily reveal your own secrets, it's okay to pass on this cultivation method to others, those who are worthy of your trust or those who are worth using, and get confirmation from them. You may think that doing so is not quite right, sorry, I've done the same to you. This is still better than being muddled in the mortal world for a lifetime, even if you can't become an immortal, at least you can see the light outside the sky.

  Let's keep going upwards, when you pass through the three layers of clouds, find a place to settle down. I don't know when you can pass the test of "firm faith". But from now on, pay attention to the weather around you and the eastern sky, after the disaster comes, you will see the next message I left for you.

  The first piece of information from the old madman ended here, and he didn't teach Amun any specific cultivation methods. He just talked about the situations that needed attention as if they were chatting. What made Amun feel very uneasy was that he mentioned the disaster again, and the next piece of information could only be seen after the disaster arrived. What kind of disaster would it be?

  Since Amun couldn't figure it out, there was no point in thinking about it anymore. He calmed his mind and continued to do what he needed to do at the moment. The next day, Amun carried Xue Dingyao and continued to climb upwards. The majestic peak seemed to be right in front of him, but it was actually quite far away. Amun walked for another day, and if he wasn't mistaken, he had already passed through two layers of clouds that surrounded the mountain waist.

  What's the point of letting him run so high? This road was guided by Xue Ding, but in recent days, that cat has been sleeping soundly in its pouch, seemingly not caring where Ah Meng is going or how fast he's walking. If it really wanted to guide the way, wouldn't it be afraid that Ah Meng would take a wrong turn? In such complex terrain, even a slight mistake could lead to a completely different final destination.

  Just as Ah Meng was thinking this, Xue Dingyuan suddenly jumped out of his pocket and darted into a nearby thicket, running faster than a rabbit. He disappeared in an instant. Ah Meng drew his knife to give chase but it was too late. In desperation, he leapt over ten feet, clearing a bush, and landed with a gust of wind that helped him steady himself. He quickly followed the direction where the cat had vanished.

  With a heavy iron branch, he jumped so high and so far in an instant, and landed so steadily. Amun didn't realize that his physical training had already achieved quite some accomplishments.

  In front of him, he couldn't see any sign of the cat, but Amun saw again the footprints left by the boots, still the same old boots with worn-out soles. He then heard a noise coming from afar. He ran towards the direction of the sound, rounded a mountain ridge, and saw Xue Dingyuan crouching under a big tree, looking ahead cautiously, while in the valley below came the roars of wild beasts and a man's shouting voice.

  This cat not only can walk by itself but also knows how to watch the excitement!

  Ammon walked to Xue Ding's side and looked forward, and couldn't help but take a fright. In front of him was a horseshoe-shaped valley, with three steep cliffs surrounding a pool of water, and a man standing on the slope of the cliff waving a long sword, being surrounded by several large iron-armored beasts.

  Ah Meng had seen the Iron Armored Beast, its entire body wrapped in a layer of scaly, plate-like keratin that was extremely hard and resembled iron armor. This was an omnivorous creature, eating white ants from the forest, fish and shrimp from the muddy waters, and often swallowing iron-rich sand to aid digestion, sometimes also catching small animals. In the Iron Armored Beast's feces, one could pan out the finest iron ore sand.

  Generally, adult Ironshell Beasts are only a few feet long and although they have great strength, they are not too frightening. However, the several Ironshell Beasts that are currently attacking the man are over ten feet long, and it is unknown what kind of mutated species they are. Amun took one glance and sucked in a breath of cold air. This was his first time seeing wild beasts use instincts similar to divine magic.

  The shell of the Ironclad Beast is hard, but its movements are not agile enough, and it's generally impossible to climb steep cliffs. The young man who was being besieged seemed to know this too, he might have startled a few mutated giant ironclad beasts by the water pool, then climbed halfway up the cliff in an attempt to avoid them, only to find that the ironclad beasts also followed him up.

  Amon sensed a fluctuation in the elemental forces, and that massive iron-armored beast was actually using a natural skill similar to earth-elemental magic, merging its body with the rocks to become even heavier and more powerful. Moreover, they were far more agile than ordinary iron-armored beasts, with razor-sharp teeth and claws being deadly weapons, and their long tails sweeping across with an eerie power.

  This power gives people nearby a sense of oppression, feeling their body becoming heavier and their movements slowing down. If they're not careful to dodge in time, they might be swept away by that iron whip-like long tail, resulting in broken bones and tendons. Although Amun hasn't started practicing earth element magic yet, he has already memorized the related incantations and various power characteristics, and understands the subtleties at a glance.

  The man who was fighting the Iron Shell Beast had impressive skills, with a long sword that danced in the wind and rain, accompanied by a faint misty glow. Being able to channel his bloodline's power through his weapon already made him a mid-tier warrior. The mutated Iron Shell Beast's shell was extremely hard and fearless against ordinary swords, but it was wary of the faint glow on the man's sword, especially its eyes and the weak spots on its belly where the skin turned white, not daring to face its blade head-on.

  When the Ironclad Beast launched a surprise attack, it had to raise its body, open its jaws and lift its sharp claws, exposing the softer skin below its neck. The man attacked precisely this point, so even surrounded by three Ironclad Beasts, he could still fight evenly. When Amun arrived at the scene of the battle, it was at its most intense moment, but with one glance, he saw that the man was in a precarious situation.

  These variant Ironclads seem quite intelligent, even having a simple form of sentience, understanding how to coordinate their attacks, with three drawing attention at the front while one sneaks around from behind for a stealthy strike.

  On both sides and below, three iron-armored beasts were besieging the man, completely wrapping him around, while another iron-armored beast had quietly climbed to the top of the cliff, silently raising its long iron tail on a protruding rock. Even if the man raised his head, his line of sight would be blocked by the overhanging rocks above, and he wouldn't see anything. The long tail with heavy power would fall directly onto his head, and the man surrounded on three sides was unable to dodge no matter what.

  It was too late for anyone to remind him, but just then an unexpected situation occurred. The iron-armored beast at the top raised its tail and took a step forward, grasping the rock and preparing to exert force, but suddenly slipped and fell halfway down. The edge of the rock inexplicably formed a layer of ice, which was not only extremely slippery but also chillingly cold, a feeling that crawling beasts like him could hardly bear.

  The variant Ironshell Beast instinctively used a technique similar to the Earth Elemental God's, and its body shattered the layer of ice. However, the shattered ice instantly transformed into sharp icicles that stabbed into the soft skin on its chest and abdomen, causing immense pain although they didn't pierce through. The Ironshell Beast tried to retract its body and regain its footing, but another gust of wind rose from the rocks, swirling around its long tail as it swung it forcefully to one side.

  The ironclad beast's long tail is an important organ for maintaining balance, a series of exquisite magic tricks to deal with the giant beast standing on a narrow rock, it finally can't keep its balance and falls from the rock. Coincidentally, it just fell onto another ironclad beast below on the left side, two ironclad beasts rolled down into the pond at the foot of the mountain together, making a loud noise as their hard shells hit the rocks, stirring up huge waves in the pond.

  The man in the fierce battle was startled by this sudden change, and for a moment he almost got caught by the sharp claws of the giant beast on his right side. A gust of wind condensed into a sharp wind blade in mid-air, cutting off the iron-armored beast's paw, and a layer of yellowish-black light actually appeared on the surface of the sharp claw, without even leaving a mark on it!

  Taking advantage of the brief delay, the man let out a loud shout and jumped to the left to avoid the attack. He steadied his footing and swung his sword at the iron-armored beast in the middle, the light mist on the blade denser than ever before, almost forming a shining scabbard. This one strike was far more powerful than Amun's condensed wind blades, and the iron-armored beast that was pouncing forward could not dodge it. It stretched out its front paw to block the attack, but its sharp claw was cut off, and it let out a deafening roar of pain.

  The remaining two iron-armored beasts saw that the situation was not good, and their bodies curled up and rolled down along the mountain wall, also falling into the water pool, and did not show their heads for half a day.

  That man, even if he was a fool, knew that just now a divine technique master had saved him. He turned his head and saw Ah Mon already walking out of the thicket. He hastily held his sword and knelt on one knee to pay his respects, saying: "I didn't expect to meet a noble divine technique master here. My name is Mei Danzuo, I'm a fourth-level warrior. Thank you for saving my life."

  **