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Duncan met the head of the boar with his sword.

He put all his strength into the blow. The moment the head of the boar met his sword, the impact jarred him. Duncan grit his teeth and exerted more pressure. The boar did the same.

In the end, Duncan was no match for the strength of a Level 2 beast. 

Duncan went flying as the boar shook its head. However, Duncan wasn\'t completely powerless either. He somersaulted in midair and landed on his feet some distance away and looked at the boar.

The boar snorted angrily and once more charged. Duncan could see a faint line of blood that was trickling on the boar\'s head. The moment he saw it, the slight trepidation in his heart vanished.

He knew that he could never go head-to-head with the boar after the last clash. That meant he needed to fight smarter here. Duncan\'s eyes scanned the rushing boar. He could see that the boar was losing a lot of blood at the moment.

The wound he had dealt with the first attack was big. If he could land another such attack, then the boar\'s speed would be hindered by injuries. Then, he could slowly chip away at the boar.

But, there was also the problem of the commotion attracting other beasts.

Deciding to take a risk, Duncan utilized <Wind Chasing Steps> and charged the boar to its surprise. Seeing a weakling attacking it brazenly made the boar even more angrier. 

Its eyes became red as it increased its speed. Just when both parties were about to clash, Duncan used the <Wind Chasing Steps> to alter his direction slightly. Instead of clashing head-on, Duncan sidestepped the boar and swung his sword at the exact location of the wound that was caused by his first attack.

His aim held true. Duncan\'s sword bit deep into the wound. Further aggravating the injury. With the sword buried deep into the side of the boar, Duncan used the momentum of the <Wind Chasing Steps> to widen the injury. 

The boar roared in agony. Duncan\'s attack had truly injured it. Its steps faltered as it struggled to stay afoot. Duncan didn\'t give it any chance to recover. While the boar was in agony, he retreated a bit and used <Absolute Cut Sword Arts> to deal yet another heavy blow.

From that moment, the momentum of the fight changed. Once the boar understood that it had no chance of winning the fight, it tried to run away. But, Duncan didn\'t give the boar any opportunity to do so.

Three minutes of frantic attacks from Duncan\'s end finally decided the fight. The boar died under Duncan\'s sword after suffering numerous injuries. Duncan didn\'t come out of the fight unscathed either.

The boar\'s death struggle injured him a bit as well. However, the injury was still manageable. Duncan didn\'t hang around to harvest the parts of the boar. He knew that he was in a dangerous situation. 

Any beast or cultivator who came to investigate the commotion can kill him easily. So, Duncan did the smart thing and abandoned the carcass. He quickly vacated the area and escaped from there.

*****

Duncan felt his insides churn as the qi in his body underwent a qualitative change. This time, his breakthrough wasn\'t explosive. It was entirely different. There was no increase in the amount of the qi in his body.

However, the abundant qi in his body began to shrink. He could feel it undergoing a qualitative transformation. Everywhere the qi made contact, black ichor oozed out of his body from its pores.

Duncan felt as if he was being cleansed from the inside out. Thick black stuff coated his body as the qi in his body condensed into a refined state. The qi in his body still felt gaseous, but there was a density to it. 

The spirit energy in Duncan\'s body now contained a red hue. The process wasn\'t instantaneous or anything. It was gradual. All the qi in his body slowly condensed into a gaseous cloud that was red in color.

Duncan remembered his master Liang Tianye\'s explanation regarding the next level. The Spirit Sea realm contained seven levels. With each level, the qi in his body was refined further. It was indicated in the color that they sported.

Red was just the beginning. He must refine the qi in his body till it became violet in color. Only then he would reach the top of the Spirit Sea realm. With each advancement in this realm, the color of his spirit sea would change.

Duncan couldn\'t help but let out a satisfied smile as he felt the qi in his body sublimate. Even the stinky smell he was covered in couldn\'t dampen his mood. He was finally at the Spirit Sea realm.

When he was in the Starmist City, the Wang Clan patriarch, who was in the Spirit Sea realm, was considered to be an indomitable existence. While the patriarch had been at the peak of the realm, it didn\'t make much difference to Duncan at that time.

At that time, he was a puny mortal. He could be killed at the whims of the Wang Clan. Why was it like that? It was because the Wang Clan had an existence like the patriarch. 

And now, he had stepped into the Spirit Sea realm. It hadn\'t even been six months since then. He was already catching up to an existence that made him feel heavy pressure. And soon he would be able to equal the Wang Clan patriarch in strength.

This was significant to Duncan.

True, in the grand scheme of things, the Spirit Sea realm didn\'t matter much. It was at the lower end of the power spectrum. After joining the Heavenly Demon Sect, his horizons widened. He had also met with existences that were at the fabled Nascent Soul realm.

But, to Duncan, this breakthrough was a momentous occasion. It marked a particular dividing line in his life. So far, he has been prey. Cultivators had ruled over him until now.

However, things wouldn\'t be the same soon. This breakthrough proved to him that he can become stronger if he worked hard and cultivated well. This breakthrough was proof that his efforts weren\'t in vain. This breakthrough showed him that he didn\'t gamble with his life for nothing.

Today, he was closing in on the Wang Clan. One day, he would reach the same level of strength as the people who destroyed Starsinger Town. One day, he wouldn\'t need to worry about Heavenly Demon Sect.

He was progressing. He was catching up to existences that once stood above him. And it is what mattered. When he reaches the apex, then no one would be able to control him. He can live freely.

That is what he cultivated for. Power, position, respect, longevity, and all the other things cultivators yearned for didn\'t matter to Duncan much. He just wanted to be free to do as he pleased.

This breakthrough told him that he was on the right path.

Maybe it was silly of him to think so. But, it didn\'t change the fact that an unknown shackle in his heart was released with this breakthrough. If he walked into Starmist City now, he would be considered to be an average expert. It was completely different from how he escaped from the city to save his life.

Duncan composed himself after indulging in the euphoria a bit. He quickly got rid of the blank gunk that was all over his body and refreshed himself. Duncan knew that while he was happy, he couldn\'t get ahead of himself.

The important thing now was to survive the Grotto Heaven he was in. For that, he needed to be stronger. Spirit Sea realm was just the start. Not to mention that he had only entered it. If he got ahead of himself, forget about the Wang Clan, he wouldn\'t even get out of here alive.

Duncan repressed the surging emotions in his heart and concentrated on what to do next. Now that he was at the Spirit Sea realm, he had some confidence in battling middle-tier Level 2 beasts present in this Grotto Heaven.

From the top of the Qi Gathering realm to the early stage of the Spirit Sea realm, the difference wasn\'t huge. But, this breakthrough swept away all the morose thoughts in his head. Currently, he didn\'t feel the impending doom he felt when he was in the Qi Gathering realm.

Just a small breakthrough was enough to change his mindset. From this side of the breakthrough, he could feel that things were not that bad. The advantage of his cultivation technique was that as long as he obtained slaughter qi, he wouldn\'t face a bottleneck anytime soon.

And with the increase in strength, he now had the confidence to steadily raise his cultivation level. Looking back on his fight with the boar, Duncan realized one important thing.

He didn\'t need to harvest the body parts or the blood of the demonic beasts he killed. The only thing that mattered was obtaining the slaughter qi. As long as he did it, his progress will be smooth. 

As for the normal qi, the spirit energy in this Grotto Heaven was abundant. The only thing that had been hampering his cultivation progress was his inability to obtain the slaughter qi. 

Now that was taken care of, Duncan had enough confidence to walk out of this Grotto Heaven alive, barring any misadventures. He now had a good plan. As long as he executed it steadily, he would be able to progress rapidly in his cultivation.

*****

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