What was different from before was that Ryan clearly sensed powerful energy emerging throughout his body, accelerating the strengthening of his physical body.
He knew that the bottleneck had finally broken.
He was being promoted from Rank 1 Initial Stage to Rank 1 Middle Stage.
He didn't know how long it had been before the transformation of his body finally ended.
"Huh..."
Ryan exhaled slowly and immediately clenched his fists, sensing the powerful strength contained in his body, and was overjoyed.
"It's much stronger than before. I've really entered Rank 1 Middle Stage!"
Ryan had successfully broken through, and one of the main purposes of entering the wilderness this time had been completed.
However, he didn't think about going back immediately. He was going to stay for several more days and completely stabilize his newly comprehended Force.
After comprehending Force, Ryan had a deeper understanding of the Blazing Heaven Severing Saber.
It only took three more days for him to integrate Force into his saber technique much more smoothly.
The power of the Blazing Heaven Severing Saber had increased considerably.
"In terms of strength, an ordinary Rank 1 high Stage Blood Warrior shouldn't be much of a threat to me anymore. Even a peak Rank 1 Blood Warriors should be manageable."
Ryan thought for a moment.
"But Rank 2 Blood Warriors are still different. Their strength is far greater, and their use of Original Essence is on another level. With my current strength, there is still a large gap."
In addition, Ryan found that his current cultivation method was becoming less efficient as his strength increased.
It wasn't completely useless, but if he wanted to continue improving quickly, relying only on this cultivation method and low-level fierce beast blood would become increasingly difficult.
He needed a better cultivation method, better resources, or both.
It was also at this point that Ryan realized another thing.
More than a month had already passed since his last successful copy.
His copying ability was available again.
"It's time to go back!"
Ryan packed up his things, wrapped up the valuable fierce beast materials he had obtained during this time, walked out of the cave, and headed in the direction of Greyhaven.
...
Greyhaven, East City Gate.
Ryan had been in the wilderness for more than a month. His clothes were already tattered, his face was dirty, and his body carried the unmistakable smell of someone who had spent a long time outside the city.
But the soldiers guarding the gate did not dare to underestimate him.
They could see the fierce beast materials he carried and the condition he was in.
This was clearly a Blood Warrior who had spent a long period surviving in the wilderness.
Such Blood Warriors were usually the most difficult people to provoke casually.
After entering Greyhaven, Ryan did not immediately return to his residence, but found a nearby hotel to stay in.
He took a bath, changed his clothes, and only then returned.
Nothing unusual had happened while he was gone.
The next day, early in the morning.
Ryan went out.
However, before heading toward the Blood Warrior underground market, Ryan suddenly thought of something he had been curious about for some time.
"Can my copying ability only copy human talents?"
Until now, almost every talent Ryan had copied had come from humans.
But fierce beasts also possessed abilities that ordinary animals could never possess.
If those abilities were considered talents as well...
Ryan's eyes lit up slightly.
He decided to test it.
There were several shops in Greyhaven that dealt specifically in fierce beasts.
Most sold fierce-beast meat, blood, hides, bones, and other materials, but a few specialized in living young fierce beasts.
Some were raised for research or materials.
Others were raised from a young age in the hope that they could eventually be tamed.
Ryan entered one of these shops.
Inside were rows of reinforced cages containing young fierce beasts of various kinds.
There were small wolves, scaled rodents, young boars, strange birds, and several creatures Ryan couldn't immediately recognize.
Ryan slowly walked through the shop while quietly inspecting them.
Beast: Greyfang Wolf
Cultivation Talent: None
Beast: Stoneback Rat
Cultivation Talent: None
Beast: Redclaw Bird
Cultivation Talent: None
Ryan frowned slightly.
He inspected several more.
Most of the young fierce beasts possessed no talent at all.
That wasn't particularly surprising.
Just like humans, not every living creature possessed a special talent.
Ryan continued deeper into the shop.
Then his steps suddenly stopped.
Inside one of the smaller cages was a black-and-brown puppy.
At first glance, it looked almost harmless.
Its body was only slightly larger than an ordinary dog of the same age, and it was currently lying quietly inside the cage.
A small sign beside it identified the species.
Blood Hound.
Ryan had heard of them before.
Blood Hounds were fierce beasts famous for their extraordinary sense of smell.
As puppies, they were relatively small, but once fully grown, an adult Blood Hound could become nearly as large as a horse.
Because of their intelligence and tracking ability, some organizations attempted to raise and tame them from a young age.
Ryan looked at the puppy.
Immediately, information appeared before his eyes.
Beast: Blood Hound
Scent Talent: Primary
Ryan's eyes widened slightly.
"It really has a talent!"
More importantly, the talent was marked in exactly the same way as human talents.
That meant...
Ryan slowly approached the cage.
The young Blood Hound raised its head and sniffed toward him curiously.
Ryan looked around.
The shopkeeper was busy speaking with another customer.
Ryan reached through the bars and lightly touched the puppy's head.
"Copy."
A familiar sensation appeared.
Scent Talent began copying.
A moment later, it was complete.
Ryan withdrew his hand.
"It actually worked."
His heart immediately became excited.
His copying ability wasn't limited to humans.
Fierce beasts could also become targets.
This discovery alone greatly expanded the possibilities of his ability.
Humans possessed many valuable talents.
But the wilderness contained countless fierce beasts, many of which possessed abilities humans simply did not have.
Ryan looked at the Blood Hound again.
Unfortunately, his copying ability had now entered cooldown once more.
But Ryan didn't regret it.
A Scent Talent might not directly increase his cultivation or combat strength, but its usefulness could not be underestimated.
Tracking.
Detecting fierce beasts.
Discovering hidden people.
Recognizing unfamiliar scents.
In the wilderness, such an ability could easily save his life.
Ryan left the fierce-beast shop in a good mood.
He was going to the Blood Warrior underground market.
The Blood Warrior underground market was located beneath part of Greyhaven and was a place frequently visited by Blood Warriors. It was also one of the main areas where Blood Warriors traded resources.
Ordinary people and most Blood Warrior Apprentices were not qualified to enter.
Only genuine Blood Warriors normally had access.
Ryan had heard about the underground market long ago, but he had never had much reason to enter it before.
Now, after returning from more than a month in the wilderness, he finally had several reasons to go.
He had fierce beast materials to sell.
He needed better cultivation resources.
And more importantly, he needed to see whether he could find a better cultivation method that would allow him to continue improving quickly.
With those thoughts in mind, Ryan headed toward the Blood Warrior underground market.
At an entrance to the underground market.
Ryan looked at the two Blood Warriors guarding the door and walked straight over.
The two Blood Warriors took a closer look at Ryan and found that Ryan was a little unfamiliar, but they sensed that Ryan's body carried the aura of a genuine Blood Warrior, so they didn't stop him.
Entering through the entrance, a stone staircase followed downward.
Soon, Ryan came to the real underground market.
The area of the underground market was very large, at least the size of a large square. There were many shops here, and many Blood Warriors were walking around.
Ryan found a shop that purchased fierce beast materials and sold the materials he had hunted, earning a total of 340,000 denari, which was also a small gain.
"Martial Pavilion!"
Ryan came to the door of this shop and took a closer look at the store.
In terms of size, this store was undoubtedly the largest in the underground market.
Walking into the Martial Pavilion, a female clerk who was a Blood Warrior Apprentice walked up to Ryan and said respectfully,
"Lord Blood Warrior, is there anything you need to buy? Our Martial Pavilion sells all kinds of items, and most things can be purchased in our Martial Pavilion!"
"Do you have a cultivation method suitable for Blood Warriors?"
Ryan asked.
The female clerk smiled and said,
"Is Lord Blood Warrior talking about the Original Essence Body-Forging Method? Our Martial Pavilion only has a Low-level Original Essence Body-Forging Method. Higher-level methods are generally only available in larger survival cities!"
Original Essence Body-Forging Method!
Ryan had heard of such cultivation methods before, but he had never obtained one.
The knowledge taught to ordinary academy students regarding the cultivation of genuine Blood Warriors was limited. Once students stepped into the Blood Warrior level, many things had to be obtained through families, organizations, or purchased privately.
"Do you have a list of items in your Martial Pavilion? I want to look through it before I buy anything."
Ryan thought for a while.
"Yes!"
The female clerk nodded and hurriedly retrieved a list of items.
There were many items recorded on the list, not only the Original Essence Body-Forging Method, but also fierce beast blood, healing potions, weapons, combat techniques, rare treasures, and other items.
Some precious treasures alone were worth millions of denari.
Originally, Ryan thought that he had quite a lot of money, but after seeing these items, he realized that his money was not much at all.
"A Low-level Original Essence Body-Forging Method, a Blood Warrior Compendium, three portions of mid-level fierce beast blood, a fierce beast map, and three bottles of Essence-Clearing Liquid!"
Ryan said.
The female clerk calculated,
"85,000 denari for the Low-level Original Essence Body-Forging Method, 17,000 denari for the Blood Warrior Compendium, 850,000 denari for three portions of mid-level fierce beast blood, 34,000 denari for the fierce beast map, and 1,700,000 denari for three bottles of Essence-Clearing Liquid. A total of 2,686,000 denari!"