RISE OF THE MARTIAL GOD

{Perilous lands; Anthony}

Anthony stirred at the floor of the perilous lands, regaining consciousness after two days. Due to the fact that he was kicked in and lost footing, he ended up bashing his head against a giant stone sculpture, and the evil energy from the stone immediately curled around him, trying to swallow him up. But at that moment, a golden item the size of a thumb, hidden in a corner of his belly began to emit golden light which totally encased him. After two days, the powerful aura of darkness was finally suppressed and Anthony woke up.

He heard growls around him and his eyes immediately shot open. His heart skipped multiple beats at the sight before him. He was surrounded by a pack of beasts and he could feel powerful spiritual energy from them. They were attracted by the rich spiritual energy of the golden light and came to feast on him. But they didn't manage to succeed because of the light shield which protected him till he woke up.

"Human, why do you have such a powerful beast core inside you? Give it here." A monster which looked like a tiger with black scales and a horn on its forehead growled, rushing towards Anthony.

The moment he stood up, the light shield protecting him dissipated, leaving him open to attacks.

"Shit! I just came in and I'm already being ambushed by these hungry creatures." Anthony muttered and quickly pulled out the twin dragon daggers.

After eight minutes the six beasts which were all at the grand master realm, the same level as Anthony, lay dead before him. But he wasn't unscathed. He had a few bloody gashes here and there, but that was all.

As he was about to leave, he heard a voice in his head.

"Ah? Where are you going without taking the loot? Look here, these beasts are precious treasures even though they are of the grandmaster realm. They lived for years inside this damned place with evil energy, but survived till now. Why do you think that is? They have special abilities and every part of their body is a treasure. Their beast cores when eaten and assimilated can help you increase your cultivation level. They're in the grandmaster level, same as you. And the iron tiger was very close to the ancestor realm. In addition, their hides and horns can be forged into weapons. Some parts are also medicinal. Are you really willing to let go of it all?"

Anthony smirked and quickly turned around.

"Let go of it my ass! I'm broke as fuck now, I need anything valuable that comes my way. Besides, who asked them to attack me? They dug their graves by themselves."

******

Anthony frowned as he held the last beast core in his hands. His cultivation had moved from grandmaster realm to the ancestor realm after a night of absorbing the beast cores. However, he began to hear hissing sounds just when he was about to complete the absorption of the last beast core. His senses automatically sharpened but he pretended not to notice and focused on the absorption of the last beast core. Anthony's cultivation rate was crazy. Others normally take months to fully digest and purify a beast core due to the fact that the bloodline of the spiritual beasts were volatile and could be harmful if not handled accordingly. However, he only needed an hour to ingest everything. He didn't have the basic idea of the cultivation standards till Kaiser lectured him the night before he left. Hell, he didn't even know the levels of cultivation realm and the minor tiers in between. However, he had made lots of progress since then, showing his talent for cultivation.

"Martial ancestor level, tier 2." Anthony whispered in satisfaction, tapping his fingers against his thighs. Just then, he felt air whoosh towards him and he quickly slid out of the way. Anthony jumped to his feet under a millisecond and opened his eyes, quickly pointing his dagger at the direction he heard the sound.

Anthony's eyes widened in the next instant as he realized what the monster before him was. Chills ran down his spine as he discovered that the monster he didn't take seriously, being more focused on the beast core, was so dangerous.

Yes, it was a five headed hydra beast. The very rare monster in the legends that never dies, and has the ability to regrow any body part that got chopped off. Killing a powerful hydra was nearly impossible, unless its opponent was far beyond it in terms of cultivation level and spiritual power, which Anthony was not.

"Not bad, little human. You could even detect my presence, interesting. You have potential, it's too bad that you have an item I want in your cultivation core. Dying at the hands of this uncle is not a loss at all." The middle head of the hydra spoke, its eyes never left the lower right side of Anthony's belly. It was practically drooling.

"Item in my belly? What could it be? The other monsters surrounded me because of it too." Anthony whispered, frowning deeply.

"Blame fate for giving you a treasure you're too weak to protect. Even if I let you go, which I would never, everyone with a third eye will go after you because you're equivalent to a walking elixir. Tsk tsk tsk. It's too bad that your family allowed such a treasure to walk around unprotected. Since it has come to this, I will make it quick and grant you a painless passing." The fourth head of the hydra said arrogantly, infuriating Anthony.

Anthony chuckled coldly and tightened his hands on his daggers.

"It's not clear yet who will kill the other. Hydra monster, I hate threats." He whispered coldly.

The hydra's eyes changed into a frightening yellow and purple color and its snake trunk began to wiggle.

"I admit you have guts little boy. But that's all you have, your talent is wasted on you. You're already past twenty with your unique physique and bloodline, but you're still stuck in the ancestor realm. If that's not the definition of trash, what is? It only means that you're lazy and unmotivated. The heavens must be blind for wearing a golden ring around a pig." The hydra growled and rushed forward.

"I have heard the word trash so many times in my life till I got sick of it. Watch how this trash handles you." Anthony said with a smirk and quickly unleashed his shadow step foot technique, avoiding the hydra's swinging tail like a pro. He threw his shadow dagger in an arc, creating a bloody wave. The startled hydra monster hissed in pain at losing two of its head and turned to Anthony. But he was nowhere to be seen.

His twin dragon daggers had unique functions. One was the light dragon dagger with a golden crystal attached to its hilt. While the other one, the shadow dragon dagger had a dark blue crystal attached to it. The shadow dragon dagger had the ability to control space and time, making it the perfect weapon for sneak attacks and assassinations. That was why the mighty hydra was taken by surprise.

The hydra began to hiss, spewing poisonous gas all around to fish out Anthony.

"Damn it!" Anthony whispered, unable to hide in the space pocket anymore. The hydra's poison was incredibly corrosive and harmful to the body and Anthony quickly held his breath as his mind worked fast. His eyes met that of the hydra and his eyes immediately widened in shock. The heads he cut off had regrown itself looking more powerful than before and all the wounds he previously left on the hydra's body had healed.

"It seems like the rumors are true. The more they lose a body part, the faster they regenerate and the new body part grown is even stronger than the initial one. Damn it!"