"Then, let me explain first. Fire Valley is divided into 3 areas: outer, inner, and center. Each will get stronger as it goes deeper. Since our objective is in the center where Flame Tigers are. We can go slowly." Mio explains the situation.

"Sure, but Mio, Mia. I want to test my power, so let me do it all while you two just wait in the back. Just help me when I can’t handle it." Damon looked at it with a serious face.

"Are you sure, damon? All monsters here are at least above the Fifth Level of the True Spirit Realm, while Flame Tigers are on the Fifth Level of the Earth Spirit Realm at the highest." Mio said with a worried face.

"Don’t worry, I want to be stronger at least, so I can’t protect or fight alongside my women. And with you two here, I believe you two can help me." Damon reassured Mio.

"Of course, we can," Mia replies.

"Then let’s go." Damon moves toward Fire Valley as he pulls out his spirit-grade sword. Mio and Mio nodded and followed Damon. They also pull out their weapons. Mio drew a bow, while Mia pulled out two daggers, each for each hand.

****

Inside the Fire Valley, Damon, Mia, and Mio were surrounded by mountains, tall grass, and trees. And besides the burst of flame in the background, it was relatively quiet in the area.

They walked straight towards the depths for half an hour without stopping, yet they had not managed to encounter a single monster.

Finally, they found something, a Fire Lion lunging in front of them. He activated his Incubus Celestial Eyes.

[Fire Lion]

[Cultivation: True Spirit Realm - Fifth Level]

’Let’s try just using my sword.’

Damon leaped forward with his sword flashing in an arc. The Fire Lion roared at him and flames erupting from its maw as claws raked the air.

He twist his body mid-jump and his blade came down, trying to slice through the beast’s neck. But the sword bounced off the lion’s hard skin.

Then Damon uses his sword qi. He rise the sword upward into the beast’s neck.

This time, the sword wen through the best neck and the lion’s head tumbling into the grass with a thud.

Damon landed lightly and shook the blood from his sword.

Mio whistled low. "Damon, that was fast. That lion is in the Fifth Stage of the True Spirit Realm, and you cut it like paper."

Mia nodded, eyes sharp. "It’s higher than your cultivation by three level You didn’t even breathe hard."

’Good start. I can kill three stages higher without problem.’

He wiped the blade on the lion’s fur and gave a quick stab. The beast head but found nothing.

"The no core, huh. Let’s keep moving. I want to hunt a few more."

They move deeper, as grass giving way to scorched earth, heat thickening the air.

This time they found a pack of flame wolves. but they are stronger than the lion, they are at the Seventh Level of the True Spirit Realm.

The six Flame Wolves burst from the brush with eyes glowing red and fangs dripping molten saliva. The Flame Wolves are the same size as the lion last time.

[Flame Wolf]

[Cultivation: True Spirit Realm - Eighth Level]

’It’s six of them, a perfect opportunity to test astral step by dodging them.’

The lead wolf jump forward with their jaws wide open.

He doge their attack in a blur as spiritual energy trailing behind him and the wolf’s bite closing on empty air.

Mio nocked an arrow. "Damon, there are too many of them. Let us—"

"Stay back," he called, and smiled at them. "I can handle it."

Two more wolves flanked him, flames coiling around their paws as they pounced.

Damon twisted, his movement carrying him between them in a ghostly movement.

He kept dodging for a few minutes, until...

’This should be enough.’

He let out his sword intent, then, when the wolves aligned in a single line, he slashed his sword forward, making a tight arc. That arc continues forward until it cuts the wolf in half.

The six wolf halves hit the scorched earth, steaming blood hissing as it met the hot ground. Silence rushed back in, broken only by the crackle of distant flames.

Mia let out a slow breath. "A single slash... You didn’t even use a technique."

He knelt by the nearest carcass, plunging his hand into the split torso. His fingers closed around a core the size of a walnut. He tossed it to Mio.

"I found one, go check the others." They got three more beast cores from the pack.

"Let’s go to the inner area."

Mia advanced toward the valley’s interior, where the atmosphere struck his body with the force of an unsealed kiln.

Jagged, blackened stones bit into the soles of his boots, while the surroundings wavered under the influence of persistent, creeping flames that toyed with his garments.

Mio tightened her hold on her weapon. "The creatures deeper in reach the Earth Spirit Realm, first stage. Primarily Flame Lizards, hunting in groups of ten or greater."

He signaled his understanding, his luminous golden gaze piercing the vaporous shroud.

An abrupt sibilance shattered the quiet. A dozen Flame Lizards, bigger than the wolf before, lunged from the fissures, their armor radiating a pale orange warmth as their appendages scattered cinders.

[Flame Lizard]

[Cultivation: Earth Spirit Realm - First Level]

The alpha lunged, jaws widening to unleash a javelin of flame directly at his torso.

’Let’s use Heavenly Tribulation Art this time.’

Damon blurred with Astral. He reappeared behind the pack, his sword humming as lightning crackled along the edge, the Heavenly Tribulation Art igniting blue-white bolts.

He swung his sword, arcs of lightning searing through a trio of lizards mid-spring, their skins transforming into scorched debris.

The leftover beasts pivoted, their appendages fusing into a scorching vine that lashed in his direction.

He leaped over the strike, plunging his blade down into the spine of the largest specimen. A roar of thunder erupted at close range, the rest of the monsters disintegrating in a spray of blood and scales.

Damon touched down amidst the spasming corpses. Five spheres sparkled on the ground.

’I can beat Earth Spirit Realm - First Level without a problem.’

"Let’s go to the center area." Damon told Mio and Mia.

They simply nodded and moved forward to the center area.