Chapter 62: Spirit Meat
After three days of training in Wangshan, Zhang Ruochen had killed thirteen first-rank upper-level savage beasts and twenty-five first-rank mid-level savage beasts.
Finally, he encountered his first second-rank savage beast, the Silver Dragon Lion.
A second-rank savage beast was at least as powerful as a Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artist.
The Silver Dragon Lion's attack power was comparable to a Mysterious Extreme Realm late-stage martial artist, its speed was comparable to a Mysterious Extreme Realm late-stage martial artist, and its defense was comparable to a Mysterious Extreme Realm initial-stage martial artist.
Overall, the Silver Dragon Lion was quite formidable. A Mysterious Extreme Realm mid-stage martial artist who encountered it would almost certainly die.
Aside from Zhang Ruochen, any other Yellow Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist, even if they formed a twenty-man elite team, would be completely wiped out if they met a Silver Dragon Lion.
"Roar!"
The Silver Dragon Lion let out a long howl, and a raging hurricane of sound waves erupted from its mouth. On the ground, sand and stones flew, nearby trees were blown askew, leaves fell, leaving only bare branches.
Just one loud roar could stun martial artists below the Yellow Extreme Realm late-stage into unconsciousness.
The Silver Dragon Lion's body was four meters tall and six meters long, several times larger than an ordinary lion. It was like a small silver mountain standing before Zhang Ruochen.
Its pair of silver lion eyes were as big as Zhang Ruochen's head, exuding a bloodthirsty, ferocious aura.
"Boom!"
With each step it took on the ground, the earth trembled slightly.
Zhang Ruochen pushed off with both feet, leaped up, landed on the Silver Dragon Lion's back, condensed his true qi, and struck a palm at its head.
The Silver Dragon Lion was surprisingly intelligent and sensed the danger.
So, it exerted force with all four hooves at once, charging forward at an astonishing speed of nearly thirty meters per second.
Caught off guard, Zhang Ruochen lost his balance and was thrown from its back.
Zhang Ruochen struck the ground with one palm, immediately flipped back up, and retreated until he was ten zhang away before stopping. However, he remained on high alert, his legs bent, and thick true qi gathered in his palms.
"As expected of an adult Silver Dragon Lion, its speed has reached thirty meters per second."
An ordinary Yellow Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist could only reach a speed of about twenty meters per second. A gifted Yellow Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist could reach twenty-two meters per second.
Even Zhang Ruochen could only reach twenty-seven meters per second, which was already considered incredibly exceptional.
Thirty meters per second and twenty-seven meters per second might seem close, but in reality, the gap was significant.
If Zhang Ruochen and the Silver Dragon Lion were to run a hundred-meter race, by the time the Silver Dragon Lion reached the finish line, it would have left Zhang Ruochen ten meters behind.
In other words, if Zhang Ruochen's strength couldn't overpower the Silver Dragon Lion, then he would have no way out—he couldn't even escape.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen and the Silver Dragon Lion were ten zhang apart, but at the Silver Dragon Lion's speed, it could reach him in just one second.
Zhang Ruochen stared intently at every move of the Silver Dragon Lion. Once it prepared to attack, he would have to strike first to have a chance of victory.
"Roar!"
The Silver Dragon Lion let out another roar, turning into a silver blur as it pounced fiercely at Zhang Ruochen.
Its silver claws slashed through the void, releasing four sharp streaks of force.
Zhang Ruochen sidestepped, dodging the attack.
"Smack!"
The Silver Dragon Lion struck a tree as thick as a water bucket with one claw, shattering the trunk into pieces, sending wood chips flying.
The trunk snapped in half and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
"Wild Elephant Stomps the Ground!"
Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Ruochen immediately struck, channeling all his strength into a palm blow to the Silver Dragon Lion's abdomen, sending it flying backward.
The Silver Dragon Lion was furious. It scrambled to its feet and was about to attack Zhang Ruochen.
But Zhang Ruochen struck first, hitting it with another "Wild Elephant Stomps the Ground."
The Silver Dragon Lion was sent flying again.
"Wild Elephant Stomps the Ground!"
"Wild Elephant Stomps the Ground!"
...
Zhang Ruochen delivered twelve consecutive palm strikes, each one sending the Silver Dragon Lion flying. When he struck the thirteenth palm, the Silver Dragon Lion was finally injured, with blood dripping from its nostrils.
The Silver Dragon Lion was enraged.
A layer of silver light radiated from its body. It opened its mouth and spat out a silver beam of light, like a sharp sword of light aimed at Zhang Ruochen's heart.
Not good!
Zhang Ruochen kicked off the ground, leaping more than ten meters high, landing on the branch of a thousand-year-old tree, dodging the Silver Dragon Lion's attack.
"Boom!"
The silver light sword struck the ground where Zhang Ruochen had been standing, producing a loud explosion and leaving a one-meter-wide crater.
"Soaring Dragon in the Sky."
Zhang Ruochen flew down from the branch, his true qi surging through all thirty-six meridians, all his power flowing toward his arm, emitting a low, dragon-like roar.
"Bang!"
His palm struck the Silver Dragon Lion's back. With the sound of a bone breaking, the Silver Dragon Lion let out a mournful howl and crashed heavily to the ground.
Its spine was broken by Zhang Ruochen's palm, leaving it severely injured. It lay on the ground, unable to get up.
Zhang Ruochen was extremely excited. He had severely injured the Silver Dragon Lion using only the power of his physical body.
If he had used sword techniques, it would probably have taken no more than ten strikes to kill the Silver Dragon Lion.
"With my current strength, even if I'm not yet a match for a Mysterious Extreme Realm late-stage martial artist, I can at least put up a fight against them."
After the battle with the Silver Dragon Lion, Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel that his control over the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm had increased by another degree.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Flash Soul Sword, swung it in a slash, and severed the Silver Dragon Lion's throat.
Soon after, the Silver Dragon Lion was completely dead.
Then, Zhang Ruochen made a foot-long cut in the Silver Dragon Lion's abdomen and dug out a fist-sized piece of flesh.
This piece of flesh was very hard, heavy as iron, emitting a silver glow, and carried a faint, unusual fragrance.
It didn't seem like flesh, but rather like a medicinal herb.
"The Silver Dragon Lion really lives up to being a second-rank savage beast—it actually grew three jin of spirit meat." Zhang Ruochen held the silver spirit meat in his hand, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
Spirit meat was the most precious treasure within a savage beast's body.
Martial artists who consumed spirit meat could increase their physical strength and cultivation level. Ordinary people who consumed it could strengthen their constitution and prolong their lives.
The three-jin piece of spirit meat in Zhang Ruochen's hand, if sold at the Martial Market, would fetch at least ten thousand silver coins.
Moreover, spirit meat often contained crystallized spiritual stones.
Even the lowest quality spiritual crystal was worth a thousand silver coins.
For Zhang Ruochen, this piece of spirit meat wasn't very useful. He planned to take it back and give it to Lin Fei to consume.
As long as the spirit meat was stored in a jade container, it could be kept for up to a month without rotting or spoiling.
To refine the Space Ring, Zhang Ruochen had purchased quite a few jade items. So, he took a jade box from the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal and placed the spirit meat inside.
The Silver Dragon Lion was valuable from head to toe—its fur, blood, and bones could all be used as medicine and sold for a good price. However, Zhang Ruochen's main purpose in coming to Wangshan was to train in the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, so he didn't take the Silver Dragon Lion's corpse.
Not long after Zhang Ruochen left, a squad of armored soldiers arrived before the Silver Dragon Lion's corpse.
General Ge Qian stepped out from among the soldiers, looking at the Silver Dragon Lion lying in a pool of blood. "Truly impressive. He even managed to kill a Silver Dragon Lion. If he breaks through to the Mysterious Extreme Realm, I wonder how powerful he'll become? It's not just the king—even I am looking forward to it."
The accompanying imperial guards also sighed in amazement, finding it hard to believe.
They had never heard of a Yellow Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist being able to kill a Silver Dragon Lion. Such an impossible feat was happening right before their eyes.
General Ge Qian said, "Same as with the previous savage beast corpses, take the Silver Dragon Lion's body back to the Finance Department and exchange it for silver coins. Once the Ninth Prince finishes his training, I will personally hand over all the silver coins to him."