Chapter 204: The Third Stage of Training

With a roar, Rod swung his sword into the pond, unleashing his combat energy. The Dark Dragon rushed forward with its long body plunging into the water.
The waves surged violently, rolling in all directions and crashing onto the shore. Poor little fish were swept ashore, struggling in panic.
“Success!” Rod murmured, a satisfied smile on his lips. Unfazed by the rushing water, he felt only joy—after ten days, he had finally completed this stage of training.
“Hmm, not bad. Passable!” Melon nodded in approval from the shore.
It was the tenth day. As agreed, he had come to assess Rod’s progress. He was very satisfied with Rod’s performance, which even exceeded his expectations! Though he had been prepared for this, he still felt a sense of melancholy—witnessing the birth of a new talent brought both joy and sadness, as he reflected on his own past.
“Come, follow me!” Melon said after a moment’s hesitation, looking at Rod, who was drenched and returned to his side.
“Where to?” Rod asked doubtfully. Did the next stage of training require leaving this place?
“The third stage isn’t here. Just follow me!” Melon replied indifferently without turning, then quickened his pace.
The rapid movement left Rod out of breath. If it weren’t for the weight on his body and his suppressed combat energy, he wouldn’t be in such a miserable state. These two factors made it extremely difficult for him to keep up.
After chasing for a while, Melon led Rod to a cave. At first glance, it was pitch black—nothing could be seen even in broad daylight; it was utterly dark. It gave off an eerie, demonic atmosphere.
Standing there, one could feel the coldness and sinister aura emanating from within, making it uncomfortable.
“The third stage of training is inside!” Melon said softly, with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
He stepped inside, and Rod hurried after him. Even though he didn’t like it, he had no choice but to go—after all, he needed better training. Since Melon had brought him here, he surely wouldn’t harm him.

It was pitch black inside the cave; even in the utter darkness of a void, one could rely on their own combat energy to see clearly. But here, nothing could be seen at all—there seemed to be a layer of tangible black gas blocking one’s vision. It was sinister and cold, as if alive, trying to devour one. The cold was bone-chilling, and even in the scorching summer, it was so cold it made one shiver. Rod was forced to use his luck to resist; a single mistake could turn him into an ice cube here. He certainly didn’t want to die young in such a place. A very long tunnel stretched ahead, giving the impression of being on a downhill path. Though not obviously frightening, Rod could still sense it keenly. After moving forward for about ten minutes, probably at a depth of at least a thousand or two thousand meters, Rod finally felt Melon stop. He could sense Melon’s presence right beside him, but no matter how hard Rod tried, he couldn’t see anything. By releasing his mental energy, he realized it was a vast space, at least a thousand meters in diameter. It was hard to imagine such a cave existing in such a place—that seemingly unremarkable cave turned out to be so deep and magnificent. Magical energy surged here, making it even more eerie and sinister, more dangerous and gloomy than outside. “Hmm, it’s this way. Hehe, I don’t know how many years it’s been since I was here—probably fifty or sixty years! Nothing has changed!” Melon said softly, as if speaking to Rod or muttering to himself. From his words, Rod realized that this guy must have practiced here many years ago. Since he could practice here, then so could he! Rod secretly resolved to achieve good results before going to meet him, otherwise he would be letting down his kindness.

“The third stage of training takes place here. I will periodically release some magical beasts, and your task is to kill them in the shortest time possible! There is no time limit for this task—you can leave once you’ve killed a hundred magical beasts. Of course, although there’s no deadline, I still hope you can complete it within a month. Three beasts per day might seem frequent, but it’s the best way to train. Besides, with the competition just one and a half months away, you’ll only have about a month left for the journey. Make the most of it!” With a sigh, Melon began assigning the tasks for this stage of training.

“You must not take off your equipment, otherwise it won’t count. Remember that?” He added, as if suddenly remembering something.

“Yeah, I know!” Rod replied in a solemn voice. A hundred magical beasts in a month—crazy, maybe, but not entirely. Three per day—compared to the six or seven battles he faced each day before, this wasn’t so bad.

“Good. I’m leaving now. Oh, right—I forgot to tell you. The gases here are unusual. Be careful; they’re the real killers—magical gases. You should know about them!” As he left, Melon seriously gave one last warning.

Rod broke into a cold sweat. It was indeed complicated. He hadn’t been wrong—magical gases. Were these the same as the magical gases in his body? Probably not! With a bitter smile, Rod mocked himself for overthinking.

After Melon left, Rod was alone in the vast space. It was pitch dark, completely silent, with only the sound of his footsteps and breathing, along with occasional drops of water. The atmosphere was eerie and unsettling.

If Rod hadn’t spent so much time in the void space, he would surely have found it hard to adapt to this place right away.

Any normal person would likely struggle to adapt. Staying in such an environment for too long could drive one crazy.

He focused his mind, mobilized his combat energy, and fully unleashed his mental power. From that moment on, Rod knew he was on a battlefield, where death could strike at any moment. Melon hadn’t specified when the magical beasts would be released, meaning there was no fixed time—it could happen at any time. More importantly, he hadn’t said how many would be released each time—maybe one, maybe two, or even three.

Wearing this disgusting set of gear, it could help him cultivate, but it also confined his strength at the late Saint level. If he encountered quasi-divine or even divine-level magical beasts, he would be in trouble. But then again, quasi-divine-level beasts might be possible, while divine-level ones were probably unattainable.

Sitting in seiza, years of experiencing life and death had taught Rod that in unknown and dangerous situations, it was most important to maintain one’s strength, keeping one’s condition at its best, otherwise anything could happen.

He began to cultivate slowly on the ground, keeping an eye on all directions. Strangely, throughout the entire day, Rod encountered no danger and sensed no magical beasts. This puzzled him.

Fortunately, he had enough patience and remained calm. Anxiety would be of no use in such situations. Focusing entirely on cultivation, Rod unexpectedly noticed that as he practiced, a faint, almost imperceptible trace of demonic energy seeped into his body through every pore and merged into his dantian.

Even Rod could hardly detect it; he only felt it.

The day passed peacefully, but Rod grew increasingly restless. The next morning remained calm, making him more uneasy. The afternoon was still quiet, and he started to feel frantic. Just as he was on the verge of losing his mind, a faint sound caught his attention, followed by a sound of something breaking through the air, which turned Rod’s face pale!

The fierce killing intent coming from both sides made Rod realize the situation was dire. Melon must have been waiting for this moment these past two days, waiting for him to become anxious so that the magical beasts could launch a fierce attack—two at once. Was this meant to intimidate him, serve as a warning, or perhaps another form of training?

He wasn’t sure. He threw himself into the battle, drawing his Dark Dragon sword, whose sound was particularly harsh in the quiet environment. He channeled his combat energy and darted to the side. He couldn’t see with his eyes; he had to rely on his mental power to observe, striving to reach the highest level of perception. Of course, Rod was still some distance from that level.

With his mental power maximized, he could sense two life forms rushing past him—extremely fierce!

Ahowl! The two magical beasts, having failed in their ambush, finally grew angry, emitting their powerful aura.

“Damn!” Rod cursed inwardly the moment he realized this. It was somewhat manageable with one being in the later stage of the Saint level, but the other was in the middle stage of the Quasi-God level. Melon really went all out, using such a tactic from the very beginning.
He might actually lose his life here today.
Muttering to himself in frustration, Rod didn’t idle away. He seized the weaker one and prepared to attack, planning to kill this troublesome foe first before focusing all his efforts on the stronger one. That was Rod’s plan.
But as soon as he launched his attack, he sensed something was wrong. The beast in the later stage of the Saint level didn’t engage in battle at all but chose to evade, which was completely unlike normal beasts. Instead, the one in the middle stage of the Quasi-God level blocked his path, seemingly determined to fight him.