Chapter 5: Nuoding City

"Swoosh!"

Alongside Zhou Tian, there was another sound breaking the air. While running swiftly, he tossed away his longbow and drew a short blade.

A sudden cold arrow shot directly into the eye of the blood-red giant tiger, causing it to howl in pain.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

The painful roars carried a sense of ferocious anger, and the lone remaining eye searched for the enemy with a fierce gaze.

Unfortunately, Zhou Tian had already rushed over. His legs, like steel-reinforced bones, swung like sharp knives.

A massive force struck the tiger's neck in an instant.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound echoed—a bone broken by sheer force. The immense power kicked the upper body of the tiger into the air, creating an opening.

Zhou Tian, taking advantage of the opportunity, used his legs to charge forward. The short blade in his hand stabbed into the tiger's neck, and his entire body soared through the emerging gap.

He swiftly stood on the other side, vigilant and watching the tiger.

Although it seemed like Zhou Tian effortlessly dealt with a giant tiger two times larger than the Siberian tiger, it was only a surprise attack.

In a regular battle, Zhou Tian would definitely suffer injuries!

In this past year, Zhou Tian, though only seven years old, had grown to a height of over 1.3 meters, an increase of 0.3 meters compared to just a year ago.

His entire body had become much stronger, appearing like a healthy and robust young boy rather than the beggar-like figure from a year ago.

This was all thanks to the effect of the spirit essence. As a manifestation of the essence of flesh, it not only enhanced his abilities and his physical talent but also changed the innate characteristics of his body.

Thus, Zhou Tian was able to grow to over 1.3 meters at the age of seven.

Not only that, but also possesses various special abilities.

It brought Zhou Tian a very strong body, strong strength, endurance, and explosive power.

During his solo hunting over the past year, Zhou Tian had obtained more than a thousand prey, but only a dozen had yielded spirit souls.

Most of them were bear physique or wild boar physique, or abilities like bear strength—basic physique-type spirit essences.

These had given Zhou Tian a very robust body, with powerful strength, endurance, and explosive force.

In terms of special abilities, he gained an extraordinary jumping ability, balance, flexibility, and toxin resistance.

Only when hunting a wolf beast two times larger than a normal black wolf did he extract a unique ability.

Iron Bones!

After fusion, Zhou Tian's bones became as hard as steel and continued to grow.

Once, during a hunting mistake, he was forced into close combat. His left hand was bitten by a black bear, and Zhou Tian thought he would lose it, with at least a fractured bone, After all, the bite of black bears is very strong. However, it got stuck in the bones, and besides a few blood holes, there was no damage to the bone itself.

Thinking back to that day, Zhou Tian couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude towards the spirit beast.

Zhou Tian took advantage of this to fight back and hunted the black bear at close range for the first time.

"This tiger may also bring me a special ability," Zhou Tian said as he approached the seemingly non-threatening giant tiger.

Sunlight from above the jungle shone on Zhou Tian's face.

Compared to a year ago, when his face was dry, Zhou Tian now looked healthier and more energetic. The bony structure on his face was no longer fully concealed, making it look rounder.

He seemed to have a handsome and robust appearance, despite his clothes resembling those of a wild savage man. If not for the tattered clothes, he would have appeared more like someone from a prestigious family.

Clasping his hands together, a glow appeared.

A pyramid enveloped the giant tiger, and a fist-sized pyramid light separated from it.

[Spirit essence: Iron Tail Force]: The tail, as hard as steel, act like a whip. Unfortunately, it was attacked by an old man and died on the spot. Absorbable (Note: Can bring different enhancements within the range as desired).

Zhou Tian squinted his eyes, looking at the final note.

"Bringing different enhancements within the range as desired means I can absorb enhancement even without a tail."

With this realization, the light rushed into Zhou Tian's body, and a force gathered in his lower body.

A sense of enlightenment surged within him. Without a tail, he could enhance other areas as long as the form was similar. This could provide hardness like steel, flexibility like a whip, and continuous growth.

Zhou Tian channeled the force into his legs. The originally hard bones became even sturdier, while the flesh and skin on the surface also hardened like steel.

Turning to a giant tree, Zhou Tian swung his leg.

"Snap!"

A crisp sound rang out as a black shadow swept across the giant tree, leaving a deep mark.

Zhou Tian, feeling secure about his unharmed left leg, stepped forward to examine the effectiveness of the attack.

A tilted mark appeared on the giant tree, about two palm widths wide. The originally tough and rough bark disappeared, revealing the hard, moist, green wood beneath.

The depth of the injury was about the length of a fingertip. Such damage, if inflicted on an ordinary person, would likely sever both legs.

"I didn't expect that with the flexibility of the whip, my leg attacks would become so powerful," Zhou Tian murmured, smiling as he touched the wound on the tree.

He turned and walked toward the giant tiger. Bending down, he tensed his whole body, then lifted the tiger over his shoulder. With a forward kick, he sent the little deer flying.

Turning to walk downhill...

"Work-study student!"

Hearing the teacher's voice ahead, Zhou Tian nodded with his bag on his back.

"Follow me! I'll take you to the dormitory."

The teacher didn't say much, getting up and walking outside.

Zhou Tian followed closely. About a month after killing the giant tiger and selling its skin, he came to Nuoding City. With the work-study student certificate, he reported to the Junior Soul Master Academy.

"Here is your dormitory." The teacher stopped in front of a door and pointed forward.

"School starts the day after tomorrow. During these two days, you can get familiar with the school. If you have any issues, go to the office where I was earlier and find me. My surname is Chu."

"Alright, thank you, Teacher Chu!" Zhou Tian quickly expressed his gratitude.

Chu nodded with a smile, turned around, and left.

Zhou Tian sighed, pushed the door open, and walked in.

Although there were still two days before school started, the dormitory was not empty.

"New face? You're the new work-study student." A somewhat sturdy boy stood up and said.

"Yes." Zhou Tian nodded in response.

"I'm Wang Sheng. There's an empty bed over there." Wang Sheng pointed diagonally across.

Zhou Tian followed the direction and saw a bed in the corner, nodding his head to express his thanks.

Wang Sheng looked at the new work-study student, feeling that this person spoke very little. Although he was polite, he seemed indifferent, so he didn't say much either.

As soon as Zhou Tian finished arranging his bed, the sound of the door opening rang out again.

Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, walked in.

(End of Chapter )