He took off his armor, muttering to himself, then unfastened the steel clasps on the armor, preparing to put it on. He slipped the breastplate over his body and fastened the steel clasps at the back; picked up the two armguards and put them on his left and right arms, put on his gloves, tied the battle skirt, and hooked the clasps on the skirt to the steel rings beneath the breastplate; strapped the greaves to his calves, put on the battle boots; draped the battle robe over himself, and finally donned the helmet and fastened the neck guard. The entire set of armor was now fully equipped on Gordon Brooks.

He had no idea what grade this set of armor was. Under the shroud of these black clouds, everything here had turned a murky gray, indistinguishable. After putting on the armor, Gordon Brooks reached from his left chest to his right ribs with his hand and shouted loudly, “Hey!” Instantly, he felt as if he had become once again the formidable Lord of Bone Fortress, the number one figure in the demonic path!

With his shout, the armor suddenly emitted a bright light. Even under the cover of these black clouds, there was still a magical treasure capable of shining. Gordon Brooks was greatly surprised. The light radiated outward endlessly, entangling with the black clouds. There was a series of crackling explosions, the black clouds churned, thunder rumbled, and a rain of blood suddenly fell within the canyon! As soon as the blood rain fell, the light on the armor instantly withdrew and disappeared. With the disappearance of the light, Gordon Brooks, who had just been standing between three trees, vanished as well!

This was already the third time in a day that Gordon Brooks had fallen from a great height. After snapping countless branches and startling a large flock of birds, Gordon Brooks’s descent did not slow until he broke a thick tree trunk and finally landed on the ground. But this time, Gordon Brooks scrambled up in a flash—he felt that there was an extra layer of protection inside his body, an exoskeleton, which had already hidden itself within Gordon Brooks’s body. With its protection, Gordon Brooks was unharmed even after falling from such a height.

Gordon Brooks looked around. It was already daytime. The “landing” environment seemed somewhat familiar to him. After looking for a while, he suddenly realized: he was at the edge of the cliff where he had fallen yesterday. Sure enough, after walking a bit further, he saw that deep cliff! Gordon Brooks quickly pulled his foot back. Once bitten by a snake, he was now wary of even a well rope—better to stay far away from here. He hurriedly ran toward Misty Rain Peak.

Misty Rain Peak was bustling with noise and excitement. The commotion made Gordon Brooks, who had just returned and still didn’t know what was going on, feel a bit uneasy: Could this be because of me? But his worries were soon dispelled, because when he saw his senior and junior brothers, they didn’t treat him any differently, just greeted him casually: “Gordon Brooks, did you hear? That idiot Julian Reed actually shot and killed a baby Dragon-Eared Marten with a single arrow. Isn’t that a pity…”

“What!” Gordon Brooks was also shocked. “Has he lost his mind? That guy has always been extremely shrewd—how could he do something like that?” “You don’t know, he thought it was a wild rabbit. He chased it for half a day, then, without hesitation, shot it dead with one arrow…” Gordon Brooks’s expression became very strange: Could it be that the prey he and Julian Reed had desperately chased yesterday was actually the extremely rare high-grade spirit beast, a baby Dragon-Eared Marten?

His guess was spot on. Julian Reed had finally caught up with the “wild rabbit,” feeling both angry and frustrated. He drew his bow to the fullest and shot an arrow, piercing the poor baby right through! Just as he was proudly preparing to feast on his “prey,” a martial uncle happened to see it and recognized that the “wild rabbit” was actually a baby Dragon-Eared Marten. Instantly, the entire Wuwei Sword Sect was in an uproar, with everyone discussing the incident.

In the cultivation world, there are sects that specialize in training spirit beasts, known as “Beast Tamers.” They do not forge magical artifacts, but every time they cultivate, they do so together with their spirit beasts. The spirit beast is their magical weapon. Once man and beast achieve perfect coordination, their power is immense, no less than that of high-grade magical artifacts.

Spirit beasts are also divided into grades, generally upper, middle, and lower. The distinctions are not always clear, and it also depends on their respective cultivation. It is known that a lower-grade spirit beast is not necessarily inferior to a middle-grade one. The grade only defines their innate differences; upper-grade spirit beasts are the easiest to cultivate and provide the greatest help to their masters. Each grade is further divided into nine levels, from low to high, to more precisely classify the spirit beasts’ ranks. As for some ancient divine beasts, such as the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, they are not included in this ranking system—their power is unfathomable and cannot be classified in this way.

Generally speaking, a middle-grade spirit beast is already rare. If a Beast Tamer can find a middle-grade, fifth-level spirit beast, they can begin cultivation. Upper-grade spirit beasts are even harder to come by; in the entire cultivation world, they are extremely rare. According to the grading system, the Dragon-Eared Marten should be an upper-grade, seventh-level spirit beast, a top-tier among upper-grade spirit beasts—truly a rare find. Yet, before it had even grown up or gained any power, it was shot dead by Julian Reed with a single arrow!