The Supreme God of Martial Arts
Chapter 306 The Superior Vital Energy Crystal (Part One)

When Austin noticed that there was a level two double-headed snakehawk inhabited in a cave at the end of a steep and slippery cliff high upthe mountain, he headed towards the direction in a rush.

Since he could use his vital energy to fly, he didn't have to toil up thesteep cliff and within minutes, he could see the cave in sight. However,as he got closer to have a better look, a sudden gust of piercing windblew out of the cave. He took a step back in caution and then peered atthe cave from a safe distance. He saw that deep in the cave, incomplete darkness, four green balls glinted and twinkled at him.Suddenly, Austin heard roaring and rustling sounds. The green ballsstarted to enlarge and the wind became even stronger. Something wasmoving and slithering out of the cave. Undeterred, Austin waited to seewhat it was. In a blur, the creature shot out from the cave, whizzed overAustin's head and circled in the air before landing in front of him. Fromits appearance, Austin instantly recognized the animal as none otherthan the double-headed snake hawk that he had been looking for. Trueto his expectation, the animal had two snake heads while its torso wasthat of a hawk. The four green balls he had seen earlier were its eyesproducing a green light in the darkness of the cave.

The double-headed snake hawk felt threatened at Austin's unexpectedarrival. With cautious eyes, it glared at Austin for a moment beforemaking a loud, shrill sound of threats. Austin neither stepped back norwalked forward. For a moment, both the animal and Austin stoodfacing and seizing each other, gauging the opponent's strength.Suddenly, the animal unfurled its wings and flew straight towardsAustin.

"Yes, come, you ugly thing. Show me what you have got," Austinmurmured.

In an instant, Austin took a fighting stance and pulled out his VioletRoyal Sword. He rapidly put the level two sword intent into action.Suddenly, thirty rays of sword-light emitted from the sword as Austintransferred his vital energy to it. He brandished his sword and waved itsrays of light over the impending beast.

The double-headed snake hawk sensed the danger at once, but it was atad too late. In fear, it strove to beat a hasty retreat. But, since it wasflying at an insanely fast speed towards Austin, it was impossible for itto slow down immediately and turn back.

Before it could even turn around, the rays of the sword-light hadalready reached it. In an instant, the thirty rays of sword-light boredthirty holes into its body.

The blood splattered out of the double-headed snake hawk's body likea red fountain and spread on the ground slowly dripping over the cliffbelow.

The blow was lethal. In a scream of unbearable pain, the beast diveddown the cliff. After a few seconds, Austin heard a dull thud: it wasdead.

After vanquishing the animal, Austin briskly slipped into the cave. Theinside space of the cave was impressively big, and the scent of thesnake hawk still lingered in the atmosphere. Although the place was notthe cleanest place on earth as it was smelly and littered with fecalmatter, it was still better than hovering outside with nowhere to hideand rest. So, Austin opted to stay in the cave for the time being.

He scanned the place and found a relatively flat and clean spot and satdown for a rest. Although the cave was not as comfortable as home, hehad to make do with it. He drew a deep breath of relief as he lay down.It was not likely that anyone would suspect that he was hiding in thecave of a mighty beast. So, being in this smelly and messy place, he atleast didn't have to worry about being caught by anyone.

Lying motionless for a moment, he began to grow sleepy. His muscleswere stiff and his whole body felt sore. He could finally feel the fatigueand weariness of his body after the adrenaline had powered his bodythrough the constant running from danger for half a day. He hadconsumed too much of his vital energy than required in a day, whichmade him utterly exhausted and he was now in urgent need of somerest.

As soon as he lay down, he entered dreamland.

After half a day of good sleep, he woke up.

Although his physical fatigue was alleviated a lot, his vital energy wasstill negligent and not restored to its peak.

The vital energy volume in his energy meridian seemed to be only halfof what it was before while the vital energy of the vital energy stonestored in his elixir field had almost run out. To escape from the attacksof the two fighters of the Mysterious Realm, he had to consume toomuch of his vital energy. Plus, taking down the snake hawk had alsosignificantly decreased his already depleted store of the vital energy. Ifhis need of this refuge hadn't been so dire, he wouldn't have taken thatrisk. With little vital energy, he felt weak and vulnerable like adefenseless ordinary person.

Searching frantically through all of his Space Rings, he found someelixirs that could help him speed up his cultivation and boost thevolume of the vital energy. After experiencing so many fights, Austindeveloped a habit that every time he killed a person, he would searchover the body to see if there was anything valuable. By now, he hadcollected a variety of things and stored all of them in his Space Rings.Living in a turbulent world with fighters wandering everywhere, he hadno options but to collect some elixirs or weapons in case they mightcome in handy one day.

Usually, he would just keep the elixirs for a rainy day and wouldn't takethem despite they had a potent effect that they could expedite hiscultivation speed and strengthen his powers. It was because regardlessof how high a level the elixirs could help a cultivator to achieve, theoutcome would not be based on his actual true strength. In the longrun, he would experience the symptoms of a vacant, false vital energycultivation base that would inevitably lead to crippling injuries for therest of his life. The situation was comparable to a plant that was beingpulled to grow by some external force, since the root was not matureand stable enough, the plant could therefore not sustain such anunnatural force and the plant would wither eventually.

There was a popular myth among fighters that due to the limitedcapabilities of most of the pill refiners, the elixirs they produced usuallycontained some toxic substances. As much as the elixirs would curediseases, they also would leave some harmful residual elements in thecultivator's body. If the elixirs were taken for a long time, the harmfulresidues would increase and cause incurable diseases to the recipient.Given this reason, Austin did not use the elixirs often although he hadplenty of them in his Space Rings. He only used them for emergencysituations, like if he got injured or if the timing was urgent, then hewould take a few.

Considering that he had consumed too much of his vital energy andwas being hunted by so many fighters, he felt that he should replenishhis vital energy and regain his strength as early as possible. Althoughthe cave was a safe place to hide, without food and water, he could notsurvive for long. Besides, before he got back into battle, he needed tobe both mentally and physically prepared. So considering the situationhe was in, he took the elixirs he had.