Trees.

*CLAP*

"Aye, now that you have your axes, we can start work!"

With a booming yell, the man floating in the air declared with utmost potency. Confusion sprang out everywhere as people paused with incredulous expressions.

However, he didn't seem to care as he fluttered to the floor, rattling the ground with a thud. Then, with a steep stride, he started to head north.

"Follow me, or you'll regret it!"

"Work? Why are we working?"

"Maybe it is something else... No, it couldn't be what I'm thinking..."

Standing by himself with a shimmering axe, Su Min rubbed his chin and thought that it was about time that the girl would wake up; unless she could sleep through all this racket...

'Should I bring her with me? It should be pretty safe here though...'

As he was thinking this, a plod erupted out of his hut as a teary eyes girl stammered out. She had dark circles under her eyes, and with a panicked expression, she swept the area and looked for someone. She seemed that she was about to break down...

"Ah..."

Su Min sighed as he walked up to her, and without delay, she noticed him. She, with a scamper, ran up to him and grabbed hold of his jacket, speaking with a whimper.

"I had a nightmare..."

Deciding not to say anything, Su Min rubbed her head as he gazed at the sky. It seemed like a natural habit from him to do so. However, soon, a firm decision soon planted itself in him.

He crouched down, and with a whisper, he spoke with a smile.

"Hey, I have to go somewhere for a while, so I can't bring you with me. Would you be fine if I left you here for a while, hm?"

The girl quivered as tears started to well in her eyes, but just at this moment, a sudden step broke the tense air.

"Hey, how about I babysit her?"

"...Yin Zan?"

...

...

"Goddammit! We're cutting down trees!"

"These aren't trees!"

Around ten kilometres north from their compound, a stark and overwhelming scene laid itself out in front of the group. A limitless expanse, expanding without care, enveloped the horizon in a thick jungle of trees.

There were three types of trees in this jungles, each smaller than the last.

The largest pierced into the sky with a trunk as thick as two people, galloping with a vigorous age. It's beautiful green leaves and branches that seemed to hold the sky struck everyone to the very core.

The bark of the tree glimmered with a strange metallic nature, and, due to some unknown transformation, sparkled gold!

Next to such behemoths, smaller, more petite trees stood as well. They were about the size of an oak tree, but their lustre surpassed that greatly. Like it was a rule, these trees also sparkled, but it was a sparkle of silver! They were about half the size of the golden trees, but they still seemed out of this world.

Going down the ladder, the last type of tree was about the size of a palm tree; although it was like a small baby compared to the golden tree, it contained a strange nature as it glowed bronze.

"Hehe, different, eh? Well, this forest is going to be your home until you reach 3rd step in Martial Condensation."

Many gulps were heard as he spoke the word Martial Condensation; it was clear that word had spread about the manual.

"As you lot are weak, we won't ask a lot! All you have to cut is one bronze tree! "

The tense atmosphere seemed to dissipate as the man said something that seemed so simple that it was eery. And, indeed, it was strange.

"It shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"Mhm..."

The man's grin seemed to widen as he looked at the hopeful expressions of the disciples, and, licking his lips, he spoke once more.

"Once you're finished, just go to the collection area 500 meters back. Of course, you have to bring your log back. You'll get all the information you'll need from there, so ask them and not me!"

"Oh, and, there isn't a time limit to this task, Hehe."

Finishing, the man grabbed the axe on his waist and walked into the forest, disappearing from their view without a pause.

'Cut down the tree?'

Standing alone, Su Min swayed the axe by his side back and forth, feeling it's weight. It was strange, but as he moved it a resonating shiver ran through his arm.

'The Ancient Fist Art?'

Through a surreal instinct, the way he moved the axe started to change, and before he knew it, it followed a law he knew. The law of the Ancient Fist Art. It was the passive law of the art, not like the first and second fist forms he performed in the tournament.

Following this, his chest seemed to open without his command and suck in a strand of gold.

*SWEEP*

A tremble broke through the air as Su Min moved the axe, cleaving it. And with a light shimmer of gold, a streak of wind pierced out of the axe and darted into the atmosphere.

'W-what?'

Su Min, with wide eyes, stared at the sharp blade of wind as it dissipated in the horizon. It didn't stop until it hit the 50-meter mark, which was extraordinary.

However, this wasn't what made him shocked. It was because of the faint glimmer of gold that enveloped the axe when he swiped it. This gold came from him!

Taking a closer look, he proceeded to swipe again, yet the glimmer didn't come. Pondering, a guess came to his mind. With a strange glint, his eyes blazed as the symbol on his chest hummed, and from the world, a strand of gold was absorbed by it.

He intended to wait a few seconds for the energy to reach the right speed, but it didn't even need a second to complete, and this was due to the sparkling symbol on his spine!

Watching, he saw that whenever the golden strand touched any symbol on his spine, a noticeable push blasted it. It was at least two times more powerful compared the ordinary symbols.

'The more lifeforce the symbol absorbs, the faster it propels the golden energy? Not only this but now that I look at my spine, I seem to be able to see a number...'

Su Min paused with confusion, and with this, an invisible strand seemed to thrum out of his spine and pierce into his head, imprinting a line of information into his sight.

'Spinal Mortal Refinement: 0.5%'

'...0.5%? How terrifying is this race?!'

Realising that he was starting to forget the reason he absorbed the golden energy, Su Min calmed himself down before focusing on the mission at hand. He raised his axe, and watching the golden energy in his body, slashed down.

*SWEEP*

As he examined his body, the golden strand inside of him, with an intense speed, darted into his arm and out into the atmosphere, then into the axe.

The same glimmer of gold glowed from the axe as an intense slash of air swept through the sky, darting into the atmosphere... It was unknown how much power it had, but Su Min felt that it was enough to halve a steel wall.

'Huh. So the Ancient Fist Art isn't just for punching...'

In essence, if Su Min were to follow this, then he could probably do the same thing with his fists. It was just that, in the tournament, he didn't have access to the golden energy, so he wasn't able to show the full potential of a simple punch from his race.

You could say that that the Ancient Fist Art is the main fighting technique, encapsulating the way to handle energy but also the technique that manipulates it.

Ignoring the contradictory name, Su Min scratched his head. He guessed that this would probably be useful for cutting trees, so he went and absorbed 10 more strands of energy into his body.

'Maybe they'll last longer now...'

Hoping that he'll be able to store the golden energy for more than ten minutes, Su Min threw the axe onto his shoulder and strolled into the forest with absent thoughts.

'I never really thought about it, but what would happen if I forced the golden and martial energy to touch...'

...

...

*WACK WACK WACK*

Sweating, a white-robed youth with a sword scabbard thrashed a bronze tree with a cleaving axe. However, a strange metallic shimmer was all that responded as the tree only got inflicted with minute dents.

"I ain't using my sword to chop a tree!"

Call him stupid, but even when he has a sword that is obviously sharper than the axe, he has a devotion to the arts...

*Step WACK WACK Step*

Su Min, holding an axe on his shoulder and with his hand other in his pocket, strolled towards the aggravated youth. The sword youth seemed to notice him, and with a light laugh, wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled at him.

"Aye, Su Min, you finally decided to stop dozing off there! I hope you now understand that swinging an axe at the air doesn't REALLY achieve anything,"

Speaking sarcastically, the youth patted Su Min's back before walking back to the bronze tree. Su Min, not sure what to say, decided that it was best not to think of an excuse and found his own bronze tree to pummel.

"Mhmm, let's try..."

Staring at the tree, Su Min mumbled before gripping his axe tightly and throwing it into the air with an exaggerated motion.

*WOOSH*

A gold glimmer shone from the axe as it hovered above Su Min head, and with a deep breath, Su Min threw the axe right at the tree!

*CRASH*

A resounding, metallic crash reverberated out of the tree as the axe shoved itself into it. A sharp screech like scraping chalk screamed out from the small cut as a solidified streak of air blasted right into it.

*PSSST*

Sparks spewed out of the tree as the blade of air continued to hammer at the tree without end.

"W-what the fuck?"

The sword youth rubbed his eyes as he watched the blade of wind dig itself into the tree, well that was what he was seeing anyway.

*PSSss..st*

After a few horrifying seconds, the air blade finally seemed to lose all its energy as it dissipated with the wind, and what revealed itself a steaming cut.

"Ok, even with all that, the tree only got cut 1/10 the way in?!"

The sword youth, even more shocked, stared at the tree that had somehow dealt with a blow that surpassed the boundary of a mortal. In fact, if a cultivator were to see the move, they would all without a doubt say that strike had the strength of a 1st step Martial Condensation Cultivator!

Looking at the cut, Su Min's eyes blazed with battle intent... At a tree.

'What if I use 2 strands of energy instead?'