"The power of advanced vibration, hahahaha, this is advanced vibration."

"I have already mastered the first stage of the Golden Cross Slash, the Vibrating Cross Slash."

The pleasure brought by this increase in strength made Levi couldn't help but shout out in excitement.

"Now, I should be able to fight against the quasi-knight. It's a pity that I don't have the chance to try it out. After all, the Golden Cross Slash is a killing move. Once it is used, blood will be shed!"

Levi sheathed his sword. It had been a year since he started practicing the Black Snake Breathing Technique. Now he was not far from the third level and should be able to reach it by the end of this year.

By then, I will be a true knight.

You only need to condense the seed of life to become a formal knight.

Becoming an official knight means that he finally has the power to protect himself in this world and has entered the ranks of the middle and upper class strongmen in this world.

In general, the difficulty of practicing the breathing method is much more difficult than the first stage of the Golden Cross Slash.

Of course, Levi guessed that it might also be because he had a good talent in kendo.

"Next, I will focus on the Black Snake Breathing Technique and strive to break through to the third level as soon as possible."

After setting the goal, Levi started working hard again.

The life of a lord is like this, repetitive, boring and tedious, but every time Levi sees the prompt of proficiency +1, he feels that it is all worth it.

…

The year 1004 of the Holy Era, the month of winter.

It is three years since the end of the thousand-year holy war between the Emerald Kingdom and the Tuva Empire.

Although there were no major wars between the two countries, small-scale conflicts continued.

In fact, everyone knows that this is not a war between two countries in essence.

It's the church dispute behind it.

In order to expand their influence, the Holy Light Church that believes in [Heavenly Father] and the Storm Church that believes in [Storm Emperor] are constantly trying to expand their territories and spread the influence of the church to the whole world!

Of course, it is difficult to do this.

There are seven major kingdoms and empires in the world today, and the people and nobles of each country have their own beliefs in orthodox gods.

There are constant open and covert struggles among various forces. It is imaginable how difficult it is to destroy the other six countries and the church and unify the world.

But since their inception, the purpose and significance of the seven major churches has been to spread the faith.

Therefore, in the foreseeable future, the evolution of civilization will inevitably be inseparable from the struggles of these religions.

Putting aside the wars between countries, there is also a war taking place in the mountains where Blackwater Valley is located.

In the dense forest, hundreds of mountain wolves surrounded a giant silver-white bear that had just woken up from hibernation.

The silver-white giant bear has a shoulder height of 1.8 meters and a body length of more than 4 meters.

This is one of the most famous beasts of the North: the Great Bear of the North.

After they become adults, they possess the strength of knights. The best among them even have the combat power of high-level knights and can easily kill giant elephants.

The size of this northern giant bear is actually slightly smaller because it is a female bear.

If it is an adult male bear, it generally has the strength of a peak knight.

Opposite the giant bear of the north are wolf packs all over the mountains and the mountain wolf king who leads them.

The mountain wolf is the most terrifying creature in the Black Forest. Its individual strength is far inferior to that of the northern giant bear, but it excels in teamwork and numbers.

But under normal circumstances, even if there are hundreds of wolves in a pack, they rarely take the initiative to hunt the giant bears of the north.

It’s because there are too many wolves and food is scarce this year.

This area was originally the territory of the mountain wolf king, but this spring, the mother bear broke into its territory, competing with it for the already scarce food, and occasionally hunted its wolves.

Today, while the mother bear was hibernating, the Mountain Wolf King thought for a long time and decided to kill the mother bear and have a good meal at the same time.

Unexpectedly, the female bear was still very alert. She seemed to have sensed the arrival of the mountain wolves from a long distance away and actually wanted to escape. Of course, she was eventually caught up by the wolf pack led by the Mountain Wolf King.

Now, the mother bear surrounded by a group of mountain wolves refused to run away. In terms of speed and endurance, it was impossible for it to outrun the mountain wolves.

These are the most patient hunters, the few who can rival human hunters in stamina.

It wanted to end the battle quickly, so it let out a loud roar that echoed throughout the mountains and forests. It lifted its front feet off the ground and stood up. Its devil-like body was as tall as two stories.

Many ordinary mountain wolves began to retreat. Upon seeing this, the Mountain Wolf King howled to the sky to boost the morale of his own side. It was a rare mutant wolf king that could rival a knight, although it was no match for the Northern Giant Bear in a one-on-one fight.

But it’s not the Lone Ranger.

In this way, the wolf and the bear started fighting in the valley.

Countless wolves fearlessly pounced on the mother bear. The mother bear slapped them, and the wolves that didn't dodge were turned into mud.

Not to mention wolves, even a knight wearing armor, if it is not plate armor, cannot withstand the attack of the giant bear of the north. Although the plate armor can barely withstand the frontal impact, the tremendous force can still shatter the internal organs and bones of most knights who do not use defensive breathing methods.

In order to survive, both sides tried their best.

There is no right or wrong, just to... live!

In the end, the body of the northern giant bear was covered with mountain wolves, its thick and hard fur was scarred, and countless blood dyed the snow red.

It was tired, but it did not fall down, but continued to fight.

In the end, after losing a full one-third of her wolf followers, the mother bear was dying.

The cautious Wolf King then took action, biting the northern giant bear's neck with his sharp canine fangs, while the other Wolf wolves directly began to rip open its belly.

The fierce roar of the northern giant bear resounded through the mountains and forests, and the birds and beasts retreated.

The king of the forest is about to fall.

There can only be one king in this area, and that is the Mountain Wolf King.

Not long after, the giant bear was completely silent and the battle was over.

The Mountain Wolf King was enjoying his spoils. With the corpse of the giant bear and the corpses of his dead companions, it should be enough to last him for a month.

It has no mercy for the dead wolves. As long as there is enough food, fresh blood will soon join the pack.

What the Mountain Wolf King didn't know was that in the mother bear's cave more than ten miles away, three bear cubs the size of calves were looking sadly in the direction where their mother died, running aimlessly and panickily.

They were born this spring. It takes more than seven years for northern giant bears to mature. Although they are less than one year old, they seem to be quite old, but in fact they have not yet learned to hunt.

Their instinct told them that perhaps only the border area between deep mountains and human settlements could help little bears like them, who could not hunt, survive. There, they could sneak into human settlements at night, pick up garbage to eat, and stay away from these dangerous wolves.

There are three little fat bears, one has a grayish body color, one has a pure white body color and looks most like its mother, and the other one seems to have a genetic mutation, with both black and white colors. In short, it is chubby and does not have the majestic look of its mother at all.

The three little ones were connected head to tail, stumbling towards the valley where the Blackwater Valley was located. What was waiting for them was an unknown new life.

They have not yet learned how to hunt and are not strong enough, so there is a high probability that they will die young and will not see the sun tomorrow, but this is such a cruel world.

Life is hard, isn't it?