In a territory ruled by Origin Beasts was a human cultivator, constantly unleashing a variety of Origin Arts as his figure flashed from one place to another.
Roar!
The Origin Beast resembled an elephant but had two trunks and a nimbler body. One of the trunks slashed around, hitting a couple of trees in the process, taking them down easily.
It was at the Second Layer of the Martial Origin Stage, possessing tremendous power. And wherever its trunk flashed past, a shadow barely evaded it, constantly aiming for its legs.
The other trunk unleashed a jet of water, preventing the shadow's approach. The Origin Beast stood in a shallow swamp, using its second trunk to suck in the swamp water to unleash a jet.
The shadow continued to shuttle through the swamp water, causing ripples to form on the surface as it evaded attacks from the trunk and the jet of water.
It was Ranze, unleashing Origin Arts one after another as he was constantly on the evasive, suddenly throwing a brick when the Origin Beast opened its mouth.
Clank!
When the Origin Beast tried to shatter the brick, a clanging sound resounded as the brick wasn't even scratched by the attack whereas the rebound caused its jaws to vibrate, momentarily placing the Origin Beast in a state of shock.
'A chance!' Ranze thought as he kicked the ground, jumping towards the Origin Beast as he thrust forth with his sword, causing a layer of Origin Essence to envelope it, growing in length as it pierced through the Origin Beast's throat.
Ranze hacked after that, causing blood to spurt out of the gaping wound on the Origin Beast's neck.
But right as it planned to retaliate, the brick grew in size within its mouth, suffocating it, also increasing the pressure the muscles in the region exerted, causing more blood to gush out, forming a coating over the swamp water.
The Origin Beast collapsed to the ground as Ranze delivered the killing blow, sighing as he began to collect its tusks and other valuable body parts, "That was a tough fight."
Even though he addressed it as a tough fight, it only meant in terms of exertion. After all, despite everything, Ranze didn't even suffer a single hit, displaying the extent of experience he had accumulated.
Suddenly, as he stood atop the Origin Beast carcass, his Origin Essence spiked, attaining a minor breakthrough.
Seventh Layer Origin Refinement Stage!
He hadn't even attained the peak of the Origin Refinement Stage until now. Of course, even if he had a Divine Martial Spirit, it was after all a Trash Divine Martial Spirit. So, his cultivation speed was similar to cultivators with trash Martial Spirits.
That was why, despite three years of nonstop cultivation, he only reached the Seventh Layer of the Origin Refinement Stage.
But, this also implied that at the Sixth Layer of the Origin Refinement Stage, he easily killed an Origin Beast at the Second Layer of the Martial Origin Stage.
"There's still time until the Secret Realm opens." Ranze clenched his hand into a fist, noticing that he had grown slightly stronger once again, "I'll only be able to exert my true power after reaching the Martial Origin Stage. I'll be able to obtain two attributes there."
Martial Origin Stage; it was also known as the attribute generating stage. After all, as long as the cultivator fused with a material possessing an attribute, they would obtain that attribute.
This was every Trash Martial Spirit cultivator's hope. And if they were able to find a powerful enough material, they could change the tides of their fate and grow strong.
After all, though rare, there had been cases of Trash Martial Spirit cultivators obtaining powerful materials that changed their fates, even allowing them to reach the Martial Providence Stage and dominate a region.
Helk, the Bandit Boss in the Misty Gorge Ruins would have become one such character if Compass Carburettor hadn't killed him.
After all, after fusing with a mind-attributed material, he obtained the attribute to enslave people and Origin Beasts. And if he played his cards right, he might even chance upon an injured Martial Providence Stage cultivator that had been injured in a battle.
After that, he could easily enslave that powerhouse and become a reigning power instantly. He had such potential.
So, the Martial Origin Stage was where even a trash could become a genius. Of course, for Human Martial Spirit cultivators and higher, their advantages only increased further.
They would be able to obtain a second attribute, and in rare cases, their two attributes would fuse, resulting in a new attribute that was many times stronger.
Human Martial Spirit cultivators with a fused attribute were rare in history, but they were stronger than Earth Martial Spirit cultivators.
It could very well be said that the Martial Origin Stage was a turning point for every cultivator.
And the Folkan Secret Realm was one such place that opened once every century, allowing cultivators to enter it for just three months. After that, they would be ejected from the Secret Realm.
And contained in this Secret Realm were countless treasures, each enough to cause cultivators to become unrivalled geniuses. Following the years after the Folkan Secret Realm opened was an era where geniuses dominated the Gaider Realm.
So, as it was about to open soon, every cultivator was busy cultivating to reach the peak of the Origin Refinement Stage so that they could break through to the Martial Origin Stage within the Secret Realm and fuse with a precious material.
Entering the Secret Realm was impossible for those at the Martial Origin Stage and beyond. But if someone broke through to the Martial Origin Stage within the Folkan Secret Realm, they wouldn't be ejected.
So, everyone's train of thought was the same, to reach the peak of the Origin Refinement Stage so that they could attain a breakthrough immediately after entering the Secret Realm.
Of course, Ranze was unable to do that, sighing, "Guess I should hope for some fortuitous encounters in the Secret Realm to quickly raise my cultivation."
Unlike Compass Carburettor, Grisha, and Xuer, he neither had a plan nor created a scheme, solely focusing on raising his strength to the limit. He believed that tempering himself through battles was of utmost importance. Only then would he be able to kill his enemies.
And hence, for the past two years, he had been travelling from one Origin Beast dominated region to another, hunting them nonstop, honing his senses to the limit while learning every Trash Origin Art he came across.
He also put them to practice, training himself to the extent he was able to instantly activate the over hundred Origin Arts.
His plan was pretty simple: He would trample over all his opponents using his versatility. After all, his Divine Spirit was now able to morph into more than a hundred Trash Martial Spirits.
