Once the soldiers left, the village chief took Leon and the six retired soldiers to his house to discuss the current matter.

"Kid, things are getting complicated. It’s best not to send little Amelia back to the academy for now. That new squad leader is said to be a bastard with no moral values. Once he sets his eyes on something, he will do everything possible to achieve it," the village chief said to Leon seriously.

Leon frowned. "Didn’t you say you guys have connections in the army? Can’t we complain about this matter to someone righteous?"

Uncle Sal sighed. "We were just bluffing, kid. Although we served in the army, our status was that of just ordinary soldiers, and so are our connections. With that much influence, going against someone at the position of a squad leader is impossible, much less his father who is a sergeant with even higher status." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The village chief remained silent for some time and said, "I heard from Sal that you and John have hunted an iron realm beast for the soldiers stationed here."

Leon nodded. "They said it is a compulsory task and we will be punished if we didn’t comply."

The village chief shook his head. "From now on, no one from the Stone Fort Village will work for them, especially you and John."

Leon nodded, as he also had no interest in working for someone for free.

"As for the main reason I gathered you all here, in the inner parts of the forest, several ancient ruins have been discovered and a lot of people from outside have come to the 36th stronghold to explore them. So all of you who enter the inner forest to hunt should be vigilant and don’t provoke anyone unnecessarily."

"Even a casual old man or a little girl you find wandering around might be powerful cultivators capable of killing the likes of us with a single punch," the village chief said seriously.

Everyone exchanged glances and nodded.

After leaving the village chief’s house, Leon went back to his home. Amelia was still frightened by the incident and the little girl and her pony were sitting nervously in the hall with Grandma Mercy beside her.

"Brother..." Amelia ran over and hugged Leon when she saw him enter.

Leon rubbed her head with a sigh and made her sit back on the chair.

"Frightened?" Leon asked softly.

Amelia nodded her head uneasily. "Will those bad people take me away from you? They told me that their leader is very powerful."

Leon squatted before her and looked her eye to eye. "Always remember one thing. Even if the one who is trying to harm you is a god, your brother will kill that god. So no matter what problem comes, have faith in me. I will find a solution. You don’t have to worry about it."

Amelia lifted her small head and asked doubtfully, "What if they take me away when brother is not here?"

Leon thought about it seriously and said, "Then I will kill all of them and bring you back."

Leon was not joking when he said this. Although he had never killed any human in this life, back on Earth he was an international gangster who had caused the death of thousands of people directly or indirectly. Once his reason snaps, even Leon himself was afraid of the monster that would come out.

After all, he was someone who never feared death, neither in his previous life nor in this one. Still, he was not an idiot who would throw away his life carelessly.

But he strictly followed one principle: if you poke at me with a needle, I will stab you with a knife. So the fate of the soldiers who tried to harm Amelia was already sealed. He had no intention of letting them go.

"Brother has brought you mortal grade honey, and there is enough to fill more than six bottles. You and your little sister Coco can share it among yourselves. But make sure to drink only a little every time. It is ten times stronger and more potent than regular honey," Leon said as he placed the large bucket of honey on the table.

Amelia’s eyes lit up, but before she could touch the bucket, Grandma Mercy slid it towards herself.

"Grandma will dilute some in water and give it to both of you sisters. Mortal tier honey is no joke. It is extremely viscous," Grandma Mercy said with a smile.

Amelia pouted and went with the old woman towards the kitchen with the white pony striding behind her.

"Things are getting out of hand," Leon mumbled to himself as he took three wild apples and went back to his room.

Soon after he filled his stomach, he took out all the remaining cultivation manuals from his storage ring and started checking for compatibility of each technique with the ’Four Spirit Weapon Forging Art’, as he was not sure whether the techniques which were compatible with the ultimate body forging art would be compatible with this upgraded version as well.

Sure enough, after flipping through the techniques, only three were shown as compatible, while the others did not make the second page recording the ’Four Spirit Weapon Forging Art’ react even a bit.

"All three techniques are of the 10th star grade," Leon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Among the newly selected techniques, one was a hammer technique called ’Iron Rhino Charge’, the next was a whip technique called ’Serpent Vine Art’, and the last one was a spear technique called ’Formless Spear Art’. All three techniques were 10 star techniques and the manuals were as thick as the Twin Eagle Saber Technique.

After some careful consideration, Leon decided to learn the Iron Rhino Charge first. So once again, he seriously started flipping from one page to the other at an incredible speed.

[Primordial Law Codex - page no: 3]

[Owner: Leon (human)]

[Life essence points: 64032]

[Technique: Iron Rhino Charge (incomplete)]

(Completeness: 5%)

[Technique grade: 10 star]

[Technique realm (mortal): 0/100 (entry)]

[Note: Can consume other compatible, lower or similar grade techniques at perfection stage to repair the technique]

(Compatible techniques: none)

........

(Completeness: 19%)

......

(Completeness: 34%)

.......

(Completeness: 59%)

........

(Completeness: 97%)

..........

(Completeness: 100%)

Once the technique was fully recorded, Leon gave the command to the Primordial Law Codex to push it to perfection all at once.

The next second, Leon felt as though he had transformed into a wild rhino, crushing large trees and rocks with the strength of its iron-like horns. Each time it faced an enemy, it would boldly charge ahead like a mad beast, crushing anything in its path with brute strength.

As he was fully immersed in these memories, he seemed to have transformed from a rhino into a divine hammer at some point in time, then from the hammer into the person who wielded the hammer. Years passed in an instant like a fleeting dream, where he kept swinging the hammer nonstop, seemingly merging as one with the hammer.

[Primordial Law Codex - page no: 3]

[Owner: Leon (human)]

[Life essence points: 63707]

[Technique: Iron Rhino Charge]

[Technique grade: 10 star]

[Technique realm (mortal): 400/400 (perfection)]

When Leon opened his eyes, there was a subtle pressure to his aura as he had already grasped the hammer intent.

"Merge it with the ’Four Spirit Weapon Forging Art’," Leon gave the command and the next second the technique merged with the second page.

Suddenly Leon felt new qi circulation pathways being rapidly constructed all along his body carrying hammer intent, like the qi network pathways that carried the sword qi which were added to his body when he merged the Twin Eagle Saber Technique.

At the same time, the surrounding qi turned into invisible threads as it rushed inside Leon’s body strengthening it at an alarming rate. His already toned physique became much more defined like a sculpture and his height went up from 176 to 182 centimeters, directly increasing by 6 centimeters.

Although he was not bulky like the village chief, just by looking at his physique it was clear that this was far beyond what a human could achieve.

"Now it is time to condense my hammer spirit," Leon nodded in satisfaction as he felt the bulge in his arms and like last time decided to give the shape of the rhino to his hammer qi.

The next second, the hammer qi inside his body poured out in front of him and condensed into a massive rhinoceros spirit formed from dark red and silver armor-like plates. Its body looked more like a living fortress than a creature.

Its skin was layered like metal, with glowing crimson lines running through the gaps, as if heat and power were building up inside it. Its horn was the most terrifying part, long, sharp, and shining silver, surrounded by a swirling crimson aura that distorted the air in front of it. When it lowered its head, the ground seemed to tremble, and everything in its path felt like it was about to be crushed.

Leon stared blankly at the hammer spirit in front of him. Actually he only intended to have the shape of a rhino for his hammer spirit. He had no idea such a formidable hammer spirit would come out. It was like asking for copper and getting gold instead.

After a moment of thought, Leon called out his sword spirit and made it clash against the hammer spirit.

Ding.

The mighty eagle slashed across the face of the unmovable hammer spirit, but it only created a shallow cut which reverted back to normal the next second.

One had to know that his sword spirit was able to cut a black bear which was higher in cultivation than him and was known for its defense into half with zero resistance. But against the hammer spirit, it did not even make the guy budge an inch.

Furthermore, Leon could feel the immense strength emanating from the hammer spirit, ready to erupt like a volcano. Pure, savage, and raw strength and defense. And since this rhino was Leon’s hammer spirit occupying his body instead of a real weapon, Leon himself had the strength and defense of this hammer spirit along with the sharpness of the sword spirit.