"Hehe, congratulations, Brother Yuan Ming, on mastering the Fur Transformation Technique and successfully enduring the first month." Wulu did not leave immediately. Looking at Yuan Ming, he spoke with a smile.
"Likewise, likewise. Speaking of which, Brother Wulu, why is Lage nowhere to be seen?" Yuan Ming abruptly changed the subject.
"Brother Lage went out hunting alone some days ago. Unfortunately, he died in the jaws of a beast." Wulu's expression remained calm.
"What a pity." Yuan Ming nodded without saying anything more, then turned and left.
Wulu watched Yuan Ming disappear into the distance, his gaze flickering uncertainly as though he were deep in thought.
Rather than crossing the gorge to continue hunting beasts, Yuan Ming returned to his hidden cave.
There was no need to rush the hunting of fierce beasts. What he needed most now was to increase his strength.
He sealed the cave entrance, sat cross-legged on the ground, and circulated the Nine Yuan Art. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth immediately came rolling in like waves.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, twenty days had passed.
On a century-old tree outside the Green Fox nest stood a tall white ape in silence. It was Yuan Ming, transformed through the Fur Transformation Technique.
Compared to twenty days ago, the white ape had grown noticeably taller. The muscles on its body were more knotted and powerful, giving off an intimidatingly fierce air.
Before long, five or six Green Foxes ran out from their nest in the mountain hollow and quickly scattered in different directions.
After luring and hunting them several times before, Yuan Ming had gained a thorough understanding of these Green Foxes' habits. They were spreading out to forage.
With practiced ease, he tailed one of the Green Foxes until they reached a Black Pine Forest.
This place was four or five li from the mountain hollow nest. Even if a commotion broke out, it would not carry back to the nest.
Yuan Ming sped up and overtook the Green Fox within a few breaths. He leaped down from a tree and blocked its path.
The Green Fox was startled at first, but upon seeing that it was only a white ape, its fox eyes relaxed, and it lunged at him viciously.
This Green Fox was somewhat larger than the ones he had hunted before, and it was faster as well. A blurred streak of green flashed past, and in the blink of an eye, the Green Fox had reached Yuan Ming, its dark green claws slashing down!
Yet Yuan Ming merely swayed lightly, and he vanished from where he stood, causing the Green Fox to pounce upon empty air.
The Green Fox was startled and hurriedly tried to steady itself.
Before it could fully regain its balance, however, Yuan Ming descended from above. His right foot carried a terrifying gale as it slammed viciously into the Green Fox's back.
A dreadful force surged into the Green Fox's body. With a crack, its spine snapped.
Its body collapsed directly onto the ground, blood gushing wildly from its mouth.
Before it could struggle back to its feet, Yuan Ming's other foot came down from above and stomped on the Green Fox's head.
Amid a crisp sound of shattering bone, the Green Fox's skull was crushed beneath his foot. White brain matter spilled out, and the fox lost all signs of life.
Yuan Ming withdrew his foot and stared blankly at the thoroughly dead Green Fox.
He had chosen to continue hunting Green Foxes partly because he already understood the habits of this pack and believed that even if he could not defeat them, he would not be in danger. More importantly, he wanted to test his own strength.
Twenty days ago, a Green Fox had been a powerful fierce beast that he found difficult to face head-on. Yet twenty days later, this one could not even last two moves against him.
Without realizing it, his strength had surged to such an extent!
Yuan Ming suppressed the excitement in his eyes. After taking out his blood storage pouch and collecting the Green Fox's blood, he returned near the Green Fox nest to wait for the others.
After one day, he had successfully hunted three Green Foxes.
On the second day, he again came outside the mountain hollow and, without much effort, hunted another two Green Foxes.
The task he had barely managed to complete last month at the risk of his life was now accomplished with ease.
"I have yet to complete the first layer of the Nine Yuan Art, yet the Fur Transformation Technique already possesses such might. If I keep cultivating at this rate, then once I achieve something in the first layer's formula—or even break through to the second layer—wouldn't I be able to swagger sideways through this forest?"
Yuan Ming stroked the ape hide on his body. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and the farther his thoughts ran. It seemed he had discovered a shortcut to becoming stronger without end.
But then he suddenly thought of something, and a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.
Though he had only just set foot on the path of cultivation, he still found it somewhat strange. This Fur Transformation Technique was simply too useful. As long as one cultivated mana, one could wield it, and its power increased so easily.
Naturally, the Nine Yuan Art had played a huge role in this, but he still felt uneasy.
Moreover, this was quite different from the immortals he had imagined, who could move mountains and fill seas, summon wind and call rain. Could it be that after cultivating a body full of mana, one could only display one's strength by turning into some half-human, half-beast monster? Being an immortal would be far too stifling then.
Once that thought arose in his heart, Yuan Ming could not help feeling more and more that something was wrong. Yet when asked exactly what was wrong, he could not put it into words.
He barely managed to settle his thoughts and pondered it again for a while. Unable to make sense of it for the moment, he simply cast the matter aside and headed toward his cave. Before long, he reached the vicinity of the gorge.
Just as Yuan Ming was about to descend, a low groan suddenly reached his ears.
A surprised look crossed his face. Why would there be someone here?
Following the sound, he found a black-robed figure lying prone in the grass, its body trembling without stop. The exposed skin was blood-red.
Yuan Ming did not rashly approach. After observing the person for a few moments, he suddenly gave a soft sound of surprise. He snapped off a small tree from the nearby woods and used it to turn the black-robed figure over.
The person's face was revealed. It was Wulu.
Yuan Ming had already noticed certain clues from the man's back, so he was not surprised.
Wulu's face was also crimson like blood. His lips trembled, his eyes rolled white, and he had long since lost consciousness.
"Has he come down with some kind of illness?" Yuan Ming silently guessed.
At that moment, blood began flowing from Wulu's nostrils, ears, eyes, and other openings. His breathing suddenly became rapid, but his aura was swiftly weakening.
After a brief hesitation, Yuan Ming still crouched down to examine Wulu's condition. He quickly discovered something. "It seems there is a problem with his heart meridians."
Wulu's heart was beating violently, ten times faster than an ordinary person's. The meridians around his chest were in disarray, his muscles convulsed, and the circulation of his blood and qi was severely obstructed.
Yuan Ming circulated his mana and rapidly tapped Wulu's chest more than ten times with his fingers. Finally, he pressed his palm against Wulu's chest, sending out a surge of mana to clear his meridians.
A quarter of an hour later, he withdrew his hand, a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead.
There were no medicinal herbs or tools in this place. This was all he could do. Whether Wulu lived or died would depend entirely on his own fate.
Perhaps Wulu's life was not meant to end. The blood and qi in his body gradually returned to normal, the blood-red color on his cheeks faded considerably, and he regained consciousness.
"Yuan Ming... is that you?" Wulu spoke with difficulty.
"Your condition is extremely serious. The blood and qi throughout your body have reversed into your heart. How did this happen?" Yuan Ming asked.
Wulu opened his mouth, seeming to want to speak but stopping himself.
"It is fine if you do not wish to say. But your condition is critical. I could only alleviate it slightly; I have not treated the root cause at all. It will recur soon enough. Do you have any medicine suited to the condition?" Yuan Ming waved a hand and asked.
Wulu hesitated, but his expression quickly became resolute. He looked toward his waist.
"There is medicine there?" Yuan Ming asked.
"Yes... please trouble Brother Yuan Ming... to take it for me..." Wulu said with difficulty.
Without another word, Yuan Ming took out a cloth bag from that spot. It contained quite a few miscellaneous items: four sealed bamboo tubes, two dark red stones, a white jade pendant, and a black jade bottle.
"Is it this jade bottle?" He picked up the black jade bottle.
Delight appeared on Wulu's face, and he immediately nodded.
Yuan Ming opened the jade bottle and poured out a dark red pill. It had no medicinal scent, so he could not determine what kind of pill it was.
He could not be bothered to care. He put the pill into Wulu's mouth.
Wulu swallowed the pill with difficulty. His face quickly turned blood-red again, even redder than before. The veins on his forehead bulged out, writhing like living creatures, while an extremely suppressed growl emerged from his throat. He looked as though he were enduring unbearable agony.
Yuan Ming frowned. Looking at Wulu, this did not resemble an illness.
It took the time to eat a meal before Wulu's condition finally began to improve. The bloody color gradually faded from his face, and the bulging veins slowly returned to normal.
He looked utterly exhausted, but he forced himself to sit cross-legged and circulate his energy to regulate his breathing.
Yuan Ming leaped onto a nearby tree and sat on a thick branch several zhang above the ground, circulating his energy to recover the mana he had just expended.
After a long while, Wulu's complexion completely recovered. A red glow flashed over his body, and the tiger hide at his waist rolled upward, clinging to him. In the blink of an eye, he completed his Fur Transformation Technique and turned into a Spotted Fierce Tiger over a zhang tall.
Yuan Ming's pupils contracted slightly. Wulu's body was nearly half again as large as it had been when Yuan Ming saw him by the stream last time.
As his cultivation steadily rose, the white ape he transformed into had also grown larger. Yet the extent of his growth seemed somewhat inferior to Wulu's.
Wulu looked toward Yuan Ming in the tree, cold light flickering in his eyes.
"I just saved your life, Brother Wulu. Why are you looking at me like that? Is this how people of the Southern Frontier treat their lifesavers?" Yuan Ming said with a smiling expression.
"Why did you save me?" Wulu asked in a low voice.
"You and I entered Jade Luo Cave together. Regardless of whether our relationship is good or bad, we can still be considered companions. It was nothing more than lifting a hand for me, so why would I not save you?" Yuan Ming said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Wulu's expression eased somewhat, though the cold light in his eyes had not faded.
"It seems Yuan has meddled where he was not wanted. Do not worry, I will not tell anyone about what happened today. Until we meet again." Yuan Ming stood, patted the dust from his backside, and prepared to leave.
"Wait." Wulu suddenly called out to stop Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming halted and turned to look down.
"No matter what, thank you, Brother Yuan Ming, for saving me this time. Great kindness needs no words of thanks. Consider this piece of Fire Pattern Iron my repayment." Wulu took a dark red stone from the cloth bag and tossed it up.
Yuan Ming raised an eyebrow. When he had opened Wulu's cloth bag earlier, he had already noticed that the two stones were no ordinary objects. They gave off faint fluctuations of spiritual power and were likely items needed by cultivators.
However, he did not catch the Fire Pattern Iron. With a flick of his hand, he sent it back.
"I did not save you because I coveted your possessions." Yuan Ming said evenly.
Wulu caught the Fire Pattern Iron. After staring blankly for a moment, he said, "Since Brother Yuan Ming refuses to accept this Fire Pattern Iron, then consider me indebted to you. If you need help with anything in the future, so long as it is within my ability, I will never refuse."
"You are too courteous. Until we meet again." Yuan Ming smiled faintly, then leaped away. Within a few breaths, he vanished into the mountain forest.
Wulu stood silently where he was, his expression strangely desolate.
A moment later, he turned and descended into the gorge, his figure quickly vanishing into the mist at its bottom.
Yuan Ming had not gone far. He was hidden in a large tree by the cliff more than ten zhang away, watching Wulu leave.
He was not some foolishly kind person. The reason he had saved Wulu was partly because they could at least be considered companions. Since saving Wulu was merely lifting a hand, he was not so cold-blooded as to sit by and watch him die.
On the other hand, Yuan Ming was also curious about how quickly Wulu's cultivation had improved. He wanted to use this chance to draw closer to him and learn about his circumstances.
However, Wulu's reaction had been somewhat beyond his expectations. The man seemed deeply concerned that others might learn of his episodes.
"So there really is something wrong with that attack." Yuan Ming muttered.
Still, he did not investigate further. He leaped down from the tree, soon crossed the gorge as well, returned to his cave, and continued cultivating in seclusion.
Wulu's matter was only a minor interruption. For Yuan Ming, only increasing his strength as quickly as possible could give him even a sliver of a chance to return to the Central Plains.
No matter what, his intuition told him that cultivating the Nine Yuan Art could not be wrong.
Three months passed in a flash.
During this time, aside from spending one or two days each month hunting Green Foxes to complete Jade Luo Cave's tasks and replenish his food supply, Yuan Ming did not leave his cave a single step. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating the Nine Yuan Art.
With such arduous cultivation, combined with the profoundness of the Nine Yuan Art, his mana rose rapidly.
One day, Yuan Ming was meditating in cultivation when his increasingly abundant mana suddenly boiled like water. It flowed out of his dantian on its own and surged into the meridians throughout his body.
His body trembled. A series of cracking sounds like colliding bones suddenly came from within him, and he could not help opening his mouth and spitting out.
A stream of green light burst forth, turning into a cloud of green radiance that circled around his body.
A chant sounded from within the radiance. The circling green light rapidly dispersed, and Yuan Ming was already standing.
"The first layer of the Nine Yuan Art has finally been cultivated!" Yuan Ming looked at his hands and muttered.
He was now equivalent to a first-layer Qi Refining Stage cultivator. He had truly stepped into the ranks of cultivators.
Yuan Ming's mana had increased severalfold compared to three months ago. Eager to learn how far the Fur Transformation Technique had progressed, he rose and went outside the cave, forming an incantation gesture and casting the technique.
The white ape hide at his waist swept upward and wrapped around his body. Countless blood threads emerged from the inner surface of the hide and pierced deep into his body.
Yuan Ming had grown accustomed to the pain. He gritted his teeth and endured it.
The heart-piercing agony quickly passed, and a white ape over a zhang tall appeared.
"My height is still about the same as before. It seems I have reached the limit." He compared himself to a nearby large tree and muttered.
Over the past few months, as Yuan Ming's mana had continued to increase, the white ape he transformed into had constantly grown larger. Two months ago, it had reached its current height of over a zhang.
But ever since then, no matter how his mana increased, the white ape's height and build had changed little. It had clearly reached the limit of the Fur Transformation Technique.
Though its height had not increased, the density of the white ape's muscles had greatly risen. Huge, solid muscles bulged across its body, displaying the shocking strength contained within them. It was far beyond what it had been before.
He clenched his right fist and punched out, producing a deep, startling howl of wind as his fist struck a large tree.
Crack!
The tree, as thick as a water bucket, was blasted apart directly. Half of the broken trunk crashed to the ground, sending dust flying and startling birds and beasts into retreat!
Yuan Ming withdrew his fist, satisfaction appearing on his face.
With his current strength, dealing with Green Foxes would naturally be effortless. Even that yellow armadillo, which excelled in defense, likely would not dare face his full-powered blow head-on.
"With my current strength, I wonder whether I can cross the Hundred Thousand Mountains and return to the Central Plains?" Amid his excitement, the thought of escape could not help rising in his mind.
But when he thought of the Heart Rot Pill poison in his body, his boiling blood turned cold again.
"What use is strength, no matter how great, if I remain in this forest filled with nothing but fierce beasts and Furred Beast Slaves? No, I have to find a way to truly escape this place!" Yuan Ming clenched his fists.
His current identity was that of a furred beast slave of Jade Luo Cave. He had no opportunity to contact the outside world. His only channel to the outside was Elder Huohuo, but how could Elder Huohuo possibly give him the true antidote to the Heart Rot Pill?
"Right, several months have passed now. I wonder if that incense burner can be lit again? Perhaps I can use it to contact the outside world?" Yuan Ming slapped his forehead. How had he forgotten that treasure?
He immediately dispelled his Fur Transformation Technique, returned to the stone cave, and used his mana to summon the incense burner.
Yuan Ming held the incense burner in both hands. He felt a warm current seep from his palms into his mind, instantly invigorating his spirit.
But at that moment, he had no time to savor the pleasure of that mental refreshment. His eyes were fixed tightly on the green incense burner before him.
Compared to before, the incense burner seemed to have undergone considerable changes. A small portion of the taiji pattern on it had become bright, while the other areas remained dim.
"It seems that after a certain amount of time, this taiji pattern will recover its brightness on its own. I wonder whether I will be able to travel through it again then?" he silently guessed.
However, judging by the recovery speed of the taiji pattern, it would still take quite a long time before it became completely bright.
Before you continue