Essence Accumulating Arm

Yuan Ming followed Hagon through the forest and across ravines for more than half an hour before they finally arrived at a hidden valley.

The moment he reached the mouth of the valley, Yuan Ming wrinkled his nose and stopped.

"What is that strange smell?" he asked, covering his nose.

He caught a scent somewhat like sulfur, though in truth it was far more complex.

"The smell of Beast Repelling Powder. It can drive away some venomous insects and ferocious beasts, keeping them from coming near here." Hagon pointed at the red-and-white powder scattered across the ground not far ahead and explained.

"Can this be traded for inside as well?" Yuan Ming asked, raising a brow.

"It can, but there's not much use for the stuff. Sure, it drives away some venomous insects and ferocious beasts, but it also makes it easy to expose your hiding place. Sometimes, people are even more dangerous than ferocious beasts," Hagon said.

The entrance to the valley was rather narrow, like a natural pass. Yet once inside, the view suddenly opened up into a broad expanse, as though they had passed through a toad's mouth and entered its belly.

Not long after the two entered the valley, several crudely built stone houses came into view ahead, piled together from rocks.

None of the stone houses had doors, only hollow doorways left open, with vague human figures visible inside.

Around these stone houses stood several others dressed in animal hides. There were not many of them, and every one wore a numb expression, their faces devoid of emotion.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to go over for a look, Hagon stopped him.

"Watch what you say in a moment. Don't provoke those Registered Disciples. Most of them don't have very good tempers," Hagon reminded him.

Yuan Ming nodded silently at that.

He walked up to the first stone house and looked inside. The furnishings were exceedingly simple: only a wooden table and a reclining chair.

A young man in a bluish-green cloth robe lounged leisurely in the reclining chair, gently rocking back and forth. He held a blue paper-bound book in his hand, covering half his face, looking utterly at ease.

A wooden sign stood on the table before him, bearing a sheet of white paper with the words: "Purchasing mature spirit herbs and all types of ores."

There was only that one simple line. It did not state what specifically he was buying, nor the required ages.

The neighboring stone house also contained a table with a wooden sign on it. A similar white sheet of paper read: "Purchasing spirit herbs, ores, beast bones, Blood Food."

The difference was that this room was empty, with no one inside.

The other two stone houses were much the same, each with its own displays, though all of them looked rather crude.

In the last stone house, Yuan Ming happened to see two Furred Beast Slaves conducting a transaction with the registered disciple inside.

That disciple looked extremely impatient, picking through the two dark-red ores and a waxy-yellow herb that resembled ginseng brought by the Furred Beast Slaves.

In the end, he dismissed the furred beast slave with a small white porcelain bottle.

Only after profusely thanking him did that furred beast slave leave with the bottle, his face brimming with delight.

"Two pieces of Fire Pattern Iron Ore and a Crimson Yellow Essence, traded for just one bottle of Blood Replenishing Pills. These bastards are getting more and more black-hearted," Hagon muttered beside Yuan Ming.

His voice was very soft, so quiet that almost no one besides himself could have heard it.

Yet Yuan Ming heard every word clearly.

He did not ask further here. Only after he and Hagon had walked some distance away did he speak up.

"What, did that furred beast slave get the short end of the stick in that deal?"

"Getting the short end of the stick is common enough, but this bastard drove the price down far too ruthlessly this time. Those two pieces of Fire Pattern Iron Ore alone were enough to trade for a bottle of Blood Replenishing Pills. And that Crimson Yellow Essence, at that thickness, had to be at least fifty years old no matter how you looked at it. It was practically handed to him for free." Hagon was first taken aback, then said indignantly.

Yuan Ming was still unfamiliar with the ways of such dealings, so he asked Hagon more questions and learned from him about the various spirit medicines and ores that those Registered Disciples collected year-round, along with their characteristics.

"I'm rather surprised that Jade Luo Cave actually allows such a trading place to exist," Yuan Ming said in wonder.

"You'll understand once you've been here long enough. Jade Luo Cave's control over these Registered Disciples is extremely lax. So long as they complete the sect's assigned tasks, the sect does not concern itself with anything else," Hagon said, tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Yuan Ming felt these matters were still too far removed from what he was doing now, so he did not pay them much mind.

After making a round through the valley, Yuan Ming bade Hagon farewell and left on his own.

Hagon merely gave a simple farewell in return, and the two went their separate ways. Neither mentioned whether they would meet again in the future.

In the blink of an eye, more than three months passed.

It was noon, yet dark clouds blanketed the sky. The low-hanging canopy seemed to press down upon the ancient trees of the forest, creating an oppressive atmosphere.

Within the dense mountain woods, a massive white ape stretched out its long arms and swung through the towering ancient trees. Each swing carried it more than thirty meters, and it moved with astonishing speed.

This was naturally no wild mountain ape, but Yuan Ming transformed through the Furring Technique.

At this moment, his entire body was drenched in sweat, and several shocking bloody wounds marked his body. Yet his eyes remained bright as he vigilantly scanned his surroundings, occasionally looking back behind him.

Less than ninety meters away, the earth shook, trees snapped, and clouds of dust rose in every direction.

A Black-haired Boar, nearly three meters long and almost two meters tall, roared as hot breath sprayed from its nostrils. It charged after Yuan Ming in a mad pursuit.

A pair of white tusks like long halberds grew from either side of its mouth, gleaming with a chilling white light and incomparably sharp. Whenever trees blocked its way, it simply pierced straight through them.

At the same time, a faint, invisible curtain of light shimmered between the two tusks, like a triangular shield covering its head. Whenever it rammed into a tree pierced by its tusks, it could smash the tree into pieces in a single blow.

One of the ferocious boar's eyes had been injured by Yuan Ming and was now a mangled blur of flesh and blood. Its other eye was blood-red, overflowing with dense hatred and killing intent. It would not rest until it had hunted Yuan Ming down.

Though it was not slow and possessed terrifying strength, countless ancient trees stood in its way. Its repeated charges were constantly obstructed, making it naturally difficult to catch Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming seemed to have seized upon this very point. Rather than fleeing in haste, he deliberately suppressed his speed, always keeping himself at a distance where the boar could see him.

Whenever he noticed the boar beginning to slacken, he would even stop to provoke it, luring the ferocious beast into continuing its pursuit.

Yuan Ming was naturally not idly amusing himself. He wanted to use this method to grind down the boar's savagery and exhaust its stamina. Only once its strength had weakened could he be certain of killing it in a single strike.

Thus, ape and boar continued their chase through the mountain forest for another half hour or so.

Yuan Ming listened carefully with both ears and discovered that the boar's breathing had begun to grow heavy, its pounding footsteps had become disordered, and its speed when crashing through ancient trees had fallen. He knew the moment had arrived.

He hung from an ancient tree by one arm, panting continuously from exhaustion as well, looking as though he could no longer run.

The boar, which had already been struggling to keep up, instantly perked up at this sight. It let out a howl and charged at Yuan Ming once more with all its strength.

This time, Yuan Ming deliberately slowed down. Only when the boar had chased to within nearly twelve meters of him did he swing out again, sharply twist his direction, and leap toward the gap between two ancient trees on the other side.

As the boar pursued him, its center of gravity suddenly shifted. It actually made a sharp turn and thundered after Yuan Ming.

It saw the two old trees growing side by side and leaped up, intending to pass straight between them.

The gap between the two trees looked as though it had been tailored precisely for it—not too wide, not too narrow, just enough for the boar's body to pass through.

But in truth, Yuan Ming had indeed chosen those two trees for it long ago.

The instant the boar leaped up, Yuan Ming had already twisted around and come to a stop.

He picked up a White Bone Dagger he had placed there beforehand. The Nine Yuan Art whirled madly within him, and the spiritual power in his dantian transformed into a warm current that surged upward through his meridians and into his right arm.

The veins on his right arm immediately bulged, its fur bristled, and its muscles swelled. At a visible rate, it doubled in size, becoming far thicker than before.

This was the second minor divine ability derived from the white ape hide of his Furring Technique after his Nine Yuan Art entered the second level of Qi Refinement. He had named it himself: the Essence Accumulating Arm.

Once this divine ability was activated, the form of his right arm would change, and the force it could unleash would instantly increase threefold.

However, this explosive power was only momentary and could not be sustained for long.

Based on this trait, Yuan Ming had developed a method of storing power for throwing attacks at a distance.

His hand clenched tightly around the short spear, his arm instantly tensing as power continued to gather and accumulate. As he swung his arm, he let out a fierce roar.

"Go!"

At the same instant his voice rang out, the White Bone Dagger in his hand shot forth with a piercing whistle through the air.

The ferocious boar had just reached the space between the two old trees, hemmed in on both sides with no way to dodge. It could only rely on the light shield covering its head to take Yuan Ming's charged strike head-on.

It was like a clash between spear and shield, yet the battle ended the instant they touched.

With a pfft, the White Bone Dagger pierced through the invisible curtain of light, plunged into the ferocious boar's head, then passed through its entire body and shot out from its rear.

The boar's airborne body fell limply, lodging perfectly between the two old trees.

Yuan Ming's face lit up with joy. On one hand, he was delighted to have successfully killed the ferocious beast; on the other, he was satisfied with the power of his Essence Accumulating Arm.

He hurried forward, removed a blood-storage pouch from his waist, and deftly began collecting the ferocious boar's Blood Food.

Once he had finished collecting it, Yuan Ming immediately retrieved the White Bone Dagger and used its tip to slice open both corners of the boar's mouth, all the way until the roots of its two tusks were fully exposed.

This pair of tusks was also one of his targets. They contained traces of spiritual power and were precisely one of the ferocious beast spirit materials needed by the disciples of Jade Luo Cave.