Nurturing

While Yuan Ming focused wholeheartedly on practicing his footwork, Toad Valley remained bustling with people coming and going.

In a shaded clearing in the woods over ten miles from Toad Valley, Wubao, leader of the Green Wolf Gang, sat cross-legged, his eyes closed as he breathed in and out, circulating his energy.

Suddenly, a rapid patter of footsteps sounded, and a figure hurried over.

"Zan Bai, how did your inquiries go?" Wubao asked without opening his eyes.

"Gang Leader, just as you expected, Yuan Ming did indeed go to Toad Valley not long ago. Unfortunately, we arrived one step too late and let that brat slip away," Zan Bai said with a bow.

"Hmph. Even Bayin fell to his poisonous hand. Do you think a few men like you could have held him if you had arrived earlier?" Wubao abruptly opened his eyes and spoke coldly.

"Please quell your anger, Gang Leader. It was not as though I gained nothing. After Yuan Ming entered the valley, he made transactions with two people," Zan Bai hurriedly said.

Wubao merely looked at Zan Bai without speaking.

"One was the registered disciple Zhao Tong. He was somewhat greedy for money, and after receiving some benefits, he apparently sold Yuan Ming nothing more than a footwork technique. The other was called Tule, a member of the Earth Bear Society who specialized in secretly selling information. I reckon Yuan Ming may already have learned from him about our pursuit to kill him," Zan Bai continued with a dry laugh.

"I understand. Use every possible means to find where Yuan Ming is staying. I want to meet him personally. Also, remind those factions again—especially Hyena Hall—that if they capture Yuan Ming, they are not to kill him. I want him alive." As Wubao spoke, he closed his eyes again.

"Understood. This subordinate will take his leave," Zan Bai answered before retreating.

"Yuan Ming... You were able to kill Bayin by yourself, so you are likely already no lower than the second level of Qi Refining. You must be hiding some secret! I want to see exactly what kind of fortune could make your cultivation rise so quickly!" Wubao opened his eyes once more, his gaze blazing.

In the mountain forest near Yuan Ming's cave dwelling.

A bizarre figure flickered through the woods, appearing on the left one moment and on the right in the next instant. The shrubs and grass in the forest had no effect on it, and the strange figure did not touch a single blade of grass or leaf, as if it possessed no flesh-and-blood body.

The figure suddenly stopped atop a large rock, revealing Yuan Ming. He panted heavily, yet delight shone in his eyes.

He had returned here three days ago.

Over the past three days, Yuan Ming had not cultivated the Nine Yuan Art. He had devoted all his time and energy to practicing the Shadowless Step.

This place might be concealed, but no wall in the world was airtight. There was no guarantee that the Green Wolf Gang would not find him, so he had to raise his strength as much as possible.

He discovered that he possessed considerable talent for footwork. In merely a few days, he had already gained entry into the Shadowless Step.

The more he cultivated it, the more he understood the profundity of the Shadowless Step. Once activated, his body moved as swiftly as the wind, truly achieving the word "shadowless."

Moreover, this footwork excelled at nimble movement and maneuvering in narrow, complicated environments, making it quite compatible with his White Ape transformation.

However, using the Shadowless Step placed a great burden on the body and consumed an enormous amount of spiritual power. With the total amount of spiritual power he possessed at the third level of Qi Refining, even if he used no other spells, he could last only a quarter of an hour at most. If he wanted to make better use of this footwork, he would need to continue increasing his cultivation and tempering his body.

"A furred beast slave can obtain such a wondrous footwork technique. I wonder how formidable the spells and divine abilities of those Jade Luo Cave disciples must be!" Yuan Ming gazed toward the direction of Jade Luo Cave's Mountain Gate, and a measure of longing arose in his heart.

Yuan Ming came back to himself, sat down cross-legged, and began circulating the Nine Yuan Art.

After cultivating for so many days, he had discovered that the Nine Yuan Art could not only rapidly draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body to increase his spiritual power, but could also quickly restore his physical strength whenever he circulated it.

His ability to master the Shadowless Step in such a short time was also thanks to the recovery ability of the Nine Yuan Art.

Yuan Ming's stamina and spiritual power were soon fully restored, and he returned to the cave.

In a corner of the cave, Hagon sat cross-legged.

After recuperating over the past few days, the wound on Hagon's chest had already scabbed over. His daily movements were no longer hindered, though he would still need some time to recover completely.

He held his Green Wolf hide in both hands and murmured an incantation, seemingly performing some kind of spell. Yet it was not the Fur Transformation Technique; light flickered where his palms touched the beast hide.

"What are you doing?" Yuan Ming asked curiously.

Hagon did not answer Yuan Ming. He continued chanting for the time it took to eat a meal before finally opening his eyes, and the light on his palms faded away.

"My apologies. I was nurturing the Furred Beast Hide just now, and the process could not be interrupted," Hagon said with a hint of apology.

"It is no matter. But what does nurturing Furred Beast Hide mean? How come I have never heard of it?" Yuan Ming had already sat down to cultivate, but he opened his eyes and asked.

"It is somewhat complicated to explain. We must begin with the method by which these Furred Beast Hides are refined." Hagon seemed to be choosing his words. He fell silent for a while before speaking.

"You know the refinement process for Furred Beast Hides? I would be honored to hear the details." Yuan Ming's eyes lit up.

"I only heard about it from a Jade Luo Cave disciple who ran a stall in Toad Valley. Jade Luo Cave throws living ferocious beasts into a secret array. As the formation operates, the beast's flesh, bones, beast soul, and everything else are transformed into primordial energy and refined into its hide. If nothing goes wrong during the process, a Furred Beast Hide is born. The Furred Beast Hides in our hands may look like mere hides, but they actually contain the entirety of a ferocious beast's life essence," Hagon explained.

"Beast souls..." Hearing this, Yuan Ming recalled what had happened when the incense burner strengthened the two beast hides.

He had previously suspected that Furred Beast Hides contained beast souls. It now appeared that this was indeed the case.

"The primordial energy refined from a ferocious beast's flesh and bones is actually nothing much. The most important thing inside a Furred Beast Hide is its beast soul! Brother Yuan, after using the Fur Transformation Technique for so long, you should be able to sense the beast soul within it, more or less, shouldn't you?" Hagon continued.

"I have noticed something," Yuan Ming replied with a sound of acknowledgment.

"These Furred Beast Hides are already dead objects, and the beast souls inside them have been slowly weakening all along. So-called nurturing of Furred Beast Hides is actually the use of spiritual power to nourish the hides and stabilize the beast souls within," Hagon finally came to the point.

"The weakening of a beast soul cannot be reversed, can it? Then what exactly is the purpose of stabilizing the beast soul within?" Yuan Ming nodded first, then asked.

"Nurturing the beast hide can not only slow the weakening of its beast soul, but also make oneself increasingly compatible with the Fur Transformation Technique, allowing one to control the transformation better. With enough luck, it may even stimulate the beast soul's potential and awaken one or two abilities. Of course, such things can only be encountered, not sought, and require an extremely long period of time," Hagon said, a trace of anticipation flashing through his eyes.

"Stimulating the beast soul's potential, awakening new abilities!" Yuan Ming silently repeated the words in his heart and glanced at his right arm.

Judging from how the mysterious incense burner had previously repaired beast hides and activated abilities, it too was nurturing beast souls to some extent, and its effects far surpassed the nurturing secret technique Hagon had described.

"Are you interested in the secret method for nurturing beast hides? I happened to obtain this technique by chance, so I will give you a copy." Seeing Yuan Ming stare blankly into space, Hagon assumed that he was interested in the nurturing secret technique. He took out a beast hide covered in tiny writing and handed it over.

"Then I will thank you, Brother Hagon." Yuan Ming was indeed interested in the nurturing technique, so he did not stand on ceremony.

"Brother Yuan saved my life. How could such a minor secret technique be worth mentioning?" Hagon laughed heartily. He then gave Yuan Ming a few pointers on the nurturing secret technique before closing his eyes and resuming his cultivation.

Yuan Ming found that the contents of this nurturing technique were not complicated. Its principle was roughly to transform the spiritual power within one's body into a certain kind of energy capable of nourishing the soul, then inject it into the beast hide through a special method to nourish the beast soul. The strength of a Furred Beast Hide was closely bound to the strength of the beast soul contained within it.

After roughly comprehending it, he immediately began circulating the Nine Yuan Art. He slowly injected spiritual power into the White Ape Skin and operated it according to the nurturing secret technique. Wisps of white light appeared where his palm touched the ape hide, just as they had when Hagon performed his spell.

Yuan Ming nodded to himself at the sight and continued circulating his spiritual power.

Time passed bit by bit. In the blink of an eye, half a day had gone by, and he discovered that his connection with the White Ape Skin had indeed strengthened somewhat.

However, the degree of improvement was truly limited. To enhance the power of the Fur Transformation Technique this way, he would need to cultivate painstakingly for years on end. Moreover, it consumed a fair amount of spiritual power and would affect his daily cultivation.

"Previously, when I used the incense burner to strengthen beast hides, it depended entirely on whether the hides would absorb it themselves. Now that I have this nurturing secret technique, if I use it to guide the stream of heat within the incense burner into the White Ape Skin, would it be more effective?" A thought suddenly occurred to him.

He acted as soon as the thought arose. Yuan Ming quietly came to a concealed spot outside the cave and took out the incense burner, holding it in his hand.

A stream of heat flowed out from the incense burner. Yuan Ming hurriedly circulated the nurturing technique, attempting to guide the stream of heat and carefully gather it in his right hand.

I hope this technique works. He silently prayed, then flicked out a finger and injected the incense burner's stream of heat into the White Ape Skin.

Like a sponge, the White Ape Skin absorbed the stream of heat. The entire beast hide moved without wind, then activated the Fur Transformation Technique on its own, attaching itself to Yuan Ming's body and transforming him into a White Ape.

White patterns emerged across the White Ape body, flashing with bright white light. The phantom of the ape soul appeared once more, noticeably more solid than before.

In addition, Yuan Ming discovered that his connection with the ape hide had deepened slightly. By a conservative estimate, it was equivalent to two months of cultivating the nurturing technique.

He let out a breath of relief, then continued urging the stream of heat from the incense burner into the ape hide. The white patterns on the hide grew increasingly bright.

After injecting more than a dozen streams of heat in succession, even with the nurturing technique's support, the White Ape Skin no longer absorbed the incense burner's heat.

At this moment, the patterns on the ape hide had become much thicker and shone with brilliant light. The White Ape phantom had also become half-illusory and half-solid, releasing bursts of excited roars.

Yuan Ming's connection with the ape hide on his body deepened greatly. He could clearly sense the flow of demonic power within the ape hide, and could even perceive that while the demonic power maintained the Fur Transformation Technique, it was also constantly invading his meridians, internal organs, dantian, and even his mind like mercury spilling across the ground.

"So this is how the Fur Transformation Technique's erosion works." He put away the incense burner and narrowed his eyes.

Now that he knew the route by which demonic power backlashed against his body, he would naturally have a few more chances of resisting it in the future.