Beast Transformation

After the spirit root test, the Dual Spirit Root "genius" young man who called himself Yiguo was personally taken by Elder Saren to the grandest hall behind the plaza.

After that, the other two Wildlings with Triple Spirit Roots were also led away. Only the seven with Quad Spirit Roots, including Yuan Ming, remained. They were still led by the bare-chested giant Huzha as they left Candle Spirit Hall.

Once they had moved far from that area, Huzha suddenly took the initiative to speak to them.

"I know you all resent me now, but one day, when you look back on what has happened these past few days, you'll feel fortunate."

The Wildlings were still shaken, each staring at him eagerly. Though they understood his words, no one dared pick up the thread of conversation.

"Because of the test just now?" Yuan Ming spoke for the first time in days. He spoke in the barbarian tongue of Southern Border, yet not the least bit awkwardly.

"So you speak our Southern Border tongue. That's rather rare."

Huzha was somewhat surprised and gave Yuan Ming another look, but then continued speaking to himself.

"Countless mortals dream of embarking upon the path of cultivating immortality and seeking longevity, yet suffer for lack of even the slightest avenue. Though you were forcibly abducted, being able to join our Jade Luo Cave is still a tremendous stroke of fortune for you. If one day you can move mountains and overturn seas, summon wind and call rain, don't forget me, the one who showed you the way."

Huzha grinned, hooking a thumb toward himself.

Hearing this, the Wildlings looked at one another, but some of them truly did thank Huzha.

Southern Border had always revered strength and respected absolute power. An opportunity to embark upon the path of the strong was indeed exceedingly rare.

"What did you mean earlier by Furred Beast Slave?" Yuan Ming asked again at that moment.

Hearing this, Huzha froze again. He seemingly had not expected this Central Plains man to have been paying attention to the conversation between him and Elder Saren all along.

"I've long heard that Central Plains people are cunning. Now that I see it, you've got more tricks in your hearts than us Southern Border folk. But let me remind you: being too clever here may not be a good thing." Huzha's face turned cold as he rebuked him.

With that, he seemed to lose interest in speaking further with Yuan Ming and the others, leading them westward.

Along the way, Yuan Ming ignored the hostile or questioning looks the others occasionally cast his way, while silently pondering the information Huzha had let slip earlier.

Becoming a Furred Beast Slave did not sound like a good thing. Otherwise, Huzha would not have been so unwilling to say more. Still, it seemed their lives were not in danger for the time being.

As for this so-called path of cultivating immortality, Yuan Ming did not know whether it was merely something Huzha had said to fool them. Though he could not remember many things, he still understood what becoming immortal meant.

For now, he could only take one step at a time—keep himself alive first, then worry about everything else.

About half a quarter of an hour later, Huzha led the seven of them to a remote area. From afar, they saw a towering stone wall stretching for dozens of li. Its gate was made entirely of bronze and looked incomparably heavy.

Several fortress-like structures had been built in the open ground just inside the gate.

As Huzha led them past, someone dressed similarly to Huzha suddenly emerged from one of the fortresses. After exchanging a few words with Huzha, he allowed them to pass.

For some reason, Yuan Ming felt that the man's gaze held a complicated blend of pity and mockery when he looked at them.

Beyond the bronze gate lay a dense primeval mountain forest.

Huge, towering trees grew thickly throughout the forest, each one a giant tree requiring two or three people to encircle it. Their massive crowns intertwined overhead, with only occasional gaps allowing sunlight through. The ground below was thick with low shrubs.

A thin mist hung over the forest. A narrow path wound through the bushes, stretching to the end of sight.

The moment Yuan Ming entered the forest, he felt the temperature around him drop slightly. Birdsong and insect chirps rang out from all around, while his nostrils filled with the peculiar scent of damp earth and plants.

After entering the forest, the Wildlings beside him actually appeared more relaxed, as though they had returned to their own homeland. Huzha, who led the way, on the other hand, seemed noticeably more tense.

Whenever beastly roars sounded from afar, he would swiftly turn his head to look.

All along the way, no one had told them exactly what they were going to do, and none of them dared ask. But Yuan Ming had already vaguely guessed that this was unlikely to be a place for cultivating immortality.

They followed the forest path for another half quarter of an hour before an open clearing appeared ahead. At its center stood an enormous bluish-black boulder several zhang tall, its rough surface carved with a line of dark-red Southern Border writing.

Hundred Thousand Mountains Boundary One. Yuan Ming silently read it over in his mind.

At that moment, he noticed a tall man in a gray robe standing beside the bluish-black boulder with his hands behind his back, facing away from them.

Hearing the commotion, the tall man slowly turned around. He was a stern-faced middle-aged man with square, well-defined features. His thick brows were slightly furrowed, and his eyes were somewhat cold.

"Elder Huohuo, these are the new batch of Furred Beast Slaves. I've brought them to you," Huzha said. His expression also grew somewhat tense upon seeing the man.

"Good." The middle-aged man called Elder Huohuo nodded.

"Then I'll return and report back." Huzha answered, then turned and left.

After Huzha departed, Elder Huohuo casually swept his gaze over Yuan Ming and the others. His expression was indifferent, and he looked at them as though they were a few trees or several stones, without the slightest emotion.

After looking them over, he raised a hand and patted the palm-sized purple cloth pouch hanging at his waist. An inconspicuous glimmer of light spread from the pouch.

The next moment, strange beast hides of all shapes and kinds appeared out of thin air in Elder Huohuo's hand.

Yuan Ming rubbed his eyes. He had not seen at all how those things had appeared.

The Wildlings were even more dumbfounded, taking it for a divine miracle.

Yuan Ming gathered his thoughts and examined them closely. Among the hides were those of a jet-black leopard, a bluish wolf, a brindled-maned boar, a gray-white old ape, a brown mottled bear, a brilliantly striped tiger, and even a hairless green rhinoceros hide.

The reason he recognized these pelts at a glance was that, though each was only half a hide, they had all been skinned off together with the animal's head and facial skin. The boar's tusks and the rhinoceros's horn had both been preserved intact.

Elder Huohuo walked behind them and placed the beast hides over their heads one by one. Half of each pelt draped down their backs, as though they had put on short hooded cloaks.

The gray-white old ape hide was placed over Yuan Ming's head. The skin on his face pressed against the white ape's flesh and hide, making it itch slightly. He could also smell a faint bloody odor in his nose—not foul, but far from pleasant.

Afterward, Elder Huohuo patted the pouch at his waist again, and seven brown leather sacs appeared out of thin air in his hand. Each was painted with a strange blood-red pattern.

"For the next three days, you will cross this boundary marker and survive in the forest beyond. During that time, each of you must hunt a wild beast such as a jackal, wolf, tiger, or leopard alone, fill this beastskin pouch with its blood, and bring it back," Elder Huohuo said.

As he spoke, he tossed the beastskin pouches before them.

Is this supposed to be the test for becoming a Furred Beast Slave? Yuan Ming grumbled inwardly.

At that moment, he noticed the expressions of the other Wildlings changing. They seemed somewhat unwilling, somewhat troubled, and somewhat afraid.

"Three days from now, provided you complete it successfully, you will receive a basic cultivation method—the Blood Qi Method," Elder Huohuo continued.

At this point, one Wildling spoke up tremblingly. "Elder, could you give us some tools? Even a stone axe or a stone knife would do."

With their mortal bodies, surviving in this vast forest without relying on anything else would be far too difficult. Not to mention they also had to hunt wild beasts and gather beast blood. One wrong move, and they might end up buried in a beast's belly.

"Tools? Hmph... you won't need them." Elder Huohuo gave a soft laugh.

Before anyone could understand what he meant, his figure flashed abruptly, and he appeared before them. Raising a hand, he pressed it onto one of them.

As a green light lit up in his palm, the man immediately let out a miserable howl, frightening the others into backing away.

The black panther hide draped over the man Elder Huohuo had pinned down glowed with a dark light. Strands of fur suddenly stood on end, and the hide, which had originally only covered half his body, seemed to come alive. It continuously stretched and lengthened, spreading over him and wrapping him up.

Yuan Ming looked over and saw that the man's eyes had turned blood-red, thickly webbed with veins. His mouth gaped wide, saliva spilling uncontrollably from the corners of his lips. The sound emerging from his throat was gradually changing as well, becoming less and less like a human voice and increasingly like the roar of a wild beast.

This process lasted for more than a dozen breaths. By the time the man's howling ceased, the black panther hide had wrapped tightly around him, as though it had grown onto his body.

The man's face had also become that of a black panther, though his body still retained a human skeleton. He now looked like a strange half-human, half-beast creature with a panther's head and a human body.

The moment his transformation was complete, he immediately crouched low to the ground. Even his temperament seemed to have drawn closer to that of a beast. Yet his eyes had not fully turned bestial—the blood-red color had faded somewhat, replaced by a trace more humanity.

"Don't worry. This is the Furring Technique, and it will be what you rely on to survive and hunt beasts over the next three days." After saying this, Elder Huohuo walked toward the second person.

As his palm landed on that man's body, another piercing howl rang through the mountain forest.

More than a dozen breaths later, a monster with a wolf's head, a human body, and long green fur all over appeared before them.

Although he had already witnessed it once, Yuan Ming still felt no small shock. Simply draping oneself in a beast hide could turn someone into such a terrifying monster—it was truly unimaginable.

Though he was utterly unwilling, circumstances forced his hand. If he dared show even the slightest resistance, Elder Huohuo would surely show no mercy. He would probably kill him with a single palm strike.

As he weighed this in his mind, Elder Huohuo stepped up before him, and his palm fell onto Yuan Ming's shoulder.