Strange Occurrence

Yuan Ming glanced at Hagon, who was still sitting with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing. He did not disturb him, instead raising his head to look toward the top of the canyon.

He was not worried that Wubao and the others would pursue them inside. The canyon covered a vast area; let alone the Green Wolf Gang and Hyena Hall, which together had only a few dozen men, even if their numbers were multiplied tenfold, finding them would be like searching for a needle in the sea.

Yuan Ming was thinking about his Azure Fish Sword. During his earlier fight with the white-furred monster, he had left the sword behind.

The sword was a Half-Magic Tool, exceptionally sharp. It would be far too regrettable to lose it just like that.

But going back to retrieve it now would increase the risk of exposing himself.

"Forget it. It's only a treasured sword." After weighing the matter again and again, Yuan Ming ultimately abandoned the idea of risking himself to recover the Azure Fish Sword and sat down cross-legged.

His White Ape transformation had originally been exceedingly ordinary among the Fur Transformation Technique, yet after several evolutions of the beast hide, he believed it was no less formidable than any Furred Beast Hide. Compared with Wubao and Jin Kun, he was not inferior in the slightest.

In comparison, his cultivation was still a notch weaker.

If his cultivation could advance further and reach the fourth level of Qi Refining, then when facing Wubao and the others again, he would not be in such a miserable state as he had been today.

Yuan Ming steadied his mind and began cultivating with his eyes closed, gradually forgetting both self and surroundings.

While Yuan Ming and Hagon cultivated leisurely within the canyon, Wubao had mobilized the Green Wolf Gang to search for them like madmen. Yet how could they possibly find them?

He guessed that Yuan Ming might have hidden in the Misty Canyon and had sent people down to search. But Misty Canyon was vast and filled with fog; after searching for several days, they had not found the slightest clue.

As time passed, Yuan Ming seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth and never appeared again. Complaints began to arise within the Green Wolf Gang, for they still had to hand over Blood Food every month.

Wubao remained preoccupied with the possible secret Yuan Ming possessed. Though unwilling, he could only helplessly give up.

Yet the tale of how Yuan Ming had escaped unscathed despite being pursued and intercepted by both the Green Wolf Gang and Hyena Hall spread like wildfire. Coupled with his disappearance, the name Yuan Ming resounded throughout the region for a time, passed from mouth to mouth among the Furred Beast Slaves.

Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, another half year passed.

Inside a hidden cave at the bottom of the canyon, Yuan Ming sat cross-legged, a faint glow flickering across his face.

There was no sign of Hagon either inside or outside the cave.

The white mist outside the cave suddenly surged violently like boiling water. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth nearby was also stirred, converging toward the cave.

The gathering of spiritual energy lasted for a quarter of an hour before finally subsiding.

Within the cave, Yuan Ming was enveloped in a layer of fluorescence, and his entire person appeared completely renewed.

As he circulated the Nine Yuan Art, a powerful wave of magical power spread out, more than twice as strong as before.

Yuan Ming opened his eyes, his expression brimming with delight.

Among the thirteen levels of Qi Refining, the first through third levels were merely the foundation. Only upon reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining could one be considered to have achieved a small degree of mastery.

In half a year, he had risen from the third level of Qi Refining to the fourth, considerably slower than before.

Yet Yuan Ming was not dissatisfied in the slightest. As cultivation grew deeper, the time needed for breakthroughs lengthened greatly. After the third level of Qi Refining, each further level ordinarily had to be measured in years.

He had broken through to the fourth level in only half a year, all thanks to the profundity of the Nine Yuan Art. This was already extremely fast, and his cultivation had not even been uninterrupted, since he still had to secretly leave the canyon every month to exchange for antidotes.

Yuan Ming circulated the Nine Yuan Art and briefly stabilized his realm before impatiently stepping outside the cave. He used the Fur Transformation Technique and assumed the form of a white ape.

The white ape did not appear much different from before, but Yuan Ming could clearly sense that the strength of his physical body had surged once more. Every movement of his hands and feet sent tremendous force rippling outward.

He picked up a piece of bluish stone from the ground and gave it a light squeeze.

Crack!

The hard stone shattered at once, turning into a cloud of stone powder that drifted slowly down from between his fingers.

A flicker of surprise passed through Yuan Ming's eyes. He had originally thought that as his cultivation rose, the Fur Transformation Technique's enhancement of his physical strength would gradually weaken, just like the change in his body size. Yet the White Ape Skin seemed to be different—the increase in strength had not diminished, but grown stronger instead.

He returned to the cave and took out his bundle. A long sword wrapped in cloth was tucked diagonally inside. It was the Azure Fish Sword.

He had quite a connection with this sword. During that great battle with the white-furred monster, the Azure Fish Sword had been left behind in the forest. Fearing that Wubao and the others might trace his trail, he had not retrieved it in time and had assumed the sword was surely lost.

Who would have thought that when he later went out to gather food, he happened to pass through that place and found the Azure Fish Sword still lying quietly in the forest?

Yuan Ming climbed upward and soon reached the top.

He went to a large tree nearby and took a bamboo tube from a gap between the tree root. Inside was a piece of beast hide.

Yuan Ming opened the beast hide. It was covered in tiny writing, detailing the recent situation in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Hagon had left it behind.

Hagon had recovered from his injuries and departed not long after entering the canyon. In order to stay promptly informed of developments in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, Yuan Ming had used the same method as before, having Hagon leave information here every month.

As he read the information on the beast hide, Yuan Ming's gaze turned several degrees colder.

On the surface, the Green Wolf Gang was no longer offering a reward for his capture. In truth, Wubao had not given up, and the secret rewards he offered had increased considerably from before.

But Yuan Ming was no longer the man he had once been. In cultivation alone, he could now rival Wubao, so naturally he had nothing to fear.

Apart from that, the Hundred Thousand Mountains remained fairly peaceful, with nothing unusual taking place.

Yuan Ming put away the beast hide, took out a headscarf to wrap around his head and face, and headed toward Toad Valley.

He had previously asked Hagon to purchase something from Zhao Tong on his behalf. Nearly two months had passed by now, so Zhao Tong should have prepared it.

While traveling, Yuan Ming subconsciously activated the Shadowless Step.

With the improvement in his cultivation and magical power, he could now use it with far greater ease, able to draw it in and release it at will.

Halfway there, the nearby forest rustled, and a plump gray rabbit darted out, fleeing frantically into the distance.

Yuan Ming had secluded himself for three days and three nights to break through his bottleneck, without a drop of water entering his mouth. He was somewhat hungry now, so he formed a hand seal and pointed into the air.

A flash of azure light appeared beneath the running rabbit, and a sharp wooden spike emerged from nowhere, accurately piercing through its body and bursting out through its back.

The gray rabbit squealed miserably and struggled a few times before soon falling still.

He got up and picked up the rabbit's corpse. Just as he was about to skin and clean it, his movements suddenly halted, his gaze falling on the rabbit's jaw and forelegs.

They were smeared with quite a bit of blood, dark red and black in color. It was absolutely not the rabbit's own blood.

Yuan Ming picked a strand of soft, fiery-red long hair from the coagulated blood. It was clearly human hair.

His expression turned grave as he rose and walked toward the forest from which the rabbit had emerged.

At first, he found nothing. But after walking only a short distance, the scent of blood drifted over from ahead.

Following the scent, Yuan Ming walked forward and soon reached a valley. He pushed aside the lush vegetation at its entrance, and his expression abruptly changed.

Several corpses lay scattered haphazardly throughout the valley. They were all Furred Beast Slaves, and every one of their bodies had been torn into several pieces, their deaths too ghastly to behold.

Their Furred Beast Hides had likewise been torn into pieces and completely ruined.

Yuan Ming's brows furrowed deeply!

Since entering the Hundred Thousand Mountains, he had seen his share of bloody slaughter. But this was the first time he had witnessed such a brutal act of dismemberment. No furred beast slave would likely do such a thing, and it did not seem to be the work of a ferocious beast either.

Suppressing his nausea, he carefully examined the corpses, but unfortunately found nothing.

Yuan Ming did not linger any longer and quickly departed.

He had lost his appetite as well. Continuing on his way, he soon reached Toad Valley.

Yet Toad Valley, usually quite lively, was now completely silent, giving off an eerie feeling.

As Yuan Ming walked, his gaze swept about. The stone houses that disciples of Jade Luo Cave had previously used for business were all shut tight. Not a single person could be seen in the entire valley.

He soon arrived before Zhao Tong's stone house, which was likewise deserted.

"Could something have happened?" Yuan Ming muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

The information Hagon had given him said there were no other abnormalities in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. It seemed this drastic change in Toad Valley had occurred only recently.

Yuan Ming stood in silence for a moment and was about to turn and leave when he suddenly remembered something. He went behind the stone house and reached his hand into a gap between two large rocks in the corner.

He soon pulled his hand back, now holding a piece of beast hide in his palm.

Yuan Ming and Zhao Tong had traded many times and were quite familiar with each other. This was where they left messages for one another. He had learned the method of communicating with Tule and Hagon by written letters from Zhao Tong.

Yuan Ming unfolded the beast hide. There was not much written on it, and he quickly finished reading.

According to the message Zhao Tong had left, Jade Luo Cave had ordered Toad Valley closed. As for the reason, it seemed that some upheaval had occurred in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Zhao Tong had also warned Yuan Ming to be careful.

He put away the beast hide, and the image of the mangled corpses he had seen not long ago could not help flashing through his mind. Were the deaths of those Furred Beast Slaves connected to the current upheaval?

Yuan Ming did not remain in Toad Valley for long. He quickly turned and left, heading straight back to his dwelling in Misty Canyon, intending to consolidate his realm.

Though his cultivation had improved, he did not dare grow blindly arrogant. Even Jade Luo Cave took the upheaval in the Hundred Thousand Mountains seriously, so naturally he did not dare lower his guard.

Five days later, Yuan Ming emerged from the cave once more, climbed out of the canyon, and headed toward the boundary marker.

He was not going out to hunt beasts. Today was the day to hand over his essence blood.

Yuan Ming soon arrived beneath the giant stone boundary marker and discovered that Wulu had already arrived.

"Wulu, have you been well?" Yuan Ming greeted him.

"Not bad. How have you been lately, Brother Yuan Ming?" Wulu asked with a smile.

"I've been getting by." Yuan Ming replied with a faint smile, his attitude somewhat friendlier than before.

Although the Green Wolf Gang had withdrawn its men and no longer pursued him on a large scale, the conflict between them had not been resolved. Yet over the past few months, the Green Wolf Gang had not ambushed him near the boundary marker, and Wulu had much to do with that.

"Brother Wulu, I went to Toad Valley a few days ago and found it completely empty. After asking around in many places, I heard that an upheaval in the Hundred Thousand Mountains had caused Toad Valley to be sealed off. The Green Wolf Gang is well-informed; is that true?" Yuan Ming asked.

"We do not know what upheaval will occur in the Hundred Thousand Mountains next, either." Wulu sighed thoughtfully and shook his head.

As the two chatted idly, Elder Huohuo came speeding from afar atop a giant eagle and landed near the boundary marker.

"Greetings, Elder Huohuo!" Yuan Ming and Wulu hurriedly rose and bowed.

"Good. Both of you are here. There is something I need to tell you." Elder Huohuo leaped down from the giant eagle and spoke.

"Please give us your instructions, Elder Huohuo." Yuan Ming and Wulu replied respectfully.