Thin Mist Forest.
"Rustle."
It was the faint sound of a breeze brushing over the treetops.
The leafstalk trembled, and a yellowing leaf, its edges curled and eaten away by insects, broke free from the branch.
It spiraled downward.
Just like the millions of its kind on the ground, three seconds later, it would become part of the yellow-brown leaf carpet covering the entire forest.
Then, over the course of four to five months, it would gradually wither and rot, finally becoming a meager bit of nourishment for some clump of weeds.
Whoosh—a gust of wind that was not natural, but far fiercer and sharper, interrupted that process.
The listless leaf, already abandoned by the tree as its life faded away, was smashed apart almost instantly by the biting gale.
It turned into tiny, fragile scraps of leaf, scattering and dancing through the air like dust.
Some landed on the rough, deeply textured bark of a nearby oak. Some fell onto the tender, crisp green stems and leaves on the ground.
Some also followed the chaotic airflow and stuck to the fine, messy tips of pitch-black hair.
"Rustle!"
He shook himself hard, sending the bits of leaves and grass clinging to his clothes and hair flying off.
Xia Nan turned his head and looked behind him.
In the forest, amid dense grass and tough shrubs, there was a ten-foot-long crushed trail where sap had splattered everywhere, as if some beast had charged straight through.
The effect looked pretty good.
Yet Xia Nan could not help frowning, dissatisfied.
What he was practicing at the moment was naturally the Combat Skill the Barbarian Fugan had taught him two days ago—Tooth Hunt.
The effect the other man had shown that day had been absurdly over the top. He had nearly shaken the entire