Du Feng is Dead?

After clearing out all the enemies, Ye Feng finally let out a breath of relief and put away his Iron Sword.

He walked over to Du Feng's corpse and began searching it.

"Baiyang Sect's number one Outer Court genius should have something good on him, right?" Ye Feng muttered.

Before long, Ye Feng pulled out two First-grade Treasure Medicines and two Low-grade Spirit Stones from Du Feng's storage pouch.

"Hmm? That's all?" Ye Feng raised a brow, somewhat surprised.

The two First-grade Treasure Medicines were of average value.

The two Low-grade Spirit Stones, on the other hand, were quite good. Though he could not use them now, he would be able to once he made a Breakthrough to the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Not a bad haul. Better than nothing." Ye Feng put away the spirit stones and treasure medicines, then searched Zhao Hu and Qian Bao's corpses as well, only to be even more disappointed.

Other than some loose silver, the two did not have a single decent item on them. They were even poorer than he had expected.

Ye Feng shook his head, unconcerned.

He took out the Grade 2 Qi Gathering Grass he had picked earlier. Looking at its greenish-yellow leaves, a thought stirred in his heart.

"System, can you modify the age of this Qi Gathering Grass?" Ye Feng asked inwardly.

[Yes. Please choose the time to modify it to.] The system's prompt sounded.

"Then... modify it to ten years later!" Ye Feng said.

[Instruction received! Modifying the production date of the Grade 2 Qi Gathering Grass...]

[Modification successful! Time has been set to ten years later.]

As the system prompt faded, Ye Feng carefully examined the Qi Gathering Grass in his hand.

However, to his disappointment, the Qi Gathering Grass had not changed much. Its leaves merely seemed a little darker, and the spiritual energy fluctuations it emitted were slightly richer—but nowhere near the effect he had expected.

"Looks like ten years is still too short for the growth cycle of a treasure herb," Ye Feng analyzed. "The Qi Gathering Grass is a Second-grade Treasure Herb. It may need decades, or even centuries, before it undergoes any noticeable change."

Though it was somewhat regrettable, Ye Feng did not mind.

"It's fine. Once I make a Breakthrough to the Qi Gathering Realm, the system's modification time limit can be extended to a hundred years! Then I'll find some old treasure herbs and modify them. The difference in effect will surely be like heaven and earth!" Ye Feng was filled with anticipation.

After putting away the Qi Gathering Grass, Ye Feng glanced at the corpses on the ground and the Patterned Leopard that was on the verge of its last breath. Shaking his head, he did not linger any longer.

He did not immediately leave the Black Wind Forest. Instead, his gaze turned firm as he looked toward the depths of the forest.

"Since I'm already here, I can't just go back so easily." Ye Feng thought to himself. "There are still half a month until the Inner Sect Selection Competition. I can use this time to hunt more Fierce Beasts in the Black Wind Forest, search for more treasure herbs, and accumulate more Cultivation Resources! I'll make every possible preparation for breaking through to the Qi Gathering Realm!"

With that thought, Ye Feng hesitated no longer. After getting his bearings, he continued deeper into the Black Wind Forest.

His figure quickly vanished into the dense jungle, leaving behind only several cold corpses and pools of blood as proof that a brief yet fierce battle had once taken place here.

Time flew like a white colt flashing past a crevice. In the blink of an eye, ten days had Passed since Ye Feng killed Du Feng and the others in the Black Wind Forest.

Over those ten days, news quietly spread through Black Forest Town and even the surrounding regions as if it had grown wings.

Du Feng, Baiyang Sect's number one Outer Court genius, along with his two lackey disciples, had died mysteriously in the Black Wind Forest!

The moment the news broke, all of Black Forest Town was shaken. Countless cultivators gathered in teahouses and restaurants, talking heatedly among themselves.

"Have you heard? That Du Feng from Baiyang Sect is dead!"

"Is that for real? Wasn't he at the Body Refining Tenth Level, capable of killing Qi Gathering Realm cultivators above his level? How could he have died in the Black Wind Forest?"

"Absolutely true! I heard Baiyang Sect's people even carried the bodies back!"

"Tsk, tsk, it's retribution! That Du Feng used to throw his weight around in the Black Wind Forest, robbing us Rogue Cultivators blind. Now he's finally fallen!"

There were all kinds of theories about the cause of Du Feng's death.

At first, some guessed that they had ventured too deeply into the Black Wind Forest and encountered a powerful Qi Gathering Realm demonic beast.

But that speculation was quickly overturned.

According to those who discovered the bodies, Du Feng and the other two had died miserable deaths. Their storage pouches and treasures had vanished without a trace, yet their corpses were relatively intact, with no signs of having been gnawed on by demonic beasts.

If it had been a Qi Gathering Realm demonic beast, it would not have left intact corpses behind, much less spared the treasures on their bodies.

"So it wasn't a demonic beast. Then they must have... run into robbers?"

"Definitely! Maybe some expert took a dislike to them and took them out!"

"Hahaha! Well done! Scum like that deserve to die!"

After learning that they might have been robbed, the Rogue Cultivators instead erupted in excitement.

Du Feng and the others had an abysmal reputation in the Black Wind Forest. Relying on Baiyang Sect's name and Du Feng's strength, they had frequently bullied Rogue Cultivators and plundered their resources.

Now that they had been killed, the Rogue Cultivators only felt immense satisfaction. They applauded and cheered, believing that this was "evil reaping what it sowed."

Baiyang Sect also reacted swiftly.

A Gray-robed Steward, accompanied by several disciples, hurried to Black Forest Town.

The Gray-robed Steward first confirmed Du Feng's identity, then gathered up Du Feng's corpse and took it away with a grim expression.

As for Zhao Hu and Qian Bao's corpses, he ignored them outright, as though they were nothing more than two insignificant ants.

That steward had also tried to ask the Rogue Cultivators in town about the killer's identity, but they either truly knew nothing or deliberately concealed it out of hatred for Du Feng. In the end, he failed to obtain any useful information.

After staying in town for less than half a day, he left resentfully with Du Feng's corpse, seemingly unwilling to make a major issue out of the death of an Outer Court disciple.

Ye Feng naturally heard about all the aftermath of this.

But he did not care in the slightest, as if the dead man had not been killed by his hand.

For the past ten days, he had remained focused on gathering resources and improving his strength in the Black Wind Forest.

Ye Feng's daily routine was simple.

Every morning, he entered the Black Wind Forest to hunt Fierce Beasts and gather medicinal herbs.

When luck was on his side, he would encounter Fierce Beasts guarding Treasure Medicine, killing two birds with one stone.

When luck was poor, he might encounter only a few ordinary Fierce Beasts all day, or even come up empty-handed for two days in a row.

This kind of unpredictable training allowed Ye Feng to deeply experience the "reality" of having no system to modify resources.

Still, he had a good mindset. He was happy when he gained something, and did not force the issue when he gained nothing.

After ten days of effort, Ye Feng's gains were fairly good: he had hunted several dozen Fierce Beasts of various levels, obtaining a large quantity of materials such as beast hides, bones, and claws; he had also gathered one Second-grade Treasure Herb and five First-grade Treasure Medicine.

He sold all those Fierce Beast materials and First-grade Treasure Medicine to the shops in Black Forest Town, exchanging them for nearly ten thousand taels of silver in total.

For a Body Refining Realm cultivator, this was already no small fortune.