Stone Horse Town

Towering trees and dense jungle. Looking at the mountain range stretching endlessly before him, like a man-eating Giant Dragon opening its bloody maw to swallow travelers whole, Lin Ming could not help but feel wary. Countless people died in the Monster Mountain Range every year. Of course, countless magical beast corpses were brought out of it as well.

Standing before the forest, Lin Ming studied the map in his hand and roughly planned his route. He had come out to gain experience, not to court death, so he absolutely could not go near the inner regions, where magical beasts started at Third-Order. He planned to operate within a hundred or so kilometers of the Monster Mountain Range's edge. This stretch was basically the territory of Tier One and Tier Two magical beasts; traces of Third-Order or stronger magical beasts were rarely seen.

As for the map Lin Ming was looking at, he had bought it in town just before setting out. He had also bought intelligence on the town's factions, spending a total of twenty Gold Coins. After buying them, Lin Ming first read the introduction to Stone Horse Town's local powers. Since this was one of the entrances to the Monster Mountain Range, there was naturally no shortage of mercenaries who lived by hunting. Stone Horse Town's mercenaries consisted of two large Mercenary Groups with over a hundred members each, along with some small groups of only a few people. There was no need to mention those small groups. The two large Mercenary Groups were called the Pei Family Mercenary Group and the Stone Beast Mercenary Group.

The Pei Family Mercenary Group had been founded by three Pei brothers. The eldest, Pei Xiong, was the commander. He was forty-five years old and possessed Dou Master Four Stars cultivation; the second, Pei Feng, was the deputy commander, thirty-nine years old, with Dou Practitioner Nine Star cultivation; the third, Pei Yuan, was the third commander, thirty-six years old, with Seven-Star Dou Zhe cultivation. The Pei Family Mercenary Group had been built under these three men, so some people privately called it the Three Pei Group. The Pei Family Mercenary Group also had a Young Commander, Pei Lang, the son of Pei Xiong. He was twenty-four this year and had Five Star Dou Practitioner cultivation. Lin Ming had heard that this Young Commander Pei Lang was a hypocrite. He put on the appearance of a gentleman, liked to scheme against people behind their backs, and was lustful besides. No one knew how many women he had toyed with in secret. The other group, the Stone Beast Mercenary Group, had been founded by a married couple. Both were Dou Masters. The man was Shi Lin, forty-one years old, with Two Star Dou Master cultivation; the woman was Man Miao, thirty-eight years old, with One Star Dou Master cultivation. The two had a son and a daughter...

After reading about the mercenaries, the next organization was one found in nearly every town around the Monster Mountain Range—the Myriad Medicine Pavilion. The Myriad Medicine Pavilion made its business by buying and selling Medicinal Materials in towns where people entered the Monster Mountain Range, while also having physicians treat injured mercenaries. Lin Ming had specifically asked about the physicians at this Myriad Medicine Pavilion, only to be greatly disappointed. The Myriad Medicine Pavilion in Stone Horse Town had two physicians, both men. Even the younger one was already in his forties, while the older one was in his sixties. Still, that was probably normal. Treating illnesses and injuries required accumulated experience. Someone like Xiao Yi Xian, who could treat illnesses and injuries in her teens, could only be called Exceptional Talent.

Those were basically all the factions in Stone Horse Town, aside from inns, restaurants, and the like.

After roughly planning his route, Lin Ming officially stepped into the forest and began his life in the jungle.

Upon entering the forest, the Light Ray immediately began to dim. Trees stood all around him. Since it had only been a short time since the year-end and the temperature was still relatively low, Lin Ming did not notice many signs of animal activity in the forest. However, to be safe, he took out the Star Dragon Saber and held it in his left hand, ready to draw it at any moment if something unexpected happened. Lin Ming carefully headed deeper into the forest. He walked for an hour without incident, and just as he was about to relax, a spider larger than his head pounced down at him from above, startling him badly. Still, he instinctively drew the Star Dragon Saber and slashed at the spider. When the Star Dragon Saber cut it, bodily fluid splattered everywhere. It then fell to the ground in two halves, its legs still twitching.

"You're this weak, and you still dared to attack me?" Lin Ming said as he looked at the spider split in half. Still, it made him more vigilant. Although he had killed the spider with a single slash, it did not even count as a magical beast. It was merely larger than an ordinary spider. If he encountered a real magical beast ambush and got startled first like that, he would truly be in trouble. Nature only cared about survival. No one cared whether an attack was a sneak attack or not.

Lin Ming continued deeper. Before long, a white blur shot toward him. This time, being more alert, Lin Ming was not startled. He directly drew the Star Dragon Saber and chopped down at the white blur. Looking at the white snake lying on the ground, Lin Ming picked up its sheath and the white snake before continuing onward. No matter what, this white snake was the first magical beast Lin Ming had personally killed since coming to this world. It could serve as his dinner tonight. The white snake was the white blur that had just ambushed him, roughly possessing the strength of a Three-Star Dou Zhe. Yet Lin Ming had still cleaved its head in two with one slash. As for whether it had a Magic Core? Its head had been split in half, so of course it did not. Otherwise, the Star Dragon Saber would have struck the Magic Core, and the snake's entire head would not have been divided in two.

At night, inside a cave. A headless snake with its innards removed was roasting over a fire. Looking at the nearly cooked snake meat, now golden-brown, Lin Ming picked it up and began to eat. With one bite, the crisp exterior and tender meat inside nearly made him swallow his tongue. Before long, only some bones resembling large fishbones remained on the ground. He then tossed them into the fire, and they disappeared.

Today, Lin Ming had traveled roughly thirty kilometers. Along the way, he had encountered several Tier One magical beasts and casually killed them. After seeing that none had Magic Cores, he took some meat he thought was good for food and continued onward. He had found this cave near dusk. It was not large, only about one zhang deep, and its height and width were not much greater than a person's. Once he discovered it, he decided to spend the night there. After all, if there was a cave to stay in, no one would want to sleep in the forest outside without any shelter.

After dinner, Lin Ming began today's cultivation. He had not cultivated Dou Qi much in quite some time, so he would cultivate Dou Qi tonight. During This Period, Lin Ming had basically been opening his Meridians to cultivate the Movement Fighting Skill, Star-Stepping Steps, so he had barely cultivated his Dou Qi. However, it had already been over two months since he advanced to Eight-Star Dou Practitioner, and he had now reached the peak of Eight-Star Dou Practitioner. Therefore, Lin Ming planned to cultivate Dou Qi for the next few days and strive to reach Nine Star Dou Practitioner.

Calming his mind, Lin Ming began cultivating Dou Qi. As he settled into meditation, only the firelight flickered within the cave, while occasional sounds rang out beyond it. In the Late Night, a sound shattered the cave's silence.

"Damn! I broke through?" The one who made the sound was Lin Ming. He had originally expected that he might need several more days to break through Eight-Star Dou Practitioner and become Nine Star Dou Practitioner. Yet after cultivating Dou Qi until midnight, he felt the sensation of a breakthrough. Then, after half an hour of cultivation, he broke through to Nine Star Dou Practitioner. Looks like I'd neglected cultivating my Dou Qi for too long. Once I started again, it was like a long-separated couple reunited—one shot and I was in. Lin Ming thought.

Reaching Nine Star Dou Practitioner in just over a year was not slow at all! Next, he would cultivate to the peak of Nine Star Dou Practitioner, then prepare to break through Dou Zhe and Advance to Dou Shi. That would be his goal before this training journey ended. With that thought, Lin Ming began training the Meridians for his movement technique.

Within a pack of wolves, a figure flashed back and forth. Every flash sent one wolf spraying blood before it collapsed. More than ten wolves the size of wild boars, covered in blood, already lay on the ground. The dozen or so wolves still standing were steadily dwindling as well.

That figure was Lin Ming, who had opened the Meridians required for the Star-Stepping Steps and learned the technique. After another ten days of opening the Star-Stepping Steps Meridians, Lin Ming had finally managed to use the footwork. After another two days of practice, he could basically employ it properly. This morning, after Lin Ming continued on his journey, this pack of wolves surrounded him before long. Sensing that this pack of roughly twenty wolves all possessed Tier One strength, Lin Ming did not run. Instead, he wanted to test the power of the Star-Stepping Steps he had just learned. The result was the scene before him: more than ten wolves lay on the ground, while aside from considerable Dou Qi Consumption, Lin Ming was completely unharmed.

Having tested the footwork enough, Lin Ming no longer intended to play around. He stepped forward and suddenly appeared before the largest wolf. Then, he unleashed the Startling Swan Saber Technique and slashed down at the wolf's head. A miserable cry rang out, followed by a spray of blood as the wolf was cleaved into two and fell. Seeing that the largest wolf had died, the Remaining wolves were terrified and fled in all directions. That larger wolf was presumably the pack's wolf king. Now that the wolf king was dead, the other wolves naturally did not dare remain and wait for death. They immediately fled out of sight.

Lin Ming watched the fleeing wolves and paid them no mind. His Dou Qi was nearly depleted, and he did not want to chase them. With them fleeing separately like this, even if his Dou Qi were full, he would not be able to catch them all. Catching one or two would already be good enough. Besides, these Tier One wolves were of no use to him, so there was no need to waste Dou Qi chasing them. Looking at the wolf king's corpse split in half on the ground, Lin Ming took an egg-sized crystal from one half of its head. "Hehe, a Magic Core too. Not bad luck," Lin Ming said. This was the second Magic Core Lin Ming had obtained since entering the Monster Mountain Range. The first had come from a fox magical beast he encountered a few days ago. After killing it, he found it inside the creature's skull.

Lin Ming split open the heads of the other wolf corpses on the ground to see whether he could find any more Magic Cores. As expected, fewer than one in ten Tier One magical beasts possessed Magic Cores. After splitting open the heads of more than a dozen wolf corpses, he did not find another Magic Core. Although he had been mentally prepared, since magical beasts with Magic Cores were generally much stronger, Lin Ming had still hoped for a chance. It was like buying lottery tickets: he knew he probably would not win, but he still bought them, and when the drawing came, he still looked forward to it eagerly.

After searching through all the wolf corpses on the ground and finding no Magic Cores, Lin Ming ignored them. He stepped forward and continued onward.