Early in the morning, the mist had yet to lift from Black Wind Forest, and the sour smell of rotting leaves fermenting hung in the air.
A figure in a shabby gray robe moved soundlessly through the underbrush like a civet.
Chen Ping's face was smeared with that distinctive wax-yellow medicinal paste. He looked like a withered tree trunk, almost blending into his surroundings.
He was already a first-level Qi Refining cultivator, but unlike those reckless rogue cultivators, he didn't charge around just because he'd learned a few clumsy spells.
Instead, he pushed Longevity of Pine and Crane to its limits.
This mortal-world health-preserving art had undergone a curious transformation after absorbing that wisp of Everlasting Spring Magical Power.
Chen Ping's ears twitched faintly. Within a hundred zhang, the soft patter of falling dew, the rustle of crawling insects, even the subtle shifts in the air currents as wind passed through the treetops all came into his mind as clearly as lines in his palm.
"Three hundred paces to the front left—there's a scent of blood. Something carnivorous must have been feeding there... The wind on the right sounds wrong. Something large is lying in wait..."
Relying on his extraordinary senses, Chen Ping avoided three powerful Demon Beasts with ease, as if strolling through his own backyard.
Every step landed on solid ground, avoiding dead branches and loose stones. His caution was nothing short of extreme.
Suddenly, Chen Ping stopped. He slipped into the shadow of a rock, his breathing slowing to the bare minimum.
At the edge of a muddy pool thirty zhang ahead, a beast about the size of a millstone was rooting around for some kind of tuber.
It was an Ironhide Pig.
Despite the "pig" in its name, this beast was covered in black bristles as