A Safe Haven in a Cave, a Distress Signal Appears at Night

Liu Yunche came to a protruding cliff edge. The view here was wide open, and looking down, he saw only a sea of lush green with no bottom in sight.

At that moment, the mountain wind swept through the forest, howling fiercely. He looked around and spotted an eagle's nest, but the cliff face was steep and smooth, impossible to climb.

He turned and disappeared into the woods. About the time it took for an incense stick to burn, a stream appeared before him, its babbling waters exceptionally clear amid the forested hills.

Liu Yunche walked upstream along the creek and happened upon an Azure-tailed Wolf drinking with its head lowered.

The moment he noticed the Azure-tailed Wolf, it too sensed Liu Yunche's presence.

It abruptly raised its head, baring its fangs as it fixed Liu Yunche with a vicious stare. Its body pressed low and leaned forward, poised to pounce and kill.

Liu Yunche gripped his saber warily. Seeing the Azure-tailed Wolf's mottled fur, the bloody marks across its body yet to scab over, and the weariness filling its eyes, he guessed it was an old wolf driven from its pack.

His heart settled. With a light tap of his toes, he transformed into a dark afterimage and shot toward the Azure-tailed Wolf.

The wind suddenly tightened, and saber light flashed through the woods. A trace of humanlike terror flickered through the Azure-tailed Wolf's eyes. Its limbs tensed as it prepared to leap in counterattack, but the cold gleam had already swept across its neck.

Its body crashed to the ground, while its wolf head rolled several feet away, staining a broad swath of the stream red.

"An old wolf at the Iron Skin level. I'll count it as a good start."

Liu Yunche came to the stream, bent down to pick up the wolf head, and snapped off its largest tooth as proof.

Old wolf meat was tough and unsuitable for eating. Liu Yunche casually tossed aside the wolf head and left.

At the end of the stream stood a small cliff, with the water pouring down from above it.

With a water source here, there surely would be no shortage of demonic beasts nearby. Finding a cave to make do for the night should not be difficult.

Thinking this, Liu Yunche carefully searched around the water source.

Sure enough, after roughly half the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Liu Yunche found a cave. He stood at its entrance but did not rashly enter.

He casually picked up a bluish stone, weighed it in his hand, then hurled it fiercely into the cave.

Thud—!

As if in response, a roar suddenly rang out the next instant.

Roar—!

A brown figure burst out, its chest emitting a deep growl that made the air hum.

A faint dusting of pale stone powder now covered its formerly gleaming forehead, enraging it beyond measure. As the overlord of this area, this was the first time it had suffered such provocation.

"This is... a Brown-armored Bear." Liu Yunche's eyes lit up. The Brown-armored Bear was a demonic beast at the Flesh Tempering level, possessing boundless strength and sturdy hide and flesh, though it lacked agility.

As it happened, Liu Yunche excelled in movement techniques. Even if he could not defeat it, he would not be unable to escape.

After discovering Liu Yunche, the Brown-armored Bear rose onto its hind legs, standing nine feet tall.

It fiercely beat its chest with both paws and strode forward. Each step sent a faint tremor through the ground.

Liu Yunche fully activated his Divine Movement Gift, turning into a dark afterimage as he charged toward the Brown-armored Bear with Concealed Edge in hand.

The Brown-armored Bear slammed a paw down, wrapped in fierce force.

Liu Yunche had never intended to confront it head-on. He slightly shifted aside, evading the blow while casually leaving a bloody mark along its waist.

"As expected of a Flesh Tempering demonic beast. With hide and flesh like this, even a low-grade martial treasure can only cut a small wound."

Liu Yunche stared at the wound on the Brown-armored Bear's right waist.

Suddenly wounded, the Brown-armored Bear flew into a rage. It twisted around, raised its enormous paw, and struck down again.

The palm wind thundered with overwhelming force, yet it could not hit Liu Yunche at all, making the Brown-armored Bear increasingly frenzied.

But its body was cumbersome and its attacks broad and sweeping. Before the nimble Liu Yunche, every strike fell short.

Using his Divine Movement Gift to weave and dart about, Liu Yunche's dark figure flickered unpredictably amid the bear's shadow, always maintaining exactly the right distance.

Whenever the Brown-armored Bear revealed an opening, he would flick his wrist. Saber light flashed, precisely carving a shallow bloody cut across the bear's shoulders, back, or waist.

After several rounds of fighting, several wounds had appeared across the Brown-armored Bear's thick fur. Blood slowly seeped through its brownish hide, but they were ultimately mere flesh wounds, far from injuring its muscles or bones.

Trying to wear down and kill this Flesh Tempering Realm behemoth with wounds like those was nothing less than a fantasy.

Yet Liu Yunche did not care in the slightest.

His gaze was calm and his breathing steady. Rather than rushing to kill it, he used the Brown-armored Bear's storm-like brute-force assault to continuously weave, evade, strike, withdraw, and dodge, his rhythm growing increasingly practiced.

The Brown-armored Bear had tough hide and thick flesh, and though its attacks were fierce, its movements were clumsy. It could not have been more suitable for tempering his movement responses and saber timing.

Unable to land a blow for so long while continually gaining new wounds, the Brown-armored Bear grew ever more violent.

To it, Liu Yunche was like an irritating fly—impossible to hit, yet constantly buzzing around.

The Brown-armored Bear once again smashed a heavy paw into the ground. Broken stones and dust sprayed in every direction, but it still failed to so much as brush Liu Yunche's clothing.

At last, it abruptly halted its mad assault. Its heavy, turbid breathing echoed through the forest, its crimson pupils fixed firmly upon the flickering figure before it.

The stinging pain from the series of saber wounds constantly reminded it of its injuries.

Even a savage, mindless demonic beast gradually shed its blazing rage after several futile charges, realizing that blindly attacking like this would only keep exposing openings.

As its agitation faded, the hunting instinct buried deep in its bloodline slowly gained the upper hand.

It lowered its massive, cumbersome body. Its brown fur stretched taut as iron, its four limbs planted firmly on the ground as it assumed a crouching, confrontational stance.

The forest suddenly fell into dead silence.

The mountain wind paused. Only the babbling stream nearby sounded especially clear. Man and beast faced each other from afar, neither moving first, while invisible killing intent quietly drew taut between them.

Suddenly, the two figures sprang into action almost simultaneously!

The Brown-armored Bear forcefully kicked off the ground with all four limbs. Its enormous body, carrying the destructive force to crush dead wood and rotten branches, pounced with a foul wind. The gale raised by its massive paws bent the surrounding grass and trees with rustling force.

On the other side, Liu Yunche had long finished gathering his strength. Every trace of inner breath in his dantian surged forth as the perfected Gale Swift Saber erupted in an instant.

His wrist spun rapidly, and the cold gleam of Concealed Edge's long blade flickered unstably.

In an instant, several fierce saber lights like fine, dense black threads crisscrossed, immediately weaving into an incomparably sharp saber net that precisely enveloped the lunging Brown-armored Bear from above!

The Brown-armored Bear crashed down with a boom, kicking up clouds of dust. Ferocious saber marks surfaced all over its body, its flesh split and churned, blood dripping everywhere.

The instinct to hunt had come swiftly, and it vanished just as swiftly. The crimson in the Brown-armored Bear's eyes faded, replaced by a flicker of fear as the pain throughout its body reminded it of its plight.

Its gaze toward Liu Yunche became incomparably clear. It dropped onto all fours and fled in disarray.

Liu Yunche did not step forward to pursue it. He merely stood where he was, allowing the wounded Brown-armored Bear to flee miserably into the depths of the forest.

Though the Brown-armored Bear appeared covered in vicious saber wounds, none had injured its foundation.

If he insisted on pursuing it, he might not be unable to kill it by exhausting every means at his disposal, but he had no intention of doing so.

Killing a Flesh Tempering Realm demonic beast with Iron Skin Realm cultivation would be far too showy if word got out, drawing unwanted attention.

His foundation was still shallow. Though he did not fear others making trouble or coveting what he had, there was no need to flaunt himself so conspicuously and invite needless trouble and suspicion.

During training and cultivation, concealing one's edge and remaining steady was Liu Yunche's way of handling matters.

After gathering some dry firewood in the mountain forest, he took out a fire striker and lit a torch before entering the cave.

Inside, remains littered the ground. Some belonged to martial artists, but most were animal bones and shriveled demonic beast droppings.

As he walked deeper inside, a faint glimmer appeared. Liu Yunche could not help quickening his pace. Moving closer, he saw a blue-and-white flower quietly growing there.

"This is... a Nether Azure Orchid."

"I didn't expect such an unexpected harvest."

The Nether Azure Orchid could calm the mind, settle the spirit, and clarify the heart. It was often used as an ingredient in refining Spirit-Calming Incense, and depending on its age, could fetch anywhere from several dozen to a hundred taels.

"No wonder that Brown-armored Bear made its den here."

With a thought, an iron-colored sheen appeared at Liu Yunche's fingertips. His two fingers easily pierced the ground as he carefully excavated it.

Before long, he had collected the Nether Azure Orchid intact, roots and all.

After looking around once more and seeing nothing else of value, he arranged the dry firewood, exited the cave, and set it ablaze with a single fire.

Before long, tiny mosquitoes and venomous ants could no longer endure the scorching flames and fled out in a stream.

By the time the firelight died down, Liu Yunche had already returned with a wild ox.

He slowly entered the cave. It was no longer as damp and reeking as before, instead carrying a dry warmth.

Liu Yunche had heard this method of burning out a cave from Wei Cong.

Some time ago, he had often asked about his father Liu Wangzhou's past. Unable to withstand the questions, Wei Cong had selected a few experiences to recount, mixed with quite a few practical wilderness survival techniques.

Casually picking up some embers that had not yet gone out, Liu Yunche rekindled the fire. He cut off an ox leg, set it over the flames, and roasted it.

At that moment, the sun was setting, and Azure Radiance Mountain was shrouded in crimson clouds. Looking into the distance, the trees blanketing the mountains were dyed in warm rosy light, while the rolling peaks layered with a faint golden glow.

The evening breeze carried the scents of grass, trees, and smoke into the cave entrance. The fire crackled softly, and the roasted ox leg released a burnt, savory aroma that instantly filled the entire cave.

Firelight reflected in the young man's eyes. As he gnawed on the ox leg, he carefully considered everything he had done today, wondering whether he had acted improperly anywhere.

As the saying went, one examined oneself three times a day. In this world of martial artists, there were too many who came and went from great heights; a moment of carelessness could see one's head plucked away. No amount of caution was excessive.

As time passed, night completely engulfed the forest. There was not a cloud for ten thousand miles tonight, and a river of stars hung across the sky.

Azure Radiance Mountain was extraordinarily dangerous at night. Many ferocious demonic beasts rested by day and emerged by night.

There were also many demonic birds, such as night owls. Their speed was ghostlike, their claws and beaks sharp enough to easily pierce a martial artist's flesh. They were far beyond what a Skin Tempering Realm martial artist could handle.

Even Liu Yunche, upon encountering such demonic birds, could only use the dense forest to conceal himself and did not dare face them directly.

Inside and outside the cave was complete silence, broken only by the soft crackling of the fire.

Countless disciples scattered throughout the mountain for training had all put away their daytime arrogance and sharpness, each hiding in the darkness to survive.

Some clung to towering treetops, their bodies covered in wet green leaves and smeared with mud to conceal their scent, remaining motionless like tree shadows.

Others dug into shallow earth and curled up at the bottom of pits, even suppressing their breathing to its lightest, not daring to disturb the surrounding demonic beasts in the slightest.

Just as the entire forest held its breath in hibernation, the distant night sky suddenly lit up!

A blinding streak of silver tore through the night sky, followed by waves of deep rumbling.

It was a signal flare!

In an instant, the martial artists lying in ambush throughout the forest all raised their heads and looked toward the source of the sound.

Everyone understood that the silver light rising into the sky meant someone had encountered a desperate situation, could no longer hold on, and had been completely defeated and eliminated.