Thunderstorms, Rootless Grass, and the Dragon-Eating Loach

"This damned place!"

Little Leopard stood at the end of the stream, his face livid as he stared at the swamp before him and the mist rising above it, cursing through gritted teeth.

Earlier that day, he had used the Land-Flying Technique to make a circuit of the surrounding area. It had taken six to eight hours, laying some groundwork for his search for the medicinal herbs Blood Wuy a needed. At last, he had gained a rough understanding of the terrain, but knowing it only made him feel worse.

Behind him lay the Secluded Valley where Blood Wuy a was recuperating. To his right was the waterfall, and to his left, a dense forest. The forest was extremely deep and dark. Things were somewhat better in the direction where the little creature lived, but a mile beyond that place, venomous insects and vicious snakes were beyond counting. Although there were no particularly powerful demon beasts, even Little Leopard's unusual spiritual perception could not guarantee his safety in a place where every step landed among four venomous snakes and every glance upward revealed nothing but fucking poisonous spiderwebs. After all, he was no peerless master. Had he not reacted quickly, he would probably already have become food in a python's belly or fluid inside a poisonous spider. The only way out was to follow the stream flowing down from the waterfall. Little Leopard had gone more than ten miles before an enormous swamp blocked his path, and the stream beside him emptied straight into it.

Mist billowed over the swamp-the same mist Little Leopard had seen from the cliff cave's entrance during the day. From time to time, it gave off a strange fragrance. Even the faintest whiff made him dizzy. How could he possibly dare venture deeper?

This won't do. Every route is a dead end. Now that I think it over, the only place I can start is that forest. I hope I can solve all my problems there! Little Leopard turned and plunged into the old forest.

One day later.

"Whew, this damned place really isn't fit for people. The Vast Cang Mountains certainly live up to their name!"

Deep in the forest, Little Leopard braced himself against an ancient, towering tree. His eyes swept warily over his surroundings, his ears pricked high, every nerve stretched taut.

He was now nearly twenty miles into the forest. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but forest, nothing but trees, nothing but venomous insects and wild beasts.

Fortunately, Little Leopard was quick-witted. After entering the forest the previous day, he had sensed something was wrong and spent a day using his strange eyes to unravel every mystery of the Wild Goose Floating Heart Method, the technique most useful in this forest. Otherwise, he could never have reached this place so easily without suffering the slightest injury.

"Fuck, it's already been two days. In another two to four hours, it'll be dark, and I've only found two Bitter-Gall Orchids. I haven't even caught a glimpse of Drifting Glass Flowers or Rootless Grass. Five days-where am I supposed to find them in five days?"

Lamenting inwardly, Little Leopard sat beneath the tree and began regulating his breathing.

As he circulated the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art, a pale red current of heat welled up in his dantian and flowed into his limbs and throughout his body. Its speed was extremely even. In only an hour, that current had completed a circuit of all his meridians along the route prescribed by the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art.

Compared with other people, Little Leopard had one enormous advantage when cultivating his internal power: inner vision.

Only those whose mastery of internal energy had reached a profound level could achieve inner vision. Likewise, once they could see inside themselves, they could control the flow of internal energy within their bodies with precision while cultivating, and gain a deeper understanding of the nature of its transformations. Their strength would naturally increase greatly as a result.

Little Leopard's mastery of internal power was nowhere near that profound, but he had those freakish eyes. The inner vision they gave him was certainly no worse than that of a ninth-rank expert. Thus, although his cultivation was unremarkable, his understanding of the nature of internal energy was worlds apart from that of others his age.

An understanding of that nature could not be obtained through spoken explanations or books. Only by experiencing it firsthand,

could one truly feel it.

This complete Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art, together with Blood Wuy a's annotations, is simply priceless. It's just that my body can't grow to a satisfactory level! Little Leopard fretted inwardly, actually finding himself wishing he could hurry up and grow big, just as he had when he was a child in his previous life.

The nine-dragon divine fire inner qi nourished his meridians, muscles, and bones, increasing their hardness and resilience so they could carry more internal energy. However, his meridians, muscles, and bones had not yet fully developed. If he strengthened them without restraint, his subsequent growth would slow. To put it bluntly, he would have trouble developing in the future and end up like Nezha or Red Boy. The mere thought of those two, forever unable to grow up, sent a chill through Little Leopard. Of course, this was not his own speculation, but common knowledge among the martial artists of this world. Every few years, such a thing would happen in real life, often within the great sects and aristocratic clans. Those places had no shortage of cultivation arts or medicinal ingredients, and they were also the most eager to see their sons become dragons. One careless excess, and they produced all manner of strange fellows who were immensely powerful but physically underdeveloped. It could be counted as one of this world's peculiar features.

Little Leopard did not want to become like them, so he was extremely careful when cultivating.

As a result, he now circulated his art only once a day, and the amount of nine-dragon divine fire inner qi he converted was limited. Simply put, his cultivation was limited.

Precisely because his cultivation was limited, he could not unleash the full might of the Wild Goose Floating Heart Method, that peerless lightness art, and ended up as exhausted as he was now.

After regulating his breathing for a while, Little Leopard slowly opened his eyes. Quietly feeling his depleted vitality, energy, and spirit gradually recover, he began considering his next move. He deeply regretted not having properly studied wilderness survival in his previous life. As soon as he entered the dense forest, he had dashed about like a headless fly, without any clear objective, while also having to avoid its venomous insects and wild beasts. It had truly left him mentally and physically worn out.

He looked at the damp, black soil into which a single step could sink, then raised his head to inspect the few pitiful shafts of light filtering through the dense branches. His brow furrowed. "This forest is far too dense. Farther in, the sun probably never reaches the ground all year round, so it must be terribly damp. Then there are all the rotten branches and dead leaves accumulated over the years, buried who knows how deep. There might even be miasma. Only things like moss could grow there. What I'm looking for are medicinal herbs, so there probably aren't any inside. Even if there are, I can't go any deeper!"

He rose from the ground and was just about to look elsewhere when two muffled claps of thunder suddenly sounded in his ears. At first, he paid little attention, but the thunder gradually grew louder, and even the few pitiful rays of sunlight penetrating the branches disappeared. An ominous premonition immediately rose in Little Leopard's heart. Sure enough, a few breaths later, thunder erupted. The great peals came in quick succession, then slowed, their rumbling mingling with the forest echoes like mountains collapsing and the earth caving in, striking terror into anyone who heard them. Then the rain poured down. With crashing thunder accompanying the deluge, Little Leopard was badly startled.

He had some common sense. In a thunderstorm like this, the last place anyone should shelter was beneath a tree, especially the towering giants in this dense forest. They were practically begging to be struck by lightning. Little Leopard dared not delay. He put his movement technique into action and charged toward the edge of the woods.

"Boom! Rumble!" As he darted and leaped through the forest, several thunderbolts struck the trees around him. Lightning blazed everywhere. Despite his swift reactions, Little Leopard still caught two vicious blows from the lightning and was hurled through the air. Fortunately, the ground had already absorbed most of those bolts' power. Otherwise, he would probably have been charred black by now.

But when he stood up again, with lightning exploding all around him, he could no longer make out the way.

"Fuck, can I really be this unlucky? Now I'll have to take another needless detour!"

Still, Little Leopard was not anxious. All he had to do was head toward the thinner woods, and he would surely get out. Then he could follow the river and find his way back. Without giving it much more thought, he chose a direction and launched himself forward, sweeping through the forest despite the wind, rain, and slippery footing.

The rain lasted an entire day. Along the way, he could not find a single place to shelter. Only when the sky darkened did the thunder gradually subside. The terrain also rose little by little. Little Leopard felt the forest growing thinner and the surrounding land becoming clearer. Mountain springs flowing down from the heights repeatedly washed past his feet. After he finally crossed the western side of a peak, the wind suddenly stilled and the rain ceased. The drifting clouds scattered, and the thick mist quietly vanished. A half-moon still hung high in the clear blue sky, pouring out its pure light and illuminating the mountainside forest until it looked fresh and lustrous, as though newly washed. After the rain, the empty mountains were filled with flowing springs. Water burbled through cracks and crevices in the rocks, blending with the chirping of insects in the deep grass and making the night seem especially tranquil.

"What a lovely place!" Though Little Leopard was soaked through and in a poor mood, the beauty of the mountains after the rain still made him stop and marvel.

Suddenly, an idle glance caught several small purple plants faintly visible in a crevice, swaying beneath the moonlight.

"Rootless Grass?" At the sight of those familiar plants, joy surged in Little Leopard's heart. He had worn through iron shoes searching in vain, only to find them without the slightest effort! He had spent an entire day searching for Rootless Grass without finding so much as a hair, yet here an enormous clump was growing. He would be a fool not to take it. He moved toward the crevice, but just then he heard a series of exceedingly unpleasant, strange squeaks. Even with his considerable courage, that eerie sound in the wild mountain forest made his hair stand on end, and he hurriedly examined his surroundings. The scenery around him was both majestic and mysteriously secluded, with lofty mountains at his back and burbling spring water mingling with the sighing pines. The strange sound seemed to come from the stream, near the Rootless Grass. A thought stirred in his heart. Legends say that unusual beasts always dwell near spiritual treasures. This could be some venomous snake or monstrous beast calling out. I wonder whether I can handle it. At that thought, he dared not hesitate further. A faint fiery red appeared in his black pupils, with dark patterns flickering within the red glow. In an instant, he entered a strange state.

Everything around him seemed to slow. Within a radius of a thousand feet, Little Leopard saw everything down to the finest detail. The wind, the water, the cries of insects, the beating wings of birds, and the breathing of beasts all reached his ears with perfect clarity. In that instant, he even had the foolish feeling that every creature and thing beneath heaven lay within his grasp.

"What a strange thing!" At last, under Little Leopard's freakishly keen gaze, the animal making those odd sounds came into view.

"Is that a loach?"

I was in good form tonight and posted eight thousand characters. Oh, hehehehe!

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