Watching the old bear rub against the tree for a while, Chen Jue gained considerable insight into how to issue force through Bear Form.
Only after it ambled away, presumably to forage, did Chen Jue hook his fingers into the bark of the towering tree and slide down little by little.
He glanced at the mist swirling through the mountain forest, then checked the direction of the sunlight filtering in. Heading the opposite way from the black bear, he traveled through the woods until he reached the Dulong River's last tributary within China.
"Have I already come this far?" Chen Jue took out his phone and checked the offline map, discovering that he was now more than two hundred kilometers from Wazhai.
A little farther and he would probably cross the border. He could only abandon the idea of continuing onward. Beside the clear, emerald-green river, he scooped up water with his hands to wash, cleaning the discharge from the corners of his eyes.
He also practiced his three newly learned hard-body skills for a while, driving away the chill that had seeped into him in the dense forest. Only after he felt warm all over did he take out compressed biscuits and an energy drink for breakfast.
This stretch of river had no shallows like the earlier one. Chen Jue did not dare casually light a fire and catch a few white fish to roast, fearing he might set the mountain ablaze, so he could only make do with dry rations.
After eating, he rested briefly as his stomach and intestines churned to speed digestion. Feeling nothing amiss, Chen Jue then followed the river downstream for more than two hours.
At a Z-shaped bend, Chen Jue spotted several strange creatures grazing and drinking beside the river, frolicking with one