Years in the Forest

Mu Bai did not rashly enter the Silver Frost Forest. After all, tempering himself did not mean acting recklessly, much less rushing to his death. After circling the valley for several days, he was delighted to finally discover a fissure in the earth, finding the Earthfire and magma he needed for pill refining.

"I'll settle here for now!"

Mu Bai took out a short Soul Soldiers sword, channeled his soul power, and carved into the cliff face. In moments, a stone cave several zhang across appeared before him.

I'll refine Soul-Gathering Pills first. Along the way, Mu Bai had gathered countless stalks of star-soul grass and slain no small number of Phoenix Pythons and Fire-Armored Crocodiles.

A smile appeared on Mu Bai's face as he recalled his first attempt at refining Soul-Gathering Pills in the hills behind the tribe. Back then, though he had been feeling his way through pill refining, the artifact spirit ancestor had been with him. People had come and gone through the tribe, living quiet, peaceful lives.

Now, however, the Clan Patriarch and the tribe were both gone, and the artifact spirit ancestor remained unconscious.

"Soul crystals might help the ancestor awaken," Mu Bai said, thinking of the artifact spirit ancestor. "When I get some in the future, I'll have to try. Right now, though, I don't have a single one. I might as well focus on refining pills."

Mu Bai steadied his mind, set the Crow Cauldron over the Earthfire, and deftly refined star-soul grass, Phoenix Python blood, Fire-Armored Crocodile blood, and the other medicinal ingredients and Beast Materials into Soul-Gathering Pills, one after another.

Soul-Gathering Pills refined from these materials had an extremely fierce, overbearing fire attribute. Remembering the artifact spirit ancestor's words, Mu Bai added cistanche to neutralize the overbearing fire elements in the Phoenix Python and Fire-Armored Crocodile blood. Sure enough, not only were the resulting Soul-Gathering Pills considerably more potent, but swallowing them no longer felt like being roasted over a fire, with smoke pouring from all seven orifices.

There was no longer any need to save the pills he refined for the tribe. Feeling somewhat bereft, Mu Bai abruptly scooped up all the pills and swallowed them. The powerful surge of medicinal potency stirred his desire to grow stronger.

Next, Mu Bai took out the dragon bone flowers and Shezi flowers he had bought at the Sky Wolf Tribe Market.

Dragon bone flowers, also known as Heaven-Measuring Rulers, worked wonders in loosening and nourishing soul meridians. Stronger soul meridians naturally stored and condensed more soul power; they were a cultivator's foundation.

Shezi flowers, also called Other Shore Flowers, were said to connect to the Nether Death Realm. Red Other Shore Flowers signified an omen of death and a summons from the Nether Death Realm, while white Other Shore Flowers represented endless longing. Longing for those who had passed away.

Holding the white petals, Mu Bai stared into space. He missed the Clan Patriarch and his tribespeople.

Following the pill formulas in the Compendium of Pills and Herbs, Mu Bai refined the dragon bone flowers into Soul Meridian Pills and the Other Shore Flowers into Divine Thought Pills. The flesh and blood of a level-two Black-Tailed Snake were excellent materials for tempering the body, and they were the only Second-Tier Vicious Beast materials he possessed. Though his current soul power was faintly approaching the peak of the initial level, it was still insufficient to kill a Second-Tier Vicious Beast.

Time went unmarked in the forest, and another half year passed in a flash.

For those six months, Mu Bai followed the training schedule he had used in the tribe. By day, he hunted fierce beasts and gathered medicinal herbs; at night, he concentrated on refining pills; and at dawn, he practiced the Spirit-Tempering Art. Not only had his soul power and physique reached the peak of the initial level, but his mental power and divine sense had also grown increasingly robust. Standing amid the forest atop a mountain, he already had the bearing of a powerful expert, his eyes bright and resolute.

The moon sank westward, and all was silent. Sitting cross-legged in his cave, Mu Bai took out a moon-white Divine Thought Pill. The white Other Shore Flowers had yielded five Divine Thought Pills in total, and only this last one remained.

"I wonder whether this last pill can help me achieve level-two mental power. Reaching level two will be the first major breakthrough on my cultivation path. I'm looking forward to it..."

Mu Bai murmured with the Divine Thought Pill in his hand. He yearned so much to break through, so much to grow stronger.

Taking a Divine Thought Pill did not immediately produce a significant increase in mental power, but its strength lay in its lasting effects. A single pill could nourish the mind and spirit for an entire month.

One month after taking his first Divine Thought Pill, Mu Bai discovered that his mental power had improved as never before, a hundred times more effectively than when he had practiced the Spirit-Tempering Art alone. After all, the Spirit-Tempering Art was only an ordinary method for cultivating mental power. Otherwise, with Clan Patriarch Hai Ya's aptitude for cultivation, he would not have remained stuck at the Middle Third Level his whole life, barely able to advance an inch.

After that, Mu Bai took one Divine Thought Pill each month. Over nearly half a year, his mental power had grown so quickly that it far outstripped the growth of his soul power, and signs of an impending breakthrough had already appeared.

Without further hesitation, Mu Bai swallowed the last Divine Thought Pill and devoted himself to practicing the Spirit-Tempering Art. Though the art's effects now seemed negligible, something was better than nothing. He would not forgo even the slightest chance to improve.

"Whether it's soul power or mental power, as long as I break through to level two, I can venture into the Silver Frost Forest and try my hand!"

Throughout those six months, Mu Bai had never rashly entered the Silver Frost Forest. Even in the woods on its outskirts, he had encountered powerful second-tier fierce beasts several times, creatures far beyond an initial-level cultivator like him. Once a cultivator reached level two, however, their combat strength would leap tenfold.

With each increase in level, strength grew tenfold. This was the common standard used to distinguish the stages along a cultivator's path.

Gripping the cliff face and pushing lightly with his toes, Mu Bai climbed to the valley's summit like a nimble ape. Then his figure flashed, slipping into the dense forest like a ghost.

Mu Bai knew this stretch of woodland like the palm of his hand.

A few days earlier, Mu Bai had happened upon a stalk of nether soul grass growing on a cliff face. It was an exceptional herb for refining Soul Power pills.

Just as he was about to climb up and pick it, a golden eagle roughly a zhang in size swooped straight at him. In his haste, Mu Bai had only barely avoided its strike by flipping over and leaping off the cliff.

The golden eagle was already a second-tier raptor. Knowing he was no match for it, Mu Bai could only abandon his plan to pick the nether soul grass for the time being. Yet every time he entered that stretch of forest, his heart itched, and he hoped for a chance to claim it. The eagle was exceedingly patient, too. Every time, it stood guard there, chest thrust out and head held high, its gaze arrogant, as though saying, Just try picking it if you dare.

Mu Bai's desire to obtain the nether soul grass grew stronger. Man and bird settled into a stalemate. Every day, Mu Bai slipped quietly into that stretch of forest, ready to act the moment the golden eagle was absent. He was confident that, after refining the nether soul grass into a pill, its potency would give him a ninety-percent chance of immediately breaking through to Level Two Soul Power. After reaching level two, the sky would be high and the seas vast, free for birds to fly and fish to leap. Gaining greater strength was Mu Bai's desire above all else.

He quietly watched the nest on the cliff for a long time, but there was no sign of the golden eagle.

"Could I have happened to catch it visiting its sweetheart?"

Several times, Mu Bai had seen the golden eagle eagerly trailing after a smaller golden eagle, fawning over it.

"Or is it deliberately luring me into making a move?"

Seeing that the golden eagle was absent from its nest, Mu Bai instead began to hesitate.

"Riches and honor are won amid danger. We cultivators wrest our lives from heaven-why fear a mere golden eagle!"

At that thought, Mu Bai steeled himself, crouched, and moved briskly toward the golden eagle's nest.

He was still several zhang from the nest when a piercing shriek split the sky, and the enormous golden eagle swooped toward him.

The golden eagle was a king of the skies. Naturally, no rustle of wind or grass in the forest escaped its keen eyes.

"Well, look at you!"

Mu Bai leaped behind a boulder, dodging the eagle's strike. Its sharp talons raked down, and the boulder shattered with a bang.

Only a few zhang separated them. If he fled, he clearly could not outpace the golden eagle. Fighting was his only choice.

Mu Bai brought forth the Crow Cauldron, which blazed with Crow Radiance. This was also his strongest means of attack at present.

Seeing this weak little Human Race cultivator take a stance to fight to the death instead of fleeing for his life in its presence made the golden eagle even angrier. It cried, "Gah, gah!" Then it shook its wings, whipping flying sand and stones into a stone pillar that slammed straight toward Mu Bai.

Mu Bai also intended to test himself against the golden eagle. Immediately, he drove the Crow Cauldron with his soul power, meeting the stone pillar head-on. With a crash, the pillar scattered, and the Crow Cauldron was knocked back. Mu Bai hastily retreated several steps before dissipating the force of the eagle's attack. The golden eagle, meanwhile, had not budged. Haughty and brimming with arrogance, it displayed the bearing of a king of the skies to the fullest.

"Good, the gap isn't that big! Again!"

Mu Bai decided to try a mental attack. After all, his mental power now exceeded his soul power. He had simply grown accustomed to attacking with soul power and neglected the methods of mental power.

With a slight stir of his mind, mental power gathered and took the form of a long spear. Radiating an imposing brilliance, it whistled toward the golden eagle. A look of contempt appeared on the eagle's face. Rather than dodge, it gave a piercing cry that formed a wall of sound, forcibly stopping the spear and preventing it from advancing another inch.

Then the golden eagle beat its wings fiercely, its enormous body smashing down toward Mu Bai like a falling boulder.

Fortunately, the Crow Cauldron in his hands could refine pills, smash people, and serve as armor when needed. Mu Bai's figure flashed as he ducked inside, letting the golden eagle smash into the cauldron with crushing weight.

At that hairbreadth moment, Mu Bai had withdrawn into the Crow Cauldron like a turtle. Though he avoided bodily injury, he still suffered miserably. A thunderous crash rang in his ears, and the mind-spirit within his divine palace felt as though it would be shaken apart.

The sonic attack caused by the golden eagle striking the Crow Cauldron would not originally have been so powerful. Mu Bai's clever trick of hiding inside had merely backfired. As the cauldron vibrated, the sound waves did not disperse but instead became even more concentrated.

Fortunately, Mu Bai had practiced the Spirit-Tempering Art since childhood, had previously swallowed a large quantity of Valley Essence Grass in one sitting, and had subsequently taken five Divine Thought Pills in succession. These had made his mind-spirit stronger than those of others at his level, allowing him to endure this sonic attack.

Fortune leaned against misfortune. Mu Bai's clumsy tactic of hiding in the Crow Cauldron had subjected his mind-spirit to a terribly painful sonic attack. Unexpectedly, what followed soon felt like wisdom pouring over his head. His divine sea surged as though boiling, undergoing a qualitative improvement. His formerly oval Mind-Spirit Pill also transformed into a tiny human figure amid flickering golden light. He had broken through to level-two mental power!

Upon reaching level-two mental power, Mu Bai immediately felt that the entire world had expanded several times over. Outside the Crow Cauldron, the vegetation on the distant mountains and the fine feathers on the golden eagle all became clear and magnified.

"This golden eagle is only a second-tier fierce bird. Now that I've broken through to level-two mental power, why not tame it? It would be a fine means of traveling through the skies and over the earth!"

With his plan settled, Mu Bai emerged without hesitation, swung the Crow Cauldron, and smashed it toward the golden eagle's head.

The golden eagle was standing guard over the Crow Cauldron, hesitating as it considered how to attack, when Mu Bai's sudden strike startled it into crying, "Gah, gah!" You cowardly, weak human cultivator! Instead of keeping yourself tucked away like a turtle, you dare attack me? They were within arm's reach. Before the golden eagle could grasp this cruel reality, the Crow Cauldron struck its head hard. Stars danced before its eyes...

"Now's my chance!"

Seeing his strike succeed, Mu Bai immediately condensed his mental power into a sword. A streak of golden light pierced the crown of the golden eagle's head and plunged straight into its divine palace.

Greatly alarmed, the golden eagle hastily gathered its mental power to resist the Golden Light Sword, trying to force it out of its divine palace.

Apart from certain unusual beasts whose formidable innate mental power could take myriad forms, most fierce beasts and birds focused only on cultivating Physical Body Power. The golden eagle was no exception. The mental power it hurriedly gathered could not withstand Mu Bai's Golden Light Sword at all, dispersing into nothingness in mere moments.

Mu Bai controlled the Golden Light Sword and branded a divine seal directly onto the golden eagle's mind-spirit.

Mu Bai chuckled. It had worked!

The golden eagle's enormous body immediately began trembling uncontrollably. The unruly look in its eyes gradually became submissive. No longer the king of the skies it had been, it crouched obediently on the ground, waiting for Mu Bai's commands.

"Heh, not bad! From now on, you're my beast companion. Little Eagle, you'd better behave!"

Mu Bai could sense that, with a single thought, he could activate the little sword brand on the golden eagle's mind-spirit and destroy its mind-spirit instantly.

Destroying the mind-spirit was no different from death. This was also how Divine Cultivators controlled beasts. As long as their mental power was strong enough, they could control fierce beasts, demonic beasts, and even divine beasts.

But how powerful were divine beasts? Not only were they rarely controlled, but even when they were, their controller needed formidable combat strength to make them willingly submit. Otherwise, with their proud and noble bloodlines, divine beasts would rather have their mind-spirits destroyed than be controlled by another.