Night fell, and the forest was pitch black.
There was no moon in the sky, only countless stars twinkling faintly. For creatures without night vision, this was practically the same as being blind.
In a cave reeking of a foul stench, a man and a woman sat around a campfire, each holding a piece of half-red, half-blackened beast meat, eating it with furrowed brows.
"Pah, I can't stand it anymore!"
Ximen Zhanpeng, you should give me the fruit you picked this morning!
Han Zishu had been eating undercooked animal meat for more than twenty days, and now the smell made her want to vomit. She had been raised in luxury since childhood and had never suffered such hardship.
Ximen Zhanpeng seemed indifferent, tossing the cloth bag beside him to Han Zishu and coldly saying, "Beast meat is very helpful for us to recover our strength. If you recover too slowly, don't blame me for abandoning you."
Han Zishu glared at Ximen Zhanpeng resentfully, but she knew that Ximen Zhanpeng was right, so she remained silent, unwrapped the package, and took out the two green fruits inside to eat.
"Tomorrow we'll go to the valley ahead; there are at least dozens of ferocious wolves lurking there."
If we can kill that alpha wolf, we should be able to increase our number of Profound Mystery Fragment significantly.
Ximen Zhanpeng chewed on the half-cooked meat of a ferocious beast, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, making him look exceptionally terrifying.
In the Heavenly Court, the relationships between the divine sons and daughters are not necessarily harmonious; in fact, there is often considerable competition between them.
Unless someone like Ye Beihen possesses absolute strength that commands the respect of all the divine children, it's already a good thing if they don't fight each other outside.
The reason why Ximen Zhanpeng and Han Zishu traveled together was mainly because it was indeed difficult to survive alone in the True Body Grotto-Heaven. Moreover, in order to obtain the Profound Mystery Fragment as soon as possible, they had to kill high-level ferocious beasts. High-level ferocious beasts usually had a large number of followers, and it was too difficult for one person to complete such a task.
Moreover, after encountering Chen Mu's true form, Ximen Zhanpeng was always very wary of Chen Mu, so even though his adaptability was stronger than Han Zishu's, he did not abandon Han Zishu and act alone.
"Okay! I'll follow your instructions."
Han Zishu's overall strength is actually no weaker than Ximen Zhanpeng's, but she is, after all, a woman, and her strength is suppressed very much in the True Body Grotto-Heaven, making it more difficult for her to survive there than for Ximen Zhanpeng.
Snap!
Suddenly, a strange impact sound came from outside the cave. Ximen Zhanpeng and Han Zishu became extremely alert, quickly put down what they were carrying, and went out of the cave to investigate.
A pool of blood appeared on the wall outside the cave, and a mangled animal carcass lay on the ground.
"This is..."
As Ximen Zhanpeng approached, he recognized it as a wolf cub.
"Oh no, someone's trying to frame us!"
Although he wasn't good at wilderness survival, he was very familiar with all sorts of schemes and tricks, and he didn't believe that the wolf cub had run to the cave entrance and killed itself.
Unfortunately, no matter how quick his reaction was, he couldn't break Chen Mu's long-planned scheme. At this moment, more than a dozen ferocious wolves rushed out of the forest, staring intently at Ximen Zhanpeng and Han Zishu with icy eyes.
"Aww...!"
A silver-haired mother wolf saw the dead wolf cubs on the ground and let out a mournful howl.
Seeing this, the other wolves would not let the two go. They immediately swarmed forward and launched a fierce attack on Ximen Zhanpeng and Han Zishu.
"Be careful! Chen Mu might be the one framing us."
His strength is strange; don't stray too far from me, or you'll fall into his trap.
Although these dozen or so ferocious wolves were quite strong, Ximen Zhanpeng could handle them without much trouble. His only worry was the mastermind lurking in the shadows.
Han Zishu cultivates a secret technique called the Body of the Stars, which allows her physical body to absorb the power of stars—a truly wondrous ability.
Unfortunately, her physique didn't seem to offer much of an advantage in the True Body Grotto-Heaven. In addition, her long-term abstinence from animal meat left her weak and unable to deliver a fatal blow to the ferocious wolf.
"Roar~~!"
As time passed, several more groups of ferocious wolves arrived from afar, until finally, a silver-headed wolf that was at least three zhang tall appeared, and they could no longer hold on.
"Let's go! We won't fight them head-on."
Although they had planned to attack the wolf pack in front of them tomorrow, they didn't intend to fight like this. Even if they managed to wipe out the wolf pack, their own exhaustion would put them in great danger.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Knowing that wolves were not good climbers, they climbed up the rocky hill next to the cave to avoid being attacked by the wolves.
Just as the two of them climbed halfway up the mountain, a sudden change occurred: several large rocks rolled down the mountain and crashed down on them.
"You bastard!"
Ximen Zhanpeng cursed angrily, but there was nothing he could do. He could only clench his right fist and smash it hard against the big rock.
With a loud boom, the Celestial Person Tyrant Body lived up to its reputation as one of the most explosive physiques; the large rock shattered instantly, yet he remained unharmed.
But Han Zishu, who was next to him, was not so lucky. A boulder weighing tons was pressing down on her. Even though she was not weak, it was impossible for her to smash the boulder with a single punch like Ximen Zhanpeng.
In a moment of crisis, she had no choice but to kick off the wall and flip down to the foot of the mountain to avoid being hit on the head by a large rock.
Seeing Han Zishu fall, Ximen Zhanpeng gritted his teeth and had no choice but to jump down after her.
He knew very well that if Han Zishu were killed by the ferocious beast, his own situation would be even worse.
However, he didn't notice that right below him, a person covered in leaves was hiding.
Just as Ximen Zhanpeng let go of the stone wall and fell down, the man moved.
Whoosh!
The man suddenly lunged forward and punched Ximen Zhanpeng straight in the chest.
In mid-air, Ximen Zhanpeng had nowhere to gain leverage, so he couldn't dodge the attack and had to take it head-on.
Ah~~!
Ximen Zhanpeng screamed and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Chen Mu, emboldened by his advantage, kicked him several more times from his superior position, finally sending him crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Boom!
Even if Ximen Zhanpeng had a good physique, being hit like that would have left him half-dead instantly.
Once on the ground, the ferocious wolves disregarded their past grievances and attacked Chen Mu.
"You beast, get out!"
Chen Mu roared, his muscles bulging as if he were a god, and with one punch after another, he sent the charging wolves flying.
"Don't kill me, I surrender!"
Ximen Zhanpeng was already barely breathing. After he saw that the person who came was indeed Chen Mu, he did not hesitate at all and immediately begged for mercy.