The strange behavior of the herd members immediately stirred the other Azure-Backed Boars.
The Azure-Backed Boar leader in particular began snorting, jets of hot breath spraying from its nostrils as it grew visibly agitated.
But after it went over to check on its companions lying unconscious on the ground, it gradually lowered its guard again, seemingly because it lacked the intelligence to understand.
Chen Shuangbai kept himself downwind as best he could and repeated his trick, poisoning another four Azure-Backed Boars into unconsciousness.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Only eight remained standing.
The Azure-Backed Boar leader grew even more agitated.
But it sniffed to the left and smelled to the right without detecting the slightest strange odor or scent of an enemy. Its eyes turned bright red with fury, and it pawed at the ground nonstop.
Chen Shuangbai knew the beast was paying attention to its surroundings now. His eyes rolled, and he came up with another idea.
He took out a few more Purple-Patterned Fungus and ground them into powder with Spirit Power. Then he used the Wind Control Technique to stir up a breeze, carrying the powder slowly toward the eight remaining Azure-Backed Boars.
A strange smell spread through the air.
The eight remaining Azure-Backed Boars immediately grew wary. Their upturned nostrils twitched and contracted as they tried to sniff out what enemy or strange thing was there.
Little did they know, the harder they sniffed, the faster they would fall unconscious.
After several more thuds, only the Azure-Backed Boar leader, with its Qi Refinement Fourth Layer strength, remained.
The Azure-Backed Boar leader seemed to have stronger resistance because its strength far surpassed that of its kin.
As Chen Shuangbai considered which angle to attack from, he suddenly saw the Azure-Backed Boar leader turn its enormous, fearsome head sharply toward the tree where he was hiding.
Seeing this, Chen Shuangbai thought, This is bad.
The wind must have carried my scent over along with it.
He decisively used the Wind Control Technique, and his figure swept swiftly to the left.
Just after he left the tree, a golden-yellow earth-element spiritual light hurtled over. With a rumbling crash, the Azure-Backed Boar leader smashed the tree in two.
Seeing this, Chen Shuangbai thought, What tremendous strength! He immediately formed a Method Formula with his hands.
"Cold Spring Invocation: Ice Thorn Formation!"
Water vapor filled the forest. Chen Shuangbai drew it in, and thick, sharp ice spikes grew around the Azure-Backed Boar leader.
Chen Shuangbai intended to repeat his old trick.
But who would have thought that, the next second, the layer of golden-yellow earth-element spiritual light would reappear around the Azure-Backed Boar leader, and it would smash a huge opening through the spikes with a rumbling crash?
"What tremendous brute strength!"
After smashing through the ice spikes, the Azure-Backed Boar leader turned its red eyes and charged at Chen Shuangbai again.
A long trench was plowed through the ground in its wake, trees were smashed apart, and stones flew everywhere.
Chen Shuangbai's figure was like a leaf, darting from side to side in the forest breeze. Using the dense trees as cover, he tried to fade from the Azure-Backed Boar leader's sight.
But the Azure-Backed Boar was surprisingly fast. Even with Chen Shuangbai pushing the Wind Control Technique to its limits, it still pursued him relentlessly.
This won't do. I have to block this beast's sight and sense of smell!
As he passed a certain spot, Chen Shuangbai changed his Method Formula and used the Obscuring Mist Method.
Thick fog immediately rose in the forest.
The fog instantly concealed Chen Shuangbai. After he made a few more turns, the Azure-Backed Boar leader was forced to stop and sniff repeatedly, but it could smell nothing, and all it could see was a vast expanse of white. It began to go mad.
Just then-
A streak of dark blue light flew soundlessly through the fog.
The Azure-Backed Boar leader let out a wail and violently shook the surrounding earth and stones, unleashing a powerful force. But the Cold Spring Sword had severed the tendons in its right hind leg, and it immediately fell to its knees.
It sent clods of earth and stones flying in every direction, but they vanished like clay oxen entering the sea, without the slightest response.
The Cold Spring Sword, however, struck without warning from different, tricky angles, each stroke aimed at the tendons in its four remaining legs.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Before long,
the Azure-Backed Boar leader collapsed to the ground, unable to stand again.
But it could still cast spells. The layer of earth-element spiritual light around it flickered constantly as it sent clods of earth and stones flying in every direction to strike and kill.
Chen Shuangbai was in no hurry.
He lacked practical combat experience, so he took this chance to hone it. Maintaining the fog in the forest, he shifted his position and directed the Cold Spring Sword to strike at the Azure-Backed Boar leader.
At first,
the earth-element spiritual light around the Azure-Backed Boar leader held firm. But after the Cold Spring Sword struck back and forth more than a dozen times, its chilling effect began to show. Cold air seeped into the boar's body through its wounds, freezing its Qi and Blood and affecting its condition.
In the end, Chen Shuangbai broke through its defenses, and the Cold Spring Sword passed through its head, killing it.
"Finally killed it."
Chen Shuangbai felt a little pleased, thinking that he had made a modest profit this time.
He did not hurry forward to collect the spoils. Instead, he sat cross-legged where he was and spread out his senses. He also took a Qi Recovery Pill and regulated his breathing for a while. Only after restoring his Spirit Power did he get to work.
By the time he was done, more than half of Chen Shuangbai's Storage Bag was filled, and he had even made a pleasant discovery.
He had dug a Demon Core out of the Azure-Backed Boar leader.
A Demon Core was the hub of a Demon Beast's cultivation, containing the essence of its entire body.
Cultivators could use it in medicines, pill refinement, talisman making, or the forging of Law Treasures. It was a highly versatile spiritual material.
Chen Shuangbai knew that the sect left the Demon Beasts in Rime Forest alone and only culled them periodically in order to cultivate more Demon Cores.
He held the pigeon-egg-sized Demon Core, which shimmered blue and yellow, between his fingers and carefully sensed it. Realizing that it was a water-and-earth dual-element Demon Core, he felt he had profited even more.
"This Demon Core should be worth a few hundred merit points, right?"
Chen Shuangbai happily put it away in his Storage Bag as well.
Then he used the Wind Control Technique to disturb the area again. After clearing away his scent and traces, he departed at an easy pace and continued exploring Rime Forest.
Not long after he left, however, the flesh and blood left from the Azure-Backed Boars were drawn underground amid a strange rumbling ripple, then vanished.
Chen Shuangbai naturally knew nothing of this.
He continued deeper into Rime Forest.
Before long, he found another valuable spiritual herb in the hollow of a dead tree, one that could be used in medicine and pill refinement.
He promptly pocketed it, leaving behind the seeds and roots.
After several battles with the Demon Beasts of Rime Forest, Chen Shuangbai felt that his circulation of Spirit Power, the speed of his attacks, and his combat experience were all improving by leaps and bounds. He could not help feeling even happier.