Arriving at the Clear Wind Mountain Range, Killing the Thunder Leopard!

Two days have passed in the blink of an eye.

The Clear Wind Mountain Range stretch across the area between White Cloud Commandery and Qingzhou Commandery, covering hundreds of miles. Although not as Great Maple Mountain Range, they are still quite impressive.

The deeper you go, the denser the forest becomes, and the thinner the Spiritual Qi becomes. Instead, a dry, scorching air current flows out from the heart of the mountains.

Sun Lin noticed that the gravel under his feet was beginning to change color.

The original grayish-brown rocks gradually turned into a dark, iron-blue color, with pitted surfaces covered with spiderweb-like burn marks.

The further you go, the denser these patterns become, as if something has repeatedly struck the ground, leaving indelible marks over the years.

The Lord Rat turned back from the front, scurried onto Shi Jian's back, and whispered twice.

Upon hearing this, Shi Jian paused in his steps.

"Arrive."

Sun Lin looked up, his pupils contracting.

Ahead, the dense forest suddenly broke apart, as if cleaved in two by a giant axe, revealing a clearing area spanning more than ten miles in circumference.

There was no grass, no moss, not even insects or ants to be seen.

Hundreds or even thousands of stone pillars of varying heights stand densely packed on the scorched ground, the tallest being over ten zhang (approximately 33-40 meters) high and the shortest being three or four zhang (approximately 13-20 meters) high.

The stone pillar is entirely iron-blue in color and has a heavy texture.

The surface is covered with grooves of varying depths, and at the bottom of these grooves, a layer of peculiar white crystalline powder remains...

Sun Lin approached a stone pillar and touched it.

A tingling sensation spread through my fingertips.

He abruptly withdrew his hand, his fingertips already slightly red.

"Kid, don't touch that."

Shi Jian glanced at him, his nostrils flared, and he took a deep breath.

The air was filled with an aura he was extremely familiar with, exactly the same as the intense spiritual energy inside the Thunder Essence Fruit, but at least ten times more concentrated!

These stone pillars act like lightning rods, attracting all the lightning bolts from within a radius of dozens of miles. Year after year, day after day, the stone pillars themselves have become soaked with the power of lightning.

Shi Jian's heart burned with passion, but his face remained impassive.

It simply strolled slowly along the edge of the stone forest, landing on all fours without making a sound.

The Lord Rat suddenly pricked up its ears, tensed its body, and bared its teeth towards the depths of the stone forest, clearly sensing something...

Shi Jian stopped in his tracks.

He sensed it.

Deep within the stone forest, there is an aura. And not just one.

The outermost layer contained the auras of a few Level 1 Demon Beast, scattered and weak. Further in, a dozen or so slightly stronger fluctuations were interspersed.

And at the deepest point—

A deep, dark, and malevolent Yao Qi lingered in the very center of the stone forest, thick, violent, and carrying a pungent, acrid smell.

This aura belongs to Level 4 Demon Beast.

Foundation Establishment Late Stage!

Shi Jian licked his lips.

Sun Lin.

"Exist."

"Find a secluded spot, put on Aura-Concealing Talisman, and don't come out without my order..."

Without wasting words, Sun Lin turned and retreated into a crevice on the outskirts of the stone forest. He carefully stacked three layers of Aura-Concealing Talisman and affixed them to his body, instantly dissipating his aura.

Then, Shi Jian exerted force with all four limbs.

His body shot off like a black arrow, hurtling rapidly into the depths of the stone forest.

He made no attempt to conceal his Yao Qi.

A powerful, Shan Yue- like aura spread out, crushing over every stone pillar and every piece of rubble in the stone forest, like an ancient ferocious beast proclaiming that this territory has a new master!

And the reaction came very quickly.

Deep within the stone forest, the heavy, demonic Yao Qi suddenly surged!

"Roar--!"

A roar filled with thunderous fury exploded from the center of the stone forest, causing the white crystals on the surface of several stone pillars to fall off in a flurry.

Immediately afterwards, a lithe figure darted out from between the stone pillars.

It was a giant leopard with a completely silver-gray coat.

It was over two zhang long, with long and powerful limbs, and its fur was covered with branching purplish-black markings, like the marks left by lightning.

His vertical pupils were a deep blue, with a hint of apprehension hidden deep within them.

It was a Thunder Leopard!

The great demon landed atop a stone pillar, looking down at Shi Jian, letting out a series of low growls...

His deep blue vertical pupils held both anger and wariness.

It sensed pure malice, and that the opponent was no weaker than itself:

"Bear demon, considering the difficulty of your cultivation, leave my territory at once."

"If anyone dares to cross this line even half a step, I will kill them!"

Shi Jian stopped and looked up at the Thunder Leopard on the stone pillar, narrowing his eyes. It was Level 4 Demon Beast, and they were evenly matched in terms of cultivation level.

Its aura was quite fierce, and it had been immersed in the power of thunder for many years, possessing profound inner strength.

A head-on clash is hard to predict who will win or lose.

After all, Demon Beast with special bloodlines like these are not so easy to deal with; their bloodline talents and aptitudes are on a completely different level from ordinary Demon Beast...

But Shi Jian had no intention of giving up; on the contrary, he was itching to try.

He wanted to use this Thunder Leopard as a trial run!

Are you threatening me?

"TM Bear's Power!"

Shi Jian let out a low roar, and a terrifying demonic aura erupted!

Thunder Leopard reacted extremely quickly upon seeing this.

It leaped down from the top of the stone pillar at such speed that it tore the air apart. Where its four claws swept, purple arcs of electricity crackled and exploded, carrying a blinding light, as it aimed straight for Shi Jian's throat!

Fast, too fast!

So fast that it's impossible to detect its presence with the naked eye...

However, Shi Jian was very experienced. He turned to the side in advance and struck out with his right palm, using his experience to predict where his opponent might land.

"Bang!"

The bear's paw collided head-on with the Thunder Leopard's claws, and a surge of violent lightning power flowed into the palm, instantly spreading a tingling sensation to half of the arm.

Shi Jian did not dodge the lightning.

Instead, he actively channeled it into his body, allowing the violent current to flow along his meridians and resonate with the faint trace of lightning power within his Nascent Soul Middle Stage...

Pain!

A burning pain surged from deep within his meridians, but Shi Jian's eyes grew brighter and brighter; this was exactly the feeling he wanted!

It's painful yet pleasurable, and we're having an amazing time!

Seeing that his attack had failed, Thunder Leopard changed direction several times in mid-air.

In the next instant, it transformed into several afterimages, launching attacks simultaneously from the left, right, and top directions. This kind of Secret Method, similar to creating clones, is the bloodline Divine Ability inherited by this Thunder Leopard!

Shi Jian neither dodged nor evaded, his limbs firmly planted on the ground.

The Yao Qi condensed on its body, and it actually withstood three claw strikes. In an instant, its flesh was torn open and its fur was charred black...

Lightning crackled at the wound, which was deep enough to expose bone and was a bloody mess, yet it healed at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Shi Jian's vital Qi and Blood and blood were far superior to those of his peers.

The foundation laid by the two Blood Bodhi and the Blood-Coagulating Lotus back then is now fully displayed, which is the ultimate physical body.

Thunder Leopard sensed something was wrong.

Its attack did break through the defenses, but the opponent didn't care at all!

Look at the black bear's expression when it was being beaten; it even seemed to have a hint of...

enjoy?

Thunder Leopard's fur bristled. Its instincts told it that its opponent was abnormal; he was too tough, as tough as a piece of rubbish!

When it turned around, intending to withdraw.

Shi Jian had been waiting for this moment. Based on his experience hunting wild leopards, he successfully predicted the Thunder Leopard's next move...

"Want to leave?"

"Die!"

Boom!

Shi Jian suddenly exerted force with his limbs, the ground cracked, and his entire body transformed into a black torrent. Although his speed was not as fast as Thunder Leopard's, his explosive power far exceeded expectations!

Swing your left palm through the air, then follow with your right palm.

With this palm strike, Shi Jian compressed all the Demon Essence within his body into his palm, simultaneously unleashing it along with a wisp of newly generated lightning power.

Wherever the palm strike landed, several wisps of silvery-white electric arcs appeared in the air; though faint, they were undeniably real!

It even faintly brought forth a rumble of Lei Ming!

"Boom!"

Thunder Leopard's body was sent flying, smashing through three stone pillars. Blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and the sound of bones cracking came from his spine.

This feeling is like being struck by a mountain!

Thunder Leopard's eyes glazed over, and its consciousness began to blur. It tried to struggle to get up, but its limbs and body wouldn't obey its commands and began to twitch involuntarily until everything went black and it died.

Shi Jian doesn't possess any fancy bloodline Divine Ability.

However, its main strength lies in its physical prowess; it is incredibly resilient and capable of both offense and defense. While Thunder Leopard is strong, his physical abilities are ultimately mediocre.

He took a solid slap from Shi Jian right in the face...

It's like an egg hitting a rock, spilling its contents everywhere.