Chapter 35

Puff puff!

From deep within the misty cliffs, two muffled sounds suddenly echoed. Amidst the swirling mist, a slender figure, agile like a monkey, darted back and forth on the protrusions of the rock wall.

When there was no place to step, the two green horns in his hands were abruptly inserted into the hard rock wall, using them to climb down to the nearby cloud pear tree.

"Hey!"

With a deep shout, Li Chen leaped and landed on the thick branches of the gnarled tree, causing the tender yellow fruits to tremble.

Crack!

He casually picked a cloud pear fruit, took a bite, and stuffed half of it into his chest. Looking up at the sky, he patted his stomach: "Eating these cloud pear fruits every day is really tasteless. And Lei Peng, that big eater, must have meat!"

After complaining in a low voice for a while, Li Chen picked all the fruits, stuffed them into the straw backpack on his back, and gritted his teeth as he slid down.

The sparse holes on the rock wall showed that he had come down more than once.

If there were other martial artists here, they would surely drop their jaws in shock. The cloud pear fruit was a second-stage intermediate spirit medicine, an excellent choice for low-level martial artists to temper their bodies. Yet, he looked impatient, truly not appreciating his good fortune.

In the past six months, Li Chen had practiced martial skills under the hurricane every day and eaten cloud pear fruits, making his body incredibly strong. If he had a body-tempering technique to practice, his strength would be even greater.

By his own estimation, his strength had increased by dozens, even a hundred times. Not to mention a sixth-level martial artist, even seventh and eighth levels would be unable to do anything to him.

If he hadn't faced a ninth-level martial artist, he would believe that even a ninth-level martial artist with internal energy would not be his match.

His figure flickered continuously, and it took nearly an hour before Li Chen could see the situation below.

A clear green pond, like a mirror, emitted a faintly sweet and fishy odor.

A massive figure was floating on the water's surface. Although it was motionless, what startled Li Chen was that the aura emanating from the body was no weaker than that of the Lei Eagles from half a year ago.

Around the pond, dozens, even more, white bones were scattered, creating a chilling and eerie atmosphere that made Li Chen shiver.

A pebble under his foot rolled into the pond, turning into white foam with a light splash and instantly dissipating.

"What a pity, this is a fourth-stage demonic beast, the Blood Spirit Vulture!"

Li Chen carefully descended another ten zhang, carefully examining the corpse. Through the clear pond water, he could see its head, which was extremely fierce.

Both of its large wings were completely broken, and its spine was half pulled out, clearly pecked by the Lei Eagle's sharp beak.

Although he had seen this giant beast more than once, each time he saw it, he felt a chill.

From the opened storage bag, he learned from a continental oddity that the giant eagle he encountered was called the Golden-winged Lei Eagle, and the fierce beast at the bottom of the pond was called the Blood Spirit Vulture, a highly venomous fierce beast and a natural enemy of the Lei Eagle.

He guessed that this Blood Spirit Vulture was the one that fought with the Lei Eagle couple that day, resulting in a mutual destruction, indirectly saving his life.

Only a venomous beast capable of poisoning so many demonic beasts could make the Lei Eagle couple join forces and still perish.

After carefully examining the appearance of the fierce beast, although he did not recognize it, Li Chen deeply imprinted it in his mind.

Even though he seemed immune to the venom, he did not dare to test the clearly venomous pond or retrieve the corpse of the Blood Spirit Vulture.

Squawk!

From the leather bag on his back, Lei Peng let out a few soft calls. After half a year of companionship, Li Chen knew that this was an expression of anger and disgust, as if sensing the presence of a natural enemy.

In such a place where powerful demonic beasts roamed, Li Chen did not dare to let Lei Peng fly around recklessly, as even a slight mistake could lead to their demise.

Without hesitation, Li Chen held the two green horns and moved along the rock wall to bypass the pond.

...

"Whoosh!"

In the dense forest, a figure flashed by. Li Chen carefully poked his head out of the grass, his eyes bright under his disheveled hair, carefully scanning the surroundings.

At this moment, Li Chen had messy hair tied with a band, two golden, foot-long feathers stuck on both sides, and his body was covered in ropes made of fine grass, looking like a wild man.

After nearly half a year of continuous travel in the ancient Cang Mountains, where powerful demonic beasts roamed, he finally reached the outskirts. It would be strange if he were in good condition.

He would eat a cloud pear fruit when tired to replenish his energy, and even when sleeping, he had to keep his eyes open, as he would have been devoured by demonic beasts long ago if not for the two crown feathers of the Lei Eagle couple, which carried the powerful aura of a fourth-stage demonic beast.

Clearly, the Lei Eagle couple were the kings of that forest. Even in death, the aura from their crown feathers still made these powerful demonic beasts wary.

"According to the map, this is already near the outermost area. As long as I cross this, I will reach the territory of first-stage demonic beasts, which should be safe!"

Li Chen carefully pulled out a tattered map from his chest and observed it. This map was obtained from the storage bag, and without it, he would not have known how to navigate through the mountains.

With a thought, Li Chen darted out of the grass and sprinted straight ahead.

Squawk!

At this moment, a strange chill surged in his heart, and he rolled forward without hesitation.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind swept by, and a green leopard the size of a calf suddenly leaped over his head and pounced again.

"Green-spotted Leopard, it's a second-stage initial demonic beast, extremely fast, and can spit wind blades!"

Li Chen glanced sideways, feeling a sense of dread, and without hesitation, he took off the two crown feathers and ran forward.

He had encountered second-stage demonic beasts before, and with Lei Peng's help, he had always detected and avoided them early. Unfortunately, this time he miscalculated and encountered a Green-spotted Leopard skilled in hiding and speed.

Before reaching this point, he had been pursued by second-stage demonic beasts several times.

Second-stage demonic beasts were different from third-stage demonic beasts. Besides the difference in strength, they lacked the keen senses of third-stage demonic beasts and could not detect the aura of the fourth-stage Lei Eagle's crown feathers, but they could distinguish Li Chen's aura.

As a result, Li Chen, who appeared to be at the internal energy realm, naturally became their target.

Several times, he was severely injured and barely escaped, taking a long time to recover before continuing his journey.

This time, facing a Green-spotted Leopard with a speed advantage, Li Chen's reliance on the Wind Drift Step was no longer sufficient.

Squawk!

Lei Peng, perched on a tree, sensing Li Chen's danger, dove down without hesitation. Spreading its wings, which had not changed much, it extended its gray-green talons and clawed at the Green-spotted Leopard's back.

As the saying goes, a young calf is not afraid of a tiger. Lei Peng clearly did not realize the gap between itself and the second-stage Green-spotted Leopard.