Chapter 5

In the dense jungle, the mountain walls were obscured. The sun hung high, and a gentle breeze blew, causing the tree shadows to sway, creating a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

"Found it!"

In a pile of weeds and rocks, Li Chen crouched and moved forward slowly. His eyes, hidden beneath his hair, seemed to have a glimmer of light even in the daytime. He carefully scanned the surroundings, not letting his guard down despite the quiet. Although he was young and had never entered the ancient Cang Mountain, his grandfather, Old Li, had told him many stories.

Especially those about martial artists entering the ancient Cang Mountain to seek treasures and losing their lives due to carelessness.

Since childhood, because of his ugly birthmark and inability to凝聚内息 (condense inner breath),

He stared intently at a spot about a丈 (ten feet) away, where a vine, as thick as a chopstick, extended from a rock crevice. The vine was entirely green, with small yellow thorns all over its body, and was about a尺 (foot) long.

On its tender green leaves, a few drops of dew trembled, reflecting the light above, making it look particularly appealing.

"Green Thorn Vine, a first-grade superior spirit medicine, the main ingredient for the Superior Qi-Gathering Pill!"

The information about the vine flashed through his mind. Li Chen's three years of servitude as a medicine slave were not in vain. He carefully examined the soil and rocks within a meter around the vine, not missing a single detail.

Being able to discover the location of the spirit medicine before others was not due to his cultivation level but because of his years of experience as a medicine slave, which had honed his sensitivity to the smell of medicines.

Suddenly, his pupils constricted. A circle of soil and rocks that seemed no different from the surroundings but was clearly connected appeared before his eyes. It was a strange snake, as thick as a child's forearm and no more than two feet long.

"Earth Ring Snake, a first-grade mid-level beast, heavily armored, highly toxic, and extremely powerful!"

As soon as he spotted the Earth Ring Snake, it suddenly flicked its blood-red tongue and raised its head to look at Li Chen.

Beasts are naturally bloodthirsty and have keen senses. Even though Li Chen followed the knowledge taught by Old Li to the best of his ability, his lack of experience was evident.

Facing this first-grade mid-level beast, which even sixth-layer martial artists feared, Li Chen felt a bit hesitant. But he remembered Old Li's advice that snake-type beasts have extremely fast close-range attack speeds. If he showed any sign of retreating, he would inevitably be bitten by the Earth Ring Snake.

Strike first, or be struck!

"Only a hard kill!"

Although his scalp tingled, a surge of excitement spread through him. Li Chen's calves tensed, and he moved like a rabbit, darting forward with a swift motion. His eyes shot out a piercing light, and the inner breath in his meridians, which had reached the fifth layer, surged into his right arm. He delivered a powerful punch to the snake's neck.

That was the vital point of the Earth Ring Snake. Li Chen was determined to shatter its internal meridians with one punch, rendering it helpless even if it had strong vitality.

Hiss!

The Earth Ring Snake seemed startled by Li Chen's action but, being a beast that grew up in a harsh environment, it opened its mouth and hissed. Its entire body tensed and sprang up, bypassing the punch and lunging at Li Chen's throat with lightning speed.

"So fast!"

Li Chen's pupils constricted, but he did not change his punch. Instead, he transformed it into a claw. The Tiger Roar Fist, which he had mastered to perfection, allowed him to change his fist to a palm with ease. Moreover, the high-level human-grade cultivation technique he practiced, the Fusion Yang Technique, was extremely powerful and yang, enhancing his killing power.

The muscles in his fingers and palm, enhanced by inner breath, seemed to have a faint wave of energy. With a slap, he grabbed the Earth Ring Snake.

It felt like grabbing a rough iron rod. The Earth Ring Snake, no more than two feet long, was slightly longer than Li Chen's arm. Once caught in the middle, it immediately tried to bite his shoulder.

"Die!"

Li Chen swung his entire arm in a circle, not waiting for it to bite. Like a windmill, he rapidly spun and slammed the Earth Ring Snake, causing rocks to fly and bang.

After a full teacup of time, feeling the force of the Earth Ring Snake's tail around his wrist weaken, he twisted his body and stomped hard on its head.

With a light hiss, a cold gleam flashed, and a silver dagger suddenly appeared in Li Chen's left hand. Despite the slight pain in his arm, he pressed the Earth Ring Snake firmly to the ground and stabbed it at the small white spot behind its neck.

Plop!

The blade pierced the flesh, splashing a bit of sweet and pungent blood. The Earth Ring Snake, after being stabbed in a vital spot, writhed twice and then lay still.

A beast comparable to a sixth-layer inner breath realm martial artist, killed in two moves. Besides its low intelligence and lack of other strengths besides its toxicity and defense, Li Chen's cultivation technique and physical strength were far superior, proving that his current strength was absolutely stronger than that of an average sixth-layer martial artist.

At this point, his cultivation, after secretly taking the Qi-Gathering Pill at night, had already broken through to the fifth layer.

However, so many Qi-Gathering Pills had only helped Li Chen break through to the peak of the fifth layer after months of hard training, which made him a bit discouraged.

Heaving a heavy sigh, not having time to wipe the sweat from his forehead, Li Chen took out a jade bottle from his backpack, removed the stopper, and inverted the snake's body.

A stream of dark red snake blood, emitting heat, poured into the small jade bottle. When the snake blood turned red, Li Chen placed the snake's body down and put it back into his backpack.

After doing this, Li Chen skinned the snake and pulled out its fangs. He ultimately decided to abandon the snake meat, as the strong smell of blood would inevitably attract attention.

If others found out that he, who was always considered a 'waste,' could actually hunt a first-grade mid-level beast, it would certainly bring unnecessary trouble.

Having been humiliated for many years, he still had the patience to endure.

Unfortunately, when he squeezed the snake's body, he found no beast core.

He carefully dug out the Green Thorn Vine and was about to rest when he suddenly got up and ran into the forest.

His figure, like a quick monkey, disappeared into the dense forest in an instant.

...

Whoosh!

A piercing whistle came from a distance, rising and falling. If not for Li Chen's keen hearing, he might have missed it or mistaken it for the call of a beast.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Clothing fluttered in the dense forest as Li Chen rapidly moved toward the source of the whistle.

When he reappeared, he hid in the gap between two large rocks and looked into the distance.

In a chaotic thicket, about seven or eight people, each holding weapons, were facing off. From their attire, they were all disciples of the Xuan Yun Sect, but they were clearly divided into two groups.

In the middle was a black-brown beast pig, about two meters in size, covered in blood.

"You people from the East Courtyard, forcibly taking the beast core from our South Courtyard disciples, are you not afraid of the Master's punishment?"

A young man holding a long sword, his face full of shock and anger, spoke.

Li Chen recognized him as an outer sect disciple named Zhang Futong, whose cultivation was only at the fifth layer.

To Li Chen, he seemed to be putting on a brave front to hide his fear.

Behind him, Zhao Shanshan supported another young man who was lying on the ground, a shocking pool of blood on his chest, his chest barely rising and falling, indicating severe injuries.

This person was named Liu Ziqing, the strongest of the three, at the sixth layer of the inner breath realm, but he was injured here.

Perhaps because Li Chen was closest to this place, he arrived first.

"What this junior brother said is not right. This beast was originally hunted by us, so how can it be called a forced taking?"

A young man with two short swords on his waist casually tossed the dragon eye-sized beast core in his hand, clearly indicating that the beast pig was a mid-level beast.

A mid-level beast core was as valuable as several mid-grade Qi-Gathering Pills, making it extremely precious for outer sect disciples.

"You... you..."

Zhang Futong's face turned red with anger at the other's shameless words, and he was momentarily speechless, having lost his momentum.

"Hmph, Lu Hongyang, I see you are itching for a fight, daring to bully my junior brother?"

With a loud thud, a large figure jumped down from a distant boulder and rapidly approached the scene.