Chapter 10

In the days that followed, Chu Jun continued to practice the Lin Yue Jue and tend to the spirit fields as usual. Strangely, Niu Pang and Zhu Chong, among others, did not cause any trouble. Since trouble did not come to him, Chu Jun naturally did not seek it out, and he continued with his daily routine.

The spirit grains in the spirit fields had fully grown, a sea of tender yellow and green stretching as far as the eye could see, growing very well. After clearing the weeds from the spirit fields, Chu Jun mounted his steed, the Gray Feather Crane, and headed out of the city. The initial three hundred spirit beans he had earned from selling three beast crystals were spent: fifty on the large sword, two hundred on the steed, two on the spirit worms, and eleven given to Duan Li, leaving him with very little. If he did not earn more soon, both Chu Jun and his steed would have to go hungry. Therefore, Chu Jun decided to leave the city and try his luck.

For a body cultivator of only the second level, going out of the city alone to hunt spirit beasts was akin to courting death. However, Chu Jun was different. While he might struggle to defeat a first-level spirit beast in a direct confrontation, his early training in the Snow Leopard Special Forces had honed his hunting skills. Chu Jun rode the Gray Feather Crane northward, the wind whistling past, invigorating his spirit. Looking down at the vast, continuous mountains, Chu Jun couldn't help but recall his arduous trek through them two months ago, which seemed like a lifetime ago.

After flying north for nearly an hour, Chu Jun chose a sheltered mountain hollow to land. He drew his large sword, cleared the surrounding trees and weeds, and built a simple camp, gathering enough dry wood for a fire. Only then did he begin setting up traps to hunt spirit beasts. By the time the sun set, the traps were finally set. Chu Jun returned to the camp, lit a fire, and began his daily practice of the Lin Yue Jue.

The moon was full that night, its bright light casting a silvery glow. Chu Jun's eyes were slightly closed, and it seemed as if a sticky force was drawing the moonlight toward him, making him look like a sacred statue. A faint halo gradually appeared above his head, a pale circle, not very distinct.

A graceful figure emerged from between Chu Jun's eyebrows, hovering quietly above him. The ethereal woman looked at Chu Jun, who was solemn and dignified, and thought to herself, "It's a first-grade moon halo. In just two months, he is almost about to cultivate the New Moon Body?"

Chu Jun was currently in a profound state, feeling a bright light at the top of his head, the Baihui acupoint. The dense moonlight poured in, and a cool sensation flowed down his meridians, nourishing his blood and muscles, eventually reaching the Yongquan acupoint in his right foot. Inside the Yongquan acupoint, a curved light strip resembled a faint new moon.

Chu Jun felt a sense of joy, knowing that he was close to completing the first level of the Lin Yue Jue and cultivating the New Moon Body. The ethereal woman in his dreams had told him that once he cultivated the New Moon Body, he would have laid a solid foundation and could use the power of the new moon to manipulate objects. As for why it was called divine power rather than spirit power, Chu Jun did not know, but the ethereal woman referred to the power cultivated through the Lin Yue Jue as divine power.

As the moon set in the west, the faint moon halo above Chu Jun's head slowly dissipated, and the moonlight on his body seemed to fade. Chu Jun opened his eyes, feeling refreshed. The distant mountains and the nearby stream seemed clearer. Under the moonlight, Chu Jun's hands were smooth and white, as if coated with a layer of glaze. Since cultivating the Lin Yue Jue, Chu Jun's body had been changing daily, his originally wheat-colored skin becoming fairer, almost developing a delicate complexion. His demeanor had also changed, becoming more cold and aloof.

A sharp roar suddenly echoed, shaking the mountains. Chu Jun listened quietly for a moment, a smile playing on his lips. "A spirit beast has fallen into the trap!"

Chu Jun picked up a torch, drew his large sword, and cautiously approached the trap. The area around the trap was a mess, with bloodstains on the ground and all the traps triggered, clearly by a large spirit beast.

Chu Jun approached the trap, where several thick logs had sealed it, indicating that something had fallen inside. Holding the torch, he peered through the gaps between the logs and saw a furry mass, though it was indeed large, with heavy, labored breathing like a bellows.

After some consideration, Chu Jun decided it would be safer to deal with the beast during the day. Just as he was about to turn and leave, a furious roar erupted from the trap, followed by a tremor in the ground. Chu Jun realized it was not good and ran several meters away.

Boom! A loud explosion, and the heavy logs covering the trap were blasted away, scattering in all directions.

Chu Jun decisively threw the torch and fled without hesitation. No one knew better than he did the power of the traps he had set. The spirit beast had triggered all the traps and still had the strength to blast away the logs, which together weighed several thousand pounds, indicating it was a terrifyingly powerful creature. Provoking such a enraged and fierce beast would be unwise.

Chu Jun's decision was clearly correct. The fierce beast roared as it leaped out of the trap, firing an electric ball at the torch on the ground, turning the nearby grass and trees into charcoal.

...

The sun rose in the east, and the sky was bright. Although the light in the forest was still dim, it was clear enough to see the surroundings. Chu Jun, holding his large sword, cautiously approached the trap. He saw that many trees had fallen, with visible marks of lightning burns, and even an area where the grass and trees had turned to charcoal. Chu Jun recognized the torch he had used, feeling fortunate that he had escaped quickly last night, or the hunter might have become the hunted.

"What level of spirit beast could be so powerful?" Chu Jun wondered.

The sharp wooden stakes in the trap, as thick as arms, were almost all broken, leaving only a pool of blood and some black fur, indicating the spirit beast's astonishing defensive capabilities. Even with the stakes broken, it was not enough to kill it.

Chu Jun carefully examined the traces around the area and determined that the spirit beast had at least six injuries. He decided to follow the tracks. Based on the beast's strength, it was likely a second-level spirit beast. A first-level beast crystal was worth one hundred spirit beans, but a second-level beast crystal was ten times that, or one thousand spirit beans, a tempting sum.

The spirit beast was quite large, leaving clear tracks wherever it went, making it easy to follow. After about half an hour, Chu Jun arrived at the entrance of a deep cave. The cave was clearly natural, with a large opening covered in creeping plants, and water droplets occasionally falling from the rocks above, leaving a large footprint on the ground.

Chu Jun thought for a moment, then retreated several dozen meters from the cave entrance. He set up another trap, carefully suspending a large stone weighing over a hundred pounds above the trap and tying his large sword to one of the stakes. This time, if the fierce beast fell into the trap, it would definitely be impaled by the sword. After setting up the trap, Chu Jun drew his military dagger, picked up a large stone, and threw it into the cave, shouting, "You damn thing, come out and die!"

Roar! A thunderous roar echoed from the cave, followed by heavy footsteps and a pungent smell. Chu Jun turned and ran, glancing back in the midst of his flight, nearly stumbling.

A black and white creature, standing upright, lunged out of the cave, clearly a super-sized panda. However, this black-eyed creature had none of the panda's gentleness, its eyes blazing with fury, and its body covered in blood, its right leg limping but still moving swiftly. This was a second-level spirit beast, the Lei Wei, a creature even spirit cultivators at the Spirit Condensation stage would not dare to provoke lightly.

Zap! A blue-white electric arc shot from the beast's mouth, and Chu Jun felt a gust of wind, his hair standing on end, and his skin tingling. Fortunately, the distance was too great, or the electric arc would have knocked him down.

Roar!

The Lei Wei pursued Chu Jun, its sharp claws effortlessly breaking trees as thick as bowls, demonstrating incredible destructive power.

Zap! Another electric arc shot from the Lei Wei's mouth, aiming for Chu Jun's head. Chu Jun gritted his teeth, pushed off with his right foot, and felt a cool sensation in the Yongquan acupoint, propelling him forward several meters, surprising even himself.

The Lei Wei, seeing Chu Jun suddenly "fly" away, hesitated for a moment, then roared in fury, a crackling electric ball forming in its throat.

Chu Jun pushed off with his right leg again, flying several meters to the opposite side of the trap. As the Lei Wei pursued, the electric ball in its mouth grew larger, about to be released to turn Chu Jun to ashes, but its right foot stepped on a tripwire, causing its massive body to fall forward.

Whoosh! The electric ball flew toward Chu Jun but missed, exploding two meters to his right. Chu Jun was thrown to the ground, enveloped in blue-white electric light.

With a loud thud, the Lei Wei's large body fell into the trap, and the hundred-pound stone above it followed, but due to the large movement, it landed on the edge of the trap and then rolled inside.

The area within the electric ball's explosion radius was scorched, and a black, smoldering object was still smoking, occasionally sparking. After a while, the black object moved and struggled to stand up.

Chu Jun spat out the charcoal and grass from his mouth, enduring the pain as he removed his burned clothes, revealing raw, bloody flesh on his back.

Chu Jun stood up, still shaken, and picked up the military dagger to look into the trap. The Lei Wei lay motionless at the bottom, clearly dead. Chu Jun breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at the edge of the trap, his legs weak.

After resting for a while, Chu Jun found a rope to lift the beast out but was shocked to see it slowly stand up. Chu Jun froze.

At the bottom of the trap, the wooden stakes were all broken, and a broken sword was embedded in the Lei Wei's chest, blood dripping from the wound. Chu Jun dropped the rope and ran, the Lei Wei's sharp claws digging into the cave wall, leaping out and pursuing him unsteadily.

Chu Jun, in a panic, ran to the cave entrance. When he realized the beast was limping behind him, he did not hesitate and darted into the cave.

Roar! The beast roared in fury, determined to tear this despicable human to pieces and chew him up.

Whoosh! Two stones flew through the darkness, hitting the beast in the eye, causing it to slip and fall, struggling but not moving again.

Chu Jun, hiding in the dark, threw two more stones, and the beast remained still.

"Is it dead?" Chu Jun cautiously approached with his military dagger.

In the light from outside, he saw red liquid pooling beneath the beast. The broken sword had pierced its heart, and it was truly dead.

Chu Jun stabbed the Lei Wei's back with the military dagger, finding it impenetrable, marveling at its toughness.

With great effort, Chu Jun skinned the Lei Wei and extracted its beast crystal. The crystal was a deep blue, slightly larger than a first-level crystal, and caused a slight tingling sensation when held. Chu Jun was delighted, feeling that even the injuries were worth it, though he regretted losing the large sword he had bought for fifty spirit beans.

Chu Jun treated his back wound, changed into clean clothes, and then held a torch to explore deeper into the cave. The electric beast might have some valuable items.

When Chu Jun emerged from the cave, he held a blue-purple stone. He washed it in the stream and examined it in the sunlight, noticing its unique cloud-like patterns. Recalling that it had emitted blue-white light in the dark, he thought it might be a valuable item.

"Brother, where did you get that Lei Ying Shi?" a lazy voice called out.

Chu Jun looked up to see a lean youth standing on a rock upstream, grinning like he had found gold. Most shockingly, the youth was fastening his waistband, having just urinated. Chu Jun felt nauseous, having just washed the stone in the stream.

The lean youth nimbly leaped to Chu Jun's side, grinning, "Lei Ying Shi can be used to refine and repair lightning-attribute magical treasures. How about selling it to me? I'll give you a good price!"

"No!" Chu Jun turned and walked away.

The lean youth was taken aback, then leaped in front of Chu Jun, smiling, "What does a body cultivator need Lei Ying Shi for? You're going to sell it anyway, so why not sell it to me? The price is negotiable!"

Chu Jun thought, "This guy is likely a spirit cultivator. If he tries to take it by force, I'm no match for him!"

"How about it? Think about it!" the lean youth winked, grinning.

Chu Jun said coolly, "How much... in spirit beans?"

The lean youth held up one finger, and Chu Jun frowned, "I don't like guessing games. Just give me a number!"

The lean youth almost choked. He had intended to trick Chu Jun into guessing, thinking the naive body cultivator wouldn't dare ask for more than a thousand spirit beans, allowing him to make a huge profit. But Chu Jun didn't fall for it and demanded a clear price.

"Cough, one thousand spirit beans!" the lean youth coughed.

Chu Jun walked past him.

"Hey, ten thousand spirit beans, how about it?" the youth called out, catching up.

This made Chu Jun even less willing to sell. The price had increased tenfold, and the true value of the Lei Ying Shi was likely much higher.

"Goodbye!" Chu Jun activated his spirit ring and leaped onto his steed, flying away.

"Hey, don't go... I'll offer twenty thousand... Damn it... Thirty thousand, how about it... What's your name? Don't sell the stone to anyone else, save it for me!" the lean youth shouted, jumping and waving his arms, but Chu Jun did not look back.

"Damn, what a character! Why didn't I just take it by force?" the lean youth muttered.

Chu Jun looked back, seeing the lean youth had not followed, and breathed a sigh of relief. He was overjoyed, realizing the stone was worth so much. He directed his steed back to Wulei City, planning to find out the market value of Lei Ying Shi.

---

---

Chu Jun looked back, seeing the lean youth had not followed, and breathed a sigh of relief. He was overjoyed, realizing the stone was worth so much. He directed his steed back to Wulei City, planning to find out the market value of Lei Ying Shi.