Chapter 10

Under Yuan Ming's gaze, the black tumor suddenly began to wriggle rapidly, splitting into thin black threads that extended and probed towards Yuan Ming's chest.

Yuan Ming's eyes widened instantly. He would rather die than be parasitized by this thing, leading a life worse than death.

Struggling, he found that although his arms were still bound, his wrists could still move. He immediately twisted his wrists and threw them upward.

The white bone spear he had been holding in his hand immediately floated up into the air, coming to a stop in front of his eyes.

Without a moment's hesitation, Yuan Ming used all his strength to ram his head into it.

The white bone spear shot out like a javelin, piercing through the black bear's ribs just before they closed.

"Roar..."

The black bear let out a roar, its ribs stiffening, and the black threads extending towards Yuan Ming slowly retreated.

Then, the black bear's chest cavity slowly opened again, and the bone spear, which carried Yuan Ming's last hope, was embedded in the black bear's heart, just a hair's breadth away from the black tumor, but ultimately failed to hit it.

The black bear's heart continued to contract, and the black threads rushed towards Yuan Ming's chest like mad.

Yuan Ming's eyes were fixed, his face tense to the extreme.

Just as the black threads were about to touch his skin, the black bear's heart suddenly stopped beating, and the black tumor, as if encountering a ghost, wriggled frantically, trying to detach from the black bear's heart.

The black threads extending towards Yuan Ming instantly lost their strength and fell limply.

"Great, just in time." Yuan Ming was so excited that he almost shed tears.

At the last moment of life and death, the poisonous fruits he had eaten the previous day saved his life.

Before setting the trap, Yuan Ming had crushed all the fruits and smeared the juice on all the bone spines and the two short spears.

Earlier, the poison had not affected the parasite because it only pierced the black bear's body, but this time it directly affected the heart, and the black tumor lost its strength under the influence of the poison.

The vines entangling Yuan Ming fell off, and the strange large flower on the black bear's body withered and turned to dust, visible to the naked eye. His body and the black bear fell to the ground almost simultaneously.

The black tumor that had parasitized the black bear's heart finally detached and fell to the side. Its color quickly faded, turning grayish-white, looking no different from an ordinary stone.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming did not dare to delay for a moment. He quickly got up and went to the black bear's remains.

Taking advantage of the black bear not yet being stiff, he took off the leather bag from his body, used the bone spear to cut open the black bear's neck, and collected the remaining blood.

After a while, the black bear's blood was all drained, and he only managed to collect half a bag.

"The size of beasts varies, and the amount of blood is uncertain. That person didn't say to collect a full bag, so this should be enough." Yuan Ming sealed the bag, lifted it, and shook it, muttering to himself.

After saying that, he put the bag back on, looked at the bear's corpse, and his stomach growled again.

Faced with such a large piece of meat, Yuan Ming was reluctant to throw it away, but the thought of it being parasitized made him feel uneasy.

However, the unease in his heart could not match the hunger in his stomach.

To be on the safe side, Yuan Ming did not eat the black bear's meat raw this time. Instead, he gathered some branches and leaves, and using the ancient method of drilling wood to make fire, he finally managed to light a fire and roast the bear meat.

While the meat was roasting, Yuan Ming went to the parasitic tumor and saw that it had turned into a fist-sized grayish-brown stone, looking lifeless. He couldn't resist poking it with the bone spear.

To his surprise, the stone was abnormally hard, completely different from the state of the black tumor.

Yuan Ming became interested.

He waved his hand at the stone, but it showed no reaction. He then reached out to touch it, but still, there was no movement.

"It seems to be completely dead."

Just as Yuan Ming was about to give up, a drop of beast blood from the leather bag on his waist fell and landed on the grayish-brown stone with a "plop."

The originally lifeless corpse suddenly swelled, and its surface reactivated into the shape of a black tumor.

But soon, the power of the drop of blood was exhausted, and the black tumor withered again, turning back into a stone.

"This little thing is quite interesting." Yuan Ming couldn't help but feel amazed.

He found some leaves, wrapped the stone in them, and placed it aside.

When the bear meat was roasted to a blackish color and emitted a rich aroma, Yuan Ming tore off a piece and began to eat.

This meal was the most satisfying he had had in a long time, but what puzzled him was that the cooked meat, though filling, did not give him the feeling of replenishing his blood and qi as when he gnawed on bones the previous day.

"Is it because the black bear's blood was drained, causing a great loss of qi and blood? Or is it that only raw meat has that effect?" Yuan Ming wondered.

He looked up at the sky and saw that it was already mid-afternoon. He did not delay any further, took the uneaten meat and the parasitic stone, and put them in the cave where he had hidden earlier.

Then, he followed the route he remembered and headed towards the giant stone marker.

...

By evening, when Yuan Ming finally returned to the giant stone marker, he did not see the figure of Elder Huhuo. Instead, a colorful tiger was lying on the stone with its back to him.

Hearing the sound of Yuan Ming's return, the tiger suddenly turned around, sat up in a human-like posture, and looked over at him.

Yuan Ming also looked at him, and neither of them spoke or made any extra movements. They just stared at each other from a distance, alert.

At this moment, a rumbling sound of galloping echoed.

Suddenly, a brown-black wild boar burst out of the dense forest and ran towards them.

Yuan Ming immediately gripped the white bone spear in his hand and became alert. The tiger also turned its head, its eyes wide open.

The wild boar was covered in wounds, its tusks stained with blood, and the leather bag hanging on its body was bulging.

As it approached, it saw Yuan Ming and the tiger, and its speed slowed down, eventually stopping not far away.

The three half-human, half-beast creatures formed a triangular encirclement around the giant stone marker, each watching and guarding the others.

After a long wait, no other figures appeared.

Just as the sun was about to set, a huge eagle falcon flapped its wings and arrived, with Elder Huhuo standing on its back.

After landing, Elder Huhuo patted the leather bag at his waist, and a green light flew out, enveloping the majestic eagle falcon, which then disappeared back into the bag.

Even though it was the second time he saw this, Yuan Ming still found it incredibly magical.

"Give me the blood storage bags." Elder Huhuo's gaze swept over Yuan Ming and the other two, and he said.

The three understood and untied the leather bags from their bodies, handing them over.

Elder Huhuo opened each one, sniffed them, and carefully inspected them.

When he saw that Yuan Ming's bag was only half full, he did not say anything, but after opening and sniffing it, his brows furrowed.

"Was the black bear you killed parasitized by a Blood Soul Vine?" Elder Huhuo asked Yuan Ming.

"What is a Blood Soul Vine?" Yuan Ming asked, looking puzzled.

Elder Huhuo frowned but did not say anything more, waving his hand to collect all the blood storage bags.

"Not bad, three of you have passed the test." Elder Huhuo nodded and then pointed his finger.

Three fine white beams of light shot out from his fingertips, landing on the chests of Yuan Ming and the other two, and vanished, merging into their bodies.

Before Yuan Ming could react, he felt a warm sensation in his chest. Then, the white ape skin on his body became soft, and the blood-colored patterns that resembled roots on the inner layer of the skin were forcibly pulled out of his body, tugging at his muscles and organs.

Yuan Ming's face contorted, and he was in excruciating pain, as if his entire skin was being ripped off, even more painful than when he put on the ape skin.

He trembled uncontrollably, his knees buckling, and he fell to the ground, his arms supporting him, but he gritted his teeth and did not cry out.

The other two were in similar conditions, but they were not as resilient as Yuan Ming and fell to the ground, trembling and screaming in agony.

Fortunately, the process did not last long. After a few breaths, the animal skins on their bodies were completely removed and fell to the ground.

However, it felt like they had endured several hours, and they sat on the ground, exhausted, their skin red and their clothes tattered.

The three lay on the ground, panting heavily, and it took a while for them to recover. They looked at the animal skins with complex expressions.

Wearing the animal skins had greatly increased their strength, but the pain was indeed severe.

"Experiencing the Fur Wearing Technique performed by an outsider is quite painful, but once you cultivate magical power and perform it yourself, it will be much better." Elder Huhuo's voice interrupted their thoughts.

"Really?" The three were delighted.

"Whether it's true or not, you'll know once you try! Next, I will teach you the Blood Qi Technique. Pay attention!" Elder Huhuo said impatiently.

The three quickly sat up and focused.

"The Blood Qi Technique is a cultivation method that enhances blood and qi through meditation and qi cultivation. Once you master it, you will truly enter the path of cultivation, becoming a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator. When you accumulate enough magical power, you can perform the Fur Wearing Technique. The incantation is as follows: 'The earth's lungs have fire, which enters from the deep spring, rises into the abdomen, and shines like a torch...' " Elder Huhuo said slowly.

The entire Blood Qi Technique incantation was about two to three hundred characters, and the content was quite convoluted and difficult to understand. However, Yuan Ming found that he had memorized it word for word after hearing it once.

"My memory is so good." He was quite surprised and more delighted.

The other two kept scratching their heads, looking anxious, clearly not having memorized it.

"Elder Huhuo, can you repeat it?" The wild boar fur-wearing beast slave hesitated and then asked.

"I will only repeat it one last time." Elder Huhuo glanced at him indifferently and recited the Blood Qi Technique incantation again.

The two hurriedly tried to memorize it and finally managed to remember it this time.