Chapter 25

Yuan Ming followed Hagong through the forest, crossing streams and ravines. After more than half an hour, they finally arrived at a secluded valley.

Just as they reached the entrance of the valley, Yuan Ming wrinkled his nose and stopped in his tracks.

"What's that strange smell?" he asked, covering his nose.

He smelled something like sulfur, but it was actually more complex.

"The smell of beast-repelling powder. It can drive away some poisonous insects and fierce beasts, preventing them from coming near here," Hagong explained, pointing to the red and white powder on the ground not far ahead.

"Can we get this stuff inside?" Yuan Ming asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It is possible, but it's not very useful. While it can drive away some poisonous insects and fierce beasts, it can also easily expose your hiding place. Sometimes, humans can be more dangerous than beasts," Hagong said.

The entrance to the valley was quite narrow, like a natural gateway. Inside, however, it was spacious and open, as if they had entered the belly of a toad from its mouth.

As soon as they entered the valley, they saw several crude stone houses made of piled stones a few steps ahead.

The stone houses had no doors, only open doorways, and faint human figures could be seen inside.

Around these stone houses, there were a few people wearing animal skins, not many in number, with numb expressions and no visible emotions.

Yuan Ming was about to go forward to take a look when Hagong stopped him.

"Be careful what you say. Don't provoke those named disciples; most of them have bad tempers," Hagong warned.

Yuan Ming nodded silently in response.

He walked up to the first stone house and took a look inside. The interior was very simple, with only a wooden table and a reclining chair.

A young man in a green robe was lying on the reclining chair, swaying leisurely. He held a green scroll in his hand, covering half his face, looking extremely comfortable.

In front of him on the table stood a wooden sign with a piece of white paper, which read, "Purchasing mature spirit herbs and various minerals."

There was only a simple sentence, with no specific details about the types of herbs or the exact age of the minerals.

In the neighboring stone house, there was also a table with a wooden sign, similarly pasted with white paper, which read, "Purchasing spirit herbs, minerals, beast bones, and blood food."

However, this house was empty, with no one inside.

The other two stone houses had similar setups, but they were also quite crude.

In the last stone house, Yuan Ming happened to see two fur-clad beast slaves trading with a named disciple inside.

The disciple seemed very impatient, scrutinizing the two dark red mineral stones and a herb that looked like ginseng but was wax yellow, brought by the beast slaves.

In the end, he used a small white porcelain bottle to dismiss the beast slave.

The beast slave, after expressing deep gratitude, left with the bottle, a look of joy on his face.

"Two Fire Pattern Iron Ore stones and a Red Yellow Essence root, just for a bottle of Blood Replenishing Pills. These guys are getting more and more ruthless," Hagong muttered, following Yuan Ming.

His voice was very low, almost inaudible to anyone but himself.

Yuan Ming, however, heard it clearly.

But here, he did not ask more questions. Instead, he waited until they had walked far enough away before asking:

"What, did the beast slave get a bad deal just now?"

"Getting a bad deal is common, but this time the price was too low. Just the two Fire Pattern Iron Ore stones alone are enough to exchange for a bottle of Blood Replenishing Pills. That Red Yellow Essence root, with its thickness, must be at least fifty years old, practically given away for free," Hagong said, first surprised, then indignant.

Yuan Ming, not yet familiar with the intricacies, asked Hagong more questions, learning from him about the various spirit herbs and minerals that the named disciples often purchased and their characteristics.

"I'm quite surprised that the Bila Cave would allow such a trading place to exist," Yuan Ming remarked.

"Once you stay longer, you'll understand. The Bila Cave's management of these named disciples is very loose. As long as they complete the sect's tasks, the sect doesn't care about other matters," Hagong said, pulling the corners of his mouth.

Yuan Ming felt that these matters were still too far from what he was currently doing, so he didn't pay much attention.

After touring the valley, Yuan Ming bid farewell to Hagong and left on his own.

Hagong also said a simple goodbye, and the two parted ways, neither mentioning whether they would meet again.

...

Time passed, and more than three months had gone by.

It was noon, but the sky was overcast with dark clouds, the low-hanging sky pressing down on the ancient trees of the forest, creating a sense of oppression.

In the dense mountain forest, a large white ape was swinging its long arms between the towering ancient trees, each swing covering ten zhang, moving with great speed.

This was not a wild ape but Yuan Ming, transformed using the Fur-Coating Technique.

At this moment, his body was drenched in sweat, with several alarming bloodstains, but his eyes were bright, constantly alert, looking around and occasionally glancing back.

About thirty zhang behind him, the ground was shaking, trees were breaking, and dust was rising.

A black-haired wild boar, about one zhang long and six feet tall, was roaring, its nose exhaling hot breath, chasing after Yuan Ming with a mad frenzy.

Its mouth was equipped with a pair of white fangs like long spears, gleaming with a cold white light, extremely sharp. Whenever it encountered a tree, it would pierce through it.

At the same time, between the two fangs, an invisible light shield would appear, like a triangular light shield covering its head. When it rammed into a tree that had been pierced by its fangs, it would shatter it into pieces.

One of the boar's eyes had been injured by Yuan Ming, now a bloody mess, while the other eye was red with intense hatred and a desire to kill, determined to chase down Yuan Ming.

Although the boar was fast and powerful, it was constantly obstructed by the countless ancient trees, making it difficult to catch up with Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming seemed to have gauged this and was not in a hurry to escape. Instead, he deliberately slowed down, maintaining a distance where the boar could still see him.

Whenever he noticed the boar slowing down, he would stop and provoke it, enticing the boar to continue chasing him.

Yuan Ming was not doing this out of boredom but to wear down the boar's ferocity and deplete its stamina. Only when it was weakened could he have a chance to kill it with one decisive blow.

Thus, the ape and the boar chased each other through the forest for more than half an hour.

Yuan Ming, listening carefully with his ears, noticed that the boar's breathing had become heavy, its footsteps chaotic, and its speed of ramming into trees had decreased. He knew the time had come.

He hung from an ancient tree with one arm, panting heavily, appearing as if he could no longer escape.

The already exhausted boar, seeing this, was invigorated. It let out a roar and charged at Yuan Ming with all its might.

Yuan Ming deliberately slowed down, waiting until the boar was about four zhang away before swinging his arm and leaping to the center between two ancient trees.

As the boar charged, its body suddenly shifted, making a sharp turn and charging in the same direction as Yuan Ming.

It saw the two ancient trees standing side by side and leaped to pass through the gap between them.

The distance between the two trees seemed perfectly suited for the boar, just enough for it to pass through.

However, these two trees were actually chosen by Yuan Ming in advance.

As the boar leaped, Yuan Ming stopped and turned.

He picked up a white bone short spear he had placed there earlier, and the Nine Elements Technique in his body began to run wildly. The dantian's magical power surged up, flowing through his meridians to his right arm.

His right arm immediately bulged with veins, hair standing on end, muscles swelling, and visibly expanding to twice its original size.

This was the second minor skill derived from the Fur-Coating Technique of the white ape skin, which he named "Essence-Accumulating Arm."

Once this skill was activated, his right arm would change in form, and the strength it could unleash would triple instantly.

However, this burst of strength was only temporary and could not be sustained for long.

Yuan Ming, taking advantage of this, developed a method of accumulating strength and throwing the spear for long-range attacks.

He gripped the short spear tightly, his arm tensing, and continued to gather strength. As he swung his arm, he let out a loud shout.

"Go!"

As the sound echoed, the white bone short spear was thrown, breaking the air with a whistling sound.

The boar, just as it reached the center between the two ancient trees, was trapped and could not dodge. It could only rely on the light shield covering its head to block Yuan Ming's powerful strike.

It was like a spear and a shield facing off, but the battle ended the moment they made contact.

The white bone short spear pierced through the invisible light shield, plunging into the boar's head, and then through its entire body, emerging from its buttocks.

The boar's body, mid-air, fell and got stuck between the two ancient trees.

Yuan Ming, seeing this, smiled with satisfaction, both because he had successfully killed the boar and because he was pleased with the power of his Essence-Accumulating Arm.

He quickly approached, took out a blood storage bag from his waist, and efficiently began to collect the boar's blood.

After collecting the blood, Yuan Ming immediately retrieved the white bone short spear and used the tip to cut the boar's mouth from corner to corner, exposing the roots of its fangs.

These fangs were also his target, as they contained a bit of spiritual energy, one of the materials needed by the Bila Cave disciples.