Chapter 59

At night.

A solitary, cold moon hung high in the sky, its light filtering through the gaps in the forest trees, casting patches of light on the ground.

Yuan Ming sat cross-legged on one of these patches of moonlight, his palms pressed together, one hand pointing to the sky and the other to the ground.

A layer of hazy moonlight enveloped him, different from elsewhere, the light and shadow were misty, as if shrouded in a light fog or wrapped in a thin veil, lingering and not dispersing.

At this moment, his brows were furrowed, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, as if he was making a great effort to attempt something.

However, after a short while, his brows relaxed, and he suddenly opened his eyes, a trace of fatigue in them.

"Ah, it seems I'm not cut out for this. Despite all my efforts, I can't even fully achieve the contemplation of the sea of consciousness, let alone the entire body. At this rate, it will be difficult to complete the first level of cultivation in less than ten or eight years. It's more practical to stick to the Nine Elements Technique," Yuan Ming sighed, accepting the reality.

If all cultivation techniques were as smooth to practice as the Nine Elements Technique, it would be much better.

He put away the technique, ending this session of cultivation, and decided not to continue practicing the "Mingyue Technique" for the time being. Although his nightly practice had improved his control over his divine sense somewhat, it left him physically and mentally exhausted, affecting his daytime practice of the Nine Elements Technique.

Moreover, after this period of silence, he found that there was no news about the human-xiao incident outside. It seemed that the unexpected event during the trial had not caused much of a stir, so he began to consider when to resume hunting.

After all, accumulating blood food and finding a way to become a named disciple as soon as possible was the main goal.

The named disciples he had encountered before were not necessarily stronger than him, but each had a spirit beast by their side and possessed magical artifacts, which made Yuan Ming, a poor fur-covered beast slave, envy them deeply.

Of course, more importantly, it would allow him to escape the status of a fur-covered beast slave, which had no position, no hope, and no freedom, bringing him closer to returning to Central China and recovering his memory.

...

Time flew by, and it was already three months later.

It was evening, and in a dense forest, a winding river flowed slowly.

On the water near the shore, a piece of grayish-green rotten wood floated quietly, with the surrounding water flowing past it, creating ripples.

On the riverbank, a large black-haired wild boar was drinking water, its dark red eyes moving back and forth, carefully observing the surroundings.

The forest was dim and quiet, with only the occasional sharp cry of a bird.

Seeing the surroundings peaceful, the black-haired wild boar gradually relaxed, its small tail swaying gently behind it, its mouth fully immersed in the water, drinking loudly, making bubbles.

At this moment, the piece of rotten wood floating beside it suddenly rose, followed by a large black shadow surfacing, revealing a huge mouth, which lunged at the black-haired wild boar.

The black-haired wild boar panicked and retreated, narrowly avoiding the sudden attack, but the muddy ground made it difficult to retreat far.

The owner of the huge mouth leaped out of the water, revealing a gray-black giant crocodile covered in square scales. Its massive mouth, open wide, was almost as large as the black-haired wild boar.

As soon as it emerged from the water, it caught up with the black-haired wild boar and bit down again.

With a powerful snap of its jaws, it bit the black-haired wild boar's head and half of its body.

The black-haired wild boar struggled fiercely, trying to escape.

But the black-scaled giant crocodile, after biting it, immediately dragged it back into the river.

Then, the river water churned, and the black-scaled giant crocodile's body rolled, twisting the black-haired wild boar's body along with it. Large amounts of blood mixed with the riverbed's mud, turning the water murky.

Although the black-haired wild boar was strong, it had no resistance in the water and soon stopped moving.

The black-scaled giant crocodile dragged its body back to the shore and began to eat it, swallowing the black-haired wild boar's entire body bit by bit.

The sound of bones cracking echoed continuously.

The black-scaled giant crocodile's throat had immense strength, crushing the black-haired wild boar's bones one by one, and soon swallowed half of its body.

While the giant crocodile was enjoying its meal, a figure that had been quietly lying on the trunk of an old tree by the riverbank grinned.

He was wrapped in white ape skin, with a bronze longsword tied to his waist, and it was Yuan Ming.

To hunt this first-level upper-class fierce beast, he had been lying in wait for four days and three nights, and finally, the opportunity came.

"It's now or never!"

He thought to himself, flipped his body, and jumped down from the tree, simultaneously activating the Fur-Covering Technique, his body rapidly growing into a muscular, white-furred old ape.

The black-scaled giant crocodile, sensing the abnormality, stopped eating and quickly retreated into the river.

Yuan Ming would not let it escape. He gripped the Green Fish Sword with both hands, infused it with magical power, and with the Yuan Arm Technique, thrust it down forcefully.

A "clang" sounded.

The Green Fish Sword hit the black-scaled giant crocodile's back scales, the blade slipping, and failed to pierce through.

The black-scaled giant crocodile, in pain, lashed out with its long tail, but failed to hit Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming, surprised that he couldn't penetrate the scales, saw the black-scaled giant crocodile still moving and changing his plan.

He flipped his body, landing from its back, and using the Shadowless Step, avoided the crocodile's tail, slashing horizontally with the sword, cutting into one of its legs.

Its scales were impenetrable, but its legs were not as well protected.

After one slash, blood spurted, and the wound revealed bone.

The black-scaled giant crocodile, in pain, tried to roar, but with a black-haired wild boar still in its mouth, it couldn't spit it out or swallow it, causing great discomfort.

Yuan Ming had chosen this moment to attack precisely because of this.

He nimbly dodged the crocodile's tail and slashed at its wound again.

With a "crack," one of the crocodile's legs was severed.

The black-scaled giant crocodile, in immense pain, its dark yellow eyes flashing, shed tears.

It tried to retreat into the river despite its injuries, and Yuan Ming, using the same method, cut off its other leg.

With two legs severed, the black-scaled giant crocodile could no longer move quickly.

Yuan Ming, like a butcher, calmly avoided the tail attacks and gradually dismembered the black-scaled giant crocodile, which was helpless against him.

After about half an hour, the black-scaled giant crocodile, with its four legs severed, had half of its body submerged in the river, but a bronze longsword was embedded in one of its eyes.

The Green Fish Sword had pierced through its eye and into its brain, ending its life.

Yuan Ming sat nearby, his chest heaving, breathing heavily.

With his current strength, hunting a first-level upper-class fierce beast alone was still quite difficult and risky. This time, he had made thorough preparations and used a trick to succeed.

After resting for a moment, he began to dissect the crocodile from its abdomen, peeling off its entire skin.

This skin was a high-quality material for making soft armor, highly sought after by the named disciples of the Bi Luo Cave.

He cut off some crocodile meat and found the biggest reward of this hunt, a "blood pill" the size of a dragon eye, inside the crocodile's body.

After tidying up, Yuan Ming returned to the nearby temporary shelter with his spoils.

At night, he built a campfire under the treehouse, skewered the crocodile meat, and roasted it over the fire. As the fat dripped, a tempting aroma spread around.

After these days of training, Yuan Ming was no longer the weak little beast slave. Even if his cultivation at the fifth level of Qi Condensation was already considered high among the fur-covered beast slaves, his combat experience and hunting skills had made him one of the best among them.

He had already set up various traps around, so he was not worried that the firelight and meat aroma would attract other fierce beasts. On the contrary, if any came, he would be happy to gain more blood food.

After this period of intense accumulation, his blood food quota was almost complete. With today's harvest, he was less than four hundred portions away from the goal of one thousand.

Thinking of the prospect of leaving the status of a fur-covered beast slave and entering the Bi Luo Cave sect, Yuan Ming felt greatly uplifted.

He knew that although he used the mysterious incense burner hidden in his arm to suppress the backlash from the Fur-Covering Technique, its effect was weakening, and he had even experienced a near mental collapse.

Time was running out for him.

Yuan Ming picked up a piece of sizzling crocodile meat from the fire, about to take a bite, when a sudden sound of impact came from a distance.

"Another fierce beast is coming..."

Yuan Ming took a bite of the meat, chewed it, and stuck the rest back into the ground. He stood up, sword in hand, and headed toward the source of the sound.

Under the dim moonlight, Yuan Ming saw that the trap he had set up was in a mess.

The pit he had dug was covered with four sharpened logs and a net made of animal tendons.

Yuan Ming walked up and saw that two of the logs were broken, and the strong net had a tear.

At the bottom of the pit, a shadow was moving restlessly, making a series of muffled sounds.

The dim light made it hard to see clearly, so Yuan Ming picked up a burning branch and walked back.

By the light of the branch, he saw a tall, green wolf standing at the bottom of the pit.

"Hmm..."

Yuan Ming looked closely, and a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.

The green wolf at the bottom of the pit looked strange. Instead of lying on all fours, it was standing on its hind legs, using its front paws to dig at the sides of the pit.

"Roar... hiss..."

As the green wolf swung its paws, it let out suppressed growls, seeming to be in great pain.