The Qilian Mountain Range is a vast expanse of peaks, their numbers as countless as crucian carp crossing a river. No one knows its true depth, nor how far it stretches into the distance.
Because Mu Jiuxiao cherished his life, he had never set foot in the Qilian Mountain Range before. Everything he knew about it came entirely from hearsay.
Now, standing before this stone forest, he only wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
Yet, having fled in a panic and blundered into this maze, he had completely lost his sense of direction and could no longer tell east from west.
Ahead lay only more stone forest.
Behind him stretched the exact same endless expanse of gray rock.
Qu Yunyao, you really have driven me to my wit’s end!
As darkness began to fall once more, Mu Jiuxiao sank onto a low boulder, utterly exhausted.
His legs felt as heavy as lead, and his empty stomach gnawed at him with sharp hunger.
While cultivators could achieve Inedia, he had not yet reached that realm. As for Inedia Pills, he had never been willing to spend Spirit Stones on such a luxury.
“Am I really going to starve to death in a place like this?”
Mu Jiuxiao shook his head to clear the thought, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.
Since night had fallen, Qu Yunyao possessed the strength to wander the deep mountains, but he certainly did not. It was far better to cultivate, preserve his condition, and worry about finding a way out tomorrow.
“Woo-woo-“
“Roar-“
All through the night, strange and unsettling cries echoed around him. Mu Jiuxiao found it impossible to steady his mind enough to cultivate deeply. He remained on high alert, terrified that some wandering Demon Beast might stumble upon him and crush him with a single blow.
He endured the long hours until dawn. When the first ray of morning light finally struck his face, he opened his eyes and resumed his search for a way out.
This time, he took a more sensible approach. He traveled directly facing the rising sun, leaving a mark on the stones behind him as he went. After walking for the better part of the day, he finally caught sight of open space.
Yet the moment he stepped past the final boulder, his steps came to an abrupt halt.
Crouching ahead of him was a creature resembling a cross between a lizard and a crocodile. Its entire body was covered in earthy-yellow scales, and a single horn protruded from its head. Though he did not know its name, the beast locked its gaze onto him, saliva already dripping from the corners of its jaws. This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.
“Run!”
Unsure of the creature’s exact species, Mu Jiuxiao knew instantly that he was no match for it. He took a hasty step back and bolted into the stone forest.
The beast charged recklessly through the maze. Its legs were short, but it moved with terrifying speed. Several times, it nearly lunged on top of him, thwarted only by the dense pillars of stone that blocked its path.
Reaching into his robe, Mu Jiuxiao’s fingers brushed against his final Lightning Bolt Talisman, and hesitation gripped him.
Once this talisman was gone, he would have nothing left of the sort. He had no idea how far that demonic woman had led him earlier, and if the edge of the mountains was still far away, lacking a high-grade talisman left him deeply unsettled.
Realizing the surrounding rocks provided natural barriers to slow the beast down, he tucked the Lightning Bolt Talisman away and instead grasped a Fireball Talisman.
He only had a single Fireball Talisman left as well. He had been far too extravagant when destroying evidence earlier-one was plenty, why waste another?
He put the Fireball Talisman back into his Storage Bag and instead pulled out a handful of Water Cloud Talismans.
He had drawn the Water Cloud Talismans himself; they cost next to nothing and could be used without a second thought!
As the beast closed the distance behind him, he whipped around and tossed one backward, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Lightning Bolt Talisman!”
Naturally, the Demon Beast understood no such words, but the dense fog and water vapor generated by the talisman severely clouded its vision. Surrounded by stone pillars, it dared not charge blindly, and its speed dropped noticeably. In that brief window, Mu Jiuxiao put considerable distance between them.
“It’s working!”
Seeing that the beast had not immediately broken through the mist, Mu Jiuxiao tossed two more talismans and leaped onto a towering stone pillar nearly a foot high. As the beast burst out of the lingering fog, he flicked his wrist. The ground beneath it suddenly fractured, and before the creature could react, three thick Earth Spirit Spikes surged upward to impale its body.
“Roar!”
Pain wrung a furious cry from the Demon Beast as it thrashed wildly with its short limbs. Taking advantage of its struggle, Mu Jiuxiao cast the Earth Splitting Technique once more, deepening the pit while sharp stone spikes sprouted from its walls to pin the creature firmly in place.
Before the beast could leap clear, Mu Jiuxiao hoisted a heavy boulder and hurled it down, smashing directly onto its head and driving its single horn deep into the soil.
Thick-skinned and ferocious as the creature appeared, Mu Jiuxiao could not tell whether it was truly dead. Daring not to pause, he cast the Earth Splitting Technique a third time, drove three more Earth Spirit Spikes into its flesh, and hastily raised low earthen walls around the perimeter of the pit. Read the latest chapters at novelping dot com.
The consecutive spellcasting left his Dantian completely drained, and a tearing agony burned through his Meridians. Gritting his teeth, Mu Jiuxiao scrambled back up the stone pillar, sat cross-legged, and produced a Spirit Stone to rapidly recover his Qi.
After half an hour, the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian was replenished. He withdrew his hand, dismissed the Earth Wall Technique, and stepped toward the pit. The lizard-like beast was riddled with spikes like a hedgehog, breathing its last faint breaths.
A final Earth Spirit Spike drove straight through its throat, ending its life for good.
Only when the beast finally lay still did he let out a long breath and sit down by the edge of the pit.
“I have no idea what kind of Demon Beast this is, let alone whether it’s edible. But judging by its strength, it must have entered the ranks, right? The value of a ranked Demon Beast compared to an unranked one is vastly different.”
Uncertain of its exact worth, Mu Jiuxiao used all his remaining strength to haul the carcass out of the pit, determined to drag it back to Ning’an Quarter to see if anyone could identify it.
This delay cost him precious time. By the time he finally emerged from the stone forest, night was falling once more. Reeking heavily of blood, the beast carcass forced Mu Jiuxiao to press on without stopping, running at full speed toward Sunset Mountain.
He could not bear to abandon his hard-won prey, so he drove himself forward without rest, believing that as long as he moved fast enough, no other beast could catch him.
“Little Jiu?”
Early the next morning, Ye Fan and his companions were dragging a large horned sheep out from the mountain foothills when sharp-eyed recognition caught sight of a familiar figure.
“It’s Brother Jiu! It’s Brother Jiu!”
Li Xinyue spotted him as well and waved her arms happily. “Brother Jiu! Brother Jiu!”
Consumed by his escape, Mu Jiuxiao had nearly tuned out all outside sounds. It was only after running some distance further that he slowed down. Did I just hear Xinyue and the others?
He stood his ground and waited a moment. Sure enough, Li Xinyue and the rest of the party came hurrying over.
“Brother Jiu, why did you come to the Qilian Mountain Range? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t get involved? We called out to you just now, but you didn’t answer at all.”
Seeing Mu Jiuxiao covered in dried blood and wearing tattered, ruined clothes, Li Xinyue’s initial confusion melted into deep concern. “How did you end up in such a state? Are you hurt?”
“It’s a long story,” Mu Jiuxiao replied, finally letting down his guard now that he was safe among companions and no longer had to worry about defending his prey from beasts or rivals. “Two days ago, I heard Uncle Nie mention that you were injured, so I came into the mountains to find you. Instead, I ran into trouble and was captured by someone. I managed to escape by pure luck, blundered into a stone forest, ran into this Demon Beast, and used every trick I had to finally put it down.”
Briefly recounting the events of the past few days, Mu Jiuxiao felt the last of his tension drain away. He no longer needed to keep his heartstrings taut against the dangers of the wilderness.