Ji Ma Ko rode his massive blood wolf through the dense, unforgiving forest. After a few hours of tracking the remnants of beast taming spirits, they finally approached the silent clearing where his ten wolves left their final breath.
He pulled tightly on the neck, bringing his terrifying spirit rank blood wolf to a halt, and narrowed his eyes at the gruesome sight laid out before him.
The corpses of his ferocious wolves were not scattered wildly across the battlefield. Instead, they were gathered in a single morbid pile right in the center of the clearing.
Ji Ma Ko leaped down from his mount and slowly observed the area. There was absolutely no one around, but the signs of a massive, brutal battle happening were undeniable.
Heavy blood splatter painted the surrounding tree trunks and thoroughly soaked the forest floor. The sheer violence of the clash hung heavily in the air.
"Who could have done this?" Ji Ma Ko muttered to himself, his voice laced with cold anger. He stepped closer to inspect the ruined bodies of his fallen wolves.
As he crouched down, his sharp eyes noticed something incredibly strange.
Most of the dead wolves looked like they had been completely pulverized by some kind of a blunt object. Their sturdy bones were violently shattered, and their thick skulls were caved in.
But more importantly, he quickly realized that the sheer volume of crimson painted across the grass did not match the physical wounds of his wolves.
"This blood... it does not belong to them," he whispered. He dipped two fingers into a fresh blood marks on a nearby leaf. "Someone bled heavily here. My wolves fought back fiercely before they died."
At the exact same time, he noticed something else entirely out of place. On the matted pelts of his dead wolves, there were large patches of a thick, white liquid smeared all over them.
Ji Ma Ko frowned deeply. He reached out, touched the sticky substance with his fingertips, and brought it close to his nose. He sniffed it deeply.
"Why does this smell so familiar?" he asked the empty woods. The scent aggressively nudged the back of his memory, but he could not quite figure out what it was.
Driven by sheer curiosity and the primal instincts of an experienced spirit master, Ji Ma Ko did the unthinkable. He brought his fingers directly to his mouth and tasted the mysterious white liquid.
Instantly, his face contorted into a massive, ugly wince. His eyes watered rapidly, and he forcefully spat to the side. "Bah! This tastes so disgusting! What in the heavens is this?"
He wiped his tongue frantically with the back of his sleeve, looking thoroughly disgusted.
Mixed with the heavy metallic stench of blood nearby, the odd sweet taste made his stomach turn uncomfortably. But then, a sharp realization hit his mind like a physical blow.
The strange white substance and the copious amounts of human blood formed a very clear, continuous path leading into the brush.
"If I follow this trail of blood, I will find exactly who slaughtered my precious pack," Ji Ma Ko declared, his eyes flashing with intense murderous intent. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
Beside him, his primary spirit beast, the massive blood wolf, aggressively sniffed the blood dripping on the soil.
The beast let out a low, rumbling growl, its feral eyes locking onto a specific direction in the deep woods. Without warning, it burst into a fast sprint. Ji Ma Ko quickly rallied his remaining wolves and chased after his leading beast, eager for revenge.
Meanwhile, deep in another hidden part of the Cang Wu mountains, Cui Cui stood completely still.
Her eyes were fixed tightly on a bizarre sight. A deep crack in the stone terrain was steadily leaking strange red water. The fluid poured out continuously, forming a wide puddle.
As she kept observing the crack, the earth suddenly rumbled violently beneath her feet. The stone fissure violently split wide open, directly in front of her in a weird manner like it was an anus.
"Ah!" Cui Cui shouted in pure surprise, stumbling backward in fright.
Hearing her loud cry, Fei Fei and Qing Qing quickly ran toward her, forgetting about their fear.
"What is this place, Cui Cui?" Fei Fei asked, her voice trembling noticeably as she stared into the newly opened abyss.
It was a dark, dangerous looking cave that radiated a very ominous aura. Even Cui Cui had serious doubts about taking a single step inside. The darkness inside seemed to swallow all light.
"What are we supposed to do, daughter?" Fei Fei asked again, frantically grabbing Cui Cui by the arm.
Cui Cui looked completely lost. She shook her head, her beautiful face turning pale. "I... I do not know. This looks far too dangerous for us to enter."
Unexpectedly, it was Qing Qing who stepped forward. The young boy looked at the dark maw of the cave and then calmly walked right toward the eerie entrance.
"Young master told us to go inside," Qing Qing muttered, his voice surprisingly steady and clear for his young age. "If he wanted to harm us, he would have done it a long time ago. Why do we need to hesitate? Sister, lead us. You have the key as he said."
His bold words struck a heavy chord in the silent air.
Cui Cui stared at Qing Qing, utterly surprised by his sudden bravery and logic. She took a deep breath, her lingering fear slowly melting into a solid resolve remembering Hua Ke. She gave a firm, decisive nod.
"You are right. Let us go," Cui Cui commanded gently to the rest of her people.
With Cui Cui bravely at the front, everyone from the Dong village cautiously walked into the pitch black cave.
As soon as the very last villager crossed the stone threshold, the cave walls groaned loudly. The massive entrance swiftly sealed shut behind them, closing up flawlessly just like it did when Hua Ke left this cave earlier.
It was as if nothing had ever happened, leaving no trace behind.
Far away from the graveyard of his wolves, Ji Ma Ko ventured deeper and deeper into the wild forest. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
He strictly followed the pungent smell of blood alongside his running blood wolf. But as the ancient trees grew thicker, he started to feel a very weird sensation washing over his entire body. It felt as if something pure, and powerful was silently inviting him closer.
His breathing quickened uncontrollably. He knew this sensation incredibly well. It was a profound feeling no spirit master could ever possibly forget in their entire lifetime.
This was the exact same phenomenon he had experienced back when he was living comfortably in the Bai clan. It was the feeling of a spirit master being awakened for the very first time by their family.
Jade Springs.
Every single existing clan in the southern border, or truly any known region in this vast land, needed a Jade Spring for spirit masters to naturally appear among their ranks.
This was no secret to anyone walking the path of cultivation. All five mighty clans of the Cang Wu mountains fiercely guarded their own respective Jade Springs with their lives.
When Ji Ma Ko was only twelve years old, back when he was still proudly called Bai Ma Ko, he was nervously taken into his clan sanctuary.
He was fully submerged in a glowing Jade Spring to be bathed. That sacred, unforgettable moment was when he was officially declared to be a true spirit master.
Bathing in a Jade Spring would not magically make every single mortal a spirit master, the same way every spirit master did not have to bathe in one to become one.
Jade Springs were the catalyst that brought the way of spirits into this world and were widely believed to be the essence of heaven.
But there was a heavy, substantial chance that someone exposed to a Jade Spring would awaken their soul, which was exactly why Jade Springs were strictly considered the absolute most important resource for any living clan.
And right now, deep in this completely uncharted territory, Ji Ma Ko was vividly feeling that exact same sensation again.
It was a suffocating aura of ample, overflowing spirit essence aggressively brushing against his skin.
Suddenly, the running blood wolf stopped dead in its tracks.
Ji Ma Ko looked past his panting spirit beast. His breath completely hitched in his throat, and his eyes went incredibly wide upon the realization of what he was looking at.
The bloody trail led directly to a massive, shimmering lake of pure red water, radiating boundless spirit essence that distorted the very air above it.
He fell entirely to his knees, his mind spinning wildly as he stared intensely at the crimson water before him.
"All the heavens bless me..." Ji Ma Ko muttered softly, his voice shaking heavily with absolute disbelief and greed. "Is this really a Jade Spring?"