Towering trees stood within the gloomy forest while dried yellow leaves carpeted the ground. Shadows flashed within the dense foliage. The place was brimming with danger.
On a certain clearing in the forest, Zhou Yuan's crouched body was stretched taunt while his eyes were fixed straight ahead where a night-black Genesis Beast with a silver horn was staring back at him with cold animal eyes.
It was a Silver Horn Beast, a grade 1 Genesis Beast.
Growl!
The Silver Horn Beast's body slowly lowered before suddenly shooting forward a split second later like a shadow. The pungent scent of blood was strong as it pounced at Zhou Yuan.
"Dragon Step!"
The Silver Horn Beast was swift and ferocious, hence Zhou Yuan did not dare to be negligent. His feet immediately inclined at an angle and moved as his body turned blurry.
Sch!
The Silver Horn Beast's sharp claws grazed past the skin of Zhou Yuan's face.
Zhou Yuan's five fingers clenched into a fist, Genesis Qi light swirling around it as he viciously punched at the lower back of the Silver Horn Beast.
Thud!
The Silver Horn Beast let out a howl of grief as it slammed into the ground, creating a crater. However, when it hit the ground, its tail whipped out like a metal whip and smashed into Zhou Yuan's arm.
Zhou Yuan's body was swept backwards, only managing to stabilize himself after a dozen steps.
Ignoring the burning pain from his arm, Zhou Yuan ferociously pounced forward again, his hand sweeping out at a horizontal angle while all the Genesis Qi in his body surged through his meridian channels and poured into his palm.
"Dragon Tablet Hand, shatter the mountain!"
A low cry was followed by the sound of wind then A faint sonic boom.
Bang!
Without waiting for the Silver Horn Beast to crawl up to its feet, Zhou Yuan's hand powerfully swatted onto its head, immediately causing its hard skull to shatter as its body fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Having killed the Silver Horn Beast with a palm strike, Zhou Yuan sighed in relief as his tense body began to relax.
Ch!
However, the instant he relaxed, a shadow suddenly shot out from the shade of the tree behind him. Sharp fangs flickered coldly as they viciously closed in on Zhou Yuan's throat.
"Martial form!"
A shout suddenly rang out.
Light surged in Zhou Yuan's hand as a mottled black brush appeared. The snow-white hairs of the brush tip binded together tightly like a lotus flower shaped spear tip with unparallelled sharpness, while strands of Genesis Qi swirled around it. With a swish, it pierced through the air, penetrating the shadow through its bloody, wide-opened mouth and pinning it on the tree trunk.
With his hands grasped around the end of the Heavenly Yuan Brush, Zhou Yuan lifted his head, only to find a thick black snake nailed to the trunk, fresh blood flowing from it.
It was a Shadow Python, another a grade 1 Genesis Beast.
"Come at me again?" Zhou Yuan grinned at the snake's corpse. He had suffered quite a bit at the very beginning. If his Spirit had not reached the Illusory stage, giving him keen senses, it was likely that he would have been swallowed as food when he first encountered this particular creature.
Zhou Yuan retrieved the Heavenly Yuan Brush, transforming it back to its culture form and stuck it back into his waistband. Subsequently, he hoisted up both the python and Silver Horn Beast corpses before walking out of the forest.
After exiting the forest, he came to a valley after approximately a dozen minutes of walking. Yaoyao was seated on a rock by the little stream, her bare feet dipping into the cool waters as she leisurely played in the water. Meanwhile, Tuntun was shuttling up and down in the stream, catching the fish swimming within.
Upon hearing some noise, Yaoyao turned her head and glanced at Zhou Yuan. "Not bad, at least you didn't get injured this time."
Zhou Yuan threw the two Genesis Beast corpses onto the ground, feeling a little embarrassed when he heard her words. It was already his fifth day in the Black Forest Mountain Range and he had just barely gotten accustomed to the fighting and killing of Genesis Beasts.
However, on his first day here, he had been riddled all over with injuries. In particular, the claw wound on his chest had been so deep that bone could be seen. It was then that Zhou Yuan finally understood the difference between practice fights and true life and death battles.
These Genesis Beasts had experienced numerous fights to survive, and every single one was both cunning and ruthless. If Zhou Yuan treated them as easily slaughtered reared cattle, it was likely that he would not be able to walk out of this mountain range.
However, although the past few days of fighting and killing had been extremely dangerous, it had also brought about a significant change to Zhou Yuan. In the past, Zhou Yuan had a slight scholarly aura and looked like a weak scholar that would be blown away by a breeze.
But now, he gave off a faint aura of danger when he entered battle mode.
Yaoyao threw over two bottles and instructed, "Collect the beasts' blood, remember to only take the blood of the heart where the savage energy is the strongest."
Zhou Yuan caught the bottles and nodded. He used a small knife to cut open the skin of the two Genesis Beasts with ease before collecting the heart blood in the bottles.
"Up till now, you've already killed fifteen Genesis Beasts. You only have eleven more to go." Yaoyao rose, her bare feet stepping on the rock. The snow-white fairness made the surrounding light seem a little dimmer.
Zhou Yuan nodded in acknowledgement. Thirty six different kinds of grade 1 Genesis Beasts were needed for the Thirty Six Beast Channel Opening Rune. Thus, some time was required to gather the ingredients. However, it was not urgent and in any case, he could use this period of time to temper himself.
He could feel that he was growing a little stronger each day, strength not of the body but of the mind. At the very least, he was confident that the current him was able to effortlessly beat the him from before entering the Black Forest Mountain Range.
…
While Zhou Yuan was killing Genesis Beasts in the Black Forest Mountain Range, certain events had occurred in Great Zhou City. The most notable amongst them was that Qi Manor had been robbed and was rumored to have lost something very important. The entire Qi Manor had practically been turned inside out and the search for the thieves ultimately extended throughout the city, causing it to become abuzz with activity.
However, this was after all an affair of Qi Manor. Therefore, everyone merely watched from the sidelines, even gloating somewhat before no longer paying any attention.
Ta ta!
On the second day after Qi Manor was burgled, the housekeeper of the manor, Qi Ling, led a group of men out the city, heading straight for the Black Forest Mountain Range where some clues were said to have been found.
Qi Ling stood with his hands behind his back at the entrance to the Black Forest Mountain Range. His deep set eyes were fixed onto the mountain range like an eagle's.
Someone reported from behind in a low voice, "Master Qi, the men have already entered the Black Forest Mountain Range and are closing in on the target."
Qi Ling nodded and said, "Prepare to search the mountains and make sure to cause a bigger disturbance. We will be heading to where Lu Tieshan is."
"Roger!" The person behind him responded before waving his hand as a dozen figures shot out and flew towards the mountain range.
Half a day later.
At a certain location in the mountain range, Lu Tieshan was seated cross-legged in front a towering tree. He suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze firmly fixed on the forests in front of him as he shouted in stern voice, "Who?!"
Behind him, several figures grasped the weapons at their side as the Genesis Qi in their bodies began to circulate.
"Hehe, no need to be nervous brother Lu, it's me." A chuckle emerged from the forests followed by Qi Ling and his men.
"Qi Ling?" Lu Tieshan was stunned before he frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Qi Ling helplessly replied, "The manor has been burgled and the thieves seem to have hidden themselves in the Black Forest Mountain Range. Me and my men have chased them all the way here."
Lu Tieshan's furrowed brows relaxed a little. He had heard of the recent Qi Manor burglary. Though he looked as large as a bear, he was very prudent and cautious, else he would not have become a captain of the imperial guard. Thus, although he seemed to have relaxed his guard, he tilted his head and instructed the imperial guards behind him, "Send two men to protect his highness."
Two imperial guards immediately responded and stealthily withdrew.
Qi Ling was all smiles as he watched this happen. As he walked forward to greet Lu Tieshan, the hand behind his back lightly waved as shadows seemed to retreat in the dark.
…
In the valley, Yaoyao was seated on a rock, her long legs folded under her while Tuntun lay on her lap. Her fine black hair draped over her shoulders, while the dried yellow leaves of an ancient cedar fell behind her. This beautiful scene was akin to a painting.
Roar!
Suddenly, the lazy Tuntun on Yaoyao's lap opened its eyes and looked towards the nearby darkness as a roar was released from its throat.
Yaoyao's brows knitted together slightly as she also raised her pretty face and looked in the same direction.
"Heh heh. I never imagined that I would meet such an extremely gorgeous little lady in the deep mountains." A voice that was filled with evilness echoed from the darkness as two figures slowly walked out.
Both figures had the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear. The one in front had a tattoo on his face, while an ominous look brewed in his eyes. At this current moment, his gaze seemed to burn like magma as he stared at the lovely figure nearby as if he was about to swallow the latter in the single gulp.
The man with a tattoo on his face said to his partner as he pointed towards the nearby woods, "Luo Tong, you go deal with the target. He should be nearby."
Although he was speaking, his eyes remained tightly glued to Yaoyao's body.
"That kid should have only opened four meridian channels. You will be able to easily dispatch him with your six channel strength."
Although the man called Luo Tong was somewhat reluctant when he heard this, he did not dare to go against the tattoo-face man's words. After all, the latter had already stepped into the Qi Nourishing stage.
Luo Tong licked his lips and said, "Boss, you have to leave a bite of such a high quality good for me. I have never seen such a pretty girl in my life."
"Haha, don't worry. I will definitely wait for you to return, but you must be quick." The perverse light in the tattoo-face man's eyes blossomed as he grinned.
"Great." Luo Tong nodded his head in a satisfied manner when he heard this before he quickly shot towards the forest.
Upon seeing Luo Tong leave, the tattoo-face man beamed as he walked towards the Yaoyao, who had not moved from the spot. He looked at the latter's alluring hands and her beautiful breathtaking face as he felt a fire burn in his body.
"Little beauty, come have some fun with me. I will be very gentle with you." The tattoo-face man did not sense any Genesis Qi undulations from Yaoyao's body and hence was not even the slightest bit wary. His eyes wantonly swept across her figure as he grinned.
Yaoyao shot an indifferent look at him. Not even the slightest fluctuation could be seen in her bright eyes. Her calm appearance caused the tattoo-face man to be stunned as he felt a tiny bit of unease.
"Tuntun."
Before he could do anything else, Yaoyao's red lips had already opened slightly. Her clear and sweet voice was completely ice-cold.
As Yaoyao's voice faded, the tattoo-face man's pupils immediately shrank. He watched in horror as the tiny body of the originally pet-like Tuntun lying on Yaoyao's lap began to grow. Its fur receded and in its place grew scarlet red scales. A pair of scarlet red animal eyes were brimming with endless ferocity, while black light faintly emerged in the slightly opened mouth of the creature as if it could devour all things.
In the blink of an eye, the originally cute little pet had become a mysterious and horrible beast. An ominous aura dashed into the sky, while an alarming pressure slowly spread from its body.