"Are you okay?" Huo Lin'er approached Ji Mo to ask after she noticed that he had calmed down.
"I'm fine. I just had a nightmare," Ji Mo replied. Since last night, he had a feeling that something was amiss due to a certain sorrow within him, and he became so exhausted that he decided to sleep, but he ended up witnessing those scenes in his dream.
"Seriously, you're an adult now, yet you're acting like a child. I can't believe that you were scared because of a nightmare," Huo Lin'er pouted her lips and rebuked him.
Ji Mo took a deep breath to get rid of the restlessness, then turned to say to her half-jokingly, "Senior Sister Huo, I dreamt that you turned into a big dinosaur and kept asking for my body, so I woke up in fear."
"Are you asking for a beating? Why is your head full of such nonsensical thoughts?" Huo Lin'er immediately lifted her hand as if she was going to hit Ji Mo, but he scurried out of the cave right away. He released a powerful force to split the waterfall outside to escape.
Huo Lin'er went after him at once, and they looked like a couple that was frolicking around while teasing each other, creating a warm and harmonious scene.
Under the dazzling sunlight, the sloshing of water that filled the air was like a peaceful symphony.
Ji Mo said as he stood under the waterfall, "The Hunting Competition is going to end in a few days, and I've wasted some time due to the past few days, so I must work harder so that the others won't surpass me."
"Mm-hmm, too many things have happened lately," Huo Lin'er responded meaningfully before she sighed. She turned to smile at Ji Mo sweetly, which made her look like a charming flower that bloomed under the sun. "Okay, little man, the rest will be up to you. I have to return to the sect."
"Alright, take care," Ji Mo said with a nod.
Huo Lin'er pursed her lips before informing him, "Once I return this time, I might not have time to visit Tianyuan Academy anymore. After all, my work as a teacher at the academy is almost coming to an end, so…so you must come to find me. I'll be waiting for you at the Tianshan Sword Sect."
"Sure, I definitely will." Ji Mo nodded again, but he had nothing else to say. He felt like the relationship he shared with Huo Lin'er had changed. It had become somewhat ambiguous, but it was not like they became more intimate. All in all, it was just enigmatic, and Ji Mo saw something in her eyes.
"I'm leaving. Behave well, little man."
Huo Lin'er smiled lovingly again, then turned to produce a flaming sword-light beneath her feet. The sword-light carried her body up into the sky where she spun mid-air before zooming far away.
Whoosh!
A flare was seen as Huo Lin'er left in the form of a shooting star.
"That night…Did something really happen between us? I keep feeling like she's acting strangely." Ji Mo shook his head when he looked at the direction where Huo Lin'er left, then he entered the forest and disappeared.
…
The end of the Hunting Competition was less than seven days away since the allotted time was a month. However, Ji Mo had wasted too much time dealing with Huo Lin'er's matter previously, and he also took a few days to advance from a seventh-tier tempered body to an eighth-tier tempered body, thus he must utilize his time to hunt more demonic beasts. Otherwise, his result would fall behind.
In the luxuriant forest, the towering ancient trees hid the sky and covered the sun.
In a serene ravine, there were dead bodies strewn all over, but instead of human corpses, they were carcasses of wolf demonic beasts. This was a wolf den where demonic wolves gathered. The scattered carcasses of the demonic beasts were the size of calves, and they had all been killed by one blow.
They either had broken skulls, twisted necks, or their bodies were torn in the middle. It was a bloody scene that was extremely tragic to look at.
There were actually over a hundred demonic wolf carcasses.
Grrrr!
Deep inside the ravine, a giant wolf that was sturdier than the other demonic wolves lay with its back on the ground in humiliation before standing up while trembling. The demonic wolf had purple fur, as well as a horn on its forehead, which had the lingering glow of electricity.
Cough!
Ji Mo walked out from the ravine in embarrassment, covered in blood. Some of the blood was his while some belonged to the demonic wolves. He paced while wiping the blood off his face. 'I really didn't expect the demonic wolf to be at the brink of entering the Qi Plundering Boundary. Luckily, I noticed it beforehand and stopped it from advancing, or else, it'd have been a tough match if it broke through.'
In the meantime, Ji Mo was also gathering Celestial Devil Power in his fist. A Celestial Devil's shadow was entwined around his arm, and a clank was vaguely heard coming from his arm as if a Celestial Sword was being pulled out of a scabbard.
Grrr!
The demonic wolf roared, then kicked its hind legs to charge at Ji Mo like a purple whirlwind. Simultaneously, the horn on the wolf's head emitted thunderbolts that produced zapping sounds. Wherever the purple whirlwind passed, the layer of soil tore and the ground split, resulting in chaos.
This was the demonic wolf's talent and divine power. Although the wolf was a step away from the Qi Plundering Boundary, its talent and divine power had already taken form, thus it could release such thunderous might.
'Three-Tonne Power!' Ji Mo yelled to himself as he blasted the Celestial Devil Power that was gathered at his fist while activating the Three-Tonne Power, the secret art that he inherited from the Giant Black Ape. Accompanied by a loud clank, the Celestial Devil Power transformed into a Hell Celestial Sword, and Ji Mo executed the Forceful Fist Sword Qi while bringing the Three-Tonne Power into play.
Roar, roar, roar!
The Hell Celestial Sword that was formed was roughly 6 meters long, and it was covered in Hell Runes. Additionally, a strange Celestial Devil's illusion was seen winding around the sword and it was surging forward at the demonic wolf.
Ji Mo was forced to exert all his force upon facing the demonic beast that was about to advance to the Qi Plundering Boundary, so his attack could not be easily fended off, not even by a cultivator who was already at that boundary.
Clang!
When the Hell Celestial Sword buzzed and the Celestial Devil's shadow that surrounded it roared, it cut the demonic wolf's talent and divine power easily with one slash, resulting in a fountain of blood. The sword that slashed through the wolf's body then hit a giant rock in the ravine, and the surging force shattered the rock until nothing was left.
Psst!
A ripping sound was heard the moment the Hell Celestial Sword cut the demonic wolf's body, causing its huge body to be split into two. Not only was its blood gushing out like crazy, but its internal organs also spilled out. The two parts of its body fell into a pool of blood. The wolf could not get any more lifeless than that.
Exhaling deeply, Ji Mo realized that his arm was shivering a little because the secret art, the Three-Tonne Power, had consumed his physical energy. Based on his current body, he could only use it twice, after when he would feel worn out even if he had the powerful nature of a Celestial Devil.
The Three-Tonne Power was effective toward his power, as well as a real cultivator's True Qi. Nonetheless, one had to consume physical power, essence, and one's life during the early, middle, and later stages respectively as the price. With that, one could unleash one's full potential instantly to exert magical power that was seven, eight, or even ten times and more.