Outside the cave, Jing Yan checked on the simple traps he had set up the day before. He didn't see any signs of damage to the traps.
"It's only been five days since I entered the Blackrock Mountains. I've still got plenty of food and water left. It's too early to go back to Dong Lin City now."
"Since I've just leveled up to the Fifth Heaven… I might as well venture deeper into the mountains and see what I can find. With my current cultivation and rank, even if I come across some Third-grade Spiritual Beasts, I should be able to kill them pretty easily." Jing Yan's gaze turned in a direction that would lead him deeper into the mountains.
When he first entered the Blackrock Mountains, Jing Yan had simply planned to hunt some First-grade Spiritual Beasts to exchange for some Spiritual Stones. But after he fought and beat the first Fanged Wolf, he realized that he had underestimated his strength a little. With his Fourth Heaven cultivation, killing Fanged Wolves was nearly effortless. Taking down First-grade Spiritual Beasts with such ease was no small accomplishment.
The Arch of Heaven had turned out to be a lot more potent than Jing Yan had expected. With its help, Jing Yan had even managed to kill a Shadow Gale Wolf, which was a Second-grade Spiritual Beast that many warriors would find intimidating to even talk about. Besides, his unbelievably good luck had even brought him a Soul Crystal. That was something that any warrior would give their left arm for.
Now that Jing Yan had reached the Fifth Heaven, he had become several times stronger than when he was at the Fourth Heaven. He felt that if he didn't go after some Third-grade Spiritual Beasts, he would end up regretting it. Not using the Arch of Heaven to its full potential would be a real shame.
"It's time to go!" Jing Yan said as the movement of his Vital Qi intensified.
Whoosh!
Jing Yan dashed toward the deeper parts of the forest like an arrow.
After entering the Fifth Heaven, Jing Yan found that his speed had improved significantly, just like his five senses, which had become much sharper.
After running for half a day, Jing Yan entered the middle areas of the Blackrock Mountains, where Second-grade and Third-grade Spiritual Beasts could be seen quite often.
A regular First-grade Spiritual Beast was usually worth no more than 10 Spiritual Stones. A Second-grade Spiritual Beast could be redeemed for several dozen Spiritual Stones, and some rare Second-grade Spiritual Beasts could be worth more than 50 Spiritual Stones. As to extremely rare Second-grade Spiritual Beasts like Shadow Gale Wolves, each would be worth more than most Third-grade Spiritual Beasts.
Most Third-grade Spiritual Beasts were worth about 100 Spiritual Stones.
"Seriously? A Stone-spotted Tiger?"
"Haha, my luck really is unbelievable recently. I've just reached the middle areas, and I've already encountered a Stone-spotted Tiger!" Jing Yan stared at a gray figure about 100 meters away from him.
The gray shape was a Stone-spotted Tiger, a Third-grade Spiritual Beast. They had brownish-gray fur. They were very difficult to notice in the dark, even if a person was very close to one. But in the day time, it was a lot easier to spot them.
Stone-spotted Tigers were known for their strong defense. Their attacks were also excellent. Besides sharp claws and teeth, they could use their tails as very lethal weapons as well. Even regular Fifth or Sixth Heaven warriors wouldn't take the risk of taking a hit from a Stone-spotted Tiger's tail.
Of course, Stone-spotted Tigers had weaknesses, too. Their agility and speed weren't that impressive. Even Fanged Wolves, which were only First-grade Spiritual Beasts, were a little bit more flexible than Stone-spotted Tigers.
Strong hunting groups with excellent cooperation sometimes preferred to choose Spiritual Beasts like Stone-spotted Tigers as their prey.
"I will start with you then!" Jing Yan cast a quick glance at it and charged at the Stone-spotted Tiger—a Third-grade Spiritual Beast.
A tearing sound ripped across the sky as the glistening black sword in Jing Yan's hand struck at its target.
Howl!
The Stone-spotted Tiger also saw Jing Yan. It snarled and jumped on him with the whole weight of its massive body.
A few minutes later, the Stone-spotted Tiger gasped its last breath with a sad and furious roar and dropped to the ground, lifeless.
"Phew!" Jing Yan gasped slightly. He then skinned the beast and took its fur along with a chunk of meat that he cut from the tiger's chest.
Killing a Stone-spotted Tiger was now almost pressure-free for Jing Yan. His prediction ability was so powerful. A Shadow Gale Wolf died at his hands when he was only at the Fourth Heaven, so taking down this Stone-spotted Tiger was now nothing for him.
But Stone-spotted Tigers definitely had solid defenses. He had attacked its vital spots over and over again, yet it still took him almost the time of a cup of tea to finally kill it.
If it had been some regular warrior, heaven knew how long it would have taken them to kill the Stone-spotted Tiger. Even for hunting groups, it wouldn't be easy prey.
"I've just received 100 Spiritual Stones!" Jing Yan said to himself with a faint smile.
"I'd better get back to work!" Jing Yan immediately disappeared into the woods nearby.
The most valuable parts of a Stone-spotted Tiger were its fur and one specific muscle in its chest. Those two together would be worth about 100 Spiritual Stones.
Time flew by. Another 10 days passed.
Within the 10 days, Jing Yan hunted down about 20 Second-grade and Third-grade Spiritual Beasts. His sack was more than half full.
This day, he put on a clean green gown and simply threw the old green gown away.
"It's about time to go back to Dong Lin City," Jing Yan murmured, lightly patting the bag on his back.
There was no doubt that this trip to the Blackrock Mountains had been exceptionally rewarding. In addition to the Soul Crystal he had obtained, the beast skin sack was filled with so much valuable stuff that it would make many Middle-ranking warriors and even High-ranking warriors jealous.
Now that the bag was almost full, Jing Yan was about to head back so he could exchange his loot for a lot of Spiritual Stones. After that, his plan was to focus on his cultivation and level up to the Sixth Heaven as soon as possible.
"Time to go back to Dong Lin City!" Jing Yan turned around and was about to set off in the direction of the city.
Suddenly, a deafening roar came from a distance. It reverberated so loudly through the trees that it felt as if the air was being shaken.
Jing Yan had been about to start running home, but that roar brought him to a sudden halt. His eyes glinted as he turned his gaze in the direction of the noise.
"Was that a Stone-spotted Tiger?"
"No, it couldn't have been an ordinary Stone-spotted Tiger. That must have been a Stone-spotted Tiger King!" Jing Yan's eyes lit up, blazing brightly.
Among the numerous breeds of Third-grade Spiritual Beasts, Stone-spotted Tigers had a unique ability to mutate. The rare tigers that had these special features were known among warriors as "Stone-spotted Tiger Kings."
"It seems like someone is in combat with a Stone-spotted Tiger King," Jing Yan concluded based on the howling of the beast. Someone was obviously trying very hard to take down this creature.
Stone-spotted Tiger Kings were way stronger than the regular ones. They were almost as strong as Fourth-grade Spiritual Beasts. Their value was also unusually high, pretty much at the same level as that of most Fourth-grade Spiritual Beasts.
The most valuable part of a Stone-spotted Tiger King was a small transparent horn on its head. Regular Stone-spotted Tigers didn't have it.