The Dark Forest was vast, impenetrable, and flourishing. The spacing between the trees was not large but gave just enough light a chance for a plethora of spiritual plants to grow in the fertile grounds below.
Quiet climbing plants held onto the occasional tree, and a variety of spiritual flowers, which claimed quiet corners, added colorful, scented elements to the otherwise unchanging backdrop.
A cacophony of wild and frightening sounds, most belonged to Demonic Beasts, reverberated through the air, and were out of sync with the beauty of the forest.
Li Jing was standing in front of the edge of the Dark Forest, a grin could be seen on his handsome face as he admired the large trees before him.
'So, this is the famous Dark Forest. Very impressive.' He thought.
According to his memories of the web novel, the edge of the forest was inhabited by weak tier-1 Demonic Beasts, mostly snakes, wolves and bears. It was the favorite hunting place of the Beast Hunters.
Beast Hunter was the most popular job among rogue cultivators. Although it was a dangerous job, it was also a very profitable one. By selling the Demonic Cores and the carcass of the Demonic Beasts, they could earn dozens of Spirit Stones.
Li Jing didn't see any Beast Hunter around him, but he knew that he will definitely meet some of them as he will go further inside the forest.
Li Jing entered the edge of the forest and as he walked through the trees towards the north, he decided to ignore the many common spiritual plants around him and instead focus on his goal: killing as many Demonic Beasts as he could.
These spiritual plants were just Jade Spirit Grass or Silkworm Grass anyway, they didn't have a lot of value.
He continued to walk for a few minutes before spotting a large hill with a hole inside it.
He smiled as he recognized that it was the den of a Demonic Black Bear. It meant that he was currently in the area occupied by bears.
He took out his map and started inspecting it. If he walked towards the west, he will find the territory of the Savage Wolves. Towards the east, was the territory of the Devouring Snakes.
Walking north, he will have to pass through the territory of the Iron Boars before leaving the edge of the forest and entering the territory of the Four-eyed Jade Monkeys. It was his goal.
The Four-eyed Jade Monkeys were among the strongest tier-1 Demonic Beasts and always attacked in large groups. Furthermore, Li Jing knew that their king kept an interesting treasure.
But before going north, he decided to inspect the hill, maybe a Demonic Black Bear lived inside it.
Entering the hole inside the hill, Li Jing heard weird and loud growls. There was definitely a beast living here.
"GHAAA!!"
The beast roared and Li Jing suddenly saw a huge black bear with glowing red eyes charging him at full speed. But he reacted in time, activated his Instant Flash Step, and easily dodged the charge.
Despite its imposing size, Li Jing was not afraid of this Demonic Black Bear, he knew that he was far stronger than it.
Li Jing rushed to the bear, decided to give it a quick death, and punched its head. It looked like a casual punch, but it contained a strength of 3900 Jin! Upon contact, the bear's head immediately exploded and blood spurted all over the place, staining Li Jing's clothes.
He never saw so much blood before, it was really gore. However, Li Jing knew that he would have to get used to it. If he wanted to reach the apex he will have to kill thousands and thousands of people and beasts.
He closed his eyes a second and took a deep breath before opening them again and revealing a determined expression.
[Host has killed a tier-1 Demonic Beast: XP + 15.]
Li Jing was surprised to see that killing a tier-1 Demonic Beast was almost as effective as cultivating for an hour, it was totally worth it!
He walked towards the body of the bear, took out his dagger and opened its chest to extract its Demonic Core, then he stored the core inside his spatial ring. The Demonic Core of a Demonic Beast always replaced its heart. It was their most vital part and destroying their core would kill them immediately.
Li Jing finished inspecting the cave but didn't find anything interesting. There were only the carcasses of small wild animals.
Leaving the cave, he resumed his walk towards the north.
He knew that tier-1 Demonic Beasts would pose no challenge to him. Only fighting tier-2 Demonic Beasts would be interesting. The strength of a tier-1 Demonic Beast was between 350 Jin for the weakest and 1100 Jin for the strongest, while the strength of a tier-2 Demonic Beast was between 2200 Jin and 12000 Jin!
The strength of the Demonic Black Bears in this area was about 450 Jin. A group of Beast Hunters in the fourth level of the Qi Gathering realm could easily kill one of them.
After walking some distance, Li Jing finally spotted two Demonic Black Bears a few meters away from him.
This time, he wanted to try his Elusive Smoke Steps technique. Although he gained the knowledge on how to use it perfectly thanks to the system, it will be the first time that he will use it for real.
With his current Qi reserve, he could only maintain the technique for around one minute, but it was more than enough against such weak beasts.
'Elusive Smoke Steps!' He thought.
Li Jing activated his Martial technique and a thick grey smoke suddenly surrounded his body. In this form, his body was completely elusive.
As he rushed to one of the bears, a trail of smoke could be seen behind him. He was so fast that it covered the distance that separated them in less than a second!
Without hesitation, he punched the head of the bear, killing it on the spot.
Although Li Jing's body was now made of smoke, he could materialize any part of his body at will.
[Host has killed a tier-1 Demonic Beast: XP + 15.]
The Demonic Black Bear who witnessed the death of its comrade was furious and charged Li Jing with all its strength and speed. However, it completely passed through him!
Li Jing smiled, this technique was really overpowered.
"Lightning Hammer Fist!"
He used his Martial technique fused with Lightning Qi and his fist was now surrounded by many electrical sparks. As Li Jing struck the flank of the Demonic Black Bear, he not only easily pierced its skin, flesh, and bones but also charred its whole body, leaving nothing but a smoking and bloody carcass.
[Host has killed a tier-1 Demonic Beast: XP + 15.]