Chapter 24 - Ironback Bear Cub

In the next few days, Zhang Xuan started to prepare to collect moon dew grass.

Two days ago, he first familiarized himself with the fireball spell, imperial wind spell, and rejuvenation spell. Then, he used his spare time to make more talismans.

The blank talismans that he had bought weren't wasted either. Zhang Xuan had also engraved spirit techniques on them.

Zhang Xuan then went to a shop in the city and bought some items for the wild. For example, healing ammunition, a suggested tent, and a basket to store things. Other than these, he also bought a batch of food that was easy to carry.

Zhang Xuan was planning a long-term trip. He might have to stay in the wilderness for eight to ten days, so he had to take care of food, clothing, and safety.

After storing everything, Zhang Xuan took his equipment and set off.

After leaving Yuan Wu City, Zhang Xuan put the talisman in his pocket and released Little Moon from the familiar space. He then walked toward the wilderness.

Zhang Xuan and Little Moon walked out of the city and into the forest. Before picking the moon dew grass, Zhang Xuan went to the cave and picked some earth spirit essence and earth spirit crystals.

During this period of time, he had consumed a lot of the two items. It was time to pick some more and bring them along.

Soon after, the man and familiar walked toward the area where they had found the moon dew grass.

After coming to the area where they were last time, Zhang Xuan told Little Moon to get closer.

As a familiar, Little Moon's ability to sense danger was much stronger than Zhang Xuan's. The previous incident with the porcupine and the gem snake was good proof. If Little Moon discovered any danger, they could retreat in time.

Luckily, Little Moon didn't sense anything unusual, so Zhang Xuan approached without worry.

After coming to the place where he found the giant snake's body, Zhang Xuan realized that the giant gem snake had disappeared. Not even its bones were left, so it was obvious that the corpse had long been eaten by some unknown demonic beast.

Zhang Xuan didn't care about that. He just needed to rely on Little Moon's sense of smell to find the gathering spot of moon dew grass.

There were also some moon dew grass here, but the efficiency was too low. What Zhang Xuan wanted wasn't just a bunch of melons or dates.

While looking for the moon dew grass, Zhang Xuan cast a wind-controlling spell on himself and Little Moon to speed up their journey.

This was the first time Little Moon had experienced the feeling of flying. She was so excited that her tail was wagging left and right. However, after being reminded by Zhang Xuan, it suppressed its temper.

After traveling for a dozen miles, Zhang Xuan noticed that the amount of moon dew grass around him was increasing. From the looks of it, the moon dew grass was produced in the depths of the mountain.

After some time, Zhang Xuan subconsciously looked back. Yuan Wu City had already disappeared, and in front of him were layers of mountains. The man and wolf had already entered the forest.

Zhang Xuan observed his surroundings, and his expression became more and more serious. "Little Moon, be careful. There will be more and more dangers ahead."

Little Moon had also realized it. At this moment, she was staring ahead vigilantly, her eyes sweeping from time to time, observing the wind and grass in front of her.

Just as the man and wolf were carefully moving forward, a beast suddenly jumped out of the grass in front of them.

Zhang Xuan was stunned and quickly looked at it. His first thought was, 'This demonic beast seemed to be very dangerous, or else Little Moon would have sensed it.' 

Then, he noticed that this wild beast had the head, legs, and body of a leopard.

It was a false alarm. It turned out to be an ordinary golden leopard.

In the wilderness of the immortal cultivation world, there were not only demonic beasts but also ordinary wild beasts. However, these wild beasts were affected by the spirit energy and had more or less mutated.

The golden leopard was one of them. Compared to normal leopards, golden leopards had stronger endurance and a stronger body, but that was all. 

Such an opponent was no threat to Zhang Xuan and Little Moon. No wonder Little Moon didn't warn him.

This was because the golden leopard was not even worth mentioning in his eyes.

Without even needing Little Moon to make a move, Zhang Xuan threw out a fireball talisman right away after seeing the leopard clearly.

The talisman collided with the golden leopard, and flames instantly burst out in all directions. With a wail, the golden leopard fell into the grass and was burned into charcoal.

"Hmm, it's quite powerful." Zhang Xuan nodded his head in satisfaction. He was really happy that the fireball spell had such destructive power.

In fact, the power of this spell depended on the concentration of the true Qi of the caster. The more true Qi the caster applied, the more powerful it would be.

However, Zhang Xuan had only just gotten a glimpse of it and could only use the power of the fireball spell. This kind of power could kill ordinary wild beasts in seconds, but against powerful demonic beasts, it could only cause some superficial wounds.

Zhang Xuan continued to travel.

During this time, they encountered another five or six small accidents, but the attackers were all wild beasts along the way, which were taken care of by Little Moon and Zhang Xuan.

The journey was frightening but not dangerous. Finally, under Little Moon's lead, the man and wolf came to a valley in the depths.

When they reached the entrance, Little Moon hopped over to Zhang Xuan and used her claws to pull on his pants. She then pulled on his shirt.

Zhang Xuan smiled. "Little Moon, is the gathering place of moon dew grass in front?"

Little Moon could not speak, but her eyes were shining. Hearing Zhang Xuan's question, it rushed to the entrance and then back to circle around him.

Seeing that Little Moon was so excited that she was about to stick out her tongue, Zhang Xuan quickly said, "Stop, Little Moon! Put away your silly style!

 You're a pure-blooded wolf!"

Jokes aside, Zhang Xuan had already sensed Little Moon's thoughts through the familiar space.

Outside the valley, moon dew grass spots were scattered among the weeds, countless more than the ones along the way.

Little Moon was also sending a message. Zhang Xuan was sure that the valley was where the moon dew grass gathered.

"Alright, let's go in." Zhang Xuan was very happy, but just as he was about to bring Little Moon into the valley, he stopped.

The journey was smooth, and he was about to reap the rewards. However, he calmed down and didn't let the joy get to his head.

Since the moon dew grass was so attractive to Little Moon, it would definitely attract other demonic beasts as well. If there was really a large amount of moon dew grass in the valley, there might be other demonic beasts guarding it.

Thinking about this, Zhang Xuan became even more careful. He gestured for Little Moon to slow down, and the man and wolf carefully entered the valley.

However, just as Zhang Xuan took a few steps into the valley, he noticed a giant bear lying on the side of the path. This giant bear had a huge head, and the fur all over its body was grayish-brown in color. The fur on its back was a shiny metallic blue, and its body was nearly two meters long!

"Aaowu!!!"

The moment she saw the giant bear, Little Moon immediately took a step back. After howling, she continued to sob.

Zhang Xuan noticed that Little Moon's fur was standing on end, and she was baring her fangs as if she was facing a great enemy.

Zhang Xuan was also a little shocked. His guess was correct. There were demonic beasts guarding this place. 

He recognized the giant bear in front of him. It was an Ironback Bear. 

Looking at its size, the bear was still in its infancy.

The young Ironback Bear's bloodline was at beginner transcendent, and its strength was at bronze level 9, which was comparable to Little Moon.

However, Zhang Xuan also noticed that the fur on the young Ironback Bear's back was changing. The green fur was mixed with some silver.

If Zhang Xuan did not remember wrongly, the growth and evolution process of the Ironback Bear was as follows: Ironback Bear, Silverback Bear, Goldenback Bear. 

The change in the color of the Ironback Bear's fur meant that it was about to evolve into a Silverback Bear.