The day continued as the sun peered down relentlessly onto the forest of slaughter below.
The birds had stopped chirping and all small animals had gone into hiding, even weaker ferocious beasts knew that today would have been one of reckoning and also kept themselves hidden.
Xiao LingYue walked out as he brushed away a few trees, his body covered in blood as he realized those disciples were a bit harder to deal with compared to the last, if they weren't so afraid they might have even turned the tables on him.
This made him realize that they were still a lot of people who could pose a strong threat towards him within these woods...
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
This new world covered in trees and shrubbery was the Silver Deer Forest which was around a few tens of kilometres from Silver Deer City.
It was infamous for its danger as it was filled with ferocious beasts.
The known part of this forest was known as the outer and inner perimeters, which were flooded with danger at every instance.
The outer perimeter normally held stage 1 to stage 2 ferocious beasts while it was said that within the inner perimeter only those beasts that were at least the half-step Demonic Soldier stage could even survive there.
The cycles within the forest alternated between day and night where many folklore of the elderly around the City would say that at the cycle of night, they were evil and unbelievable fiends and demonized faes that would drain those of their Blood Qi and Vital Essence as their red gem-like eyes stared from within the darkness as they stalked their prey.
There were no rulers of this forest to the knowledge of the locals, only the fittest would survive and within these cruel and bloodthirsty woodlands, various types of spiritual herbs would often proliferate.
A few tens of years ago a small youth went into the forest to search for herbs and upon returning he had already reached the peak of the Body Tempering stage as he had come across a rare herb which helped him temper his body naturally.
Shortly after there was a sudden influx of cultivators into the forest but after a month less than 10% returned stating that the forest was a death trap to all who entered...
The ferocious beast seldomly came out unprovoked and humans rarely entered, this was a type of balance that was held since then as not much could be done to the Demonic beasts that may be lurking within the inner perimeter or deeper...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Within the deep forest, the sunlight became scarcer and scarcer as he moved through the thickets.
The sun slowly set as the shouting and screaming slowly subsided as not even the insects could be heard chirping.
A few campfires could be seen within the darkness, which stood like a beacon within the night, luring these beasts to unsuspecting and resting cultivators as this would be the last day they had ever seen...
Xiao LingYue's lonely figure stood on a branch of a tree as he peered down at the forest below, his nose sniffing the air as he aimed to find out how many enemies were around him.
His eyes were sharp as he tried his best to detect any danger that may arise, and after noting that there was none, he slowly sat on the branch and he began breathing rhythmically while he focused on his neidan.
His hands reached for his storage pouch as he retrieved two of the stage 1 ferocious beasts cores that he had bought before placing them in his mouth and chewing.
The cores tasted absolutely revolting as he did his best to swallow them, a consistency similar to bones and a texture of aged dry fish which made him gag slightly, his brows furrowed.
As the energy from the cores was released it was concentrated around his heart as the neidan began to spin furiously while growing slightly larger with every revolution.
His inhalation and exhalation began to be more drawn out while his body's temperature began to rise, a slow heat flowing from within him as a strong Demonic Qi filled with resentment flowed outwards only to be absorbed by his neidan and purified into pure Demonic Qi. The Demonic Qi was then diffused throughout his body as he felt his flesh, blood, bones and tendons being refined before his internal organs began to burn like they were in a furnace, self-immolating to refine their structures.
This went on for an unknown period as he then felt something slowly contracting around his body...
His eyes shot open!
A snake the size of 3 zhang while it was as thick as a water drum, its head was the same size as his chest and its tongue flickered in and out of its mouth.
His body was trapped due to his carelessness and as it squeezed he suffered slight internal injuries.
His left arm drew the Humble DayDream as he swung it aiming for the beast's eye but to his dismay, the snake slipped out of the way as it unravelled throwing his body through the air with enough force to snap a normal Meridian Opening Stage cultivator in half!
LingYue barreled through the air as he struck and fell two trees consecutively as he landed on the forest floor while tumbling through some brambles.
Standing slowly while bruised with his robes shredded, his eyes focused closely on the long incoming shadow within the night...
Its hissing sent shivers down his spine as an unprecedented feeling of fear washed over him, the natural instinct which accompanied the threat of death...
A blur shot forth as Xiao LingYue's reflexes kicked in and he dived to the side in a lazy donkey roll while the thick snake-like beast shot passed him, its fangs and jaws slamming into the trees behind, completely uprooting them.
It was then that he knew if his body wasn't so capable he'd have already died once...
Its head turned as its jaw opened, and the stench-filled maw showed its fangs that were revealed from within the flesh.
Its pupils focused on him as if it was just hunting another prey.
Xiao LingYue's face twitched as he knew that look, it was the exact look he had every time he hunted humans. . .
"Fuck..."