After leaving the armadillo's territory, Yuan Ming followed the direction in which the second green fox had escaped the day before for half a day, and finally near a depression outside the mountain, he discovered traces of the presence of green foxes.
There were two green foxes that were slightly smaller than the ones Yuan Ming encountered the day before, and at the moment, they were lazily prostrated at the exit of the depression, seemingly basking in the sun.
Before Yuan Ming could do anything, a fox's howl came from within the depression, followed by four or five green foxes dashing out from inside, joining the two outside before piercing into the dense jungle.
"It seems that this depression is the den of that group of green foxes," Yuan Ming glanced into the depression and then followed the group of green foxes into the jungle.
With his current adept control over his transformed White Ape body, he easily trailed behind the green foxes without being noticed.
Not long after entering the jungle, the green foxes seemed to have their own objectives and gradually dispersed. Yuan Ming chose one of the lone green foxes to continue the pursuit.
In the blink of an eye, the man and the fox had traveled several li away from the depression.
After ensuring there were no other fierce beasts around, Yuan Ming quickened his pace and soon caught up with the green fox, arriving above it in the trees.
The green fox, being keen of ear and nose, immediately detected Yuan Ming, stopped in its tracks, and looked up, gnashing its teeth and growling low at Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming just chuckled, took a green stone out of his beast skin pouch, and threw it at the green fox.
The stone became a blur of green, shooting through the void, headed straight for the green fox's head.
The green fox swiftly dodged to the side, but a shadowy figure struck again; it was a black stone the size of a bowl.
This time, the fox couldn't dodge, and its head was struck by the black stone.
With a "bang," the stone burst apart, and all went dark before the green fox's eyes, leaving it somewhat stunned.
Yuan Ming looked at his left hand, a bit dazed.
The instant after he had thrown the first stone, his left hand had subconsciously thrown a second one, with virtually no interval between the two.
This seemed to be some kind of throwing martial arts technique he had instinctively used, which even the agile green fox couldn't evade.
Yuan Ming quickly came back to his senses, his figure dove down, and his hands reached for the green fox's neck.
The green fox's vision had not yet recovered, but it sensed danger and leaped to the side, dodging Yuan Ming's dive and then biting towards Yuan Ming's arm in retaliation.
Yuan Ming's initial grab was a feint, and seeing the situation turn dire, he quickly retracted his arm, narrowly avoiding the fox's bite.
"An uninjured green fox really is tough to handle," he muttered to himself and turned to flee into the distance.
The green fox shook its head, quickly regaining its composure.
As expected, it became enraged by Yuan Ming, bloodthirsty ferocity gleaming in its green eyes. With a low roar, it immediately gave chase.
The White Ape, transformed by Yuan Ming, moved much slower on its legs than the green fox, and the distance between them quickly diminished to less than ten yards.
Seeing that he was about to be caught, Yuan Ming leaped onto a large tree beside him, quickly climbing upward. After pounding his chest with one fist toward the green fox below, he started to leap forward through the trees.
The green fox hesitated for a moment, but driven to rage by Yuan Ming's taunting actions, it relentlessly continued the pursuit.
Yuan Ming advanced at a measured pace, occasionally using stones to attack the green fox to prevent it from turning back.
Naturally, the provoked green fox responded with ongoing roars.
In a pursuit of each other, they quickly arrived near the den of the yellow armadillo.
The yellow armadillo was inside its cave feeding its young when it heard the commotion outside and immediately sprang out.
From afar, Yuan Ming had been watching the area around the armadillo's den closely. As the bushes stirred, he swiftly hid behind a dense clump of leaves.
In the midst of the forest, only the incessantly howling green fox remained.
With its territory invaded by green foxes time and again, and now one daring to approach its den, flames seemed to spark from the eyes of the yellow armadillo. Its body surged with a yellow glow as it charged toward the green fox.
Only then did the green fox realize something was amiss, and without a word, it turned to flee.
However, the yellow armadillo was thoroughly enraged. In its full wrath, it caught up to the green fox in a few breaths' time. Its iron-hooks-like sharp claws became two black afterimages as they viciously descended.
The green fox found no way to dodge and turned to fight.
The two fierce beasts clashed in an instant, their roars echoing in the woods, stirring up clouds of dust.
From behind the dense leaves, a flicker of excitement crossed Yuan Ming's eyes.
His plan was already half successful. All he had to do now was wait for the green fox to be defeated and flee, and he could once again reap the benefits.
"Wait, there were two green foxes yesterday, and only then could they escape. Now there is only one. Might it be killed outright by the yellow armadillo?" Yuan Ming suddenly remembered something, his mind racing.
Just then, he heard a subtle sound, distinct from the clash of the two beasts, like the cry of a small creature.
"The yellow armadillo is so furious, could it be..." Yuan Ming had a thought and stealthily approached the yellow armadillo's den, soon reaching a large tree in front of the den.
Peering through the gaps in the leaves, his face lit up with joy.
From this angle, he could just make out the interior of the yellow armadillo's den where several young armadillos huddled together, emitting whimpers.
"Just as I thought," Yuan Ming murmured to himself and took a black stone out of the pouch he carried on his back.
The battle in the forest ended quickly, just as Yuan Ming had anticipated. The Green Fox didn't last long before it was utterly defeated, covered in wounds and one of its eyes gouged out. It howled miserably as it fled.
The yellow armadillo naturally wouldn't let it escape and was about to give chase.
A shrill whistle came from behind, and a dark shadow shot straight toward the armadillo's den.
The yellow armadillo was a mix of shock and rage, and immediately abandoned the pursuit of the Green Fox. With a powerful push of its sturdy legs against the ground, it turned into a yellow blur rushing back to its den.
The dark shadow didn't hit the armadillo's den; instead, it struck a large tree nearby with a "bang," revealing itself to be a black stone.
The yellow armadillo was stunned, its large body sliding forward due to inertia, crushing a large swath of shrubs and undergrowth.
Yuan Ming cracked a slight smile as he leapt out from his hiding spot and pursued the injured Green Fox.
The yellow armadillo, concerned for its young in the den, roared a few threatening roars at Yuan Ming and the Green Fox, then turned and burrowed into its cave.
...
Yuan Ming soon caught up with the injured Green Fox, timed his distance perfectly, and leaped down from a tree like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
The sounds of struggle and roars echoed once more in the forest, dust billowed, and quiet soon returned.
Yuan Ming stood up, dusting off his body, the corner of his mouth involuntarily curling up.
Multiple cuts marred his arm, inflicted by the Green Fox in a final desperate counterattack.
But that already heavily injured Green Fox had also turned into a corpse, its neck bent oddly as it lay on the ground, its neck bone broken.
Yuan Ming looked at his hands, staring absently.
He had used the same technique as the day before, strangling the Green Fox with his arms.
This throat-lock capture martial arts technique, which he executed quite skillfully, came out instinctively during the fight, as did the stone-throwing technique he had used before.
Although both martial arts techniques were simple, they were exceedingly compatible with his transformed White Ape form.
Yuan Ming took out the Beast Skin Pouch used for storing blood, activated his Mana to suck dry the Green Fox Blood, and after turning it into a glittering ball of Essence Blood, he didn't continue hunting but withdrew with the Green Fox's body toward the direction of the canyon.
For the next three days, he practiced his breath control and cultivation at night, while during the day he lured Green Foxes to the yellow armadillo's territory using the same tactics, causing the two to fight and then taking the opportunity to hunt.
Yuan Ming was fairly lucky, successfully hunting a Green Fox each day, and by the fifth day, he had collected five portions of Fierce Beast Essence Blood.
He weighed the Beast Skin Pouch in his hand and exhaled a long breath before sitting down on the ground.
Though the process had been somewhat harrowing these past few days, he had finally completed the task by the deadline.
The most difficult times were behind him, and with the profound mysteries of the Nine Elements Technique, his strength would steadily increase. He believed it wouldn't be long before he could hunt those Green Foxes alone and perhaps even challenge the armadillo without it being entirely hopeless.
After a brief rest, Yuan Ming stood up and returned to the canyon's opposite bank, making for the Giant Stone Boundary.
When he arrived at the stone, he discovered Wulu was already waiting there, while Lage, who had traveled with them before, was still nowhere to be seen.
"Who knows what kind of 'safe place with promise of success' that guy was talking about. Lage still hasn't shown up by now, most likely it's more bad luck than good," Yuan Ming mused as he glanced at Wulu, who was meditating with closed eyes, and didn't bother to greet him, choosing to sit and meditate by the stone as well.
With a stranger present, he didn't circulate the Nine Elements Technique but only used his Mana to examine his internal condition.
A month had passed, and the toxin from the Corrosive Heart Pill had gradually spread, infiltrating his heart meridian. An area the size of a bowl around his heart felt chilly and numb, devoid of sensation.
Yuan Ming had also tried to force out the toxin with his Mana in the past few days, but to no avail.
This was to be expected, as Biluo Cave was a Cultivation Sect, and their use of poison was naturally beyond the capabilities of someone like him who had just started cultivating a few days ago.
"I hope Elder Hu Huo keeps his word and provides the antidote," Yuan Ming thought to himself.
Before long, a grey shadow appeared in the distance, swiftly approaching.
Yuan Ming was familiar with this figure, and he promptly stood up, as did Wulu, who opened his eyes and sprung to his feet.
The grey shadow swiftly reached their vicinity. It was Elder Hu Huo's grey bird, circling slightly in mid-air before it landed atop the stone, and Elder Hu Huo's figure lightly descended from its back.
"Elder Hu Huo!" Yuan Ming and Wulu bowed in unison.
"Hand over the Blood Storage Bag for me to see," demanded Elder Hu Huo straightforwardly.
Yuan Ming was about to speak when Wulu stepped forward and presented his Blood Storage Bag.
Elder Hu Huo glanced into the bag, nodded, and tossed a Jade Bottle to Wulu.
"Here's your monthly Detoxification Pill. Take it."
"Thank you, Elder Hu Huo!" Wulu was overjoyed, pulled out the stopper of the Jade Bottle, poured out a pale-red pill, and swallowed it, the tension on his face loosening.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming also handed over his Blood Storage Bag. Elder Hu Huo took a quick look and, without saying much, similarly bestowed upon him a Detoxification Pill.
Yuan Ming swallowed the pill and immediately felt a surge of warmth rising from his lower abdomen, neutralizing much of the chilly poison, returning him to the state he was in a month ago, right after taking the Corrosive Heart Pill; his heart meridian also returned to normal.
This secretly relieved him; it seemed that Elder Hu Huo was trustworthy after all. As long as the Beast Blood was delivered on time each month, he didn't have to worry about the deadly toxin of the Corrosive Heart Pill.
Elder Hu Huo took out a slightly bulging Blood Storage Bag without uttering a word, collected the Essence Blood from Yuan Ming and Wulu's bags, and before the two could say anything more, he took off on the bird once again, seeming somewhat hurried.