Yuan Ming followed Hagon, traversing forests and leaping across streams. After more than half of two hours, they finally arrived at a secluded valley.
Just as they reached the mouth of the valley, Yuan Ming wrinkled his nose and stopped.
"What's this strange smell?" he asked, covering his nose.
He smelled something akin to sulfur, but in actuality, it was much more complex.
"The scent of Beast Repelling Powder. It can drive away some poison insects and Fierce Beasts, preventing them from getting close to this place," Hagon explained, pointing to the red and white intermixed powder on the ground not far ahead.
"Can you also trade for this stuff inside?" Yuan Ming asked, his eyebrow raised.
"You can, but there's not much use for it. Sure, it can fend off some poison insects and Fierce Beasts, but it also easily gives away your hiding spot. Sometimes, people are more dangerous than Fierce Beasts," Hagon said.
The entrance of the valley was quite narrow, like a natural choke point, but once inside, it opened up generously, becoming quite spacious, much like moving from a toad's mouth to its belly.
The moment the two of them entered the valley, they hadn't taken many steps when several crudely styled stone houses constructed of stones appeared ahead.
The stone houses didn't have doors, just open doorways, through which one could vaguely see figures inside.
Around these few stone houses were also some people dressed in Beast Skins, not many in number, each with an expressionless face, showing no emotion.
Just as Yuan Ming was about to approach for a closer look, he was stopped by Hagon.
"Be careful what you say later. Don't provoke those Registered Disciples. Most of them have rather bad tempers," Hagon said as a precaution.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming silently nodded.
He walked up to the first stone house, took a glance inside, and saw that the interior was furnished quite simply, with just a wooden table and a reclining chair.
A young man in a green Cloth Robe was leisurely lounging in the chair, idly swaying, holding a blue paper scroll in his hand that covered half of his face, looking utterly content.
In front of him on the table stood a wooden sign, with a white paper attached, on which was written, "Buying aged Spirit Grass, various types of ore."
It was just a simple sentence, with the specifics of what was being bought and the exact age not specified.
In the stone house next to his, there was a similar table, with a wooden sign upon which was also a white paper, on which was written, "Buying Spirit Grass, ores, Beast Bones, Blood Food."
However, this house was empty, with no one inside.
The other two stone houses had a similar setup, each with a display, but all seemed rather rudimentary.
In the last stone house, Yuan Ming happened to see two Fur Beast Slaves trading with a Registered Disciple inside.
The Disciple appeared impatient, picking through the two dark red ores and a plant that resembled ginseng but was wax-yellow in color brought by the Fur Beast Slaves.
In the end, he sent the Fur Beast Slave away with a small white porcelain bottle.
After thanking profusely, the Fur Beast Slave left with the bottle, a look of joy coloring his face.
"Two pieces of Fire Pattern Iron Ore and one Red Yellow Spirit, all for a bottle of Blood Replenishing Pills, these guys are really getting greedier," Hagon, who was alongside Yuan Ming, muttered to himself, unable to hold back.
He spoke so softly that virtually no one aside from himself could hear.
But Yuan Ming heard it clearly.
However, he didn't inquire further on the spot; instead, he waited until he and Hagon had walked away before speaking up:
"So, did that Fur Beast Slave get a bad deal just now?"
"It's common to get a bad deal, but this time that guy pushed the price down too ruthlessly. Just those two blocks of Fire Pattern Iron Ore would be enough to trade for a bottle of Blood Replenishing Pills, not to mention that Red Yellow Spirit, that thickness would mean it's at least fifty years old, it's practically like giving it away," Hagon responded first in surprise and then indignantly.
Yuan Ming was not yet clear about the ins and outs of all this, so he asked Hagon for more details, learning about the names and features of some Spiritual Medicine and ores that those Registered Disciples often collected.
"I am quite surprised that Biluo Cave would allow this trading place to exist," Yuan Ming remarked with amazement.
"The longer you stay, the more you'll realize that Biluo Cave's management of these Registered Disciples is very lax. They usually just have to complete the Sect's missions, and the Sect doesn't care about anything else," said Hagon, tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Yuan Ming felt that these matters were still too far removed from what he was currently doing, so he didn't take too much interest.
After strolling around the valley, Yuan Ming bid farewell to Hagon and left on his own.
Hagon simply said goodbye, and the two parted ways, neither mentioning the possibility of meeting again in the future.
...
Time flew by, and more than three months passed.
It was Noon, yet the sky was overcast, with dense clouds hanging low, pressing down on the ancient trees of the forest, creating a somewhat oppressive atmosphere.
In the thick mountain forest, a robust White Ape was stretching its long arms between the towering ancient trees, swinging and propelling itself forward with each swing covering a distance of thirty feet, moving with remarkable swiftness.
This was, of course, not an ordinary forest ape but Yuan Ming transformed by the Fur Cloak Technique.
At the moment, his body was soaked with sweat, with several ghastly wounds on his skin, yet his eyes remained bright, vigilantly scanning his surroundings while occasionally glancing back.
Not more than ninety feet behind him, the ground shook violently, trees snapped and plumes of dust rose into the air.
A black-furred wild boar with a body length of ten feet and a height of six feet was roaring, exhaling hot breath as it furiously pursued Yuan Ming.
By its mouth, there was a pair of white tusks as sharp as halberds, gleaming with a chilling white light, so sharp that it could pierce through any tree in its path.
At the same time, an invisible light shield, triangular in shape, would flash between the two tusks, enveloping the boar's head and effortlessly splitting any tree pierced by the tusks into fragments.
The wild boar, one of its eyes wounded by Yuan Ming, was a bloody mess, while the other eye burned with a deep crimson hue of hatred and murderous intent, hellbent on killing Yuan Ming.
Although its speed was not slow, and its strength tremendous, the countless ancient trees blocking its path meant it continually faced obstructions, making it nearly impossible to catch up to Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming seemed to be banking on this fact, not hastening to escape but deliberately suppressing his speed to maintain a distance that allowed the boar to keep him in sight.
Should he notice the boar slackening, he would even stop to provoke it, luring the Fierce Beast to keep chasing after him.
Yuan Ming was not idly toying with the creature for no reason, but instead aimed to use this method to wear down the boar's ferocity and stamina until it was weakened enough for him to deliver a fatal blow.
Thus, the ape and the boar continued their chase throughout the forest for more than an hour.
Yuan Ming listened closely with his ears, noticing that the boar's breath from its snout was growing heavier and the thunderous sound of its galloping steps was becoming more chaotic, a sign that its speed smashing into the ancient trees was waning—he knew the moment had come.
He hung onto an ancient tree with one arm, gasping for breath as if he could run no more.
Upon seeing this, the already exhausted wild boar became spirited again, bellowed with a loud roar, and charged at Yuan Ming with all its might.
This time, Yuan Ming deliberately slowed down and only when the boar closed in to a distance of about twelve feet did he swing his arms again, abruptly changing direction, leaping towards another pair of ancient trees.
As the boar followed, its body shifted dramatically to make a sharp turn, barreling toward Yuan Ming's direction.
It saw the two adjoining trees and leapt to pass between them.
The gap between the two trees seemed just right for the boar, neither too much nor too little, barely wide enough for its body to pass through.
However, in reality, these two trees were precisely the ones Yuan Ming had earlier selected for it.
As the boar leapt, Yuan Ming twisted his body and came to a halt.
He picked up a White Bone Short Spear that had been placed there in advance, his body's Nine Elements Technique surging wildly, Dan Tian Power turning into a warm current coursing up from within, traveling along his meridians to his right arm.
His right arm's veins bulged, hair bristled, and muscles swelled, visibly expanding to twice its size, becoming larger than before.
This was the second Divine Skill derived from practicing the Fur Cloak Technique with the White Ape Skin after entering the Qi Refining Second Level, which he named "Energy Storage Arm."
Once this skill was activated, his right arm would transform, and the power it could unleash would instantly increase threefold.
However, this burst of strength was transient and could not be sustained for long.
Taking advantage of this feature, Yuan Ming developed a technique for stored power throwing and long-range attacks.
His palm gripped the short spear tightly, his arm tensed instantly as he continued to gather and store strength, which, along with his arm's swing and a simultaneous bellow from his mouth,
"Go."
As the sound rang out, the White Bone Short Spear he held was also thrown, emitting a sound of tearing through the air.
The Fierce Beast boar had just reached the center between the two old trees when it was squeezed by them on both sides, unable to dodge and only able to rely on the protective Light Shield on its head to face Yuan Ming's charged strike head-on.
It was like a spear-and-shield duel, ending the battle in the very instant they made contact.
The White Bone Short Spear pierced through the invisible shield with a "thwack," burying itself deep into the boar's head, then continued through its entire body and shot out from its rear end.
The boar's airborne body slumped down lifelessly, landing perfectly wedged between the two old trees.
Yuan Ming's face showed delight, both from successfully killing the Fierce Beast and from satisfaction with the strength of his Energy Storage Arm.
He quickly approached, took out the Blood Storage Bag from his waist, and began skillfully collecting the Blood Food from the boar.
After collecting everything, Yuan Ming went to retrieve the White Bone Short Spear and then used the spear's tip to split open the boar's mouth on both sides, exposing the roots of both long tusks.
These tusks were also his target, for they contained a trace of Spiritual Power, one of the spiritual materials sought by the Biluo Cave Disciples.