Li Gou's heart skipped a beat, and a layer of fiery red, phantom-like wood armor instantly appeared on his body.
The washbasin-sized fireball collided with the fiery red wood armor, and both dissipated together.
Whew—
The effect was quite good.
Li Gou let out a big sigh of relief.
"Fire Evasion Wood Armor Technique? I didn't expect you not only to come out alive from the Phantom Ghost Bamboo Forest but also to master a spell specifically targeted against me!"
A low voice came from the direction where the fireball had originated.
Li Gou turned to look and saw the red-bearded man, whose body had been possessed by the green-robed elder, approaching with a sinister grin.
This green-haired turtle old man had come looking for trouble himself, even though Li Gou hadn't gone after him.
Li Gou pretended to be panicked, pulled out his Spiritwood Sword, and took off in flight, still wobbling as he escaped.
But this time, Li Gou held a formation disc and two formation flags in his hand.
He placed a low-grade spirit stone into the groove in the center of the formation disc and discreetly set up the formation flags.
"This time, I won't let you escape again!" Qingyun Shangren sneered.
But before he could finish his sentence, Qingyun Shangren suddenly felt a blur before his eyes. When he regained his senses, he realized he was flying in the opposite direction.
A formation?!
Qingyun Shangren was shocked.
As he was about to break the formation, he saw Li Gou returning to the formation's edge, making a series of complex hand seals.
Qingyun Shangren's face turned pale. He recognized these hand seals; they were for the most powerful spell in The Green Wood Technique, the First-Grade Intermediate Spell, Flying Leaf Blade Technique!
But this spell required at least the third layer of Qi Refining to practice and the fourth layer to use freely!
How could this brat...
Just as he thought of this, Qingyun Shangren suddenly noticed that Li Gou's aura had surged to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
"Fourth layer of Qi Refining?!"
Qingyun Shangren's heart started pounding in fear!
'That brat's aura was weak earlier; he must have used the Wood Concealment Technique. I was too careless!'
Qingyun Shangren wanted to cry but had no tears, feeling both anxious and regretful.
Yet, the more anxious he became, the harder it was to break the formation!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Countless whistling sounds filled the air as countless tree leaf shadows, sharp as flying knives, flew toward Qingyun Shangren with tremendous force, enough to make any cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining shiver.
Qingyun Shangren quickly cast a First-Grade Intermediate Spell, Fiery Armor Technique, and pulled out a small shield-like defensive spirit weapon that seemed half jade, half stone, gritting his teeth to withstand the attack.
Puff!
Puff!
Puff!
The small shield was instantly shattered to pieces, losing all its spiritual energy.
Although the fiery armor had a restraining effect on the Flying Leaf Blades, causing many of them to ignite, there were simply too many leaves, and the fiery armor consumed a massive amount of spiritual energy to maintain defense.
The spiritual energy in Qingyun Shangren's body was quickly depleted.
Meanwhile, Li Gou, now at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, was still full of energy, his aura steady and long-lasting.
This was the difference between the fourth and third layers of Qi Refining.
Though there was only a one-layer gap, the amount of spiritual energy in the body was vastly different.
"Please spare me, Grandfather!"
Qingyun Shangren fell to his knees, begging for mercy.
Li Gou remained unmoved. As soon as the fiery armor on Qingyun Shangren dissipated—
Countless leaf blades slashed across Qingyun Shangren's body. He looked at his body, gradually seeping blood from numerous wounds, going limp with disbelief that he would be defeated by a boy who had just begun his cultivation journey!
Qingyun Shangren's consciousness faded.
Li Gou walked up, collected the formation flags, and grabbed the storage pouch from the red-bearded man.
Without inspecting the contents, Li Gou took advantage of the man's faint breath, dragged him back into the bamboo forest, and left a trail of blood.
Qingyun Shangren slowly woke up as he experienced a brief burst of consciousness. To his horror, he saw a black-clad middle-aged woman staring at him with a bloodthirsty and greedy smile.
"Ah—"
In the left side of the bamboo house, Li Gou listened to the screams and chewing sounds from the neighboring room without any reaction.
At that moment, Li Gou was busy examining the new storage pouch he had obtained.
Inside the storage pouch, there were dozens of taels of gold, a bunch of porcelain bottles, some dried food and animal feed, a dozen low-grade spirit stones, two beast cages, two jade slips, and a fiery red metal wheel.
Li Gou opened each porcelain bottle, and most were empty. Only a few contained pills, none of which Li Gou could use. They either conflicted with his current cultivation technique or were simply not meant for human consumption.
Then, Li Gou turned his attention to the two jade slips.
Upon inspection, they turned out to be two cultivation manuals.
One was called Flame Manipulation Technique, a First-Grade Inferior Fire Attribute Technique. Since Li Gou was already practicing The Green Wood Technique, this manual was redundant.
The other was called Beast and Bird Control Technique, a manual specializing in how to control birds and beasts for combat.
For beginners, it allowed the control of ordinary birds and beasts.
With deeper practice, one could tame demonic birds and beasts into spiritual birds and beasts.
The manual included not only the methods of control but also classifications and information about various common birds and beasts.
Generally speaking, birds and beasts were divided into two types: combat type and support type.
The two cages in the storage pouch contained two support-type spiritual beasts.
One was a Tracking Mouse, a First-Grade Initial Spiritual Beast that looked no different from a regular field mouse but could be used for tracking and locating targets.
The other was a Hunting Cat, a First-Grade Initial Spiritual Beast that resembled an ordinary gray domestic cat but could hunt down demonic birds and beasts weaker than itself.
Using the techniques from the Beast and Bird Control Technique, Li Gou disciplined and rewarded the two spiritual beasts.
The punishments were straightforward, while the rewards included feed and a First-Grade Basic Pill called the Beast Nurturing Pill.
The feed satisfied the spiritual beasts' appetite, while the Beast Nurturing Pill could accelerate their cultivation.
There were four Beast Nurturing Pills in total in the storage pouch.
Judging by how the two spiritual beasts' eyes lit up when Li Gou took out the Beast Nurturing Pills, it seemed that their previous owner had been reluctant to give them these pills.
However, with the Treasure Gathering Bottle, Li Gou was not worried about running out of these pills.
After successfully commanding the two spiritual beasts, Li Gou rewarded each of them with a Beast Nurturing Pill. The two little creatures immediately closed their eyes contentedly, seemingly immersed in cultivation.
"Not bad, not bad. That red-beard guy actually had a technique for raising spiritual beasts. Looks like I won't lack for food in the future,"
Mo You's eerie voice came from behind Li Gou.
Li Gou turned around to see Mo You, covered in blood, smiling from ear to ear at the door.
"Auntie Mo, I've already provided you with a prey. It's time to alleviate the corpse poison for me," Li Gou said calmly.
"Of course, now I can't bear to let you die. That red-bearded man had the cultivation of the third layer of Qi Refining, so I'll reduce the corpse poison in your body by thirty percent. Come over here." Mo You motioned for Li Gou to come closer.
Li Gou walked to the door, and Mo You grabbed his wrist.
Immediately, Li Gou felt the corpse poison in his body rapidly decreasing, as if being absorbed by Mo You.
After reducing the poison by about thirty percent, Mo You seemed to notice something and spoke with a hint of surprise.
"Huh? You've already reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining? You're progressing quite fast."
Li Gou's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that even with the Wood Concealment Technique, physical contact could reveal his true cultivation level.
"Yes, Bai Su gave me some pills for cultivation, so my skills have improved a lot," Li Gou replied vaguely.
"Hehe… That bitch Bai Su probably doesn't even know you're working for me already. It's good that she's providing you with pills; this way, you can capture higher-level prey," Mo You said with a smug smile.
Li Gou pretended to smile awkwardly and then asked, "Auntie Mo, I've reached a bottleneck in my cultivation. Do you know where I can buy new techniques?"
Upon hearing this, Mo You's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a hint of displeasure.