66: Chapter 66 Golden-Eyed Leopard

Deep within the stone forest lay a natural, sunken clearing.

The depression was shaped like a bowl, surrounded by seven or eight thick stone pillars whose bases merged to form a natural barrier.

At the end of the clearing was a dark, cavernous entrance.

The rocks at the edge of the entrance were worn smooth and shiny from repeated friction, and the surface was covered in dense claw marks—each one the length of a forearm, in groups of four, carved two inches deep into the stone with edges as smooth as if cut by a blade.

A Golden-Eyed Leopard lay on the gravel ground in front of the cave.

The leopard was nearly three zhang long, its lines from nose to tail as fluid as a fully drawn bow.

Its entire body was covered in dark golden fur, which shimmered with a faint golden halo in the morning mist.

The fur was covered in irregular black ring patterns, each of which glowed faintly—not reflecting light, but emanating from deep within the fur, like glowing red charcoal covered by a thin layer of ash.

Its eyes were closed, but two faint balls of golden light could be seen beneath its eyelids, brightening and dimming with each breath.

It rested its head on its front paws, which were thicker than a human thigh; the tips of its claws, grayish-white, protruded slightly from the pads, carving shallow grooves into the gravel.

With every exhale, two extremely fine streams of white air puffed from its nostrils, causing the gravel in front of it to roll slightly.

A female leopard lay on the other side of the cave entrance. She was slightly smaller than the male, but she also possessed the same dark golden fur with ring patterns.

Her eyes were open—they were pure gold with vertical pupils, and deep within the irises, it looked as if molten gold was slowly flowing.

She was lowering her head to lick the cub in her arms, the fine barbs on her tongue scraping against the cub's fur and producing a faint rustling sound.

The cub had not yet opened its eyes. Its fur was still light gray, clinging limply to its body, with a few faint black ring patterns hidden beneath the downy hair.

Its tiny, fleshy paws swiped unconsciously in the air, and its nails, still a tender pink, were embedded in the pads and could not be retracted.

The cub's ears twitched from time to time, as if it had heard something in its dream.

Jiang Yan's gaze lingered on the two adult Golden-Eyed Leopards for a moment.

Golden-Eyed Leopards; he had seen them many times in the Southern Wilderness in his past life.

This type of Yao Beast was known for its speed and metal-element Spells among the Late Stage of Qi Refining, especially its golden eyes—which could instantly release a binding golden light; any prey struck by this golden light would have their movements delayed for a split second.

And for a Golden-Eyed Leopard of the same rank, that split second was enough to slaughter any opponent.

His fingers unconsciously rubbed the mouth of his Storage Pouch under his cloak.

Six heavenly thunder beads. One Golden Gang Cutting Talisman. The Li Fire Killing Array. The Yan Jin Sword Array. The purple-veined thunder sword. The god-slaying flying knife. One top-grade Flying Sword.

If he exhausted his trump cards, the probability of killing these two Golden-Eyed Leopards was over eighty percent.

The essence blood of two Late Stage of Qi Refining Yao Beasts was enough to push his cultivation to Qi Refining Level 6, or even higher.

His fingertips touched a heavenly thunder bead. The round bead vibrated slightly deep within the Storage Pouch, and the thunder particles compressed inside pulsed at an extremely slow frequency; through the pouch wall, he could feel a faint hint of numbness.

The heavenly thunder beads were consumables. Every one he used was one less he had.

The Golden Gang Cutting Talisman was also a one-time-use item. He had spent months scouring the Jin Kingdom—Marquis Zhennan's Mansion, the Generals Mansion, Prince Yongs Mansion—to scrape together these assets.

If he consumed most of them here, what would he use to save his life if he encountered more troublesome Yao Beasts deeper in the Manghuang Mountains?

The cultivation of Qi Refining Level 6 was tempting. But one only had one life.

The male leopard's ear twitched.

That ear turned half a circle in the morning mist, and the black ring pattern on the ear flap deformed slightly as the muscles moved.

It did not open its eyes, but the white airflow puffing from its nostrils paused for an instant.

Jiang Yan's fingers moved away from the mouth of the Storage Pouch. He did not retreat.

He halted all movement, restrained his aura, and suppressed even his breathing to the lowest frequency.

His heartbeat slowed, his blood flow decelerated, and the Spiritual Qi in his Meridians nearly came to a standstill.

He squatted on top of the stone pillar like a rock.

A few breaths later, the male leopard's ear turned back.

The white airflow puffed out from its nostrils again, blowing the gravel in front of it to roll slightly.

He retreated silently. Moving his knees and palms in alternation, he inched backward.

When he reached the edge of the stone pillar, he flipped over, his ten fingers gripping the weathered pits on the surface of the pillar as he climbed down.

When he landed, the soles of his boots stepped on a layer of gravel, which crunched slightly under his feet, emitting a very faint creaking sound.

This sound was almost inaudible amidst the wind of the stone forest, but he still paused for a moment and looked up at the top of the stone pillar.

There was no movement. The rustling sound of the female leopard licking her cub continued. The male leopard's breathing remained slow and deep.

He turned and walked out through the gaps between the stone pillars.

The route to bypass the stone forest took him nearly an hour longer.

The edge of the stone forest was a steep gravel slope, and at the bottom of the slope was a dried-up riverbed, with dense dwarf shrubs growing on both sides, their branches draped in a layer of gray spiderwebs.

When he circled to the west side of the stone forest and re-entered the dense forest, he looked back at the stone forest, where the gray-white mist was still slowly churning.

From deep within the mist, a leopard's roar suddenly rang out—not a snarl, but a low purr, like a big cat calling to its companion.

Immediately after, another one followed, this time closer, with a trailing sound like metal rubbing against metal.

He glanced back once, then turned and dove into the dense forest.

In the following days, the Spirit Medicine in the mountain forest gradually became more abundant.

The deeper he went into the Manghuang Mountains, the higher the concentration of Spiritual Qi became, and the density of the Spirit Medicine distribution increased as well.

On the evening of the tenth day, he harvested a cluster of three-hundred-year-old ink jade moss on a wet rock beside a waterfall.

The moss was dark green, with a very thin layer of transparent mucus on the surface; when brought close to his nose, he could smell a cold, mineral-like scent.

He shoveled the moss out by the roots and placed it into a jade box.

The ink jade moss was an excellent auxiliary medicine for refining the antidote pill and had miraculous effects against snake venom and rot poison.

At noon on the eleventh day, he dug up a two-hundred-year-old red blood ganoderma at the roots of a dead ancient pine tree.

The cap of the ganoderma was deep red, with edges curling slightly inward, and the ring patterns on the surface radiated from the center outward, each circle carrying a faint blood-red luster.

The stalk was as thick as a child's arm, and milky white sap oozed from the broken end; the medicinal fragrance was so rich that it could be smelled from several steps away.

He brought it closer to smell it—it was pungent yet sweet, and its medicinal potency was stronger than the red blood ganoderma in General Jiang Ce's secret vault, but it was still a Low Grade.

On the morning of the twelfth day, he found a few stalks of hundred-year-old dark blue grass at the bottom of a mountain stream.

The grass blades were deep blue, narrow and long, with a ring of extremely fine fluorescent blue down along the edges.

He touched the blade with his finger, and a very faint numbness traveled to his fingertip—not an electric shock, but the natural reaction of a certain cold-attribute Spirit Medicine.

The dark blue grass could be ground into medicine, or it could be combined with cold iron to refine ice-attribute Magical Artifacts.

He packed away these Spirit Medicine stalks one by one. He didn't have enough jade boxes, so some of the Spirit Medicine had to be wrapped in silk cloth and stored separately, taking up space in his Storage Pouch.