71: Chapter 71 Purple Cloud Fungus

Jiang Yan slowed his pace. He maintained his Divine Sense within a few zhang around him.

After walking for about two li, he saw a trail of hoofprints on a patch of exposed mud.

The hoofprints were as large as a washbasin, with jagged edges. The water accumulated at the bottom of the pits had not yet dried, and a very thin film of oil floated on the surface.

The depth and spacing of the hoofprints indicated that the creature weighed at least several thousand catties, and it wasn't moving fast when it passed by—it was strolling, not fleeing.

His gaze paused at the edge of the hoofprints.

Around the periphery of the hoofprints was a circle of crushed, tiny bone spurs. A few short, grayish-white hairs remained on the bone spurs, with traces of dried blood at the roots.

Before this creature stepped here, it had trampled a small Yao Beast to death, crushing it directly into the mud.

He bypassed the hoofprints and continued walking southeast.

On the morning of the twenty-fifth day, he stopped under an old tree.

This tree had been dead for who knows how many years; its trunk was mostly hollowed out by wood-boring insects, and the exposed wood had already rotted and turned black.

But in the pile of rotting wood at the base of the tree grew a cluster of purple cloud ganoderma, dark purple all over.

The caps were larger than a sea bowl, covered with spiderweb-like silver veins, and at the intersection of each vein, a tiny drop of milky white sap had condensed.

Bringing it close to his nose, a rich, pungent medicinal fragrance rushed straight to his crown, and a hint of sweetness immediately welled up at the base of his tongue.

He squatted down, not rushing to reach out.

He first scanned the rotting wood around the Spirit Medicine with his Divine Sense, confirming that no venomous insects or Yao Beasts were hiding there—some insect-type Yao Beasts specialized in parasitizing the roots of Spirit Medicine, their colors identical to the rotting wood, making it difficult for even Divine Sense to distinguish them when they remained motionless.

After confirming it was safe, he drew his Flying Sword and carefully excised the purple cloud ganoderma in its entirety from the roots.

It was a purple cloud ganoderma at least four hundred years old.

Its medicinal properties were Yin-aligned, and its grade was between Medium Grade and High Grade of the first tier; it was a main ingredient used for Alchemy to create the peiyuan pill.

The ink jade moss and red blood ganoderma he had previously gathered on the outskirts of the valley were only two or three hundred years old; the medicinal potency of this purple cloud ganoderma was significantly higher than theirs.

He placed the purple cloud ganoderma into a jade box, sealed it separately, and put it into his Storage Pouch. He stood up and continued on his way.

Over the next two days, facing the increasing number of Yao Beasts, he formed a new set of countermeasures.

For solitary Middle Stage first-tier Yao Beasts, kill.

Use the flame gold flying sword for frontal suppression—the dark golden sword light flashed through the forest, and the crimson center line on the sword spine stretched into a long, thin trail of flame.

Use the purple-veined thunder sword for flank paralysis—the bamboo sword silently circled to the side of the Yao Beast, its tip piercing into a hind leg or shoulder blade, and arcs of lightning crackled and exploded, causing the Yao Beast to go numb all over and collapse to the ground.

Then, the flame gold flying sword would pierce through the throat or eye socket, killing it with one strike, clean and efficient.

Over the past few days, he had insta-killed five Middle Stage first-tier Yao Beasts in this manner.

The first was an Iron-Tailed Lizard, lying on a rock basking in the sun, its iron-gray scales on its tail glinting with a metallic luster in the sunlight.

He circled behind it to strike; the flame gold flying sword severed its tail, and the purple-veined thunder sword pierced from the back of its neck into its brain, killing it instantly.

As the essence blood surged into his Dantian, the dark golden vortex trembled slightly, and the extent of its expansion was visible to the naked eye.

The second and third were two Stone-Tusked Boars, rooting for grass roots in a mud puddle.

They were a size larger than the Iron-Tailed Lizard, especially the two stone tusks by their mouths, which were nearly a foot long.

He killed the stray one first—the flame gold flying sword descended from the sky, slashing into its spine; the boar screamed and collapsed, and as the other one turned back and charged, it was pierced in the eye socket by the purple-veined thunder sword, the arcs of lightning burning through its brain.

The essence blood of the two boars surged into his Dantian one after another; by the time he finished absorbing the second one, a very faint purple halo began to appear at the edge of the vortex.

The fourth was a monkey-type Yao Beast, jumping around in the tree canopy, clutching a half-eaten fruit in its hand.

He controlled his sword to pierce through its chest from below; the movement was so fast that the monkey died without even letting go of the fruit in its hand.

The monkey-type Yao Beast was much smaller than the others, and the amount of essence blood was also less; after entering his body, it only made the vortex expand slightly.

The fifth was a single-horned deer; it was dusk, and it was drinking water by the stream.

Its antlers were pale silver, glowing with an eerie light in the twilight.

He struck through its throat from behind, the sword tip piercing in through the windpipe and out through the back of the neck; the deer collapsed without even making a sound.

After absorbing its essence blood, the vortex in his Dantian suddenly trembled—although this deer was not larger than the others, the quality of its essence blood was exceptionally thick, pushing the vortex directly past a subtle critical point.

The color of the vortex changed from dark gold tinged with purple to a deeper shade, and every strand of spiritual power became as solid as substance when circulating. Qi Refining Stage 5 Perfection.

He withdrew his palm and looked down at his fingertips. The residual warmth of the Yao Beast's essence blood still lingered on his fingers, and his skin glowed with a very faint crimson in the twilight.

He clenched his fist, and his knuckles emitted a series of crisp cracking sounds.

He was only one last step away from Qi Refining Level 6. But the amount of essence blood needed for this last step could not be filled by just any few Middle Stage first-tier Yao Beasts—it required either the essence blood of a Late Stage first-tier Yao Beast, or higher-grade Spirit Medicine or Medicinal Pill.

He had the purple cloud ganoderma in his pouch, but that item needed to be refined into a Medicinal Pill to exert its maximum medicinal effect. In these Manghuang Mountains, he couldn't say for sure what the firelight and medicinal fragrance might attract if he were to start an Alchemy furnace.

As for solitary Late Stage first-tier Yao Beasts, he had also encountered a few over the past two days.

A Red Flame Python was coiled on the branch of a dead tree, over two zhang long, its scales a dark red.

A Three-Eyed Falcon was squatting in a crevice of the rock wall, its three eyes open simultaneously, a yellowish-gold color.

There was also a Golden-Maned Lion napping in a patch of low shrubs.

He avoided them all.

It wasn't that he couldn't beat them. With his current equipment and cultivation, his chances of winning in a one-on-one fight against a Late Stage first-tier Yao Beast were over ninety percent.

But a Late Stage first-tier Yao Beast could not be killed in one move—their skin was too thick, their reactions too fast, and their vitality too strong.

Once trapped in a protracted fight, the commotion caused would be enough to alert all the Yao Beasts within a few li.

If he could kill instantly, he wouldn't engage in a protracted fight. If he couldn't kill instantly, he would go around. This was his survival experience.

Noon on the twenty-sixth day.

The sun hung directly overhead, and sunlight leaked vertically through the gaps in the tree canopy, casting round spots of light onto the forest floor.

The air was stiflingly hot, sweat trickled down his spine, and a large patch of his back was soaked.

Jiang Yan had just climbed onto the branch of an ancient pine tree, wanting to identify his direction from a high vantage point.

The pine trunk was thick enough for a person to lie on, and the scent of pine resin still lingered beneath the bark.

He broke off a small piece of pine resin and held it to his nose to smell.

As the pine resin was still sticking to his fingertips, a loud boom smashed over from the northwest.

The sound was not ordinary thunder—thunder rolls from above to below, but this sound rushed from the ground toward the sky.

It was so deep that it sounded like something underground had punched through the earth's crust and collided with the air.

The trunk of the ancient pine trembled violently, and the pine needles accumulated on the canopy were suddenly struck down from above as if by an invisible giant hand, falling in a rustling layer.

His eardrums were buzzing, and before the ringing in his ears had faded, several large, unknown birds perched in the canopy shrieked and flew up simultaneously.

Their wings flapped frantically, and a few feathers drifted down from mid-air, spinning as they fell to the ground.

They were not flying in one direction—they were scattering in all directions; one flew directly into a branch and fell, flapping twice in the pile of rotting leaves before taking off again.