Chaos refines truth, the smoke of war will soon rise.

In the days that followed, Nightmare kept a low profile, spending most of his time in Medicine Old Man's stone house or going to the hot spring behind the village to heal his injuries.

He deliberately kept a low profile, restraining his aura, which was completely different from that of the villagers. Under the harmonization of the Primordial Theory, his Chaos Dao Foundation became increasingly restrained and profound; if one did not investigate carefully, he was almost indistinguishable from an ordinary, frail Mortal.

During the day, he followed Medicine Old Man to identify the herbs around the village and learn the medicinal properties of this world.

Medicine Old Man also seemed to have the intention of imparting knowledge, explaining things quite meticulously.

Nightmare's powerful learning ability was fully displayed at this moment. For any herb, he only needed Medicine Old Man to explain it once, and its form, habits, medicinal properties, and the principles of mutual promotion and restraint would be deeply imprinted in his mind. He would then cross-reference this with the knowledge of material energy composition from the Primordial Theory, often being able to draw inferences and propose compounding ideas that even Medicine Old Man had never thought of, leaving the old man not only surprised but also full of admiration.

"Little Friend Nightmare's talent in pharmacology is truly the highest I have ever seen in my life." Medicine Old Man often sighed like this, his gaze towards Nightmare becoming increasingly appreciative, even carrying a hint of expectation as if looking at a successor.

At night, it was time for Nightmare to Cultivate alone.

He locked the door, and within the space, the corpse of the Iron Claw Rock Bear was his best resource.

Using his weak Chaos qi vortex, he separated thread-like chaos qi flows, which acted like the most precise carving knife, peeling and refining the Rock Bear's corpse bit by bit.

The process was slow and arduous. Refining a small piece of shell or a drop of essence blood often took most of the night, consuming most of his already weak strength. However, the results were significant.

The refined earth-elemental yuan power and blood essence were integrated into the Chaos qi vortex, causing the gray vortex to slowly grow at a visible rate, and its rotation became more stable and powerful.

The cracks on his dao foundation accelerated their healing speed after receiving feedback from these pure energies; some small cracks had already disappeared, and the larger cracks had also visibly narrowed.

His Physical Body was continuously nourished, his broken Meridians were reconnected and widened, the cracks on his internal organs gradually healed, and his blood and Qi became increasingly abundant.

In just over ten days, his injuries had recovered by thirty or forty percent, and his Chaos Dao Foundation was initially stabilized. Although he was still far from being able to use powerful techniques, his Physical Body strength was already no less than that of the ordinary hunters in the village, giving him at least basic self-preservation ability.

That night, Nightmare was concentrating on refining a small drop of essence blood from the Rock Bear's heart.

That drop of essence blood contained extremely majestic blood and Qi power and a trace of the Rock Bear's violent will from before it died.

When the chaos qi flow wrapped around it, it felt a trace of resistance, and that violent will was like a trapped beast, charging left and right.

Nightmare's expression turned slightly cold, and the Dao Rhyme of Annihilation flowed on its own, merging into the chaos qi flow.

That trace of violent will was like ice and snow meeting the sun, instantly melting away, and the pure blood and Qi energy was successfully absorbed.

The Chaos qi vortex suddenly accelerated its rotation, expanded in size by a circle, and the aura it emitted became thicker and more solid.

"The intent of annihilation has a miraculous effect on refining such spiritual objects that contain remnants of soul and will." Nightmare realized.

His Chaos Dao Foundation was all-encompassing, and the various powers were not simply superimposed but complemented each other under the framework of the Primordial Theory.

Just as he was preparing to continue, his senses stirred, catching a very faint, yet deliberately concealed, sound of footsteps outside the courtyard, which stopped outside the wall, seemingly spying.

A cold light flashed in Nightmare's eyes, and the Rock Bear's corpse in the space instantly vanished.

His aura was completely restrained, like a stubborn stone, and he moved silently to the window, looking out through the cracks.

Under the moonlight, a lean and agile figure crouched in the shadow of the courtyard wall like a civet cat; it was Stone Tiger, whom he had seen by the hot spring that day.

His eyes were sharp, carrying scrutiny and confusion, as he stared tightly at the stone house where Nightmare was, seemingly puzzled as to why he could not sense any abnormal aura inside the house.

After watching for a moment, Stone Tiger seemed to have gained nothing, frowned somewhat unwillingly, and finally retreated quietly, disappearing into the darkness.

"It seems that someone is still uneasy about me, this 'outsider'." Nightmare was calm and waveless.

Stone Tiger's spying was within his expectations; if it weren't for the profound nature of his Chaos Dao Foundation, which allowed him to perfectly restrain his aura, the weak energy fluctuations from refining the Rock Bear's essence blood just now would likely have been detected.

The next day, the atmosphere in the village became significantly more tense.

When the hunting team returned, they brought back bad news.

They had discovered Wind Wolf droppings and footprints in the closer mountain forests, and in significant numbers.

Some hunters even saw a few swift gray shadows flashing by from afar in the Western Mountain Hollow.

The village chief, an old man with white hair and beard but eyes that were still clear and spirited, rang the bronze bell under the ancient tree in the center of the village to summon the villagers for a meeting.

Medicine Old Man also brought Nightmare to the meeting place.

Almost all the old, young, women, and children of the village gathered in the open space, with expressions of worry on everyone's faces.

The hunters held their weapons and stood at the front, led by Stone Tiger and several other middle-aged hunters with not-so-weak auras.

Nightmare noticed that the eccentric hunter Han Li was not present.

"Fellow villagers," the old village chief's voice was steady, carrying a hint of solemnity, "The frequent appearance of Wind Wolves in the outer perimeter is by no means accidental."

"According to records passed down by our ancestors, every large-scale movement of Vicious Beasts often indicates that something major is happening deep in the mountains, whether it be a natural disaster or... even more powerful existences awakening or fighting."

A wave of uneasy commotion broke out in the crowd.

"To ensure the safety of the village, starting from today, increase the patrol personnel, especially at night! Women, children, and the elderly should not leave the village if there is nothing to do! The hunting team should shrink their range and must not go deep north of the Western Mountain Hollow!" The old village chief issued instructions clearly and logically.

"Village Chief!" Stone Tiger stepped forward and said in a booming voice, "Defense alone is probably not enough! Wind Wolves are vengeful and cunning; once they target us, they will cling to us like shadows! I believe we should organize elite personnel to take the initiative, find their lair, and drive them away or kill them!"

As soon as he said this, many young and vigorous hunters shouted their agreement.

"Nonsense!" The old village chief shouted, "Wind Wolves are gregarious Vicious Beasts, often numbering in the dozens or hundreds; how can they be so easy to deal with? Taking the initiative is too risky! If we lose personnel, the village will be in even greater danger!"

"We can ask Uncle Han to take action!" Stone Tiger said with his neck stiffened, "With Uncle Han there, plus us, we might just succeed!"

When "Uncle Han" was mentioned, the crowd went quiet for a moment, and many old people's faces showed complex expressions, containing both awe and a hint of dread.

The old village chief pondered for a moment and shook his head: "You all know Han Li's temperament; he will not easily take action for the village. Do not mention this matter again. Do as I say: strengthen vigilance and hold firm to wait for changes!"

The meeting ended in an uneasy atmosphere. The villagers dispersed, worried, the patrol teams were immediately organized, and the village fences began to be reinforced.

Medicine Old Man and Nightmare returned to the stone house, the old man's brows locked tight.

"The Wind Wolf plague is probably just the beginning." Medicine Old Man sighed, "Little Friend Nightmare, how is your injury recovering? If things go wrong, this old man will risk his old life to protect you and help you leave via the small path behind the mountain."

Nightmare looked at the busy and tense villagers outside the window; in his mind, the power of that refined Rock Bear essence blood was still slowly dissipating. He felt the Chaos Dao Foundation's craving for power and a faint anticipation for battle.

"Old man, rest assured," Nightmare said calmly, his eyes as deep as an ancient well, "Perhaps this crisis is not entirely a bad thing."

He needed more battles and more resources to accelerate the growth of the Chaos Dao Foundation and to verify the limits of this new path. The threat of the Wind Wolves, to him, might just be a timely rain.

Moreover, he vaguely felt that the movement in these mountains, the ancient fluctuations of the Back Mountain Forbidden Land, the fragment in Medicine Old Man's hand, and Han Li's eccentricity... between all these, there seemed to exist some unknown connection.

The mountain rain was about to come, and he already possessed the preliminary capital to stand firm in this wind and rain. Next, it was a matter of seeing to what extent this wind and rain could temper his dao foundation.