Several hours later, Zhang Ling, having restored his spiritual power, left his original location and continued towards the center of Burning Flame Valley. After some deliberation, reason prevailed. Although Burning Flame Valley was dangerous, it also presented opportunities for Qi Refining stage cultivators like him. Thus, he mustered his spirits and set out once more. He couldn't hide forever. Without finding the main ingredient for the Foundation Establishment Pill, even if he joined one of the Nine Great Sects after leaving, it would be difficult to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Two days later, Zhang Ling arrived at a valley and saw a corpse not far ahead. It was a male corpse, lying motionless on a black stone. His divine sense detected no signs of life; he appeared to be dead. Zhang Ling carefully scanned the male corpse with his divine sense. The man was wearing a black tight-fitting suit and had a sturdy build, but there were no symbols of identity, suggesting he was likely a rogue cultivator. The corpse's face was greenish-black, and one arm was missing, with a large patch of dark black blood underneath. It seemed he had died from poisoning. Beside the corpse was half of a demonic beast's body. It was a giant centipede demon beast, which was also already dead. It appeared the male cultivator had killed the demon beast but was poisoned in the process, dying before he could be treated. Zhang Ling looked around, but there were no signs of anyone else or other demon beasts. He came to a conclusion, mentally piecing together the man's encounter.
Suddenly, Zhang Ling reached out, and a strand of spiritual power shot out, wrapping around the storage bag on the male corpse. The male corpse's storage bag shook and flew up, instantly ending up in his hand. Opening the storage bag, Zhang Ling's expression immediately changed. His hair stood on end, and his heart began to race. He quickly activated his spiritual power, slapping a pre-prepared spirit talisman onto his body, forming a layer of yellow light as a shield. The next moment, a sound of something cutting through the air came from behind him. Something struck the defensive shield, sending him staggering back several steps, nearly falling to the ground. The storage bag had been empty, clearly a trap. If he had been a fraction of a second slower activating the talisman, he would be dead now. While Zhang Ling was still unsteady, a suction force came from the ground, pulling him down. Without time to think, the vines on Zhang Ling's left arm shot out, wrapping around a nearby boulder. Using the pulling force, he escaped the restraint at his feet. Steadying himself, Zhang Ling opened his right hand, and with a series of crackling sounds, several small yellow stones condensed from spiritual power appeared in his hand. "Who is it? Show yourself!" he said grimly. He fully released his divine sense and immediately detected spiritual power fluctuations behind several boulders a dozen yards away. Although he couldn't see anyone there, the presence of spiritual power fluctuations indicated that a cultivator was hidden there. Zhang Ling flicked his fingers, and the yellow stones he was holding shot out in a straight line. With several muffled sounds, the spiritual power stones punched five deep holes into the boulders, turning a small portion of the rock directly into powder. Although the yellow stones he condensed were small, they carried a force of several hundred pounds. This was a modified version of the Falling Rock spell, using hidden weapon techniques, a little trick he had developed through experimentation. After the attack, a figure appeared out of nowhere behind the boulders, darting away. Zhang Ling naturally wouldn't let the person leave so easily. He summoned the Wind Sand Gourd, and a large cloud of Darkstar Sand flew out, transforming into a black whirlwind, blocking the figure. The white light on the figure dissipated, revealing a short, middle-aged man.
This person was wearing a yellow tight-fitting suit and was very short, only about the height of a seven or eight-year-old child, a dwarf. "Kid, consider yourself lucky. Hand over the storage bag, and maybe I'll spare your life," the dwarf said, holding a round shield in his hand, blocking the impact of the Darkstar Sand. He continued to curse and yell. "You ambushed me first, yet you speak so shamelessly..." Zhang Ling said coldly. The Darkstar Sand hovering in the air swirled faster and attacked the dwarf again. The dwarf sneered and patted the leather pouch at his waist. A red-haired giant wolf appeared beside him. As soon as the red wolf appeared, it spat out a fireball the size of a head. The dwarf waved his hand, and a red whip flashed out, striking towards Zhang Ling. A spirit beast! Zhang Ling didn't dare to be careless. He reached for his waist, and a bright black sword appeared, slashing out several sword beams. With several loud tearing sounds, the sword beams were extinguished in mid-air by the dwarf's long whip. Zhang Ling could also see the dwarf's strength. This person's cultivation was at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, and the giant wolf spirit beast also had the strength of the early first rank. Could he be a cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect? "Haha, kid, with that little skill, go die!" The dwarf laughed wildly. The spirit beast fire wolf beside him burst into flames, and with a wide mouth, a line of fire formed from flames attacked. Zhang Ling's mind stirred, and the Darkstar Sand swirled, colliding with the fire line. Black sand and firelight intertwined, evenly matched for a moment. The dwarf's long whip magic weapon moved, instantly lashing out several fiery whip marks, attacking rapidly. The whip marks descended like a large net. Zhang Ling's expression didn't change. He stomped his foot on the ground, and the earth and stones shifted, creating a one-person-high earth wall in front of him, blocking the fire whip's attack. But at this moment, a red light flashed from behind the earth wall, and a fire arrow shot towards him. Zhang Ling's expression changed slightly. Not having time to consider anything else, he quickly retreated to the side. As he moved, the dwarf's fire whip had somehow reached his feet. Countless whip shadows appeared around him, blocking his retreat. Zhang Ling flicked his left arm, and a vine grew out, scattering the long whip's attack, while also wrapping around the long whip. Then, a yellow light flashed on his body, and he cast a Greater Strength Technique on himself. He lightly shouted, the vine tightened, and he pulled the long whip out of the dwarf's hand. At the same time, his mind stirred, and he commanded the black long sword to stab straight at the dwarf. The dwarf staggered, nearly falling. He didn't expect his magic weapon to be taken by the enemy. He quickly activated the round shield in front of him to block the black sword's attack. Then, he patted his storage bag, took out a golden small knife, and collided it with the black sword, resulting in a series of metallic sounds. Woof! A miserable roar sounded, but it was the fire wolf beside the dwarf that had changed. Originally, the fire wolf was spitting flames and stalemating with the Darkstar Sand, when suddenly a long black shadow quickly attacked, pulling it to the ground. The black shadow was two thick iron thorns. The sneak attack was successful, and Zhang Ling drove the Darkstar Sand to surround the fire wolf. The fire wolf's screams came from inside. After a moment, the fire wolf lay on the ground covered in blood, lifeless. Having killed the fire wolf, the dwarf's face showed a terrified expression, seemingly unable to believe this scene.