After running for about half an hour, Liu Boli took out his turtle shell tent and quickly set it up in a rock crevice. He returned to the Golden Toad, his expression unhurried. Qian Duoduo didn't question him, looking out through a small gap in the tent.
A wisp of light smoke spread through the valley, seemingly slow but actually not. The light smoke surged forward for a while, slowly condensing into shape, transforming into a small dog-like Spirit Beast, its long tongue dragging on the ground.
“This is a Demonic Soul Hound,” Liu Boli transmitted softly from inside the Golden Toad. “It’s formed from the soul of a Spirit Beast. Although its Spiritual Awareness hasn't awakened, its cultivation has reached the Nascent Soul Initial Stage.”
After the Golden Core is the Nascent Soul. This Demonic Soul Hound is now even more powerful than Liu Boli! No wonder the Zhu Family didn't dare to enter the mountains.
The Demonic Soul Hound sniffed around with its tongue, searching for something.
“Where was it hiding just now?” Qian Duoduo asked Liu Boli.
“Underneath the agate mine. We disturbed it when we moved those spiritual ephedra.”
Qian Duoduo’s back immediately tensed, and a chill rushed from his tailbone straight to the back of his neck. He tightly gripped the jade pendant given to him by Zhangzuo Dajiu.
“The spiritual ephedra is this Demonic Soul Hound’s spiritual plant, so it’s looking for me.”
“Don’t be afraid. With its current Spiritual Awareness, it won’t be able to discern this tent’s Formation,” Liu Boli comforted.
The Demonic Soul Hound sniffed in the valley for a long time, its tongue touching the tent several times, but it didn't discover Qian Duoduo. It transformed back into a wisp of smoke, shrinking back seemingly slowly but actually quickly.
After a while, just as Qian Duoduo was about to move, Liu Boli stopped him, “Don’t move.”
Only then did Qian Duoduo notice that there was still a faint, almost invisible wisp of smoke on the valley floor. The faint smoke wriggled, like an earthworm crawling. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the faint smoke completely disappeared.
After waiting for a while, the insects and birds in the valley began to chirp again. Qian Duoduo let out a long breath; this time, the Demonic Soul Hound had truly left.
They traveled for another day and a half, finally reaching the first exploration point, Fengtou Mountain, directly east of the Phoenix Mountains. Climbing this mountain, mapping the surrounding terrain, collecting a rock sample from the mountaintop, and recording the entire process on video would complete the exploration mission for this point.
There was no path from the hillside to the summit, so Qian Duoduo could only climb through the mountain forest towards his goal.
As he climbed halfway up the mountain, turning past a huge boulder, a gray shadow suddenly appeared before him. It was a giant Spiritual Wolf, as tall as Qian Duoduo himself. Judging by its aura, it should be at Qi Condensation Level Six or above.
Heavy panting sounds came from behind. Qian Duoduo turned his head, and two Spiritual Wolf heads emerged from behind, their four eyes glowing terrifyingly bright, both around Qi Condensation Level Six in strength.
Being ambushed from front and back, trapped here, they intended to make him their dried rations.
Taking out his Golden Rooster Sword, Qian Duoduo slowly moved forward. The Spiritual Wolf in front lowered its body, baring its teeth, and gripping the ground with its claws, ready to leap up and pounce on Qian Duoduo at any moment.
Qian Duoduo formed a hand seal, and the Golden Rooster Sword flew out of his hand, stabbing sharply upwards.
In his Spiritual Awareness, he had already seen a Spiritual Wolf hidden above; no matter how the one in front performed, the real killer was the one hidden above.
“Pfft,” the Golden Rooster Sword cut open the Spiritual Wolf’s paw and pierced its throat. Qian Duoduo pulled the Golden Rooster Sword forward, and a gush of wolf blood sprayed towards the wolf in front, obstructing its vision.
Qian Duoduo took the opportunity to control the Golden Rooster Sword and sweep it behind him.
The two Spiritual Wolves behind didn't expect him to be so swift. One of them barely dodged the Golden Rooster Sword, while the other couldn't, only able to protect its body with its wolf claws. The wolf claws and sword collided, and amidst a loud crash, one wolf paw was torn and fractured, causing the wolf to let out a pained howl.
In terms of spiritual power, his Qi Condensation Level Five wasn't even afraid of Qi Condensation Stage Level Seven.
The injured Spiritual Wolf, instead of retreating, advanced, circling half a turn on the ground. Three good legs pushed off the ground, and it opened its large mouth, pouncing at Qian Duoduo simultaneously with the other one, one from the left and one from the right.
The Spiritual Beast Scroll said that Spiritual Wolves are good at group combat, and this was true.
Qian Duoduo turned to the right, and the Golden Rooster Sword, like a beam of light, flew back swiftly, directly slashing at the uninjured Spiritual Wolf closest to him.
Just as the foul stench from the Spiritual Wolf’s mouth was about to spray onto his face, the Golden Rooster Sword struck its waist, slamming it heavily to the ground. The wolf’s body bent at a right angle, clearly not long for this world.
At this moment, the injured Spiritual Wolf bit Qian Duoduo on his back.
Qian Duoduo swayed a few steps as if struck by a rock, almost falling.
The injured Spiritual Wolf hung on him, biting down hard. Unfortunately, its sharp teeth could not penetrate Qian Duoduo’s Golden Claw Armor.
The revolving Golden Rooster Sword flashed, severing the neck of the struggling Spiritual Wolf.
Before Qian Duoduo could catch his breath, a strong gust of wind assailed him from directly in front, which was the giant wolf from earlier.
Qian Duoduo waved his finger, and the Golden Rooster Sword collided with the wolf’s claws in mid-air. After a loud crash, the Golden Rooster Sword was pushed back three feet, and the giant wolf landed on a rock on the ground. The Spiritual Wolf’s eyes were bloodshot, revealing hatred and Killing Intent.
The air was filled with the smell of blood. By this point, three of the four Spiritual Wolves were dead; the encirclement had completely failed.
With the Golden Rooster Sword hovering in front of him, Qian Duoduo beckoned to the unwilling giant wolf, signaling it to come again.
The Spiritual Wolf let out a low growl, sat back, and prepared to pounce again.
Suddenly, its ears twitched slightly, its tail turned, and it leaped off the rock, disappearing into the mountain forest.
“A Golden Tiger has arrived,” Liu Boli said softly from inside the Golden Toad.
Qian Duoduo’s Spiritual Awareness also detected a powerful creature appearing in the rocks above with a gust of mountain wind.
He looked up to see a Golden Tiger, as large as Zhangzuo Dajiu’s Golden Ox, standing on a rock twenty feet away. Its tail swayed slightly, and its two lantern-sized tiger eyes looked down, their gaze cold and arrogant.
This was a newly adult male tiger. Its eyes clearly conveyed one message—on this mountain, I am the lord, and you are all my subordinates.
“Ninth Level of Qi Condensation strength!” Qian Duoduo instantly felt the pressure.
Before the Outer Sect small competition, if he had seen this Golden Tiger, his legs would have immediately gone soft, and he would have thought about how to escape.
But now, he felt a slight impulse, wanting to treat the Golden Tiger as Jin Buque and have a good fight with it!
On his back, the Spiritual Wolf’s head was still hanging. He could still hear the fresh blood dripping down, drop by drop.
The Golden Tiger did not spare Qian Duoduo another glance. It looked up into the distance, then leaped vertically, disappearing among the rocks.
Its departure made Qian Duoduo’s eager heart stumble. “Did it not think much of me, or was it unsure about fighting me?”
“Its stomach is full; it doesn’t have time to bother with you,” Liu Boli offered a third answer.
One mountain cannot tolerate two tigers. Qian Duoduo had to climb Fengtou Mountain, so the Golden Tiger would definitely have to deal with him.
Understanding this, Qian Duoduo was no longer in a hurry. He first cleaned up the battlefield.
This encounter with the Spiritual Wolves was a life-or-death struggle. He won purely by relying on the combat instincts gained from the training ground.
The difference was, on the training ground, if you couldn’t win, you could surrender. In the wild, if you can’t win, you can’t surrender; if you can’t escape, you die.
The key, the absolute key, was to have strength.
As Qian Duoduo thought, he pulled off the wolf head from his back and took off the fangs and claws from several Spiritual Wolves. These were all good materials. He adjusted his state and climbed the mountain unhurriedly.
An hour later, with only a few hundred meters left to the summit, he turned past a giant tree and stopped. His fully unleashed Spiritual Awareness had already seen the Golden Tiger waiting ahead.
Qian Duoduo had stepped into its forbidden zone. Although its stomach wasn’t hungry now, it was ready to deal with him!
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