Chapter 6: The First Hunt

The Forest didn’t look the same in the daylight.

Ancient trees towered hundreds of meters high, weaving together to form a second heaven of emerald. Thick vines were coiled down the trees like ropes. Strange flowers shimmered faintly between the roots, emitting weak spiritual fluctuations that barely interfered with his senses.

Ao Kuiba looked up at one of the ancient giants, his eyes opening.

His body had been a mystery for the last few hours, searching every single meridian, bone, and drop of blood.

Its final conclusion was simple.

His cultivation had regressed.

There were no secrets. No hidden power to be drawn out. The three paths of Body, Qi, and Soul, were all on the same level of Foundation Establishment. The foundation itself remained, firm and stable. That was all that mattered.

Ao Kuiba crossed his legs and began circulating his spiritual energy.

Weak, crude spiritual energy flowed towards him and entered his meridians, then was distributed to his dantian and split evenly to his three paths in a single cycle. His body took a fraction while it absorbed some of it. His soul refined another. The process was slow, but clean.

Several hours later he opened his eyes.

"The spiritual energy here is weak."

It would take too long to cultivate on his own. He needed resources.

Ao Kuiba stood up and walked deeper into the forest.

There were occasional plants scattered throughout the forest, a few with traces of spiritual energy. One in particular had a fragrance that could paralyze a Foundation Establishment cultivator and he gathered some, useful later on in his plans.

His spiritual sense suddenly brushed up against something else.

Branches snapped.

A massive black wolf walked into the clearing, nearly four meters from nose to tail, its fur black, two curved horns jutting out from its forehead. It was of the same species he fought yesterday, only larger. It was at the same cultivation level, Foundation Establishment.

It locked eyes with him and charged.

Ao Kuiba stepped to the side, the creature’s claws raking up the tree it had run past. He caught its foreleg, twisting it and slamming it into the ground, causing the earth to shake.

The wolf roared and surged its body with spiritual energy. Ao Kuiba remained steady, golden scales flashing over his knuckles. He delivered a single strike.

The wolf launched itself backwards, crashing into several trees before coming to a stop. It’s jaws spilled blood onto the forest floor, only to immediately rise again.

Ao Kuiba stood his ground this time, meeting the charge head on. He drove a fist into the creatures jaw, shattering several teeth. The wolf fell and he planted a palm against its forehead, sending a tendril of Qi into the creatures mind and rendering it unconscious.

"You’re not strong enough."

Ao Kuiba turned away, only to halt when he saw something behind the wolf’s body.

A small patch of purple grass grew there, twelve stalks in total. Spirit Gathering Grass, common enough in the Upper Realm, rare in this one.

Ao Kuiba gathered the plants, taking care to keep the roots intact, before storing them within the Mini World. He sank his spiritual sense into the forest floor.

Ten meters. Twenty. Fifty.

A vein of spiritual energy ran beneath the surface. Small, but pure.

Ao Kuiba’s lips curled into a small smile.

"This will do."

Ao Kuiba moved stones out of the way and began carving out a formation. One to mask the fluctuations of the vein, one to gather the ambient Qi from the forest, and one to funnel everything into the vein. His hands moved with practiced ease, taking only an hour before he finished. The surface of the forest looked completely normal to any outsider. Below the surface, a complex system of runes worked its way through the ground.

Ao Kuiba sat down next to the vein and opened the system.

[Mini World]

The barren space of the Mini World stretched out before him in his mind. The Spirit Gathering Grass had been planted, a groaning wolf unconscious a few meters away. The Mini World wasn’t impressive, but with enough resources it could grow into something far greater.

Ao Kuiba exited the Mini World, new presences entering his spiritual sense.

Six cultivators, Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment, slowly walking around the forest.

Ao Kuiba remained hidden and watched them.

They arrived at the site of the battle and one of the cultivators knelt beside the broken trunks.

"A Horned Shadow Wolf. Someone killed it."

A woman frowned. "What about the Purple Spirit Grass? It was here."

The cultivators searched in vain before one of the men found a small marking carved out of a stone.

The oldest of them studied it for a long time. His expression darkened.

"I can’t understand this formation. Whoever made it isn’t someone we should provoke."

Ao Kuiba watched them from his hiding place. They knew formation magic, but none of could understand his markings. It revealed the degree of heritage present in this realm.

Ao Kuiba stepped out of his hiding place.

Six pairs of eyes locked onto him, hands already moving towards their weapons.

Ao Kuiba regarded them calmly.

"I have a few questions."

The oldest man stepped forward, his eyes flicking over the faint golden horns peeking out from Ao Kuiba’s silver hair, but he remained silent.

Before they could say anything else, a deep growl echoed from the forest.

The six cultivators tensed up, the old man’s face going pale.

"We need to leave."

Ao Kuiba turned around and stared at the distant location where the unknown beast was. It was stronger than anything Ao Kuiba had faced since arriving here.

His eyes narrowed.

Ao Kuiba took one step.

"Before anything else, I want to see what kind of beasts live in this forest."