Chapter 46: Thundering Rain, Rootless Grass, and the Dragon Chimera (1/2)

Chapter 46: Thundering Rain, Rootless Grass, and the Dragon Chimera

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

”This accursed place!”

Junior Leopard stood at the head of the stream with an ashen face, gazing out towards the swamp which lay before him. As he watched the rising mist soar over the swamp, he cursed in anger.

Today, he had put his Floating Technique into full swing, and had spent about six to eight hours doing a lap of the surrounding area. This was a means of surveying the area to help him find the medicinal herbs required by Xue Wuya, by getting a rough idea of the area's general layout. However, the clearer a picture he had of the area, the worse his mood became.

At the back of this place was the steep valley where Xue Wuya lived and trained in. At the right was a waterfall, and at the left was a dense forest; although the forest had a silence deep and ominous, the direction of where the little monster lived seemed less forbidding. But just half a kilometer beyond that were countless poisonous insects and terrible snakes. Although there were no evil beasts of formidable power here, and despite Junior Leopard's special spiritual instincts, there was still no way he could guarantee his safety in this place where venomous snakes were at his feet in every direction, and a ceiling of cobwebs spun by poisonous spiders was above his head at all times. After all he was no expert, and if it had not been for his quick thinking before, he would likely have already been digested as food inside the python's belly, or became the bodily fluids of poisonous spiders. The only way out was to follow the stream flowing forth from the waterfall. Junior Leopard had pressed on this way for about 5 kilometers, only for his way to be blocked by an enormous swamp which the stream he was followed flowed into.

The mist rising over the swamp was the same mist that Junior Leopard had seen when surveying the area in the daytime by the mouth of the cave. Every now and then the mist emitted a putrid odor; even the slightest whiff of this fragrance gave him a dizzy episode, so he dared not venture deeper into it.

”I cannot continue like this, all these roads are dead ends! Now let me think… the only place I can get into is that deep forest... oh, if only I could solve all my problems from inside there!” Junior Leopard said to himself. And with that, he turned and set out to delve into the old forest.

One day passed.

”Huh, this damned place really is not fit for human habitation… and it certainly lives up to the name 'Misty Mountain'!”

Deep in the forest, Junior Leopard put a hand out onto an ancient tree to support himself as his eyes vigilantly scanned his surroundings. His ears pricked up too, and his nerves braced themselves taut.

He had ventured about 10 kilometers deep into the woods and as far as the eye could see there was nothing but forest after forest, tree after tree, venomous creature after venomous creature.

Thankfully he was smart enough to use his special eyes to strip out all of the Yanfu Inner Strength out of the forest the day prior, otherwise his walk through the forest would not be such a walk through the park.

Damn it, it's already been two days! It'll be dark in only another 4 hours, and I've only found two Gall Orchids, and still no trace of the Wandering Flower or Rootless Grass… five days, where on earth can I find such things in only five days?!

Junior Leopard sighed and sat down beneath a tree to catch his breath.

As he prepared to use the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique, all he could see was a warm, pale red current gushing into his Dantian, and flowing towards each of his limbs and all of his bones. It flowed steadily, and after about an hour this red current had illuminated the path where the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique had pumped through his tendons and meridians.

Compared to others, Junior Leopard's practice of his Internal Qi had a big advantage — his Inner Vision.

Only when Internal Qi had reached a deep level of skill could Inner Vision be used; and at the same time, through practicing Inner Vision one could reach an intimate grasp of the circulation of Qi within their body, and gain a deeper understanding of the transformation of Internal Qi. Naturally, this would also mean that one's strength was greatly improved as well.

Junior Leopard's Internal Qi was not yet at that level, and was no match for his fantastical eyes — it was these which gave him a level of Inner Vision which was, in practice, no lower than that of a Level Nine master. So although his Internal Qi was nothing special, his knowledge of the essence of Internal Qi was far in advance of others of his age.

This understanding of Qi's essence was not something which could be explained orally or gotten from a book; it could only be known through direct experience.