At night.

A cold, lonely moon hung high in the sky, filtering through the gaps between the branches of the mountain forest trees, casting patches of light down below.

Yuan Ming sat cross-legged in a spot touched by moonlight shadows, his palms touching at their roots, one hand pointed to the sky, the other toward the ground.

A hazy moonlight enshrouded his body, different from the surroundings, with a misty, veil-like light persisting around him, refusing to dissipate.

At this moment, his brow was deeply furrowed and beads of sweat rolled off his forehead, as he seemed to be straining in an attempt at something.

However, after a moment, his eyebrows relaxed, and he suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a hint of weariness.

"Sigh, it looks like I'm just not cut out for this, no matter how hard I try. I can't even fully achieve Observing the Sea of Consciousness, let alone observe my entire body. At this rate, to complete the first level will take me a decade, or even longer. It's more practical to diligently practice the Nine Elements Technique," Yuan Ming sighed, accepting reality.

If only all the cultivation techniques in the world were as straightforward as the Nine Elements Technique.

He ceased the spell and ended this session of cultivation. He also decided not to continue practicing the "Moonlight Technique" for the time being. The night-time cultivation, despite slightly improving his control over his Divine Sense, left him exhausted both physically and mentally, even affecting his daytime practice of the Nine Elements Technique.

Additionally, after a period of silence, he noticed there wasn't any news about the Human Demon incident outside. It seemed the accident that occurred during the trial hadn't stirred up too much commotion. He began to consider when to resume hunting.

After all, the real priority was to accumulate Blood Food and find a way to become a Registered Disciple as soon as possible.

The Registered Disciples he had encountered before might not necessarily be stronger than him, but each of them had a spirit beast by their side and possessed Magic Artifacts, which made Yuan Ming, a poor Fur Beast Slave, deeply envious.

More importantly, it was a chance to shed the status of being a Fur Beast Slave—a status with no standing, no hope, no freedom—and to get a step closer to his goal of returning to the Central Plains and recovering his memory.

...

Time flew by, and three months had passed.

It was dusk, and in the midst of a dense jungle, a winding river flowed slowly.

Near the shore, a section of decayed, greenish-gray driftwood quietly floated on the surface, the surrounding water gently flowing past, creating ripples.

On the riverbank, a bulky black-furred wild boar was drinking from the water's edge, its dark red eyes moving cautiously back and forth, carefully observing its surroundings.

The woods were dim and appeared exceptionally tranquil; only an occasional sharp chirping of birds broke the silence.

Seeing no danger around, the black-furred boar gradually relaxed, its short tail wagging behind it. It submerged its mouth in the water and began to drink deeply, the water bubbling with a "gulping" sound.

Just then, the quiet piece of driftwood by its side suddenly tipped up, followed by a massive black shadow surfacing from the water, revealing an enormous gaping maw that bit towards the black-furred boar.

The boar retreated in panic, barely evading the sudden strike. However, the muddy ground beneath its feet was exceptionally slippery, preventing it from getting far.

The owner of the gaping maw emerged fully from the water—a grey-black giant crocodile covered in square scales. The giant jaws that opened wide were almost the same size as the boar itself.

The crocodile shot out of the water and quickly caught up to the black-furred boar, biting down once more.

With a powerful clamp of its jaws, the crocodile bit the head and part of the boar's body.

The black-furred boar struggled fiercely, attempting to escape.

But once the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile bit it, it immediately pulled and dragged the boar back into the river.

Then, the river churned with violent waves as the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile rolled continuously, twisting with the boar's body in tow. A big cloud of fresh blood mixed with the riverbed's mud erupted, muddying the waters.

Though the black-furred boar was strong, it had no strength to resist in the water and soon went completely still.

The Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile dragged its body back to the shore and began to slowly consume its prey, inch by inch swallowing the entirety of the black-furred boar.

The sound of "crack, crack" was incessant.

The crocodile's throat muscles were extremely powerful, crushing the bones of the black-furred boar bit by bit, and in a short while, it had swallowed half of the boar's body.

While the giant crocodile enjoyed its feast, on an old tree by the riverbank, the figure that had been quietly lying on the trunk revealed a smile.

He was dressed in white ape skin with a bronze longsword tied at his waist—it was Yuan Ming.

To hunt down this Level 1 Upper Stage Fierce Beast, he had been lying in wait for four days and three nights, and now the opportunity had come at last.

"Now is the time!" he thought to himself. Flipping his body, he leaped down from the tree, coming straight for the attack. At the same time, he activated the Fur Cloak Technique, and his body rapidly grew larger, transforming into a white-haired, muscular old ape.

Upon noticing something was amiss, the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile ceased eating and hurriedly tried to retreat back into the river.

Yuan Ming wasn't about to give it a chance to escape. His arms firmly gripping the Green Fish Sword and filling it with Mana, he gathered his strength with his Energy Storage Arm and viciously stabbed towards the crocodile.

With a "clang" sound,

The Green Fish Sword struck the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile's back scales, but slipped off the blade, failing to penetrate with a single thrust.

In pain, the giant crocodile lashed out with its tail but couldn't hit Yuan Ming no matter what.

Yuan Ming saw that he was unable to break through the armor and was momentarily taken aback. Noticing the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile was still thrashing about, moving towards the river, he immediately changed his plan. My Virtual Library Empire (*)

He flipped off its back and, employing the Shadowless Step, dodged the sweeping tail attack. He then swung his sword in a wide arc, hacking at one of the crocodile's legs.

The scales on its body were indestructible, but its legs didn't have the same level of protection.

After one strike, blood spurted out, revealing bone in the wound.

The Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile, in pain, wanted to roar but had a black-furred boar stuck in its mouth. Unable to spit it out or swallow it, the discomfort was unbearable.

Yuan Ming had seized this opportunity to strike.

He deftly avoided the crocodile's tail and, seizing the moment, slashed at its wound again.

With a "crack," one of the crocodile's legs was completely severed by his stroke.

In great pain, the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile's dark yellow eyes flickered incessantly, shedding crystalline tears.

Ignoring its injuries, the beast tried to retreat into the river at a faster pace. Yuan Ming applied the same tactic and chopped off another leg on its other side.

With two legs severed, the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile was now unable to move quickly, even if it wanted to.

Yuan Ming, like a butcher, calmly avoided its tail attacks, methodically dismembering the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile, which was utterly helpless against him.

About half an hour later, the Black-Scaled Giant Crocodile, with all limbs severed, had half its body in the river, but one of its eyes was impaled by a bronze longsword.

The Green Fish Sword had pierced its eye and penetrated its brain, ending its life once and for all.

Yuan Ming was sitting nearby, his chest heaving as he took deep breaths.

With his current strength, hunting a Fierce Beast that had just reached the First-level Upper Stage was still quite difficult and not without risks. This time, he had come fully prepared, and only by taking advantage had he succeeded.

After resting for a moment, he began to dismember the crocodile, starting with its belly, peeling off its entire hide.

This material was excellent for refining Soft armor and was highly sought after by Registered Disciples of the Biluo Cave Sect.

After cutting off some of the crocodile meat, he found the greatest prize inside its body—a "Blood Pill" the size of a dragon's eye.

After tidying up, Yuan Ming, along with his spoils of war, returned to the nearby temporary shelter.

At night, he built a campfire under the treehouse, skewered the crocodile meat, and roasted it over the flames. As the fat dripped and sizzled, an inviting aroma soon wafted through the air.

Having honed his skills over the past days, Yuan Ming was no longer the frail Beast Slave he used to be. Not to mention his Cultivation had reached the Upper Stage among the Fur Beast Slaves, but even in terms of adaptability in combat and hunting experience, he was among the best.

Having set various traps around the area, he wasn't worried that the firelight and the scent of meat would attract other Fierce Beasts. In fact, if some did fall into his trap, he would be more than happy to collect more Blood Food.

After this period of frantic accumulation, he had almost amassed the required amount of Blood Food. Including today's gains, there were fewer than four hundred portions left to reach his goal of a thousand.

Feeling elated at the thought of soon shedding his status as a Fur Beast Slave and entering the Biluo Cave Sect, Yuan Ming was in a great mood.

Although he had been using the Mysterious Incense Burner concealed in his arm to suppress the backlash from employing the Fur Cloak Technique, its effectiveness was waning and he had even experienced near cognitive collapses.

He didn't have much time left.

Yuan Ming took a piece of the deliciously sizzling crocodile meat from beside the fire, about to take a bite when a crashing sound suddenly came from a distance.

"There's really a Fierce Beast coming..."

Yuan Ming bit off a piece of meat, chewing, and stuck the rest back in the ground. He got up, sword in hand, and hurried towards the source of the noise.

Under the dim moonlight, Yuan Ming saw that the trap he had set was a complete mess.

Above the dugout pit were four sharpened round logs, crossed and stacked, and below was a woven beast tendon net covering the entire pit.

Yuan Ming approached and saw that two logs had snapped and the incredibly tough net had been torn open.

In the pit below was a shadow, wildly lunging and thrashing, sending out dull sounds of impact.

In the dim light, he couldn't make out the details below, so Yuan Ming went back and brought over a flaming stick.

With the light from the stick, he saw that at the bottom of the pit stood a large Green Wolf.

"Huh..."

Yuan Ming took a closer look, a flash of confusion crossing his eyes.

The Green Wolf at the bottom of the pit looked odd—it wasn't lying down on all fours but was standing upright on its hind legs, with its front paws constantly digging against the sides of the pit.

"Roar... sss..."

As the Green Wolf swung its paws, it also emitted a series of suppressed growls from its mouth as if it was in great pain.