South of Kunyang Town lay an ancient woodland, the gateway to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
Li Feng stood atop a great tree, surveying the heights. Before his eyes stretched an endless expanse of mountains, a sea composed of trees. The mountain breeze brought a ripple of verdant green.
But Li Feng knew that beneath this serene landscape lurked endless perils. Through the ages, countless souls had been laid to rest beneath this earth.
It was now the early morning of the second day. After the assault by Wild Fox the previous evening, Li Feng had arrived in this woodland. However, with nightfall imminent, he had not pressed immediately into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. Instead, he had found a spot in the woods to rest and recuperate.
A night’s rest had long since restored the consumption from yesterday’s fierce battle. Now, he had returned to his peak condition.
It was time to enter the Ten Thousand Great Mountains!
Li Feng let out a long breath, as if expelling the pent-up frustration from his chest. After a good while, he leapt down from the tree and headed deeper into the forest.
Bright sunlight bathed the entire range of mountains. Yet within this dense forest, it was not as luminous as one might imagine. Sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of leaves, casting a dappled pattern upon the ground. As the sun climbed ever higher, the woods grew increasingly humid and stifling.
Li Feng proceeded with utmost caution, a flying knife in one hand and a pistol in the other, his expression vigilant. In these Ten Thousand Great Mountains, danger could arise at any moment, from any quarter.
This was not Li Feng’s first time in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. Even in his previous life, when they had been developed by man, the mountains had been extraordinarily perilous. How much more so now, when they retained their pristine wildness.
Li Feng advanced step by step, ever wary and prudent. He had no desire to lose his life in these Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
By now, Li Feng had traversed a stretch of woodland without encountering any danger. This was, however, the outer reaches of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. It was normal to meet no threats here. The deeper one went, the greater the dangers.
Glancing at the time, it was already noon. Li Feng needed to eat something to restore his strength. Prolonged intense mental focus, even for him, brought some fatigue. To face the crises that could emerge at any instant, he must rest and recover his stamina.
With a leap of his body, he sprang onto a great tree. He had inspected this tree; it posed no danger. In this forest, the treetops were safer than the ground. Li Feng sat upon the tree, rested for a spell, ate some rations, then gazed into the distance to determine his next bearing. This was his first time going to Black Wind Forest; he knew only the general direction.
Having confirmed his course, Li Feng jumped down from the tree and continued on his way.
“Roar!” A beastly bellow echoed forth. Li Feng’s expression changed involuntarily, and he halted his steps, his gaze fixed intently ahead.
Immediately after, a giant ape appeared before Li Feng. This giant ape was covered in silvery-white fur, standing over two metres tall, its face fierce with fangs, exceedingly savage.
“I never thought I would encounter a giant ape here.” Li Feng could not help but reveal a wry smile. This giant ape was a type of ferocious beast in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, with formidable combat prowess.
“Roar!” The giant ape let out a long roar, its form blurring into a streak of silver light as it lunged at Li Feng. In the giant ape’s eyes, Li Feng was naught but a tasty morsel.
“Come then. Let me see just how strong the giant apes of this era are?” Li Feng sneered coldly and raised his hand, unleashing ten bullets in rapid succession.
Bang-bang-bang…
The bullets struck the giant ape’s body but inflicted no harm whatsoever. Instead, they only incited the beast’s fury, causing it to accelerate with a roar as it charged at Li Feng.
“As expected, these antiques are useless against ferocious beasts.” Li Feng holstered his pistol, and a dagger appeared in his hand.
“Then let me test the extent of your defences.” Li Feng sneered coldly once more. With a flick of his left hand, a flying knife shot forth from his grip.
Li Feng’s flying knife was as swift as lightning, aimed straight at the giant ape’s eye.
The giant ape’s defences were exceedingly robust, yet it was not without weaknesses. Its eyes were one such vulnerability.
“Roar!” The giant ape roared, its arms whipping about to trace paths of silver afterimages, swatting aside the flying knife Li Feng had thrown.
“Indeed, this giant ape is far stronger than those in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains of my previous life.” Li Feng’s pupils contracted, his expression shifting slightly. That flying knife had been merely a probe, yet the giant ape’s reaction speed had exceeded expectations.
Li Feng had confidence in his flying knives. With his second-level Qi Refining cultivation, the knife he had just thrown surpassed the level of his previous life. In his past life, the giant apes he encountered in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains could not have dodged his flying knives. Yet this one had swatted it away. Evidently, this giant ape’s strength outstripped that of its counterparts from his previous life’s Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
Upon reflection, it made sense. The giant ape’s formidable combat prowess stemmed from the spiritual energy nourishment of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. In his previous life, relentless development had damaged the spiritual energy, and with the influx of numerous martial artists, these ferocious beasts received far less nourishment, naturally weakening their power.
The present was different. The Ten Thousand Great Mountains remained a pristine wilderness, their spiritual energy far denser than in his previous life’s mountains. Under such nourishment, their combat strength vastly exceeded that of the giant apes Li Feng had faced before.
“Though your strength is great, killing you remains well within my means.”
Li Feng sneered coldly, his entire form blurring into a streak of lightning as he charged at the giant ape. In the blink of an eye, he was before it.
The giant ape roared in fury and swung a fist. Li Feng’s figure flickered, evading swiftly.
Li Feng snorted coldly and struck out with a palm, unleashing over a hundred thousand jin of force upon the giant ape’s body. The beast was forced back several steps.
“Roar!”
With an enraged bellow, the giant ape lunged ferociously at Li Feng.
Li Feng met it head-on without yielding. The giant ape’s speed was swift, yet Li Feng was no whit inferior. The two clashed like twin bolts of lightning, leaving devastation in their wake.
Boom! Boom!
Bang-bang-bang!!!
Li Feng and the giant ape fought inseparably, the beast’s ferocity taking Li Feng by surprise. Its strength was at least a full tier above his own. Were it not for his Phantom Ninefold movement technique and Cloud-Dispelling Palm martial skill, he would stand no chance against it at present.
Yet the stronger the giant ape proved, the more exhilarated Li Feng became. This was the most satisfying battle he had fought since arriving in this world. Unlike his usual spars with Heavenly Wolf and the others, this time, he unleashed his true strength in full.
Though the giant ape’s reactions were quick, they paled far short of Li Feng’s. Thus, under the Phantom Ninefold, as long as he remained vigilant, there was no need to fear injury from the beast.
As the fight wore on, Li Feng grew less eager to kill the giant ape outright. He wished to use it to hone his martial skills.
In Li Feng’s mind dwelt a plethora of martial techniques, all of which he had mastered thoroughly in his previous life. Yet since coming to this world, he had not employed them. Though his cultivation now surpassed that of his past life, without integrating these skills into his body, his combat prowess fell short of his peak.
Some time ago, during cultivation, Li Feng had considered finding a place to practise his martial skills. But affairs in Tianhai City had been endlessly pressing, and no suitable location existed there, so he had delayed.
Now, encountering this giant ape, Li Feng felt it an ideal sparring partner for honing his techniques. With the beast as a whetstone, he believed he could swiftly master the skills he needed. Though his cultivation would not advance, his battle power would rise considerably.
Thus, Li Feng treated this giant ape as a training dummy, beginning with the Cloud-Dispelling Palm. He tested every technique he deemed useful.
Of course, the hundreds of martial skills in his mind were impossible to practise in full. To master them all would take years, which was unfeasible. Li Feng knew that skill lay in mastery, not quantity. Thus, aside from the Cloud-Dispelling Palm, he also practised the Shadowless Leg and Mountain-Splitting Fist. Beyond these, there was the Qiankun Blade Art.
Lacking a blade, Li Feng used the sharp sword he had taken from Zheng Haoyuan as a substitute. Compared to foundational skills like the Cloud-Dispelling Palm, Shadowless Leg, and Mountain-Splitting Fist, the Qiankun Blade Art was far more intricate to cultivate, its contained mysteries boundless and profound.
Thus, during the hour of sparring with the giant ape, Li Feng devoted most of his time to the Qiankun Blade Art.
The giant ape, unaware it had been made a practice target, roared incessantly yet could not land a fatal blow on Li Feng.
“No more playing with you.” Seeing signs that the giant ape, unable to prevail, intended to flee, Li Feng did not hesitate. With a thrust of his sword, he pierced towards the beast’s eye.
Pfft…
With a soft sound, the sharp sword struck true, embedding in the giant ape’s eye, piercing through its brain, and emerging from the back of its skull. The giant ape roared once more and collapsed with a thunderous crash.
“Finally dealt with.” Li Feng withdrew the sword and wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. An hour of combat, even for him, had left him mentally fatigued. Had it not been for practising his skills, a mere quarter-hour would have sufficed to end it.
“What a pity. This giant ape is merely at the Houtian Realm. Aside from its hide, it has little use. And without my previous life’s secondary dimensional storage pouch, I can only abandon it.” Li Feng shook his head regretfully. The giant ape’s hide could serve for armour, but without a storage pouch, and with Black Wind Forest as his destination, he had no desire to lug it along.
With this thought, Li Feng retrieved the flying knives he had thrown. As he prepared to depart, suddenly his eyes narrowed, and he exclaimed in surprise, “This is…”
