A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 13 The Ghost-Faced Jackal

In the Crimson Forbidden Land, no one dares to directly pilot a magical artifact for flight. The high altitude is shrouded in mist, severely limiting the range of divine sense detection, and no one knows what is hidden inside.

"Wind Fox, scout ahead and hide carefully," Luo Ming commanded.

Upon receiving the command, the small fox seemed to blend into the shadows of the forest, moving so fast that it left only a fleeting afterimage before disappearing into the thin mist ahead. Luo Ming closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and activated the "Spirit Attachment Technique," attaching a portion of his divine sense and vision to the fox.

In an instant, Luo Ming "saw" the scene from the perspective of the Wind Fox: the colors became monotonous, but the moving objects and spiritual energy fluctuations were exceptionally clear. Trees and vines rushed past, and the Wind Fox, like a forest sprite, leaped silently between branches and the ground.

It would occasionally stop, twitch its nose, and turn its ears, feeding back to Luo Ming the most subtle sounds, smells, and changes in airflow around it.

Through the Wind Fox's perception, Luo Ming "saw" the dangers lurking in the fog: a venomous snake disguised as a withered vine, a cluster of strange flowers that could spray paralyzing pollen, and several seemingly flat areas of ground that were actually soft swamps underneath... The Wind Fox could always detect these things in advance.

For those demonic beasts with low cultivation levels, a flash of blue light appeared on the tail of the Wind Fox Beast, and a wind blade whistled past, instantly cutting them in two.

Suddenly, the Windbeard stopped beside a rotting giant tree, lowered its body slightly, and emitted a very faint "purring" sound from its throat, full of warning.

Through the shared vision, Luo Ming saw behind the giant tree three jet-black, jackal-like monsters with single horns on their heads, hissing and warily watching a lingzhi mushroom that emitted a faint white light. Beside the lingzhi mushroom lay several rotten skeletons of other monsters.

"It's a 'Ghost-faced Jackal,' a high-level first-tier demonic beast. It likes to eat carrion and spiritual plants, is good at ganging up, and its claws and teeth have corpse poison." Luo Ming recognized the type of demonic beast. The silver-colored Ganoderma lucidum was the "Jade Marrow Ganoderma" that was marked as possibly appearing on the map. It was one of the main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills, and it looked to be quite old.

"Three Ghost-Faced Jackals... Perfect for testing my skills." A glint flashed in Luo Ming's eyes. He needed real combat experience to hone his coordination with the spirit beasts, and he also needed to gather resources. These three high-level level one demonic beasts were of comparable strength, making them suitable practice targets.

With a thought, he issued commands to the spirit beasts.

The fire crows on the treetops launched the first attack, spitting out a blazing line of fire, not at the ghost-faced jackals, but at a clump of bushes to their side and rear. "Boom!" Flames erupted, and the thick smoke and firelight instantly attracted the attention of the three ghost-faced jackals, who turned their heads in astonishment.

In that instant, the ground suddenly bulged up, and the rock python's thick body burst out of the earth. Its blood-red maw snapped at the nearest ghost-faced jackal with lightning speed! The ghost-faced jackal reacted quickly, roaring as it leaped to the side, but the rock python's tail swept across like a steel whip, striking its waist and abdomen heavily. The sound of bones shattering could be clearly heard, and the ghost-faced jackal screamed as it was whipped away.

The other two masked jackals reacted, their eyes gleaming with ferocity, and they lunged at the rock python with low growls. They moved swiftly, their claws sharp and fierce. Although the rock python had thick hide and tough flesh, its reaction speed was much slower. Surrounded by two demonic beasts of the same level, it was momentarily caught off guard, and several bloody scratches appeared on its body.

The Xuan Turtle stepped forward at the opportune moment, blocking the rock python's path. Its shell shone brightly with blue light, forming a water curtain barrier. The Ghost-Faced Jackal's sharp claws scratched at the water curtain, producing a teeth-grinding scraping sound, but it couldn't break through the defense. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Xuan Turtle opened its mouth and spat out three water arrows, forcing the Ghost-Faced Jackal to quickly dodge.

Just as the two ghost-faced jackals were completely distracted by the rock python and the black tortoise, a gray shadow shot out from the shadow of the rotting giant tree like lightning, and a blue wind blade went straight for the ghost-faced jackal's throat!

It's a raccoon dog!

The wind blade was so fast that the ghost-faced jackal only had time to tilt its head slightly before a gash was slashed across its thin neck. Its speed instantly slowed down, and other spirit beasts seized the opportunity to unleash attacks such as water arrows, earth spikes, and fireballs. In the blink of an eye, the ghost-faced jackal was reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.

The other two, seeing that things were going badly, tried to escape, but were stopped in time by the other spirit beasts. In less than ten breaths, the other two were also captured. Except for the rock python, which was clumsy and suffered some minor injuries, the other spirit beasts were unharmed.

He was very satisfied with the result. If he hadn't used his talisman treasures, he would have had a hard time dealing with three first-level high-grade demonic beasts. However, with the cooperation of the four spirit beasts, it only took him less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Luo Ming slowly walked out from behind, carefully picked the Jade Marrow Fungus, and put it into his storage bag. Then he searched the vicinity and found quite a few old spiritual herbs. Although they were not as precious as the Jade Marrow Fungus, they were still quite valuable.

After looting everything, Luo Ming headed to the next location marked on the map.

Just as he was about to leave the area completely, the fire crow issued a warning in the air. He suddenly swooped down behind a boulder to the side, while simultaneously trying his best to conceal his presence.

The entire Crimson Forbidden Land was shrouded in a thin mist, which severely limited the divine sense, often making it less effective than the eyes and ears.

After he had concealed himself for a few breaths, two figures flew at low altitude on magical artifacts, speeding from the depths of the miasma and landing not far away.

Judging from their attire, one of the two cultivators was a disciple of Huadaowu, and the other... was actually from Tianquebao. Both were injured, their expressions were panicked, and they kept looking back.

"Damn it! How could there be a group of Iron-Armed Apes near that 'Bloodline Grass'? The information must be wrong!" The disciple of Huadaowu said angrily, panting heavily.

"Stop talking, let's go! Those beasts are catching up soon!" The Tianque Fort disciple was pale, with a deep wound on his arm that exposed bone and was bleeding profusely.

Just as the two were preparing to continue their escape, suddenly, the Tianque Fortress disciple's nostrils twitched, and his expression changed: "There's a smell of blood! And... a very faint trace of demonic energy. A battle has just taken place!"

The disciples of Huadaowu immediately became alert, their sharp eyes scanning their surroundings. Just as the two suspiciously investigated, their gaze gradually turned towards the direction of the boulder where Luo Ming was hiding—

"roar!!!"

A deafening roar echoed from the depths of the miasma, accompanied by the crashing of snapping trees and a noticeable tremor in the ground. At least five or six ferocious demonic beasts were rapidly approaching!

The two cultivators turned deathly pale instantly. They no longer cared about investigating and used their escape light to flee frantically in the opposite direction from where Luo Ming was hiding.

Encountering a small number of demonic beasts is manageable, but what Qi Refining cultivator could withstand a whole horde of them?

The Iron-Armed Ape, a first-level high-grade demonic beast, possesses immense strength, lives in groups, and is extremely difficult to deal with. He felt that even one Iron-Armed Ape could tear his rock python apart.

After the commotion from the two cultivators and the apes had subsided, and after waiting quietly for a while to confirm that there was no further danger, Luo Ming slipped out of his hiding place as silently as a raccoon cat, chose another direction, and sped away.