The body of the Spirit Boar still steamed faintly in the cold morning light, its thick hide slowly going slack as its spiritual essence dissipated. Li Qingyun stood beside it, sword still in hand, eyes calm and calculating.
The battle had been short, but meaningful.
'My reactions were fast enough… barely. But it's clear that without sword intent, my strikes would've only scratched its hide.'
He crouched down to inspect. The boar's hide, while crude, was durable and densely saturated with wind-aligned qi. Harvesting it wasn't worth the time, but the beast's spirit core was useful.
He retrieved a fist-sized pearl, faintly glowing with swirling wind.
[Spirit Core: Wind Attribute, Rank 1 Mid-Grade]
He placed it into a pouch at his waist, tightening the seal with a simple binding charm.
Although the fight had ended in three moves, it was far from easy.
Spiritual beasts, unlike humans, were born of nature's essence—every part of their being saturated with raw elemental power. Their bodies, forged by instinct and qi from the moment of birth, possessed innate resilience that even the finest body refinement techniques struggled to match.
While it was true that beasts of Rank 1, or the Qi Gathering equivalent, possessed limited intelligence—comparable to clever animals—they made up for it with their overwhelmingly powerful physicality.
Their bones were like steel. Their hides resisted blades. Their muscles exploded with power even without technique.
At equal levels, human cultivators were often at a disadvantage.
A mid-grade Rank 1 spiritual beast like this Spirit Boar could crush a normal Qi Gathering stage cultivator between level 6 to 9 if they weren't well-prepared or battle-hardened.
Had an ordinary young disciple encountered this beast, they would've needed every tool at their disposal. Even then, it would've been a bitter victory.
But Li Qingyun… he had finished the battle in three moves.
Yet even so, he remained cautious.
"This was just a boar," he murmured to himself. "A creature with only brute instinct. The further I go, the more cunning they'll become."
He wasn't wrong. While Rank 1 beasts were simple-minded, some at the peak already showed signs of group strategy. And beyond that, beasts of Rank 2 and above began to gain true awareness—and some, even spiritual speech.
As Li Qingyun journeyed deeper through the outer periphery of the Verdant Wilds Forest, the scenery subtly shifted. The towering trees stretched ever higher, their bark rough with age, leaves trembling under the wind like countless whispering tongues. The scent of soil was heavy here—damp, earthen, filled with the faint trace of ancient spiritual energy.
Every few dozen meters, faint glimmers would catch his eye—tiny halos of light floating above certain plants hidden beneath roots, wedged between rocks, or blooming quietly in secluded glades. These were spiritual herbs.
But they were far from easy pickings.
"So they really do exist here…" Li Qingyun murmured, narrowing his eyes as he crouched near a jagged boulder where a faintly glowing Silverroot Vine coiled.
Just as he reached out, a low growl echoed through the foliage.
A pair of sharp, amber eyes blinked open from behind a bush.
From the shadows slinked out a sleek-furred Forestshadow Lynx, its lithe body radiating menace. A Rank 1 high-grade spiritual beast—fast, agile, and with a natural affinity for stealth.
Li Qingyun's hand didn't twitch toward his sword immediately.
Instead, his spiritual sense, subtle yet steadily growing stronger, expanded outward like a second set of eyes. His surroundings came into focus: the rustling of trees, the light tremble of soil where beasts stepped, and the subtle energy fluctuation around the lynx, which was coiled to pounce.
His Primal Chaos Vessel Physique was not just a marvel of cultivation. It refined every part of his being—his body, his meridians, and even his soul.
And with his Sword Intent sharpening day by day, his spiritual perception had begun to stretch beyond the limits of normal Qi Gathering cultivators.
He hadn't cultivated any soul techniques, and yet his awareness far exceeded those at his level. Not only could he sense threats, he could grasp intent—the subtle killing will hidden in a spiritual beast's posture, the shift in pressure when something prepared to strike.
"So even herbs are watched in this forest," Li Qingyun thought calmly as he subtly shifted his footwork and traced a half-circle step to the side. "Not that I expected treasure troves."
That was the reality of this forest.
Even in the outer periphery, nature was not so kind as to offer its bounty unguarded.
Every spiritual herb of decent value was either guarded by beasts, entangled in poisonous vines, or growing in treacherous terrain. Some were even used by beasts as bait, luring greedy cultivators into ambushes.
The common perception that the outer forest was "safe" was only relative. Those who treated it like a garden were quickly turned into fertilizer.
But Li Qingyun was cautious. Patient. Sharp.
Each time he sensed a guarded herb, he studied the guardian beast's path, habits, and temperament. Sometimes he would wait an hour, hidden within the dense foliage. Other times, he'd find a way to bait the creature out with dried meat or elemental pebbles, drawing it just far enough to harvest the herb in a flash and leave without confrontation.
Of course, there were instances when battle was unavoidable.
He had fought two more beasts since the Spirit Boar—one a Three-Eyed Rabbit, fast and hard to pin down, and another a Spine-Tailed Lizard, with a tail that lashed like a whip. Both were Rank 1 beasts and both now lay buried under the roots of ancient trees.
He had obtained a few useful herbs: Windleaf, which aided recovery; Drifting Flame Moss, often used in forging fire-based pills; and a withered stalk of Cloudshade Grass, barely usable but still valuable in the right alchemical hands.
Not riches, no.
But experience. Growth. Awareness.
"Every step into this forest makes me sharper," Li Qingyun thought, pressing onward.
Though he did not yet know the full depth of what his Primal Chaos Vessel Physique could achieve, one thing was clear—his journey had truly begun.
And this was only the periphery.
---
Unbeknownst to Li Qingyun, as he silently moved through the underbrush—breath measured, steps light, and senses alert—a figure stood atop a distant tree branch, arms folded behind his back. His long cloak fluttered with the breeze, yet not a single leaf beneath stirred.
It was Li Tianyang.
His gaze calmly followed every move his son made, from the subtle way he lowered his presence when avoiding a patrolling beast, to the careful inspection of spiritual herbs before acting. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly in rare approval.
"His reactions are measured. His judgment is sharp. And that spiritual perception… it's already approaching the early Foundation Establishment level."
Li Tianyang's cultivation base was deep and profound. As a Golden Core cultivator, his control over his breath, energy, and presence had reached the point where he could vanish completely from the senses of most. His steps left no mark, and not a single fluctuation escaped his control.
Even Li Qingyun remarkably honed spiritual sense—nurtured by his Primal Chaos Vessel Physique, sword intent, and soul depth from reincarnation—was still at the Qi Gathering Realm, and thus could not pierce the veil of a Golden Core expert in concealment.
Li Tianyang leaned slightly forward as he watched his son face off against the Spine-Tailed Lizard. It was a dangerous beast for this part of the forest—its tail alone could crush a boulder.
And yet, Li Qingyun remained composed.
He didn't panic when the lizard broke through the brush with a roar. His Phantom Step Art carried him to the side like a gust of wind, and his blade—Shadowfang—moved with elegant precision, not brute force.
'Three moves,' Li Tianyang thought.
The first deflected the beast's lashing tail.
The second carved across its thick hide, exposing a weak point.
The third—swift, merciless—pierced into the lizard's eye and drove deep into its brain.
'Done.'
Li Tianyang's brows twitched ever so slightly.
"Even most cultivators at the ninth stage of Qi Gathering would need talismans or soul arts to overwhelm it. But he did it cleanly… without even drawing on his physique's full strength. He's not just talented—he's sharp."
Though Li Tianyang was proud, his expression remained calm.
He had seen countless so-called geniuses crumble under pressure or grow arrogant from shallow victories. What reassured him more than Li Qingyun's strength was his temperament—calm, steady, and with a silent hunger for refinement.
Then, without a word, Li Tianyang's figure melted into the forest mist again. He would not intervene unless absolutely necessary.
"Let him walk forward on his own. That's the only way his sword will become truly his."
Hidden among the shifting leaves, unseen and undetectable, the Golden Core cultivator resumed his silent vigil—an unshakable guardian in the dark, yet offering no guidance, no interference.