Chapter Twenty: Strange Creatures

The devastation wrought upon this world led to unimaginable suffering, until a mighty deity from the Celestial Realm was finally forced to forcibly tear open a new dimension. Thus, all cultivators migrated to this new dimension to continue their practices, which came to be known as the Realm of Cultivation.

…

Now, the secular world can only support martial arts. Practitioners of martial arts train in body refinement techniques and do not draw heavily upon the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. Therefore, the higher the rank a cultivator attains, the harder it becomes to survive in the secular world where spiritual energy is scarce. Moreover, the laws of heaven and earth impose further restrictions: once a cultivator forms a foundation, they cannot linger long in the mortal realm. Should they force themselves to stay, their cultivation will regress.

Pure Yang Ancestor, however, was an exception. By the late stage of Nascent Soul, his powers had already neared the threshold of ascension to the Celestial Realm. Coupled with his possession of the Pangu bloodline, he was immune to the constraints of the secular world's laws. Thus, he could remain in the mortal world for over five centuries without his cultivation declining, and of course, his presence in the mortal realm was permitted by the Celestial Realm above.

Having grasped the general situation, Feng Yisheng placed the "Cultivation Laws" into his ring. He wasn't particularly interested in their contents, as all of that was still far removed from his current reality.

What preoccupied Feng Yisheng now were the treasures within the storage ring. He caressed the ring with extreme care, as if stroking the flawless skin of a most exquisite beauty.

A greedy glint flashed across his face as he thought, Within this ring lie countless treasures. Not a single mistake can be allowed. My future depends on you, haha!

…

Feng Yisheng stood up and glanced at himself. Over the past nine days, his clothes and trousers had become tighter and smaller with each passing day, as if they'd shrunk.

He knew it was due to his growing taller and stronger, and that the process was hastened by the Polygonum multiflorum he had consumed, but even so, the change was remarkable.

At seventeen, Feng Yisheng had previously stood around 1.75 meters tall. Now he had surpassed 1.8 meters, having shot up nearly ten centimeters. Had he not been wearing loose clothes, his garments would have been torn apart by his sudden growth.

He thought to himself that he needed to go out and change his clothes immediately, or he'd be unpresentable.

Casting his gaze around the cave, he found it empty save for the luminous pearls embedded in the walls. Preparing to leave, he carefully plucked each glowing pearl from the wall and stored them in his ring, murmuring to himself, "These are treasures too."

Though Pure Yang Ancestor had placed restrictions on these luminous pearls, all Feng Yisheng had to do was will it, and they entered his storage ring on their own.

Having gathered the pearls, Feng Yisheng approached the patch of straw where he'd landed nine days before and infused spiritual energy into his feet.

With a light tap, he sprang more than ten meters into the air, leaping straight out of the cave.

As he emerged, he clapped his hands and said, “Wow… How did I get so strong? I can jump as high as a three-story building! Still, there's no point in such skills if I don’t use them for mischief.”

With that, he used his spiritual energy to carve the words “Trap ahead, danger” into a tree beside the cave entrance.

He then set off in the direction he had come eight days before, relying on his memory. He couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't encountered a single tourist in all this time.

Now, at the first stage of Qi Refining, his senses—sight and hearing—were ten times sharper than an ordinary person's. Yet after nine days, he hadn’t detected a single tourist in the area, let alone seen anyone near the cave entrance.

Pondering this, Feng Yisheng continued walking.

Just then, he heard movement about a hundred meters ahead and hurried toward the source.

…

Ten minutes earlier, just over a hundred meters from where Feng Yisheng’s cave lay, twenty men were advancing slowly. Their pace was not for lack of will but because their orders were to comb Mount Tai thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned.

At their head was Jiang Ming, the squad leader from the unit stationed at the mountain entrance nine days prior. All twenty were fully armed, holding large-caliber shotguns.

They had been searching for several hours, and some among them were beginning to show signs of fatigue.

“Captain, it’s been nine days already. That monster still hasn’t shown up. Why don’t we rest here for a while?” one of Jiang Ming’s men asked.

They had been at it for over two hours since entering the mountain, and with nothing unusual found, they would soon prepare to leave. For nine days, each day brought the same tension, but today, as on previous days, some men had subconsciously let down their guard.

“You want to rest, do you? Stay alert and keep searching!” Jiang Ming shouted, though inwardly he thought, Is command toying with us? Nine days, and aside from some ordinary wildlife, we haven’t seen a thing.

He muttered to himself that all this sweeping of the mountain was pointless—never a hint of anything out of the ordinary, not even a ghost. Command was truly chasing shadows.

The other nineteen, seeing their leader’s irritation, rallied and pressed on with renewed vigor.

…

Moments after the group had passed, a pair of eyes appeared, watching their retreating backs, then darted after them at incredible speed.

What was strange was that the creature’s rapid approach made no sound. As it neared the group, it suddenly leapt at the last man with lightning speed.

The man managed only a single scream before a claw ripped through his back, shattering his chest. He died instantly, his body collapsing straight to the ground.

Though the other nineteen reacted immediately, the last soldier had already fallen.

…

Turning, the nineteen men saw the culprit: a bizarre beast, unknown to the records of Earth, its appearance utterly strange.

All nineteen paled in shock and, by reflex, unleashed a barrage of shotgun fire at the creature.

To their astonishment, the shots struck the beast with a metallic clang, the rounds bouncing off harmlessly.

Their faces went ashen. These were 25mm armor-piercing rounds, said to be capable of penetrating tanks. Yet now, they could not pierce the flesh of this animal. Could it be these rounds were counterfeit, bought from some shady online seller?

“What the hell is this monster?” Jiang Ming cursed, his expression grave.