The following morning.
While Black Blood Stockade still basked in the lingering triumph of the inter-clan friendly tournament, two unremarkable figures had already slipped away without a sound, vanishing into the grey expanse of the ten-thousand mountains.
For this deep-forest excursion, Lin Mu had planned roughly half a month of tempering.
All routine affairs back at Black Blood Stockade had been handed off to Lin Ping.
With the face of his newly appointed position, plus the invisible shelter of Lin Feng's backing, half a month should pass without incident.
As for wilderness survival —
The most critical factors were always logistics and self-preservation.
With deep pockets to draw from, Lin Mu had simply gone to Old Ma and cleared out his stock without concern for cost.
Walking along the forest path, Lin Mu ran through his current Gu worm configuration in his mind.
First — the Rank 3 Steel Shield Gu, which had cost him a full eighteen hundred Primeval Stones.
Though it was Rank 3, it was an exceptionally rare passive-trigger consumable Gu. It lay dormant within the Aperture under ordinary circumstances, drawing almost no Primeval Essence.
Only in the precise, razor-thin instant when the Gu Master faced a lethal threat with no time to react would it activate.
When triggered, it would instantly burn through the enormous energy stored within it, condensing an indestructible steel shield over the two absolute death points — the throat and the heart.
Beyond that, to address the harsh conditions of sleeping outdoors, Lin Mu had also acquired two Rank 2 Lotus Leaf Gu.
When activated, each one could expand into an enormous, extraordinarily resilient lotus leaf that wrapped the Gu Master completely within.
It blocked wind and cold, perfectly sealing in warmth and scent, while also releasing a faint medicinal fragrance that caused venomous insects, mosquitoes, and even lower-ranked wild beasts to instinctively keep their distance.
To complement the Jade Tendon Gu, Lin Mu had also specifically obtained a Rank 2 Wash Dust Gu.
As the name implied, this Gu could strip away the impurities of a mortal body and reforge it anew.
Through gradual, sustained nourishment over time, it would substantially elevate the Gu Master's physical constitution and blood vitality — a perfect match for the Jade Tendon Gu's counter-damage body-hardening properties.
Beyond those... the combat system is also coming together.
Lin Mu drew a slow breath, feeling the surging Primeval Essence within his Aperture.
During this period, he had successfully combined the Rank 1 Red Mud Gu with the Crushed Stone Gu and refined it — without incident — into the Rank 2 Red Mud Gu.
When used alongside the Dust Escape Gu, his Primeval Essence now flowed with far greater ease, and the power output had multiplied considerably.
Rank and Foundation: Outwardly Rank 2 middle stage, but with the Four-Flavor Liquor Worm's purification, the Primeval Essence flowing through his Aperture was genuine Rank 2 upper stage quality.
Scouting and Escape: Rank 2 Hound Scent Gu, Rank 2 Far-Sight Gu, Rank 2 Leaping Hare Gu, and Rank 1 Dust Escape Gu.
Offense, Defense, and Recovery: Rank 2 Vital Gu — Metal Rend Leaf Gu, Rank 2 Earth Spike Gu, Rank 2 Red Mud Gu, Rank 2 Wound-Mending Gu, and the passive defensive Rank 3 Steel Shield Gu.
With a configuration like this...
My overall combat strength is now sufficient to go head-to-head against early Rank 3 Gu Masters with mediocre or unbalanced Gu setups.
That was the foundation of confidence that allowed him to venture this deep into the ten-thousand mountains.
"Senior Brother, something's ahead."
Lin Wuxie, walking behind Lin Mu, suddenly dropped his voice. Like an acutely alert hunting dog, he had caught the scent of danger drifting through the air.
"Deal with it."
Lin Mu didn't even break stride. He issued the order with complete indifference.
"Yes!"
A fierce light blazed in Lin Wuxie's eyes. Without a moment's hesitation, he shot forward like a dark blur.
Beyond arming himself, Lin Mu had also taken the opportunity — with resources to spare — to put together a well-suited set of Rank 1 Strength Path Gu worms for his nominal junior brother.
At his current level, the cost of low-rank Gu worms was well within his means.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
From the dense forest ahead came the brutal sounds of flesh colliding and beasts shrieking.
Lin Mu clasped his hands behind his back and strolled forward, stopping beneath a large tree to watch the slaughter with cold eyes.
This time, they had not taken the familiar route toward the Blood Forest. Instead, they had chosen a far more remote path — one that appeared rarely, if at all, on Black Blood Stockade's maps.
According to ancient records, this region's terrain was exceptionally treacherous, and as a result, it had cultivated an enormous population of wild demon beasts.
Lin Mu had reasoned it through quietly.
The larger the base population of demon beasts, the more frequently they devour and slaughter one another.
And the higher the frequency of that culling, the greater the probability that a Thousand Beast King will emerge from this region.
That was one of the core purposes of this excursion.
As expected — barely two days into the journey, before they had even truly penetrated the depths of this region, they had already encountered and killed several ferocious peak Rank 1 demon beasts in succession.
In the clearing ahead of Lin Mu —
Lin Wuxie was locked in brutal, bloody close combat with two Armored Porcupines, each the size of a young bull.
The fight revealed a level of ability that was deeply unsettling to witness.
Lin Wuxie was only peak Rank 1 in cultivation, but with the Strength Path Gu worms Lin Mu had provided, his already aberrant physical power had become something else entirely.
He used no elaborate techniques. It was pure, raw, bone-on-bone brutality from start to finish.
"ROAR!"
When one of the Armored Porcupines charged with tusks capable of shattering boulders, Lin Wuxie did not dodge.
He let out a roar, seized both razor-sharp tusks with his bare hands, and dug his legs into the hard earth — carving two deep furrows into the ground — and brought the frenzied beast to a grinding halt.
Then he freed one hand, curled it into a pitch-black claw, and drove it through the porcupine's supposedly impenetrable throat as easily as punching through paper. Blood erupted in a torrent.
Watching Lin Wuxie's unsettling combat state, a flicker of wariness crossed Lin Mu's eyes — subtle, but present.
It deepened his curiosity about the incomplete inheritance Lin Wuxie carried.
But for now, he had to maintain absolute composure. Not a trace of apprehension or surprise could show.
After all, in Lin Wuxie's eyes, he was the unfathomable, lofty Senior Brother of Shadow Sect.
Splat.
With the last Armored Porcupine collapsing into a pool of blood, the skirmish was over.
"Clean up the traces. Prepare to rest."
Lin Mu gave the instruction without inflection.
Their destination was still roughly three days away, and two days of relentless high-intensity combat had drained both of them — Primeval Essence and stamina alike.
Lin Mu decided to hold their advance and recover first.
The two quickly left the bloodied ground and located a towering ancient tree on elevated terrain.
Lin Mu leaped up into the canopy and, settled between the thickest branches, summoned the Lotus Leaf Gu from his Aperture.
Hum.
A flash of green light.
Two enormous lotus leaves — each as wide as a millstone, their texture extraordinarily tough — unfurled and wrapped around each of them in turn.
The moment the leaves closed, the cold wind outside was perfectly sealed away.
A faint, clean fragrance spread through the small enclosed space, bringing with it an inexplicable sense of calm and warmth, locking in moisture and body heat without fail.
Even so, the winter mountain wind howled through the canopy outside, wailing like countless vengeful spirits.
The night deepened.
As the two of them lay sheltered within the Lotus Leaf Gu, sinking into heavy sleep to restore their exhausted bodies —
Shh... shh...
An almost imperceptible sound of scales sliding against bark rose quietly from the base of the great tree.
So faint that even the sharpest hunting dog would have missed it entirely.
In the deep shadow of the trunk —
A massive, coiling body — as thick around as a barrel — pressed itself against the rough bark.
Cloaked in the perfect cover of the night, it climbed with excruciating slowness and patience.
It made no sound. It released no trace of violent intent.
Yet in the darkness less than thirty feet from those two great lotus leaves —
A pair of cold, vertical pupils — glowing like two pale green lanterns, utterly devoid of any emotional warmth — had already slid open in the boundless dark.
Fixed. Unblinking.
Locked onto the prey resting in the canopy above.