After eating half of the deer leg, Yuan Ming returned to the tree house with the remaining cooked meat. He found that Ha Gong had not yet awakened. After a brief thought, he took out a thumb-sized yellow bamboo tube from his pocket.

He removed the cork from the bamboo tube and immediately placed it under Ha Gong’s nose.

A cool and refreshing scent immediately rushed into Ha Gong’s nostrils. His nose wrinkled, and he let out a light breath, gradually regaining consciousness.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming quickly moved the bamboo tube away and sealed it again.

After Ha Gong woke up, he took a deep breath and felt the pain from his injuries, causing him to grimace and take a while to recover. He then saw Yuan Ming standing beside him.

“Yuan brother, you saved me again.” Ha Gong’s eyes flashed with gratitude as he spoke.

After saying that, he struggled to sit up, but Yuan Ming held his shoulder and pressed him back down.

“The injuries on your stomach are not light, it won’t get better in a short while, so don’t rush to move. Tell me, what happened? Those two guys from the Lycan Gang couldn’t hurt you.” Yuan Ming asked.

Upon hearing Yuan Ming’s question, Ha Gong did not immediately answer. Instead, he looked up and glanced at his abdomen, seeing that it had already been bandaged, he lay back down.

“If I hadn’t been injured, they wouldn’t have been able to hurt me. I encountered a monster.” Ha Gong’s face flashed with a trace of fear as he spoke.

“A monster? Not a fierce beast?” Yuan Ming became interested upon hearing this term.

“I…I’m not sure. But that thing is definitely different from the ordinary fierce beasts I’ve seen. I don’t think it’s a fierce beast.” Ha Gong hesitated for a moment before saying so.

“What does it look like? Tell me.” Yuan Ming said.

He had the “Illustrated Guide to Common Fierce Beasts” given by Zhao Tong. Even if he hadn’t seen the general fierce beasts that appeared in the Ten Thousand Mountains, he was confident that he could recognize them.

Yuan Ming wanted to see what kind of creature Ha Gong was talking about.

Upon hearing this, Ha Gong took a deep breath, closed his eyes slowly, as if carefully recalling his previous experience, and calming his emotions.

After a moment, he opened his eyes again and looked at Yuan Ming.

“The thing that injured me is no more than eight feet tall, covered in white fur, with black claws. It walks upright like a human, but runs on all fours like a wild beast. The most important thing is that its roar sounds like a human’s wailing, sending chills down one’s spine.” Ha Gong described slowly.

“Is that all?” Yuan Ming asked, puzzled, when he stopped.

“These are just its peculiarities. When I fought against it, I found that it not only had a strong physique like iron, but also seemed to have no pain sensation at all. It didn’t defend itself during the fight, completely disregarding its own safety, almost like a suicidal attack. My long knife struck its neck, but it didn’t dodge and resisted it, injuring me severely with just a swipe of its claw. If I hadn’t fallen into a waterfall and been washed away by the water, I would have definitely died there.” Ha Gong shook his head, speaking with lingering fear.

After listening, Yuan Ming scratched his chin with one hand and fell into contemplation.

“If what Ha Gong said is true, then it really is a monster.” He carefully compared it in his mind, but was disappointed to find that there was no corresponding fierce beast in the “Illustrated Guide to Common Fierce Beasts”.

“Do you have any clues?” Ha Gong looked at Yuan Ming and asked.

Yuan Ming shook his head and said, “I was just about to go to the Frog Valley. I will ask Zhao Tong about this strange thing you mentioned. Maybe he knows.”

“Alright.” Ha Gong nodded.

“This is one of my temporary hideouts. It’s not very well hidden, but usually no one comes here. You should rest here tonight, I will keep watch.” Yuan Ming instructed.

“Yuan brother, I will definitely repay your great kindness in the future.” Ha Gong clasped his fists and sincerely said.

“Forget about that for now, let’s eat something.” Yuan Ming smiled and handed him the half deer leg meat in his hand.

…

Late at night, the dim moonlight seeped through the cracks of the tree house.

Yuan Ming leaned against the wall of the tree house and eventually fell asleep due to fatigue. The moonlight gently covered him like a veil, and the sound of his faint snoring echoed in the tree house.

Suddenly, a cat’s meow sounded.

Yuan Ming suddenly woke up, his eyes wide open. Subconsciously trying to get up, he found that he couldn’t move at all. For a moment, he felt as if his soul had left his body, unable to distinguish whether he was in a dream or reality.

In a daze, a faint female voice intermittently sounded, sometimes whispering in his ear, sometimes as if someone was talking through a closed door, coming and going, unpredictable.

“Weird…”

“Soul…what is it…”

“Interesting…”

The voice carried an indescribable sense of enchantment. As Yuan Ming listened, he felt his mind becoming heavy, his eyelids drooping, and gradually falling asleep.

But just before he completely lost consciousness, a small silver shadow suddenly flashed at the gap in the door of the tree house.

It seemed to be a silver cat?

He slept deeply throughout the night until the next morning when the morning light shone through the cracks in the wooden boards of the tree house, waking him up.

Rubbing his forehead, Yuan Ming sat up and couldn’t help but recall the dream from last night, feeling a bit absurd.

But amidst the absurdity, the strange sense of reality, especially the feeling of being out of control like his soul leaving his body, made him unable to let go for a long time.

He shook his head and got up to check Ha Gong’s injuries. He found that he had recovered quite a bit and had to wake him up.

“I need to go out for a while. You stay here alone and be careful.” Yuan Ming instructed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful on my own. You should also be careful, both the Green Wolf Gang and the Lycan Gang will probably target you next.” Ha Gong nodded and said.

Yuan Ming nodded at him, opened the door of the tree house, and walked out.

But just as he bent down to walk out of the door, Yuan Ming couldn’t help but freeze.

“This is…that silver cat?” an unexpected guest appeared before his eyes.

On a branch extending from the tree house, a silver cat about half a foot tall sat crouched, staring at him with a pair of golden and amber eyes.

Its round head, not much bigger than Yuan Ming’s fist, tilted slightly to the side, as if it didn’t understand what Yuan Ming was saying, or it looked like it was looking at a fool.

“I’m…believing a dream?” Yuan Ming couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and his figure suddenly pounced forward like a cheetah, trying to grab the silver cat.

Just as his hands were about to touch it, the silver cat’s body lightly leaped, narrowly avoiding Yuan Ming’s grasp. It then landed on another branch, like a dragonfly skimming the water, leaping to another branch.

Yuan Ming missed and hugged the branch, turning his head to look.

He saw the silver cat proudly walking on the branch, its cat-like steps were somewhat strange, not like other cats with their tails curled up or raised, but with its long tail hanging down, completely covering its butt.

“I’ve been despised by a cat?” Yuan Ming raised his eyebrows.

“Yuan brother, what’s wrong?” Ha Gong’s voice came from inside the tree house.

“Nothing.” Yuan Ming replied.

When he turned his head to look again, the figure of the silver cat had completely disappeared from his sight.

“Come to think of it, why does this cat look somewhat familiar, as if I’ve seen it somewhere before?” Yuan Ming scratched the back of his head and muttered to himself.

…

In the Toad Valley, in front of a stone house.

Yuan Ming handed over the resources he had accumulated recently to Zhao Tong.

“How is it? Did you get any sword techniques?” Yuan Ming asked with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Zhao Tong looked at him, pursed his lips, and shook his head.

“Our Bi Luo Cave is not a sword sect. Sword techniques are rare, and they are not easily obtained. I’m not afraid to tell you the truth, the techniques and secrets sold in the valley are actually released by the elders of our sect to exchange for resources for themselves. We disciples are just earning some errand fees. We don’t have the courage to privately pass on techniques. So, what you can buy entirely depends on luck and what the elders are willing to sell.” Zhao Tong explained helplessly under Yuan Ming’s questioning gaze.

“Are there any good items recently?” Yuan Ming had already accepted the reality and asked.

“There actually is…” Zhao Tong said, his eyes lit up as he thought for a moment.

Saying that, he rummaged through a box behind him and took out a green book, placing it in front of Yuan Ming.

“You’re lucky. This ‘Shadowless Steps’ was just given to me by Elder Lu recently. The resources you’ve accumulated with me are just enough to exchange for it.” Zhao Tong said with a smile.

“What is the use of this technique?” Yuan Ming furrowed his brows and asked.

“This is not an attacking technique, but a type of body movement. It will definitely be useful for you.” Zhao Tong’s voice lowered, becoming somewhat mysterious.

“Tell me more.” Yuan Ming said noncommittally.

“It is a cultivation method that greatly enhances your agility. It cannot improve your cultivation base or directly enhance your combat power, but it can give you more means of self-preservation in close combat with others.” Zhao Tong explained.

Yuan Ming pondered as he listened.

Since he learned that the “Fur Transformation Technique” had backlash, he had been eager to obtain a sword technique to enhance his combat power, hoping to be able to kill fierce beasts without using the Fur Transformation Technique.

It was probably difficult to find a sword technique now, so learning this body movement technique might be a good choice.

“How effective is this Shadowless Steps when used?” Yuan Ming contemplated and asked.

“It is a cultivation method that can greatly enhance your agility, but it cannot improve your cultivation base. It is mainly used for close combat with others to increase your chances of survival.” Zhao Tong explained.

Yuan Ming pondered for a moment and nodded.

“In that case, I’ll take it.”