Chapter 656 - 261: Spirit Monster Forest: Fellow Daoist, Save Me
Chapter 656: Chapter 261: Spirit Monster Forest: Fellow Daoist, Save Me
At the same time, the roars of beasts echoed in Xiao Chen’s ears.
The sounds came from within the white fog, as if countless predators lay hidden, ready to rush out and attack at any moment.
Faced with such a sudden turn of events, an ordinary cultivator would surely have panicked.
With both sight and Divine Sense restricted, there would be almost no time to react to a sneak attack.
More importantly, it was impossible to determine what kind of situation he was in.
Had Spirit Monsters laid a trap, or were malicious cultivators preparing to ambush and kill others?
However, Xiao Chen remained perfectly calm and continued forward, walking straight into the depths of the fog.
Whether he encountered Spirit Monsters or Tribulation Cultivators, he was completely unafraid.
But after just a few steps, he suddenly realized something wasn’t quite right about this.
He deliberately summoned the Ghost-Faced Profound Light Shield to protect himself and, for the first time in a while, took out his Donghua Wind Sword, assuming a cautious and vigilant stance.
’In this situation, if I don’t act scared, it’ll seem too fake.’
’It’s fine if they’re Spirit Monsters, but if I run into Tribulation Cultivators, it might make them wary.’
After walking forward about a hundred paces, a harsh wind suddenly closed in on Xiao Chen from behind.
He whipped around to see a massive black shadow already upon him.
First, a pungent, foul stench washed over him.
It was followed by a deafening roar.
"ROAR!"
The sound was suffused with dense Spiritual Power, causing the Protective Spiritual Light from his Ghost-Faced Profound Light Shield to tremble and then shatter on the spot.
This was partly because Xiao Chen had intentionally not activated its Spirit Ascension Form from the start.
But the ability to shatter a standard Protective Spiritual Light with a single roar was enough to prove this creature was hostile.
"VMMMM!"
A torrent of True Essence surged into the Donghua Wind Sword, causing it to emit a low hum.
Instantly, a massive beam of Sword Light flashed, slicing the lunging black shadow in half at the waist.
However, due to inertia, the shadow’s momentum carried it forward.
"CRACK!"
Xiao Chen sidestepped two paces to his left just in time, watching as the creature crashed into the pine tree behind him, snapping it in two.
Only then did he get a clear look.
It was a strange Demon Beast, built like an ox with a single horn on its forehead, covered in black, wolf-like fur, but with a tail like a cat’s.
Fresh blood gushed from the two halves of the Demon Body, which had finally separated upon impact.
"A Golden Core Demon Beast?"
Xiao Chen took a step closer and used the tip of his sword to pry open its abdomen. "No, there’s no Demon Pill!"
Nor was there the usual process of a slain Golden Core Demon Beast’s Demonic Power dissipating back into Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
"Could this be a Spirit Monster?"
Curious, Xiao Chen crouched down to observe it closely.
After just a few breaths, the blood that had flowed out began to turn transparent.
Then, the Demon Beast’s body gradually lost its original color.
It shrank a size, transforming into two severed pieces of black pine.
"How bizarre."
Xiao Chen used his Flying Sword to slice it open vertically and, just as he expected, dug a fist-sized, ink-black Tree Heart out of the lower half.
Holding it in his hand, he could even feel a faint pulse.
However, this didn’t mean the Tree Heart was still alive; it was just an illusion created by the overly active life force within it.
This thing’s main use was for Artifact Refining, and many Artifact Refiners were willing to pay a high price of over fifty thousand Spirit Stones to acquire one.
Although the overall demand wasn’t huge, its extremely low supply meant that you could basically sell as many as you could find.
It was also used in some special Pill Formulas.
In such cases, the price could very well double.
’Maybe I should go collect a few more Wood Hearts?’
The fog around Xiao Chen still hadn’t dispersed, and he could faintly hear beast roars from even farther away.
In other words, there were likely more Spirit Monsters hiding in the white fog.
If he were here to collect Tree Hearts, this would be a great opportunity to hunt Spirit Monsters.
’Ugh, forget it. The Dao Crystal is more important.’
Placing the Tree Heart in his hand into the Vast Sea Ring, Xiao Chen chose to press onward.
For him, there were plenty of ways to earn Spirit Stones outside the Secret Realm, but opportunities to collect Dao Crystals were rare.
Therefore, he didn’t deliberately search for other Spirit Monsters.
Instead, he continued along his original path toward the Blood Vine Forest.
One of the benefits of being a Body Cultivator was being able to travel quickly on foot in environments where flight was restricted.
Thanks to this advantage, Xiao Chen walked out of the fog-covered area in just half an hour.
Although he didn’t actively hunt the Spirit Monsters, he couldn’t stop them from growing legs and running over to attack him on their own accord.
So, by the time he left the fog, his Vast Sea Ring contained three more Wood Hearts and a portion of special pollen.
After another twelve hours or so, Xiao Chen finally reached the edge of the Spirit Monster Forest.
As the trees on either side grew sparser, the ground beneath his feet became wetter.
At the very edge, a few sparse Spirit Woods were sunk more than halfway up their trunks in the mire.
Even where Xiao Chen stood, he could feel the ground slowly sinking beneath his feet.
If he stood still, he might sink completely.
Looking ahead, the situation was even worse; the mire gave way completely to a reed-filled marsh.
He could even see mud pits in some areas that looked like small ponds.
With no trees to block his view, his field of vision was much wider.
However, as Xiao Chen scanned his surroundings, he saw no other cultivators nearby.