Seven, Explore Mountain

  Xun Daozi lived a peaceful life in Wudao Cave, practicing and living. Every morning and evening, he would practice Taiji Fist on the platform in front of the cave, which he had learned from his previous life. At night, he would either meditate on the cloud bed inside the cave or by the bamboo pavilion beside the water pool to cultivate the Great Zhou Tian Gong. In his free time, he would drink tea and sometimes recite ancient poems and texts that he had read in his past life, such as "Tao Te Ching", "Zhuangzi" and "Huainanzi". He spent the rest of his time wandering around the valley. His days were fulfilling and enjoyable.

  In the mountains, there is no concept of time, and in the valley, there are no distinct seasonal changes. The various fruits in the valley are always blooming and bearing fruit at all times. Xun Daozi has lost track of how many years or months have passed while he was in the valley.

  The only thing that has changed is his daily practice of Taiji Quan, which is no longer the same as it was initially. Many movements have been altered. Xun Daozi doesn't know why these changes occurred; he just feels that after making these adjustments, his practice has become more comfortable and enjoyable, with an indescribable feeling lingering in his heart.

  His daily practice of Zhou Tian Gong has also undergone a transformation. Initially, some meridians were not fully traversed during the exercise, but now every single meridian is activated, allowing him to complete the exercise faster. After each session, his entire body feels an inexplicable sense of comfort and relaxation, which motivates Xun Daozi to persist in his practice.

  If someone else saw Zidao practicing his skills, they would also be surprised.

  In the morning, Xun Daozi practices Taiji boxing, with every movement of his hands and feet having a kind of inexplicable charm, vast and intangible, subtle yet shocking to the mind and soul. It's hard to put into words, impossible to describe. Watching him practice is like seeing the traces of the Tao. At night, Xun Daozi meditates and practices internal alchemy, full of life and vitality, with endless possibilities, his form seeming both real and illusory. If an outsider were to see him, they would likely be shocked and bewildered. But Xun Daozi himself is unaware of all this.

  After unknowingly passing out for a long time, Xun Daozi felt somewhat bored and decided to go out for a walk, explore this Xun Dao Mountain, find some wild beasts to practice his skills, and see how high his martial arts value was.

  Xun Daozi will find the Huixin Sword in the cave and carry it on his back - he also tried to follow the method described in his previous life, such as dripping blood to recognize the master, branding with divine consciousness, and so on, fantasizing about getting a feeling of being connected by blood, but after all the fuss, he can only carry it on his back. Holding that dark red unknown wooden stick in his hand, he doesn't forget to put a few jade boxes in his arms, he still pretends to have beautiful dreams of obtaining heavenly treasures and earthly gems.

  Arriving at the edge of the mist, he pinched a seal decision, and Xunzi easily passed through the maze. He casually chose a direction and released his divine sense to explore - after this period of cultivation, his divine sense could now explore nearly twenty miles in range, and the time he could sustain it had also made progress. Feeling no danger, he took big strides forward.

  Xun Daozi planned to explore about 500 miles first, and then return to the valley to rest (for safety's sake). With his current physical condition, running a thousand miles in one day was not a big deal at all.

  Xun Daozi walked while occasionally using his spiritual sense to scan the environment, and from time to time stopped to take a look at some strangely shaped plants, hoping to stumble upon something valuable. However, each time he looked, they didn't seem like anything special, and he couldn't think of his poor material knowledge, even if a treasure was right in front of him, could he recognize it? In that valley, there were so many treasures, how many could he actually identify? This was destined to be a tragic treasure hunt.

  Xun Daozi walked while looking around.

  In the woods dozens of miles away, a lone wolf was walking towards him. This was a grey wolf, almost as tall as an adult, over 3 meters long, and compared to the wolf in Xun Daozi's past life, this was a gigantic creature, its strength beyond comparison.

  The lone wolf is looking for food, searching for all edible prey. It is highly alert and cautious, afraid of startling the prey.

  Xun Daozi carried a wooden staff in his hand, walking while looking around, completely unaware of the danger approaching. The few crises he had faced during his initial transformation had not given him enough warning, and his blind trust in his own spiritual awareness made him think that he would definitely be able to detect any danger first, as he was used to using his spiritual sense to scan his surroundings every few miles. It was precisely this reliance that allowed Xun Daozi to walk very easily.

  The two sides gradually approached each other, and the distance between them was less than twenty miles. Xun Daozi had not found anything in his spiritual exploration just now, and he was walking forward with big strides at this time. The distance between Xun Daozi and Cang Lang was getting closer.

  Suddenly, the gray wolf stopped moving, raised its head and sniffed, as if it had sensed something.

  At this time, the two sides were only a little more than ten miles apart. For the vast land of Honghuang, ten miles was already an effective hunting distance for most predators.

  The grey wolf clearly discovered Xun Daozi. His body was even more cautious, hiding his own body in the mottled bushes, moving stealthily.

  Zain looked at Xun Daozi again, still unaware of anything, even though he had just used his divine sense to probe again. He was completely unaware that danger was approaching.

  As the two sides approached each other, Xun Daozi remained calm. However, Cang Lang became increasingly cautious and eventually hid silently in a bush, motionless, with a pair of green eyes staring through the leaves at the direction Xun Daozi was coming from.

  Xun Daozi slowly approached the place where Cang Lang was hiding.

  Only a grey wolf was seen crouching in the bushes, its eyes fixed on its prey, its muscles tense, ready to deliver a fatal blow.

  Xun Daozi was less than five zhang away from the thicket where the gray wolf was hiding when he saw the wolf's hind leg muscles tense, its legs exerting force as it sprang into the air, dashing towards Xun Daozi like lightning. Five zhang was the optimal distance for a gray wolf to launch an attack; any farther or closer and it couldn't unleash its full power in this pounce.

  At the moment the gray wolf sprang up, Xun Daozi only felt his whole body's hair stand on end, and instinctively rolled to one side to avoid the wolf's pounce. Quickly getting up, with legs apart, body leaning forward, holding the wooden stick horizontally in front of his chest, eyes fixed on the position where he had just passed by. Both hands tightly grasped the wooden stick, all muscles tense, but a cold sweat broke out all over his body at that moment.

  The grey wolf didn't expect to miss, turned around and faced Xun Daozi. A hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, he didn't think the prey could dodge his supposedly fatal blow. Looking at the two legs walking in front of him, he prepared to launch another attack. Since a sneak attack wouldn't work, then he would go for a frontal assault.

  The grey wolf's tail drooped down, its head lowered, its big mouth open, its eyes staring at Xun Daozi, step by step approaching Xun Daozi.

  Xun Daozi's eyes widened at the sight of the gray wolf, and for a moment, he had an urge to run. But he quickly suppressed it, knowing that running now would be too late, and turning his back on the enemy was not a good idea. Besides, he couldn't outrun the four-legged gray wolf anyway. Moreover, when he came out, he had intended to find some wild beasts to practice his skills, and this guy just happened to be a suitable opponent.

  Xun Daozi stared at the grey wolf that was approaching step by step, his heart racing with tension, his palms sweating as he gripped the wooden stick.

  The grey wolf stopped three zhang away from Xun Daozi, its front legs bent and back legs crouched, tail hanging naturally down, staring at Xun Daozi with its eyes wide open, mouth agape, tongue retracted, revealing rows of sharp white teeth, ready to launch a fierce attack.

  Xun Daozi looked at the grey wolf in front of him, feeling immense pressure, his body couldn't help but tremble slightly. Seeing the wolf was about to attack, unable to withstand the pressure, he suddenly raised his wooden stick and took a step towards the wolf.

  Xun Daozi's slash was without pattern or rhythm, and had no numerical advantage over the wolf, posing no threat to it whatsoever, despite the fact that it cut through the air with a whooshing sound.

  Cang Lang merely flashed to the side, and opened up a path for Xun Daozi's strike that was all show but no substance. Cang Lang dodged, but Xun Daozi couldn't pull back in time; his staff struck the ground with great force, causing his arms to go numb from the shock. The ground cracked open, forming a three-foot deep crater, and dust flew everywhere.

  The grey wolf yielded one side, just about to turn around and pounce, but was blinded by dust, unable to seize the opportunity to strike, allowing Xun Daozi to narrowly escape.

  While Xun Daozi didn't hit the gray wolf, he was afraid of being attacked by it, and didn't notice the dust flying everywhere. His arm went numb, and he quickly jumped to one side, sweeping his stick out in a horizontal motion. However, this sweep didn't hit the gray wolf, but instead hit a large tree, peeling off a big chunk of bark. Xun Daozi's arm shook even more violently, and the previous numbness hadn't yet dissipated. This shock caused him to lose his grip on the stick, and it flew out of his hands, falling to the ground several meters away.

  At this time, the gray wolf also solved the trouble of dust and dirt getting in its eyes. It faced Xun Daozi and rushed over, about three zhang away from Xun Daozi. Its hind legs suddenly kicked hard, jumping high into the air, bringing a burst of bloody wind, pouncing on Xun Daozi from mid-air.

  Xun Daozi had not yet come back to his senses when the wolf's large mouth was already in front of him, a pungent wind blowing against his face. He subconsciously raised his arms to protect his head and was knocked to the ground, and just as a thread of fear flashed through his mind, he felt a severe pain transmitted from his arm. The severe pain stimulated Xun Daozi's arm to instinctively fling out, but unexpectedly this fling threw the wolf that was pressing on his body away.

  The grey wolf pounced, as expected, knocking the prey to the ground and biting down hard on its neck. But instead of sinking its teeth into flesh, it found itself biting down on the prey's arm, which not only failed to sever but also shattered its own razor-sharp teeth in the process. The pain was excruciating. And before it could even react, the prey swung its arm and sent the wolf flying, crashing heavily to one side.

  He didn't expect that with just one swing, he would fling the wolf away. He was stunned for a moment, but the severe pain in his arm quickly brought him back to his senses. Without getting up, he first lifted his arm to see if it was broken. Fortunately, his arm was still intact and hadn't been severed, but there were several clear tooth marks that had penetrated the skin and were oozing blood, sending waves of pain through him.

  Xun Daozi let out a sigh of relief in his heart, as long as he didn't die. He quickly got up and looked for Cang Lang everywhere.

  He's fine here, but the wolf over there is not doing well, his teeth are falling out, he's in severe pain, and was thrown into a daze with stars spinning before his eyes.

  Xun Daozi looked at the gray wolf a few feet away, which was still dizzy from the previous attack. His heart had already calmed down from its initial panic and began to quiet down. After that one hit, he felt that the gray wolf's threat to him was not as great as he had imagined, and he might be able to defeat it. He did not yet realize that the gray wolf's most deadly weapon, its sharp teeth, had all been shattered by himself, so at this moment, the gray wolf posed no real threat to him.

  Facing the gray wolf, Xun Daozi, although no longer afraid, still maintained sufficient caution. He turned his hand and pulled out the protective sword from behind his back, grasping the hilt with both hands. Without hesitation, he took slow steps towards the gray wolf. In that brief moment, Xun Daozi could be said to have undergone a precious psychological process, opening up a good start for his future journey through the vast wilderness.

  The gray wolf was no longer dizzy at this time, looking at Xun Daozi who was slowly approaching in front of him. Not only did he lose the gaze of a predator, but instead, his eyes showed fear. He didn't know why the seemingly weak creature in front of him had that incredible power. In fear, not only did he not move forward, but he also felt an immense pressure and unconsciously retreated backward. After experiencing what happened earlier, he knew he was no match for the creature in front of him. Seeing the creature constantly approaching him made him even more fearful, and finally, he couldn't bear the pressure, turned around and ran away, fleeing in disarray without even daring to look back.

  Xun Daozi was shocked and ran away inexplicably. He didn't think about it, but he had experienced countless years of scorching sun and rain erosion without being damaged, and the stone that had been tempered by the 99 Great Heavenly Tribulation had undergone a strong transformation, its strength had reached an abnormal level, and after this period of cultivation, it was even more terrifying. The fact that the wolf could bite his arm and make it bleed was also very impressive. The wolf's own sharp teeth were all broken, so running away became the best option.

  That gray wolf is also pitiful, it seems that it has never interacted with other fierce beasts on the vast and desolate land. If there was any exchange, it would have known that the two-legged creatures walking upright on this land are not to be trifled with. For ordinary ferocious beasts, those guys are too dangerous, and it's best to run away quickly when seen. This gray wolf actually took him as its prey, and managed to escape with its life intact. If word gets out, other fierce beasts will surely be shocked, and the gray wolf can proudly boast about this.

  Of course, no one is now managing Xun Daozi's stunned or unstunned state, nor is anyone going to care about that unlucky wolf's future pride.

  Today I saw that there were two collections, it just so happens to be the weekend, I'll post an update to celebrate. I'm glad you appreciate it, it's a great comfort to my heart! Thank you!