Leaving the relative security of the boar's den behind, Gù Tiānháo shouldered his now heavier pack, laden with the spoils of his perilous hunt, and turned his face towards the deeper, unexplored reaches of the Black Mist Forest. The air here felt different – heavier, charged with a wilder, more potent spiritual Qi that both invigorated his senses and prickled his skin with a constant sense of latent danger. The mist, too, seemed thicker, swirling in disorienting patterns that reduced visibility even further, sometimes to mere arm's length. Navigation became exponentially more difficult, relying less on sight and more on instinct, subtle shifts in the terrain, and the faint guidance of the ambient Qi flow.
His enhanced strength and senses, products of reaching the peak of the 2nd Level, were immediately put to the test. The creatures he encountered now were a clear step up from the Shadow Cats and Rock Rats of the forest's edge. One afternoon, while carefully traversing a particularly dense patch of fog near a stagnant marsh, a flicker of movement caught his eye – or rather, the lack of movement where something should have been. His instincts screamed, and he threw himself sideways just as a serpentine form, almost perfectly camouflaged against the mossy roots of a gnarled tree, struck where he had been standing.
It was a Mist Viper, a notorious Level 2 spirit beast known for its near-perfect camouflage and paralyzing venom. Its scales shifted color subtly, blending seamlessly with the mist and shadows. Unlike the Tree Snake he'd dispatched earlier, this viper was faster, larger, and its fangs dripped with a venom that smelled faintly acrid even from a distance. Tiānháo didn't hesitate; leveraging his improved speed, he circled the viper, his hunting knife held ready. He feinted an attack to its head, drawing a lightning-fast strike, then pivoted, using the viper's momentum against it, and drove his knife cleanly through the back of its neck, severing the spine. It was a swift, efficient kill, born from his previous combat experiences and enhanced physical attributes. He carefully extracted the venom sacs – potentially useful or valuable later – and the small, water-attribute beast core before quickly moving on, wary that the scent of the kill might attract unwanted attention.
Days later, he found himself in a rockier, more elevated region of the forest. Here, the dominant predators were Stone Apes – burly, territorial beasts standing nearly as tall as him, with stony grey fur and surprising strength. He observed a troop of them from a distance, noting their social structure and their habit of throwing large rocks with alarming accuracy. He chose avoidance, recognizing that fighting an entire troop, even of mid-Level 2 beasts, would be foolishly risky. 24 His goal was not extermination, but survival and finding his target resource. Stealth and strategic retreat were tools just as valuable as his knife.
He continued his cautious exploration, using the fragmented knowledge from the God and Demon Slaying Bead to identify various common spiritual herbs. He found patches of Spirit Gathering Grass, useful for basic Qi absorption, and some Iron Skin Vines, whose sap could be used to temporarily harden materials. He collected samples meticulously, storing them carefully, but the truly rare ingredients, like the 100-year Ginseng, remained elusive. The forest guarded its treasures jealousy.
With each passing day, his skills sharpened. He learned to read the subtle signs in the mist, to navigate by the feel of the wind and the slope of the land, to identify the calls of different beasts, and to sense fluctuations in the ambient Qi that warned of nearby creatures or potential hazards. He became adept at setting up concealed camps, masking his scent, and moving like a ghost through the perpetual twilight beneath the dense canopy. The pampered Third Young Master of the Gu Family was fading into memory, replaced by a hardened, wary survivor, increasingly attuned to the deadly rhythms of the Black Mist Forest. The deeper he went, the more the forest felt ancient and awake, watching him, testing him.