Seeing Leo's unusual movement, several wolves at the forefront pounced towards him and the spirit beast panther.

  Roar! The spirit beast panther ferociously opened its jaws and directly clamped onto one wolf's throat, ending its life.

  Leo's face turned cold. He drew his short sword and slashed at the head of a leaping wolf. Awoo! A gash opened on the wolf's head, slanting from its ear to its nose. In the blink of an eye, two wild wolves were dead. However, from the distant white mist, over a dozen more wolves of varying sizes surged forth.

  "Escape!" Leo gave this command to the spirit beast panther. Swinging his sword to fend off another wolf, he grabbed the rope with one hand and decisively leaped off the cliff. The wolf pack was too numerous, and among them were one or two beast monsters whose aura was not much weaker than the panther's. If he stubbornly held his ground here, he would likely end up being torn apart and devoured by the pack. So, Leo chose without hesitation to abandon the panther to its own escape. Whether it could survive would depend on its own fortune.

  The panther looked back, seeing Leo had already jumped off the cliff. Letting out a fierce cry, it charged towards a thinner spot in the encircling wolf pack.

  Above, the wolf pack howled incessantly. As Leo slid down, he felt an unusual movement from the rope in his hand. Looking up, he saw two wolves had begun biting and tearing at the rope. These beasts weren't lacking in cunning. Cursing, Leo increased his speed of descent. At the same time, he forcefully kicked off a rock on the cliff face, using the momentum to swing towards the green vines growing on the precipice. He grabbed hold of a vine with one hand. As soon as he steadied himself, the rope above was bitten through by the wild wolves.

  Leo inwardly exclaimed at the close call. Grabbing the severed end of the rope and using the vines for support, he safely landed on the protruding rock ledge of the cliff.

  On the cliff edge above, several wolves paced back and forth for a while. After a few disappointed howls, they dispersed.

  He wondered how the panther was faring now. But soon, Leo couldn't help shaking his head. He was barely able to ensure his own survival at the moment; how could he spare a thought for the panther?

  Setting the broken rope aside, Leo looked up. The area with vines was about five or six zhang from the cliff top. By climbing the vines and then throwing the severed rope up to hook onto a tree trunk, he could still escape this peril. With a way out secured, Leo felt somewhat relieved. What he needed now was patience, more patience than the wolves.

  Though he couldn't hear any wolf activity from above, based on his past experience hunting with his father, wolves were creatures that held grudges. Even though the howls had temporarily ceased on the cliff edge, it didn't mean the wolves had truly left. There might still be a scout wolf waiting and keeping watch.

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  Temporarily out of danger, Leo felt pain flare in his shoulders, elbows, and chest.

  He lifted his clothes and rolled up his sleeves. His arms and chest were bruised in several places from impacts, showing purplish-red marks. Some spots even had traces of blood seeping through, injuries sustained from crashing against rocks during his descent from the cliff. Fortunately, no bones or tendons were seriously injured; he just had to endure it.

  However, Leo soon realized his current situation wasn't ideal. Trapped in that inexplicably shifting terrain, chased by wolves, and escaping here, he had completely lost his bearings. After meditating to recover some elemental energy, he noticed the sky was darkening. On this mid-cliff ledge, the cold wind was gradually strengthening, howling past his ears.

  Every night in the canyon, temperatures plummeted, especially here on the cliff face. He was also on an empty stomach. When night fell, being cold and hungry would make things even harder.

  Thinking this, Leo searched the roughly three-meter-square rock ledge. Finally, his gaze fell on a patch of withered yellow among the green vines growing on the cliff wall. His eyes lit up.

  He drew his short sword and walked to the vines. Pushing aside the outer green leaves, he revealed quite a few dried, dead vines inside.

  "These vines must have grown here for years and eventually withered. They can be used to make a fire, warm up a bit, and make the night less miserable."

  Snap! Leo swung his sword, cutting off a dried vine. Just as he reached out to grab the severed piece, a faint, low hiss made the hairs on his back stand up.

  Leo retracted his left hand as fast as lightning. Focusing his gaze, he saw a mottled earth-yellow and green grass snake slithering among the dead vines, its crimson forked tongue flickering towards him. Its triangular head bobbed rhythmically. Hidden within the vines, if it hadn't actively threatened him, remaining motionless, it would have been incredibly difficult to spot.

  Leo inwardly sighed in relief. If he hadn't cultivated The Primordial Chaos Scripture, making his senses much sharper than before, he might have already been bitten by this unknown grass snake.

  Having barely escaped the wolf pack's pursuit, he almost met his end in a snake's mouth. This canyon was truly filled with dangers. The slightest carelessness could lead to unknown perils.

  The grass snake emerged from the vines, revealing a body as thick as an arm. It raised its triangular head angrily and advanced towards the intruder.

  Leo narrowed his eyes. Many predators in the mountains had strong territorial instincts. It seemed he had trespassed into this grass snake's domain.

  But he had nowhere else to go. This protruding rock was only about three meter square, offering no room to avoid a confrontation. In that case, the only option was to fight with all his might.

  Hiss! The grass snake let out a low sound and struck towards Leo's face. Leo hurriedly dodged his head to the side while simultaneously swinging the short sword he had already gripped tightly.

  A soft thud. The triangular snake head fell to the ground. The snake's body twisted among the vines for a moment before dropping down, blood gushing out.

  Leo took off his pack, retrieved the small iron pot and salt from inside. Then, as if finding a treasure, he picked up the snake's body from the ground. After draining the blood, he skillfully skinned the snake, chopped it into several dozen small segments, and tossed them into the iron pot.

  Next, he carefully extracted the dried vines he had seen earlier from among the green ones. After some minimal preparation, he used flint to start a fire and directly fried the snake. It was a pity there wasn't enough water; otherwise, snake soup would have been more delicious. Fortunately, the mist in the canyon was heavy. Every morning, dew accumulated on the leaves, so he wouldn't die of thirst.

  Leo ate until his stomach was full and patted his belly. It seemed he would have to spend the night here. The little green ants back in the cave dwelling had no one to feed them. Probably, not many would be left when he returned.

  Leo shook his head with a bitter smile, mocking himself inwardly. In this situation, whether he could even return was still unknown, and here he was worrying about the little green ants in the cave. The black-robed elder had no shred of humanity and no interest in teaching him. That dull, tedious cave dwelling... perhaps it was better not to return. At least he would avoid another whipping. The elder struck with immense force; the last whipping had almost killed him.

  I won't go back! Leo silently made this decision.

  As the night deepened, the wind howled on the cliff face, and the temperature dropped extremely low. This raw, bone-chilling wind battered him incessantly, making sleep impossible.