Leo shivered uncontrollably on the rocky ledge, feeling the time pass with excruciating slowness. Howls still echoed from the clifftop above intermittently; he wasn't sure if it was the same wolf pack from daytime. It was the dead of night, and the mountain winds were fierce. If he tried to climb up now and lost his grip, he'd likely be blown right off the cliff face, with no chance of survival.
During winter, the body's need to ward off the cold demands more food. Not long past midnight, Leo's stomach began to rumble again.
Ravaged by hunger and cold, with nowhere to find food, his suffering was immense. He got up, intending to gather more dead vines. Even a small fire to drive away the chill would be good.
Fortunately, the vines on the cliff wall had never been harvested, so there were plenty of them left, enough to last for a while.
He lit a small campfire. As the warmth from the flames reached him, the biting cold on his body dissipated considerably. However, fanned by the wind, embers swirled and scattered into the air, and the vines burned quickly.
Leo had to collect more. After cutting another vine with his short sword, he gave a hard tug but found it didn't budge.
Curious, he moved closer and discovered that this vine had numerous rootlets extending deep into the rock wall. Strangely, the hard rock surface seemed slightly raised, covered in a network of fine cracks. Through one of these cracks, by the flickering firelight, Leo spotted something resembling a mountain yam growing inside. It was embedded within, so its size was unclear.
This unexpected discovery filled him with a surge of joy. He hurriedly used his short sword to carefully pry at the surface rock. The stones on the surface seemed to have been loosened by the fruit growing inside, and with little effort, he pried away the cracked rock beside it. Revealed inside was a pale green, perfectly smooth fruit, only about the size of a goose egg.
Much smaller than a mountain yam. Leo felt a pang of disappointment. If it were as big as a yam, it could at least fill his belly a little, giving him the confidence to outlast the wolf pack on the cliff. But this goose-egg-sized fruit wouldn't last long—merely better than nothing. Despite its small size and soft feel to the touch, it had actually managed to crack open the hard rock. After his initial disappointment, Leo couldn't help but marvel at it.
Using his earlier experience, Leo searched among the vines for a while longer but found nothing else. He then retreated back to his spot. He made a small cut in the green fruit with his short sword. Under the jumping firelight, a few drops of green juice seeped from the incision. Just the smell of it brought him an incredibly refreshing and pleasant sensation.
The green fruit had an enchanting fragrance. Leo quickly put down his sword and eagerly licked the seeping juice, not wanting to waste a drop. A wave of sweetness spread from the tip of his tongue. He had never tasted such a delicious fruit before. Driven by hunger and cold, he quickly devoured the fruit, skin and flesh alike.
It was good, but it just wasn't filling. Leo licked his lips, craving more. However, as he was savoring the memory of the fruit's deliciousness, he remained unaware that the ingested flesh and juice had already melted within his abdomen, coalescing into a mass of green light that gathered together. The shimmering green light sphere appeared vast, mysterious, and illusory.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The green light sphere began to spin rapidly. As the green light flickered, it expanded at breakneck speed into a vast, ancient, and bizarre space. Yet this strange, immense space was now hidden within Leo's abdomen.
Suddenly, with a deafening boom, a thunderclap seemed to explode in his mind, shaking his consciousness into a daze.
Leo felt as if a thousand raging tides were rampaging through his body. A boundless, majestic spiritual energy seemed on the verge of bursting him apart at any moment. In his muddled state, he could even see a greenish glow flickering over his skin. Then, his skin began to split with fine cracks, like a piece of porcelain that hadn't shattered completely.
The cracks spread like a spider's web in all directions. Blood seeped continuously from these fissures, and in moments, Leo became a man drenched in blood.
What was happening? Was this green fruit poisonous? A wave of terror washed over Leo. The 'toxicity' was frighteningly fierce.
The turbulent currents of energy inside him showed no sign of abating.
Was he about to die?
As Leo writhed in agony, the massive flow of energy within him surged straight towards his sea of consciousness.
With a hum, Leo's vision went dark. He lost consciousness completely, falling into a deep coma.
But the turmoil did not cease. Blood continued to seep from Leo's body. Strangely, not a drop of this blood was absorbed by the rocky ground. Instead, it diffused into a thin mist of blood, lingering around his body. Bathed in the eerie greenish glow, the scene became profoundly strange. Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. A massive vortex formed with Leo's body at its center, drawing the surrounding white fog frantically towards it.
"How did we end up back here?" The Blood Dwarf in black robes had an extremely unpleasant expression upon seeing the small thatched hut before him.
With a flash, three other figures arrived one after another: the black-robed elder, the burly bearded man, and the green-skirted woman. The young woman looked anxious. "We've circled this area seven or eight times now and still haven't found a way out. The illusion formation here is truly formidable. If this continues, we might really be trapped and die here. Ragnar, think of something, quickly!"
"With such a powerful illusion formation here, what can I possibly do? For now, we can only take it one step at a time."
The black-robed elder's face was as dark as storm clouds. Being trapped in this place for nearly two months would put anyone in a foul mood. If not for occasionally finding some food within this grand formation, they might have starved to death already. After all, only Golden Core masters could practice inedia, no longer needing mundane food.
Oink, Oink!
A chorus of pig-like grunts sounded.
"Not good! Spirit-tusked Boars! There are so many!" the bearded man exclaimed in alarm as a group of Spirit-tusked Boars charged out from the tall grass within the mist. Although these were only first-grade demon beasts, equivalent to the strength of Qi Refinement Stage three, they were tough and thick-skinned, more durable than some second-grade beasts. (First-grade demon beasts correspond to Qi Refinement Stages 1-3; second-grade to the mid-Qi Refinement Stage, Stages 4-6.) The charging force of Spirit-tusked Boars was particularly troublesome.
"Enough chatter! Just kill them!" The impatient Blood Dwarf reached into his storage pouch and pulled out two silver disks. With a forceful throw from both hands, the disks emitted a low hum as they spun and shot towards the oncoming boars.
A piercing shriek sounded—shiiiick!
A boar was cleanly sliced in two by the sharp teeth on the silver disk.
The green-skirted woman extended her hands forward. Two purple silk ribbons, several yards long, flew from her sleeves, simultaneously wrapping around two boars and binding them tightly. With a flick of her wrist, she swung the silk-wrapped boars and slammed them hard against the ground—thump!—creating two large craters. When she retracted the purple ribbons, the boars lay on the ground, blood streaming from their noses, mouths, and eyes. They twitched a few times and then fell still.
Oink! Oink!
A massive boar, nearly ten feet long, with bloodstained tusks protruding from its snout and fierce light flashing in its eyes, burst from the mist. Following the appearance of this giant Spirit-tusked Boar, swish, swish, swish—dozens of other black-furred Spirit-tusked Boars of varying sizes emerged from the surroundings, their bristle-like hair standing on end like needles.
