Heaven Refining physique-Chapter 91: Journey into the Dark Forest

As he was walking to leave the city, he heard two cultivators talking with each other.

"Have you heard that the Blazing Valley Pavilion in the next city vanished without leaving anything behind? Four disciples of Blazing Valley were inside when it happened."

"Well, it didn’t vanish but got destroyed by someone. The person was wearing black robes and a white mask. Blazing Valley has suffered much more damage than just four disciples. All their weapons got destroyed too. The loss is in millions of spirit stones."

"Getting destroyed without leaving anything behind is hard to believe, not to mention the people standing just in front of the shop didn’t hear anything while it was getting destroyed."

"The person must be very strong. I wonder which mighty figure it was."

"Everything aside, when did Blazing Valley offend someone like that?"

"True. If that person decides to target their other pavilions and establishments, then it will be the end of Blazing Valley."

"I doubt that. Blazing Valley will definitely take some measures. They are a top sect for a reason."

Jiang Hao couldn’t help but sigh. So he was considered a mighty figure now... that’s new. What would they say when they found out that this so-called mighty figure was living in the Forbidden Zone, forced by others?

He shook his head and left the city, walking towards the Dark Forest. He wasn’t going to use teleportation this time.

He planned to test his peerless instincts in this forest, aiming to cover as much distance as possible before being forced to use teleportation.

There were many people entering the Dark Forest as usual. He walked slowly, without any hurry.

He entered the outer area of the Dark Forest, where only Grade 1 beasts usually resided, but none were in sight. This part was closer to the city, and beasts knew it was dangerous to stay here.

He gradually increased his pace and reached fifty miles deep. Then, he increased his speed further and started running. A thousand miles were considered safe for Core Formation realm cultivators.

That meant he wouldn’t encounter a Grade 4 beast in this area, and even if he did, it would be a rare occurrence.

When he reached five hundred miles, some beasts tried to attack him. They were all above the mid-stage of Grade 3. His cultivation realm wasn’t hidden, so even though they sensed danger from him, they still attacked.

He killed them easily without even stopping. Not every beast had bloodline abilities—only those with good bloodlines have such gifts

But even then, he absorbed their blood cores. He wasn’t going to waste anything. As he was sprinting, a fireball came flying at him. He dodged it effortlessly, stopped, and looked in the direction it had come from.

It was a fox, and its size was even bigger than his. It was a peak Grade 3 beast. He was in an area around five hundred miles in, so meeting one here was a rare occurrence—peak Grade 3 beasts usually stayed around the thousand-mile range.

The fox didn’t come close to him. It had only attacked with one fireball and now looked at him warily. This was strange. For a peak Grade beast, he shouldn’t look threatening enough to alarm it.

He dashed in its direction, and as expected, the fox started running away from him. Jiang Hao was a little surprised—its speed was slower than that of a typical peak Grade 3 beast, especially for a fox, known for their swiftness.

He pushed his speed to the limit, reached it in no time, and grabbed it by the nape. It was too big, but his strength was more than enough.

He didn’t kill it because he wanted to know the reason for its strange behavior. It looked like it was injured, but there were no visible wounds, which was puzzling.

He pushed its head down to the ground, forcing it to sit on its legs. It tried to move its head, using all four legs to push and break free, but it seemed quite weakened.

Eventually, its front legs folded, and its head crashed to the ground. But it still hadn’t folded its hind legs. It was as if it didn’t want its stomach to touch the ground.

When Jiang Hao looked at its swollen stomach, he finally understood—it was a she, and she was pregnant.

He sighed internally and let go of her head. She must have been quite hungry to hunt in this state. Usually, fox-type beasts stayed in their lairs during pregnancy while their partner went out to hunt.

He didn’t know if her partner was dead or gone hunting, but for her to come out herself meant it hadn’t returned for a long time. She must have thought of him as a weak prey and tried to hunt him.

Even in her weakened state, she might still be the strongest in this area. Normally, he might have killed her because she had attacked first. And if he had really been weak, he would already be dead.

But seeing that she was pregnant and her eyes were begging, he let her go. It reminded him of his own mother, who had worked so hard for him after his father’s death.

"Stay here."

He knew she would understand his meaning. She had a bloodline ability, so her bloodline wasn’t ordinary. She would definitely comprehend his intentions and remain in this location. After all, if he had wanted to kill her, he would have done it already.

Jiang Hao didn’t have any beast meat left with him. He had refined everything he had killed so far. So he decided to catch a fresh one for her.

It didn’t take him long to find one. It was a late-stage boar, bigger than the fox even though it was just late-stage. Some beasts were inherently larger. It charged at him the moment it saw him—a typical behavior from this type of beast. Even with intelligence, their primal instincts didn’t fade.

As the beast came close, ready to ram him with tusks sharp as swords, he sidestepped lightly, moved his hand onto its left tusk, used its own momentum, rotated with it, and slammed it into the ground.

Thudddd!

The impact was so strong it broke the boar’s spine. Jiang Hao punched its head to end its misery, picked it up on his shoulders, and returned to where the fox was waiting.

The fox was still seated there, her head on the ground. She seemed to be in pain. It looked like he had used too much force when pressing her head earlier.

Well, this kind of injury would heal quickly. Beasts had stronger regeneration than humans, after all.

When she saw him bringing the boar, her eyes widened.

Jiang Hao didn’t care for her expression and dropped the boar in front of her. He looked at her and said,

"Next time, don’t just attack anybody without knowing their real strength. You were just a breath away from death. If not for my curiosity, you would already be dead. Well, I’m off now."

"Kuuuu..."

Jiang Hao didn’t know whether she would heed his advice or not—nor did he care. He had done what he could for her and continued on his journey.

He was about six hundred miles deep. He still had a long way to go. He was following the same path they had flown through. He wondered if he would be able to reach the center of this forest where all the rivers met.

The journey from six hundred miles onward was filled with more battles. The beasts living in these areas were late-stage or peak-stage Grade 3.

Since he was running in a straight line, he had to cross multiple territories. Even if some late-stage beasts didn’t want to fight him due to the danger they sensed, they would still fight to the death if he entered their territory.

He was more than happy to collect blood cores, so it wasn’t a bad thing for him. Battles like this, without tricks, were quite enjoyable to him.

Finally, he reached the thousand-mile mark. Well, there wasn’t any specific sign—he just felt he had reached it based on his speed.

He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Fighting even multiple Grade 3 beasts might be possible, and even a single early-stage Grade 4 beast might not be much of a problem. But if he met a mid-stage one, he would definitely lose his advantage in physical strength.

And if his Nihility Sphere missed—which it definitely would, since Grade 4 beasts were far faster—then he would have to flee, as those beasts would be swift enough to dodge even his punches, making his Primal Essence useless.

Not to mention, if the spirit beast had a good bloodline like Fenglai, then even an early-stage Grade 4 beast would be enough to push him to the edge.

Well, that kind of case would be very rare. Finding a bloodline like Fenglai in the lower world was already a near-impossible feat. But considering that there were already three top-tier physiques in this world, with two being Celestial Physiques...

This world might truly be blessed—so anything was possible.