Tension sparked as Jiang Feng and the Werewolf had a stare-off, the former now having a confident glint in his eyes while the latter glared with bloodlust leaking out from within.
Pointing the flaming tip of the sword at the Werewolf, Jiang Feng began devising a simple, yet deadly plan.
The Werewolf seemed impatient as it immediately lunged off and headed towards the human cultivators, its mouth wide open and claws in the air, ready to shred Jiang Feng into pieces for dinner.
Jiang Feng seemed oblivious to this all, his figure still even when the Werewolf was close up and about to tear off his head.
Just as the sharp teeth of the Werewolf were about to sink into the thin neck of the human, a light smile appeared on Jiang Feng's face as his figure blurred again, using the nameless Spell to hasten his movements.
Reappearing behind the Werewolf, Jiang Feng pulled back his arm as the flames on his sword intensified.
The tip of the sword was pointed in the direction of where the strange core was, spiritual energy released as Jiang Feng's figure was pushed forward, accelerating his fall with the flames penetrating the skin of the monster, ignoring the flame-resistant fur on it.
The Werewolf let out a pained howl as it lay on the ground, Jiang Feng standing on top of it with his hands on the sword's handle.
The sword's tip had touched the strange core, cracks surfacing with spiritual energy leaking out.
'It's not enough!'
Using all the strength he could gather, Jiang Feng pushed the blade further down as the cries of the monster echoed in its surroundings, alerting the other monsters as eyes opened in the dark, turning to the same direction.
However, Jiang Feng ignored all of this as he let out a delighted smile, his sword pulled out from the lifeless Werewolf as he 'stared' at the strange core using Spiritual Sense.
Cracks were all over it as the spiritual energy within earlier emptied out, returned to the planet while leaving behind the container.
Not even checking if his current spot was still safe, Jiang Feng got down on one knee and started digging into the Werewolf's carcass. His arm was shoved into where his sword pierced, grabbing onto the cracked core before pulling out in an instant.
Despite its now useless appearance, Jiang Feng's eyes were still caught by the crystal-like look it had. The cracks allowed him to peak into the insides of the core, specks of spiritual energy sticking onto the walls like glitter.
Led by a curious thought, Jiang Feng infused a bit of his spiritual energy into the strange core, only for it to dissipate into the air like what happened to the Werewolf's spiritual energy.
Just then, something caught onto Jiang Feng's still active Spiritual Sense.
With no obvious space to hide in, Jiang Feng could only lift himself off the ground and onto a nearby tree, covering his figure with the huge leaves.
His eyes stared down at the pile that the deceased wolves formed, the flames on them having burnt out.
An eerie silence gloomed cast a gloom over the atmosphere, as darkness replaced the previously lit spot. Night Eyes was used as Jiang Feng focused with intense attention, looking for the presence of the thing that caught onto his Spiritual Sense.
Finally, it appeared.
A fox covered in grey fur stepped out from behind the trees, stopping before the pile of wolves. The fox sniffed at the pile of burnt bodies, a frown seemed to appear on its face before its brows relaxed.
The fox then took a bite off the burnt wolves, chewing on the piece of meat before gulping it down, taking another to satiate its hunger.
Despite its harmless appearance, Jiang Feng's pupil could only tremble in fear as his Spiritual Sense focused on the spiritual energy waves released from the fox.
The energy levels of the waves surpassed any that Jiang Feng had ever felt before, entering the stage above Foundation Building, Body Reconstruction Stage.
Through Ling, Jiang Feng came to know the next goal in his journey of cultivation, the Body Reconstruction Stage. It may only be one stage above his current cultivation base, but the advancements it brought said otherwise.
The advancement from Foundation Building Stage to Body Reconstruction Stage brought not only massive improvements in physical strength, but bigger expansion in spiritual energy reserves, allowing the increased usage of Arts and Spells.
Yet, standing before him, was a monster that had the same cultivation base he was aiming for.
Just the fight against the Werewolf alone warned him of the disparity between humans and monsters. If he had to stand against the fox down there, Jiang Feng would be willing to bet that he couldn't hold off more than 2 attacks from it.
The grey fox continued digesting the burnt carcasses of the wolves, leaving out only the skeletal structure as it dealt with the whole pile.
Its eyes then turned towards the Werewolf, immediately noticing the gaping hole in the abdomen.
The fox moved closer for a better view, even taking a sniff at the puddle of blood that gathered around the Werewolf.
Jiang Feng held back his breath at the fox's actions, praying that whatever it was doing won't lead to his hiding being exposed.
Thankfully, the fox turned away seconds after finding nothing on the Werewolf.
It didn't bother to turn the Werewolf into bones, walking back into the dark forest as its figure disappeared.
Although Jiang Feng already felt the grey fox leaving his range of detection using Spiritual Sense, his gut feeling told him it would be safer to stay put for just a bit longer.
It turned out to be right as other species of monsters arrived at the empty field, sniffing around for the smell of food. Their attention focused on the carcass of the Werewolf, hesitating on approaching it.
In the end, the bigger monsters such as an ape-like one and the bull left the place, leaving the body of the Werewolf for the ferocious-looking monkeys and the enormous bats to feast on.
Among these monsters, not a single one rivaled the fox from earlier, with the ape-like monster and the bull reaching the level of only the Werewolf.
The rest of the monkeys and bats possessed spiritual energy waves comparable to a Qi Circulation cultivator, making them rather insignificant compared to the human cultivator present.
Having no interest in watching the monsters eat, Jiang Feng left the place and traversed between the trees.
'The presence of Body Reconstruction Stage monsters came as a surprise, but I suppose it was normal if Ling assumed the chances of encountering one of them were slim.'
'Though, just the fight against the Werewolf already brought me near my limits. I need to find a safe space to recover for the night.'
Jiang Feng thought inwardly as he continued moving through the trees, his Spiritual Sense in full use as he searched for a place to heal.
"Found it."
Jumping down from the trees, Jiang Feng stood before the cave that was only about the size of the room in the tavern. His Spiritual Sense looked around for a bit more before making sure there was no monster nearby.
"I suppose this will be my abode for the next three days." Jiang Feng muttered as he went in and sat down on the floor, legs crossed in a lotus position as he started cultivation.
…
Within a secret room in the auction house.
A mysterious figure sat on the bed, cultivating on it as the veils blurred their features.
Suddenly, their eyes snapped open as they stared at the ceiling, eyes piercing through it to look at the sky. A fierce wave of intense spiritual energy struck him, interrupting his cultivation session and almost making his flow of spiritual energy reverse.
Normally, the reverse in the flow of spiritual energy would incur the wrath of any cultivator, but the mysterious figure ignored such a thing, bursting through the roof as they hovered above the city.
The Spiritual Sense of the mysterious figure expanded as it swept through the city, going past the fortress and to its surroundings, searching for the source of such intense spiritual energy.
However, as if the source vanished, their Spiritual Sense was unable to catch onto anything of suspicious.
Left with no choice the mysterious figure could only return to the secret room, their brows furrowed as a question remained in their hearts for the days to come.