Chapter 116: Traces of the Monster

When Ye Feng cut his hair, shaved his beard, took a bath, and reappeared before everyone, Long Tian and the others finally noticed obvious changes. Ye Feng’s originally fair skin had turned a light bronze color, his physique had become much stronger, and his aura was completely different from before.

Long Tian frowned slightly. He could clearly sense the bloody scent emanating from Ye Feng. If it weren’t for the fact that Ye Feng still treated his people as before, he would have thought Ye Feng had fallen to the path of darkness.

“Xiao Feng, what exactly happened during this time? Why does your aura give me such an uncomfortable feeling? That murderous aura… what’s going on?” Long Tian couldn’t help but ask.

“Because I slaughtered tens of thousands of magical beasts…” Ye Feng replied casually, with no intention of explaining further.

At that moment, Long Tian’s phone rang. He picked it up, checked the caller ID, then pressed the answer button. “Taoist Master, are you guys ready?”

“Mm, I’ve already informed everyone. You’re the last to be notified. Wudao has found that monster. We’re currently lying in ambush not far from the cave entrance. It’s near Qingliang Peak. Gather at the foot of Qingliang Peak, and Ji Mo will bring you there,” came the voice of Taoist Master Kongxu through the phone.

“Qingliang Peak? How did it escape so far away?” As someone from City H, Long Tian naturally knew the name of this highest peak in western Zhejiang. But this place was no longer within City H’s territory.

“If it’s at Qingliang Peak, it’s likely that it fled all the way along Tianmu Mountain. That’s the main peak of Tianmu Mountain, covered in trees, making it easy to hide. It’s also located at the border between two provinces, so it’s relatively sparsely populated. There are many wild animals there that can serve as food,” said Ye Feng, who had been there on a trip before and was somewhat familiar with the area.

“Mm, let’s set off!” After hanging up, Long Tian nodded at Ye Feng.

…

After nearly three hours, Ye Feng and the others finally reached the foot of the mountain, where the rest of the group was already there.

When the others saw Ye Feng by Long Tian’s side, they were shocked. At that moment, Kongxu and Wudao were already lying in ambush near the monster’s hideout. The rest of the people there, aside from Long Tian, were all Golden Core stage experts. They could naturally sense that this young man’s strength had reached the peak of the Golden Core stage, just one step away from the Yuan Ying stage.

“Ye Feng, your strength…” Mu Rong’s face was filled with surprise. When she saw Ye Feng yesterday, he was only at the middle stage of Ningdan. Just one day later, he had suddenly become stronger than her, which even made Mu Rong, a girl usually quite carefree, realize something was unusual.
“It’s nothing. I just used a little trick yesterday to hide my true strength!” Ye Feng made up a lie on the spot.
“Oh, I see…” Hearing this, Mu Rong believed him immediately, though her dark eyes continued to steal glances at him.
“He seems a bit darker… a bit taller too… He looks even handsomer than yesterday… Ah, I blurted it out…” Mu Rong covered her mouth, her face turning red with shame. She had only thought it in her heart, not expecting to say it out loud…
Ji Mo also had doubts, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he glanced at Ye Feng, who seemed like a completely different person, then shouted to everyone, “Alright, everyone is here now. I’ll take you to where the monster is hiding right away.”
The group followed Ji Mo and ran for nearly ten minutes before slowing down.
Ji Mo turned around and signaled everyone to be quiet. “Shh, we’re almost there. Try not to make any noise. Approach slowly so as not to startle it. If it escapes, it will take a lot of effort to find it again.”
The group obediently quieted down and followed Ji Mo, moving slowly and quietly.
After a right turn, they finally saw Kong Xu and Wu Dao hiding behind a rock. They walked another twenty meters and gathered together.
At that moment, Wu Dao’s voice reached their ears through telepathy, “Han Shang and I will enter the cave to drive out that monster. Everyone, led by Long Tian, surround the cave entrance. Once it comes out, attack it.”
As soon as his voice faded, Wu Dao and Kong Xu vanished in a flash. Following Kong Xu’s instructions, Long Tian led the group to form a semicircle at the cave entrance.
Before long, a deafening roar came from inside the cave, followed by what sounded like an explosion. The ground beneath their feet began to tremble slightly.
Then, a dark shadow rushed out of the cave. Long Tian let out a fierce shout and swung his right fist, charged with white lightning, at the shadow.
The shadow let out a pained cry as it was smashed into the ground, sending dust flying from the cracked surface.

The rest immediately changed their formation, surrounding the monster in a circle. The monster slowly rose from the ground and shook its head twice; only then could they make out through the dust that it was a giant wolf-like beast. The wolf was nearly ten meters long, with shiny black fur, and its scarlet eyes, the size of an adult’s fist, were fixed not on Long Tian, who had just knocked it down, but on Ye Feng, who had remained inactive until now. It stared intently at Ye Feng, letting out low growls from its throat as a warning. In its eyes, that man, emitting a strong scent of blood, was far more terrifying than anyone else present—a feeling rooted in its animal instincts. At that moment, Wudao and Kongxu also rushed out. Thinking they would be attacked by the monster the moment they appeared, they looked at the monster, which paid no attention to them at all, with some confusion. Following the wolf’s gaze, they saw Ye Feng, looking utterly relaxed. Wudao was fine—he had never seen Ye Feng before and frowned slightly, “What a powerful killing aura…” Meanwhile, Kongxu, who had met Ye Feng the day before, was shocked. He knew Ye Feng before him was not the same as yesterday’s version, but he didn’t understand what Ye Feng had done to undergo such astonishing changes in just one day. “Let’s take advantage of its distracted attention and act!” Wudao signaled to Kongxu. Just as they were about to strike, Long Tian appeared suddenly and stopped them, “Don’t attack. Let Ye Feng deal with it! It will save us a lot of effort!”