In another part of the Skycleave Forest, a boy and a girl could be seen walking through the forest. Both of them appeared to be around fourteen years old, and both wore pure white robes with a dazzlingly blue lighting bolt embroidered on the back of the robe.
"This part of the forest doesn't seem to have what we're looking for. Maybe we should head to one of the more powerful clans in the area and ask around" said the girl.
"We would have done that already if that was a solution. Do you really think if the clans knew of something like this, they would freely tell us about it? The only way we're going to find out if it exists or not is to find it ourselves" replied the boy.
A small item suddenly appeared in his hands. It was shaped like a small disk, and it had many complex looking runes carved into its surface. Sending his Qi into the item, the runes on the disk started glowing, before it eventually dimmed and returned to normal.
"There's nothing here as expected. Let's keep looking around. We only have to be within thirty miles for this disk to detect it" said the boy as he put away the disk.
As the two of them talked, a pair of eyes stared at the two of them from above.
"Rustle!"
The boy and girl turned around to see the beast rapidly lunging towards them from the tree canopy above. The beast had four muscular limbs, a thick tail, and was dark green and covered in thick scales. Dozens of massive spikes could be seen jutting out of its back and head.
Just as the powerful beast was about to reach them, a light suddenly appeared, splitting the beast in two. Its two halves flew past both of them, crashing violently into the ground behind them.
"These pests are everywhere in this forest" exclaimed the boy disdainfully as he put away his sword and started walking away, not giving the beast a second glance. The girl nodded her head as she followed the boy deeper into the forest.
Had John been here, he would have been extremely shocked. The beast that had just been killed with absolute ease was a Tree Baloth, and was equivalent to a late Mist Creation cultivator.
A week later…
The moon hung high in the dark sky. Light from the fire John had created flickered, illuminating his meditating figure. After meditating for a few hours, John slowly opened his eyes and breathed out heavily.
"I can feel myself getting closer and closer to the Mist Creation realm" thought John as he took out a piece of meat from his storage right and placed it over the fire.
As he watched the leg of meat roast over the fire, John thought about his journey over the past week. He had fought and killed over a dozen Body Refinement level beasts, with each battle helping him advance in both cultivation and battle experience.
"It should be a few more weeks until I advance to the Mist Creation realm. After I do, I can start venturing deeper into the forest" thought John as he took the leg of meat off the fire and bit into it. Juices ran down John's chin as he devoured the meat. After finishing his meal, John set up his formation disk and fell asleep.
The next morning, John woke up early and took out leftovers from last night. After having a small breakfast, John got up and started venturing further into the forest.
"Let's be a little more adventurous today" said John as he turned a bit more to his right than normal, heading farther away from the road and civilization as he had the previous week.
Several hours of walking later, John spotted an Iron Tusked Boar. Although Iron Tusked Boars were not particularly strong, they were still equivalent to Blood Refinement Cultivators.
"This boar is pretty weak, but I've heard that the meat of an Iron Tusked Boar is quite delicious. Time to go hunting" thought John as he started walking his way over to the boar.
Although John could sneak up to the boar and kill it before it would notice him, John preferred letting his prey spot him. If it wanted to fight, John would be treated to a fight. If it wanted to run, John could work on his movements and footwork while he chased the beast.
"Snap!"
The sound of a twig snapping underneath John's foot alerted the boar. The boar looked up and spotted John, at which point it screeched and charged towards him.
A smile crept up on John's face as he watched the boar approach.
"Boom!"
John fist collided with the tusk of the boar, sending the boar flying backwards. He immediately dashed forward and followed up with another punch, which landed on the still tumbling boar.
Another boom echoed out as the boar was once more sent flying backwards. After tumbling backwards for dozens of yards, the boar eventually came to a stop and sluggishly got back on its feet. Looking at John with fear in its eyes, the boar immediately turned and fled.
John started chasing the boar, all the while working on the fundamental teachings of the Five Step Movement Technique. Although the technique required Qi in order to function properly, John still emulated the technique, learning the fundamentals as best he could. This way, once John stepped into the Mist Creation realm, he would already have the fundamentals of the technique mastered and could learn the rest of it faster.
After a few minutes of chasing the boar through the dense forest, John watched the boar come to a sudden stop. Startled by the boar's strange behavior, John stopped as well. The boar looked back at John and again in front of it, before taking off to the side.
"What's it doing? By running to the side instead of straight away from me, I'll be able to catch up much easier" thought John as he watched the boar run away.
John thought about giving chase, but the strange actions of the boar alerted John into acting more cautious. John walked over to where the boar had stopped, at which point a small clearing in the forest came into view. In the middle of the clearing was a large cave.
"It seems like there's something in the cave that caused the boar to decide to take his chance with me instead of whatever is in there"
John climbed one of the trees nearby and sat down on a branch. He observed the cave for several hours but saw no activity at all.
"No activity has happened so far" said John as he climbed down the tree and started walking towards the mouth of the cave.
John reached the mouth of the cave before coming to a stop. He peered into the cave, but only saw a long straight cave that eventually blended into darkness. After peering into the cave for a while, John took out his greatsword and proceeded inside.
"Maybe there's a strong Body Refinement level beast inside. If I do end up running into something I can't handle, I can just use my talisman."
After a few minutes of walking, the cave became so dark that John could hardly see in front of him. Just as he was about to bring out a torch to light the way, he spotted a small light further into the cave.
"Hmm? What's that light" thought John as he started walking towards it.
After carefully walking forward for another minute, the cave passage opened up to reveal a large expansive cavern. The cave was several hundred yards wide and deep, and had a ceiling dozens of yards high. As his eyes scanned over the cavern, John suddenly paused, his eyes wide open in shock.
In the middle of the cave, a dazzlingly beautiful flower could be seen. The flower looked like a sunflower, but emitted a beautiful white glow that illuminated the cave.
"A Mist Essence Sunflower" John exclaimed in shock as he stared at the flower.
Mist Essence Sunflowers were rather rare flowers that only grew in dark and damp places. The flower naturally absorbed the most elementary form of Qi, resulting in the radiating white glow it gave off. Because the Mist Essence Sunflower absorbed the most basic essence of Qi, it was an extremely beneficial item for Body Refinement cultivators.
Cultivating at the Blood Refinement realm in front of the flower would allow the cultivator to feel the surrounding Qi more profoundly, as well as absorb it easier. However, because the flower absorbed only the most basic levels of Qi, it was only useful for Body Refinement cultivators. Due to its difficulty to grow, as well as its limited use, most clans and sects did not have access to this flower.
John stared intently at the flower.
"If I can cultivate in front of this flower, I should be able to advance to Mist Creation within a few days. Not only that, but cultivating in front of the flower will also help stabilize my cultivation base, resulting in a much more sturdy foundation."
John started to walk over the flower when he quickly froze, his breath caught in his throat. Because of his excitement over the flower, John had failed to notice that just ten yards from the flower slept a powerful Mist Creation realm beast.