After the Spirit Root testing, the Dual Spirit Root “genius” youth who called himself Yiguo was personally led away by Saren Elder toward the most magnificent hall behind the plaza.

Afterward, the other two natives possessing Triple Spirit Roots were also taken away. Only the seven with Quad Spirit Roots, including Yuan Ming, remained under the escort of the bare-chested man Hu Zha as they departed Candle Spirit Hall.

Once they’d moved far from that area, Hu Zha suddenly began speaking to them unprompted:

“I know you all resent me right now, but one day in the future, when you look back on what’s happened these past days, you’ll feel fortunate.”

The several natives were still in shock, staring at him wide-eyed. Though they understood his words, none dared respond.

“Is it because of the test just now?” Yuan Ming spoke for the first time in days, his words in the Southern Border tongue without the slightest awkwardness.

“So you know our Southern Border language—that’s rather rare.”

Hu Zha seemed surprised, giving Yuan Ming another look, but continued speaking as if to himself:

“Countless mortals dream of stepping onto the path of immortal cultivation to seek eternal life, yet suffer from having no means whatsoever. Though you were forcibly captured, being able to join our Biluo Cave can be considered your great fortune. If one day you can move mountains and overturn seas, summon wind and call rain, don’t forget me—your guide.”

Hu Zha grinned, pointing at himself with his thumb.

Hearing this, the natives exchanged glances, and some actually thanked Hu Zha.

The Southern Border naturally revered strength, respecting absolute power above all. If there was an opportunity to step onto the path of the strong, it truly was incredibly rare.

“What did you mean earlier about ‘beast slaves’?” Yuan Ming asked another question at that moment.

Hearing this, Hu Zha froze again, seemingly not expecting this Central Plains person to have been paying attention to his conversation with Saren Elder all along.

“I’ve long heard Central Plains people are cunning. Now I see you lot have more schemes than us Southern Border folk. But let me remind you—being too clever here may not be a good thing,” Hu Zha’s expression turned cold as he rebuked him.

With that, he seemed to lose interest in conversing further with noodles Yuan Ming and the others, leading them westward.

Along the way, Yuan Ming remained oblivious to the unfriendly or puzzled looks the others occasionally cast his way. His mind was silently pondering the information that had slipped from Hu Zha’s mouth earlier.

Becoming a beast slave didn’t sound like anything good—otherwise Hu Zha wouldn’t have been so reluctant to elaborate. However, it seemed there should be no immediate danger to his life for the time being.

As for that so-called stepping onto the path of immortal cultivation, he didn’t know whether it was just Hu Zha’s bluffing. Though he couldn’t remember many things, he still understood what becoming an immortal meant.

For now, he could only take things one step at a time—continue preserving his life first, then worry about everything else.

After roughly half an hour, Yuan Ming and the other six arrived under Hu Zha’s guidance at a remote area. From afar they saw a tall stone wall stretching dozens of li continuously. The wall’s gate was entirely made of bronze and looked incredibly heavy.

On the open ground inside the gate, several fortress structures had been built.

As Hu Zha led everyone past, someone dressed similarly to him suddenly emerged from the fortress. After exchanging a few words with Hu Zha, he let them through.

For some reason, Yuan Ming felt that the man’s gaze toward them seemed [unauthorized copy]to carry a complex emotion mixing both pity and mockery.

Once past the bronze gate, they were immediately greeted by dense primeval mountain forest.

Massive towering trees grew densely—each one requiring two or three people to encircle. Their huge canopies interlaced overhead, with occasional gaps letting sunlight through to the ground below, which was covered in low shrubs.

Within the mountain forest, thin mist hung in the air. A small path wound through the shrubs, extending to the edge of vision.

As Yuan Ming stepped into the forest, he felt the surrounding temperature drop slightly. The sounds of bird calls and insect chirps came from all around, and his nostrils filled with the particular smell of damp earth and vegetation.

The several natives beside him seemed to relax somewhat after entering the forest, as if returning to their homeland. In contrast, Hu Zha at the front showed more tension on his face.

Beast roars that occasionally came from the distance would always make him quickly turn his head to look.

Along the journey, no one had told them what exactly they’d be doing, and none dared ask. But Yuan Ming vaguely guessed this place was unlikely to be any immortal cultivation ground.

Following the forest path for half an hour, an open clearing appeared ahead. In its center stolen content stood a several-zhang-tall bluish-black boulder, its rough texture carved with a line of dark red Southern Border characters.

“Hundred Thousand Mountains Boundary One,” Yuan Ming recited silently in his mind.

At that moment, he noticed a tall figure in gray robes standing with hands clasped behind his back beside the bluish-black boulder, facing away from them.

Hearing the commotion, the tall man slowly turned around. He was a middle-aged man with a stern expression and square features, his thick eyebrows slightly furrowed, his gaze somewhat cold.

“Huhuo Elder, this is the new batch of beast slaves. I’ve brought them to you,” Hu Zha said, his manner showing slight nervousness upon seeing this person.

“Good,” the middle-aged man called Huhuo Elder nodded.

“Then I’ll return to report,” Hu Zha responded and turned to leave.

After they departed, Huhuo Elder casually swept his gaze over Yuan Ming and the others with an indifferent expression. That look was as if viewing several trees or stones—carrying no emotion whatsoever.

After looking them over, he raised his hand and patted a palm-sized purple pouch visit our sitehanging at his waist. An inconspicuous glimmer emanated from the bag.

Immediately after, various strange beast hides of different forms appeared in Huhuo Elder’s hands out of thin air.

Yuan Ming rubbed his eyes, having completely failed to see clearly how these items had materialized.

The natives were even more dumbstruck, thinking it divine miracle.

Yuan Ming collected his thoughts and looked carefully, discovering among those beast hides: a hunting leopard with dark black fur, a wolf tinged with blue, a wild boar with mottled bristles, an old ape with grayish-white coloring, a bear with brown mixed fur, a fierce tiger with dappled coat, and even a hairless blue rhinoceros hide.

He could recognize these pelts at a glance because, though they were only half-body skins, they’d all been peeled off together with the skull and facial skin. The tusks of the boar and the horn of the rhinoceros had been completely preserved.

Huhuo Elder walked behind the group and placed these beast hides over their heads one by one. Half the pelt then draped down their backs, like wearing a short cloak with a hood.

Yuan Ming had the grayish-white ape pelt placed over his head. The skin on his face pressed against the ape’s flesh, feeling slightly itchy. His nose could smell a faint fishy scent—not stinking, but unpleasant nonetheless.

Afterward, Huhuo Elder patted his waist pouch again, and seven brown leather stolen contentpouches appeared in his hands out of thin air, each drawn with a blood-red strange pattern.

“For the next three days, you must cross this boundary marker and spend time in the forest beyond. During this period, you must independently hunt and kill a wild beast—something like a jackal, wolf, tiger, or leopard—and fill this beast hide pouch with its blood to bring back,” Huhuo Elder said.

As he spoke, he tossed the beast hide pouches before them.

“This is the trial for becoming a beast slave?” Yuan Ming thought to himself.

At that moment, he noticed the faces of the other natives had changed, seeming somewhat unwilling, troubled, and perhaps fearful.

“Three days from now, as long as you can successfully complete this, you’ll receive a basic cultivation technique—the Blood Qi Method,” Huhuo Elder continued.

At this point, one native spoke up tremblingly: “Elder, could you give us some tools? Even just a stone axe or stone knife would do.”

With their mortal bodies and no external tools, surviving in this vast forest would be too difficult, let alone hunting wild beasts and collecting their blood. One wrong move and they’d likely end up in some beast’s belly.

“Tools? Hmph… you won’t need them,” Huhuo Elder chuckled lightly.

Before everyone could understand what he meant, his figure flashed abruptly, arriving before them. He raised his hand and pressed it onto one person.

As a green light shone from his palm, that person immediately let out a miserable shriek, frightening the others into backing away.

The person pressed by Huhuo Elder—the black leopard hide draped over him suddenly glowed with dark light. Beast hairs bristled up one by one. The originally half-body-length hide seemed to come alive, continuously extending and lengthening, covering and wrapping around the person’s body.

Yuan Ming looked over and saw that person’s eyes turn completely blood red, visible bloodshot veins densely packed within. His mouth gaped wide, drool uncontrollably flowing from the corners. The sounds coming from his throat were gradually changing—less and less like human voice, increasingly resembling beast roars.

This process lasted more than ten breaths. By the time the person’s shrieking stopped, the black leopard hide had tightly wrapped him, as if grown onto his body.

The person’s face had also transformed into a leopard’s appearance. Yet his entire body’s frame still maintained a human skeleton, resulting in a strange sight of leopard head on human body—half-human, half-beast.

After the transformation completed, his body immediately crouched low to the ground. Even his temperament seemed to have grown closer to that of a wild beast. However, his pair of eyes hadn’t become bestial—the blood-red color had receded somewhat, showing more humanity.

“Don’t worry. This is the Art of Beast Transformation—it’s also your means of survival and hunting beasts for the next three days,” Huhuo [visit our site]Elder said, then walked toward the second person.

As his palm fell upon that person, another piercing shriek echoed through the mountain forest.

More than ten breaths later, a monster with wolf head on human body, covered in blue long fur, appeared before everyone.

Despite having witnessed it once already, Yuan Ming still felt considerably shaken. Just by draping on a beast hide, one could transform into such a terrifying monster—it was truly inconceivable.

Though extremely unwilling in his heart, circumstances forced his hand. If he dared show the slightest resistance, he believed this Huhuo Elder would show no mercy—probably slapping him dead with a single palm strike.

As he contemplated this, Huhuo Elder stepped before him in one stride, his palm immediately falling upon his shoulder.