Leo steadied himself and decided to perform a divination.
He gathered nine small stones from the ground, held them in his palms, and shook them at a specific frequency while chanting the Divination Secret Curse.
Releasing his hands, the nine stones scattered on the ground.
Though they seemed disordered, Leo, being a spiritual cultivator, could discern the divination signs.
He continued forward.
Even without divination, Leo planned to find a place to rest. The mountain winds at night were fierce, and it was unwise to camp on the bare mountain.
The mountain path was rugged, and it took Leo over half an hour to reach the edge of the forest.
By then, it was dark, and the mountain wind howled through the forest.
With spiritual energy protecting him, Leo wasn’t afraid of the cold.
However, the sharp wind carried countless tiny sand particles that stung his face, far from the gentle caress of a spring breeze.
Entering the forest, the wind subsided.
Just as Leo was about to find a place to start a fire and rest, a sense of danger spread like tendrils.
Leo’s eyes flashed as he tried to see what dared to target him.
In the pitch-black forest, ten or so green lights suddenly appeared from all directions, slowly approaching like ghostly flames.
It was a pack of wolves!
About seven or eight of them.
Leo, who was worried about food, now had it delivered to him.
The wolves growled and approached within ten steps of Leo. He could see their ferocious faces and foul-smelling fangs clearly.
Leo fearlessly beckoned to the wolves with his finger.
Provocation!
This fragile human dared to provoke them!
That was the thought in the lead wolf’s mind.
The pack was obviously surprised. Usually, people surrounded by them would be too scared to stand, let alone remain so composed.
The wolves instinctively looked at their leader, Jason.
As the alpha, he couldn’t be intimidated by a human.
The lead wolf howled, and in an instant, seven fierce wolves lunged at Leo, raising a foul wind.
The lead wolf directed the attack but didn’t move itself, observing quietly.
A sharp whistling sound suddenly pierced the air. The dark forest lit up as seven terrifying flames shot from Leo’s hands.
The wolves mid-air were hit immediately, screaming as they were blown back and burned to ashes in the fierce flames.
The lead wolf was stunned. It seemed intelligent enough to know when to cut its losses. With a low howl, it darted into the forest beside it.
Trying to escape?
Not so easy!
Leo’s figure flickered and disappeared from his spot.
The lead wolf saw a blur before it; a figure blocked its path. It was that terrifying human again. The wolf’s fur stood on end in fear as it tried to escape again.
Leo flickered once more, blocking the lead wolf again.
This wasn’t a cat playing with a mouse but a human playing with a fierce wolf.
Blocked repeatedly by Leo, the intelligent lead wolf knew it couldn’t escape. If so, it would fight to the death.
The lead wolf crouched low, growling with green light shooting from its eyes, clearly threatening Leo: Back off if you know what’s good for you! Otherwise, I’ll fight you to the death!
Leo smiled without any intention of moving aside.
The lead wolf grew desperate. With a low growl, its massive body lunged at Leo’s neck like a gust of wind, ready to bite down hard.
A cold light flashed in Leo’s eyes as he raised his right hand and struck forward fiercely.
This palm strike was as swift as lightning, hitting the lead wolf’s head squarely.
With a dull thud, the lead wolf screamed as if hit by a speeding train. Its head shattered into pieces, and its body flew back heavily, rolling several times upon landing.
Then Leo used Purple Radiance to dislocate the poor lead wolf’s hind legs and skinned it.
He started a fire and began roasting the wolf legs.
Soon, an enticing aroma filled the air as oil dripped continuously from the meat, turning the leg golden brown.
Though there was no salt, Leo couldn’t resist taking a bite of the wolf leg.
Honestly, it didn’t taste good. It was tough and chewy; it took Leo quite some time to swallow a bite of wolf meat.
Forget it; better not damage my teeth and stomach. Tossing aside the wolf leg, Leo sat cross-legged and began meditating.
With the warmth of the fire, he didn’t feel cold throughout the night.
The next morning, Leo opened his eyes. The poor lead wolf’s body still lay pitifully nearby.
Standing up and stretching longly, Leo continued his journey.
After an hour of climbing, Leo reached the top of a large mountain.
This mountain had many trees and shrubs; it wasn’t barren.
However, during his trek, aside from some birds, he didn’t see any animals. This dashed his hopes of finding lunch along the way.
Near noon, Leo reached the foot of the mountain where it opened up before him.
Not far away was a small village with about thirty or forty households.
The village looked very old; most houses were mud huts with thatched roofs, leaning precariously and appearing extremely poor.
Around the village were sparse trees and small patches of sloped fields growing some corn.
But looking at those sparse and yellowing cornfields, it seemed their annual harvest was quite poor.
Leo scouted around and saw no water source; this place must suffer from severe water scarcity.
Without water and on barren land, this place naturally accompanied extreme poverty.
He decided to enter the village for information.
Entering through a broken fence gate, dry dust swirled around with the wind.
A few steps away, at a street corner sat some elderly people and children basking in the sun.
These people wore tattered ethnic clothes; their faces were gray and gaunt with only skin covering their bones. Their cheekbones and eye sockets were deeply sunken.
Seeing Leo, an unusual outsider, they only moved their eyes slightly before ignoring him and continuing to bask in the sun as if they had nothing else to do.
Leo took out his wallet and placed five hundred dollars in front of these elders and children.
Seeing the money, their eyes lit up. They repeatedly bowed and knelt, saying words Leo couldn’t understand.
Leo sighed. Realizing they probably didn’t speak Mheffada, he continued walking forward hoping to find someone who spoke Chinese for information.
After just a few steps, three young men suddenly appeared in front of him. They were skinny but had bright fiery eyes; their curved knives gleamed menacingly.
“Money! Hand over your money; we want wealth not lives,” they demanded harshly.
Leo shrugged. He reached out and pulled a wooden plank from a household fence. With a shout, he struck it with his palm.
With a loud crack, the three-to-four-centimeter-thick plank shattered into dozens of pieces.
This terrifying display of strength stunned the three young men; fear flickered in their eyes.