A few thousand miles away from Qinghe City, Meng Lin stood at the edge of a mist-shrouded forest stretching about as far as a small mountain.

  “This should be a good starting point,” Meng Lin murmured as a faint breeze stirred the air, carrying with it the scent of blood.

  After acquiring the second half of the Body Cultivation Technique, Meng Lin spent the morning poring over a detailed map she had obtained from a local vendor in Qinghe City.

  The map had been part of a rger collection detailing spirit beast habitats across the Luo Kingdom. Each zone was ranked by stars, indicating the danger level and average beast strength.

  This forest, being the closest to the city, bore four stars—suggesting that Rank 4 beasts were known to roam the forest.

  Stepping inside the forest, she noticed mist curling around her ankles as she moved. The forest was quiet—too quiet.

  No birds, no insects. Just the sound of her footsteps brushing against fallen leaves.

  Meng Lin gnced around, her eyes narrowing slightly.

  “So this is where it got the name Hollow Silent Forest,” she murmured.

  She walked further into the forest, taking her time to look at the surrounding trees, which were each a version of a spirit tree called Mist Forming Trees, Rank 1 Spirit Trees.

  However, these were not even Rank 1, but each bark held a faint silvery sheen, and thin wisps of fog leaked from the branches, causing the ground to be covered in mist.

  After walking through the forest for five minutes, Meng Lin noticed growls to her left. From behind an underbrush, a pack of wolves crept out—six of them, soft-furred and fast, their breath carrying wisps of green qi.

  “Poison affinity Rank 2 beasts, the Verdant Mist Wolves,” she muttered.

  The wolves lunged without hesitation. However, Meng Lin didn’t stop walking, as an invisible wave of pressure burst from her body.

  A low pulse rippled through the fog-covered forest and before the wolves could reach her, their bodies stiffened mid-leap—bones cracking under the sudden weight of her spiritual Qi pressure.

  Suddenly, six bodies dropped lifeless to the ground, steam rising faintly from their fur as their internal qi was disrupted and scattered.

  Meng Lin paused, looking over the corpses with a calm gaze.

  She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a jade token engraved with curling spirit patterns. Holding it for a moment, she channeled a thread of her qi into it, then tossed it gently among the dead wolves.

  The token hovered in the air for a brief second before releasing a subtle pull like a vacuum.

  A sucking aura spread through the area, and the faint silhouettes of the wolves’ souls—barely visible green phantoms—were drawn out from their bodies and spiraled into the token.

  The light dimmed.

  The jade token fell silently back into the misty ground.

  Meng Lin picked it up, a faint smile forming at the edge of her lips.

  “It worked,” she said, excitement flickering in her voice.

  The pendant pulsed, slightly heavier by a small margin. The souls of the spirit beasts were now inside.

  Without another gnce at the bodies, Meng Lin slid the token back into her sleeve and stepped deeper into the Hollow Silent Forest.

  Over the next hour, Rank 2 beasts continued to appear. She didn’t need to fight them. The moment she released her qi, most died. A few tried to attack anyway—only to fall to the same qi pressure surrounding her.

  Using the same method as the first time, she collected all the souls of the fallen beasts, one by one, feeding them into the jade token.

  "I had better start getting serious," she said as she spread her spiritual consciousness outward.

  It flowed through the forest like a wave, brushing against the trees, the wind, and the beasts within. Immediately, she felt a few stronger auras further in.

  Rank 3 beasts scattered in the deeper parts of the woods.

  Her lips curled into a small smile. “Alright, let’s start.”

  **Three Hours Later**

  Leaves fell from the trees above as Meng Lin stood on the branch of a tall tree, breathing slowly.

  She had already hunted down multiple Rank 3 beasts. Her robe was still clean, her breath at ease. The only thing that gave away how much she’d done was the faint gleam of qi that still lingered around her body.

  She stopped at the top of a hill, letting her spiritual consciousness sweep out again, noticing a faint powerful aura far off, buried under a giant rock—a Rank 4 beast.

  Meng Lin didn’t stop as she headed towards the rock immediately.

  Just as she arrived at the moss-covered hill, a deep rumble echoed beneath her feet.

  Cracks spread across the stone, and with a sharp crack, the boulder split in two—revealing a massive, emerald-shelled turtle nestled in a shallow pit. Its eyes gleamed with a cold light as it opened its maw and hissed.

  “A middle-grade Rank 4,” Meng Lin said aloud, her gaze steady. “An Armorback Turtle.”

  The beast reacted instantly, its mouth glowing with green light before it spat out a stream of venomous liquid that shot toward her at lightning speed.

  However, before the liquid could even reach her, a translucent barrier shimmered into existence around her body, and the liquid struck the barrier, hissing loudly, but it didn’t pierce through.

  Meng Lin didn’t bother retreating.

  She lifted her hand slowly, swiping two fingers downward.

  “Waterfall Ssh.”

  A bdelike arc of condensed Water Elemental Qi burst forward and cleaved the air. The moment it hit the turtle, the beast’s reinforced shell cracked with a deafening snap, and its entire body was split cleanly in half.

  Steam rose from the remains, a faint metallic scent of blood and qi dispersing into the misty forest.

  Meng Lin looked down at the corpse without a ripple in her expression.

  “If that had been an ancient beast, I might’ve needed to try a little,” she muttered. “But ordinary beasts... even at the te stage of Rank 4, they’re nothing more than practice dummies."

  Of course, that was with the use of Elemental Qi and her already proficient mastery of the technique, any te-stage Soul Wandering Realm cultivator using little normal water qi to ssh at a middle-stage Rank 4 beast wouldn't cause any serious injuries.

  With a flick of her sleeve, she summoned the jade token again and sent it flying into the remains.

  As before, a subtle pull began, and the faint green soul of the Armorback Turtle was drawn into the token.

  Meng Lin caught it as it fell, then turned and vanished into the forest, already searching for her next prey.

  **Three More Hours Later**

  Mist still hung low along the ground as Meng Lin walked through the final stretch of the Hollow Silent Forest, her footsteps fading in the mist.

  She came to a stop beside a silver-barked tree, her gaze drifting to the dead body of the Greenspine Lizard—her eleventh kill.

  A te-grade Rank 4 beast known for its speed and venom.

  Meng Lin let out a slow breath, brushing her fingers along the bark of the tree.

  “These beasts really are getting predictable,” she murmured.

  She had spent the st few hours scouring the entire forest—branch to root, streams to hills. While there had been no shortage of Rank 3 spirit beasts leaping out of the fog to test her strength, there hadn’t been a single presence at Rank 4. Not even a peak-stage beast, let alone an ancient beast or a true leader.

  She had checked it all—caves, groves, hidden clearings, even beast dens disguised under spirit grass. Still, nothing.

  Her spiritual consciousness had long since mapped out every inch of this forest.

  Still nothing...

  “I guess not all forests have an overlord to which all the other beasts listen,” she muttered with a faint understanding, her voice drifting through the mist.

  And so, with the sun high up in the sky, she shifted directions, stepping toward a small rocky outcrop she had noticed earlier—half-covered in vines, its entrance wide enough for one person.

  A cave.

  The air inside was slightly warmer and wide, but it was dry and silent.

  She walked in and sat down cross-legged on a smooth stone surface. With a flick of her sleeve, she pulled out the jade token once again.

  Meng Lin stared at it in silence, her expression excited.

  Eleven Rank 4 beast souls, and over several dozens of Rank 2 and 3s—all contained within this one artifact.

  Her fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the token as she prepared to study its reactions once more.

  After all, the real reason she was hunting was all just for this.

  Inserting Qi into it, a quiet pulse vibrated against her palm. This time, she didn’t tense up—her spiritual qi flowing into it without resistance, sinking deeper like before.

  The token stirred instantly.

  But unlike st time, there was no sudden pull. No wild suction. Just a low, steady thrum—like the sound of waves gently colliding against the shore.

  And then—

  Darkness.

  ***

  When Meng Lin opened her eyes again, she was back in the same bck void.

  Her gaze swept the area as her body tensed, expecting a rush of attacks. However, after a few seconds, she paused.

  She hadn't been attacked.

  Instead, the creatures stood still—frozen in pce across the dark expanse.

  Some shifted slightly, twitching as if barely aware of their surroundings. Others remained unmoving, as though time had stopped for them altogether.

  Meng Lin raised a brow.

  “Hm.”

  She stepped forward, her boots making no sound. An Ironcw Bear loomed nearby, eyes dull and expression sck. Its breath was shallow, almost mechanical.

  She circled it once. Still no reaction.

  “They’re not attacking,” she murmured.

  Her mind ticked through the possibilities, and after a moment, she nodded slightly to herself in understanding.

  “They must ck full control over their souls,” Meng Lin came to a conclusion as faint memories passed through her mind.

  In the Talisman World, after that demonic woman had swatted her to death like a bug, she felt little to no awareness when she woke up to a world of only darkness.

  If not for her newly acquired skill, she would have been dead, frozen in darkness, just like these spirit beasts.

  Thinking about it, she realized that the space within her death had been simir to her current surroundings—empty and dark.

  It's likely that these beasts were in the same condition as her before.

  How unfortunate.

  She faced the bear, palm raised. A stream of elemental qi gathered at her fingertips.

  With a clean strike, she pierced the beast’s chest.

  Unsurprisingly, the beast didn't roar nor struggle; it quickly dissolved into fine strands of glimmering qi, which floated gently toward her, surrounding her body and seeping inward.

  She observed the effect briefly, then she sat down cross-legged on the formless ground, already familiar with the process.

  As she began to circute the Elemental Qi Convergence Method, the strands of qi responded instantly, rushing into her body in rapid streams.

  Before even a full minute passed, it was over. The st wisp of qi vanished into her dantian, and her eyes opened, a small pleased smile on her lips.

  “That one was only Rank 3,” she murmured, “but it still gave me nearly a quarter of a percent; that's the equivalent of two system missions."

  There was a flicker of excitement in her gaze; she didn't dare to look down upon it. Because, if she seriously tried, then she would be able to reach the next stage in just a few days, of course at the expense of a few forests being razed.

  But unmistakably, progress that quick was rare, especially at the realm she was in.

  She stood up smoothly, her robes faintly glowing in the bck expanse. Dozens of beasts remained.

  Quickly, time blurred for Meng Lin as she swept through the Rank 2 and Rank 3 beasts without pause.

  It became a seamless repeat of kill, absorb, and continue; the beasts fell one after another, their qi rushing into her without resistance.

  Although the qi from Rank 2 beasts barely registered, their qi added a mere 0.1% to her reserves. The Rank 3s, though, gave more—0.25% each, flooding her with slight power as she absorbed their energy.

  After finishing off the st of the low leveled spirit beasts, Meng Lin slowly opened her eyes, checking her system menu.

  Her eyes flickered over the numbers, a sense of satisfaction building up inside her as she took in the results.

  11 percent increase.

  Her thoughts briefly wandered, running over the figures in her mind.

  Fifty Rank 2 beasts, thirty Rank 3. The sheer number was staggering. And yet, despite the accumution, she couldn’t help but feel it was still too slow.

  She closed her eyes for a moment, and her mind drifted momentarily to the Rank 1 beasts. She had encountered so many, yet she hadn’t even bothered with them.

  They were too weak; their qi would barely register to her. To waste time killing them and then taking their souls—it just wasn’t worth the effort. She was already getting tired of repeating that process with the beasts she encountered, even the rank 2 were avoided by her at the end.

  She shook her head slightly, dismissing the thought. For now, she needed to focus on the bigger beasts—the Rank 4 spirit beasts. She wondered how much they would give her in percentage.

  She continued to be seated, her eyes scanning the dark space. She raised her hand, a soft pulse of qi gathering at her fingertips.

  A spear of multi-colored light formed, crackling with energy. With a fluid motion, she hurled it toward one of the Rank 4 beasts.

  Boom!

  The beast, an Infernal Wolf, known for its incredible fire qi, quickly exploded into a cloud of shattered parts, its qi scattering in every direction before converging as strands.

  They drifted toward her, and she didn’t hesitate as she began circuting her qi, pulling the energy into her body.

  It only took about four minute. The strands of qi surged into her, filling her dantian, and with a final breath, the st remnants vanished.

  She opened her eyes, a quiet satisfaction settling over her. After checking her system, she saw the results, a 1.15 percent increase.

  A satisfied smile tugged at her lips. Rank 4 beasts were certainly worth the effort, she thought. Their qi was rich and potent.

  Without hesitation, she conjured ten more multi-colored spears, each crackling with energy. They shot out in all directions, each finding its target.

  Boom!!!

  The beasts fell one after another, their forms shattering like gss. Strands of qi rushed to her, forming a small cluster of qi as they began to merge with her.

  As she began absorbing, a surge of energy flooded her senses. The more she absorbed, the more her mind focused, and the more time seemed to blur.

  After the final strand of qi entered her dantian, Meng Lin took a deep breath and opened her eyes, her system menu fshing in front of her. Her eyes flicked over the numbers, and a satisfied expression appeared on her face.

  [Meng Lin]

  [Soul Wandering Stage (te)]

  [Experience Points: 39 > 62.3%]

  [System Coin: 540]

  [Immortal Jade: 4]

  [Taoist Gacha Wheel: unavaible]

  [Spiritual Roots: [Water > Fire > Gold > Wood > Earth]]

  [Variant Elemental Qi: [Mud] [Erosion] [Water] [Darkness] [Fire] [Gold 20%] [Ice 2 > 4%] [Wind 1%]]

  [Heavenly Dao]

  [Death]

  [Comprehension 0.06%]

  [Main Cultivation Method: [Elemental Qi Convergence Method]]

  [Side Cultivation Methods: [Basic Qi Gathering] [Formless Cultivation Method] [Brute Vortex Cultivation Method] [Bck Tortoise Essence Art, 5th Layer] [Imperial Water Art] >[Jade Spirit Codex]]

  [Techniques: [Celestial Moonlit Sword Art] [Hundred Unity Techniques] [Wrath of Thunder] [Physique Cleansing Sutra] [Vital Essence Exchange] > [Six Lotus Rebirth Path - 4th Cycle]]

  [Secret Techniques: [Stelr Soul Shield]]

  [Skills: [Immortal Flesh]]

  [Ancient Spirit Seal: Crimson Tortoise Dragon]

  [Market] [Bcksmith] [Alchemy] [Daily Mission]