To the northwest outside of Azure Water City was a vast expanse of wild land called the Jade Forest. These woods were filled with vicious wild beasts and were so big you could easily lose yourself going through them.
The further you went, the stronger these beasts were. Many died inside so dared to come here anymore.
Ye Mo was cultivating under a big tree, his brows furrowed. Beside him were the mummified remains of a black wolf.
Sighing, he stood up and crushed the wolf's corpse.
"As expected of a demonic body refining technique, it's the most effective against humans..."
Ye Mo came to the Jade Forest trying to cultivate using the beasts that lived in these parts, but as he thought, it was a lot slower. He would need hundreds of them to breakthrough while only one or two humans would be enough currently.
He couldn't spend this much time hunting, he was only in the outer parts of the forest at this moment where the beasts were the weakest and less numerous. However, if he went a bit deeper, he would face creatures that would have no difficulty killing cultivators much less him.
His life was the most important, as long as he was alive, everything was possible. He wouldn't gamble on it if the benefits didn't outweigh the risks.
While he pondered on a solution, Ye Mo heard sounds of fighting. Intrigued and with no other option, he climbed on a tree and jumped from branch to branch as he silently approached the scene.
When he was close enough, he peeked down and saw a red leopard with a horn on the head fighting a young girl and three servants. She didn't seem that much older than him, around fifteen years old, while the three men surrounding her were all adults, the four of them dressed in a similar green martial suit.
Five more persons wearing similar clothes lay on the ground in a pool of blood, probably dead.
The leopard was a wild beast that evolved either due to the environment or thanks to something he ate containing a lot of qi, while the girl and her servants were low-ranked cultivators. Ye Mo could see the beast had a large wound on the neck yet, it still held the advantage and his opponents wouldn't last much longer.
The three servants seemed stronger than the young girl, if they abandoned her and fled they might be able to escape, but they were resolved on protecting her from harm so not only they did not run away but they could not even fight properly.
Ye Mo took his time and stood still, poised to act. One man after another fell until only one remained. Soon enough, his belly got lacerated with his innards gliding out before he flatly fell face down on the ground. The girl screamed in horror as she watched her last ally die which attracted the attention of the red leopard who pounced on her.
As a last attempt to protect herself or to hide what was coming from her eyes, she put her arms in front of her face. Expecting pain to follow soon enough, she stopped moving in dread, however, even after some time passed, she couldn't feel anything, instead, she only heard a pained wail from the beast.
Slowly removing her arms to take a peek she saw a young man with spiky black hair, dark eyes, and bare-chested holding a machete in his right hand.
It was something Ye Mo bought before venturing into the Jade Forest to hunt animals as doing so bare-handed would have been too inconvenient. The machete was supposedly extremely resistant and made from a special ore that rendered it very durable, at least, that's what the vendor told him.
Of course, Ye Mo didn't believe any of it, he only took it because he thought it would be good enough as a weapon, and till now, it didn't disappoint him.
Behind him was the corpse of the horned leopard, its head severed from its body.
Ye Mo approached the girl before asking, "Are you okay?"
The girl seemed dazed for an instant before she blushed and answered meekly, "Yes, t-thank you."
She felt she was in one of those fairy tales where a woman in distress was saved in extremis by a man. She never thought it would happen to her, nonetheless, she was glad to survive.
"Who are you and why were you fighting this monster? Don't you know how dangerous it is in the Jade Forest?" Ye Mo inquired.
This situation was abnormal. People usually avoid the Jade Forest due to the brutal beasts living there, no one would go inside without a good reason. He was already beating the odds by being here, to think there would be this group close by as well.
"I am Liu Hualing from the Liu clan, naturally I know venturing here is dangerous, but I had no choice." Liu Hualing said, explaining her situation to Ye Mo.