Chapter 56: Untamable Ferocity
The shadow mouse was originally cowardly. It relied on its speed to be so presumptuous.
This shadow mouse had grown larger, but it was even more cowardly than usual.
As Chen Jingzhai watched it escape toward a hole, he burrowed after it.
The shadow mouse’s hole digging ability could not be compared to his Burrowing Technique.
Chen Jingzhai caught up with it very quickly. He immediately pressed down on its body with his palm.
The shadow mouse, which should have flared up its fur at this point, actually became timid as it allowed Chen Jingzhai to capture it.
The Yin Yang Formation had a trick that allowed the user to stun people. This was also effective against the shadow mouse.
[Demonic beast: shadow mouse (Grade 1)]
[Origin: A descendant of a demonic beast residing in a remnant cave residence. It feeds on spirit plant roots to evolve.]
[Flaw: It has a golden pattern hidden on its belly. One can control it by planting a Restriction.]
Chen Jingzhai appeared on the prairie in a flash. He lifted the limp shadow mouse and scrutinized it.
As expected, on its belly, he found an obscure golden pattern.
It seemed similar to the patterns of a formation, but it was very dark and blurry.
Without any hesitation, Chen Jingzhai immediately channeled his spiritual power into the golden pattern and planted a Restriction.
Formations and Restrictions were the forte of Daoxuan Peak.
Although Chen Jingzhai focused on pill alchemy, he also studied the Restrictions recorded in the Sky Scriptures during his free time.
Because of that, he managed to master the tricks of the Yin Yang Formation.
After planting in the Restriction, a part of Chen Jingzhai’s divine mind was embedded within the shadow mouse.
Then, he woke it up.
With a spring, the little fellow flew out from his palm.
It stood exceptionally far away and lifted its little head as it looked cautiously at him.
Chen Jingzhai was expressionless. With a shift of his mind, the shadow mouse’s entire body trembled, letting out painful cries.
It felt as though its meridians were being distorted and twisted. This was the effect of a Restriction.
After a while, the pain disappeared.
Just as the shadow mouse wanted to dig a hole and escape, the pain began again.
Chen Jingzhai stepped toward it and commanded, “Bring me to the remnant cave residence!”
He immediately disappeared into the ground using his Burrowing Technique along with the mouse.
The shadow mouse had a high level of sentience. So, once Chen Jingzhai made it feel pain a few times, it was tamed.
Although it did not know where the remnant cave residence was, it brought Chen Jingzhai to its cave.
Its cave was not on the prairie but rather in the forest at the edge of the prairie.
The prairie was not barren. In fact, it was filled with life.
However, nothing caught Chen Jingzhai’s eye here.
Some spiritual plants that could be harvested had their roots eaten away by the shadow mouse and could not live long.
There were some demonic beasts, but they had no grade.
It could be said that the shadow mouse was the king of the prairie. It was essentially unrivaled.
This was so because there were some powerful demonic beasts in the forest, but they did not frequent the prairie.
Hence, the prairie was the territory of the mouse.
There was nothing noteworthy in the cave of the shadow mouse. It was in ruins.
Chen Jingzhai could only coerce it to find the remnant cave residence.
Although this little fellow had high sentience, it did not understand language.
Chen Jingzhai could only use his divine mind to convey his meaning. It seemed somewhat effective.
Hence, the shadow mouse led the way as they traversed the forest.
Along the way, they encountered many Grade 1 demonic beasts.
Chen Jingzhai ignored them, merely unleashing his presence and scaring them away.
These Grade 1 demonic beasts were worthless to him. Therefore, it was a waste of time for him to kill them.
Before leaving the forest, Chen Jingzhai discovered the corpse of a Grade 2 demonic beast.
It was a velvet armor beast. It was as large as a bull and was a passive creature.
Its entire body was covered by long fur. Its belly and its limbs were covered in fine scales.
The corpse of this demonic beast had been picked clean. It appeared to have died a long time ago.
Chen Jingzhai retrieved its armor.
It would be good for forging weapons. It was worth around 1300 spiritual stones.
Past the forest, they arrived at the foot of a mountain.
To his astonishment, this was not just a single mountain peak but rather a continuous mountain range.
Although it was just a small mountain range, it had dozens of peaks and appeared majestic.
“This is at least a middle-sized secret zone. If its spiritual leylines still remain, it is a large secret zone!” thought Chen Jingzhai excitedly.
He was full of anticipation for his upcoming exploration.
Having spiritual leylines was a criterion for natural secret zones.
With such rich essence power in the inner parts of the secret zone, it was apparent that spiritual leylines still remained here.
The question was how many spiritual leylines were there and how high quality they were.
It was very difficult to determine the quality of the spiritual leylines based on the essence power in the air.
According to Zeng Wangbei, such secret zones of remnants were hard to come by.
Perhaps he could obtain some astonishing loot in this ancient cave residence.
Most crucially, the sect would undoubtedly make changes to this place after this.
In the future, disciples at the Foundation Establishment Plane would not be able to enter such a secret zone.
Hence, he needed to seize this opportunity to pocket all of the benefits he could get his hands on.
When Chen Jingzhai thought of this, he shifted his will, and the shadow mouse leading the way ahead immediately lay on the ground.
The pain it felt quickly subsided. It got up and looked at Chen Jingzhai with a look of resentment.
“Speed up!” Chen Jingzhai ordered it with his divine mind through transmitted thoughts.
The shadow mouse did not dare to dawdle. Instead, its entire body became a gray streak that charged up the mountain peak ahead.
Chen Jingzhai pursued it closely.
However, he lost track of it when they approached the mountain.
He frowned as he paused at the foot of the mountain. Then, relying on his senses, he searched for the mouse carefully.
He muttered, “This is an advanced formation that is unfamiliar to me. It will cause hallucinations.”
Chen Jingzhai was pleasantly surprised. With his current knowledge, it was rare for him to encounter formations that he did not know.
Of course, not all the formations in the world were stored in Daoxuan Peak.
However, Daoxuan Peak had a vast collection of formations, many of which were completely unheard of in the outside world.
Half of the formation masters in Pulao Kingdom originated from Daoxuan Peak.
Even though he was not an expert on formations, Chen Jingzhai was knowledgeable on the topic.
In fact, the Reversed Yin Yang Sky Scripture, which he had read, was the best summary of all formations.
He immediately sat down cross-legged beneath the mountain peak. His divine mind expanded, and he comprehended the formation.
The formation pattern of the Yin Yang Formation in his body flickered. However, its light was too faint, and he did not notice it.
The shadow mouse stood in the formation. When it saw that Chen Jingzhai had stopped and was not advancing, it revealed a smug look.
It was in no hurry to leave. Instead, it revealed a fierce gaze and prepared to attack him once it spotted an opening.
In the secret zone, it was difficult to tame the ferocity of demonic beasts. Even if they could be controlled for a while, one needed to be cautious of them retaliating.
Despite his remarkable achievements at a young age, Chen Jingzhai lacked experience.
Time passed, and the shadow mouse’s patience wore thin.
It charged swiftly at him after he had been sitting there for 15 minutes.
Under the cover of the formation, it directly became a streak of gray and dashed toward Chen Jingzhai’s neck.
It bared its sharp teeth, and its murderous intent filled the air.
Right before it could slice his throat with its teeth, Chen Jingzhai suddenly disappeared from his spot.
The next moment, the shadow mouse’s entire body trembled. Then, it fell to the ground powerlessly.
“That was close!”
Chen Jingzhai appeared behind the shadow mouse with a deadpan expression on his face. There seemed to be a hint of anger in his gaze.
He had comprehended the essence of the formation. He was in complete control of the formation and awakened at the crucial moment.
Otherwise, he would have died.
As he glanced at the shadow mouse on the ground, whose ferocity had not quelled in the slightest, Chen Jingzhai suddenly raised his hand.
Yin Yang Qi was generated from the spiritual power within him, and it circulated around his palm.
He made a gesture nonchalantly with his palm, and the next moment, the body of the shadow mouse exploded with a thud.
The Restriction in the mouse’s body exploded under the command of his palm, causing it to die on the spot.
It exploded like a berry, leaving behind only a layer of skin.
Then, Chen Jingzhai unleashed an earth elemental technique. Finally, after cleaning up the traces of the shadow mouse, his anger was quenched.
He turned around and dashed into the mountain. His entire being disappeared without a trace.