Chapter 24 - The Spirit Stone Hoard

Morning came and warm sunlight gently shone through the leaves of the dense forest. Few birds were chirping happily nearby.

Feng Mian waved his hands and chased away the annoying birds that were screaming right next to his ear. "Agh I fucking hate this." he sat up straight and stretched to relieve his aching muscles.

But unexpectedly he lost balance and fell down from above a tree.

"Fuck this shit!" he sat up and patted the sand off his face and his clothes. Last night's journey was the hardest he had suffered in all his years of life. First, he lost his whole cultivation and his ability to shift… that only meant he could move forward in his foot.

This forest homes many other beasts that were indebted to him so none of them attacked him outright but he could see some animals lurking around with a small amount of killing intent in their eyes.

Even now, he could feel a looming stare from behind. He swiftly turned back and glared.

The creature scurried away into the dense forest.

"This is getting much harder than I'd expected." If this goes on, the creatures that were tracking him would most likely move in and attack him soon. He gloomily took out his sword that he had rarely used. "If they come at me, I'll just chop them to pieces and make a stew out of them," he laughed maliciously.

The leaved behind him trembled, showcasing the fear he had evoked in those things.

'It's better this way….. I really messed up this time, huh? I need to get to the village soon and find my spirit stone hoard.'

He placed his sword in its sheath and started stretching his leg muscles. Without any hesitation he took off in the direction he was more than familiar with.

As he was passing by the coastal area, he sniffed a different scent. He paused and sniffed in the direction. 'Why do I smell something very familiar? Hmm…..' the intruders were only Qi refinery stage and foundation stage.

But soon he heard the scuffling behind him.

'I've got no time to waste. I'll check the intruders later.' He swished away into the forest, leaving behind no traces.

Soon he came across the marking left behind by humans, be it small broken branches or small knife marks on the tree. He simply followed it to the small village that was near the costal riff. "I'm finally close….." he smilingly walked over to the village gate.

The gates were completely worn out and were not managed properly as for the village it was in total dismay. The human had left in a hurry, leaving behind debris and unattended houses. He slowly walked in with a slight frown.

"Didn't Mu Zhen say that a human family still lived here… how come…."

"Oh, what do we have here? A pretty boy decides to infiltrate our area," a man grunted loudly.

Feng Mian glanced back with his eyes narrowed. "Whose territory is this now?"

"Mine," a six-foot man threateningly held a sword to his throat. "And since you entered my territory, you will be mine too," he laughed manically.

Feng Mian just blankly glanced at him. The man in front of him was a simple human, with no cultivation in his body. 'I could just throw him into the ocean for the Mers to feed….' But suddenly he realized something. 'Wait, did he just call me pretty!!!!'

"Who did you call pretty, huh? Do you not want your head?" he whispered with his head lowered. The killing rage was rushing through his veins. Just the word pretty was enough to trigger his overwhelming flames.

The man laughed at him. "Of course it's you, do you think I was talking about myself," he laughed and moved closer. Not seining the danger, the man gripped Mian's chin and pulled his head up. "Even your lips are so pretty, pink and juicy, just want to take a bite out of it,"

"That's it," Mian head butted him and pushed him to the ground. The sword in the mortal's hand scratched against his neck but it could not even penetrate his touch, steel like skin. "Is that all you've got? From all that talk, I thought you would have gotten a spiritual weapon or something," he mumbled and stomped right in between his legs.

"AHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Oh, are you sure you are human because you squeal like a pig?" He swiftly removed the shoes that touched the mortal man's nether regions. "And get this through your ugly head. I am the owner of this forest. Anything the sun ray touches is my land." his eyes glowed slightly red a peered down at him.

The man tremblingly looked up at him. "M—monster…. Monster!!! Boss, there is a monster here!!!!" he shouted and ran towards the interior of the village.

Mian casually watched him run about with his eyes narrowed. "Fuck, here I thought getting my spirit stone hoard was easy. But even this is interesting,"

A group of hundreds of humans ran out of the village elder's house and stood in front of him.

"Is this the monster you saw? He is just a pretty brat. Why did you exaggerate your claims, huh?" the boss of the bandit group said with a skeptical glance.

"Boss, you have to believe me!! That man is a monster!!! He—he just made me impotent," he grumbled, holding his already smashed thing.

The boss glanced down at him with disgust. "che, you are dripping blood. Get back in there. I will take care of this pretty brat."

"That is the second time," Mian whispered softly with his head still lowers.

"Second time what?"

Mian glanced up with his eyes glowering bright red. His matted brown hair swished around in the wind, making him look like a fiend. "It's the second time you called me pretty."

"So what, is it irking you? I shall call you pretty one more time than," the bandits laughed amongst themselves.

Suddenly, blood splashed everywhere. A single head rolled around on the floor, leaving the body still standing upright. "That is couldn't one, I have ninety-nine to go," he maliciously laughed at them.

The human just ran away like headless chicken and out the village gates.

"Easy as a pie." Feng Mian cleaned his hands up and glanced at the corpse under him. He could have very well taken care of the bandits without killing anyone, but now his physical strength is very limited. If he had fought with all of them, he would have been the one in loss.

He squatted down next to the headless corpse and cupped his hand. "Forgive me for this massacre. I had no other way."

As the sun came on top of his head, he had already buried the corpse on the nearby cultivation land.

"Now all I have to do is cultivate on my spirit stone hoard and I shall get all my powers back," he happily laughed as he walked towards the cliff.

The human he wounded earlier watched him with fear in his eyes, but there was a subtle sense of greed glowing through them. "Spirit stone hoard?...."