Chapter Eight: Swallowing Clouds and Exhaling Mist

The Great Ram Immortal stood quietly to the side, watching as spiritual energy above Nan Luo’s head gradually formed into a swirling vortex. Though the aura was not particularly dense, and its rotation was slow, there was nonetheless a steady trend of increasing strength.

“This human boy’s talent isn’t bad at all…”

As time passed, Nan Luo sat until dusk. Then moonlight rose, shining from the zenith, before setting in the west; the starlight dimmed, and a ray of light pierced the eastern sky. At that moment, the ring of spiritual energy hovering above Nan Luo’s head abruptly halted, then rippled outward and dispersed, vanishing into calm.

Nan Luo and the Great Ram Immortal resumed their journey, traversing the endless mountains.

When Nan Luo awoke, the tiger and the bear had long disappeared, leaving only broken trees and scattered branches, a scene of chaos.

The mountains are dangerous; I must go home. That was Nan Luo’s only thought upon witnessing the aftermath.

He didn’t know why they fought, nor did he care. So Nan Luo hurried on, faster and faster. At night, he breathed in spiritual energy under the moon, stars, and clouds; by day, he traveled, pondering ways to run even faster. He often questioned the Great Ram Immortal trailing behind him, but the old ram maintained his air of “ancestral skills passed to the son, never to the daughter,” leaving Nan Luo unable to learn anything useful.

They traveled furtively, dodging all obstacles, choosing avoidance as their sole option.

I can’t fight them, can’t provoke them—surely, I can at least hide from them.

Thus, the man and the ram survived more than twenty days, still alive and well. Although they were chased by all manner of monsters along the way, the beasts all had their own territories. Once Nan Luo and his companion escaped those bounds, the pursuers relented. Sometimes, their flight even triggered bloody battles among the mountain beasts, causing wars between rival factions.

They took many detours, but always pressed on toward the rising sun—steadfast and determined. That direction promised Nan Luo freedom and home.

Now, Nan Luo’s running speed was no slower than the Great Ram Immortal’s when he shrouded himself in yellow mist. Yet when the old ram truly used his earth-burrowing art, Nan Luo couldn’t even glimpse the shadow of the yellow mist’s tail. Fortunately, such long-distance burrowing consumed vast magic; the Great Ram Immortal rarely used it, only occasionally showing off when Nan Luo looked excited by his improved speed—instantly extinguishing Nan Luo’s enthusiasm.

Besides his increased speed, Nan Luo’s greatest progress lay in the art of concealing breath. Once, distracted, he wandered into a leopard’s domain. In the distance, he watched a leisurely leopard approaching, its body lithe and graceful, but emanating an immense killing aura. Nan Luo instantly knew this leopard was no less dangerous than the tiger and bear he’d encountered before. At that moment, it was too late to turn and flee.

Perhaps because the leopard was within its own territory, its vigilance was not high. Instead, the ever-alert Nan Luo and the Great Ram Immortal noticed the leopard first.

Nan Luo and the Great Ram Immortal froze, standing perfectly still, as if moving a single hair would draw the leopard’s attention. Nan Luo stared at the leopard, slowly crouching, using the terrain to hide his body. Suddenly, the leopard seemed to sense something and whipped its gaze toward them. Nan Luo felt the bloodlust burning in its eyes.

Every mountain in the forest was ruled by a powerful being, each crowned king through battles fought atop the corpses of others, leaving behind mountains of bodies and seas of blood.

The yellow mist around the Great Ram Immortal abruptly surged and shrank toward the earth, as if something beneath the ground was sucking it away. Nan Luo knew this was the ram’s earth-burrowing art at its maximum.

Just then, Nan Luo felt a wave of blood-scented wind and baleful energy rolling in like a storm. He pressed his head to the ground, closed his eyes, and didn’t dare move a finger.

Clearly, the leopard had sensed the Great Ram Immortal’s magical fluctuations and was now in pursuit.

When dragons or tigers travel, the winds and clouds change; a leopard, transformed into a demon, was every bit as terrifying.

Nan Luo felt as if he were standing amid mountains of corpses and oceans of blood.

He could not move—a single motion would mean discovery and death. Unlike the Great Ram Immortal, Nan Luo had no mysterious, ghostly earth-burrowing art to escape a mile away. He couldn’t outrun the leopard, so he could only stay, holding his breath, relaxing his body, imagining himself as a stone—a stone battered by wind and rain. This was the method Nan Luo had been practicing these days to hide his aura.

A wave of blood-scented wind roared past Nan Luo, lifting leaves into the air as the leopard swept by. Several dead leaves landed on Nan Luo’s body.

He dared not move; at that moment, he was no more than a corpse, a stone, devoid of any sign of life. Even his heartbeat and blood seemed to have stopped.

About half an hour later, the blood-scented wind swept past again, then halted five meters from Nan Luo. The leopard’s ears twitched, its nostrils flared—it seemed to have discovered something.

Nan Luo had entered a state of emptiness; everything within ten meters appeared vividly before his mind’s eye, even clearer than with sight. He sensed the leopard, returning empty-handed; suddenly, Nan Luo felt as if an icy gaze had settled upon him.

“Damn, have I been found?”

But the chilling feeling faded as soon as the thought arose. The leopard let out a long howl, its voice spreading a wave of supreme fury, venting its anger.

Only after the leopard had been gone for a long time did Nan Luo slowly rise, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth—the leopard’s final roar had injured him.

Though wounded, Nan Luo was elated; to escape detection just five meters from such a powerful leopard was a triumph. He ran back, soon spotting the Great Ram Immortal atop a high dirt mound, gazing his way.

In the timid yellow ram’s eyes, Nan Luo could see a look of utter disbelief.

Nan Luo, feeling proud and happy, almost forgot his injuries. Yet he was equally amazed the ram had managed to escape the leopard’s claws in such a situation.

“I’m amazed, Immortal. Your earth-burrowing art is a marvel called ‘elegance’!” Nan Luo laughed, though he knew the ram was only self-proclaimed as an immortal, but he enjoyed calling him by that name.

“Human boy, I’m surprised you survived. That much, at least, astonishes me,” the Great Ram Immortal said bluntly.

“Immortal, do you want to learn my aura-concealing technique? If you master it, you won’t always have to run!”

“I do!”

“Then exchange your earth-burrowing art for it.”

“That’s impossible. Earth-burrowing is my life’s magical talent—not something your half-baked aura-concealing technique can match.”

Once again, Nan Luo failed in his effort to learn the earth-burrowing art.