I Grind to Martial Saint

The Orange Cat was beside Han Yuan.

After more than an hour, Han Yuan finally saw Hive Mountain.

Hive Mountain was immense, its gray-black slopes barren of any flora. The sight was exceptionally grim.

Its surface was even studded with bizarre, protruding rocks, giving it a menacing, savage look.

It was as if this was not a mountain of the mortal world, but a peak from Hell.

Other than that, just as Liao Feng had described, the mountain’s surface was pocked with countless deep, dark holes, as dense as a honeycomb.

A single glance was enough to make one’s skin crawl!

WOOO WOO WOO~~

Suddenly, a strange sound emanated from Hive Mountain.

The sound came from the dense collection of holes, blending together into an exceptionally grating noise.

”What’s that sound?”

Ding Zihu looked perplexed.

”It should be the sound of the wind... There are too many holes here.”

”Whenever the wind blows through, it creates this strange noise.”

Han Yuan guessed.

”Oh, so that’s how it is.” Liao Feng understood.

”Meow~ I smell it now...”

A vicious glint appeared in the Orange Cat’s eyes.

Before long,

they arrived at the foot of Hive Mountain.

But the sheer number of dark caves left them unsure which one to enter.

Even the Orange Cat was at a loss.

Because every cave entrance carried a scent it hated, making it impossible to choose.

Finally, Han Yuan turned his gaze to Ding Zihu.

”I’ll try.”

Ding Zihu took out his Compass.

Because of Taicang Mountain’s unique terrain, the Compass needle spun erratically the moment he took it out.

This time, however,

Ding Zihu pressed the Eight Trigrams Mirror against the back of the Compass and whispered, ”Settle!”

A Spiritual Light flashed, and the needle pointed forward and to the left.

”Let’s go!”

Seeing this, Han Yuan wasted no time and headed in the direction the Compass indicated.

Liao Feng, Ding Zihu, and the Orange Cat followed.

The cave was pitch-dark inside.

Han Yuan hadn’t brought a torch.

Mainly because having an Abnormal Person like Ding Zihu with them saved a lot of trouble.

Ding Zihu took out a Spirit Talisman and channeled a trace of Magical Power into it.

FWOOSH!

The Spirit Talisman instantly burst into flames, turning into a ball of Spiritual Light that illuminated the path ahead.

The path ahead was still a deep darkness, with no end in sight.

Han Yuan continued to walk at the very front.

Liao Feng and Ding Zihu followed cautiously behind him.

The Orange Cat’s ears flattened back against its head.

They hadn’t walked long down the dark tunnel before they reached a fork in the path.

This fork had five or six different paths.

”So many paths at a single fork?”

”No wonder people who get lost in here can never find their way out.”

Liao Feng’s eyes widened.

Han Yuan didn’t know which path to choose either.

This problem, naturally, was left for Ding Zihu to solve.

He looked at his Compass and said in a low voice, ”The one on the far left!”

Since Han Yuan had chosen to trust Ding Zihu, he trusted him completely and headed directly into the leftmost tunnel.

For the next several hours, they walked continuously through Hive Mountain.

They passed one fork after another.

During this time, nothing unusual happened—only endless forks in the path.

Han Yuan and the others had lost track of how long they’d been walking, and a sense of exhaustion began to creep in.

In a place this dangerous, no one dared to let their guard down.

But as more and more time passed with no strange occurrences in the tunnels, the terrifying calm only made their mental strain worse.

The pressure on Ding Zihu was the greatest.

Because after walking for so long, it seemed they were completely lost within Hive Mountain.

’And it’s all my fault, since I’m the one guiding us.’

But Han Yuan never once said a single word of doubt.

Even the Orange Cat, who usually loved to bicker with Ding Zihu, remained uncharacteristically silent.

”It can’t be... My calculations should be correct.”

Cold sweat began to bead on Ding Zihu’s forehead.

He was already sinking into self-doubt.

’Maybe my calculations aren’t correct after all.’

So when another fork appeared up ahead, Ding Zihu stopped and looked at Han Yuan.

”Trust yourself.”

”If you make me choose, I’ll just be guessing randomly.”

Han Yuan could see how nervous Ding Zihu was and spoke softly.

”Yeah... Don’t you always go on about how accurate your fortune-telling is, kid?”

”How come you’re chickening out now?”

the Orange Cat chimed in from the side.

”Brother Ding, it’s okay.”

”I believe in you too!”

Liao Feng added encouragingly.

”Alright!”

Hearing this, Ding Zihu took a deep breath and looked back down at the Compass in his hand.

”We go down the middle!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Han Yuan walked directly toward the middle path.

After passing through several more forks like this...

”Stop!”

Han Yuan suddenly held up a hand.

Ding Zihu stopped short, looking around nervously. ”What is it?”

”I think I heard some faint footsteps.”

Han Yuan said softly.

”Footsteps?”

”Impossible... I don’t hear anything.”

Ding Zihu frowned.

”No... I hear it too.”

”It sounds like something is walking toward us from up ahead.”

the Orange Cat said.

Hearing this, Ding Zihu quickly pulled Liao Feng behind Han Yuan.

Before long, several figures suddenly emerged from the deep darkness of the tunnel ahead.

These people wore Beast Robes and carried Bows and Arrows on their backs. Their attire was somewhat similar to Liao Feng’s, but the patterns painted on their faces were completely different. They looked like Hunters who had come into the mountains.

”Who are you?”

Among the Hunters was a burly man who eyed Han Yuan’s group with extreme vigilance.

”We’re lost... We stumbled in here by accident... and can’t get out.”

Han Yuan replied calmly.

Hearing this, the burly man visibly relaxed his guard.

”Same here... We accidentally walked into this godforsaken place and have been wandering around in circles. We have no idea where we are.”

the burly man said with a great deal of empathy.

”Which tribe are you from?”

Liao Feng suddenly asked.

”We’re from the Cyan Tiger Tribe... You must be from the Wuhuo Tribe, right?”

the burly man said softly.

Liao Feng’s expression immediately grew tense, and he didn’t know how to respond.

Fortunately, Han Yuan spoke up. ”How long have you been in here?”

”How long...? I don’t remember.” The burly man shook his head.

”It seems you really don’t know anything...”

”A few days ago... the Cyan Tiger Tribe was completely wiped out.”

Han Yuan said softly.

”How is that possible?”

”Who wiped out our Cyan Tiger Tribe?”

”You’re lying!”

Hearing this news, the Hunters from the Cyan Tiger Tribe refused to believe it, even thinking Han Yuan was trying to deceive them.

”They’re all dead... including you. All of you are dead.”

Han Yuan stated nonchalantly.

His words seemed to trigger something.

The expressions on the Hunters’ faces suddenly turned bizarre, and a shocking wave of resentful energy erupted from their bodies!

”Then you can die with us!”

The burly man sneered, his fingernails growing wildly as he lunged, swiping at Han Yuan’s neck.

But Han Yuan had long been gathering his strength in secret. He unleashed a fierce and domineering Giant Spirit Monument-Opening Hand.

BAM!

The burly man’s body was instantly blasted into mush!

Seeing this, the remaining Hunters’ eyes glinted viciously as they all charged at Han Yuan.

Facing these creatures, Han Yuan couldn’t even be bothered to draw his Dragon Sparrow Cloud-Splitting Saber, simply striking out repeatedly with his right hand.

BANG BANG BANG~~~

Two breaths later, the tunnel was instantly calm again.

The bodies Han Yuan had smashed apart dissipated into black smoke.

”These people... they must have come in here a long time ago and died. Their souls can’t even enter the cycle of reincarnation, so they’re trapped here forever.”

Ding Zihu said softly.

”A group of poor souls.”

Liao Feng sighed.

Han Yuan said nothing and continued walking forward.

After that, things returned to how they were before.

It was as if the appearance of those few Resentful Souls had been a minor interlude.

Ding Zihu was once again drenched in sweat.

But just after he chose another tunnel...

something completely unexpected happened.

For the first time, the tunnel had an end!