This unusual sight attracted no attention. When Jiang Chan did not emerge for a long time, the spirit beasts watching from a distance dispersed, leaving silence around the large tree.
Pain shot through Jiang Chan’s head as her entire mouse body passed into the barrier. Unable to stop herself in time, her round body rolled twice across the ground before she sat up.
Jiang Chan alertly planted all four paws on the ground, surveying her surroundings with her round eyes. This was essentially a cave dwelling, probably left behind by some cultivator. Inside was only a meditation cushion, with three small boxes placed before it.
The cave dwelling looked very plain, probably a place where a cultivator had practiced arduous cultivation. In Jiang Chan’s eyes, both the cushion and the three small boxes radiated the glow of treasures. She sniffed and carefully moved toward the cushion.
All the boxes had restrictions on them. Jiang Chan scraped with her little paw, and the boxes opened. A jade slip, a small pouch, and a set of formation discs.
She identified all these things from Xiao Jin’s memories. At the sight of the formation discs, Jiang Chan’s eyes lit up. They were a defensive set, just right for her at her current stage.
She would soon undergo her Golden Core lightning tribulation. Just as she was considering how to give herself another means of staying alive, these formation discs had practically delivered themselves to her. Without standing on ceremony, Jiang Chan put them into her internal space, then glanced at the small pouch. It was a Qiankun Pouch.
Qiankun Pouches were among the storage implements most commonly used by cultivators. More advanced ones included storage rings, followed by storage bracelets and the like.
Better than nothing. Jiang Chan waved her little paw and put the Qiankun Pouch away too. She did not leave the final jade slip behind either. Perhaps the Treasure-Hunting Mouse’s hoarding tendencies were acting up. Whenever Jiang Chan saw something good, she wanted to put it away.
Jiang Chan pressed the jade slip to her forehead and examined it. It concerned formations. This suited her perfectly. Her true form was a Treasure-Hunting Mouse. If she also learned to set up formations, she would have another layer of protection.
After wandering around the ready-made cave dwelling, Jiang Chan lay down on the meditation cushion and shook her fur in satisfaction. She was now at the late Foundation Establishment stage, and a strip of golden fur two fingers wide had appeared on her back.
Once she formed her beast core, that strip of golden fur would grow wider. When she reached the Nascent Soul stage, Jiang Chan would be able to assume human form and practice human spells.
With the formation discs, Jiang Chan was more confident about surviving her lightning tribulation. Three days later, a thunderbolt suddenly struck the inner region of the forest of magical beasts, frightening countless spirit beasts into fleeing.
The lightning tribulation lasted an entire day before finally stopping. By then, Jiang Chan had been struck until she was seeing stars. Despite all her mental preparation, she still could not help swearing.
Watching thunderbolts strike her and smelling her own flesh burning, Jiang Chan wanted to cry but had no tears. For those with exceptionally blessed divine beast bloodlines, such as Treasure-Hunting Mice, lightning tribulations were even more formidable.
In Jiang Chan’s memories, Xiao Jin’s lightning tribulation had not been this powerful, had it? This Golden Core lightning tribulation was almost on par with a Nascent Soul tribulation. At that thought, her vision darkened. Surely she would not have to be struck by lightning every time she advanced?
The lightning tribulation had come bolt after bolt. The formation discs Jiang Chan had unexpectedly obtained held up well. Although a few cracks had appeared, they were still usable. She decided to nourish them more in the future. After all, they did not look like ordinary objects.
After the lightning tribulation, a light rain began falling from the sky. This was a gift from the Heavenly Dao, a sweet date after a slap in the face. Bathed in the spiritual rain, Jiang Chan soon entered meditation. Outside the cave dwelling, the flowers and plants swayed in the wind as they received the spiritual rain.
The days of cultivation were extremely monotonous. Fortunately, Jiang Chan could endure solitude. During her daily moonlight baths, she absorbed the knowledge from the jade slip on formations. By now, she could quickly set up a formation with a wave of her little paw.
She was probably the only spirit beast who could set up formations. Sometimes, even Jiang Chan found the thought amusing. While studying formations, she had not neglected her cultivation either.
By now, she had cultivated to the late Golden Core stage, just one step away from Nascent Soul. Her true form had also changed. Instead of being entirely black, only her four paws remained black, while the rest glittered gold. Clearly, her bloodline had already progressed a long way toward returning to its ancestral form.
She had spent five years in the forest of magical beasts, and in another year, she would leave it. Jiang Chan moved her front paws. After leaving, she still needed to stay near Feng Qiwu. At the very least, she had to protect her.
Since Jiang Chan had entered the Golden Core stage, she could visit far more places. Compared with the title Treasure-Hunting Mouse, she felt that miser might suit it better. This was a creature that only let things out and never took them in, yet wanted to put away every good thing it saw.
By now, Jiang Chan’s strength was apparent to all in the forest of magical beasts. Her offensive abilities were nothing special, but once she set up a formation, even those powerful beasts would be trapped inside until they died.
Thus, Jiang Chan had also become one of the forest’s dominant figures. She had no intention of making enemies. With valuable things of her own, she had traded for many good things with those powerful magical beasts.
For instance, she now lived next to a Shadow Leopard. This was a fire-element spirit beast, somewhat stronger than Jiang Chan. But catching Jiang Chan was no easy matter. She was too nimble, and her ability to escape was exceptional.
Meeting this Shadow Leopard had been quite a coincidence. In the forest of magical beasts, the strong preyed on the weak, and fighting over territory was commonplace among spirit beasts.
At the time, Jiang Chan had been searching for treasures nearby when she happened upon this Shadow Leopard fighting a Fire Cloud Wolf. The Shadow Leopard had the upper hand but suffered serious injuries as well.
Moved by compassion, Jiang Chan gave the Shadow Leopard a Vermilion Fruit she had found beside a hot spring. After that, the Shadow Leopard became her companion. The two had been together for three years now.
Having a companion made searching for things much easier. The Shadow Leopard was a ready source of fighting muscle. The mouse and leopard could be said to have struck it rich in the forest of magical beasts, and both their strengths increased rapidly.
Jiang Chan lay lazily on the Shadow Leopard’s head and tapped it with her paw. “Squeak, squeak.”
The Shadow Leopard opened its mouth and roared a few times. By now, Jiang Chan had adapted well to being a Treasure-Hunting Mouse. She could communicate with spirit beasts, after all. Once she reached the Nascent Soul stage, she could be a normal person again.
The Shadow Leopard moved its head, obligingly heading to the right. Jiang Chan sat on its head like a lord, looking this way and that from time to time.
This was their routine patrol, during which they also checked for anything good nearby. Influenced by Jiang Chan, the Shadow Leopard had also taken to collecting valuable things. Even if it could not use them itself, giving them to Jiang Chan was good too. It knew she had plenty of good things.
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