Gray stalked through the tall grass, emulating the actions of deadly beasts in a hunt. His prey was a single jade bison which was sleeping under the stars and making occasional snorting sounds that whipped the air around it.

He had used up all of his spiritual stones and was now halfway through the 5th Level of the Spiritual Strengthening Realm. While that was good, he had no food. If he couldn’t catch a meal, he would actually starve to death, an ignominious end to the self-proclaimed strongest man of the King’s Mountains.

Gray dropped to the ground as the bison made a particularly loud snort. He gritted his teeth and continued crawling forward. Only male bison went off alone, away from their normal packs on rare occasions. They were the strongest, meanest, and largest of the species. The one in front of him was especially large, probably at the seventh level of Spiritual Strengthening. It was a fearsome bundle of power and wind that few dared to confront alone.

The Jade Plains were incredibly wide and empty. It had so few people compared to the total amount of land that even this close to the bandit town, there wasn’t anyone else around. Despite the two human establishments, they were mere distractions in a grassland ruled by beasts. From the humble flying chickens that soared across the sky despite their ungainly shapes to the tumbling pigs that bounced along the ground using inflated air sacs, each beast was adapted to survive and flee from predators. A human, if equipped with the strongest bow and sharpest arrow, could shoot down flying chickens if they were skilled enough. If they had the swiftest horses, they could perhaps chase down a few tumbling pigs before their steed ran out of strength. As for herds of bison or packs of wolves, it was only advisable if one had superior numbers or a dominating difference in strength.

Gray gripped his pickaxe and readied for a fight. He was only at the fifth level but his extraordinary innate strength meant he was already equal to the eighth level. He was confident he could bring down his prey. He had to be, or else he was going to starve. There was no room error, no other chance.

First Stage of the Tome of Glorious Fortune, Golden Body of the Bodhi!

Gray’s spiritual sea shook as all of his strength was summoned. Golden spiritual energy surged out like a tidal wave, filling his bones, tendons, and muscles with immeasurable strength. His hands glowed gold and this time, his entire feet up to his calves also glowed gold.

He leaped into the air and raised his pickaxe, aiming squarely for the sleeping beast’s forehead.

The wind rushed past as he covered over twenty meters in a single leap. A flash of gold and gray illuminated the night as his chosen weapon came crashing down with the force of a mountain.

Hooonnggg!

Spiritual energy exploded at a point only a few hairs above the jade bison’s forehead. A cloud of gold and jade-colored spiritual energy billowed in every direction, swirling and tumbling like a chaotic storm.

The bison had woken up at the last moment. It managed to defend, barely.

“Muuuu!!”

The beast bellowed as its head burst and deep-red blood blossomed. It was knocked back by the force of the impact and its body which weighed over two thousand kilograms was sent tumbling end over end.

Gray’s hand shot out and grabbed onto a clump of fur, letting himself be carried to the ground as well. His action was one borne out of experience, having wrestled with many beasts in the King’s Mountains. Once a beast was wounded and facing death, it would run. All of them did this, it was instinctive. If he didn’t catch them beforehand, he might not get another chance to.

As expected, the jade bison rolled onto its feet and dashed away at a full sprint. It grunted and snorted and fled without regard. Wind energy filled its body, propelling the panicked beast to a speed that far exceeded human capability within the realm. If he had not grabbed hold, he would have been left in the dust.

Instead, Gray was dragged alongside the jade bison, suffering a steadily mounting number of cuts and bruises. Although he was being stomped all over and bashed into its side and into the ground, he held on and refused to let go. This was the best chance he had, while it was still confused. He swung the foreman's pickaxe in a wide arc, with as much speed and power as he could muster, and smashed it into the bison’s rear ankle.

The sharpened heavy gold ax head sank into flesh and bone with a wet crunch. It pierced through from skin to skin until the beast’s ankle was no more than a twisted and bloody mess. Against the hide of a spiritual beast, a normal pickaxe would not have been capable of this. Not even the sharpest steel sword could have either. It had to be a spiritual metal, a sharpened tip made of heavy gold, the heaviest and most powerful previous metal!

“Wuurrrr!”

The massive male bison gave a confused gurgle as it tripped and face-planted. It plowed through the dirt, creating a long gouge until it eventually stopped. It dumbly tried to stand on the broken leg again and fell down with a painful bellow.

Gray took the chance to smash its other rear ankle, maiming both rear legs. Running was its greatest ability and now it could no longer move. Gray raised his pickaxe with both hands and aimed at the beast’s skull.

It gave a fierce glare as if in defiance, as if believing it could still survive. The last thing it saw was a flash of gold before the pickaxe sank into its brain, killing it instantly.

“Yes! I am the strongest!” Gray roared into the night.

He was elated. He was proud. He was hungry!

He made sure the beast was dead and ripped open its throat. A gush of deep red blood flowed out which he quickly caught in his mouth. He drank in big gulps, ignoring the taste but savoring the nourishing liquid.

His thirst was satisfied for the moment but his unending appetite was merely awoken. He knelt beside the carcass and started to eat. He didn’t care that it was raw and he had no mind to cook. In his current state, anything was delicious, especially raw spiritual beast meat from a fully grown male jade bison.

Gray ate his way through the freshly slain beast at a steady pace. The tongue, the heart, the liver, these delicacies were followed by big chunks of tender steak. Each mouthful sent rich spiritual beast meat filled with spiritual energy into his stomach where it was absorbed as quickly as it arrived. While he was stuffing his face, he was also stuffing his spiritual sea.

It was unknown whether spiritual beasts had a spiritual sea or how their cultivation differed from humans. What was known was that every part of their body was infused with spiritual energy. A powerful spiritual beast was a spiritual treasure on par with elemental gems, spiritual metals, and spiritual stones. Consuming its flesh was like cultivating with spiritual stones but even faster. As for the inedible parts, even they were useful in many ways and could be sold for a fortune.

Gray had no care about making money at the moment. His only focus was filling his stomach and he was highly motivated. He didn’t know when he would get another chance, alone on the wrong side of the Dangerous Region.

He feasted with such enthusiasm that he ignored everything around him. The sun dipped yet he kept eating. Even when it was completely dark, he kept eating. Even when he was full, he kept eating.

He was so distracted, he failed to realize that he was no longer alone.