For the past two days, as Guo Feilong and his group traveled in a straight line across the forest plains, they encountered other Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

These cultivators often traveled in groups of five or six, though some were alone.

Seeing Guo Feilong's group was large and formidable, they all kept their distance, not daring to approach.

"There must be quite a few spiritual beasts in the mountains comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage. Fellow Daoists, please be cautious," Zhou Qiang advised. "If you encounter something you can't handle, nearby Daoists should come to help. We are a team, and only by working together can we gain more."

Everyone readily agreed on the surface.

But when the time comes, will they actually help in time? That's uncertain.

"Roar!"

Not long after entering the mountains, Guo Feilong encountered an Ice White Tiger, a spiritual beast comparable to the early Foundation Establishment stage.

They were less than two hundred meters apart.

The Ice White Tiger naturally possessed ice abilities.

With a tiger's roar, the temperature within a kilometer radius suddenly plummeted.

A layer of white frost instantly appeared on all the plants.

The ground, centered on the Ice White Tiger's feet, quickly formed a thin layer of ice spreading outward.

At the same time, hundreds of ice spikes formed from mystic power appeared above and behind the Ice White Tiger.

Each ice spike was over two feet long, sharp at the front and thick at the back, emitting a chilling aura under the sunlight.

Though it sounds lengthy, all this happened in the brief moment of a tiger's roar.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

In the next instant, hundreds of ice spikes shot toward Guo Feilong and the Treasure-Seeking Mink Xiaobai like arrows from a bow.

Each ice spike was not only powerful but also incredibly fast, capable of easily killing any ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator.

The divine sense detection range of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators is at least ten miles. The other Foundation Establishment stage cultivators in the team saw through their divine sense that Guo Feilong had encountered the Ice White Tiger, a spiritual beast comparable to the early Foundation Establishment stage.

Before becoming a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, Guo Feilong could easily kill beings of the early Foundation Establishment stage with talismans, let alone now.

However, Guo Feilong didn't want to reveal his true strength to everyone, so he only displayed the standard level of an early Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

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As soon as the Ice White Tiger appeared, Guo Feilong took out a top-quality defensive shield from his storage bag and infused it with mystic power.

The top-quality spiritual instrument shield rotated around him, simultaneously forming five shield light screens.

These light screens surrounded him and the Treasure-Seeking Mink Xiaobai, forming a circular defensive barrier.

Sacred treasures are expensive in the Cultivation World, and not all Foundation Establishment stage cultivators have them. Most early Foundation Establishment stage cultivators use top-quality spiritual instruments.

Clang, clang, clang!

The ice spikes struck the defensive shield light screens, producing clanging sounds. Some were deflected, while others shattered upon impact.

"Beast! Take this sword!"

Guo Feilong shouted, infusing mystic power into the top-quality flying sword in his hand. With a hum, the flying sword vibrated and emitted a resonant sound.

Under the control of the sword technique, the flying sword shot toward the Ice White Tiger like lightning.

The stronger the spiritual beast, the tougher its body defense. The Ice White Tiger raised its paw and swatted at the flying sword.

With a clang, the top-quality flying sword was knocked back dozens of meters, while the Ice White Tiger's paw remained unharmed.

This demonstrated that the Ice White Tiger's body defense was comparable to the level of a top-quality spiritual instrument, capable of withstanding such an instrument without injury.

"Roar!"

After swatting away the top-quality flying sword, the Ice White Tiger flashed forward, reaching Guo Feilong and swiping its paw at his defensive shield light screen, causing it to tremble violently and emit loud bangs.

While maintaining the light screen by infusing mystic power into the defensive shield, Guo Feilong used one hand to form a sword technique, controlling the top-quality flying sword to attack the Ice White Tiger.

The Ice White Tiger, with body defense comparable to a top-quality spiritual instrument, ignored the attacks of the top-quality flying sword and continued to swipe rapidly at the defensive shield light screen.

As long as it shattered the shield light screen, it could kill the intruder in its territory.

Spiritual beasts in the small Heavenly Abode, though highly intelligent, are also aggressive and ferocious.

They relentlessly pursue intruders of the same cultivation stage in their territory.

Either they kill or drive away the intruder, or they are defeated and killed or forced to flee, relinquishing their territory.

Guo Feilong displayed the strength of a typical early Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, evenly matched with the early Foundation Establishment stage Ice White Tiger, neither able to gain the upper hand.

The contest now depended on whose mystic power ran out first. Without mystic power, death was inevitable.

Of course, when two cultivators of the same stage fight, if one can't win, they will find a way to escape rather than fight to the death.

"Fellow Daoist Guo, I'll help you."

A pleasant voice called from Guo Feilong's left. Wu Xuemeng, wearing a black hat, rode the Treasure-Seeking White Fox, swiftly approaching.

The Treasure-Seeking White Fox was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, one small stage higher than the Ice White Tiger.

The Ice White Tiger wasn't truly foolish. Sensing the Treasure-Seeking White Fox's stage, it immediately abandoned its attack on Guo Feilong's defensive shield light screen and turned to flee.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Wu Xuemeng flicked her finger, sending a yellowish-brown light of mystic power to the ground in front of the Ice White Tiger.

Boom!

A wall of earth, tens of meters long, rose from the ground, instantly reaching over a hundred meters high, blocking the Ice White Tiger's escape route.

Subsequently, Guo Feilong and Wu Xuemeng, along with the mid-Foundation Establishment stage Treasure-Seeking White Fox, quickly killed the Ice White Tiger, which was comparable to the early Foundation Establishment stage.

Guo Feilong's disguised face showed gratitude as he clasped his hands and said, "Thank you, White Fox Fairy, for your assistance. Otherwise, I would have lost my life to this Ice White Tiger. The Ice White Tiger's corpse is yours, Fairy."

Though the corpse of an early Foundation Establishment stage spiritual beast could sell for tens of thousands of spirit stones, Guo Feilong wasn't interested in such a small amount. If he was pretending to be an early Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, he had to act the part convincingly.

Seeing his grateful expression, Wu Xuemeng's lips curled under her black hat. "What an act."

If she didn't know Guo Feilong's true strength, which even made her, a late Foundation Establishment stage cultivator at Great Perfection, feel terrified as if facing an ancient fierce beast, she might have been fooled by his sincere performance.

Wu Xuemeng didn't expose him and said, "This early Foundation Establishment stage Ice White Tiger was killed together. Let's split it. I'll take the original beast core, and you can have the body. How about that?"

The original beast core inside a spiritual beast is the most valuable part.

The fur is also valuable, used for making talismans.

"Alright," Guo Feilong agreed, then controlled the top-quality flying sword to pierce the Ice White Tiger's head.

While alive, the Ice White Tiger's body was comparable to a top-quality spiritual instrument.

Once dead, it no longer had that capability.

Soon, Guo Feilong performed a "craniotomy" on the Ice White Tiger, extracted its original beast core, and tossed it to White Fox Fairy Wu Xuemeng.

After this brief episode, Guo Feilong continued riding Xiaobai deeper into the mountains, searching for spirit herbs and spirit medicines. As time passed, their harvest grew, with more high-grade spirit herbs and spirit medicines appearing.

Seven days later, after traveling over a thousand miles in the mountains, Zhou Qiang, the team leader, suddenly said, "Fellow Daoists, come quickly. My treasure-seeking instrument has found precious metal ores. Let's dig them out together and split them evenly."

Guo Feilong and the others flew toward Zhou Qiang's location.