"Now, I have yet another technique at my disposal," Li Lin thought to himself.

"Let's try this Fire Shadow Finger next," Li Lin softly said as he summoned his Qi, transforming a hand seal. Then, from his right hand, five red finger strikes fiercely burst forth. These strikes, imbued with a scorching aura, tore through the void with a powerful force, creating sharp, whistling sounds in the air.

"Shoo, shoo, shoo..." The rock wall was bombarded with stones flying everywhere as the five finger strikes hit the steep cliff face, instantly creating five one-meter deep holes, with shallow cracks forming around the rock face.

The Fire Shadow Finger was a fire-elemental, star-level, beginner martial technique that Li Lin had acquired from the Fire Yin Monster. When the Fire Yin Monster had used it in a battle against Elder Bai Mei, the technique had demonstrated remarkable power.

After opening the jade slip, Li Lin realized it contained the Fire Shadow Finger technique used by the Fire Yin Monster. Having witnessed its effectiveness firsthand, and considering his need for a fire-elemental martial technique, he decided to cultivate it.

Cultivating this star-level martial technique was much easier than the Saber Soul Technique. Over the month, in addition to practicing the Saber Soul Technique, Li Lin had also been cultivating the Fire Shadow Finger in his spare time, achieving some success.

Although he had made some progress with both the Fire Shadow Finger and the Saber Soul Technique, Li Lin knew that truly mastering a martial technique was not as simple as just cultivating it successfully. Every expert spends decades, even a lifetime, immersing themselves in their techniques to unleash their maximum power.

For instance, among practitioners of the same cultivation level, someone who has just cultivated a Xuan-level technique versus someone who has spent decades perfecting a star-level technique, the latter might have a higher chance of winning. The same technique can vary in power depending on who wields it, all based on their mastery.

"A month has passed; they must have reached Yunyang Sect by now," Li Lin looked up at the valley, thinking that if he hadn't fallen down this cliff, he would also be at Yunyang Sect by now.

However, he felt somewhat fortunate for his fall, as it led him to meet his benefactor, the Saint Hand Spiritual Venerable, and obtain the Heavenly Spirit Record.

Li Lin calculated that he now had to find his own way to Yunyang Sect to obtain the Millennium Red Copper and the Fleeting Light Shifting Shadow martial technique as Uncle Jiang wished. But first, he needed to leave this valley.

In this month, aside from refining the Saber Soul Technique and Fire Shadow Finger, Li Lin experienced unexpected gains. With the help of the Spirit Jade Bed, his spiritual energy reached the peak of the second-level Spirit Warrior, and he was on the verge of a breakthrough in his Qi.

During the month, Li Lin also pondered over the Heavenly Spirit Record, finding the puppet crafting, formations, and beast control techniques it contained to be profoundly complex, requiring slow, meticulous study—something he was prepared to do.

"Time to leave," Li Lin muttered as he returned to the stone chamber, storing the Spirit Jade Bed in his storage ring—a crucial item now safely kept in his hidden storage ring. The outer storage bag held only trivial items. The storage ring from his benefactor, clearly no ordinary item, had much larger space than the one Uncle Jiang gave him, but couldn't be hidden inside his body.

Li Lin had no plans to use this new storage ring, storing it within his own. Before leaving the chamber, he removed all the Night Pearls, valuable items he intended to sell someday. With these pearls numbering in the thousands, they represented a significant income.

After making preparations, Li Lin left the cave. He paid his respects at the grave of his benefactor, the Saint Hand Spiritual Venerable, and then set out to find Little Dragon.

Over the month, Little Dragon became the nightmare of all animals in the valley. Since its arrival, the valley's animals dared not show themselves, becoming meals for Little Dragon.

Li Lin didn't know much about Little Dragon, nor what level it had reached. After Little Dragon shed its skin once, Li Lin speculated it might have reached the second level of a spiritual beast. However, Little Dragon's defensive power seemed incredibly unbelievable, even the Fire Yin Monster couldn't injure it, which made Li Lin doubt its level. A second-level spiritual beast with such an abnormal defensive power seemed too extraordinary.

"Swoosh, swoosh..." Through the forest, a streak of yellow light zipped through the space and affectionately landed in Li Lin's hand—it was Little Dragon.

"You're full now, right? It's time for us to leave," Li Lin said affectionately, stroking Little Dragon's little head.

Little Dragon's round eyes, seemingly capable of speech, looked at Li Lin as it flicked its tongue and then nodded, as if understanding Li Lin's words, appearing incredibly cute.

"We'll make a raft first," Li Lin said, heading into the forest. He took out the green longsword he used to dig holes before, chopped down eight straight branches the size of bowl rims, then found some vines in the forest to tie them together into a raft. Without a raft, they couldn't go downstream.

"Little Dragon, let's go." After finishing the raft, Li Lin spoke, and Little Dragon, understanding the cue, immediately coiled around Li Lin's shoulder, preferring the outside to being in the sleeves without Li Lin's command.

Pushing the raft to the center of the water, Li Lin leaped onto it and, with a baby-arm-sized long wooden stick, gently pushed; the raft immediately started moving downstream.

"Master, I'm leaving. The Heavenly Spirit Record, I will definitely find a way to deliver it to the Duanmu family in Moyun City," Li Lin said, looking at the valley as the raft drifted slowly downstream.

Controlling the raft along the river and watching the valley gradually disappear, the surroundings turned into a canyon that seemed endless. The river's flow wasn't very fast, requiring Li Lin to use the wooden stick to navigate downstream.

Above the canyon, thick fog obscured the view, making it impossible to see the top. Li Lin guessed this was probably the bottom of the cliff he had fallen from.

The sides of the canyon were made of thick, rugged rock walls. Inside the canyon, Li Lin could faintly hear the sounds of beasts, truly making it seem like an untouched paradise.

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After two days, the river had narrowed significantly, eventually becoming too narrow for the raft to pass through, forcing Li Lin to dismantle it and proceed on foot.

Several hours later, only three of the original eight logs remained, and the canyon had narrowed to just barely allow one person through.

"Is the exit here?" Li Lin wondered after reaching a dead end with a rock wall in front, but upon closer inspection, he could see water stirring on the surface, indicating an underwater current.

"This is it," Li Lin murmured, then said to Little Dragon on his shoulder, "Are you ready, Little Dragon? We're going to dive."

"Chit, chit," Little Dragon flicked its tongue, giving Li Lin a glance before diving into the water, seemingly unafraid.

Taking a deep breath and surrounding himself with a faint protective circle, Li Lin dived into the clear water. About ten meters down, he saw a one-meter-wide whirlpool where water flowed out.

Without hesitation, Li Lin entered the whirlpool, immediately pulled forward by the current, with Little Dragon curiously following behind.

About twenty minutes later, Li Lin felt he was running out of breath underwater. With his current cultivation level, this was the best he could do, unlike those martial generals or martial marshals who could stay underwater for days without any issue.

At this moment, the pulling force became stronger, and suddenly, with a soft sound, Li Lin felt himself exit the whirlpool and enter a deep pool. Looking back at where he had just come from, it was also a stone wall, and at the edge of this exit, there were dozens to hundreds of holes. Even if someone were to reach this place, it would be very difficult to find the entrance.

Little Dragon followed out of the whirlpool. Li Lin swiftly surfaced, finding it hard to hold his breath any longer.

"Plop..." A figure emerged from the calm waters, it was Li Lin.

"I couldn't take it anymore, I was about to suffocate." Li Lin said lightly, gasping for air. At this moment, the protective circle dissipated, and Li Lin's body was soaked, but fortunately, he could swim. After catching his breath, he quickly swam towards the shore.

In the water, Little Dragon had no difficulty at all, happily swimming around.

After climbing onto the shore, Li Lin surveyed his surroundings. He was clearly in a mountain range and estimated it wasn't far from the range he had fallen from, although he was temporarily unsure of his direction.

The mountain range was deserted and silent, with the deep woods rustling ominously when the wind blew.

"Swoosh." Little Dragon climbed onto the shore beside Li Lin, its small eyes curiously looking at the drenched Li Lin.

Looking around, Li Lin smiled slightly, circulated the fire attribute Qi within his body, and in a moment, he was dry. Now, being at the level of a Spirit Warrior, such minor tricks were within his capabilities.

"We'll slowly find our way," Li Lin said to Little Dragon in front of him, looking in the direction where the sunlight shone from above, then headed southeast, towards Wudu City, the direction of Yunyang Sect. He couldn't just walk there; flying beasts took a month to reach, and it would take even longer on foot.

Now, Li Lin's only option was to head to Wudu City first and find a way from there. Wudu City was under the jurisdiction of Yunyang Sect, and maybe he could arrange for a beast to take him to Yunyang Sect, as he was a newly accepted disciple of the sect.

Having made up his mind, Li Lin started moving southeast. He had heard from Elder Bai Mei that demonic beasts frequented the Fog Mountains, so he proceeded with caution.

Little Dragon circled Li Lin's shoulders, blending in so well it was hard to notice without looking closely. Its small eyes scanned the surroundings, occasionally flicking its tongue.

"There's a scent of herbs, medicinal herbs," Li Lin noted half an hour later, identifying the scent of medicinal herbs with the help of Uncle Jiang's jade slip. He quickly deduced it was the scent of medicinal herbs.

"Swoosh..." Little Dragon slid off Li Lin's shoulder and led the way towards the source of the scent.

Soon after, the aroma of the medicinal herbs grew stronger. At the foot of a hill, a golden, fifteen-centimeter-tall, thumb-thick three-leaf herb appeared before Li Lin.

"Three-leaf soul grass," Li Lin was surprised, having easily found a Three-leaf Soul Grass, a primary ingredient for a second-grade Qi-enhancing medicinal pill, which was not easily found.

Little Dragon circled around the Three-leaf Soul Grass, almost drooling, its small eyes looking at Li Lin as if wanting to eat it.

"Hold on, this Three-leaf Soul Grass is useful to me," Li Lin said, needing it for crafting Qi-enhancing pills.

He then stored the Three-leaf Soul Grass in his spatial bag, and at that moment, two figures appeared behind him.

"Hand over the Three-leaf Soul Grass, we saw it first," the two men, dressed in yellow, appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, and from their aura, both were at the level of martial warriors.

Li Lin turned to look at them, noting both were fifth-level martial warriors, and replied calmly, "I believe I saw the Three-leaf Soul Grass first, and I was the one to obtain it. Do you intend to rob me?"

The two muscular men dressed in tight clothes eyed Li Lin and then scanned the surroundings, seemingly checking for other people. The one on the left, wielding a gleaming curved blade, asked, "Kid, which mercenary group do you belong to?"

"What does that have to do with you?" Li Lin responded, having heard that in the Fog Mountains, large mercenary groups often rob smaller teams, with incidents of murder and robbery not being uncommon. If he admitted to being alone, trouble would likely ensue immediately.

"Mazi, look at him. He doesn't seem to belong to any mercenary group, unfamiliar and very young. Let's make our move," the man on the right, holding a black staff, suggested to his companion with the knife, his eyes harboring a sinister glint. He perceived no significant aura from Li Lin and, considering his young age, didn't take him seriously.

"Tie Qiu, we have important matters to attend to; better to hurry to our big brother and avoid trouble," the knife-wielding man cautioned.

"No worries, the kid has a spatial bag, which should contain a good haul," the staff-wielding man chuckled, knowing that a spatial bag alone was worth thousands of gold coins.

"Hand over the spatial bag, or die," the knife-wielder demanded, eyeing Li Lin with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. It was unusual for a youngster to wander alone in the Fog Mountains. He considered himself an old hand in these parts and was aware of the basics.

"Here's the spatial bag, just please don't kill me," Li Lin feigned panic, his face turning ashen and sweat dripping down, as he reluctantly handed over his spatial bag.

"Turns out you're just a coward. Here, take it. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll spare your life," the staff-wielder laughed heartily, stepping forward to take the spatial bag from Li Lin, who appeared utterly terrified, sweating profusely. The knife-wielder relaxed his guard, believing Li Lin to be just a young noble from a minor family who had ventured into the Fog Mountains for an adventure.

"Here, don't kill me," Li Lin handed over the spatial bag, continuing to sweat. The staff-wielder smugly took the bag from Li Lin's hands.

At that moment, Li Lin, who had been looking down, suddenly shot a sharp gleam from his eyes, and a powerful surge of Qi vibrated around him.

"Mountain Splitting Palm, die," a pale yellow palm print, brimming with formidable Qi, swept out, striking the staff-wielder who was only inches away. The force of the blow caused the air to scream sharply.

"Bang!" The palm print hit the staff-wielder's abdomen, causing space to tremble and a muffled explosion to sound. The black staff fell to the ground as the man was sent flying backward, spitting out blood.

"Be careful..." The knife-wielder's expression changed dramatically, but before he could finish speaking, his face turned cyanotic, as if swollen with water retention, dropping his knife in agony, clutching at his throat as if unable to breathe, his pupils dilating before becoming clouded.

"Thump!" In less than two seconds, the knife-wielder collapsed to the ground, with Little Dragon satisfyingly feasting on his blood around his neck.

"Thinking of robbing me? You two were not up to the mark," Li Lin looked at the staff-wielder who had crashed to the ground, stating that with the element of surprise and Little Dragon's help, taking down the two men was not difficult. If it weren't for the fear of drawing attention, he could have dealt with them alone.

"Spare my life, I won't dare again, please let me go," the staff-wielder pleaded, grievously injured by Li Lin's Mountain Splitting Palm, his face pale and bleeding from the mouth. Being only a fifth-level martial warrior himself, and with Li Lin's surprise attack, he was severely wounded. Seeing his comrade dead, he was filled with immense fear, having thought he encountered an easy target only to find a formidable adversary.