After breaking through Tier Three, He Kao could also attempt simultaneous cultivation, and first had to choose what complemented his cultivation best; undoubtedly, it was the Medicine Identification Skill.

He had already cultivated the Poison Detection Skill, which was an excellent foundation.

Because medicine can also be poison; under certain circumstances, it is beneficial, but under different conditions it can be harmful, with varying results depending on the subject and dosage.

While sitting in meditation, He Kao suddenly sensed a large creature approaching. There are no large predators like tigers or leopards in this mountainous wilderness, as they had long vanished. Thus, after the ecological environment recovered, there was only an infestation of wild boars.

The intruder wasn't a wild boar, its movements were extremely stealthy, and He Kao hadn't noticed it until it entered the scope of his expanded Divine Sense.

The creature weighed at least fifty or sixty pounds, with a body length of over a meter, excluding the tail. Its form was extremely agile and flexible; it turned out to be an adult clouded leopard.

The clouded leopard is an arboreal animal, living in dense forests with natural camouflage markings on its fur. Exceptionally cautious and keen, it is extremely difficult to discover. Among He Kao's seven Beast Claw Pendants, one "fake" was made from a clouded leopard claw.

This area was its territory, and the large tree He Kao leaned against was a place it habitually rubbed against every night, primarily to leave its scent mark.

The clouded leopard hadn't noticed He Kao either but instinctively felt something was wrong here, as if an uninvited intruder had barged in. Hence, it cautiously came to spy.

It hadn't even approached the clearing before it suddenly shivered, swiftly turned around and ran away, barely making a sound.

He Kao opened his eyes, revealing a slightly mischievous smile. When the clouded leopard startled him earlier, he used his Divine Sense to attempt the Object Control Skill, "blowing" a puff of air into the clouded leopard's nose.

Though the airflow was weak and barely controlled, if it were on the street, the recipient might not even notice it. Yet, here and now, it startled the inherently cautious clouded leopard away.

Whoa, is this the legendary Wind Manipulation? If it goes further, could he summon wind and rain? He Kao couldn't help but indulge in a daydream, no, a waking nighttime dream, but theoretically, there seems to be no logical error.

At sunrise, He Kao climbed to the mountain top, facing the dawn he practiced a set of Five Elements Staff, feeling light all over, then descended and found a parking spot to continue his journey.

He didn't take the highway, opting instead to crisscross through provincial and national roads in the countryside without guardrails, stopping anytime to study the flowers and plants, before wandering in the wilderness.

As night fell again, He Kao found another mountain area and sat under the cliff in meditation.

This cliff was not naturally formed; it had been a quarry, leaving behind a rocky crag. However, the quarry had been closed for twenty years, and the forest regrown. Now, it appeared as a natural escarpment amid lush mountains.

Tonight was New Year's Eve, and drizzle suddenly began to fall from the sky.

He found a recessed spot under the cliff, resembling a place for a Buddha statue with an irregular shape, and he embodied that somewhat improper Buddha.

With gentle rain and breeze, if seen during the day, the artistic conception would possibly be excellent. However, at this moment, it was deep into Lunar New Year's Eve night, under the cliff in the wild forest without a trace of light, with the breeze swirling raindrops into flight, feeling full of chill.

Yet He Kao didn't feel cold; he was very calm, as though entering a state of serene stillness. Among the external perceptions tonight was an added layer of artistic conception, the raindrops dancing in the sky, the vegetation and ground soaked with rain.

Due to the breeze, the cliff couldn't shield all the raindrops, but the light rain reached him, silently floating away, avoiding wetting hair and clothes.

This was the power of Divine Sense, as if setting up an invisible barrier, although very weak, only able to block tiny raindrops from the body.

Is this the legendary Body Protection Skill?

He once fired two shots to gravely wound Hu Shulue, a Tier Four Cultivator of the Huiming Shi Family. The first shot didn't even cause much harm, partly due to the range of the shotgun but surely also because of Protective Skill, right?

Moreover, using Divine Sense to disperse raindrops, isn't this also Water Manipulation? Did he just master Wave Making last night, and now grasp it again?

In his tranquility, He Kao wouldn't have such complex thoughts, but after rising at dawn and reflecting on the night's meditation, this chain of associations sprang forth.

Looking up, dawn was breaking, and it was already the first day of the New Year. In the forest ahead of the cliff, many water bamboo shoots emerged.

Water bamboo shoots aren't bamboo shoots growing in water; they are slender shoots after the rain, as thick as a pinky finger. Perhaps due to the still low temperature, these shoots hadn't grown tall overnight, only reaching half a foot.

Are there bamboo shoots on the first day of the year? It depends on climate and temperature.

He Kao drove slowly; at present, heading northward, he hadn't gone far and was still in the Great River Basin, which has a climate similar to Qi Yuan's area. Today was already mid-February by the solar calendar, and a week ago, it was the beginning of spring, having passed the coldest season.

After the beginning of spring, the climate was mild here; it happened to rain at night, so water bamboo shoots emerging was very normal. Approaching the awakening of insects, the temperature rises higher, and rainfall becomes ample, allowing water bamboo shoots to truly thrive, growing over half a human's height overnight.

During his night meditation, He Kao was experiencing and accompanying these tender new shoots breaking through the earth.

At this moment, the rain had stopped, and dawn-light blossomed on the horizon; He Kao distinctly felt he had broken through some invisible barrier, his body and mind accompanying the breath of new birth, very clearly.

**

PS: Another super long combined chapter, asking for a few moon votes!

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