Chapter 166: From Dao Birthed Nature
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
Bei Feng continued observing the large bear which seemed to be completely unfazed by the emergence of the huge black bees. It continued to smash the tree with its powerful body!
“Bam!”
Every blow would cause the tree to shake violently. The beehive on the top of the tree also looked like it could fall at any time.
“Bzz!”
A huge swarm of black bees surged out of the hive, stinging towards the large bear below!
“Roar!”
The bear was unable to ward off all the bees. If it was just a few bees, it could still ignore them. But the number of these huge black bees buzzing angrily about him right now was in the hundreds!
It howled angrily and took off, fleeing back into the forest. The bear may be big and look clumsy, but its speed was not slow at all! In just a short moment, it had disappeared into the forest.
Bei Feng remained hidden behind the mound with a transfixed expression. The scene where the bear used its back to ram the tree flashed through his mind.
‘That move is very similar to the Minor Illumination Body Tempering Technique which I created accidentally!’
Bei Feng thought back to the large bear’s movements. The bear’s intricate movements kept replaying over and over in his mind.
It had straightened its broad back and slanted its shoulders, and moved its strength to its elbows. Then, it steadied its stance and brought its paws together, as if it was raising a huge shield before it.
After that, it spread its forelimbs as wide as possible, exceeding the width of its shoulders. Then, it used its shoulder blade and its back to move its claws and elbow, bringing everything in as it changed its angle. This way, its broad back could be put to use, spanning it out to its fullest extent. In short, this was equivalent to concentrating all its strength on its back!
When Bei Feng saw this, he was suddenly inspired. The bear was gathering all its strength onto its back, while he was trying to gather all his strength into his fists!
This was also a different approach to the same end. But, with just that single demonstration, it was impossible for Bei Feng to grasp the method to control his fist martial skill immediately.
“For Heaven birthed Earth, and Earth birthed man. Man birthed the Dao, and the Dao birthed nature! The earliest martial skills were all derived from nature in the first place. It’s not easy to gain inspiration; I must not waste this chance!”
Bei Feng murmured to himself. Without any hesitation, he went to look for a place to set up his tent nearby. Since there was such a large hive here and with how much bears love honey, it would definitely not let go of this hive!
Although he was excited, Bei Feng did not dare to set up camp too close to the area. Instead, he found a nice spot about 1-2 kilometers away.
Bears have very sensitive noses, so if he stayed too close, who knows if the creature would turn around for a side dish after it was done with the honey?
From that day forth, Bei Feng would spend his mornings training in Minor Illumination Breathing Technique, and spend the rest of the time sitting on a tall tree not far from the beehive.
The bear would come over everyday to drool at the beehive.
After that, it would stand upright and dig its foot into the ground before slamming its back against the tree repeatedly!
Large patches of accumulated snow on the tree would fall off, while the tree bark would break apart with every impact!
“Bam!”
The bear did not seem to feel any pain from the impact at all as it continued ramming its back against it with a mad fervor. The tree would shake violently every time it was struck, neutralizing the terrifying force.
Bei Feng fixed his gaze on the bear, observing its every action every time the bear appeared. The stumpy-looking creature was actually surprisingly agile and powerful despite its appearance!
The more he watched, the more confused Bei Feng became. The bear’s movements would often be different from Bei Feng’s expectations. Every time he looked at it, it seemed to be different.
Finally, after five, six days, Bei Feng no longer came to watch the bear. It was not that he’d lost his patience. Rather, it was just that he had run out of food! There was only enough wolf meat for one more meal.
This time, he was following sneakily behind the large bear. To grow to such a size, it was obvious that its living environment should be quite resourceful!
Bei Feng’s movements were very light, and he kept a good distance away from it, making sure to keep downwind of it in case the bear got a whiff of him.
“Hua, hua!”
After following behind the bear for an unknown period of time, Bei Feng even began to wonder if he could find his way back at this rate. Suddenly, he heard the faint sound of running water!
“Rumble, roar!”
The further he walked, the louder the sound became, until finally, the full-blown roar of water crashing could be heard!
As he exited the forest, a huge mountain appeared before his eyes. A gigantic waterfall which seemed to have originated from the heavens themselves was crashing down with terrible might. Huge chunks of ice would occasionally be sent flying down into the enormous lake under it.
With the lake as its source, a five-six meter wide river flowed rapidly downwards, far into the distance.
Bei Feng saw the bear jump into the water with great agility. In just a short moment, it reappeared with a 7-8 jin fish in its jaws! The bear shook off the water on it and lumbered nonchalantly into a large cave.
‘So this is where this bear gets its food from!’ Bei Feng gasped. He was in a bit of dilemma. The water here was very rapid, and he did not have the same physical abilities as the bear. It was very normal for someone like him to get washed away if he was not careful.
After some thought, Bei Feng took out his last piece of meat and directly dipped it into the lake.
Perhaps because no one had fished at this spot before, the fishes here were rather stupid. A 5-6 jin fish immediately bit onto the meat and tried to tear it out of Bei Feng’s hand. His other hand immediately shot out and pulled the fish out of the water.
The fish was very slippery and did not have any scales on its body. Caught unaware, Bei Feng let it slip away back into the water.
After three tries, he finally managed to catch a 4-5 jin fish. However, he was not in a hurry to leave. He continued fishing patiently with that primitive method until he caught three more fishes. After that, Bei Feng stuffed the fishes away and hurried back to his camp.
Back in the safety of his tent, Bei Feng used a sharp stone to cut open the fish. After cleaning the fish with water, he set up a small fire and began roasting the fish.
The remaining fishes were buried into snow. In any case, they wouldn’t turn bad if they were covered in it.
‘En, not bad, after so many days in the wild, my barbecuing skills have improved significantly. At the very least, they won’t be burnt now.’
Bei Feng swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he looked at the fish sizzling lightly above the fire.
Even though he didn’t have any seasonings, the fish itself was very fresh and tasty. As he bit down, he could taste the tender puffy white flesh complemented perfectly by the crispy skin. The flesh even left a lingering sweetness on his tongue as he swallowed.
Bei Feng had a bit of understanding towards the customs of the people in this area. Most people here do not eat fish. There was a saying that fishes, frogs, and other water creatures were pets of the Dragon God. If they touched or hurt any of them, they would be afflicted with terrible illnesses.
People always assumed that Tibetans do not eat fish because they believed in the Buddhist teachings about not killing sentient beings. However, Bei Feng suspected that the real reason was also related to their custom of water burial.
Tibet not only practiced sky burial [1], but many places also retained the tradition of water burial.
Fortunately, this place was a wild and untouched area deep in the mountains. It was unlikely that anyone would carry a body and track tens of days through the wild just to conduct a water burial here. Thus, Bei Feng could eat the fish with no worries.
The fish tasted absolutely amazing to Bei Feng. After eating the rough wolf meat for so many days, he was glad to finally get a change of taste.
The entire 3-4 jin fish was picked clean, leaving only a fish head.
“Whew, how comfortable!”
Bei Feng rubbed his belly with a contented sigh. It was currently noon, and the sun hung high in the sky. Despite that, the air was still carrying a deep chill.
As he lay in the tent, Bei Feng thought of his big, comfortable bed back home, and his adorable pets. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he recalled the heavenly Dark Jade Snowy Dragon King meat.
After a good rest, his stomach was no longer so bloated and he crawled out of the tent to stand atop a large piece of rock nearby.
The reason he stood on the rock was because that position gave him an unhindered view of the area. As long as he noticed anything strange, he could escape without delay.
[1] TL/N: Sky burial is a funeral practice in which a human corpse is placed on a mountaintop to decompose while exposed to the elements or to be eaten by scavenging animals, especially carrion birds. The majority of Tibetan people and many Mongols adhere to Vajrayana Buddhism, which teaches the transmigration of spirits. They believe there is no need to preserve the body, as it is an empty vessel after death. Birds may eat it or nature may cause it to decompose. The function of the sky burial is simply to dispose of the remains in as generous a way as possible.
