The bow could only be possessed by members of the hunting party in the Wushan tribe; it was very difficult for other tribespeople to obtain one. James Walker's bow was made by himself after exchanging herbs for some materials. He never brought it back to the tribe, but left it here instead. Only David Harris knew this secret.

Gripping the bow, a glint flashed in James Walker's eyes. He reached under several large rocks and pulled out five sharp arrows. The arrowheads were ground from stones; James Walker would often sharpen them here, making them extremely sharp.

Placing the five arrows into the woven basket on his back, James Walker took up his bow and whistled to Little Eric, pointing at the herbs he had drawn on the ground.

Little Eric understood, bared its teeth, and turned into a red blur, darting forward.

James Walker looked cautious, quickly following behind. In a few swift movements, the man and the monkey disappeared from the spot.

When it came to familiarity with Wulong Mountain, even James Walker could not compare to Little Grace. Guided by Little Grace, by the time the setting sun turned crimson, James Walker's woven basket was already filled with herbs.

There were seven or eight types of herbs, each in considerable quantity. All of them resembled the ones in the illustrations James Walker had seen. Since he couldn't distinguish them clearly, he simply took all that looked similar.

"You say there's another similar herb here?" As the sun was about to set, James Walker and Little Grace were in the forest near Black Flame Peak. He pointed at a patch of pitch-black mud ahead and looked at Little Grace.

Little Grace nodded repeatedly, gestured to James Walker for a while, and then pointed at the fading sunset in the sky.

A glint flashed in James Walker's eyes. He crouched down, fixed his gaze on the swamp, and steadied his breath, waiting for the sun to set. Time passed slowly. After a while, the light in the forest dimmed considerably, and even ten paces away, the darkness seemed to swallow everything.

At the very moment the place became completely dark, the mud suddenly bubbled furiously, and a faint red glow flickered within, darting rapidly as if something was moving inside. This strange scene made James Walker's hair stand on end, but he remained motionless.

He stared intently as the red glow moved about in the mud, slowly emerging. It turned out to be clusters of red flower buds, their roots hidden in the mud. The moving red glow was clearly their roots shifting.

Watching the flower buds emerge from the mud, James Walker witnessed them bloom with his own eyes. An indescribable fragrance spread out. The moment James Walker inhaled it, he immediately felt as if his blood was boiling, his whole body wrapped in flames, as if he was about to spew fire poison.

At that moment, Little Grace let out a nervous roar. Without the slightest hesitation, James Walker dashed forward, grabbing the nearest red flower. In his hand was a sharp stone herb knife. His movements were extremely practiced; in almost an instant, he severed the flower from its root and stuffed it into the woven basket on his back.

Finishing all this as smoothly as flowing water, James Walker didn't hesitate. Relying on his agility, he quickly retreated, and together with Little Grace, hurriedly left at full speed.

Just after James Walker left, a beastly roar came from the mud. All the red flowers instantly shrank into buds and disappeared into the mud. Soon after, a patch of bright red blood seeped out from the mud, filling the surroundings with a bloody stench.

James Walker and Little Grace fled in haste. Not until night had fully fallen did they stop, perching on a large tree. By the moonlight, they examined the day's harvest.

There were many herbs in the woven basket, which made James Walker quite excited. Scenes of refining the powder kept flashing through his mind, filling him with anticipation.

"It's a pity I don't know the exact effects of Qingchen Powder... but it shouldn't be bad!" James Walker licked his lips, his gaze falling on two herbs in the basket.

These were two herbs with almost no difference in color—at first glance, they looked nearly identical, both red. The only difference was that one had six petals, while the other had five.

James Walker didn't recognize either of these herbs; they were unfamiliar to him. They were the only ingredients for refining Qingchen Powder that he had never seen before. Fortunately, Little Grace had some impression of them and helped James Walker find them.

"Which one is actually needed for refining the medicinal stone..." James Walker frowned, his gaze sweeping over the two herbs. The six-petaled one was the one he had obtained from the mud. Remembering its strange blooming, James Walker vaguely felt that if he ate it, he might die instantly.

Putting the herbs back into the basket, James Walker lay on the tree trunk, took a bite of a wild fruit, gazed at the stars in the sky, breathed in the forest air, and occasionally heard the sounds of birds and beasts. It was as if he had become one with the forest, and this feeling made him very comfortable.

Little Grace groomed its fur nearby, occasionally glancing around warily.

Thus, the man and the monkey spent the night on the tree trunk in the forest.

At dawn the next day, as the first rays of sunlight rose and the forest was still half-dark with mist lingering, James Walker and Little Grace left the tree trunk and hurried toward the distant Black Flame Peak.