There's something wrong with me

Roar~

At this moment.

Seeing Zhang Feng approach, the black bear immediately turned and stood upright, trying to scare away this 'capable animal' that had invaded its territory.

It didn't have the concept of a human, but it knew that humans were not to be trifled with.

Seeing it trying to scare him, Zhang Feng took out a tiger leg from the cloth bag behind him and threw it to it from a distance.

Regarding taming animals.

Zhang Feng suddenly realized he hadn't studied it carefully.

After all, he hadn't thought about taming a large black bear before.

He had thought more about jackals, wolves, tigers, leopards, or small animals.

But since he happened to encounter it, he might as well try.

Practice reveals truth and also yields experience.

"Roar~" Seeing the roasted tiger leg at its feet, the black bear sniffed it but didn't eat it, instead looking at Zhang Feng again.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Feng decided this was the one.

It looked a bit smart; at least it knew not to eat food from a stranger.

It was like a child knowing not to open the door for a stranger.

This was already very intelligent.

Otherwise, what else could he expect? Should it directly take a postgraduate exam?

'Its intelligence should be around that of a seven or eight-year-old human.

A normal wild bear is only three to five years old.

It's about double.'

Zhang Feng was assessing the 'basic growth attributes of the pet'.

Finally, he concluded it had a 'Intelligence 1.9~2.0' growth.

Rustle—

The black bear, meanwhile, was retreating; it increasingly felt that Zhang Feng was not easy to provoke.

Seeing it retreat, Zhang Feng, emboldened by his skill, walked directly towards it.

"Roar..." The black bear retreated even faster.

Then, as Zhang Feng approached within about ten meters, it suddenly bent down, using all four paws, and ran away in fear.

In its mind, if a person wasn't afraid of it, they must be able to eat it.

A very straightforward beastly intuition.

'Compared to a normal black bear, its speed growth is 1.3, and its physique is 1.2.'

The more Zhang Feng looked, the more he liked it, thinking it was a 'top-grade cultivating spirit baby'.

Although its aptitude for cultivating spirit might not compare to the Rats and crows, its physical foundation was very high.

Look at that layer of fat; if it built muscle, it would all be lean meat.

Its basic physical attribute was a hundred times that of the crows.

This was a huge racial advantage.

If the black bear could evolve into a human form like the Rats in 'Che Zhang World', it would likely be over three meters tall.

It could be considered a 'Small Giant Race'.

If it could further compress itself to around 1.6 to 1.8 meters.

That would be even more terrifying.

Because visually estimating this black bear's weight, it was two meters tall and over six hundred pounds.

The innate spiritual energy world made its weight two hundred pounds higher than a normal black bear.

A weight of six hundred pounds, if compressed into the size of a normal human of 1.6 meters, would undoubtedly be terrifying.

Thinking.

Zhang Feng smiled as he watched its retreating back, liking it more and more the more he looked.

Then he would capture it.

At the same time.

It hadn't even run a hundred meters.

Zhang Feng took a few strides and was already standing on the path it was bound to take.

The next second.

As it ran towards him using all four paws, while turning its head to look behind it.

Zhang Feng extended his palm, pressed down on its head, and using skillful force, not only neutralized the black bear's running momentum but also pressed it to the ground with a thud.

"Roar..." Seeing Zhang Feng 'suddenly appear', the black bear immediately became more frightened, rolled on the mud, turned, and ran towards another direction.

Zhang Feng used the same trick again, came before it, and pressed it to the ground.

"Roar..."

It rolled and ran again.

Zhang Feng chased again.

It ran, he chased.

After more than ten times, the black bear ran out of strength, panting with its tongue out like a puppy, and lay on the ground with its belly exposed.

The reason it exposed its belly was to show submission, and perhaps it felt this person didn't want to eat it? Didn't want to harm it?

"Roar roar~" It was speaking, using its unique roars to clearly express submission.

"Replenish some energy." Zhang Feng didn't understand, but he took out another piece of tiger meat from the cloth bag. "Eat, get fatter."

Zhang Feng felt that raising a pet meant keeping it well-fed and plump.

Just like his Empress Mother always made him eat, always afraid he was too thin.

Zhang Feng felt the purest love from this.

Rustle—

Thinking to himself.

Zhang Feng poured out all the roasted meat from the cloth bag and let it eat.

It wasn't much, just over forty pounds.

Looking at this black bear baby's broad shoulders and round waist, Zhang Feng didn't know if it was enough.

He heard that black bears can store fat and their daily food intake is roughly a hundred pounds.

Plus, this was a spiritual energy world.

Maybe it could eat even more.

"Chomp chomp..." This time, the black bear took it and started eating immediately.

After finishing each two-pound piece of meat, it would lick the grease off its paws.

It had never eaten anything so delicious.

After all, Zhang Feng was an expert-level chef, an expert in medicine, and a 'half-step intermediate' chemist.

So, concocting some seasonings similar to cumin was quite simple.

"Chomp chomp..." The black bear was also happy, simply happy from eating good food.

Finally, because it had already eaten some food before, it ended up eating thirty-five pounds of roasted meat.

Zhang Feng looked at it for a few moments, then suddenly pressed his palm on its back neck, and according to the method of spiritual energy circulation, allowed a small stream of spiritual energy to circulate within its body a few times.

"Woo woo~" Under the influence of the spiritual energy, the sound from the black bear's mouth at this moment was like a train whistle reduced many times in volume.

But it also felt a different kind of comfort.

Seeing that it didn't resist the spiritual energy, Zhang Feng easily arranged its limbs into a posture suitable for spiritual energy circulation, as if playing with a toy.

Tap...

When it wanted to move around, Zhang Feng would pat its head with appropriate force and then reposition it again.

After another dozen or so times.

It settled into a Five Qi Towards the Origin posture with its paws facing upwards.

Although there were still some irregularities in its breathing or small movements.

But it was much better.

"I wonder when you'll be able to Open Spiritual Mind."

Zhang Feng pointed his finger at its back neck and circulated spiritual energy, "But after you Open Spiritual Mind, based on your concrete thoughts, I can try to perfect my system and attempt to study neurology."

"Roar roar..." The black bear didn't understand human language, but it didn't dare to move, trying its best to maintain the cultivation posture.

...

In the following days.

A strange scene appeared in this deep mountain forest.

One person and one bear hunted during the day and practiced cultivation at night.

This black bear was like a pet, following this person all day long.

But every time it practiced cultivation, the black bear was very clumsy.

It required this person to constantly correct it.

Until half a year later.

The black bear could meditate and regulate its breathing by itself.

Although it still couldn't guide spiritual energy to cultivate on its own.

But Zhang Feng felt very gratified, finally having taught out some small results.

And in this half a year.

The matter concerning Huailiang County also spread to dozens of counties and some large cities.

In the corners of the Jianghu, the name 'Zhang Feng' also began to circulate.

This led many people to admire Zhang Feng, or be curious about him.

Some also wanted to find Zhang Feng, this great hero who eliminated harm for the people, to travel together and uphold justice.

Even more people wanted to find Zhang Feng for a martial arts contest to see his skills.

Relatively speaking, Lord Jin was, after all, an official appointed by the imperial court.

The nearby cities also posted notices, offering a reward for 'Huailiang, Zhang Feng'.

Furthermore, two mine supervisors happened to be out that day and escaped the mine disaster.

In addition, fearing Zhang Feng's revenge, they also proactively went to the yamen of the surrounding counties and partially restored Zhang Feng's appearance.

This also prevented many people from casually presenting a head and claiming it was 'Huailiang Zhang Feng'.

But precisely because they surrendered to the officials and the deeds of their Lord Jin were exposed.

These two supervisors also began a decades-long prison life; only a 'general amnesty' could save them.

In this era, the labor force was relatively abundant, and the Emperor was also a strict person; general amnesties occurred only once every fifteen years.

...

In the blink of an eye, another year passed.

Zhang Feng's reputation in the Jianghu also gradually diminished.

It was covered by more heroes and interesting stories.

But some well-meaning people would occasionally mention it.

Some bold storytellers, with a wilder style, also compiled this matter into a book titled "Young Hero Zhang Feng of Huailiang".

This was also because Zhang Feng's young age of sixteen, his humble status as a miner, and the matter of nearly wiping out Lord Jin's entire county yamen were too mystical.

And in this era with little entertainment, storytelling was indeed a source of interest.

Many young wandering heroes in their teens liked to listen to this segment about 'Young Hero Zhang Feng of Huailiang'.

They would sometimes put themselves in his shoes, feeling a surge of heroic spirit welling up.

They couldn't wait to meet Young Hero Zhang immediately, drink several bowls of strong wine together, and become sworn brothers by kowtowing.

Meanwhile, in a distant border forest.

The second year of raising the pet.

Efficient feeding, coupled with the circulation of spiritual energy.

The black bear's height had reached 2.4 meters, forty centimeters taller than before.

It was just that its fat was too much, almost turning into a rolling ball.

Zhang Feng also felt he might have fed it too much, so he started restrictive feeding and began teaching it some body-tempering boxing techniques.

In terms of boxing, it didn't need to understand; it just needed to follow the example.

This was purely about honing strength.

So, keep practicing.

...

Unconsciously, another two years passed.

Huailiang County.

In the side hall of the yamen.

The current Magistrate of Huailiang was a middle-aged man of average height, with an air of scholarly refinement.

At this moment.

He looked at a strong man who was examining documents and inquired, "Divine Constable Ling, regarding Young Zhang from a few years ago..."

He habitually wanted to say Young Hero Zhang, because people here all called Zhang Feng Young Hero.

He followed the local customs and did the same.

And he also felt that Zhang Feng had done the right thing.

However, he was now facing a constable from two provinces.

So he quickly changed his tone and said, "Divine Constable Ling, Brother Ling, is it absolutely necessary to investigate Zhang Feng?"

"If you and I weren't acquainted..." Divine Constable Ling had a savage scar near his eye, making his entire demeanor appear extremely ruthless. "Just based on your 'Is it absolutely necessary to investigate?' and the unfinished 'Young Hero Zhang'.

I would assume you are connected to the bandits and would investigate you first."

"But Young Hero Zhang did nothing wrong," the county magistrate argued reasonably. "A few years ago, the old prefect and others colluded with the county magistrates. Even if someone reported it, no one dared to investigate.

If we truly relied on the officials to do their job and apprehend Lord Jin to be punished, it would likely be a distant hope."

"That's not for him, Zhang Feng, to decide," Divine Constable Ling snorted with laughter. "Whether Lord Jin is executed or investigated should be decided by the laws of the dynasty.

Furthermore, the matter of Lord Jin is also a matter for our imperial court.

As a Jianghu person, his hand is inevitably too wide."

Speaking of this, Divine Constable Ling added, "Now, there is also an imperial inspector from the court who wants to thoroughly investigate all cases involving officials in the Jianghu.

Zhang Feng from Huailiang is an even more ruthless and vicious person, so naturally, he must be investigated.

Today, I am solely in charge of this case.

Do not disrupt my investigation."

"This humble official wouldn't dare," the county magistrate could only cup his hands and agree.

Divine Constable Ling nodded and began to quietly savor his tea.

Just like that, a few minutes passed.

Although the county magistrate knew that Divine Constable Ling was speaking reasonably, seeing that he was still savoring his tea and not going to investigate, he was quite puzzled.

"When will Brother Ling investigate? Where will he start? And what do you need from me? Please explain, Brother Ling!"

"Good!" Divine Constable Ling nodded. "It wasn't in vain for me to say a few words. You've finally opened your mind. Then just wait. I will call you when needed."

After speaking, Divine Constable Ling began to slowly drink his tea again.

Seeing that Divine Constable Ling was resting again, the county magistrate changed to a curious tone and asked, "Brother Ling, are you not investigating today?"

"Not investigating," Divine Constable Ling pointed to the tea opposite him. "Drinking tea today."

"Alright..." The county magistrate felt an inexplicable sense of relief upon hearing that he wasn't investigating today.

Truly, asking him to investigate a good person and seek justice for an obvious bad person felt awkward.

And Divine Constable Ling's extraordinary hearing, upon hearing him sigh in relief, smiled.

"That Young Hero Zhang, I am investigating him, but I didn't say I would arrest him.

He eliminates harm for the people. I am not foolish, and I naturally understand.

Taking on his case was because I thought you were also someone who hates evil like me. Why don't you and I put on a show and protect him.

Looking at it today, your nature truly hasn't changed. You still hate evil."

Speaking of this, Divine Constable Ling suddenly sighed again.

"And luckily I took the case, and this place is under your command.

Otherwise, if it fell into the hands of the imperial inspector and the other two divine constables, given their hostility towards Jianghu people, hmph..."

"So that's how it is!" The county magistrate fully understood. It turned out that Brother Ling had been testing him before to see if he had the intention to investigate the case.

Indeed, he was still not suited to be an official.

He still preferred his previous life, being a retainer for the retired Minister of Personnel.

At the same time.

After finishing his tea, Divine Constable Ling became curious.

"You said that Young Hero Zhang... Where did he go in these past few years? Why did he just disappear for no reason?"

...

How he disappeared, he didn't know.

But in the next six months, by chance, he did find a piece of information about Zhang Feng's background.

He learned that Zhang Feng was originally from a small sect, which was then destroyed by the current large sect, Hengxun Sect.

This information was told to him by a survivor from the small sect.

However, because it was a Jianghu dispute.

Divine Constable Ling didn't interfere, and he couldn't.

There was a Xiantian expert in Hengxun Sect, and six Houtian peak experts.

As a mere Houtian great completion, he couldn't stir up any waves.

Furthermore, the imperial court wouldn't seek justice for Zhang Feng.

However, regarding this.

Divine Constable Ling also had an idea: Zhang Feng felt he had gained some reputation and was afraid that Hengxun Sect would eradicate him, so he went into hiding.

He thought this was quite reasonable.

But where Zhang Feng was hiding, he couldn't find out.

But in the following years, when he was free while handling cases, he would occasionally search for him alone.

Anyway, searching for other criminals was also done this way.

In his opinion, it was just a matter of asking about one more person.

But without realizing it.

It had been over ten years.

What was originally an occasional search driven by curiosity had also become a subconscious habit.

...

Twelve years later.

The world hadn't changed much.

There were still Jianghu disputes and court struggles.

And endless interesting stories about the Jianghu and the court among the common people.

And in the sparsely populated border mountain forest.

Now.

Under a large tree.

Zhang Feng was contemplating recent cultivation issues and organizing the spiritual energy structure of his broken cultivation and death points.

Over these past ten years, Zhang Feng had found many cultivation manuals and had gained an increasingly thorough understanding of the cultivation system of this world.

In the past two years, Zhang Feng had also reached a conclusion.

Broken cultivation does not exist.

As long as he was given some more time, it could be resolved.

Forming a perfect and leak-free state similar to a spiritual energy barrier.

Rustle—

Not far away.

The black bear was roasting fish, skillfully flipping and operating.

After twelve years.

Although he still couldn't speak, his thoughts and behavior patterns were becoming increasingly close to those of a human.

His height had also grown to a terrifying 3.7 meters!

Equivalent to the height of two 1.8-meter Da Han stacked on top of each other.

And the black bear was even more robust, with arms as thick as a person's waist.

His waist was thicker than the water缸 in the village, approximately 150 centimeters.

His overall weight reached an astonishing 2.2 tons.

A real polar bear is about 2.8 meters tall and weighs 0.8 tons, but they have a large proportion of fat.

The black bear raised by Zhang Feng, on the other hand, had a large proportion of muscle and bone.

Especially the bone strength had reached a noticeable 'excess'.

Currently, his bone proportion was 20%, weighing a full 0.4 tons.

This was a 'deformed body' that completely did not conform to biomechanical structure.

Because for normal living organisms, excluding weight loss and such, bones should be 12% to 18%.

Humans are 12% to 15%, and bears are 13% to 14%.

He was almost twice that.

Similarly, Zhang Feng's body in reality had long since broken through biological architecture.

His bone proportion was 30%, and his bones alone weighed 220 jin, and they were also of a strengthened 'condensed' type.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to support an explosive force of several tons.

But this black bear now had an explosive force of nearly 4 tons.

Zhang Feng finally understood why 'Demon Cultivators' were so strong.

Because their innate physical advantage was too great.

It was just that cultivating and taking shape was too slow.

And the black bear also had flaws, namely relatively slow sensitivity and being too large a target.

Even though his current physique was around 210.

But facing a master around 150 holding a 'defense-breaking weapon', it would probably be a bit tough.

If it were himself, he would only need 80 physique, and he wouldn't need a weapon. Using spiritual energy to transform into a weapon with his bare hands would be enough to break through defense and kill.

Also through raising a demon.

Zhang Feng had learned a lot about the combat power of demon cultivators.

At the same time.

While thinking, Zhang Feng looked at the black bear who was roasting fish.

Seeing his mountain-like majestic physique.

Thinking that he was the baby he had raised.

Zhang Feng revealed a relieved smile like an old father.

But when he smelled the aroma of the roasted fish.

Zhang Feng's expression became serious, and he shouted to the black bear:

"Green Mountain, roast it a little longer, otherwise it will be overcooked."

Green Mountain was the name Zhang Feng gave the black bear, because this mountain was called Green Mountain.

"Roar, roar," the black bear heard Zhang Feng's words, got up, and shook his huge body, bringing the roasted fish over.

The fish was very large, a full half meter long.

But in the black bear's hands, it was about the same as a normal person holding a normal fish.

Zhang Feng took the roasted fish and ate it while looking at the drooling Green Mountain.

He stood there obediently like a disciple.

After seeing him drool for over ten drops, Zhang Feng suddenly smiled.

"Silly bear, when you're roasting fish, can't you eat while you roast? There are a total of six fish, four of which are yours, why do you have to stare at mine?"

"Roar, roar!" Green Mountain scratched his head innocently with his paw, thinking that Master was right.

Zhang Feng, however, didn't understand what it meant.

Because although he had already begun cultivating spirit and had officially Opened Spirit with his help two years ago.

His control over spiritual energy was too low, not enough to produce 'human voice', nor could he control spiritual energy to vibrate his vocal cords and imitate 'human speech'.

Therefore, Zhang Feng's communication with him was Zhang Feng speaking and he listening.

Then he would nod to indicate 'yes, he knows', and shake his head to indicate 'no, cannot, he doesn't understand'.

As for scratching his head.

Zhang Feng didn't understand it yet.

But the time for secluded cultivation was almost up.

Let's go out.

Rumble...

After eating a few fish.

Zhang Feng sat cross-legged on Green Mountain's body. He used all four limbs, shaking the ground like a tank, and charged straight out of the forest, startling the birds and beasts in the surrounding woods.

Crash, several meters tall trees were easily knocked down by Green Mountain, and the soil was turned over.

And in the instant Green Mountain ran past.

Zhang Feng's Spiritual Mind moved, the trees were restored, the soil churned, and everything returned to its original state.

Green Mountain ran around excitedly, without direction.

Zhang Feng cultivated speechlessly.