Chapter 9: Valley Opportunity

In just half a day, Xiao Li's battle qi had almost recovered.

Upon reaching the valley entrance, droppings of some magic beast were scattered about; Xiao Li wasn't familiar with them, but Xiao Yixian, who had grown up near the Magic Beast Mountain Range, had some experience.

Seeing Xiao Li's inquiring gaze, Xiao Yixian racked her brains to recall, hoping to demonstrate her value as much as possible.

"Brother Xiao Li, this should be the droppings of a third-rank magic beast, the Crimson Gold Scorpion; I've seen this kind of droppings in a medicine book, and after drying and decocting it can be used medicinally."

Xiao Yixian said confidently, "Good thing I've studied enough normally; otherwise I really wouldn't have recognized it."

Xiao Li's brows furrowed, a hint of regret on his face—no wonder it's the middle section of the Magic Beast Mountain Range; even casually encountered beasts are equivalent to third-rank Great Fighters.

Magic beasts are somewhat stronger than humans of the same rank; to defeat this Crimson Gold Scorpion and have a place to hide, he'd likely need at least the strength of a three-star Great Fighter.

"But these droppings look dry, scattered all over, the boundaries of the marked territory are somewhat blurred…… possibly……"

Xiao Yixian's voice grew softer and softer; she couldn't be certain about this, after all, it concerned both of their lives.

Xiao Li understood Xiao Yixian's words: without fresh droppings, it meant the Crimson Gold Scorpion had long neglected its territory; if it had already left, perhaps they could still rely on its lingering prestige to live comfortably for a while.

"You go hide and wait for me; I'll go in to check. If I haven't come out after an hour, you figure out how to leave on your own." Xiao Li said.

Xiao Yixian's beautiful eyes blinked, a hint of guilt on her small face: "Sorry……"

Xiao Li let out a helpless laugh: "No need to apologize; that you trust me already surprises me. If you want to help me, just look at this book."

Xiao Li took out the Comprehensive Explanation of Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Gems; Xiao Yixian was drawn in after just a glance, and the medicinal ingredient records of Myriad Medicines Hall were nothing but trash compared to this book—its content amounted to less than a tenth of what's inside.

Feeling even more moved in her flickering eyes, Xiao Yixian said nothing more this time, simply resolving to repay Xiao Li, so as not to waste his painstaking effort.

After settling Xiao Yixian, Xiao Li set out for the valley, gripping his Thunder Scale Spear at all times; even if he truly encountered a third-rank magic beast, he still had confidence he could flee.

He had seen records of this kind of creature in the Xiao Clan's archives: great defense but lacking speed, and as a thunder-attribute fighter, Xiao Li excelled at offense and speed, giving him confidence to escape from its grasp.

Carefully observing the traces inside the valley, he found no signs of large creatures crawling, which let Xiao Li breathe a sigh of relief again.

The valley wasn't large; the cliffs surrounding it were visible at a glance, covering only a few thousand square meters, and Xiao Li finished searching it in just half an hour.

Looking at the small grove at the valley's center, Xiao Li took a deep breath; the Crimson Gold Scorpion dislikes darkness and prefers basking in sunlight, and since there were no caves in the valley, this grove was the only place left unchecked.

He stepped into the forest with caution; the fresh scent without any fishy odor gave Xiao Li a jolt, but after just a few steps, the huge crimson-gold giant scorpion before him made his scalp tingle all the way to his feet.

Uh-oh.

That was Xiao Li's first thought, but in an instant he froze in place.

How could this Crimson Gold Scorpion be completely motionless, showing no sign of anger, as if……

Xiao Li mustered his courage and approached, prodding the Crimson Gold Scorpion's carapace with his Thunder Scale Spear.

The carapace, which should have been extremely hard, turned out unexpectedly fragile, and the Thunder Scale Spear punched a large hole straight through it.

The damaged carapace allowed the gusting winds in the forest to take advantage, kicking up and tearing the Crimson Gold Scorpion's corpse into countless fragments.

In an instant the clearing became much more open, leaving on the ground only a book, a blood-red pill, and a brown magic core.

And also, a withered corpse.

Xiao Li was so frightened by the sight that his soles went cold; the droppings at the valley entrance weren't completely dry, so even if the Crimson Gold Scorpion had died of old age, its body couldn't have become this brittle—its essence should have slowly drained away, not vanished entirely in such a short time.

He picked up the three items on the ground and examined them.

As for the magic core, needless to say, it was the sole proof that the Crimson Gold Scorpion had existed.

Faced with the unknown pill emanating a bloody aura, Xiao Li chose to examine the book first, since, following the usual trope of novels, the book would contain an explanation for all of this.

He opened the book, and the first page gave Xiao Li a great shock.

Heaven-rank Battle Technique! Rainbow Absorption Great Method!

But upon looking again, Xiao Li breathed a sigh of relief—this wasn't some heaven-rank battle technique; it didn't even qualify as yellow-rank, but rather an ungraded battle technique. As he read the words left in the book, he gradually came to understand.

"Fated one, did the words 'heaven-rank battle technique' scare you? Hahaha, imagining your stunned expression is hilarious. Actually this is an ungraded battle technique; you're surely wondering why……"

Seeing the long-winded nonsense in the book, Xiao Li felt helpless; the person who left this book behind was also a chatterbox.

After picking out and reading the remaining passages, Xiao Li finally understood.

The Rainbow Absorption Great Method, as explained by the original owner, consists of cultivating a blood furnace, tossing a magic beast corpse into it to refine the beast's inner essence; at higher levels, one can even merge with the blood furnace and directly forge the beast into a blood pill.

This blood pill is the condensed manifestation of a magic beast corpse's essence—for example, the one in Xiao Li's hand is the essence of the third-rank Crimson Gold Scorpion.

"Fated one, isn't this a delightful surprise? Knowing my time is near, I deliberately sought a low-rank magic beast to feed, expecting my continually operating blood furnace to forge it into a blood pill. Go on, take this first opportunity on your path of cultivation and become an unparalleled powerhouse!"

Those words embarrassed Xiao Li to the point he couldn't bear to look; he turned to the next page, and his earlier excitement cooled once more.

"A blood pill not only gathers a magic beast's essence but also contains mixed energies; before absorbing it, one must be sure to temper it, and a blood pill's effects are far inferior to same-rank medicinal pills—but who can carry an alchemist around? The point of this technique is to, while training outside, instantly convert acquired resources into combat-ready power."

Xiao Li realized, that made sense; otherwise the Rainbow Absorption Great Method would be too heaven-defying, but overall it could still save him about half his time.

He carefully gathered the withered corpse, used his Thunder Scale Spear to fell a tree and made a simple wooden plaque, bowed in respect, and felt he should grant himself such a powerful battle technique—he ought to give the deceased a proper burial.

Xiao Li suddenly sighed, "You don't know, in this world there really is someone undergoing training with the Continent's First Alchemist."

(End of chapter)