Chapter 466: Bountiful Harvest and Perfect Bones, Unexpected Joy, Reed Corn

“My lord, Zhu’er will fetch your sack for you.”

As soon as Xia Hong opened his eyes, the two girls immediately sensed it.

Seeing him stare fixedly at the sack, the girl on the left, Zhu’er—likely the elder sister—was clearly sharper; she immediately stepped forward to help Xia Hong retrieve it.

“Mmm…”

But the moment she reached out to lift it, the scene froze in awkwardness.

The yellow sack looked small, yet she strained herself over a dozen times, face flushed, unable to budge it even an inch—realizing she couldn’t lift it alone, she turned instinctively to call for the other girl’s help.

“Hahaha, don’t waste your strength—just hand me the strap…”

Xia Hong burst into laughter at the girl’s efforts; after laughing, he extended a finger to hook the strap she offered, then pulled gently.

The yellow sack, heavier than Mount Tai, was effortlessly drawn to the edge of the tub. Zhu’er, who had struggled for minutes, stared, pupils dilating; when she looked at Xia Hong again, her eyes brimmed with admiration.

Such looks were nothing new to Xia Hong—he paid them no mind. He slowly unrolled the sack and laid out its contents one by one.

First out came six corpses of cold beasts, each with a distinct form.

“Three-Headed Wolf Emperor, Azure-Eyed Fire Suanni, Blood-Jade Xuanjiao, Six-Tailed Divine Fire Fox, Eight-Armed Tremor-Mountain Demon Elephant, Xuanwater Blue-Jade Toad—two fire, two wood, one water, one earth; six single-element Fifth Radiance Beast Emperors.”

The Bone-Scorching Pill’s effect lasted three days; Xia Hong naturally intended to maximize its use—was killing just the Wolf Emperor and Azure-Eyed Fire Suanni enough?

He spent only half a day slaying the Fire Suanni; over the next two days, he slew four more single-element Beast Emperors. When he finally killed the Xuanwater Blue-Jade Toad, he sensed the Crimson Gold Demon Tiger’s surveillance and struck immediately.

“Pity Chu Tianxu showed up—if he hadn’t, I might’ve actually slain that Crimson Gold Demon Tiger—a dual fire-metal Beast Emperor…”

As Xia Hong’s expression darkened with regret, he couldn’t help but feel a chill at the sheer intelligence of the Beast Emperors.

That demon tiger had deliberately fled toward Chu Tianxu at the last moment, trying to lure an outsider into breaking the deadlock—how could he not see through it?

The problem was, he dared not gamble on Chu Tianxu’s character.

Chu Tianxu spoke sweetly, but if they truly teamed up to kill the demon tiger, who knew what he’d do in the end? Besides, the Bone-Scorching Pill’s duration was nearly spent.

“If I gain it, it’s fortune; if I lose it, it’s fate—I won’t dwell on it!”

Xia Hong exhaled softly, dismissed unnecessary thoughts, and pulled a dagger from his Yellow Mustard Sack, starting with the Three-Headed Wolf Emperor.

Cold beasts had five viscera too; having hunted so many, Xia Hong knew the drill—he located the wolf emperor’s liver and sliced it open.

As skin and flesh parted, a round pearl, three centimeters in diameter, glowing with emerald-green light, appeared. Xia Hong reached out, plucked it up, and held it in his palm—feeling its immense energy, his eyes filled with delight.

This is the Wood Element's jie qi pearl. Using Bai Yin as a conduit, you can draw out the vast jie qi within and use it to strike the Battle Body's Golden Form, forcing the Golden Form to generate the corresponding internal organ.

That book said you need all five elemental jie qi pearls to attempt a breakthrough—extremely difficult, and the higher your talent, the harder it is to succeed…

Higher talent made success harder? That was a paradox!

Xia Hong frowned in thought, yet still peeled the remaining five Beast Emperors' jie qi pearls, soon arranging six pearls before him: wood, water, fire, earth.

Those with higher talent grow stronger after breaking through the Jie Body Realm—by the law of energy conservation, they naturally require more jie qi, and thus more breakthrough attempts. The book must mean this!

Looking at the six jie qi pearls before him, Xia Hong smiled faintly, thinking: “I’m only at the Mid-Stage of Xianyang—yet I’m just one pearl short of gathering the full set for my first Golden Form breakthrough. The Crimson Gold Demon Tiger’s escape must be fate—man shouldn’t be greedy.”

After extracting the six jie qi pearls, Xia Hong’s spirit stirred—he sliced open the skulls of all six Beast Emperors, pulling out six fist-sized, blood-red, block-like objects. His expression surged with excitement.

“As expected—this blood-tinged miasma affected even Beast Emperors. Common cold beasts yield Blood-Jade Pearls, Beast Kings yield Blood-Jade Crystals—so these block-like things inside Beast Emperor skulls must be Blood-Jade Marrow.”

Naming was secondary; the key question: Blood-Jade Pearls repair skin and flesh, Blood-Jade Crystals repair bones—what about Blood-Jade Marrow?

Xia Hong pinched the Blood-Jade Marrow, sensing its energy intensity far exceeding the previous two—he immediately abandoned the idea of swallowing it raw.

“Can’t eat this recklessly—take it back to Xia Cheng, have the Alchemy Pavilion analyze it. Its use will surely surpass the previous two.”

Xia Hong suddenly remembered something and unfurled the Yellow Mustard Sack.

The Yellow Mustard Sack was a compressed Xuemi space—when fully opened, everything he’d carelessly stuffed inside gushed out in a chaotic flood of colors, instantly illuminating the entire room.

The two girls who had been washing him had already been stunned by the six Beast Emperors; now seeing this tiny sack spill out such a dazzling heap of treasures, their eyes went wide.

Though they lacked knowledge and couldn’t identify the items, their appearance and aura alone were enough to gauge their value.

For a moment, they forgot to continue washing Xia Hong—frozen for over a dozen breaths before snapping back, quickly lowering their heads to resume.

Meanwhile, Xia Hong began sorting and cataloging the loot.

Aside from the jie qi pearls and Blood-Jade Marrow, the flesh and pelts of the Beast Emperors remain untainted by the blood miasma—highly valuable; keep them for return to Xia Cheng.

“Besides the six Beast Emperors, I also slew fourteen Iron-Bone Corpse Demons and twenty-five Beast Kings. Their bodies were too deeply tainted by miasma—highly toxic, must discard. But from them, I gathered thirty-nine Blood-Jade Crystals and over four thousand high-quality Blood-Jade Pearls.”

“Also, I collected seventy-eight types of vegetation from deep within—likely all medicinal. Once back in Xia Cheng, analysis will reveal their uses.”

With the Stronger Experience Card, Xia Hong maximized every possible value. Over the past two months, he didn’t just hunt Beast Emperors and Corpse Demons—he plucked any vegetation he suspected had medicinal value.

“Also, fifty Qing Xun vine strands. Originally, there were three intact Qing Xun saplings with vines—but the Yellow Mustard Sack’s space was insufficient. To fit other items, I discarded two along the way; keeping this one for return is enough—for research or transplanting.”

The Yellow Mustard Sack’s total capacity was only five cubic meters—already astonishing how much it held. To be greedy would be unreasonable.

“Of course, beyond these, the greatest gain is my bones—they’re now completely perfected. Mid-Stage Xianyang, seventy-five jūn strength—no one in Mo’ao River can match me, not even the top three on the Heaven List!”

Xia Hong gazed inward at his bones beneath the flesh, eyes gleaming with excitement.

His bones remained dark red, yet now carried a near-glassy luster, and the energy pulses within were several times more vigorous than before.

“Bone height: seven zhang eight chi. Over the past two months, my cultivation advanced greatly, yet brought no strength increase—my power gain came entirely from bone perfection. To further increase strength, I must turn to the Washing Meridian Pill and the Twelve Blood Meridian Art—but those offer only minor gains. For major leaps, I must break through to Late-Stage Xianyang as soon as possible.”

After a moment of contemplation, Xia Hong suddenly sensed something—his face darkened slightly, then he focused on the patterns etched into his bones, and froze.

A molten-like, mysterious pattern wrapped his bones—that was the origin of the term “Bone-Scorching.”

Yet now, that pattern on his bones had only deepened slightly—no other changes.

“This…”

Shock flooded Xia Hong’s face. His expression had darkened because he sensed the Bone-Scorching Pill’s effect had fully faded—he wanted to see what changes had occurred to his bones.

He remembered clearly: when he encountered the Three-Headed Wolf Emperor and swallowed the Bone-Scorching Pill, his bones had erupted in searing pain—as if someone were carving runes into them with a sharp chisel.

So logically, once the pill’s effect ended, his bones should’ve changed—demon poison, bone depletion—the man from Qinghuacheng’s Treasures Pavilion had been very clear about that.

But now, not a trace of demon poison. Not a sign of bone depletion.

The only change: the original pattern on his bones had deepened.

“Bone-Scorching Pill… Bone-Scorching… Could it really be this coincidental?”

Xia Hong stared at the deeper patterns on his bones—his expression shifted from disbelief to delight, then suspicion, confusion, until finally becoming utterly bewildered.

“The Bone-Scorching Pill carves runes into bones to trigger greater power—yet my bones already carried molten patterns. So the pill merely deepened them? Demon poison and side effects… don’t affect me at all?”

As Xia Hong reached this conclusion, his eyes blazed with ecstatic fervor—he even felt his throat dry.

“No, no—just speculation. Can’t take it as fact. Key is to get more Bone-Scorching Pills and test them. Back in the Blood Miasma, I was obsessed with hunting Beast Emperors—I never carefully examined my bones. Bring a few back to Xia Cheng, have Cheng Feng’s people study them!”

When he bought the Bone-Scorching Pills, Xia Hong thought it mere coincidence. Now, it had brought him such a stunning surprise.

When he swallowed the pill in the Blood Miasma, he’d prepared for ten years of demon poison damage, and twenty years of slowed cultivation. Now he realized he’d panicked for nothing—his joy was unimaginable.

Most crucially—if future tests confirmed the Bone-Scorching Pill had zero negative effects on him… that would be even more interesting…

Xia Hong suppressed his excitement, swiftly packed the Yellow Mustard Sack, exhaled deeply, and reclined back into the tub.

“Twenty months have passed—I arrived here on the 25th day of the 8th month of Cai Qiu Year 296. Today is the 7th of the 8th month—meaning I’ve been away from Great Xia for nearly three full years. This is nothing like I planned—Xia Cheng must be frantic by now!”

“No—what about those four disciples…”

Suddenly remembering Su Xinger and her three siblings, Xia Hong paused, then relaxed.

Since he hadn’t emerged from the Blood Miasma, Cai Qiu likely assumed he was dead. Without him as master, Su Xinger and her siblings would no longer enjoy their former privileges.

But they had no deep grudge—he doubted Cai Qiu would harm them. Their situation might be hard, but safety should be assured.

“I gave them a great fortune. Whether they become dragons or worms depends on themselves. No need to return to Cai Qiu to find them.”

After closing his eyes to assess his body, Xia Hong immediately shook his head, abandoning the thought of seeking them out.

His bones showed no demon poison—but whether his cultivation speed would be affected, only actual practice could confirm.

The problem: his body was too damaged for normal cultivation.

Six Beast Emperors weren’t easy to kill!

Leaving aside flesh wounds, the injuries from the six Beast Emperors had penetrated deep into his bones. His body still held massive amounts of wood, water, fire, and earth jie qi—only his extraordinary strength had allowed him to endure. Any other Mid-Stage Xianyang cultivator would be dead.

“I’ve run out of Holy Vein Pills. Only Jade Sore Pills left—can’t even muster half my strength. Need time to heal first…”

Xia Hong swallowed a Jade Sore Pill, sensed its effect briefly, then shook his head repeatedly.