Chapter 2: Source Refining Method (Please Collect!)

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The fierce collision of one fish and one snake stirred this body of water.

Yunhe huddled in the turtle shell, not daring to move at all.

Now he no longer longed for any spiritual plants; he only hoped these two disaster stars would leave quickly.

The beasts' fight involved little technique or magic—just body against body, strength against strength.

This is the most primitive combat, yet it's what most beasts favor.

"They're probably just first-stage beasts, at most First Stage Late."

As Yunhe struggled to steady his form in the rushing current, a thought flashed through his mind.

But a First Stage Late beast was more than a mere First Stage Early turtle like him could handle.

"That carp is actually only slightly at a disadvantage."

Although that golden carp had previously been hunted, after swallowing that not-yet-fully-matured spiritual plant, it could now fight the black snake on equal footing.

Just thinking of the spiritual plant that should have been his, which could greatly boost his demonic power, Yunhe felt his heart bleed.

I don't know how long those two beasts have been fighting, but the surrounding water has become completely murky.

"Still not finished?"

Yunhe, harboring a faint greedy thought of picking up scraps, had already sunk completely into the mire, only his eyes exposed, watching the battle.

"Hiss—"

The black giant python's tongue flicked, its eyes showing a hint of anger, but more resignation.

Seeing this, the golden carp also halted its movements, spitting out bubbles "pop-pop-pop," seeming to have reached the limit of its stamina.

"Not fighting anymore?"

Yunhe, curled up at the bottom, felt a bit disappointed, but there was nothing he could do.

These two beasts could not overcome each other; having gained some spiritual awareness, they both realized that stopping was the best choice.

Just.

Before they could each depart, suddenly an orange bird beak, sharp as an arrow, pierced the water.

The black water snake that Yunhe had deemed unbeatable a second ago couldn't even make a sound before being snatched away.

Through the gradually clearing murky water, one could see.

On the water's surface, unbeknownst when, a Luan Crane had come to rest.

With a light lift of its beak, it extracted the black water snake's dark gallbladder and swallowed it.

Yunhe's whole body stiffened; he slowly retracted his head once more.

Second-tier Beast!

His heart surged with shock.

It was actually a Second-tier Beast, comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

"Can't see me, can't see me"

Whoosh—

At the same moment, the golden carp, likewise realizing the situation was amiss, no longer cared about anything else and flicked its tail hard to flee into the distance.

Yet a flicker of amusement crossed the eyes of the Luan Crane above the water.

Pfft!!

The sharp, slender beak came down again; to Yunhe, the carp's extreme speed seemed like a turtle's crawl to the crane, and its beak pierced the golden carp's body with pinpoint accuracy.

The Luan Crane seemed to have high standards for its food.

Its beak merely plucked out the carp's two eyes and ate them.

Yunhe, having witnessed the whole process, dared not move at all.

He felt that intensely aggressive gaze fall upon him.

However, he also sensed a hint of disdain.

Was he being despised?

Being despised is good, being despised is good.

Yunhe, without giving rise to any dissatisfaction, kept his turtle-shrunken posture and waited a long while, until the water flow calmed again and the murky sludge gradually settled, before he dared cautiously extend his head.

Where was there any trace of that Luan Crane?

Whoosh—

Yunhe let out a long breath, collapsing in the mire.

Too terrifying!

For a mere First Stage Early beast like him, the Second-tier Beast's near-overwhelming aura was truly terrifying.

He could hardly muster any thoughts of resistance.

That fish and snake were the best portrayal.

"Right! That carp and black snake!"

Yunhe shuddered and came to his senses.

That Second-tier Luan Crane, with its high food standards, had only eaten the black snake's gallbladder and the carp's eyes, meaning the corpses of those two First Stage Late beasts remained.

These are all treasures!

Now the surroundings are calm and still, due to the deterrent effect of the Second-tier Luan Crane's activity; after a while, some beasts that smell blood may come sniffing around.

Thinking this, Yunhe, who had briefly paused, hurriedly dug his claws out of the mud.

He swam toward the golden carp's direction.

Soon, he found that golden carp corpse, half a meter long, hanging still in the water.

He bit the tail, struggled to move his limbs, and swam toward the black snake's corpse.

To it, now only the size of a washbasin, this half-meter-long golden carp is already huge, but following the principle of not wasting, it still hopes to claim the corpses of these two demon beasts.

Just.

Yunhe, having swum halfway, slowly stopped moving and secretly sighed.

"Surely there's no time left?"

It again sensed something odd in the surrounding water, knowing another demon beast had approached.

At that moment, it made a decision.

It abandoned the black snake's corpse and swam toward the area far away where mud algae were abundant.

Fortunately, it had considered this possibility from the start, so it chose the golden carp's corpse over the black snake's.

Like these first-rank demon beasts, they lack demon cores, and the black snake that lost its gall obviously lost its most valuable part, leaving only a pile of demon beast meat full of blood energy.

But the golden carp is different; it only had its eyes eaten by the phoenix crane.

Moreover, it also ate that spiritual plant; Yunhe estimates the golden carp couldn't possibly digest it completely that quickly, and might still be able to extract more benefits from it.

Dragging the golden carp's corpse, Yunhe came to the mud algae area, dug a hole in the mud as quickly as possible, then dragged the carp's corpse inside and hid it.

When it had just concealed itself, the water area that had just calmed down became chaotic again because of the black snake's corpse.

Fortunately, no other demon beast noticed it.

However, Yunhe did not fully relax his vigilance.

"Although no demon beast notices here, the mud algae's smell may not completely mask the fish blood's smell; it must be dealt with quickly."

In the narrow mud cave, Yunhe looked at the carp before him, its body pierced with a large hole, its scales emitting a faint golden glow.

"Don't waste."

Thinking this, he bit into the pierced wound in the golden carp's abdominal cavity.

The eagle-hooked turtle's beak rubbing against the golden scales made a "geeze geeze" sound.

From this we can see, if it weren't for the phoenix crane piercing the scales, Yunhe, even if he obtained the golden carp's corpse, might not be able to eat it.

"Glug—glug—"

He swallowed it mouthful by mouthful, still carrying a hint of cool blood.

Yunhe did not notice that intertwined within the scarlet fish blood were extremely faint golden threads.

"Burp—"

After a while, Yunhe's face, limbs, and even his turtle shell showed some redness; he swayed, lay down, and let out a long burp.

His gaze was hazy, just like being drunk.

"No good, it's a bit indigestible."

Yunhe's body began to heat up, and the turbid water in the mud cave also rose in temperature.

This is the manifestation of its inability to fully digest the energy and demonic power in the golden carp's blood.

The golden carp's blood seems to contain more energy than he imagined.

"Is it because this golden carp's breed is not ordinary? Or because of that spiritual plant that hasn't been fully digested?"

He shook his head hard, trying to stay awake as much as possible.

He tried to digest and absorb these energies that were about to boil.

But the boiling energy had no intention of being calm, even driving his own blood to become active.

Continuing like this, he would soon fall into a drowsy sleep.

Originally active absorption would become passive digestion.

By then, a large amount of precious energy would be wasted.

Suddenly.

The golden threads that entered his body via the blood split into ever smaller fragments that burrowed into his blood, as if something was being excavated by these fragments.

At the same time, a method suddenly appeared in Yunhe's muddled mind.

"Source Refining Method?"

Although it was the first time he "saw" this method, Yunhe felt it very familiar, as if it was something originating from within his body that he should have mastered.

Feeling the surging energy expanding within his body, he immediately hesitated no longer, actively circulating demonic power according to the Source Refining Method.

In a moment, that boiling energy became even more active, the warm fresh blood also became scorching, the stomach like burning fire.

But that uncontrollable expanding feeling gradually faded; the energy, though still rampant, was being digested and absorbed by him bit by bit.

"Useful!"

Yunhe instantly refreshed his spirit, calmed his mind, and exerted all his strength to operate the Source Refining Method.

"Ten spirit crystals."

Yunhe smiled as he handed the spirit crystals to the steward in charge of guarding, and walked out of the library pavilion of the market town.

This is the library pavilion established by the Wang Clan, which manages the market town, available for all cultivators in the market town to browse information and resources.

Although there isn't much precious information there, most are basic knowledge of the Qi Refining stage or common sense; each visit costs ten spirit crystals, but for many newcomers to the cultivator world who are Qi Refining practitioners, this basic knowledge is still valuable.

At least, one won't miss valuable spiritual plants or treasures due to not recognizing them.

"Didn't expect to actually be able to look it up."

Yunhe, walking out of the library pavilion, although he felt sorry for those ten spirit crystals, but fortunately it let him figure out some things.

It turns out that the lotus-like spiritual plant is called the Trace Blood Lotus; it is a first-rank upper-grade spiritual plant, whose greatest function is to allow demon beasts to excavate and trace their origin bloodline.

After all, no matter what kind of demon beast or animal, tracing one's origin can usually find a remarkable ancestor.

Of course, the effect of the Trace Blood Lotus varies by demon beast; how much can be excavated also depends on luck.

It is one of the spiritual plants that cultivators skilled at beast taming are particularly fond of.

And that black water snake is a First Stage Upper-grade demon beast called the 'Black Water Snake'; it itself carries no poison, but its underwater strength is quite strong.

As for that golden carp, however, no relevant information could be found in the library.

It might exist, but due to time constraints, he wasn't able to find it.

"So speaking, the 'Source Refining Method' actually originates from that meager and pitiful 'Ancestor' bloodline within my body, capable of enhancing the efficiency of mutual devouring and transformation among demon beasts"

The demon beast realm is even more ruthless than the cultivator realm; mutual slaughter and devouring are common occurrences.

"Once the demon beast body fully digests that First Stage Late demon power carp, its own demon power will inevitably increase, then it will give back to the cultivator body"

His heartbeat began to pound violently.

"Three layers can be expected!"

"Qi Refining third layer can be expected, ah!"

Even reaching the middle stage of Qi Refining is not beyond hope.

Yunhe's steps as he walked out of the market became much lighter.

"Tsk, the only pity is that the 'Source Refining Method' applies only to demon beasts; human cultivators cannot use it."

Although the Cultivator Body and Demon Beast Body have interlinked Spiritual Power and Demonic Power, their techniques are not shared; this is something he regrets a bit.

"Wait!"

As he walked, Yunhe suddenly stopped again.

"Although the Cultivator Body cannot be used, it does not mean this method cannot be utilized."

He can try to tame demon beasts as his own spirit beasts, then let them use it.

However, demon beasts are not so easy to tame, and furthermore he is only at the second level of Qi Refining.

"No! I have no demon beasts, but I have a swarm of spirit bees!"

Yunhe's eyes gradually lit up.

(End of chapter)