Auo...
A low whine, full of grievance, brought Beigong Yu back to his senses.
"Be my mount, or I'll hack you to death."
The fur on the Red-Scaled Tiger instantly bristled, and a flash of imperceptible coldness swept through the depths of its eyes. However, feeling the sharp blade at its neck, the Red-Scaled Tiger nodded unwillingly.
"You know what's good for you."
Beigong Yu grinned, promptly withdrew his blade, walked over to the carcasses of the seven Demon Beasts, and took out a jade bottle to begin collecting their vital essence as well as ordinary blood.
Right at that moment, the Red-Scaled Tiger rubbed its massive tiger head against his body, then looked eagerly and longingly at the seven carcasses before it, its eyes filled with desire and anticipation.
"You want to eat?"
The Red-Scaled Tiger nodded frantically.
"Wait until I finish collecting the vital essence."
Beigong Yu thought about it and agreed.
Ordinary body-tempering spiritual liquid no longer had any effect on him. Only the ancient medicinal decoction, the Golden Body Tempering Soup, would work. Since what he needed was some Demon Beast vital essence and sixteen types of spiritual herbs, whether these Demon Beasts could be sold for money didn't matter much anymore.
Seeing that Beigong Yu had agreed, the Red-Scaled Tiger's eyes instantly flashed with excitement. Once Beigong Yu finished collecting the blood, it stepped forward and began to feast heartily.
Seeing this, a bizarre thought arose in Beigong Yu's mind.
Could it be that this fellow had been growing so fast precisely because it ate the carcasses of the wild beasts and Demon Beasts he had killed previously?
After all, he had returned to that place before, intending to see if any Demon Beasts had swallowed those carcasses so he could reap a second harvest, only to find bare bones everywhere...
For some time afterward, Beigong Yu hunted down a dozen more 1st-Stage Demon Beasts, killed them with a few slashes, and rode the Red-Scaled Tiger back to the secluded stone cave where he usually practiced and temporarily stayed.
He took out a bronze cauldron he had prepared earlier, filled it with water from a nearby stream, gathered some dry firewood, and returned to the stone cave.
"Stand guard properly outside, and use the time to digest those Demon Beasts."
Roar!
The Red-Scaled Tiger let out an obedient, low roar, lay down at the entrance of the stone cave, and began to stand guard for Beigong Yu.
Beigong Yu wore a smile.
It seemed he had chosen the right mount in this Red-Scaled Tiger. At least he didn't have to worry about anyone or any Demon Beast barging in while he was in seclusion cultivating.
Inside the stone cave, Beigong Yu set up the bronze cauldron, ignited the dry firewood, and began to boil the water.
Then, he took out fifteen types of mortal-grade herbs, one type of 1st-Stage treasured fruit—the Golden Ginseng Fruit—and nine types of Demon Beast vital essence, pouring them sequentially into the huge bronze cauldron in the proportions specified by the medicinal recipe.
Before long, under the infusion of the spiritual herbs and vital essence, the clear water in the bronze cauldron transformed into a large cauldron of jade-like decoction.
A refreshing, heartwarming fragrance instantly permeated the air.
Seeing this, Beigong Yu felt a surge of joy, knowing he had successfully brewed it.
Without hesitation, he stripped off his clothes in three moves, jumped straight into the bronze cauldron, and settled in.
Mere temperatures of a hundred degrees were not enough to harm him.
The moment he entered the bronze cauldron, even before running the [Ancient Body Refining Art], a wave of pain spread through his heart and mind.
The power of the decoction was taking effect.
He immediately circulated the [Ancient Body Refining Art] and began absorbing the decoction in the bronze cauldron.
As strands of the decoction's power melted into his body, a sensation like being struck by lightning instantly flooded his mind, making Beigong Yu bare his teeth and grimace in pain.
He hadn't expected absorbing the Golden Body Tempering Soup to be so painful.
His whole body felt as though it were being torn apart. If he hadn't possessed an exceptionally firm will, he likely would have jumped right out of the bronze cauldron.
It was truly too painful.
However, with effort came rewards.
Before long, he felt his cultivation level improve significantly. Although there was still some distance to the 7th Stage Blood Refining Realm, it was not far off. Perhaps after absorbing a few more cauldrons of the decoction, he would reach the 7th Stage Blood Refining Realm.
Over the next period, Beigong Yu left the stone cave four more times.
When the power of the fifth cauldron of decoction was entirely absorbed, his blood suddenly boiled like boiling water at that moment. Wisps of aged blood were forced out of his body, while wisps of newborn blood emanated from his heart and spread throughout his entire body.
The color of that blood was even more vibrant, resembling blood diamonds. Moreover, upon close inspection, one could find a trace of golden thread hidden within the blood, though it was extremely concealed.
A tyrannical and peerless surge of blood qi suddenly erupted from Beigong Yu's body, transforming into a billowing plume of smoke that rushed a hundred zhang into the sky.
Standing guard at the cave entrance, the Red-Scaled Tiger sensed this scene, and a flash of surprise and fear crossed its huge tiger eyes.
This blood qi was so dense and pure! Furthermore, it carried a hint of supreme yang power.
This master... seemed far from simple.
"The 7th Stage Blood Refining Realm!"
Beigong Yu leaped out of the bronze cauldron, felt the formidable power surging through his body, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
This feeling of growing stronger every single second was utterly intoxicating.
There were still four Golden Ginseng Fruits left, enough to brew four more cauldrons of decoction. However, the next realm was the 8th Stage Soul Refining Realm, a realm that enhanced the soul and heightened the perception of heaven and earth's spiritual Qi. The effect of the Golden Body Tempering Soup would be quite minimal by then.
Of course, its effect was only minimal for enhancing soul perception; it would still work for body-tempering, though the effectiveness would be drastically reduced.
Next, he brewed all the remaining ingredients into a decoction in one go. After absorbing half of it himself, he found it had lost its effect, leaving him with no choice but to call over the Red-Scaled Tiger.
"Jump in, and absorb as much of the decoction in this bronze cauldron as you possibly can."
Roar!
The Red-Scaled Tiger nodded with great human-like understanding and leaped right in.
It had long since known that the greenish decoction in the bronze cauldron must be something good.
Once the Red-Scaled Tiger jumped in, it didn't circulate any mental cultivation method to absorb the decoction—nor did it possess any cultivation techniques. Instead, it simply opened its mouth wide and began drinking the decoction straight from the bronze cauldron.
Seeing this, Beigong Yu was dumbfounded. This fellow...
Whatever, let it be.
Then, with a shift of his mind, another ancient medicinal recipe appeared in his mind.
[Ancient Soul Refining Soup]: Refines the soul, enhances affinity with the heaven and earth Dao, and increases perception. It requires a total of nine 1st-Stage treasured herbs and nine special types of Demon Beast vital essence, blended in specific proportions.
Among them, the nine 1st-Stage treasured herbs are: Soul-Casting Flower, Awakening Fruit, Azure Sky Grass, Bright Moon Stone, and others.
And the nine special Demon Beast vital essence types are: 1st-Stage Demon Beasts Green Fox, Nightmare Beast, Ferocious Ape, Chilian Poisonous Snake, and others.
After reviewing the recipe for the [Ancient Soul Refining Soup], Beigong Yu's eyes flickered.
The items required for this [Ancient Soul Refining Soup] were somewhat difficult to find.
Whether it was the nine treasured herbs or the nine Demon Beasts, he had never seen a single one of them.
However, the recipe did contain detailed information about all these treasured herbs and Demon Beasts, meaning as long as he crossed paths with them, he would definitely recognize them.
It seemed that for the next period, he would have to immerse himself deeply within the Chilian Mountain Range.
Roar, roar, roar...
Rumble...
At that very moment, a heaven-shaking roar of beasts and a violent tremor suddenly spread throughout the entire Chilian Mountain Range.
Beigong Yu's expression shifted. He hurriedly stepped out of the stone cave, leaped to the top of a massive ancient tree, concealed himself within the canopy, and began to investigate.
In the distant peaks, countless ancient trees were being knocked down, billows of dust soared into the sky, and countless massive figures were stampeding frantically.
And their direction was precisely Black Mountain Town!
"Oh no, a beast tide has broken out!"
"Little fellow, take care of yourself. Don't get trampled to death. I'm heading back to Black Mountain Town to report the news."
Beigong Yu gave a word of warning to the Red-Scaled Tiger, which had also been startled, and then his figure flickered as he dashed straight toward Black Mountain Town.
It wasn't because he was particularly kind-hearted, but rather... this piece of news was worth 100 Demon and Fiend Contribution Points!
He had worked himself to the bone killing wild beasts and slaying Demon Beasts just to earn less than 300 Demon and Fiend Contribution Points. A single piece of news was worth 100 points—how could he possibly let that pass?