Ascension Path

Yuan Ming sighed and casually set down the blue incense burner. One of its handles happened to touch the white ape hide wrapped around his waist.

A flash of blue light flickered across the incense burner's surface, and a warm current wafted out, swiftly merging into the white ape hide.

The white ape hide trembled. A faint layer of golden light spread across its surface, then with a rustle, it unfurled and draped itself over Yuan Ming's body.

Before Yuan Ming could understand what was happening, the magic power in his dantian suddenly surged and began flowing outward, pouring continuously into the white ape hide as it started merging with his body.

The sensation was exactly like the first time Elder Huohuo had used the Fur Transformation Technique to cover him in beast hide.

The white ape hide squirmed like a living thing. Bumps swelled across its surface, as though countless mice were burrowing around inside.

Yuan Ming was startled and immediately circulated his cultivation, trying to steady the magic power in his dantian and stop it from continuing to spill out. It was utterly useless.

Not only was the magic power within him being drawn away—even the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the surrounding air seemed to be stirred by some invisible force, converging toward the white ape hide.

Then a sight that left Yuan Ming dumbfounded appeared.

As spiritual energy poured endlessly into the white ape hide, its once grayish-white, withered fur became snowy white and lustrous at a visible rate. White down grew anew in the bald patches, quickly thickening and lengthening.

At the same time, a phantom image of a white ape emerged from within the hide, enveloping his body.

"What is this?" Yuan Ming cried out in alarm. His hands and feet began scratching at his ears and cheeks against his control, while shrill ape cries seemed to echo beside his ears.

Before he could react, a cold and sinister aura suddenly rose in his mind. A sharp pain erupted between his brows, as if a dagger had been forcibly driven in, piercing straight through his skull!

Yuan Ming opened his mouth wide, yet not a sound came out. The world spun around him, and he nearly lost consciousness.

Though his mind had always been resolute and he forcefully endured this inhuman torment, his awareness still nearly collapsed. His ears heard nothing, and his eyes saw not a trace of light.

In his daze, an image surfaced in Yuan Ming's mind: a towering, brawny white ape standing proudly atop a colossal peak against the wind. Amid raging wind and torrential rain, it beat its chest with clenched fists and threw back its head in a furious roar at the heavens.

Then darkness swallowed his vision, and he knew no more.

Who knew how much time passed before Yuan Ming's consciousness slowly returned, followed gradually by his five senses.

He shook his somewhat swollen head and felt that the ape hide on his body had stopped writhing and was no longer drawing in his magic power. Yet his dantian felt completely hollow; his magic power had been drained clean.

The ape hide, once grayish-white, was now pure white and moist throughout, its surface gleaming with an oily sheen. It looked as though it had just been skinned, with threads of golden light still glimmering over it.

"What exactly just happened? Why does this white ape hide seem as if it's about to come alive? And that white ape... could it be..." Yuan Ming frowned tightly, silently pondering.

Though he had no basis for it, he instinctively felt that the white ape that had appeared in his mind had been the owner of the ape hide on his body.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A series of powerful heartbeats suddenly rang beside his ears, making Yuan Ming's heart jolt and startling him from his tangled thoughts.

"Ah!"

The next moment, piercing pain shot from the tips of his ten fingers. Bloodied, gleaming white claws tore through his flesh and forcibly drilled their way out, making his entire body tremble. He fell to the ground, clutching his hands and groaning miserably.

Only after a full quarter of an hour did the claws stop growing, and the heart-piercing agony finally faded.

Yuan Ming caught his breath. His whole body was nearly soaked in sweat, and his head thundered as though he might faint at any moment.

However, the commotion he had just caused had been considerable. He did not know whether any wild beasts might hear it and come over, so he forced himself to sit cross-legged and circulated the Nine Yuan Art to regulate his breathing.

After less than half an hour, Yuan Ming opened his eyes. His complexion had improved somewhat, and a little magic power had returned to his body.

He looked at his hands. The claws growing from his ten fingers were half a foot long, curved like dragon talons, as though forged from steel. They looked capable of tearing through anything.

"Though I don't know exactly what happened, it seems the white ape hide underwent some kind of evolution because of that mysterious incense burner? This burner truly is a rare treasure!" Yuan Ming thought.

He used magic to put away the incense burner, then moved his arm and casually raked the wall of the earthen cave.

Five deep gouges were easily carved into the cave wall. The solid earthen wall was like tofu before the sharp claws, and he could barely feel any resistance.

"So sharp!" Yuan Ming praised aloud.

The white ape had originally relied more on arm strength. With its agile body, it could move freely through the mountain forests, but compared with wolves, tigers, and leopards, it had no particular advantage in attack. Now that he possessed these claws, however, things were naturally very different.

Take that armadillo beast that had not feared the Green Foxes' pincer attack at all. Relying on its incomparably tough armor, it often stood undefeated. With his current strength, he could defeat it through brute force, but it would be extremely taxing. With these claws to aid him, he could naturally break through its defenses with ease and achieve twice the result with half the effort.

"No matter how much my strength improves, as long as I don't obtain the true antidote to the Heart Rot Pill, I cannot leave this region. Returning to the Central Plains is even more distant than ever." Thinking of the deadly poison Jade Luo Cave had administered to him, Yuan Ming could not help feeling disheartened.

"Since the incense burner cannot be lit for now, perhaps I can try getting some information from there?" His thoughts shifted as he looked south.

Over the past few months, he had used each opportunity to hand over beast blood essence to exchange a few words with Elder Huohuo.

Though Elder Huohuo came and went like the wind each time and was unwilling to say much, on one occasion, whether intentionally or not, he had mentioned that Jade Luo Cave controlled a great many Furred Beast Slaves. They had been placed throughout various regions of the Hundred Thousand Mountains and were managed by different elders. Elder Huohuo alone was responsible for as many as twenty or thirty.

Yuan Ming believed that these beast slaves could all be considered his "seniors." They surely knew more than he did about Jade Luo Cave and the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Perhaps if he sought them out and made contact, he might obtain information he needed.

Having made up his mind, Yuan Ming did not immediately set out to search for the other beast slaves. There were only two days left until the next blood essence collection, so it would not be too late to leave after handing over this month's beast blood essence.

Two days later, Yuan Ming brought the blood essence he had prepared long ago to the giant stone boundary marker.

Elder Huohuo was already waiting there this time, but Wulu had not appeared.

"Elder Huohuo, this is this month's beast blood essence. Please inspect it." Yuan Ming took out the blood storage pouch and handed it over.

"The color and aura of these five portions of blood essence are similar. Were they collected in a single day?" Elder Huohuo took the blood storage pouch and gave it a glance. His brows twitched as he looked up at Yuan Ming and asked.

"Elder, your gaze is truly discerning! This disciple happened upon a nest of Green Fox beasts and was fortunate enough to gather five portions of blood essence in a single day." Yuan Ming did not understand Elder Huohuo's meaning, but he did not lie.

"Killing five Green Foxes in one day—not bad. Has your cultivation broken through to the first level of the Qi Refining Stage?" Elder Huohuo examined Yuan Ming twice and asked.

"A few days ago, I gained some insight and fortunately made a breakthrough," Yuan Ming said after a slight hesitation.

"To break through to the first level of Qi Refining within half a year is not bad. You barely qualify." Elder Huohuo nodded.

"I wonder what Elder means by that?" Yuan Ming's face showed surprise.

"You furred beast slaves generally possess Quad Spirit Roots. By the standards of the cultivation world, these are considered 'pseudo spirit roots.' Without some special opportunity or an unyielding disposition, one will generally never amount to much. Jade Luo Cave has always valued talent. The furred beast slave arrangement was itself a kind of trial. For those who can break through to the first level of the Qi Refining Stage within half a year, we can offer an ascension path. But whether you succeed or fail will depend on whether you possess the determination." Elder Huohuo lifted his chin and spoke with a genial expression.

"Please enlighten me, Elder." Yuan Ming vaguely guessed something, and a flicker of excitement crossed his face.

"So long as you hand over a certain quantity of beast blood essence within three years, you may shed your status as a furred beast slave and be accepted by Jade Luo Cave as a registered disciple, learning true Immortal Magic and Secret Arts." Elder Huohuo seemed quite satisfied with Yuan Ming's reaction and continued.

"Join Jade Luo Cave! Is that truly possible?" Yuan Ming's expression stirred, and he blurted out the question.

"I, Huohuo, hold some standing in Jade Luo Cave. Since when have I ever spoken falsehoods?" Elder Huohuo's expression darkened slightly.

"Please forgive me, Elder. I spoke improperly in my moment of excitement. But how many portions of blood essence must be handed over within three years?" Yuan Ming hurriedly apologized, then changed the subject and asked.

"One thousand portions."

Hearing this, Yuan Ming's eyes widened, as though he could scarcely believe what he had heard.

"If you cannot even gather a mere thousand portions of blood essence, then I advise you to abandon the thought of cultivating immortality as soon as possible. I find you rather pleasing, so I'll give you a reminder. If you wish to complete the task, it would be best to hunt higher-ranked beasts. According to the rules, one portion of blood essence from a first-rank mid-grade beast is equivalent to ten portions from low-grade beasts, while one portion from a high-grade beast equals one hundred portions from low-grade beasts." Elder Huohuo glanced at Yuan Ming and said this.

"Thank you for your guidance, Elder. I understand." Yuan Ming's heart tightened, and he replied respectfully.

When Elder Huohuo had collected blood essence last month, he had already mentioned this matter to Yuan Ming and Wulu. The so-called first-rank low-grade classification was a measure of a first-rank beast's strength. Above it were two further levels: first-rank mid-grade and first-rank high-grade.

The Green Foxes and armadillos he had encountered previously were all first-rank low-grade beasts. In terms of strength, they were roughly equivalent to cultivators at the first through fourth levels of the Qi Refining Stage. First-rank mid-grade beasts that lurked deeper in the Hundred Thousand Mountains were equivalent to cultivators at the fifth through eighth levels of the Qi Refining Stage; naturally, their strength could not be mentioned in the same breath.

As for first-rank high-grade beasts, they were even more terrifying, far stronger than mid-grade beasts. If one lacked sufficient strength, encountering one meant being killed in an instant.

Of course, because beasts possessed limited intelligence, ordinary cultivators could sometimes attempt to hunt above their level through various methods even if their true cultivation was inferior. Still, this could not be generalized.

In short, with his current first-level Qi Refining cultivation, he had no confidence that he could even retreat unharmed before a first-rank mid-grade beast.

In other words, if he wished to gather one thousand portions of beast blood essence, then unless his cultivation improved further, he could only continue hunting one thousand first-rank low-grade beasts honestly.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to ask Elder Huohuo for the antidote and take his leave, a disturbance came from the forest not far behind him. Faint footsteps approached.

Yuan Ming turned toward the sound and saw Wulu limping this way.