Hunting Gallbladders

Night had fallen.

Inside a hidden underground cave, a dim yellow lamp burned.

Yuan Ming sat cross-legged inside the cave. Before him, a hollowed-out cobblestone held lamp oil made from boa constrictor fat. The flame gave off a faint wisp of oily smoke and a lightly sweet, cloying scent.

He held a green-covered book in his hands, reading it with rapt attention.

"No wonder Zhao Tong wanted the Human-faced Ghost Spider's facial skin. So this Thousand Mechanism Mask is so useful—it can transform into a thousand faces, and no cultivator below the Core Formation Stage can see through it." Yuan Ming clicked his tongue in amazement.

Over this period of time, his understanding of cultivation had gradually become clearer. He knew that after the Qi Refining Stage came the Foundation Establishment Realm, followed by the Core Formation Stage, and beyond that was the godlike Nascent Soul Realm.

However, apart from the Qi Refining Stage, he only knew the names of those later realms. As for their actual differences, he still did not understand.

A moment later, he closed the Illustrated Guide to Common Fierce Beasts, silently recalled the fierce beasts recorded within, and committed them to memory.

"I've been stuck at the bottleneck of the second layer of Qi Refining for so long without making any progress. I wonder if this thing will help." Yuan Ming put away the book and held the palm-sized Flesh Lingzhi, muttering to himself.

The Compendium of Herbs stated that Flesh Lingzhi over ten years old could grow white bones and remove rotten flesh.

Those over a hundred years old could revive the dead, strengthen qi and blood, and aid cultivation. If refined together with tuckahoe grass, Crimson Yellow Essence, Five-Additive Spirit, and other medicinal herbs into a Lingzhi Pill, its effects could be doubled.

Judging from its shape and size, the one in his hand was already a century-old medicinal herb. Unfortunately, Yuan Ming had no way of finding someone to refine it into pills. If he took it out, it would likely bring disaster upon himself instead.

After all, a common man was innocent, but possessing a jade was a crime.

"I can only eat it raw. Better than not eating it at all." Yuan Ming sighed.

After saying that, he sat cross-legged properly, adjusted his breathing, and silently began circulating the second-layer cultivation method of the Nine Yuan Art, mobilizing the spiritual power in his dantian through a full circuit.

Once the qi and blood throughout his body had been stirred, Yuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, picked up the Flesh Lingzhi, and took a bite.

Though it felt fleshy to the touch, what met his teeth was a fibrous texture like wood. A bitter taste spread between his lips and teeth, making him widen his eyes.

It tastes awful. Yuan Ming silently remarked to himself, but he did not spit it out. Instead, he endured the discomfort and chewed.

Before long, Yuan Ming had swallowed the entire Flesh Lingzhi.

Afterward, he continued trying to circulate the third-layer cultivation method of the Nine Yuan Art, carefully sensing the changes within himself.

Yet to his disappointment, the moment the third-layer method began to circulate, that sluggish, obstructed sensation struck again. His spiritual power was like water meeting a towering wall, blocked firmly and unable to cross it.

Still no good? Yuan Ming sighed inwardly.

Sure enough, even a miraculous medicinal treasure needed to be refined in a specific way before its effects could be unleashed.

But at that moment, Yuan Ming suddenly frowned and pressed both hands against his lower abdomen.

Immediately afterward, a current of heat rose from his dantian, as though a furnace had been set up inside his belly.

As Yuan Ming was still wondering about it, the temperature of that heat current abruptly soared. What had initially been merely warm became scorching.

He felt as if the furnace in his lower abdomen had sprung a leak, its flames all spilling out and searing his insides with dry pain.

Panic rose in Yuan Ming's heart. He hurriedly undid his clothes, baring his chest and abdomen.

Yet that still could not counteract the heat. The skin of his lower abdomen turned bright red, and the redness began spreading toward his chest and groin.

Yuan Ming hurriedly stripped off all his clothes and sat naked on the ground. Only then did he feel slightly relieved.

But the relief did not last long before the scorching heat engulfed him again. The skin all over his body began turning red, making him look like a boiled shrimp.

Yuan Ming even blew out the small oil lamp in front of him, yet he still felt parched and restless. His heart pounded in his chest with thump, thump, like war drums.

At the same time, he felt that the spiritual power in his dantian had also grown restless, beginning to dart uncontrollably through his meridians. Needle-like pain shot through the channels throughout his body.

He had never encountered such a situation during cultivation before, and Yuan Ming could not help panicking.

But he quickly forced himself to calm down and began circulating the Nine Yuan Art, attempting to sort out and guide that spiritual power back into his dantian.

Once he tried, he discovered that his spiritual power had not gone out of control. It still obeyed his command; its circulation speed had merely increased, and its force had become stronger.

At that thought, Yuan Ming felt as though enlightenment had been poured over his head.

He hurriedly recited the third-layer mnemonic verse of the Nine Yuan Art in his heart, guiding his spiritual power through his meridians according to the cultivation method and once again attempting to break through to the third layer of Qi Refining.

In less than a moment, Yuan Ming's eyes snapped open, gleaming brightly.

The bottleneck he had been unable to break through no matter what he did had actually yielded with effortless ease this time.

In an instant, the spiritual power within his dantian surged. Its circulation speed accelerated as well, and the time previously needed to complete one full circuit was cut in half. His cultivation efficiency rose dramatically.

Yuan Ming forgot himself in circulating the cultivation method, running full circuits again and again. Sweat poured down his entire body like rain, and faint white vapor rose from the top of his head.

As he cultivated, the scorching sensation within him gradually subsided. The redness of his skin also slowly faded, while the circulation of spiritual power within him gradually steadied. Yet the spiritual power stored in his dantian had increased greatly.

Several hours later, Yuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.

Spurred by the medicinal power of that century-old Flesh Lingzhi, he had finally broken through once more and advanced to the third layer of the Qi Refining Stage.

After his joy passed, Yuan Ming did not stop cultivating. Instead, he continued sitting cross-legged in meditation, doing his utmost to stabilize his realm.

Half a month later.

Beside a jungle stream, a figure darted swiftly through the forest. He wore a White Ape Beast Hide and carried an Ancient Bronze Sword in his hand. It was Yuan Ming.

At that moment, he was not using the Furring Technique. Merely sprinting at full speed in human form, he was surprisingly no slower.

Behind him, trees continuously toppled in the dense forest, and the sounds of collisions rose one after another.

Amid rolling clouds of dust, a grayish-green boa constrictor seven zhang long and as thick as a water bucket writhed swiftly, crashing through the forest as it pursued Yuan Ming.

Its eyes were amber-yellow, and its gaping bloody maw revealed two pairs of sharp giant fangs above and below. A scarlet forked tongue stretched from its mouth, nearly six chi long.

Yuan Ming ran wildly while glancing back. Seeing the boa constrictor drawing ever closer, he suddenly accelerated, then leaped into the air and jumped seven or eight zhang away in one bound.

Seeing this, the boa constrictor thrust its head forward fiercely. Its body actually shot straight up as well, chasing after Yuan Ming.

While still in midair, Yuan Ming grabbed a vine hanging from an old tree beside him and yanked it downward. A trap made from vines on either side of him immediately tightened at high speed.

Half the boa constrictor's body entered a rapidly shrinking rope loop. Before it could fully free itself, the tightening vines bound it tightly, leaving half its body hanging in midair.

It struggled incessantly, tugging the vines so violently that even the thick branch above shook fiercely, on the verge of breaking.

But at that moment, Yuan Ming, who had already circled back, leaped high into the air. Gripping the Azure Fish Sword with both hands, he chopped fiercely at the boa constrictor's head.

Just as the boa constrictor was about to be killed in a single strike, its six-chi-long tongue suddenly curled around and bound Yuan Ming instead.

The old tree's horizontal branch could not bear the boa constrictor's weight and collapsed with a crash.

With a sweep of its long tongue, the boa constrictor dragged Yuan Ming and pulled him straight into its mouth.

Before Yuan Ming could react, darkness fell before his eyes. The upper half of his body had already been swallowed by the boa constrictor, entering a damp, slimy cavity.

The boa constrictor's upper and lower jaws closed together, the immense pressure trying to crush Yuan Ming's bones.

Yuan Ming immediately felt tremendous force bearing down on his sternum and ribs, making it difficult for him to breathe. Coupled with the foul stench constantly rising from the boa constrictor's belly, he nearly suffocated into unconsciousness.

Just as the muscles in the boa constrictor's mouth writhed, feeding Yuan Ming inch by inch into its belly, a blue-green light suddenly lit up at its lower abdomen. A sword tip gleaming blue abruptly pierced through the boa constrictor's skin from within.

Then, as the muscles in its mouth continued to writhe, Yuan Ming's body slowly sank deeper into the snake's belly. The Azure Fish Sword likewise cut open its abdomen, slicing a massive wound.

Covered head to toe in slime, Yuan Ming crawled out through the wound in the boa constrictor's belly. One hand gripped the Azure Fish Sword, while the other held a dark green, fleshy sac as large as a papaya.

That was the boa constrictor's Snake Gallbladder. Other than beast blood, it was the most valuable thing on its body, and it was also what Zhao Tong had specifically mentioned he hoped Yuan Ming could bring back.

Yuan Ming had previously killed three boa constrictors, but whenever he cut open their bellies afterward, he found that their Snake Gallbladders had already ruptured. Dark green bile had corroded the abdominal cavities into a complete mess.

At first, he thought they had been accidentally shattered during battle. Later, he discovered that when boa constrictors neared death, they ruptured them themselves so hunters could not take their gallbladders.

With no other choice, he had chosen to let the boa constrictor swallow him, using a method of taking the gallbladder from within.

The boa constrictor whose gallbladder had been removed did not die immediately. Its body rolled and twisted without end, its long tail sweeping left and right as it tried to make one last struggle before death, but it was ultimately useless.

After storing the beast blood in a blood-storage pouch, Yuan Ming carried his sword to the riverbank, intending to wash the filth from his body.

He had only just reached the water's edge and had not yet bent down when he suddenly noticed something strange about his reflection in the water. Just as he was about to inspect it closely, a jolt ran through his heart.

The face reflected in the water suddenly twisted, transforming into an incomparably ferocious snake face.