Fifth-tier Beast Pet

After putting away the Companion Purple Crystal Source, Old Yao searched the cave but failed to find either the Purple Spirit Crystal or the little beast. The little beast had most likely fled with the Purple Spirit Crystal.

Without the Purple Spirit Crystal, there was no way to extract the Companion Purple Crystal Source, which was somewhat regrettable to Old Yao, though he did not care too much.

Indeed, the Companion Purple Crystal Source was exceedingly rare, a product nurtured over a long period by a Sixth Grade Magical Beast. However, Old Yao had prepared a Purple Crystal Lion Heart Pill for Xiao Yan, using the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's most refined heart and Magical Core as its main ingredients. Compared to that, the Companion Purple Crystal Source was somewhat lacking.

Therefore, since Old Yao had not found the Purple Spirit Crystal, he planned to bring the entire Companion Purple Crystal Source back for Xiao Lan to swallow whole.

Old Yao had originally held little hope for a Magical Beast like Xiao Lan, whose bloodline was impure and whose strength was weak. Who would have thought that opportunity after opportunity would fall into its lap, and all of them would suit Xiao Lan rather well?

First had been the bone marrow of a Fifth Grade Magical Beast, most of its energy already lost. It was useless to Xiao Yan, so Old Yao simply used it to cleanse Xiao Lan's marrow, allowing it to confirm its Fire Attribute.

Then there were the Purple Cloud Wings, a Xuan Tier Intermediate Flying Dou Technique originating from the Fifth Grade Magical Beast Black Flame Purple Cloud Sculpture. Its quality was truly too poor for Xiao Yan to care about, so he directly gave it to Xiao Lan, allowing it to evolve further.

Then came the Fate Fruits. Eleven Green Fate Fruits were more than enough to spare one for Xiao Lan, while the Bone Spirit Fate Fruit was enough to mutate Xiao Lan's Dou Qi and increase its power.

Now, with the addition of the Companion Purple Crystal Source, there was no choice but to swallow it whole without the Purple Spirit Crystal. It would not even sell well, so he might as well feed it to Xiao Lan and let it break through to the fifth tier.

Even Old Yao had never expected that an utterly ordinary First Grade Magical Beast would become a Fifth Grade Magical Beast after only a year.

To be frank, Old Yao was now looking forward to whether Xiao Lan might break through to become a Seventh Grade or even Eighth Grade Magical Beast in the future, becoming a guardian beast for the sect.

After taking stock of their gains, Old Yao led Xiao Yan to a relatively secluded ravine and began refining the Purple Crystal Lion Heart Pill.

Faced with a Sixth Grade Pill, Old Yao did not let his guard down and took out the Black Demon Cauldron to enhance the refinement.

Old Yao first took out a heart the size of a human head. It was exceptionally fresh, its muscles still twitching from time to time. It was unmistakably the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's heart.

Old Yao tossed it into the medicine cauldron and refined it with the Bone Spirit Cold Flame for an hour, turning the human-head-sized heart into a thumb-sized drop of purple Essence Blood.

Old Yao then took out the Blood Lotus Essence and placed it into the medicine cauldron. With a sweep of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, he burned its outer skin into ash, revealing the blood-red color within.

Next, Old Yao carefully dripped the Essence Blood refined from the heart onto the very center of the Blood Lotus Essence. Using Heavenly Flames to isolate it, he turned the entire Blood Lotus Essence into nourishment, allowing that drop of Essence Blood to slowly grow.

Then came the Heart-shaped Fruit, Blood Transforming Vine, and Dragon Blood Ginseng. Old Yao threw them all into the medicine cauldron, allowing the drop of Essence Blood to grow to the size of a fist.

After refining it for another two hours, Old Yao added the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's Magical Core.

The Magical Core and the Essence Blood shared the same origin. Under the pressure of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, the Essence Blood slowly began merging into the Magical Core, continuously dissolving the core's ferocious aura and making the energy contained within gentler.

After a full day and night of refinement, the Essence Blood had completely fused into the Magical Core, softening the originally solid core until it finally formed into a pill.

Old Yao suppressed the energy shockwave produced when the pill took shape and tossed the Purple Crystal Lion Heart Pill to Xiao Yan.

"Not bad luck. It formed a Pill Pattern, so this Purple Crystal Lion Heart Pill's effectiveness will be another ten to twenty percent stronger."

Upon hearing that, Xiao Yan happily swallowed the Purple Crystal Lion Heart Pill with its Pill Pattern.

The pill entered his stomach and immediately transformed into a stream of pure medicinal power that rushed straight toward Xiao Yan's heart, forming purple crystals over its surface.

Whenever blood flowed into his heart, it was transformed by those purple crystals, carrying purple energy throughout his body and strengthening his physique.

It was foreseeable that for a long time to come, even if Xiao Yan did not deliberately cultivate, his physical condition would improve greatly.

Xiao Yan tried channeling his Dou Qi through the crystalline layer, but it had no effect. He could not help asking, "Teacher, what about the Purple Fire? How am I supposed to control it?"

"Go stand under the sun and see," Old Yao said.

Overjoyed, Xiao Yan hurriedly climbed out of the ravine and sprinted beneath the sunlight.

Under the sun's rays, the blood throughout Xiao Yan's body seemed to boil. Blood energy seeped out through his pores, forming a layer of purple crystal over his skin that absorbed sunlight and converted it into Purple Fire.

"This effect should last about seven days. During those seven days, cultivate the Purple Fire with all your strength and prepare to devour it to evolve the Flame Mantra!" Old Yao said with a smile.

Thus, Xiao Yan returned to Little Medicine Valley covered in a layer of burning Purple Fire, thoroughly startling Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Lan.

However, after Xiao Yan tossed down the Companion Purple Crystal Source and a Fourth Grade Pill, the King Breaking Pill, he hurriedly ran off again—Little Medicine Valley was covered in thick mist and received no sunlight.

Xiao Yan spent seven days fully cultivating the Purple Fire. He circulated the Flame Mantra, devoured the Purple Fire, evolved it to Xuan Tier Intermediate, and broke through to a two-star Da Dou Shi.

During those seven days, Old Yao also took action, fusing together the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's wings and Essence Blood to create the Di Tier Low Flying Dou Technique, Purple Crystal Wings. Not only could it fly, it could also form purple crystals over the user's entire body for defense.

After cultivating the Purple Crystal Wings, Xiao Yan returned to Little Medicine Valley and was stunned to discover that Xiao Lan had turned into a huge purple egg. The dense World Energy within Little Medicine Valley had even transformed into a gale, surging toward the egg.

"What kind of form is this?" Xiao Yan was somewhat dumbfounded.

"Xiao Lan turned into this after swallowing that purple stone sphere you brought back. I don't know what's going on either."

"Maybe this is shedding its old body and being reborn as a bird?"

Xiao Yan did not really understand either, but it was a good thing regardless. So he refined quite a bit of Blood Burning Paste and had Xiao Yi Xian pour it over the egg every day.

As for Xiao Yan himself, he naturally followed Old Yao all over the Beast Mountain Range, searching for the Ice Fire Dragon Beard Fruit, Sixth Grade water-attributed Magical Beasts, and Beast Flame.

It took Xiao Lan a full two months to break through to the fifth tier. During that time, Xiao Yan gained quite a lot.

First, Old Yao found the Ice Fire Dragon Beard Fruit, hunted a Sixth Grade Water Marsh Mist Snake, gathered all the ingredients for the Earth Spirit Pill, and successfully refined the Sixth Grade Pill, the Earth Spirit Pill.

Xiao Yan, meanwhile, refined three Beast Flames, pushing the Flame Mantra to Xuan Tier Advanced. He consumed two Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pills, one Two-patterned Azure Spirit Pill, and one Three-patterned Azure Spirit Pill, breaking through to a one-star Dou Ling.

Not only that, during those two months, Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian ate Sixth Grade Magical Beast meat every day and tempered their bodies with Sixth Grade Magical Beast Essence Blood. Their Dou Qi was exceptionally condensed, and their physiques had become stronger than Magical Beasts of the same tier.

At the same time, because Old Yao, this "human outsider," had hunted too many high-tier Magical Beasts, several beast kings deep within the Beast Mountain Range began joining forces to seek out the one who had offended the mountain range's majesty.

Countless Magical Beasts began to riot, leaving their territories to search for Old Yao's trail.