A Bountiful Harvest

In the Sea of Forest, Lin Xiuya and his three companions had run a long enough distance before finally stopping to catch their breath.

"I never expected that beast could suddenly increase his strength. That attack just now was at the level of Five Star Dou Wang. Luckily, he didn't chase after me, otherwise I would probably be in grave danger!"

Lin Xiuya said with lingering fear.

"Yes, it's fortunate that Xiao Yuan held that beast back, otherwise we would probably all have perished here."

Yan Hao nodded upon hearing this, a hint of relief at surviving the ordeal also flashing in his eyes.

"I think that with Xiao Yuan's speed and strength, even Lin Xiuya might not be his match in the Strong Ranking Tournament four months from now."

The young man in yellow also sighed from the side.

Han Yue's brilliant silver hair was somewhat disheveled from her hasty escape, and sweat clung to her forehead. Her slightly furrowed brows clearly indicated that she was quite worried about Xiao Yuan's safety.

After all, it was she who took the initiative to propose this, but Xiao Yuan ended up being the one left to cover the retreat. If she hadn't been so rational as to know that she wouldn't be able to help much even if she went back, she probably would have already returned.

Clutching the jade bottle Xiao Yuan had given her tightly, Han Yue's worries grew stronger.

After all, it's been quite some time since they rested here, and given Xiao Yuan's speed, he should have arrived by now! "Strange, the sky over that valley suddenly looks a bit gloomy!"

Lin Xiuya was also paying attention to the movements in the valley. Looking over there, he noticed that the weather in the valley where the Snow Demon Sky Ape was located had suddenly turned gloomy.

"Yeah, why is it thundering?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Hao looked up and asked with some confusion.

Upon hearing this, Han Yue raised her head and looked at the distant scene of lightning and thunder, suddenly feeling somewhat relieved about Xiao Yuan's safety.

She was quite perceptive and had already noticed that Xiao Yuan's movement technique seemed to have some traces of lightning attribute. Generally speaking, such Dou Technique would be amplified in thunderstorms.

As for the fact that Xiao Yuan caused the thunderstorm, they never even considered that possibility.

To influence the weather, at least High-Rank Dou Zong is capable of doing so. Some Dou Huang expert can achieve this through the profoundness of their cultivation techniques or Dou Technique, but this requires a lot of mental and Dou Qi effort, and is still quite different from Dou Zong expert who can change the weather with a single thought.

Xiao Yuan was able to do this not only because of the energy absorption effect of the Earth Rank Dou Techniques, but also because of the amplification of his Dou Qi by his own secret technique. With the strength of Dou Wang and the most crucial Black Demon Lightning, he was able to summon the thundercloud.

However, the effect was quite remarkable, directly killing a Snow Demon Sky Ape comparable to Five Star Dou Wang!

According to Xiao Yuan's calculations, if he could disregard the cost, he would even risk his life to fight a Dou Huang expert! Of course, if he could avoid risking his life, he would not necessarily seek death. He deeply understood the principle that if one does not fight desperately in cultivation, one must fight desperately in battle.

"Cough cough!"

Xiao Yuan coughed up a mouthful of bright red blood, took out a Recovery Pill, swallowed it, and began to regulate his breathing.

At this moment, he wasn't worried about any magical beasts coming to ambush him. The battle fluctuations just now were enough to scare away all magical beasts below the fifth rank. Moreover, the Snow Demon Sky Ape wasn't easy to talk to, and there were basically no magical beasts in its territory.

After all, once the news of the Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid is exposed, it will bring countless troubles.

Unfortunately, he managed to fool the monsters but not the humans, and ultimately died at Xiao Yuan's hands.

Extracting blood is not an easy task, so after recovering, Xiao Yuan directly put the Snow Demon Sky Ape's corpse into his Storage Ring.

Next, it was time to collect the Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid! Xiao Yuan summoned the Purple Cloud Wings and flew into the valley. His soul power surged out like a tide, scanning the entire valley.

The valley was quite spacious, with some white bones scattered about, which looked like those of a magical beast.

Clearly, not only humans coveted this Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid, but even some magical beasts also harbored the desire to seize it.

This is quite normal, because the marrow-cleansing and bone-refining effects of the Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid are far more attractive to magical beasts than to humans. If a magical beast could obtain this, it would be much easier for it to cultivate into human form in the future.

Such effects are coveted even by Sixth Order Magical Beast. For example, the Amethyst Winged Lion King of the Monster Mountain Range once wanted to ask Yun Yun for a Transformation Pill, obviously in order to be able to transform into human form and reduce the difficulty of advancing in cultivation.

The name that suddenly flashed through his mind abruptly stopped Xiao Yuan's flight. He pursed his lips, and a beautiful, elegant face floated up from the depths of his memory.

To be honest, I've missed you a bit since we last met.

However, Xiao Yuan was able to distinguish between what was important and what was not, and quickly came to his senses and flew into the Mountain Cave that had been discovered.

The Mountain Cave was quite large, otherwise it would be difficult to accommodate the Snow Demon Sky Ape. The high cave ceiling was more than ten meters high. Inside the Mountain Cave, rocks were scattered everywhere, and white fur could be seen all over the place. Xiao Yuan walked swiftly into the Mountain Cave, and after a moment, he stood at the end of the cave wall with a slight frown.

He did not find any trace of the Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid.

However, if it can't be detected by the naked eye, what about soul power? With a thought, soul power surged out and quickly discovered the anomaly in a corner!

There, in the mountain below, there was a clear cavity! Xiao Yuan's gaze followed, and he found that the ground there was a huge depression, covered with white fur, and there were many more large footprints around it than anywhere else. At first glance, this seemed to be the place where the Snow Demon Sky Ape rested, and the depression seemed to be the result of the latter's huge body pressing down.

But in reality, there was clearly something else going on below! Without much hesitation, Xiao Yuan waved his hand, and the cyan Wind Attribute Dou Qi qi transformed into a whirlwind, fiercely drilling into the ground.

Boom! A large crater was drilled open, revealing a dark, gaping hole.

Snap! Seeing this, Xiao Yuan remained calm and summoned the Yang Fire of the Yin Yang Dual Flames. The warm and soft white flames surrounded him, instantly illuminating the somewhat dim Mountain Cave.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Yuan leaped down.

After traveling for some time, Xiao Yuan finally emerged from the long passage and entered an Underground World filled with stalactites. As far as the eye could see, milky white stalactites stretched endlessly, covering the cave ceiling. Pale white light emanated from them, dispelling all the darkness. Stalactites grew everywhere, some hanging from the mountaintops, and some even reaching a hundred meters in length. At a glance, the mountain dome was covered with enormous stalactites, and occasionally a drop of white liquid would drip down, splashing milky white water on the ground.

The Underground World is vast, and Xiao Yuan's soul power cannot cover it entirely. Fortunately, Xiao Yuan has many tricks up his sleeve! With the flow of earth-attribute Dou Qi within his body, Xiao Yuan quickly sensed a direction where the earth's power was more concentrated, and then he sped off in that direction.

As for whether he would encounter danger, Xiao Yuan was not worried. Although his combat power would be somewhat reduced now, the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python was a trump card, which should be enough to deal with unknown crises.

After wandering through the stalactite world for nearly ten minutes, Xiao Yuan finally stopped and looked up at the enormous stalactite that appeared before him, a look of shock flashing in his eyes.

The stalactite that appeared before them connected to the top of the mountain dome at one end and hung vertically down at the other. Its enormous size was more than a hundred meters long and as thick as two people could hug. A pale white light surrounded it, making it look like a crystal pillar. This stalactite was undoubtedly the largest in this Underground World. Its size made it seem like the king of stalactites, receiving the worship of countless other stalactites around it.

His gaze gradually shifted downwards, revealing a massive blue stone beneath the stalactite. A large portion of the stone was buried underground. At the top of the stone was a groove less than half a foot deep, directly opposite the tip of the stalactite. Within this groove was a two-inch-deep layer of milky white liquid, upon which floated a faint white mist. This mist was peculiar; no matter how it drifted, it never dissipated. Xiao Yuan took a light breath and immediately felt a strange sensation, as if his entire body was tingling with pleasure.

Xiao Yuan glanced at the milky white liquid in the groove, but quickly regained his composure.

He knew that the milky white liquid in the groove, although it was also Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid, was diluted. His target was the original liquid!

Then, Xiao Yuan felt a jolt behind him, and a pair of purplish-black wings popped out, carrying Xiao Yuan upwards.

Flying straight up along the massive, vertical stalactite that was over a hundred meters long, we soon reached the top of the mountain dome. From there, looking down, the stalactites that had once seemed enormous now appeared to be only the size of ants. Looking around, we could see other stalactites hanging in the same dome, their faint light illuminating the entire Underground World.

Xiao Yuan carefully observed the bottom of the stalactite, scrutinizing it for a long time and probing it multiple times with his soul power before finally determining where to start. He then suppressed his excitement and, with trembling hands, took out a piece of high-quality jade from his Storage Ring and cut a circular incision in the bottom of the stalactite.

"Click"

Suddenly, the jade piece in his hand completed the final segment of the circle, and a fragment of a stalactite circle detached from the main body. Xiao Yuan caught it with lightning speed, raised his head, and a burst of intense light suddenly shot out from where the fragment had fallen. The dazzling light made him subconsciously cover his eyes with the Heavenly Flames.

Then Xiao Yuan was delighted to see that inside the stalactite, there was a viscous liquid of emerald color. This liquid seemed to have a spirit, slowly flowing in the stalactite, but its range of movement was just around the circle opening, never going beyond a line.

Feeling the immense and pure energy contained in this viscous liquid, which was as green as jade and more than ten times richer than the "Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid" in the blue stone groove below, Xiao Yuan's heart trembled violently.

This is the real Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid!

The ones below are all diluted from this main body and flow out. Although the effect is not bad, it is obviously not enough compared to the original liquid.

After scooping most of the Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid into the jade bottle with a jade spoon, Xiao Yuan then reinstalled the cut-off jade piece. After another burst of bright light, the stalactite was restored to its original state.

This is an unwritten rule in the Medicine Realm: whenever you encounter rare and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, you must not destroy them. This Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid is extremely difficult to form. If you take it all away, this stalactite, which has been formed over ten thousand years, will probably gradually collapse. Therefore, it is better to leave some to nurture it.

With the Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid in hand, Xiao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and slowly descended as his wings flapped.

Then, Xiao Yuan unceremoniously took all of the diluted "Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid" into his possession.

Since the Snow Demon Sky Ape is already dead, I might as well take these for myself rather than let other magical beasts benefit from them!

Moreover, it would also earn them some favors, making a huge profit! Besides, whether it was feeding the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python or giving some to Xiao Yan to help him break through to the Dou Ling, it was a considerable expense, so they had to make a lot of money! After settling everything, Xiao Yuan headed back, but unexpectedly, he hadn't gone far when he encountered Lin Xiuya, who was also on his way back.

"Senior Lin Xiuya? What brings you back?"

Xiao Yuan asked with a smile.

"Everyone was worried about you, but they were also afraid that you would cause trouble if you came back. I've recovered a bit and am barely able to protect myself, so I came back to check on the situation. Are you alright?"

Lin Xiuya smiled gently upon hearing this and asked with concern.

"Hehe, don't worry, I'm not only fine, I've also gained something."

Xiao Yuan smiled and said mysteriously.

"I can see that. Although your aura has weakened a bit, your injuries seem to be much lighter than mine. I didn't expect the new students to be so strong these days!"

Lin Xiuya shook his head helplessly upon hearing this. The strength that Xiao Yuan had just displayed was putting a lot of pressure on him. Although they hadn't officially fought, he had already anticipated the outcome! Just that terrifying speed alone made him feel quite troubled, not to mention that terrifying power comparable to a Dou Wang- level magical beast.

This was the first time in all these years that he had seen someone whose strength was even greater than Yan Hao's, and moreover, this person's strength seemed to be only that of Da Dou Shi.

"By the way, we shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's make our way back and talk again after we regroup!"

Lin Xiuya suddenly realized that the Snow Demon Sky Ape might come after them again, and he became more serious. He pulled Xiao Yuan and flew towards the hiding place of the others.