Mysterious Jade Pendant

As the second most prominent force on the Central Continent, the Pill Tower boasted a wealth of experts, including several super-strong Dou Saints.

The space they had newly carved out, though not comparable to the Ling Clan's Ling Domain, was still immeasurably vast.

By the Pill Tower's deliberate design, all who entered this space for the trial were randomly teleported to different locations.

Fortunately, each participant held a map, and except for Ling Xi, everyone also had a scroll that could teleport them out at will.

"According to Senior Xuan Kongzi, the highest-tier magical beasts here are only Seventh-tier... roughly equivalent to human Dou Zong."

Ling Xi, just teleported in, shook off a brief daze and quickly regained clarity.

"I've heard this space isn't entirely stable, and Dou Venerate experts can't easily enter."

His eyes flickered with thought.

His Heavenly Demon Puppet possessed the combat power of a Dou Venerate, but it relied on its indestructible body and space-shattering strength, not Dou Qi.

With the puppet by his side, he figured he'd face no real danger in this space.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for signing in successfully, obtaining the Five-star Reward: Myriad Beast Spirit Fire!]

The system prompt in his ears made Ling Xi pause, then a grin spread across his face.

"Heavenly Flame? It's actually a Heavenly Flame?"

"The Myriad Beast Spirit Fire ranks twenty-second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking—low, but it's a genuine Heavenly Flame!"

Ling Xi clapped his hands together.

"They say this flame was condensed over ten thousand years from the souls and bloodlines of myriad beasts, taking on a fiery form. It's different from the other Heavenly Flames born from heaven and earth."

"Though its power is at the bottom of the ranking, it has an innate suppression over magical beasts."

All twenty-three Heavenly Flames on the ranking were divine treasures of the world, each with unique abilities.

"Back then, Xiao Yan refined the Green Lotus Core Flame with Old Yao's help, using the Blood Lotus Pill, Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and Naling."

Ling Xi's eyes flickered as he stood there, lost in thought.

"My current Dou Qi level is about the same as Xiao Yan's when he refined the Green Lotus Core Flame. If I want to refine the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire, I need to be fully prepared."

Heavenly Flames weren't like other things—refining one was like dancing on a blade's edge.

He only had one life, so he couldn't afford to be careless.

"I already have Naling from the teacher, and I got the Ice Spirit Cold Spring from that stall owner I robbed at the Alchemist Trading Fair the other day."

Ice Spirit Cold Spring wasn't all that rare; some alchemists even prepared it when refining high-tier Beast Flames.

"But the Blood Lotus Pill is the real problem."

Ling Xi scratched his head. He hadn't refined a fifth-tier pill yet, but his Soul Power was strong enough to support it. His Dou Qi, however, seemed insufficient.

And he didn't have a single one of the three main ingredients for the Blood Lotus Pill: Blood Lotus Essence, Ice Spirit Flame Grass, and a Fourth-Order Ice Attribute Magic Core.

The Fourth-Order Ice Attribute Magic Core was manageable, but the other two would depend on luck.

"I won't claim the reward for now."

Ling Xi let out a helpless sigh.

"Let's see if I can find the materials I need in this space the Pill Tower opened."

At the end of the day, Ling Xi was just too weak. If he had strength above a Dou King, he wouldn't need to prepare any pills at all.

"Right, the strongest magical beast here is only Seventh-tier. I can have it search for the materials I need!"

A spark lit up in Ling Xi's eyes.

A Seventh-tier magical beast, equivalent to a human Dou Zong, had already awakened its intelligence.

With a Dou Venerate-level Heavenly Demon Puppet by his side, he wasn't afraid of failing to subdue a single Seventh-tier beast.

He pulled a map from his Nakai Ring, checked his bearings, and then dashed toward the center of the map using the Flowing Fire Afterimage Steps.

At the map's center was a large red cross.

The space was enormous, and Ling Xi had been unlucky enough to be teleported to the edge.

Without Dou Qi wings or a flight Dou Technique, relying only on a Mysterious Tier Mid-grade Movement Dou Technique, his travel speed was painfully slow.

To make things worse, the Star Splitting Spear, taller than him, hung on his back—heavy as hell.

Crossing a single mountain peak or valley often took him several hours.

By dusk, Ling Xi finally stopped at a cave entrance.

"I should've asked the teacher for a flight Dou Technique."

Panting hard, exhaustion showed on his face.

Flight Dou Techniques were rare, but for Ling You, who came from an Ancient Race, they weren't anything special.

He gutted and cleaned a rabbit he'd hunted on the way, then waved his hand.

A flash of gold-red flame instantly ignited the dead wood inside the cave.

The cave looked fairly clean and had no trace of a magical beast's presence.

Ling Xi placed the cleaned rabbit meat beside the flames, then took the chance to walk to the cave entrance.

He covered the cave mouth with vines from the cliff face, then retrieved a bottle of gray powder from his Nakai Ring and sprinkled it around the entrance.

"This powder is refined from high-tier magical beast droppings. It can drive off any clueless low-tier beasts."

After arranging everything, Ling Xi sat back down by the campfire.

After all, he was here to train. He wanted to handle whatever problems he could on his own.

If he relied on the Heavenly Demon Puppet by his side for everything, then what the hell was he even here to train for?

"At this rate, it'll take at least half a month just to reach where that Seventh-tier Magical Beast is."

After eating his fill and studying the map for a while, Ling Xi shook his head with a helpless sigh.

"Forget it. One step at a time."

Rubbing his slightly sore calves, Ling Xi sat cross-legged and entered a cultivation state.

The world's natural energy here couldn't compare to the Ling Domain, but it was still much denser than the outside world.

Under the refinement of the Myriad Spirits Returning to Origin Art and the Devouring Ancestral Symbol, the surrounding natural energy and Spiritual Qi continuously poured into the Qi Vortex in Ling Xi's Dantian and the sea of consciousness on his Spirit Platform.

Cultivation time always passed quickly. Before he knew it, the bright moonlight seeped through the gaps in the vines at the cave entrance and fell upon Ling Xi.

Along with the moonlight came the roars of unknown magical beasts drifting into the cave.

At first, the roars were faint. But at some point, a roar that nearly shook the entire forest suddenly rang out from afar.

Ling Xi's eyes snapped open, a sharp glint flashing through them.

"That should be a roar from a fourth-tier or higher magical beast. Doesn't sound too far away either?"

After a moment's hesitation, Ling Xi stood up and dashed toward the direction of the roar.