Fourth Layer of the Body Refining Technique

Monster beast materials could be traded at exchange markets or sold to the Lineage. Though the price was lower, it saved trouble—they could all be dealt with at once, then exchanged with the Lineage for Spirit Stones or other resources.

Su Yu kept the flesh, blood, and essence blood of that mid-stage First Order Earth Rock Rat for himself to consume while cultivating the Body Refining Technique.

He sold the hide, along with the early-stage First Order Earth Rock Rat and its essence blood, to the Lineage in exchange for six Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Time slowly passed.

After coming to the Medicine Garden, the cultivation resources in Su Yu's hands had increased severalfold.

He even had forty-one drops of mid-stage First Order Earth Rock Rat essence blood.

He could be called 'flush with wealth.'

With Spirit Stones and Spirit Rice aiding his daily cultivation, the Wutong Greenwood Art now reached its limit after less than three hours of cultivation each day.

As for cultivating the Body Refining Technique, he could now consume and refine two drops of Monster Beast Essence Blood a day. His cultivation speed had undergone a qualitative leap.

As the stars shifted and time turned.

A night passed.

The next day, Su Yu awoke from cultivation and focused on the lines of text on the Proficiency Panel before him.

Technique: Wutong Greenwood Art (second layer, proficiency 4.5%), Crocodile Demon's 108 Forms Body Refining Technique (third layer, proficiency 21.4%).

"One day raises the Wutong Greenwood Art's proficiency by 0.18%, while the Body Refining Technique rises by 0.82%." Su Yu pondered thoughtfully.

At this rate, the Wutong Greenwood Art would still need a year and a half to break through to the third layer.

The Body Refining Technique, meanwhile, would need just over two months to break through to the fourth layer.

Consuming two drops of mid-stage First Order Monster Beast Essence Blood a day to cultivate made the Body Refining Technique improve more than twice as fast as it had without resources.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Body Refining Technique to break through so quickly.

Afterward, Su Yu tried using Low-grade Spirit Stones to assist his cultivation of the Wutong Greenwood Art. As expected, his cultivation speed increased greatly, allowing him to gain 0.28% proficiency per day.

If he used Spirit Stones to cultivate over the long term, he would need only around a year to break through to the third layer of Qi Refining.

"If I had Qi Refining Pills to assist me, my cultivation speed could be even faster. But a bottle of ten Qi Refining Pills costs ten Low-grade Spirit Stones—one Low-grade Spirit Stone per pill."

"And for someone in the early-stage Qi Refining Realm, one Qi Refining Pill only lasts two or three hours. Compared with using Spirit Stones, cultivating with Spirit Stones is still more cost-effective."

What a pity.

Su Yu shook his head. Not only could he not afford to take pills now, he could only use one Spirit Stone at intervals to assist his cultivation.

Any more than that, and he could not bear the cost.

After calculating the cultivation resources in his possession, Su Yu followed his routine every day apart from tending to the Medicine Fields.

One night half a month later, Su Yu went out again and set five Beast Luring Powder traps. This time, he hunted three Earth Rock Rats, but all of them were only early-stage First Order Monster Beasts.

Aside from keeping the monster beast flesh to satisfy his cravings each day and saving some early-stage First Order Monster Beast Essence Blood, Su Yu sold all the remaining materials to the Lineage, earning another nine Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Time slowly passed.

Su Yu had been at the Medicine Garden for two months.

Over those two months, the Earth Rock Rat infestation in the Medicine Garden had grown increasingly severe. It had already endangered the Su Family's Medicine Garden, and many spirit herbs had been gnawed apart and ruined by Earth Rock Rats.

More than a dozen ordinary clansmen had even been buried beneath the claws and fangs of the Earth Rock Rats.

This enraged the Su Family's upper ranks.

They resolved to wipe out the Earth Rock Rat monster horde.

Not long afterward, Family Head Su Peng came to the Medicine Garden and announced a bounty mission. Anyone who killed an early-stage First Order Earth Rock Rat would receive an additional reward of five Low-grade Spirit Stones on top of the materials' value.

Killing a mid-stage First Order Earth Rock Rat would earn an additional twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones!

Killing a Late Rank 1 Earth Rock Rat would earn an additional one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones!

The Earth Rock Rat infestation in the Medicine Garden had reached the point where failing to clear it out would bring a catastrophe that blotted out the sky and covered the earth.

If they allowed the Earth Rock Rat horde to keep growing, then even without the influence of a first-grade Spirit Vein, the Su Family's spirit herb business would be finished.

Whether for the Medicine Garden or the first-grade Spirit Vein, the Earth Rock Rat monster horde had to be cleared out and destroyed.

Su Yu did not know how the Lineage's upper ranks viewed the possibility of a first-grade Spirit Vein appearing in the Medicine Garden, nor did he know whether they had made any preparations behind the scenes.

But after Family Head Su Peng announced the bounty mission, Su Yu was delighted.

Over the past month or so, he had only made two moves, yet he had hunted five early-stage First Order Earth Rock Rat Monster Beasts.

According to the Lineage's current bounty, even without selling the materials, he could earn a full twenty-five Low-grade Spirit Stones.

That was enough to scrape together the price of half a Low-grade Magical Artifact!

"From now on, I can hunt more often." Su Yu made up his mind. Even if the Lineage noticed how capable he was at hunting Earth Rock Rats, it did not matter.

This bounty from the Lineage was enough for him to take a risk and give it a try.

He looked over the savings he had accumulated: ten Low-grade Spirit Stones.

He took them all out and bought a full fifty portions of Beast Luring Powder ingredients.

When night came.

Just as Su Yu was about to grind several portions of Beast Luring Powder and head out to hunt, his senior brothers called for him, planning to lie in ambush in the Medicine Fields and hunt Earth Rock Rats together.

"Come with us, Junior Brother. After dinner, lots of people have gone to the Medicine Fields. Some are even planning to live there." His oldest senior brother, Su Minghuai, warmly invited him, while the other two senior brothers were equally eager.

The Lineage's bounty had made every cultivator in the Medicine Fields see red with greed. Su Yu was not the only one eyeing this piece of cake.

Listening to his senior brothers, Su Yu froze for a moment. He had nearly miscalculated.

If so many people went to ambush the Earth Rock Rats, then his chances of successfully luring and trapping them would not be high.

It was even very likely that the existence of Beast Luring Powder would be exposed.

Therefore, he could not hunt in the Medicine Fields for the time being.

"No, I'd better stay here and cultivate steadily. My strength isn't that great." After some thought, Su Yu decided to avoid this wave of excitement and wait for now. The Earth Rock Rat horde was not so easy to deal with.

Thus, he politely declined his three senior brothers' invitation.

Then he turned around and went back to continue cultivating.

For the next stretch of time, the Medicine Fields were lively every night. Countless cultivators lay hidden among the fields, waiting for Earth Rock Rats to appear. The instant one poked its head out, it might be set upon by several—or even more than a dozen—cultivators.

This continued for over a month. Nearly a hundred Earth Rock Rats from the horde had been hunted, and they rarely showed themselves anymore. Only then did the cultivators in the Medicine Garden settle down somewhat.

That night.

Inside the room.

Huff! Huff! Huff!

Su Yu's entire body radiated scorching heat. Every breath he exhaled was searing and crimson like blazing flames.

His blood and qi churned within him like great rivers, thunder rumbling through them with a deafening roar.

At a certain moment, the aura of blood and qi within Su Yu reached its limit.

Boom!

Roar!

In an instant, blazing blood light filled the room. Blood and qi enveloped Su Yu's entire body, transforming into an enormous crocodile above his head like a sea of blood. It coiled there with bared fangs and flailing claws, sheets of blood-colored scales manifesting across it, savage and terrifying.

It threw back its head and roared, shaking Su Yu's Divine Sea and Spirit Platform. Upon that Spirit Platform sat a hazy figure cross-legged, calmly watching the arrogant, tyrannical behemoth before it.

Blood-colored Markings like scales surfaced across Su Yu's body. In an instant, his body swelled noticeably larger.

He resembled a Humanoid Giant Crocodile, his aura violent and terrifying.

This time, Su Yu's body transformed for nearly half an hour before the Blood-colored Markings on his skin and the violent blood and qi around him slowly withdrew, returning his body to its original state.

When Su Yu opened his eyes and focused on the Proficiency Panel, the text upon it had changed.

Technique: Crocodile Demon's 108 Forms Body Refining Technique (fourth layer, proficiency 0.01%).

At the fourth layer of the Body Refining Technique, neither his physique nor his strength was inferior to that of a mid-stage First Order Monster Beast.