Raiding the Nest, Reaping a Bountiful Harvest

Above the distant dense forest, the battle between the two Sixth-Rank Magical Beasts gradually reached a fever pitch.

The Amethyst Winged Lion King furiously beat his wings. Each sweep of his purple wings stirred up a scorching wave of air mixed with countless tiny violet sparks, pouring down upon the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King like a torrential rain.

His enormous body twisted and darted nimbly through the air. His majestic size did nothing to hinder his agility as he continuously launched ferocious assaults at the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King.

Purple arcs of electricity leaped around the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King, forming an impenetrable shield of violet lightning.

The violet sparks landed upon the shield with hissing sounds before turning into wisps of green smoke and dissipating.

At the same time, he refused to be outdone. Raising his head, he spat a thick pillar of lightning from his mouth, blasting fiercely toward the Amethyst Winged Lion King.

The two utterly different energies collided in midair. As an explosion rang throughout the mountain range, the resulting shockwave rippled outward. Within several hundred zhang, all the dense trees were destroyed, deep ravines were plowed into the ground, and shattered rocks and wood chips filled the sky, blotting out the sun.

The two Sixth-Rank Magical Beasts vanished once more, then flickered continuously through the air like afterimages, every flash accompanied by a deafening explosion.

At that moment, the entire sky seemed to have become the battlefield of the two Sixth-Rank Magical Beasts.

While the two Magical Beasts fought so fiercely that they had no attention to spare for anything else, a blue figure silently skimmed along the ground. Every leap left behind a faint afterimage as he gradually moved away from this dangerous place.

And his target was naturally the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King's nest!

The Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King had chased Xiao Ce into such a miserable state. Now it was time to collect some interest.

The Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King's nest was located atop a mountain peak in the eastern part of the Magic Beast Mountain Range. The trees here were sparse, exposed rocks could be seen everywhere, and the lightning element in the air was exceptionally dense.

After arriving at the foot of the mountain, Xiao Ce immediately spotted the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King's lair—a grand and imposing cave.

Two Third-Rank Magical Beasts stood guard outside the cave entrance.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Ce flashed forward and shot out.

The two Third-Rank Magical Beasts guarding the cave had been dozing off. They had only just sensed something and groggily opened their eyes when a figure abruptly appeared before them, raising a hand to press down on their heads.

An irresistible force, carrying surging Dou Qi, poured from Xiao Ce's palms like a great mountain crashing down upon the heads of the two Magical Beasts.

Boom—

In an instant, the bodies of the two Third-Rank Magical Beasts guarding the cave sank violently downward, sending dust billowing into the air.

There was not much commotion, but the heads of the two Third-Rank Magical Beasts instantly caved in. They let out dull, brief groans before going limp and losing all signs of life.

Xiao Ce reached into the bodies of the two Magical Beasts and pulled out two Third-Rank Magic Cores, unable to stop himself from grinning.

"Not bad luck!"

Not every Magical Beast possessed a Magic Core, especially First- and Second-Rank Magical Beasts, which had an extremely low chance of producing one. Only after reaching the Fourth Rank did the chances of a Magic Core forming within a Magical Beast gradually increase.

Xiao Ce had managed to dig out two Third-Rank Magic Cores from two Third-Rank Magical Beasts, so his luck was already quite good.

After extracting the Magic Cores, Xiao Ce casually shook his hand, splattering blood all over the ground.

Having finished that, Xiao Ce swaggered into the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King's lair as though he were returning to his own home.

This cave was far larger than Xiao Ce had imagined. The interior was incredibly spacious, with blue and purple crystals embedded throughout the walls. Xiao Ce could even sense faint lightning-element energy within those crystals.

No wonder the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King had chosen this place for his lair.

For lightning-attributed cultivators or Magical Beasts, this was indeed a treasured place for cultivation.

He just wondered what treasures the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King had stored away.

Expectation filled Xiao Ce's eyes as he ventured deeper into the lair, soon arriving at a massive cavern hall.

The hall stood more than ten zhang tall and covered several hundred zhang in area. Many natural crystals were embedded within it, making the place exceptionally bright.

What caught Xiao Ce's eye most was undoubtedly a small medicinal field on the right side of the cavern hall. Only seven medicinal herbs grew there. Though there were few of them, all seven radiated dense energy, clearly making them far from ordinary.

"Good treasures. I'll have Xian'er identify them later."

Xiao Ce had not studied medicinal herbs deeply, so he could not name a single one of the seven herbs.

Of course, that did not stop him from digging them up.

He strode forward and quickly uprooted all seven herbs, taking away even the soil in which they had grown.

After stowing away the seven medicinal herbs, he continued sweeping his gaze across the cavern hall.

A dignified Sixth-Rank Magical Beast could not possibly have only this much wealth, could he?

Xiao Ce looked around and soon fixed his gaze upon a huge iron chest beside the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King's bed.

Upon opening the chest, he found it filled with materials taken from Magical Beasts.

There were claws and fangs, horns, scales, and most conspicuously, Magic Cores of every color.

"Just as I thought, there's more good stuff!"

Xiao Ce casually examined them and immediately understood what he had found.

There were thirteen Magic Cores in the iron chest: seven Third-Rank Magic Cores, four Fourth-Rank Magic Cores, and two Fifth-Rank Magic Cores.

Xiao Ce guessed that the Magical Beast materials and Magic Cores within the chest had come from opponents the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King had killed over the years and kept as trophies. Now, they had fallen into Xiao Ce's hands.

After his battle with the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King, Xiao Ce had also realized the importance of medicinal pills.

There was a reason alchemists had become the most respected profession on the Douqi Continent.

When the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King had pursued him earlier, if he had possessed enough medicinal pills to restore his Dou Qi, or pills capable of briefly boosting his strength, he would not have ended up in such a miserable state.

It could be said that if he had not cultivated the Xuantian Yin-Yang Dao, giving him over ten times the Dou Qi reserves of cultivators at the same level, he would probably have already suffered a disastrous defeat at the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King's hands.

Besides the Magic Cores, there was another item in the iron chest that stirred Xiao Ce's interest.

It was a beast bone. He did not know what kind of Magical Beast it had come from, but it faintly emitted an invisible pressure that made even him feel somewhat uncomfortable. It was clearly the bone of a high-ranking Magical Beast.

Xiao Ce was rather curious about where the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King had obtained this beast bone.

After storing the entire iron chest in his Storage Ring, Xiao Ce conducted a thorough search of the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King's lair. He did not even leave behind the natural crystals embedded in the cave walls.

Once he had finished, he gave the hall one final glance, a hint of mockery flashing through his eyes.

If the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King returned and saw this, he would probably be furious to death!

Though Xiao Ce still did not feel fully satisfied, he sensed the Dou Qi in his body and found that less than thirty percent remained.

He could not stay here any longer.

Otherwise, if something unexpected happened, he might truly suffer a disastrous defeat.

With that thought, Xiao Ce took a deep breath, flashed forward, and vanished from the Purple Lightning Thunder Wolf King's lair.

It was time for him to return to the small valley.