Earth Core Life Pulse Marrow

"Whew..."

Xiao Ling took a deep breath. He stared at the pool of milky-white liquid before him, forced down his excitement, and casually tossed the little Purple Sable King aside.

"Not bad. You did well. I always keep my word. From now on, you're free."

The milky-white liquid filling the pool was called—

"Earth Core Life Pulse Marrow."

The name was hardly pleasant, but it had a close cousin called Earth Core Body Tempering Milk.

Anyone below the Dou Wang level who consumed that milk could cleanse their body and raise their cultivation by one or two stars. It even had some effect on those above the Dou Wang level.

Xiao Ling had seen Earth Core Life Pulse Marrow in the materials section of his cheat before. Consuming it could not only extend one's life but also improve one's cultivation talent. If a beast consumed it, the beast might even gain intelligence early. It could truly change a life's fate.

But a single drop cost an entire year of lifespan. Back when he had been flat broke, how could he have afforded such a treasure?

And now he had a whole pool of it before him. By his rough estimate, there had to be hundreds of drops.

The little creature's lifespan was only at the Da Dou Shi level. That was nowhere near enough to make him break his promise.

"System, come out and estimate how many years of lifespan this pool can give me."

[Ding. Scanning...]

[Scan complete. Detected 859 drops of Earth Core Life Pulse Marrow. They can increase the host's lifespan by a total of 1,718 years. Absorb them all?]

"No."

Xiao Ling forced himself to sound calm.

He then took out over a hundred Jade Bottles and carefully collected the liquid using a special technique. Each bottle he filled lifted his spirits a little more... until eighty-five full Jade Bottles lined the entire edge of the pool.

Looking at the nearly hundred Jade Bottles before him, Xiao Ling was in high spirits. With a wave of his hand, he stored them all away.

He then looked at the nine drops of Earth Core Life Pulse Marrow left in the pool. Taking out another Jade Bottle, he collected eight of them, then pointed at the last drop and smiled at the Purple Sable King beside him.

"This one's yours. Consider it a reward for leading me here."

Understanding him, the Purple Sable King blinked her tiny eyes twice and raised her little paws to bow repeatedly.

"Chirp, chirp..."

Xiao Ling waved a hand. The Purple Sable King eagerly scooped up the drop of Earth Core Life Pulse Marrow in her little paws and put it in her mouth. She gave a satisfied burp, her tiny eyes narrowing in bliss.

Seeing no obvious change in her, Xiao Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't be blamed for being cautious. Ever since his encounter with Wu Ming, he had been much more careful.

After looking around and finding no other valuable treasures, Xiao Ling prepared to leave, thoroughly satisfied.

Just then, the clear sound of a falling drop came from behind him.

"Chirp, chirp..."

Xiao Ling, who had been about to leave, looked down at the Purple Sable King tugging at his clothes. Excitement filled her little face as she kept pointing behind him with one paw and pulling him back.

"Chirp, chirp..."

Baffled, he followed her gesture with his gaze. Then he froze and looked upward.

A massive stalactite, over a thousand meters long and nearly a hundred meters across, hung from the rock ceiling above, connected to the earth's veins.

"Is... is that the real Earth Core Life Pulse Marrow?"

"Then... what was that just now?"

Xiao Ling drew a sharp breath and narrowed his dark eyes as understanding flashed through them. He remembered now. This seemed to work on the same principle as Earth Core Body Tempering Milk. Did that mean he had to fly up and retrieve it?

But if it really was like Earth Core Body Tempering Milk, he couldn't simply take it. Doing so could trigger a chain reaction.

Thoughts raced through Xiao Ling's mind before he gave a helpless laugh. How could he have nearly forgotten his cheat? He silently called out.

"System, scan this entire underground world carefully. Don't miss a single treasure, and mark each one's location for me."

[Ding. This scan exceeds the complimentary range. Please pay one year and eight months of lifespan. Confirm?]

Xiao Ling: "???"

Was it really going to fleece him like that?

There were paid and free scans?

"Fine. You win."

Xiao Ling gritted his teeth and accepted the outrageous terms.

A map appeared in his mind, centered on him and covering nearly a hundred miles in every direction.

Yet aside from one small red dot above his position, the only marks on the map were a cluster of small red dots in the pool.

"Whew..."

Xiao Ling clutched his chest. Spending that lifespan hurt.

Even though he now had over a thousand years of lifespan, breaking through to a new cultivation level cost lifespan too. His breakthrough to Da Dou Shi alone would, by his estimate, require at least fifty or sixty years.

At the thought, Xiao Ling suppressed his heartache. After hesitating for just two seconds, he spoke again.

"System, trade for a Dou Huang Pill."

[Ding. The sixth-grade special pill, Dou Huang Pill, costs ten years of lifespan. Host's remaining lifespan: four months.]

Xiao Ling paid little attention to the mechanical voice in his mind. He looked at the Jade Bottle in his hand. Inside was a red-and-black pill, with what looked like a cloud hovering over it.

This time, Xiao Ling did not hesitate. He poured out the pill, gently scraped off a layer of powder, and swallowed it. An aura equal to that of a Dou Wang erupted from him at once.

A layer of earth was violently stripped from the surrounding ground. He hurriedly reined in his aura, sparing the Purple Sable King from being crushed into a pancake.

The little creature stared at him in terror. He paid her no mind. With a thought, a pair of illusory Dou Qi wings appeared behind him.

He shot upward and, in the blink of an eye, reached the point where the stalactite joined the earth's veins.

Following the location the system had marked in his mind, he took a pure Jade Ruler over a meter long from his Storage Ring.

Near the earth's veins, he carefully began cutting a small hole.

When he removed the section of stalactite wall, he found a fist-sized mass of milky-white jelly suspended inside. It pulsed faintly, like the heart of the earth.

"Is... is this the real Earth Core Life Pulse Marrow?"

Xiao Ling murmured.

Following the method his cheat had provided, he carefully cut away half of it and placed it in a special jade box he had prepared. Only then did he press the section of stalactite wall back into place.

He gazed at the jade box in his hand and could not help smiling. His laughter grew louder and louder until it echoed throughout the entire underground world.

"Hahaha..."