Refining the Demonic Ape, Both Advancing

In the valley, sharp purple Sword Qi gathered at the tip of the long sword. Qin Yu's gaze was resolute; without a moment's hesitation, he flicked his wrist and thrust the sword forward, piercing precisely into the wound on the Great Strength Demon Ape's chest and straight through its heart.

"ROAR--!"

The Great Strength Demon Ape let out a shrill, agonizing roar. Its massive body shuddered violently a few times, the luster in its copper-bell-sized eyes gradually fading. The earth-attribute spiritual energy surrounding it dissipated, and it crashed to the ground, completely lifeless.

Qin Yu slowly withdrew his sword. The blood on the blade vanished instantly under a gust of Nebula True Qi, restoring its original cold gleam. He panted slightly, his own Nebula True Qi in some disarray. For him, while this battle was a form of training, it had consumed a significant amount of his mental energy and True Qi.

Black Feather flapped its wings and dove down, landing beside the corpse of the Great Strength Demon Ape. It rubbed its head against the ape's body, eyes full of excitement, and transmitted through spiritual sense: "Big Brother, we won! This big ape's physical body is so strong; its essence blood must be very pure!"

Qin Yu nodded with a smile and walked forward, his gaze falling on the ape's corpse: "Indeed, being able to slay it counts as quite a harvest. Its fur is as tough as steel and can be refined into defensive magic treasures, its bones can be used to forge weapons, and its Golden Core is an even better treasure."

"Not bad. This Great Strength Demon Ape's Golden Core is that of a Golden Core Mid Stage beast, containing pure spiritual energy. For you right now, it is an excellent material for improving your cultivation." A gentle voice came from the valley entrance. Yun Ce stood with his hands behind his back and walked over slowly. His gaze swept over the corpse, his tone filled with approval: "I saw the entire battle just now. You both fought well, especially you, Yu'er. To be able to slay a Great Strength Demon Ape—which rivals a Golden Core Late Stage cultivator—while only at the Golden Core Early Stage, this strength far exceeds that of your peers."

"Master!" Qin Yu quickly bowed, a hint of joy on his face: "It is all thanks to Master's daily guidance and the profound nature of the Stellar Transformations technique; otherwise, my disciple and Xiao Hei would never have been a match for this Great Strength Demon Ape."

Black Feather also nudged up to Yun Ce, rubbing its head against his arm, and transmitted: "Master, can you give me the corpse of this Great Strength Demon Ape? There is a devouring method in my inherited memories that can consume its essence blood to improve my cultivation and physical strength!"

Yun Ce looked down at Black Feather and nodded with a smile: "You may. The essence blood of this Great Strength Demon Ape is rich and contains violent power, which is perfect for you to practice your devouring method. However, you must be careful: after devouring it, you must refine its essence thoroughly. Do not be overly eager for success, lest you be backlashed by the violent power within the blood."

"Thank you, Master!" Black Feather let out an excited cry, circling the corpse a few times with eyes full of anticipation.

Yun Ce turned to Qin Yu, his tone becoming solemn: "Yu'er, keep this Great Strength Demon Ape's Golden Core and refine it after we return. Its Golden Core contains pure earth-attribute spiritual energy, which will not only help you stabilize your realm but also nourish your physical body, helping you break through to the Nebula Mid Stage faster. More importantly, the earth-attribute spiritual energy is rich and can further solidify your stellar foundation, paving the way for you to reach higher realms in the future."

"This disciple understands!" Qin Yu nodded heavily. He stepped forward and carefully extracted a pitch-black Golden Core from the ape's dantian, which radiated dense earth-attribute spiritual energy. It was warm to the touch, and the spiritual energy rushed toward him; just being near it made the Nebula True Qi in his body stir slightly.

Afterward, Qin Yu collected the ape's fur and bones, while Black Feather used its own thunder-fire power to carefully strip away the ape's essence blood, condensing it into a dark red orb of light, which it stored in its own storage space—it dared not consume it rashly, fearing it would ignore Yun Ce's instructions.

Once everything was packed away, Yun Ce waved his hand, and a gentle Stellar True Essence enveloped Qin Yu and Black Feather. His tone was mild: "Let's go. We are returning to Thunder Mountain Residence. Each of you shall refine your gains and cultivate with focus, striving to break through your realms as soon as possible."

As his voice fell, Yun Ce channeled his spatial power—driven by the pure Stellar True Essence within his body—and with a slight movement, he vanished from the valley with Qin Yu and Black Feather at high speed. When they reappeared, they were already standing in the main hall of Thunder Mountain Residence.

"The two of you shall refine your gains in the training room. Remember, do not be distracted during the process. If you encounter any backlash, stop immediately and call for me," Yun Ce instructed.

"Yes, Master!" Qin Yu and Xiao Hei were secretly shocked. Master's strength is just too terrifying! That valley is over a thousand miles from Thunder Mountain Residence, yet he brought us both back so quickly!

Qin Yu and Black Feather responded in unison, then turned and walked into the training room, each finding a spot to sit cross-legged and prepare for refinement. Qin Yu took out the Great Strength Demon Ape's Golden Core, holding it in his hand and feeling the pure spiritual energy within; Black Feather took out the orb of essence blood, carefully releasing a sliver of spiritual sense to probe the power within.

Watching their focused expressions, a smile touched the corners of Yun Ce's mouth. He turned and headed to the second floor, toward the study left behind by Lei Wei. In the study of Thunder Mountain Residence were countless cultivation manuals collected by Lei Wei, including techniques from the Hidden Dragon Continent, Earth, and even other universes. He had been too busy protecting Qin Yu and Black Feather to look through them carefully before. Now that he had some rare leisure time, it was the perfect opportunity to study them; perhaps he could gain more insight into the path of cultivation and find more auxiliary methods for Qin Yu's future training, especially body-refining techniques that aligned with the core of the "Stellar Foundation Building" in Stellar Transformations.

In the second-floor study, bookshelves stood tall, filled with a dazzling array of books. Yun Ce walked to a shelf, his gaze sweeping over them, and casually picked up a manual titled Heavenly Dipper Body Refining Art. He opened it to read. This manual was a local technique from the Hidden Dragon Continent collected by Lei Wei. Although it was not as heaven-defying as Stellar Transformations or the Hongmeng Stellar Art, it had its own unique merits, specifically for tempering the physical body. It would be perfect for Qin Yu to use as a reference to assist in his practice of the Three Heaven-Reaching Charts, further solidifying his stellar body-refining foundation.

As Yun Ce flipped through the manual, he contemplated in his heart while silently deducing the cultivation methods of the Hongmeng Stellar Art. He attempted to further master spatial power, polish the pure Stellar True Essence within his body, and drive the evolution of the Mustard Seed World (the embryonic form of an internal universe) within his dantian. He knew that although he was already at the Void-Piercing Realm Early Stage, he could not slack off. This world was home to millions of cultivators and countless experts. Only by continuously improving his strength, polishing his stellar foundation, and driving the evolution of his internal universe could he keep Qin Yu safe and allow the two of them to shine brightly in this world.

Inside the training room, Qin Yu and Black Feather had already entered a state of deep refinement.

Qin Yu held the Great Strength Demon Ape's Golden Core in his palm, sinking his consciousness into his body to guide the nebula vortex to rotate slowly. At the same time, he channeled the Stellar Transformations technique, guiding the earth-attribute spiritual energy from the Golden Core into his own Nebula True Qi. The earth-attribute spiritual energy was rich and violent; Qin Yu dared not rush, so he used his Stellar True Fire to refine it bit by bit, converting it into his own Nebula True Qi while using this energy to nourish his body, tempering his muscles and bones to further stabilize his stellar foundation.

Under the nourishment of the earth-attribute spiritual energy, the nebula vortex in his dantian rotated more smoothly, and the purple Nebula True Qi became increasingly condensed. His aura, originally only at the Nebula Early Stage, began to climb steadily under the constant infusion and refinement of the spiritual energy, moving toward the Nebula Mid Stage.

Beside him, Black Feather followed the devouring method from its inherited memories, carefully drawing the orb of essence blood into its body and guiding the power within to slowly merge with its meridians and physical body. The Great Strength Demon Ape's essence blood contained violent power. As it devoured, Black Feather used its own thunder-fire power to refine the violent aura within the blood, converting it into its own strength while nourishing its eagle body, improving its cultivation and physical strength, and making its thunder-fire and wind-attribute spiritual energy increasingly condensed.

Time passed slowly. Thunder Mountain Residence was silent, save for the faint sound of Yun Ce turning pages in the study and the fluctuations of energy from Qin Yu and Black Feather in the training room.

Without realizing it, three days and three nights had passed.

In the training room, Qin Yu suddenly opened his eyes, a brilliant purple light flashing through them before fading away. He slowly raised his hand, and a strand of Nebula True Qi, far purer and thicker than before, swirled around his fingertips. The nebula vortex in his dantian had also become more solid, and its range had expanded significantly—he had successfully broken through to the Nebula Mid Stage, corresponding to the Golden Core Mid Stage of ordinary cultivators! More importantly, the refinement of the earth-attribute spiritual energy had made his stellar foundation even more solid, and his physical strength had increased accordingly.

"Finally broke through!" Qin Yu felt joyful in his heart. Feeling the surging power within his body, a satisfied smile appeared on his lips. After breaking through to the Nebula Mid Stage, his strength had increased greatly, and his physical body had become even more formidable. Even if he faced a Golden Core Late Stage beast from the Great Wilderness, he could handle it calmly and have the strength to fight.

At the same time Qin Yu broke through, Black Feather also suddenly opened its eagle eyes, a light of intertwined crimson and gold flashing through them. The thunder-fire power and wind-attribute spiritual energy around its body became even denser and more condensed. It spread its massive wings and flapped them, a powerful aura surging out. It had firmly reached the Golden Core Mid Stage, its physical strength had improved significantly, and the power of its thunder-fire divine ability had also increased greatly.

"I broke through too! Big Brother, I've reached the Golden Core Mid Stage!" Black Feather's voice came through its spiritual sense, full of excitement.

Qin Yu nodded with a smile, his eyes full of joy: "That's great, Xiao Hei! We both broke through; our strength has increased by a huge margin!"

The two looked at each other and smiled, their hearts filled with joy. This training session had not only yielded a large amount of materials but had also allowed them to break through their realms and solidify their foundations through actual combat and refinement. It could be called a harvest of great abundance.

Up in the second-floor study, Yun Ce heard the fluctuations of energy from the training room and a knowing smile appeared on his lips as he slowly closed the manual in his hand. He could clearly feel that the auras of both Qin Yu and Black Feather had successfully broken through to the Golden Core Mid Stage, and their stellar foundations were becoming increasingly solid. He felt genuinely happy for them.

And his own cultivation had also broken through to the Void-Piercing Realm Mid Stage, following Qin Yu's breakthrough to the Nebula Mid Stage!

Yun Ce felt excited. The System is truly powerful; it's just so unreasonable!

"Not bad. As expected of my disciple and Black Feather, you are progressing very quickly," Yun Ce whispered. He looked toward the depths of the Great Wilderness outside the window, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes: "Now that you have both broken through to the Golden Core Mid Stage and your strength has increased greatly, and my stellar foundation is solid enough, in a little while, we shall set off for the undersea beast world and go see that world where thousands of demons gather!" Yun Ce muttered to himself.