Watching the fleeing Yinfeng Wolf, Su Mo paused, not expecting that the Yinfeng Wolf would suddenly run away.
This low-grade demonic beast, although extremely low in intelligence, was still quite resolute when facing life and death.
Of course, Su Mo would not let it escape, as demonic beasts possessed demonic cores inside their bodies, which were very valuable.
Qi bursting beneath his feet, Su Mo stepped down and quickly gave chase to the Yinfeng Wolf.
Fleeing all the way, the Yinfeng Wolf ran into a small valley in no time at all, drilling into a cave.
Su Mo halted his figure in front of the cave and looked at the pitch-black opening, not daring to enter rashly.
Hesitating for a moment, Su Mo still dashed inside.
This cave was obviously the lair of the Yinfeng Wolf, so apart from the Yinfeng Wolf, there should not be any other danger.
Sure enough.
After rushing into the cave, Su Mo saw the injured Yinfeng Wolf lying on the ground with nothing else around.
"Hmm?"
Right at this moment, Su Mo saw not far from the Yinfeng Wolf that a five-inch-tall plant was growing in a crevice of the rock. This plant had eight green leaves, and guarding the center of the eight green leaves was a pale red fruit. The fruit was only the size of a thumb, yet it emitted bursts of fruity fragrance.
"This is... the Purple Spirit Fruit?"
Su Mo immediately widened his eyes, and his heart grew excited.
The Purple Spirit Fruit was a low-grade Class 1 spiritual fruit. For martial artists below the Qi Refining Realm Fourth Layer, it could directly raise their cultivation by one layer.
However, looking at the luster of this fruit, it only looked about eighty percent ripe and had not fully matured.
Even so, if Su Mo swallowed this fruit, he could easily ascend to the Qi Refining Realm Second Layer.
No wonder this Yinfeng Wolf chose this cave as its lair; it was probably because of this Purple Spirit Fruit!
Roar!
The injured Yinfeng Wolf saw Su Mo rush into the cave, let out a loud roar, and took a bite toward the Purple Spirit Fruit.
"Not good..."
Su Mo was greatly alarmed. If the Yinfeng Wolf swallowed this Purple Spirit Fruit, it would be too late for him to even cry.
"Die!"
With an explosive shout, Su Mo suddenly stamped his foot, Qi bursting beneath his feet. Borrowing this momentum, Su Mo instantly glided up to the top of the Yinfeng Wolf's head.
"Nine Heavens Sea Wave Fist."
Circulating his Qi to the extreme, Su Mo fiercely smashed a fist onto the Yinfeng Wolf's head, and five layers of fist force erupted abruptly.
Bang!
Fresh blood splattered and brains sprayed about; the Yinfeng Wolf died instantly without a chance of survival.
Having slain the Yinfeng Wolf, Su Mo breathed a sigh of relief.
Walking to the side of the Yinfeng Wolf's corpse, Su Mo dug out a grayish-white crystal from its shattered skull—truly the demonic core of the Yinfeng Wolf.
The demonic core of a Class 1 First Tier demonic beast was worth at least ten taels of silver.
Subsequently, Su Mo walked over to the Purple Spirit Fruit and, without the slightest hesitation, plucked the Purple Spirit Fruit in one motion.
Although the Purple Spirit Fruit was not yet fully ripe now, Su Mo could not wait here forever; an eighty-percent-ripe Purple Spirit Fruit was already extremely rare.
Plucking the Purple Spirit Fruit, Su Mo sat cross-legged and swallowed it in a single gulp.
This cave was relatively secluded, so refining the fruit here would not entail any danger either.
Entering his mouth, the Purple Spirit Fruit immediately transformed into a majestic medicinal force that ravaged Su Mo's body.
Su Mo hurriedly restrained his breath and concentrated, guiding the medicinal power to flow through his meridians and ultimately transform into Qi, converging into his Dantian.
In a short while, Su Mo's Dantian swelled with a wave of bloating, and a powerful aura rose upward.
"Finally broke through... Qi Refining Realm Second Layer Later Stage!"
A flash of joy crossed Su Mo's eyes, and he nodded in satisfaction.
A single Purple Spirit Fruit not only allowed him to break through to the Qi Refining Realm Second Layer, but also advanced him to the later stage of the Qi Refining Realm Second Layer.
After his cultivation broke through, the Qi within Su Mo's body was more than twice as thick as before, and even more condensed.
He could feel even more clearly that his five senses and six perceptions were much sharper than before.
"Let me consolidate my cultivation first before going out."
Su Mo smiled slightly and cultivated once more.
Behind his back, the pitch-black whirlpool Martial Soul rose and slowly rotated.
Right at this moment, a sudden change occurred.
He saw that the blood and vital essence of the already dead Yinfeng Wolf converged entirely, being absorbed by the whirlpool Martial Soul.
Not only that, but an illusory beast soul slowly floated up from the Yinfeng Wolf's corpse and was devoured by the whirlpool Martial Soul.
After the blood essence of the Yinfeng Wolf was devoured, it transformed into a majestic surge of energy that poured into Su Mo's body.
This instantly caused Su Mo's aura to surge greatly, approaching the peak of the Qi Refining Realm Second Layer.
"What is this...?"
Su Mo's whole body shook, his face filled with shock.
The Martial Soul could devour blood essence?
The Martial Soul could devour beast souls?
A Martial Soul capable of devouring blood essence and beast souls was something Su Mo had never heard of nor seen before.
Just as Su Mo was marveling, another sudden change arose.
The whirlpool Martial Soul that had devoured the beast soul buzzed and trembled, and the next moment, yellow light bloomed.
The whirlpool Martial Soul, which originally possessed only a single yellow halo, abruptly burst forth with two yellow halos at this moment.
The whirlpool Martial Soul, bursting with two halos, increased its speed of absorbing spiritual Qi vastly—more than twice as fast as before.
"What?"
Steadfast though Su Mo's willpower was, at this moment, tumultuous waves were stirred up within his heart.
As everyone knew, Martial Soul grades were innate; once awakened, they could not be changed. In this world, this point was an unalterable truth.
A martial artist's cultivation talent also primarily depended on their Martial Soul grade.
Yet now, his Martial Soul had broken the truth of this world.
The Martial Soul grade had risen from Human Grade First Tier to Human Grade Second Tier.
If he devoured a sufficient number of beast souls, wouldn't he be able to raise the grade of his Martial Soul yet again, even elevating it to the Earth-grade or Heaven-grade?
A Heaven-grade Martial Soul—how terrifying would that be? Su Mo's heart instantly grew burning hot.
"Hahahahaha!"
After a long while, Su Mo calmed the excitement in his heart and burst out laughing.
"Could this be my benefit as a transmigrator?" Su Mo thought to himself.
Ever since awakening his Martial Soul, Su Mo had been quite depressed because of the issue regarding its grade.
He had not discovered any special abilities belonging to his Martial Soul either.
Yet now, this heaven-defying ability of the Martial Soul, once displayed, vastly exceeded his expectations.
It completely swept away the previous gloom in Su Mo's heart and filled him with high spirits.
"From now on, I'll call you the Devouring Martial Soul!" Su Mo smiled.
Immediately, Su Mo swiftly left the cave, eager to go out and hunt demonic beasts to devour beast souls.
Over the next two days, Su Mo went out to hunt demonic beasts frantically, slaying a full fifty-odd demonic beasts.
Among these fifty-odd demonic beasts, ten were Class 1 Second Tier demonic beasts, while the rest were entirely Class 1 First Tier demonic beasts.
Having devoured the vital blood and beast souls of all the demonic beasts, Su Mo not only broke through his cultivation to the Qi Refining Realm Third Layer, but his Martial Soul also advanced to Human Grade Third Tier.
Through a massive amount of actual combat, Su Mo's fist technique was also tremendously honed.
With the Nine Heavens Sea Wave Fist, a single fist strike could erupt with six layers of fist force, and his attack power greatly increased.
Inside the cave, Su Mo sat cross-legged, the pitch-black Devouring Martial Soul suspended in the void, flashing with three dazzling yellow halos.
The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi all around rolled inward, continuously merging into Su Mo's body.
After his Martial Soul advanced to Human Grade Third Tier, Su Mo's speed in absorbing spiritual Qi was ten times faster than when he had the Human Grade First Tier Martial Soul.
After a while, Su Mo opened his eyes.
"Now that my cultivation is completely stabilized at the Qi Refining Realm Third Layer, I can go hunt even stronger demonic beasts!"
Su Mo smiled faintly, his mood relaxed and happy.
After his cultivation and Martial Soul advanced, Su Mo had returned to this cave. After all, his cultivation had surged violently within two days, and he needed to properly consolidate his cultivation realm.
Dududu...
Right at this moment, a sound of footsteps came from outside the cave.
"Big Brother Wei Long, it's this cave. The Purple Spirit Fruit is right inside this cave, and I reckon it's about to mature now."
"Let's be careful. It seems there is a Yinfeng Wolf guarding the inside."
"Heh! A puny Yinfeng Wolf—I can slap it to death with a flip of my palm."
As the talking voices sounded, Su Mo saw two tall youths walk into the cave.
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