Spirit Source Ore

The dozen or so Spirit Demon Gray Wolves had, at most, three at the late Qi Refining stage, while the rest were only at the middle or early Qi Refining stages.

Putting aside the fact that a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Liang Zhaohuang was present, Liang Zhaoyu, Liang Ruiqin, and the others were all at the late Qi Refining stage as well, above the seventh layer of Qi Refining. Dealing with these Spirit Demons was no problem at all.

If not for letting them get used to fighting Spirit Demons and learn more about their traits, Liang Zhaohuang could have killed all dozen-plus Qi Refining Spirit Demons with just a few spells.

Seeing that Liang Zhaoyu and the others had already killed the few late Qi Refining Spirit Demons and turned to help Liang Ruiqin and the rest surround and slaughter the remaining middle- and early-stage Qi Refining Spirit Demons, Liang Zhaohuang confirmed there was no danger, then shifted his gaze to the Spirit Source Ore on the ground.

After the Spirit Demons were killed, they left behind no flesh, blood, or Skeletons. They were not true demon beasts, after all. Instead, their bodies collapsed, leaving behind a piece of Spirit Source Ore, along with some dregs and ash scattered across the ground.

Liang Zhaohuang reached out, and his magical power rolled up a piece of Spirit Source Ore from the ground and brought it into his hand.

This piece of Spirit Source Ore had been left behind after a late Qi Refining Spirit Demon Gray Wolf was killed. It was an irregular sphere, just over ten inches in size. Whether looked at or touched, it was like a piece of chaotic, stubborn rock.

"So this is what Spirit Stones can be cut from?"

Liang Zhaohuang was somewhat amazed. He sent his Spiritual Sense into the "stubborn rock," wanting to examine what was inside, only to find that this "stubborn rock" was truly stubborn to the extreme—his Spiritual Sense could not penetrate it at all.

Unwilling to give up, he circulated the Five-Colored Buddha Light. The five-colored Halo behind his soul's head turned, and five-colored light immediately surfaced and flickered within the Spiritual Sense he had extended.

This time, there was indeed a change. Liang Zhaohuang's Spiritual Sense could vaguely see eight points within the "stubborn rock" shining with hazy spiritual light.

Those hazy gleams should be the Spirit Stones inside this piece of Spirit Source Ore. Though they were still indistinct, he could already roughly judge that this piece of Spirit Source Ore contained at least eight Spirit Stones.

Liang Zhaohuang's heart stirred slightly, and a thought faintly rose in his mind.

"Awooo!"

Just then, the last Spirit Demon Gray Wolf was killed, letting out a shrill wolf howl before it died.

"Awooo!" "Awooo!" "Awoo..."

The next instant, as if in response, wolf howls came from every direction, near and far, rising and falling one after another.

"Hmm?"

Liang Zhaohuang lifted his head and looked around. Dust flew up on all sides as a pack of more than a hundred Spirit Demon wolves surrounded and attacked. The Spirit Demon Wolf King leading them was twice the size of an ordinary Spirit Demon Gray Wolf, and the spiritual might around it had condensed into Sha Qi. It was actually a Spirit Demon with Foundation Establishment strength!

"Careful! It's a wolf pack!" Liang Zhaohuang's expression changed slightly as he called out, "Liang Ruizhao, form up and protect yourselves. Second Sister, hunt freely. I'll deal with the Wolf King first!"

Before Liang Zhaohuang's words had even fallen, he was already flying up on the Green Lotus, charging toward the leading Wolf King.

Still in the air, Liang Zhaohuang was the first to send out the Black Tiger Sword.

"Roar!"

With a tiger's roar, the Black Tiger Sword transformed into a black tiger and pounced down, Sword Qi erupting around it and rolling up a black storm as it charged straight at the Wolf King.

"Awooo!"

Spirit Demons were formed when the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty used the power of the Human Way to suppress and refine the violent spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the violent traits, useless dregs, and other remnants refined out of it gathered together with spiritual energy. Thus, they had no intelligence themselves and were instead extremely berserk.

At this moment, facing the pouncing black tiger, the Spirit Demon Wolf King showed no intention of retreating. It let out a long howl and charged up with an even more savage momentum.

The black tiger and the giant wolf collided directly in midair. A rumbling explosion burst out, and Sword Qi and Sha Qi scattered in all directions.

Crashing together, claws tearing, sharp teeth biting, the black tiger and Wolf King—two giant demons with Foundation Establishment strength—were now like two beasts in the mountains and forests, fighting and slaughtering each other in the most primitive, most savage way.

Liang Zhaohuang had also ridden the Green Lotus to the battlefield where the two giant beasts were locked in slaughter. With a turn of his hand, he took out a palm-sized "mountain peak" from his Storage Bag, red as fire.

This was precisely the heavy spiritual tool Liang Zhaohuang had chosen from the many gains taken from the Sun Family: the mid-grade spiritual tool Crimson Essence Peak, condensed and refined from several thousand jin of Crimson Flame Iron Essence.

The reason he had chosen a mid-grade spiritual tool was not because the spoils from the Sun Family lacked heavy high-grade spiritual tools. The Sun Family had occupied the position of a county magnate clan in Ludong County for several hundred years and had participated in the Spirit Cauldron Secret Realm's clan evaluations dozens of times. They had long since become experienced and well-prepared, with heavy spiritual tools of every grade available.

In truth, with Liang Zhaohuang's current strength, having just entered the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, even if he had a high-grade spiritual tool in hand, he would simply have no strength to refine or use it.

Even the mid-grade spiritual tool Crimson Essence Peak was something Liang Zhaohuang could only barely refine and use because his Spiritual Sense had already reached the level of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

And when he used it, the magical power it consumed was enormous, draining away as rapidly as flowing water.

On top of that, the Black Tiger Sword fighting in transformed form was also a great devourer of magical power.

Less than three months had passed since Liang Zhaohuang had established his foundation. Even among those at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, he had only just crossed the threshold, and the magical power accumulated in his dantian was quite limited.

Therefore, he had to end this quickly and kill the Spirit Demon Wolf King before his magical power was exhausted.

He raised his hand and sent out Crimson Essence Peak. The palm-sized peak grew with the wind, becoming one zhang in size in the blink of an eye, like a massive boulder. Red light flashed over it like blazing flames as it smashed directly toward the Spirit Demon Wolf King.

At its limit, the mid-grade spiritual tool Crimson Essence Peak could become nine zhang in size, like a small mountain. Liang Zhaohuang's magical power was insufficient, so driving it to one zhang was already his limit.

"Roar!"

The Tiger Soul of the black tiger transformed from the Black Tiger Sword had been converted by Liang Zhaohuang's Buddha Light, so it could naturally sense and understand his intent. The instant Crimson Essence Peak was sent out, the black tiger suddenly roared, erupted with strength, and the Sword Qi rolled up black wind in a sudden explosion, immediately knocking the Spirit Demon Wolf King's body flying.

"Awooo..."

The Spirit Demon Wolf King's body tumbled through the air. Sha Qi erupted from the spiritual might around it, and it was about to pounce again when it abruptly raised its head and saw a giant boulder burning with fierce flames smashing down at it.

The Wolf King no longer had the strength to dodge. It could only raise its head and howl, opening its mouth to spit out a gray pillar of light that struck the descending Crimson Essence Peak. But it only made the falling Crimson Essence Peak shift slightly off course. Crimson Essence Peak, which had originally been aimed at the Spirit Demon Wolf King's head, smashed directly onto the Wolf King's body.

It pinned the Spirit Demon Wolf King to the ground. Though it did not kill it outright, it heavily wounded it, leaving it able only to whimper and cry.

At that moment, the black tiger pounced forward, opened its tiger mouth, and bit off the Spirit Demon Wolf King's head in one bite.

This Foundation Establishment Spirit Demon was finally killed. Its body collapsed directly, turning into a large cloud of dust and dregs that drifted in all directions. In its place remained a piece of Spirit Source Ore, only about three inches in size, yet like unpolished jade, with surging spiritual light already faintly visible within.

"This is second-tier low-grade Spirit Source Ore!"

Liang Zhaohuang's face had already turned somewhat pale. The battle had lasted only three moves or so, yet it had consumed more than half of his already limited magical power. But when he saw the Spirit Source Ore on the ground, his eyes still lit up, and joy appeared on his face.