"Not bad at all!"
Xiao Long felt the increase in the Dou Qi within him. A single third-order magic core seemed to have saved him several days of all-out cultivation.
And that was with some of the magical beast's Dou Qi being useless to him, forcing him to expel it with the Horse Talisman.
"Sure enough, magical beasts are treasures from head to toe!"
Following the intelligence sent back by his shadow army, Xiao Long continued his frenzied hunt for third-order magical beasts.
Over the next three months, Xiao Long and his shadow army swept through the magical beasts within a thousand-mile radius.
Fortunately, the Magical Beast Mountain Range teemed with magical beasts. Otherwise, with the shadow army slaughtering them day and night without rest or complaint...
They would probably have been hunted to extinction long ago.
"You..."
Xiao Yi Xian watched the endless stream of magical beast corpses being brought back. With Xiao Long descending upon it, the Magical Beast Mountain Range would probably need a new name soon.
"Can't help it. I've discovered another reason I need to kill magical beasts."
After experimenting, Xiao Long confirmed that the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame could indeed devour magic cores to increase its power.
The improvement was small, but it was still an improvement. As for why the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame ranked so low, it was probably because becoming stronger...
Required it to devour stronger magical beasts, yet some powerful magical beasts had no fear of heavenly flames at all.
That left it stuck in a very awkward position.
If it could be fed powerful magic cores continuously, it might well grow strong enough to rank in the top ten.
Hearing that Xiao Long needed them, Xiao Yi Xian asked no further questions. Since he needed them, these magical beasts could be considered to have died for a worthy cause.
Although she had a magical beast companion, Xiao Lan, she was no member of some magical beast protection society who believed no magical beast should ever be killed.
Her heart was small, with room for only a precious few.
"About to break through to Dou Zhe?"
Just then, Xiao Long's keen perception picked up a change in Xiao Yi Xian.
Unless someone had reached a certain cultivation realm or possessed a powerful soul, it was difficult to sense another person's cultivation.
People therefore usually judged cultivation by distinguishing traits: a Dou Shi's Dou Qi Veil, a Da Dou Shi's Dou Qi Armor... and, most famously, wings formed from Dou Qi.
But the Sheep Talisman had granted Xiao Long extraordinarily keen senses. On top of that, more than a decade of prolonged out-of-body experiences had passively strengthened his soul.
Not to mention that he had lived two lives, so his innate gifts were naturally no weaker than Xiao Yan's.
Thus, he could still sense a little.
"Yes. I feel like I'm close to forming a Qi Vortex, though it might take a little longer."
Xiao Yi Xian nodded. So cultivation was this simple. To her, all she had to do was swallow poison, then cultivate according to the method in the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture.
Dou Qi would then arise naturally.
As easily as eating and drinking.
"Awesome!"
Xiao Long nodded repeatedly. Was this the Woeful Poison Body?
So terrifying. Truly so terrifying!
Still, that was indeed how it had been in the original story. Little Yanzi had Yao Lao guiding him, risked death time and again to devour heavenly flames, and went through all sorts of other trials.
Yet Xiao Yi Xian certainly had not started cultivating immediately after going to the Chu Yun Empire. She had only begun some time later.
But when they met again, Xiao Yi Xian was already a Dou Zong, while Xiao Yan was still a Dou Emperor.
That was the difference!
If not for the Woeful Poison Body eventually erupting, it truly would have been a gift no weaker than a divine-grade bloodline.
Besides, Xiao Yi Xian probably already had some Dou Qi within her before this. There simply was no testing stone tablet here.
And during the initial Dou Qi stage, without specialized guidance, the outward differences were actually quite small.
Otherwise, how could someone too weak to truss a chicken spend year after year climbing and trekking through the Magical Beast Mountain Range?
"Did you just call me an ox?"
Xiao Yi Xian frowned slightly. What was Xiao Long talking about?
Speechless, Xiao Long said, "I meant you're amazing. Becoming a Dou Zhe in three months-even a genius like me wasn't that fast back then."
Seriously, isn't this a little too far beyond the norm?
"Really?"
Xiao Yi Xian had little sense of what cultivation meant, but this should let her go to Jia Nan Academy with Xiao Long.
How wonderful!
Just then...
Xiao Long suddenly frowned slightly and looked in one direction, spotting a tiger-like magical beast charging toward them from afar at tremendous speed.
Its roar was filled with excitement.
The fierce tiger's fur resembled burning purple flames, and its two exposed fangs looked like enormous blades.
"A fourth-order magical beast? A Purple Flame Tiger."
Shadows immediately appeared all around Xiao Long, shielding Xiao Yi Xian. He had never expected the fourth-order magical beast he had failed to find for three months to appear so suddenly.
"F-fourth-order..."
At Xiao Long's words, the excitement on Xiao Yi Xian's little face instantly drained away, leaving her deathly pale. To humans, a fourth-order magical beast...
Was equivalent to a Dou Ling. A particularly powerful fourth-order magical beast could even destroy Qingshan Town outright.
"But I scattered plenty of beast-repelling powder all around here long ago..."
"Fourth-order magical beasts already possess some intelligence. That powder won't do much against it. It probably came because we've brought back too many magical beast corpses lately."
"The smell of blood is too strong."
Xiao Long licked his lips. This was the perfect chance to see how he now measured up against a Dou Ling. Over the past three months, he had constantly devoured magic cores to cultivate while also drawing in the free-floating Dou Qi between heaven and earth.
He was now a Six-Star Dou Shi. His advancement through the Dou Shi realm was much faster than it had been in the Dou Zhe realm.
That was what happened when a cultivation method had the resources to match.
The perfect chance to test the waters!
"Should we..."
"I'll deal with it. Keep yourself safe!" Before Xiao Yi Xian could finish, Xiao Long became a blur and charged toward the purple tiger beast.
"Roar!"
The Purple Flame Tiger had not expected this human to dare charge at it. It needed to kill this fellow quickly.
Then it could devour the corpses here and recover. Once its injuries healed, it would seek revenge against that damned Snake-People Tribe!
A blast of purple flame several dozen feet long spewed from its mouth.
But in an instant, a huge lizard-shaped flame beast appeared and swallowed its flames in one gulp.
The Purple Flame Tiger tried to spew fire again.
"Roar, roar, roar-roar at your granny!" Xiao Long was already in front of the Purple Flame Tiger and drove a fist toward it!
A faint purple shield of flame immediately appeared around the Purple Flame Tiger. It had combined a wisp of condensed beast flame with its Dou Qi, creating something extraordinarily hot!
But that fist ignored it completely and punched straight through its shield.
An overwhelming force slammed into its body with a thunderous crash!
Boom!
The Purple Flame Tiger flew backward several hundred meters, smashing through several trees before finally stopping. Xiao Long shook his head. "That's what you get for being a fire-attribute magical beast..."
But Xiao Long frowned slightly. The Purple Flame Tiger's strength felt wrong. Even if he had nothing to fear from its flames...
A fourth-order magical beast should not have been this weak.
Suddenly, Xiao Long looked toward a certain spot.
A series of sharp whistles sliced through the air.
Streaks of cold light came flying toward him at incredible speed, with Dou Qi mingled into them.
"An attack from the shadows?!"
Before you continue