Fu Shaoping spread out the terrain map of Seven-Mile Mountain in the carriage and explained his plan to Zhou Pan'er. She was a little nervous, but still nodded her agreement.
After heading up the mountain.
The two followed their plan.
They immediately unleashed Ethereal Steps.
One ahead, the other behind.
Fu Shaoping reached the top of the steep slope from last time first. Pushing off with his toes, he leaped into the air and landed steadily in the crown of a clearwood tree.
Having entered the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm.
His body had become much lighter and more agile.
Concealed among the branches and leaves.
Fu Shaoping unfastened the Millennium Bow from his back and took a deep breath. He immediately drew it to its full extent, an arrow nocked on the string, his eyes fixed intently ahead.
"Roar!"
The familiar, furious roar of a Granary Bear rang out.
Thud, thud, thud.
The ground trembled.
Then Zhou Pan'er appeared, darting through the woods like a woodland sprite. Behind her, the Granary Bear pursued relentlessly, bulldozing straight through more than a dozen clearwood trees nearly two hundred feet tall and snapping them at the waist.
The distance kept shrinking.
A hundred paces.
Ninety paces.
Sixty paces.
Until it reached thirty paces.
Even the clearwood tree Fu Shaoping stood in began to tremble from the impact, but he remained immovable as a mountain.
At twenty paces.
Zhou Pan'er stopped directly beneath Fu Shaoping's tree.
The enraged Granary Bear had lost all patience. Its hind legs thrust fiercely against the ground, its upper body rose high, and it pounced like a tiger!
Now!
Fu Shaoping held his breath.
He aimed the Millennium Bow at the Granary Bear, which had exposed its soft belly.
Twang!
The arrow shot from the fully drawn bow.
Before thunder could give anyone time to cover their ears, it pierced clean through the neck of the airborne Granary Bear!
"Roar!"
The Granary Bear let out a shrill, agonized cry.
Its body, weighing several hundred pounds, crashed heavily to the ground!
Fu Shaoping drew his Martial Suppression Saber in the tree and plunged down like a fierce tiger. With a ripping swish, the blade sliced through the fallen Granary Bear's neck, sending its large head rolling across the ground.
Hiss, hiss, hiss.
Blood sprayed out in torrents!
Already prepared, Zhou Pan'er hurriedly pulled out the large iron basin hidden beneath the tree and caught the Granary Bear's blood. Once they judged they had nearly enough, the two joined forces and shoved its carcass straight down the steep slope.
"Roar, roar, roar!!"
The smell of blood spread.
The Granary Bears in the woods caught the scent and swarmed toward them.
Fu Shaoping and Zhou Pan'er hurriedly unleashed Ethereal Steps. Using the downhill momentum, they reached the foot of the mountain in just a few breaths and heaped the Granary Bear's carcass onto the carriage.
"Hyah!"
Fu Shaoping lashed the horse with his whip.
The carriage rattled away from Seven-Mile Mountain at a gallop, but the furious roars behind them lingered for a long time. Though his first hunt had succeeded, Fu Shaoping still felt shaken.
"Looks like I'd better avoid provoking demonic beasts with such a strong sense of kinship next time!"
The carriage traveled far from Seven-Mile Mountain.
After making sure the Granary Bears behind them would not catch up.
Only then did he stop the carriage in a secluded patch of woods. He lifted the curtain, but the sight inside left him stunned.
Inside the carriage.
Zhou Pan'er had buried her head against the Granary Bear's severed neck, gulping down its blood with powerful sucking motions. It was as though she was the ferocious beast from the mountain. Utterly unlike her usual gentle, considerate self, she exuded a strikingly different, bewitching allure.
Zhou Pan'er caught sight of Fu Shaoping entering from the corner of her eye.
But she showed no intention of stopping.
Instead, she quickly beckoned him over.
"Shaoping, hurry and drink! A demonic beast's blood essence is most effective when absorbed right away!"
Her words were muffled.
But Fu Shaoping heard them clearly.
"Sister Pan'er, I'm coming!"
Feeling as though Zhou Pan'er had awakened a savage beast inside him, he let out a howl and buried his head against the Granary Bear's neck too, swallowing its blood essence in great mouthfuls.
After the blood reached his stomach.
A violent force instantly exploded inside his body.
At first, he could just barely endure it.
But after a few more mouthfuls.
He felt as though his meridians were about to be torn apart by that savage force.
He hurriedly circulated the Mysterious Tortoise Qi-Nourishing Art, refining the demonic beast's blood essence and sending it beneath his skin, tempering his skin inch by inch with the refined primal energy.
The Treasure Mirror, which had been quiet for a long time in his sea of consciousness, trembled slightly.
Body Tempering Realm: Fourth level (20/100)
The value climbed rapidly.
It had risen straight from its original 5 to 20!
And that was the result of refining only half of the Granary Bear's blood essence.
Opposite him, Zhou Pan'er had stopped drinking the blood essence even earlier. She sat cross-legged in meditation and popped the Qi Condensation Pill Fu Shaoping had given her into her mouth.
This is...
Fu Shaoping's eyelid twitched.
They were too close.
At that moment, he seemed to faintly hear the blood and qi surging inside Zhou Pan'er's body.
Four hours passed.
When the moon rose above the treetops.
A hazy yellow glow suddenly flashed across Zhou Pan'er's exposed skin!
Unmistakably.
This was the sign of breaking through to the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm-refining energy into the skin!
Zhou Pan'er's eyes abruptly opened.
She looked at Fu Shaoping in delight.
"Shaoping, I... I've broken through!"
"Congratulations, Sister Pan'er."
Fu Shaoping smiled, but inwardly he was rather shaken. Generally speaking, martial artists in the first three levels of the Body Tempering Realm could not withstand the savage energy in such a large quantity of demonic beast blood essence. Five or six out of ten would burst apart and die.
Yet Zhou Pan'er had not only emerged unharmed.
She had also consumed the demonic beast's blood essence as easily as drinking ordinary water, clear proof that she had been born with a powerful physique!
Most importantly, Zhou Pan'er seemed intensely excited by demonic beast blood essence. Her earlier behavior had been the complete opposite of her usual manner.
Now that she had calmed down, Zhou Pan'er realized something was wrong too.
She hurriedly backed several steps away from the Granary Bear's carcass.
"Sister Pan'er, what happened to you just now?"
"I... I don't know either. As soon as I smelled the blood, I suddenly became excited. An incredibly powerful craving rose inside me, a craving to devour it! Shaoping, what... what's happening to me?"
After recognizing her own abnormal behavior.
Zhou Pan'er grew frightened.
Fu Shaoping clasped her cold little hands tightly and said with conviction.
"Don't be afraid. When you were drinking the demonic beast's blood essence, you still remembered to beckon me over to join you. That means you were still clearheaded. Perhaps it has something to do with your innate constitution. You naturally crave demonic beast blood essence, but your body can absorb it easily. That's a good thing!"
Fu Shaoping comforted Zhou Pan'er.
But he was worried inside, afraid that if she continued consuming demonic beast blood essence, she might turn into a monster that knew nothing but devouring.
He would have to search the Hundred Households Office's library for relevant records. Until he understood what was happening, it would be safer to have Zhou Pan'er consume less demonic beast blood essence.
Perhaps.
There was someone who understood Zhou Pan'er's condition better.
"Sister Pan'er, last time you said Granny Xue would appear to meet you again once you reached the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm and made Blood Qi Powder. Perhaps you could ask her whether your bloodlust is innate or inherited!"
At his words.
Zhou Pan'er's eyes brightened.
"All right. Then I'll try to make Blood Qi Powder as soon as possible."
Before you continue