Although now he has stepped into the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment realm, which is a whole level higher than that of the water lake mouse in terms of cultivation.

However, he still has to disperse his mana and start cultivation anew, a process that would at least take several decades of long years.

In contrast, the water lake mouse has broken through to the Second-stage Middle Grade for some time now, and after this period of cultivation, it is not far from the peak of the Second-stage Middle Grade.

Judging by the talent the water lake mouse has shown, breaking through to the Second-stage Upper Grade should not be a big problem.

Once the water lake mouse successfully reaches the Second-stage Upper Grade, after another twenty to thirty years of arduous cultivation,

By then, utilizing two Tier-Three Demon Cores and other auxiliary items, the success rate of breaking through to Tier-Three will be at least fifty percent.

It should be known that for ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators or regular Second-stage Demon Beasts, such a high success rate is an unparalleled luxury they dare not even dream of.

"It seems I indeed need to cultivate this water lake mouse with extra focus in the future." Xu Ping murmured to himself.

After all, if the water lake mouse can successfully break through to the Tier-Three realm before him, the benefits for him would be enormous as well.

On one hand, during the time he disperses his mana, his strength will significantly weaken, the water lake mouse can rely on its Tier-Three strength to ensure his safety.

On the other hand, at the critical moment when he is impacting the Golden Core Realm, the water lake mouse can also protect him, preventing interference and attacks from the outside world.

One should know, breaking through to the Golden Core Realm is itself as difficult as ascending to heaven, with the slightest carelessness rendering previous efforts futile.

If there is interference from external factors at the time of breakthrough, it would undoubtedly be a devastating blow for a cultivator.

Once the water lake mouse successfully reaches Tier-Three, coupled with the array set up at Thousand Leaves Mountain, the entire defense of Thousand Leaves Mountain will be as solid as gold and iron.

Unless it's a Late-Stage Golden Core master taking action, or several Middle Stage Golden Core cultivators attacking simultaneously, it should be impossible to break Thousand Leaves Mountain's defense.

"When I finish dealing with matters at hand, the 'good days' for the water lake mouse should finally come."

With this thought, the corner of Xu Ping's mouth involuntarily curved into a meaningful yet slightly cruel arc.

"Achoo!"

Just at that moment, the water lake mouse busy in the spirit field suddenly sneezed loudly without warning.

It paused its actions, lifted its small paw to rub its nose, with a face full of inexplicable expression.

"Could it be that something good is happening?"

The water lake mouse thought joyfully, its heart filled with a burst of joy, and thus it worked even harder in the spirit field with renewed enthusiasm.

...

Inside the cultivation room.

After properly storing away the Tier-Three Demon Core, he then immediately began dealing with the massive corpse of the Tier-Three Demon Beast.

Several hours passed, and the cultivation room was busy.

"Finally cleaned up." Xu Ping let out a long sigh of relief, his tense nerves finally relaxed a bit.

This giant python's size was indeed too enormous, far exceeding that of an average demon beast, and coupled with the toxic nature of its blood, it was extremely challenging to process, with the procedures being intricate and complex, consuming much of his energy.

After categorizing and placing the processed Demon Beast Flesh and various precious demon beast materials into his storage pouch one by one,

Xu Ping's gaze slowly fell on the spirit beast pouch hanging at his waist.

"Finally... this Second-stage Spirit Worm!"

Xu Ping's eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of stored brilliance in his eyes, then he directly injected a wisp of Mana into the spirit beast pouch.

In the blink of an eye, the Second-stage Spirit Worm, now unconscious, appeared in the cultivation room.

At this moment, its body was covered with densely packed, luminescent restriction runes over its fine scales.

"With the help of this Second-stage Spirit Worm, the speed of spirit vein enhancement will surely increase dramatically. Thus, before impacting the Core Formation Realm, elevating the spirit veins to the Quasi-Tier Three standard shouldn't be a big issue."

Xu Ping looked at the unconscious Second-stage Spirit Worm before him, and a satisfied smile could not help manifest on his lips.

"Moreover, the Hundred Beasts Sect attaches such importance to the Second-stage Spirit Worm, there must be something about it of which I'm not aware." Xu Ping frowned slightly, pondering inwardly.

After all, if it were really just to bait him, there would be no need for such trouble.

And it's certainly not necessary to mobilize a Tier-Three Demon Beast.

It seems there's definitely something unknown, some secret about the Second-stage Spirit Worm.

'Could it be that the Second-stage Spirit Worm's ability to improve the quality of spirit veins is somewhat extraordinary?'

With this thought, a spiritual light emanated from Xu Ping's fingertip, lightly tracing the center of the Spirit Worm's forehead, where circular patterns abounded.

The sleeping spirit beast suddenly convulsed violently, its scale-covered body twisted into a bizarre curve on the stone floor, the hundreds of sharp teeth hidden inside its mouth parts clanking unconsciously, emitting a jarring clicking sound.

Xu Ping focused his attention, threading his Divine Sense into the Sea of Consciousness of the Second-stage Spirit Worm like a thread.

With his powerful Divine Sense comparable to that of a Fake Pill Realm expert, implanting a Divine Sense imprint in the Sea of Consciousness of this Second-stage Spirit Worm, which had no power to resist, posed no significant difficulty.

However, implanting a Divine Sense imprint doesn't mean complete control over this Second-stage Spirit Worm.

It's known that wild Second-stage Demon Beasts have extremely irritable temperaments and are exceptionally difficult to handle.

Even if a cultivator successfully implants a Divine Sense imprint and holds their life and death in their hands, it would be difficult to make them completely submit, with many demon beasts even choosing death over submission.

Moreover, the intelligence of the Second-stage Spirit Worm is even lower compared to ordinary Second-stage Demon Beasts, with its thinking being simple and direct.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.