Under the attack of twenty strands of Spiritual Energy, the Three-Eyed Spirit Ape's body was halted again. It let out a painful and angry howl, but then suddenly sprang forward, reaching the front of the formation. Its two fan-sized giant claws swung out simultaneously, and before the four Black Armored Guards could even cry out, they were sent flying. Blood spurted from their mouths, and they were dead in an instant.

This group of Black Armored Guards collapsed, scattering in all directions to flee for their lives.

At this time, Hann Huaiyu had already escaped a hundred meters away under the protection of the four Guest Elders.

The Three-Eyed Ape, with its awakened intelligence, no longer pursued the scattered Armored Soldiers but instead charged straight toward Hann Huaiyu and his party of five.

......

Unbeknownst to when, Wang Xiaoqiang had already taken to the air on the back of a Patterned Beast, sitting atop the creature as he coldly watched the man and beast below hunting each other. When he saw Hann Huaiyu running away in panic under the pursuit of the Three-Eyed Ape, a surge of delight rose in his heart.

At that moment, the Three-Eyed Ape opened its Third Eye, chasing while using that eye to search for its targets. Although the dense forest was thick, under the intense white light, there was almost nowhere for Hann Huaiyu and his group to hide.

One side chased, the other fled, and they gradually disappeared from sight. Wang Xiaoqiang withdrew his gaze, steering the beast down to where the battle had taken place. He quickly examined the bodies of the six Black Armored Guards and found that two of them were still warm, clearly not yet dead. He quickly pulled out the Dagger Fish from his waist, sliced open their abdomens, and removed their Dantian...

After absorbing the two Dantian, Wang Xiaoqiang once again rose into the sky on the Patterned Beast, continuing the pursuit. He hoped to find more slain Black Armored Guards and reap the benefits.

In the end, Hann Huaiyu managed to divert the Three-Eyed Ape using his Black Armored Guards and successfully escaped the beast's line of sight with the protection of the four Guest Elders. The cost was that another seven Black Armored Guards died under the giant claws of the Three-Eyed Ape.

Wang Xiaoqiang released his Spiritual Spring to absorb their Spiritual Spring and True Yuan and obtained 1500 more Spiritual Springs. However, because of the division of the Spiritual Springs, he missed the timing to track and eventually lost track of them.

At this moment, the total number of Spiritual Springs inside his body had reached 18,100, not far from the Second Transformation of the Immortal.

Wang Xiaoqiang, whose cultivation base had grown again, felt a surge of joy. He then remembered the Demon Core in the Sumeru Ring and took it out, releasing the Spiritual Spring to start absorbing it.

Unexpectedly, the 1000 Spiritual Springs he released rejected the Spirit Turtle's Demon Core. It was as if dogs saw a mouse, with no appetite at all.

Seeing this situation, Wang Xiaoqiang had no choice but to hold the Demon Core in the palm of his hand and rotate his Spiritual Power to absorb it. With each breath, he felt a strand of heat—distinct from that of the Demon Crystal—infuse from his palm into the meridians in his arms, then travel through his meridians to all parts of the body, eventually merging into the flesh all over his body.

His skin and flesh transformed at a visibly rapid rate.

His originally soft skin and flesh became hard. Although there was no significant change in color, the toughness was akin to a turtle shell. Moreover, his neck, shoulders, arms, abdomen, and legs all bulged with large chunks of muscle. His physique had been reshaped in an instant, becoming more masculine and robust. At this point, he felt light and full of vitality, as if a proud dragon eager to soar into the sky.

Driven by this feeling, he leaped ten meters high without using any Spiritual Power.

Not using Spiritual Power and yet able to leap ten meters high, what kind of physique was this? Perhaps not even anyone in the Immortal Realm had achieved this!

After lightly landing, he touched the hardened skin of his arm and revealed a satisfied smile.

It was rumored that a single Demon Core could help a person practicing Body Refinement advance by a major realm. Now it seemed, this was no mere tale.

Now, he had progressed from the Mid-Stage Muscle Refining Realm to Small Success in the Organ Refining Realm.

His body had become more robust, and his cultivation base had been elevated. During his routine cultivation, he was never stingy with resources, absorbing demon crystals every day without count. While traversing the Mystic Yin Mountains, one must constantly enhance oneself; otherwise, one would be ruthlessly killed by the savage demon barbarians.

He had witnessed the strength of the Three-Eyed Ape; even a Spirit Soldier Formation consisting of twenty cultivators at the Solidification Realm couldn't hurt it. Unexpectedly, a Tenth-Level Demon Barbarian could be so formidable!

Considering the current situation of the Hann Family's team, although Wang Xiaoqiang could take advantage of the chaos to wipe them out in one fell swoop, he didn't want to waste his effort. After all, the four Guest Elders were not easy to deal with.

A real fight might result in a lose-lose situation.

For him, the gains did not justify the losses.

Thus, in the following two months, he spent his days slaying for demon crystals and his nights cultivating. Moreover, compared to slaying for crystals, his cultivation time became longer and longer. Even in the latter half of the fifth month since he entered the mountains, he had practically stopped all activities except for eating and sleeping, remaining in a state of cultivation.

Compared to Wang Xiaoqiang, the Patterned Beast, with the improvement of its master's cultivation base, had also gained strength that transcended more than just one realm. It was now able to hold its own against a Tenth-Level Demon Barbarian.

That evening, Wang Xiaoqiang chanced upon a pond, so he released Yang Ling, and the two took a mandarin duck bath in the pond. Curled up in Wang Xiaoqiang's arms, Yang Ling's face still bore the fading flush as she spoke, "Little Qiang, staying in the Mystic Yin Mountains like this isn't a solution..."

"What other solution is there? My strength is too weak right now. If I leave these mountains, I'll be in danger at any time," Wang Xiaoqiang replied helplessly.

"That's true, you've killed Hann Beifeng, and that's tantamount to a complete fallout with the Five Spirit Sect. Without the backing of a powerful force, wandering the Martial World alone is indeed dangerous. Unless your cultivation reaches the True Immortal Realm, only then will you have the minimum capital to protect your life in this Immortal Realm..." Yang Ling said, pausing thoughtfully before continuing, "Little Qiang, I have a method that could rapidly enhance your strength..."

"What method?"

"Slay demons to obtain crystals..."

"Aren't I doing that every day?" Wang Xiaoqiang retorted.

"The demons I'm talking about are not demon barbarians, but corpse demons... And the crystals I'm talking about are not demon crystals, but corpse crystals..."

"Corpse crystals, what are those?"

Yang Ling explained, "Corpse crystals are the essence found within a demon corpse, similar to the demon crystals on demon barbarians, but corpse crystals possess even more abundant demonic power. One corpse crystal contains the power equivalent to a hundred demon crystals. However, corpse demons are far too powerful, so unless it's absolutely necessary, who would risk their life to fight a pointless battle with a corpse demon?"

Without precise information, Yang Ling was unsure of the corpse demons' strength. Moreover, corpse demons never acted alone when engaging enemies, meaning what he would have to face wasn't one, but many corpse demons.

She felt uncertain.

She was unsure, and so was Wang Xiaoqiang. Despite this uncertainty, Wang Xiaoqiang still decided to take the risk. Corpse demons gathered in the central area of the Mystic Yin Mountains, so now, he had to leave the hinterlands and head towards the central region.

He needed first to understand the terrain and environment of the central area, locate and observe the corpse demons, and comprehend their strength to find an opportunity to strike.

On his way to the central area, Wang Xiaoqiang prepared a large quantity of wild fruit for himself and continued slaying for demon crystals, acquiring three more demon crystals, storing them in the Sumeru Ring. When nearing the central region, with the help of the Patterned Beast, he managed to capture two relatively docile unicorns and two Three Crows' Feet using Spiritual Energy Silkworm Thread. These were two species of Seventh-Level Demon Barbarians with tough hides and flesh, which could be used as bait to lure out the corpse demons if necessary, or to distract them in case of danger, facilitating an escape. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)

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.