"Demon Core? Inner Core?"
Looking at the two bead-sized orbs in his hand, Zhong Lin could feel the energy contained within them. This instantly reminded him of the fictional energy cores from novels in his previous life, filling him with excitement while also bringing a sense of confusion.
"Why didn’t the mutant beasts like the boar and the Golden Crown Python I killed before have these things?"
Zhong Lin had killed mutant beasts before, whether it was the boar in Tianyang City or the Golden Crown Python in Black Dragon Pass, yet neither of these beasts contained beads like those inside this two-headed mutant beast.
Instinctively directing his inner breath towards the red bead, the next moment, he felt a scorching power surge from his palm into his body.
This power was filled with a scorching and explosive sensation, akin to a volcanic eruption, causing a burning sting in the meridians it passed through.
"Hiss! Such explosive power, what exactly is this? Could it really be an inner core? But this world is clearly a Martial Arts World, without any legends of immortal cultivation!"
Zhong Lin was very certain that this was a martial civilization, and he had never heard of immortals, not even the concept of ’immortal’ existed.
In everyone’s understanding, mutant beasts were also known as powerful wild beasts, some of which possessed the ability to breathe fire upon reaching a certain age, but none were known to contain something akin to an inner core.
Suddenly, a thought flashed in Zhong Lin’s mind. He looked down again at the two beads in his hand, muttering to himself, "Water... fire... doesn’t the fusion of heavenly-grade cultivation techniques require heavenly materials and earthly treasures with corresponding attributes?"
These two beads contained extremely pure water and fire powers, making them akin to heavenly materials and earthly treasures like the fabled thousand-year ice marrow.
Thinking of this, Zhong Lin couldn’t contain his excitement.
Without any hesitation, Zhong Lin sat cross-legged and activated his inner breath.
With his proactive inner breath operation, the recovery speed of his inner breath was countless times faster than before, and it was restored to thirty percent in a moment.
"This... is this earth attribute power? When did this happen?" Zhong Lin exclaimed in shock.
While recovering his power, Zhong Lin suddenly discovered that the inner breath recovering in his dantian carried a hint of earth-yellow color, possessing the heaviness only available with earth attributes.
Feeling a thought stirring, Zhong Lin instantly recalled that during his battle with this two-headed mutant beast, he had used "Ground Seal," and it was at that moment that he felt a slight change in his inner breath.
Skill: Spiritual Cold Sword Scripture (Full Level)...
Technique: Ground Seal (Beginner)...
Miscellaneous: Alchemy: Fourth Grade Elixir (Full Level)...
"System, add points for me."
With a command, the next moment, countless memories surged into his mind, all of which were about cultivating "Ground Seal."
After a while, Zhong Lin slowly opened his eyes, unable to hide the shocked look in them.
"Ground Seal, oh what a Ground Seal, I can confirm now that this martial technique indeed surpasses the realm of first-grade secret martial arts manuals."
In his memories, Zhong Lin cultivated "Ground Seal" for decades as if it were a day, evolving from unfamiliarity to casual execution, especially reaching Great Success, when he could invoke celestial phenomena at will, borrowing the power of the earth with each movement, wielding a force far greater than those so-called Qi Refining Martial Techniques.
The reason the earth attribute breath appeared in Zhong Lin’s inner breath was because he had invoked a force from beneath his feet when he achieved "Ground Seal" at that very moment.
"Good, good, good, truly a pillow when one lies down to sleep, when opportunities arrive, they cannot be stopped."
Zhong Lin laughed heartily, sat cross-legged again, and utilized this earth attribute power to perform the "Treasure Image Divine Skill."
Zhong Lin was already thoroughly familiar with this heavenly-grade cultivation technique, having long deduced the methods of integrating with it, only lacking the corresponding heavenly materials and earthly treasures. With the assistance of Ground Seal, it’s only natural that it’s coming together now.
A moment later, the attributes of the inner breath in the dantian changed again, an overwhelming sense of density rose in his chest, giving a sense of the earth’s hidden depths, steadfast as mountains.
The earth attribute inner breath excelled at defense, possessing the function of enhancing power.
After a moment, Zhong Lin slowly opened his eyes, focusing and calming down, feeling the surging inner breath within his body.
Suddenly, Zhong Lin stomped on the ground, causing a wave of earth-yellow patterns to extend outward from under his feet. Wherever it passed, the earth rippled like water patterns, even flipping upside down. A massive stone a hundred meters away was shattered into fragments under this power.
A hint of excitement flickered in Zhong Lin’s eyes as he felt the marvelous transformation occurring within his inner breath, deeply immersed in this wonderful feeling.
"Indeed, each heavenly-grade cultivation technique possesses a unique charm. To practice only one would truly be a great waste of resources."
"Continue, continue."
Zhong Lin restrained his inner excitement, holding the water-blue bead in his hand and guiding its power into his body with his inner breath while operating the heavenly-grade technique "Water Scripture."
Without any surprise, the process was as smooth as cultivating "Treasure Image Divine Skill." The inner breath once again changed to water attribute.
Then followed the "Fiery Sun Heart Scripture," its fire attribute inner breath was scalding like the sun, blazing with thunderous rage that scorched the internal organs.
At this point, Zhong Lin’s inner breath possessed changes in gold, water, fire, earth, and ice attributes.
Compared to before, the inner breath in Zhong Lin’s dantian at this moment not only encompassed the changes of the Five Elements but was also extremely compressed, making one unit of inner breath more powerful than ten units before, enhancing his power with every move.
"What a pity, lacking heavenly materials and earthly treasures with wood attributes; otherwise, the Five Elements could be complete."
Zhong Lin sighed, unable to conceal his disappointment.
Shaking his head to dispel greed from his mind.
"To continue calling it ’Spiritual Cold Sword Scripture’ is no longer appropriate. Since my inner breath already encompasses changes of five attributes, and will eventually integrate ’Withered Wood Divine Skill,’ the fusion of Five Elements becomes the Mixed Essence, the variations of Yin and Yang become Chaos, thus it shall be called ’Five Elements Mixed Essence Skill.’"
Skill: Five Elements Mixed Essence Skill (Beginner)...
Technique: Ground Seal (Full Level)...
Miscellaneous: Alchemy: Fourth Grade Elixir (Full Level)...
With a thought, countless skill points poured into the "Five Elements Mixed Essence Skill," and abundant cultivation experience emerged in Zhong Lin’s mind.
Meanwhile, the inner breath route operating within him made subtle changes, becoming more harmonious and more profound.
Slowly standing, feeling the surge within his body, a sense of grandeur welled up in his chest.
Facing the corpse of the two-headed mutant beast beside him, he waved remotely, quickly enveloping the body’s surface with a layer of ice, spreading dense cold air around.
He grabbed each half of the two-headed mutant beast and sped back the way he came.
Zhong Lin was not familiar with this forest, but he remembered the route clearly.
Utilizing his inner breath to its fullest, he flew through the dense forest as if riding the clouds and mist, moving at an extremely fast pace.
An hour later, he returned to his original position, where the body of the fox bear remained pinned to the tree.