Hunting in the Black Wind Wildlands wasn’t an easy task, especially when you had a Third-Stage Body Strengthening Realm cultivation base.
So, Ye Jun had found many safe locations throughout the years where he usually hid if things got worse or he encountered some powerful Spiritual Beasts.
This cave was one of them, hidden between giant trees with a small opening. It also had many cracks which let sunlight and air in, creating a beautiful view inside.
As they sat down, Meihui took out the Beast Cores as they glowed faintly in the darkness. The Beast Cores were spherical in shape most of the time, with a variety of colours swirling in them based on their affinity.
Identifying their Tier was also very easy, as after death, a Beast Core formed rings based on its Tier. A Tier 1 only had a single ring floating inside the core.
Looking at the gem-like Beast Cores, Ye Jun smiled widely. "This should be around a thousand points easily."
The majority of the Beast Cores came from Tier 1 Spiritual Beasts, so even the Peak-Grade ones only had thirty points while others barely had one. But the numbers made them valuable.
Not to mention the glistening cores with two rings inside them. There were just two of them, but it made a big difference.
After all, a Low-Grade Tier 2 Spiritual Beast was worth a hundred Low-Grade Tier 1 Spiritual Beasts.
"It was a good idea," Meihui smiled. "You knew about them from the start? I thought they hid well."
"Nah, it was a guess. I know my little brother very well. Even if he didn’t come himself, he would surely send his henchmen," Ye Jun said as he divided the cores between them. "Here are yours."
"And to make sure he sent them, you taunted him at the last moment," Meihui couldn’t help but chuckle. "You’re devious. Also, are you sure you want to divide these?"
"We’re both entering the Sect," Ye Jun said, pocketing the cores. "So you need them too. Besides, the hunt has just started. I’m going for the top two spots for us."
Meihui hummed and thought for a moment before saying, "Then, why don’t we create some chaos in the wild?"
"Oh?" Ye Jun was interested. "Do tell me."
"We can spread the news about an injured Peak-Grade Tier 2 Red Magma Lizard," Meihui smiled as well. "I’m sure many will be attracted to it and run around instead of hunting."
"Woah! You scheming woman!" Ye Jun was genuinely impressed with her. "Let’s do it! But we’ll need to take some help from other clans."
"I’ll leave all of that to you," Meihui said. "Young Master Rong doesn’t like to socialize with weaklings."
"So an arrogant persona. You’re learning to act well," Ye Jun nodded.
Meihui smiled in pride, clearly liking getting such compliments from him. But then she realised what she just did and quickly covered her face with her hand fan.
"We should leave," she said, looking away.
"Sure," Ye Jun grinned. "I’m feeling good after taking one of them down, so the streak should continue."
With that, the two of them left the cave and moved a bit deeper. They were currently in the area of Tier 1 Spiritual Beasts, so while they were good for earning points, the Tier 2 ones would make the real impact.
They didn’t try to spread the fake news by themselves, as it would just waste their time, which was the opposite of what they wanted.
So, their main objective was to find a Tier 2 Spiritual Beast, and soon they did.
"I feel it!" Meihui said, glancing to her right where dense vegetation grew tall enough to tower over them. "A Low-Grade Tier 2 Mistveil Serpent."
"Good!" Ye Jun stopped on a tree branch. "Cover me while I finish it. I’m sure we’ll have company soon. This guy spreads mist widely during fights."
"It’s poisonous," Meihui warned him. "Are you sure you want to fight it without any cure?"
"Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing," Ye Jun said, taking out his Tier 2 Shade Dagger. "Just make sure nobody disturbs me."
"Consider it done."
He smiled at her and then jumped down. In the one month they spent together, the two of them had grown closer and began to trust each other a lot. Enough for him to trust her with his back.
Ye Jun neared the tall bushes and thought about his progress. A month ago, he would have been terrified to face a Tier 2 Spiritual Beast, but here he was, charging at its home fearlessly.
It was all because of his rapid progress which led to a much-awaited change in his status. He glanced down at one particular section of the status and smiled.
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation (35%)]
His cultivation finally changed from Mortal to Qi Condensation. Fourth-Stage Qi Condensation Realm, to be exact.
He had made so much progress in just a single month. If it weren’t for the many factors affecting his cultivation, he was sure he would have achieved a higher cultivation base.
’This system is so damn broken.’
This was the reason he didn’t care about those henchmen of Ye Chen. Neither their deaths, since they wouldn’t give him any attributes.
This was another thing he discovered after advancing to the Qi Condensation Realm. The system only gave attributes related to Physique and Cultivation from beings in the same Realm or higher ones.
It limited him, but he wasn’t disappointed since the system gave him low attributes for weaker beings anyway.
Even then, Ye Jun had progressed at a ridiculous rate, catching up to the city’s geniuses in a single month.
’Time to test out my skills.’
This was the first time he would fight a Tier 2 Spiritual Beast, so he was too excited. So, he paused for a moment and took a deep breath to calm himself.
But Meihui interpreted it as him being nervous so she said from above, "I will intervene if things get bad. You can fight without any fear."
"Thanks, mate."
Ye Jun didn’t bother correcting her and focused ahead. He went past the tall vegetation and found himself in a small clearing with white mist hovering above the grass.
Not far from him, he spotted a long yellowish serpent with dark patches on its scaled body.
Its serpentine vertical eyes snapped open in alert.
Ye Jun’s first real battle was before him.