Translator: Lynn
Xu Ziqing was filled with extreme anxiety. It could be said that Chonghua’s severe injury was a result of coming to his rescue. During the day and night when he was fleeing for his life after getting injured, Chonghua not only failed to heal its own wounds but also had to endure attacks from other monsters. The remaining injuries were proof of its resilience and survival. It had been an arduous journey until now.
However, Chonghua had been with him for many years, and it was no longer just a pet; it was a member of his family.
His family was on the brink of death, and Xu Ziqing was consumed by desperation.
Panic surged within him as Chonghua’s aura grew weaker and weaker.
Having limited knowledge about animal companions and their care, Xu Ziqing didn’t know how to save Chonghua. Despite possessing various spiritual herbs, unless they were heavenly or earthly treasures, they would be of no use even if consumed by monsters.
Regrettably, while Lin Yuan’s small secret realm was valuable, it didn’t contain any heavenly or earthly spiritual herbs… or so he thought.
Suddenly, Xu Ziqing remembered the Ethereal Wood Spirit that resided in the cave at the bottom of the lake. It was a renowned and exceptional spiritual creature. However, Xu Ziqing had already consumed it and merged its essence into his own flesh and blood.
With this realization, Xu Ziqing felt a glimmer of hope.
Indeed, he had assimilated the essence of Ethereal Wood, and the wood element within his blood was potent. Perhaps it could be of use!
Without hesitation, Xu Ziqing rolled up his sleeves, revealing his fair wrist. With his other hand, he made a knife-like gesture and lightly slashed his pulse point. A three-inch-long wound instantly appeared, gushing out blood.
Hastily cradling Chonghua, Xu Ziqing opened its beak and let the bright red blood flow into its mouth.
As Chonghua drank the blood, its dim eyes gradually regained life, and its faded black and golden feathers started to emanate vitality.
It was working!
Xu Ziqing was overjoyed and moved his wrist closer, gently pressing near the pulse point to allow more blood to flow out. The essence in his blood emitted a strong fragrance, but before long, it attracted the attention of nearby creatures.
Alerted, Xu Ziqing turned his head to look.
As expected, on a thick branch not far away, a leopard-like monster lay silently. Its black body revealed a slight grin, and its fangs gleamed coldly. However, its monstrous aura was restrained to an extremely weak point, making it nearly undetectable in the Shangyan Ridge teeming with monsters and beasts.
If Xu Ziqing didn’t possess a wood-type physique and weren’t interconnected with the giant tree at that moment, he would never have sensed its presence. However, assumptions were just assumptions, and the moment Xu Ziqing turned his head, he was already aware.
Then, the branches and leaves rustled softly.
Unhesitatingly, Xu Ziqing raised his hand and unleashed the Muhua Finger technique1Also called Mu Hua Zhi Technique. A blue light “huchi” flashed by, directly piercing the leopard-like monster’s brow!
He could sense that there were numerous faint footsteps in the distance, all belonging to the monsters of Shangyan Ridge. While they might be only first or second rank, their sheer numbers would pose a significant challenge if they were to pounce on him.
However, at this moment, Chonghua was in a critical state, leaving Xu Ziqing no choice but to use this opportunity to startle the monsters and prevent them from causing trouble.
As expected, when those monsters witnessed Xu Ziqing’s actions, they retreated silently and patiently waited for an opportunity.
While Xu Ziqing continued to feed Chonghua with blood, he opened his right hand and released the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine.
“Rongjin, go and feed,” he commanded, his tone more cautious and slightly colder than before.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Vine surged forward, and two slender, snow-white vines descended rapidly from the treetops, piercing into the leopard-like monster’s body. Within moments, the monster visibly withered, leaving only blood-soaked skin and a skeleton. Even the most bloodthirsty and belligerent monsters had never encountered such a ferocious entity!
Just a taste of it… Upon witnessing this scene, many creatures with a modicum of sanity quietly backed away and fled in terror.
However, a few first-rank monsters with low spiritual intelligence remained. Driven by instinct, they recognized the danger posed by the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine and hesitated to attack it. They greedily sniffed the fragrant blood while anxiously digging, their behavior highly unstable.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Vine exhibited exceptional sensitivity as it absorbed the remains of the leopardshaped monsters. Then, a thought crossed Xu Ziqing’s mind: “Mother, would you like to devour them?”
With his eyes bright and blue, Xu Ziqing scanned the hiding places of the monsters and spoke, “If they come under this tree, I will permit you to consume them.”
The Bloodthirsty Demon Vine was overjoyed, and its two vines swayed back and forth, exclaiming, “Eat! Eat!”
A gentle smile formed on Xu Ziqing’s face as he glanced at Chonghua once again.
At this moment, Chonghua’s energy seemed to have recovered significantly, and the other lacerations were gradually healing.
However, the most severe injury on its right wing and the torn-out feathers showed no improvement, but at least they had not worsened.
Fortunately, Chonghua’s life was temporarily secure.
Feeling a sense of relief, Xu Ziqing intended to try feeding Chonghua further.
The wound on his wrist had healed to some extent, and he was about to make a deeper cut when he heard Chonghua, who had regained consciousness, growl anxiously.
Seeing its awakening, Xu Ziqing felt great joy. “Chonghua, you’re finally awake!”
Chonghua raised its left-wing, lightly patting Xu Ziqing’s wrist, and let out a series of howls.
Xu Ziqing was taken aback. “You don’t want to drink anymore? My blood is beneficial for you.”
Chonghua immediately shook its head, and anxiety flickered in its eagle eyes.
Understanding dawned upon Xu Ziqing. “You mean it’s not effective?”
Chonghua nodded once more.
Xu Ziqing felt a tinge of disappointment.
At this moment, Chonghua was in high spirits, hopping up and flapping its wings as if ready to fly down from the tree.
Xu Ziqing hurriedly grabbed it. “Chonghua, you can’t move around right now!”
Chonghua continued to chirp incessantly but still attempted to descend.
Xu Ziqing regained his senses but couldn’t act like Chonghua. He embraced Chonghua’s body, flew down from the tree, and gently placed Chonghua on the ground.
At that moment, Chonghua stomped its feet once more, hopping and bounding toward the skeletal remains of the leopard-shaped monster. It extended its claws, scratched at the bloody skin, and finally retrieved a round, blue bead.
A faint breeze encircled the cyan bead, and Xu Ziqing recognized it as a wind attribute beast core.
Chonghua turned its head, calling out to Xu Ziqing twice before pecking at his wrist. It then picked up the wind attribute beast core and swallowed it, tilting its head in immediate comfort.
Its feathers fluttered naturally as if caressed by a gentle breeze. Soon, the breeze dissipated, and the feathers returned to calm.
However, Xu Ziqing noticed that a small tuft of fluff had grown where Chonghua had previously been shaved, and the severe wound on its right wing had slightly healed.
It turned out that devouring the same beast core was only effective for Chonghua!
Realizing this, Xu Ziqing felt relieved. Chonghua belonged to the wind attribute, and its wings and feathers were intricately tied to its innate talents. Therefore, when injured, it required gradual healing. If external assistance was needed, it had to come from a wind attribute beast core; otherwise, it would be ineffective.
With the reason now understood, Xu Ziqing felt at ease.
As for Chonghua swallowing wind attribute beast core, it was effortless. During the five years spent in the Linyuan secret realm, the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine had absorbed numerous monsters, leaving behind a multitude of beast cores. Among them, wind attributes beast cores were not in short supply.
Naturally, Xu Ziqing wouldn’t be stingy when it came to Chonghua. With a single thought, five thumb-sized wind attribute beast cores materialized in his hand.
These five beast cores belonged to first-rank monsters, and their size was not large. Xu Ziqing wondered if Chonghua would choke on them if he swallowed such pills.
Chonghua joyfully shrieked and allowed Xu Ziqing to feed him, raising his head for each pill. Every time he swallowed one, he rubbed it against the back of Xu Ziqing’s hand in a remarkably affectionate manner.
Xu Ziqing was also in a cheerful mood. The previous events had drained him physically and mentally, so he felt much more at ease now that Chonghua had recovered. He fed Chonghua with great care.
Each time Chonghua swallowed a beast core, his entire body swayed, and his feathers would expand and contract in circular patterns, which was truly fascinating.
With a smile on his face, Xu Ziqing fed the beast cores one by one, only producing more when Chonghua no longer had any scars.
At this point, Chonghua started to suffer again, desiring more. Xu Ziqing shook his head and said, “Don’t be greedy. How do you know it won’t harm you?”
He believed that it was unwise to rush growth. Just as a monk shouldn’t be greedy for elixirs to enhance their cultivation, the same principle should apply to a monster.
Chonghua didn’t listen this time and lowered its head with resentment, emitting mournful cries while pleading with its eyes.
Having just narrowly escaped death, Xu Ziqing couldn’t bear to see Chonghua like this. He sighed and said, “I’ll ask Brother Yun. If he agrees, I will agree.”
Chonghua’s eyes showed a hint of fear, and it shrank its head, but it still persisted.
Amazed, Xu Ziqing sank his consciousness into the ring to converse with his companions.
After a while, Xu Ziqing withdrew his consciousness.
It was then that he realized there was a significant difference between monsters and monks.
Monks absorbed spiritual energy from the heavens and earth, which they transformed into spiritual power in their dantian. Due to the scarcity of single spiritual roots, the spiritual power in their bodies was impure, and elixirs often contained impurities. While taking elixirs could be beneficial, excessive consumption could lead to impurities accumulating in the body, causing complications during expulsion. Moreover, it could affect advancement and even foundation establishment.
However, monsters were different.
Whether it was a monster beast that hadn’t reached the rank or one that had, they absorbed the aura of the heavens and earth and the essence of the sun and moon. When these two combined, they generated a new power called demon essence.
As far as monsters were concerned, their bodies were robust, and they didn’t require spiritual roots. They could naturally breathe, bringing in Qi of the same type and expelling Qi of different types. Additionally, the essence of the sun and moon was exceptionally pure, resulting in no impurities in their bodies.
However, before the beast core was formed, they absorbed very little spiritual energy. After reaching the rank, they absorbed the essence of the sun and moon multiple times, as well as condensed demon essence. Even so, advancing was still not easy for monsters. Many couldn’t bear it by following these steps alone.
Furthermore, due to being born in the wild and untamed forests, monsters possessed fierce temperaments, with their instincts often taking control. They were highly aggressive and preyed on the weak. During battles, they devoured the beast cores of other monsters to enhance their own strength. As long as the power belonged to the same type, it was akin to consuming an energy ball, with no conflict with their own beast core.
Therefore, there was no such thing as eating too much being useless. As long as the monster itself could subdue the other monster, it would only be beneficial and not harmful.
After listening to Yun Lie’s explanation, Xu Ziqing understood Chonghua’s intentions.
Since Chonghua wanted to gain more strength, Xu Ziqing naturally wouldn’t refuse. Without further hesitation, he took out a wind attribute beast core from the storage ring.
However, he didn’t forget to issue a reminder, saying, “If you can’t control it, Chonghua, you must stop in time.”
Chonghua lowered its head, grabbed a beast core, and nodded repeatedly.
<<End of Arc 6: Pinglan County Wang Family2Yeah, you’re seeing this right lol. I missed the arc line of the 6th one when I realized the next chapter is already 7th. I’ve revised the TOC, so if you’re curious you can check them.>>
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