After Fang Hong bought the Cultivation Technique, the fifty Spirit Stones on him were almost spent, so he lost the desire to continue strolling.
He rode his horse, searching all over the town, and finally found a Mortal inn.
Looking at the inn's slightly old but still clean exterior, Fang Hong dismounted.
Entering the inn, he pulled out a few silver coins from the cloth pouch at his waist and handed them to the innkeeper behind the counter.
"I'd like to rent a room."
Fang Hong planned to Cultivate in the Qingxia Mountain Range for a while, hunting some demonic beasts to feed to his demon gourd, to see what effect it would have.
The innkeeper took the silver coins and responded enthusiastically.
"Alright, honored guest, the first room on the east side of the second floor, clean and quiet, please go upstairs!"
...
Arriving at the door of the guest room, Fang Hong looked around, and after confirming no one was present, he took out an Elementary Advanced "Diamond Talisman" from his cloth pouch, and pasted the Talisman onto the door to prevent anyone from intruding and disturbing his rest.
The next morning, Fang Hong opened his eyes, refreshed, and awoke from his meditation and Qi Refining state.
Afterward, Fang Hong walked out of the inn and strode towards the Qingxia Mountain Range, intending to witness the demonic beast described in the books with his own eyes.
Upon reaching the mountain range, Fang Hong became cautious.
After all, this was not Baiyun Mountain; he had to constantly watch out for surprise attacks from demonic beasts, and even for other fellow Cultivators in the vicinity.
Fang Hong stealthily moved through the mountain forest when suddenly, a purple liquid shot towards him!
Fang Hong's pupils contracted, but fortunately, he reacted quickly, instantly casting the Wind Control Technique, easily dodging the sudden sneak attack.
The purple liquid hit a nearby tree, instantly emitting black smoke, and a pungent smell permeated the air, clearly indicating it was highly poisonous.
Fang Hong looked at the smoking tree with lingering fear, secretly glad he reacted in time.
He looked ahead and saw a large purple snake slowly slithering towards him.
This snake was five or six zhang long, covered in purple patterns, with blood-red eyes, and its gaping maw revealed sharp venomous fangs, looking ferocious and terrifying.
"Purple-Patterned Snake?" Fang Hong frowned slightly, muttering the name of this Beast.
He had read descriptions of the Purple-Patterned Snake in a travelogue's Demonic Beast section; it was a First-Level Demonic Beast, its strength at most comparable to a human Cultivator at Qi Refining Seventh or Eighth Layer.
Therefore, Fang Hong was not flustered; instead, a surge of excitement welled up within him.
"Hiss!" The Purple-Patterned Snake let out a sharp hiss, opening its bloody mouth again and spewing a large amount of purple venom, engulfing Fang Hong.
Fang Hong's feet moved like wind, his body nimbly dodging the attack, and then he controlled his flying dart Magical Artifact to shoot out.
"Whoosh!"
The flying dart streaked across the sky with a spiritual glow, incredibly fast, shooting towards the Purple-Patterned Snake.
The Purple-Patterned Snake sensed danger and tried to dodge, but the flying dart was too fast, and it had no time to react.
"Pfft!"
The flying dart precisely pierced the Purple-Patterned Snake's head, and the snake's body stiffened abruptly, falling heavily to the ground, dead.
Fang Hong retrieved his flying dart, knelt beside the Purple-Patterned Snake's corpse, secretly used the demon gourd to absorb the corpse, then immediately put away the demon gourd, his movements fluid and efficient.
Fang Hong continued forward, searching for Demonic Beasts to hunt in Qingxia Mountain.
Qingxia Mountain was indeed incomparable to Baiyun Mountain; there were many Demonic Beasts of various types, which greatly broadened Fang Hong's horizons.
Along the way, he encountered all sorts of Demonic Beasts: snake demons, bird demons, fox demons...
Most of these beasts were First-Level Middle Stage Demonic Beasts, which were relatively easy for Fang Hong, who was already at Qi Refining Tenth Layer, to deal with.
If he encountered a First-Level Advanced Demonic Beast, Fang Hong could also handle it, but it would require more magical power and the aid of Talismans.
During the process of killing Demonic Beasts, Fang Hong also encountered a few fellow Cultivators.
Whenever they met, both sides would look at each other warily, their eyes filled with caution.
Then, they would leave in a hurry, neither willing to stay longer.
After all, in this forest, everyone feared that someone might kill them to seize treasures.
Fang Hong was accustomed to this; he ignored these Cultivators and focused on killing Demon Beasts.
Of course, Fang Hong dared not venture too deep into the mountain range, lest he encounter a Second-Level Demonic Beast, which would be dangerous.
The travelogue stated that Second-Level Demonic Beasts were comparable to human Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage Early-Phase, possessing great strength, and with his current power, he was not their match.
Third-Level were comparable to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, Fourth-Level to Foundation Establishment Stage, Fifth-Level to Core Formation Early Stage Cultivators, and so on...
As dusk approached, the sun gradually set.
Fang Hong looked at the darkening sky and thought that spending the night in the mountain forest was a bit risky, so it was better to return to town first.
Thus, he turned and left Qingxia Mountain, walking towards the town.
Back at the town inn, Fang Hong entered his room and let out a long sigh of relief, his tense nerves finally relaxing.
The Demonic Beast hunt had gone smoothly; he had hunted fifty Demonic Beasts today.
Fang Hong took out the demon gourd and injected a bit of magical power.
The demon gourd immediately trembled slightly, and a flash of white light appeared at its mouth, spewing out fifty crystal-clear Spirit Pills.
Fang Hong smiled and placed these Spirit Pills on a nearby table.
He wondered what effect the Spirit Pills refined from these Demonic Beasts would have?
Fang Hong was filled with anticipation, then tossed a Spirit Pill into his mouth.
The Spirit Pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, and a cool stream of Qi flowed from his throat throughout his body, and he immediately felt a surge of pure spiritual power within him.
Fang Hong quickly sat cross-legged, adjusted his breathing, and began to absorb this Spiritual Qi.
...
An hour later, Fang Hong slowly opened his eyes, having successfully absorbed the first Spirit Pill.
"As expected of a Demonic Beast Spirit Pill, the effect is good!" Fang Hong couldn't help but exclaim, a surprised smile on his face.
He could clearly feel a significant increase in his magical power, ten times better than the Spirit Pills refined from wild beasts before.
It seemed that the higher the level of the corpse, the better the effect of the refined Spirit Pills.
With the Spirit Pills' effects restored, Fang Hong was overjoyed; he could once again use Spirit Pills to rapidly increase his Cultivation!
Thus, in the time that followed, Fang Hong stayed in Qingxia Town, embarking on a life of quiet Cultivation.
Aside from normal eating and resting, Fang Hong spent most of his time diligently Cultivating, absorbing the spiritual power of the Spirit Pills, continuously improving his Cultivation.
Whenever he ran out of Spirit Pills, he would go to Qingxia Mountain, hunt Demonic Beasts, and continue refining Spirit Pills.
This cycle continued for a month, and with the aid of a large number of Demonic Beast Spirit Pills, Fang Hong's Cultivation once again rapidly increased, reaching Qi Refining Twelfth Layer.
One evening, Fang Hong returned from hunting Demonic Beasts as usual, however, shortly after he entered the town, he was targeted by a mysterious woman...