"ROAR..."

The mountain forest trembled as a roar shot to the heavens.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A giant wolf, roughly ten feet long and wreathed in flames, rampaged through the forest, shattering row after row of trees.

Facing the fiery red wolf was a pitch-black Black Mountain Wolf of the same size—Wangcai—who was also roaring as it charged through the woods.

With a dull boom, the two giant wolves collided and began tearing into each other. Boulders and trees around them exploded one after another.

Dust filled the air and splinters flew.

High in the sky, Chu Mu descended like a Celestial General from the heavens. His gray-white robes fluttered, the Giant God Arm Armor encased his right arm, and he held the Minghong Saber in his hand.

He swung his saber, unleashing a savage aura that instantly matched the ferocity of the two Demon Beasts before him.

"Die!"

He roared, and the blade’s light flashed like a bolt of lightning tearing through the sky.

The immense Power from his Body Refining Perfection Cultivation, amplified by the Giant Divine Arm, made this strike seem capable of shattering anything in Chu Mu’s eyes.

The saber sliced down on the fiery wolf’s waist. The blade tore through the flames wreathing its body, and a bloody gash appeared in its wake.

Steaming red blood dripped down, igniting a large patch of broken wood. The raging fire spread visibly wherever the blood spattered.

A strike powerful enough to kill most Qi Refining Perfect Cultivators hadn’t dealt a fatal blow to this fiery red wolf.

Against a Demon Beast that had one foot in Tier Two, Chu Mu didn’t dare let his guard down for a second.

He leaped up again, his crescent-moon-like blade once more carrying pure, terrifying Power as he aimed precisely for the gash on the giant wolf.

Against a Demon Beast like this, ordinary Magic techniques were far too limited.

A direct clash of pure Power was much better.

This kind of damage was more direct, and this kind of battle felt somewhat more exhilarating to Chu Mu.

Learning its lesson from the previous strike, the fiery wolf reacted with incredible speed this time. The moment the blade fell, it ignored Wangcai’s biting and shot forward.

The strike, which should have been fatal, thus missed its vital spot and landed on the giant wolf’s tail, lopping a section of it clean off.

Just as Chu Mu was about to strike again, the giant wolf, which had been tangled with Wangcai, suddenly leaped up. Its sharp claws slashed through the air as it lunged at Chu Mu.

BANG!

Chu Mu raised his saber to block. The clash of blade against claw produced a dull boom.

A transparent shockwave erupted from the terrifying force of the impact.

As Chu Mu was sent flying backward, a thought flickered in his mind, and the Top Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Shield, materialized before him.

He ignored the claw that swiped at him again and swung his saber once more.

The claw slammed into the Shield. The terrifying Power behind it jolted his Divine Sense, and Chu Mu’s face paled slightly, but he still brought his saber down without a hint of hesitation.

At the same time, with another flicker of his will, the Formless Needle shot toward the fiery red wolf with lightning speed.

A saber, a needle, and Wangcai pouncing from behind.

The fiery red wolf, a Half-Step Tier Two Demon Beast, was now enveloped by a multi-pronged attack.

ROAR!

A roar shook the forest. At its cry, the crimson flames swirling around the giant wolf expanded at a visible rate!

BOOM!

The next instant, a heaven-shaking explosion erupted!

A raging wave of fire burst forth, blasting away the attacks that had been closing in on the giant wolf!

The Divine Sense controlling the Shield and the Flying Needle was violently shattered!

The Flying Needle and the Shield were swept away by the blast wave and clattered to the ground.

If Chu Mu hadn’t been holding the Minghong Saber, it likely would have been knocked from his grasp as well.

Chu Mu was sent tumbling to the ground. He rolled and immediately leaped to his feet, ignoring everything else. He scanned the area and saw a streak of red light fleeing through the forest.

A closer look revealed it was the fleeing fiery red wolf. However, after that explosive outburst, its body had clearly shrunk in size...

"Die!"

Chu Mu let out a low growl. The Divine Wind Boots on his feet flared, and he transformed into a gray-white shadow that flashed across the sky.

The blade’s edge was bright and cold. When it fell again, the fleeing streak of red light came to a dead stop.

BOOM!

Its massive body crashed into the forest, felling a large swath of trees and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The swirling flames had dimmed. Its crimson fur looked even redder now, soaked in gushing blood.

Chu Mu descended from the sky. As he gazed at the fiery red corpse before him, his mind stirred, and he couldn’t help but feel a touch of melancholy.

’The presence or absence of Spiritual Wisdom truly makes a world of difference.’

This fiery red wolf had clearly attempted to break through to Tier Two and failed. Although its Cultivation was still at Tier One Perfection, it was leagues above an ordinary Tier One Perfection Demon Beast.

’If this had been a Cultivator with one foot in the Foundation Establishment Realm, I would never have dared to actively seek a fight, not even if I had the audacity of a madman.’

But a Demon Beast, even one on the verge of the Foundation Establishment Realm... with its low Spiritual Wisdom, acting only on instinct, it had no experience fighting Cultivators and didn’t understand their methods.

The Demon Beast’s disadvantages were immense.

To put it simply, when he threw a Magical Artifact at it, the Demon Beast wouldn’t know what it was. It would often only react once its instincts registered the threat.

And by then, it was often too late.

The fiery red wolf before him was the perfect example.

A Half-Step Tier Two, killed by a mere Qi Cultivation Realm Cultivator like him.

Clearly, intelligence was the root of superiority.

As he raised a hand to deal with the fiery red corpse, Chu Mu couldn’t help but recall the battle that had just transpired.

When he first stepped into the Cultivation Immortal Realm, his primary method of Battle was Magic.

Magic from the Refueling Realm had undoubtedly helped him through many dangerous situations.

But as his Cultivation increased and his enemies grew stronger, the limitations of Magic became more and more apparent, and it had since taken a backseat.

Talismans and Magical Artifacts, in turn, became his main tools for combat.

And with the rise of his Body Refining Cultivation...

Chu Mu recalled his recent battles. He had used his physique as a foundation, amplifying its advantages with the Giant Divine Arm to engage in close-quarters combat, using terrifying Power to face his foes. The results had been surprisingly good.

’But...’

’It’s obvious that whether I’m using Magic, Talismans, and Magical Artifacts, or fighting in close combat with my physique, I’m only using one aspect of my power. I haven’t fully integrated the strength of my Dharma and Body Cultivation.’

In other words, he hadn’t brought out the greatest advantage in Combat Power that came with Dharma and Body Cultivation.

As Chu Mu pondered this in silence, his attention couldn’t help but drift to the Great Sun Scripture, which hung like a great sun in his Sea of Divine Soul.

’This is a problem I have no way of solving at the moment.’

After all, his Body Refining Cultivation and Qi Cultivation were two separate paths of Cultivation, not a truly unified one.

Thus, the power they provided was naturally two parallel forces, not a true integration.

"Is this useful to you?"

Lost in thought, Chu Mu turned and asked Wangcai, who was dashing over, covered in bloody scratches.

"WHIMPER WHIMPER..."

Wangcai padded forward, circled the fiery wolf’s corpse once, and whimpered twice. It showed neither much excitement nor any major change in emotion.

Chu Mu’s brow furrowed. Wangcai’s reaction meant that the Bloodline within this fiery red wolf wasn’t very appealing to it.

Otherwise, Wangcai would have probably been darting around in excitement already.

He pondered for a moment before deciding to extract the Bloodline Essence from the fiery red wolf anyway.

’Every little bit helps. It’s still a Half-Step Tier Two wolf-type Demon Beast, and one that knew how to use Fire Attribute Spiritual Power for its Attacks. It has to be stronger than Wangcai’s Black-backed Grey Wolf bloodline.’

He muttered an incantation and formed a hand seal. As his Divine Sense and Magical Power flowed, an invisible ripple enveloped the massive corpse of the fiery red wolf.

"Rise!"

Chu Mu pointed sharply at the corpse. With a low shout, a faint red glow slowly emerged from the Demon Beast’s body, eventually forming a thin red line that stretched from the corpse to coil around his fingertip.

As time passed, the red light on his fingertip grew brighter and brighter.

After nearly a quarter of an hour, the red light had condensed into a fist-sized red orb. If one looked closely, they could see a mass of crystal-clear blood at its center.

He then took out a Jade Bottle. With another hand seal and a silent chant, the ball of Bloodline Essence on his fingertip was absorbed into the bottle.

Only then did he look back at the giant wolf’s corpse. Its fiery fur had completely dimmed, and the entire body had shriveled.

After he extracted the Bloodline Essence, the very essence of the corpse had been drawn out. The remaining husk was worthless.

He tossed out a Fireball, and the corpse was immediately engulfed in raging flames, turning into a pile of ash in an instant.

Chu Mu scanned his surroundings, and his gaze settled in the direction of the Demon Beast’s lair.

A Half-Step Tier Two Demon Beast was qualified to claim a territory for itself in this Demon Beast-infested mountain forest.

"WHIMPER WHIMPER..."

Wangcai whimpered twice and dashed in front of Chu Mu, looking like it was ready to lead the way.

Chu Mu was clearly used to this. ’That silly dog Wangcai might have an unremarkable Black Mountain Wolf bloodline, but that nose of his is really sharp.’

Whether it was for scouting enemies or its sensitivity to Spiritual Qi, it was far more effective than his own Divine Sense Perception.

At the Qi Cultivation Realm, even at Perfection, one’s Divine Sense only covered a small area. Beyond that range, he had to rely on his naked eyes.

And in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, unless one cultivated some kind of Pupil Skill or possessed a special talent, the saying "seeing is believing" was the exact opposite of the truth. What you saw with your eyes was often the most unreal thing of all.

The man and his beast traveled onward, eventually stopping before a cave.

Chu Mu scanned the area. The fiery wolf’s aura lingered, and the surroundings were completely silent. His Divine Sense Perception detected no trace of any other Demon Beasts.

Evidently, this cave was the fiery red wolf’s lair.

The cave was huge, almost as large as the Fengming Mountain Black Market he remembered.

Perhaps due to the influence of the wolf’s Fire Attribute, the cave walls and ground were all shimmering brightly, crystallized from the scorching heat.

Stepping inside, he was immediately enveloped by a rolling heat wave. Chu Mu glanced around, and his eyes instantly fixed on a churning lake of lava in the deeper part of the cave.

Lava was common, and lava lakes were not rare.

But within his Divine Sense Perception, the dense Earth Vein Fire Qi was distinct and extremely rich.

This meant that the lava lake had been formed because of the Earth Vein Fire Qi.

’If it was formed by Earth Vein Fire Qi, then this scene is anything but ordinary.’

’If it’s because of Earth Vein Fire Qi, it means the Earth Vein Fire Qi has leaked out for some reason.’

’Either the Earth Vein Fire Qi erupts, and the lava lake, even this entire mountain peak, would cease to exist, turning completely into a Fire Domain!’

’Or, the Earth Vein Fire Qi is insufficient and is still accumulating Fire Qi Energy, waiting for the day it erupts.’

’But the Earth Vein Fire Qi in this lava lake is extremely dense, far more than a lake of this size should be able to contain.’

’Based on a simple Energy comparison, the Earth Fire Vein here should have erupted completely long ago.’

’And yet, it hasn’t...’

’This is undoubtedly very unusual.’

He scanned the cave again. Besides the lava lake, it was completely barren, with nothing else to be seen.

"WHIMPER WHIMPER......"

Wangcai seemed to have sensed something. It darted forward and began whimpering at the lava lake.

"There’s something inside?"

Chu Mu pointed at the lava lake.

"WHIMPER WHIMPER..."

Wangcai whimpered again, tentatively touched the lava with its paw, then fearfully pulled it back.

A glint appeared in Chu Mu’s eyes. He cautiously extended his Divine Sense into the lava, but the surging Fire Qi was so intense that he could only penetrate a few meters before being unable to advance further. He couldn’t see what was deep inside the lava lake at all.

He mulled it over for a moment, then waved a hand, signaling for Wangcai to be on alert, and walked toward the lava lake...

...