Discovery

After scanning the cave their spirit sense, they went inside. Qingxue conjured a flame in her left hand to illuminate all of its corners. Being an apprentice alchemist, she was versed in quite a few flame arts.

Except for the huge carcass of the Waterhorn Buffalo, the cave was completely barren.

After checking all the nook and crannies, they quickly bought the Bear's body inside the cave as well.

Qingxue retrieved a short dagger from the bag and divided the beast's body into portions.

She had learned from her mother how to gut and skin animals.

Although she was sheltered, her mother taught her the essential life skills necessary for survival. Knowing how to handle beasts was one of them.

The body of a demonic beast was full of treasures.

Their flesh could be eaten. It was filled with spiritual energy.

Their blood and marrow could be refined into medicine.

Their hides could be crafted into armours or used for decoration. It was a show of their power and prestige.

In short, every part of them was valuable.

An inexperienced person could get nauseated due to all the blood and internal organs.

And without knowing how to skin the beasts, one could easily damage their precious hides.

"Looks like there's no demonic core."

"Well, that's to be expected. It wasn't very strong after all." He replied.

Most powerful beasts condensed demonic crystals in their body, which contained a part of their cultivation. They were incomparably precious and had many different uses.

After extracting all the blood from the beasts, Tianlong retrieved a three-meter tall cauldron from his interspatial ring and put all the essence blood inside of it.

Indeed, each of them possessed an interspatial ring but still carried baggage with them. It wasn't because they liked to carry extra weight but because displaying the rings would incite greed in others.

If one saw cultivators in the mountain not having a bag with them, it meant that they possessed interspatial rings. Otherwise, how would they carry their stuff?

Adding to the fact that the two were just Qi Condensation and Blood Surging rookies, they would immediately be labelled by others as moneybags. After all, even the lowest quality interspatial ring cost around a thousand spirit stones.

"I'm now going to add the Yang Blood Medicine."

Tianlong retrieved a vial containing a crimson black liquid and carefully added a drop of the liquid into the essence blood.

The moment the drop fell in the blood, the cauldron of blood became pitch black and started to seethe and churn.

"Yang Blood fruit, a priceless treasure among the late-stage blood surging experts who can use it to condense their blood further.

"However, if the cultivation base is any lower, their entire body will explode due to excessive blood qi. Are you sure you'll be able to handle its medicinal prowess?" She asked worriedly.

He smiled and answered, "Silly girl, there are many different types of alchemical potions in this world. Don't draw all your inferences from what you've learned in the clan's textbooks.

"This potion is created after diluting the medicinal prowess of the fruits with other herbs. Even an early-stage Blood Surging realm cultivator like me can use it."

As he was speaking, the blood essence was losing its fluidity and becoming a thick crimson paste.

Quickly disrobing, he jumped into the cauldron completely naked and started to revolve the Roc Transmogrification art.

His pores opened up and started to crazily absorb the blood energy.

The blood veins inside of his body swelled up as the energy cycled through them in a set pattern.

His body was like an insatiable whale that gulped the blood without stopping for an instant.

Seeing him use such a strong cultivation technique and grow stronger by the second, she became happy for him.

She remembered that his parents used to live outside of Brightmoon country before coming back to the clan. No wonder, they had such strange techniques and potions.

A desire to explore the vast world was born in her heart, but it quickly died out.

Going by the standards of Brightmoon country and the resources of her clan, the most she would become is a third-circle alchemist. And even that may take her decades to accomplish.

Without background and talent, no sect outside would want to take someone outside their region. She may be considered a talent in her clan, but there were thousands of such talents everywhere.

However, the biggest factor chaining her down was that she was unwilling to part with her clan. Especially her mother and friends. If others knew what she was thinking, they would call her childish.

Wherever they went, they would make that place their home.

However, they would also leave it if they found a place with better opportunities.

In short, they had no home.

While Qingxue was lost in her depressive thoughts, Tianlong had completely absorbed the blood qi of the beasts. The demonic air about him grew stronger which would increase even further in the future.

Opening his eyes, he exhaled a breath of foul air and was greeted by the depressed face of Qingxue.

"What happened? Wanted to join me?"

Just as she was about to explain herself, she cringed her nose.

"You stink!!"

Remnants of the black paste still stuck to his body which now emitted a foul smell.

"Damn, you're right!" Noticing the smell, he too was nauseated. Picking up his clothes, he darted towards the nearby creek.

After washing himself thoroughly, he went back inside the cave.

Inside, Qingxue had started to cook the fresh meat on top of a fire. She carefully added spices to the roasted meat making it emit a delicious fragrance.

Tianlong licked his lips and waited for the meat to finish cooking.

"This is the first time you are cooking for me right?"

Tianlong's sudden question threw her off – guard.

He was right.

Except for her mother who taught her, no one had ever tasted her cooking. But there was no way she would tell him.

Sadly, her blush told him everything he needed to know.

"How is it?" She asked once they started eating. She was slightly nervous.

Tianlong closed his eyes and savoured the feeling of the juicy meat. The dish was excellent.

She had inherited the talent of cooking along with alchemy from her mother.

Tianlong gave her a thumbs up.

She was naturally very happy. But when she noticed the voracious appetite of Tianlong, she was flabbergasted.

"How do you fit that much food inside your stomach?" She gave him a perplexed look.

"It's due to my cultivation technique." He lied through his teeth.

…

It was already evening, so the two of them decided to call it a day.

He closed the entrance of the cave with a boulder and removed the scent of blood from the area.

Qingxue sat in a lotus position and retrieved a few spirit stones. Closing her eyes, she started to absorb their energy.

Tianlong sat a little distance away from her. She might get disturbed by his cultivation.

Except for the Roc Transmogrification art that was used to increase his cultivation art, he had two sets of divine abilities:

The first one – Galewind Shift. It was just a beginner level footwork technique that used the wind to propel his movements.

Having learned the footwork during his physical training, he just needed to learn the energy flow involved in it. With his superb knowledge of physiology, it was no problem for him.

The second ability – Parting Wind Slash. This was a technique that enabled him to create sharp wind blades and control them at will.

It was far more difficult to get mastery in this technique as it was directly related to one's affinity towards the wind.

Whenever he practised the technique, he felt as if hundreds of blades were moving around his body.

Amidst the uncomfortable and slightly painful feeling, he condensed his blood energy and started to create illusionary wind blades.

Time passed by.

Soon it became completely dark.

The moon wasn't visible in parts of the forest due to the thick canopy.

The occasional howls of the nocturnal beasts broke the eerie silence that shrouded the forest.

However, none of them came to disturb the two.

Sitting quietly inside the cave, Qingxue was completely immersed in her cultivation.

Meanwhile, sitting beside the fire, Tianlong had a slight frown on his face. His weak spiritual sense was completely spread out in the wind surrounding his body.

He could 'sense' that there was a portion of wind that was being continuously 'absorbed' by the flame and turned into a different form.

Surprisingly, the very same portion of wind was also being absorbed in his body.

If someone else heard that he was able to sense the different parts of air while still in the Blood Surging stage, they wouldn't believe him.

After all, only extremely powerful wind cultivators with sky-high cultivation bases were able to sense the different gases.

The common theory regarding wind was that it was a mixture of different gases. The gases themselves were considered a weak form of spiritual energy that acted as a carrier for other types of spiritual energy like Flame Qi or Lightning Qi.

It was supported by the fact that a flame burning in a closed room will eventually die out even if there was fuel available.

It was no wonder why Tianlong was so confused when he could perceive the different components of wind.

"I didn't sense any Qi fluctuations from that gas. So what was it?

"Could it be that I discovered a new type of gas? But that's impossible… I don't believe I'm able to do something like that yet. Unless…

He quickly sent his spiritual sense towards his heart.

The vine was still wrapped around his heart as usual. However, the dull grey petal seemed to have slightly moved from its original position.

"Sure enough." Tianlong chuckled dryly.

Once he saw that the mysterious flower bud was the cause of his heightened senses, he longer had the mood to cultivate.

After all, it was the cause of his mother's illness and none of them wished to disclose its origin to him.

The very reason he had chosen physiology was that he wanted to study it and cure his mother.

"Without having a clear idea, I wouldn't disturb it." He inwardly thought.

He had plans regarding it which he would execute while outside the senses of his parents. This was something he had planned since long ago.

However, he needed a more powerful spirit sense for that, which in turn, required a stronger cultivation base.

"All in due time. There's no need to get impatient."

Calming his mind, he took out a book and few other study materials.

The subjects they covered were related to medicine, physiology, formations …and higher mathematics.

Surprisingly, he still hadn't stopped his study of the subject even after becoming a cultivator.

When he opened the books and started to solve some of the listed problems, the murderous aura that surrounded him started to rapidly dissipate.

He looked just like an earnest student.