Hard-Earned Benefits

As they both began meditating, the Qi around them began to stir. Gradually forming a vortex, wildly sucking all the surrounding Qi towards them.

Stunned, Chang Liuyun felt the ever-rising flood of Qi around him.

Something like this had never happened before! Sure, he was able to gather a lot of Qi around him but it had never reached such an excessive extent.

He couldn't help glancing in Lei Mingxing's direction, she was the true center of the Qi storm.

He was just lucky to be close to it.

A chill ran down his spine, finally, Chang Liuyun began to understand Lei Mingxing's fear from earlier.

This Chaos Physique really was a double-edged sword, with more disadvantages than benefits for the owner.

And it explained why Lei Mingxing ran away.

No matter how loving a family was, a power like this was just too tempting.

He shook his head slightly, there was no time for him to waste, he should take advantage of this opportunity as much as he could. The cultivation world was a lawless land, the strong devoured the weak without a second thought, especially weak cultivators with 'invaluable treasures' like them.

Chang Liuyun calmed his mood again and braced himself for the pain of the volatile Qi entering his body.

Usually, the process was already bad enough when he was on his own, but with this tidal flood of Qi gathered by Lei Mingxing, the pain must be a hundred times worse, right?

He caught some of the Qi around him and scooped it inside his body. Chang Liuyun clenched his teeth, waiting for a familiar stinging and searing sensation to spread throughout his body.

But the anticipated pain never came.

Surprised, Chang Liuyun felt around him,and soon, he found the reason.

Despite how chaotic and violent the surging Qi around him was, as soon as it reached him, or rather Lei Mingxing, it involuntarily slowed down. Obediently entering both their bodies and assimilating without making a fuss.

Chang Liuyun marveled at this discovery for a brief second before frantically absorbing the Qi around him.

This opportunity was even better than he had thought previously!

The more Qi he absorbed, the more he felt like he would be able to break through Qi Condensation, regardless of how absurd it sounded to directly power through high and late-stage in one meditation session.

Time passed, and the amount of Qi inside him grew. The longer he meditated the more focused he felt and he had a hunch that soon the change wouldn't be just quantitive anymore.

His breath quicked slightly and he knew that he had reached the border between Qi Foundation and Qi Condensation, but he still fell a breath short when he suddenly heard the sound of claws scratching wood.

His eyes flew open and he looked out the cave entrance.

The view in front of him made his heart skip a beat from fright.

A ferocious-looking tiger with gleaming red fur and threatening horns hung on the tree, greedily observing the two with its bright green eyes.

Cold sweat poured down Chang Liuyun's back, he glanced over at Lei Mingxing, but the other was still in a deep meditative state, oblivious to the life-threatening beast not far away.

He soon realized why Lei Mingxing hadn't woken up yet.

She was on the verge of breaking through to Qi Foundation stage!

But there was no time for him to feel astonished at her cultivation speed.

He quickly picked up his newly acquired magic weapon and crawled toward the cave entrance.

His reasoning:

Trying to fight the frightening beast, which was at least one whole cultivation base above him, was better than being a pig, waiting to be slaughtered.

With this thought, Chang Liuyun conjured a fireball inside his hand and activated the Spirit Core inlaid in the slender sword, quickly coating it in a layer of ice. Before throwing the fireball at the tree, causing the tiger to jump towards the cave with a roar, baring its glaring yellow fangs. This was the response Chang Liuyun had been waiting for, he jumped out of the cave pointing his sword directly at the tiger's heart.

The tiger was barely able to avoid Chang Liuyun's attack, but the sword still struck its shoulder, stopping its forward momentum and leaving the tiger to plummet down toward the ground.

And Chang Liuyun along with it.

Meanwhile, Lei Mingxing had been focusing entirely on her cultivation.

Qi of all kinds of colors was flooding into her body, and for Lei MIngxing who had never cultivated before, was struggling to incorporate it into her meridians. The only thing she could do was desperately absorb the Qi and hope for the best, while the amount of Qi that was rushing at her only grew with every round of absorption.

As Lei Mingxing was stressed out of her mind, the flood of Qi stopped growing any further, maintaining a constant amount that flushed through Lei Mingxing's meridians.

Lei Mingxing wasn't able to absorb any more Qi no matter how hard she tried.

But the Qi around her didn't disperse, only continuing to surge restlessly. Soon, she couldn't bear it any longer, this never-ending pulling swirling irritated her like nothing she had ever experienced before.

Using her increased inner Qi, she drilled into every single one of her meridians. An image of several small black walls appeared in Lei Minxing's mind. But Lei Mingxing didn't bother to examine the blockades closer, gritting her teeth, seeking relief from this itching irritation, she hurled her inner Qi at the barriers and let the fire explode out.

A bang resounded throughout Lei Mingxing's entire body, forcing a layer of foul black goo out of Lei Mingxing's skin.

Finally, the surrounding Qi began to disperse and Lei Mingxing was able to open her eyes.

But there was no time for her to relax, because she immediately made a frightening discovery.

Chang Liuyun had vanished!

She hurriedly abandoned her spot in the cave and crawled to the entrance.

The tree in front of the cave was burning brightly and Lei Mingxing had a bad feeling in her heart.

Her ears soon caught the sound of fighting a few meters below the cave, she looked down and found Chang Liuyun facing off with a huge beast. But there seemed to be something wrong with Chang Liuyun's left leg and arm, turning the already disadvantageous fight into a losing battle of attrition.

Panicking inside, Lei Mingxing desperately tried to think of a way to help Chang Liuyun.

She heard the tiger roar loudly and a muffled groan from Chang Liuyun in response. She hastily looked down and discovered that the tiger had nailed Chang Liuyun to the ground, its paw pushing down the sword that acted as Chang Liuyun's last line of defense between his face and the beast's maw.

There was so more time for her to hesitate.

Lei Mingxing jumped out of the cave entrance, aiming for the tiger's huge back.

Her dress fluttered from the wind as she fell, but Lei Mingxing wasn't afraid in the slightest.

She stretched out her arms and legs, preparing for the impact.

The tiger didn't even realize that something was falling toward it from above. It took the force of Lei Mingxing's fall head-on, although this wouldn't be enough to harm the beast significantly.

However, that hadn't been Lei Mingxing's intention from the start.

The impact caused the tiger to stumble to the side, freeing Chang Liuyun, and dispelling the immediate threat.

Although the one to suffer the most because of this attack was probably Lei Mingxing. She vomited blood onto the tiger's back, but still held onto the coarse fur.

Even though her head was spinning, she clung to the beast.

She dug her fingers into the tiger's flesh and began transferring her inner Qi into the beast's body through these wounds.

The tiger roared from the pain, madly twisting its body and trying to bite the person on its back. Several times its fangs sunk into Lei Mingxing's robes and the flesh below.

Just before it succeeded in finally pulling that pest off, an ice sword appeared from seemingly nowhere, piercing the tiger's chest. Unfortunately, not quite deep enough to reach its heart.

The tiger roared in pain.

The frenzied beast, which was being burnt from the inside and bled from its chest, knew that its end was near, but it at least wanted to take one of its attackers with it! Ultimately choosing the seemingly easier target lying on the ground with the annoying sword that was still stuck in its chest.

The tiger raised one of its paws wanting to slash down at Chang Liuyun with its enormous claws.

Chang Liuyun's eyes widened, sensing the beast's intentions.

Using all the strength he had left, Chang Liuyun tensed his muscles until they were about to rip and condensed all his remaining Qi into the sword.

"HARGHH!"

The sword pushed further inside the tiger's chest, finally penetrating its heart.

Inside the still thumping heart, the ice from the sword's blade met Lei Mingxing's inner Qi that was indiscriminately spreading inside the beast's body.

Their stark contrast caused an explosion that directly blew the tiger's heart to bits, instantly killing the beast.

The tiger's unwilling eyes lost the luster, its raised paw dropped down before the beast's entire body fell to the ground.