Chapter 8 The Legend of the Imperial Beast

"Six days remain until the task deadline. Please speed up your progress."

As soon as Ye Xiruo entered the space at night, she heard the icy voice of the system. It was like a gleaming dagger stabbing straight into her heart.

"Can't you be a bit more flexible? You know I'm no genius, just a talentless fool."

"Obliteration," the system replied coldly with just two words. Ye Xiruo was instantly thrown into chaos, as if caught in a whirlwind. Was the meaning of her rebirth simply to be mercilessly wiped out by the system?

Forget it. She might as well focus on cultivating first. After all, sharpening the axe wouldn't delay the work of cutting firewood. Sitting quietly beside the spring, Ye Xiruo immersed her entire being into cultivation.

The spiritual energy in the air was extremely abundant, roughly ten times that of the outside world. Ye Xiruo guided the spiritual energy to slowly flow through her meridians and then rushed it towards her acupoints at high speed. Now that Ye Xiruo had already opened six major acupoints, her speed of absorbing spiritual energy had increased significantly.

The gradually strengthening spiritual energy continuously scoured Ye Xiruo's meridians, making them wider. Unbeknownst to Ye Xiruo, a golden halo was gradually emerging from her green spiritual root, looking extremely noble and dazzling.

Ye Xiruo was completely engrossed in her cultivation. With each acupoint she opened, her cultivation speed increased a bit more. The spiritual energy circulated faster and faster, and the several opened acupoints emitted a verdant glow, showing a tendency to connect into a line. If anyone on the continent saw Ye Xiruo's current state, they would surely be tempted to gouge out their own eyes. This couldn't be real. How could someone at the first level of Qi Refining show such a tendency of the pearls and jade connecting into a line? And this cultivation speed was as if she had swallowed some miraculous elixir.

Opening her eyes, a green radiance flashed through her pitch-black eyes.

"System, how long have I been cultivating?" This cultivation session had yielded good results. She had opened four acupoints. One had to know that the further back the acupoints were, the harder they were to open.

"More than half a day has passed outside."

It was time to go out and cultivate. She couldn't miss the chaotic energy in the morning.

Fortunately, fortunately, she hadn't missed it. With a single bound, Ye Xiruo leaped onto the roof and stared at the already faintly grayish-white sky. Soon, the thin chaotic energy slowly dispersed. Ye Xiruo's eyes emitted a faint green glow, and wisps of chaotic energy poured in. Ye Xiruo felt that her speed of absorbing chaotic energy had become even faster, probably due to her cultivation.

Ten minutes later, the sky brightened completely, and the chaotic energy gradually dissipated on the horizon.

With the help of the chaotic energy, Ye Xiruo opened another acupoint. Although she hadn't slept all night, she still looked energetic. Her pitch-black eyes sparkled like precious gems, making it impossible for people to look away.

Ye Xiruo stood up and looked towards the back mountain.

The continuous and vast mountain range was shrouded in white mist. According to Aunt Wang, the back mountain was divided into an inner circle and an outer circle. The outer circle was where they usually moved around, picking wild vegetables and fruits. Sometimes, if they were lucky, they might even encounter precious medicinal herbs. The prey in the outer circle were all small, and a few hunters could handle them. However, if they were unlucky and a beast from the inner circle came out, lives could still be lost.

As for the mysterious inner circle, there were countless rare medicinal herbs, gigantic and bloodthirsty demonic beasts, and even the almighty Imperial Beast that could destroy the world with a single move. For hundreds of years, as a place for cultivators to train, the inner circle had seen countless casualties. Yet, still countless people flocked there, eager to subdue spiritual beasts or obtain heaven-defying medicinal herbs to ascend to the top in one step.

Before she started cultivating, she hadn't felt it. But now, Ye Xiruo felt that the entire back mountain was like a giant dormant demonic beast. The intense pressure made Ye Xiruo's complexion turn a bit pale.

Perhaps the legend was true. Maybe the Imperial Beast really existed. Otherwise, no matter how mysterious the back mountain was, it would have been razed to the ground by those famous and upright sects and reclusive masters. One had to know that the more powerful a person was, the stronger their desire to conquer. Imagining the expressions of those people who had been suppressed by a demonic beast for so many years, Ye Xiruo couldn't help but find it amusing.

However, all of this had nothing to do with her. She wouldn't be able to set foot in the inner circle until she had cultivated for at least ten or eight years.

After having a simple breakfast, Ye Xiruo plunged into the study to memorize medicinal herbs.

Looking at the more than a thousand medicinal herbs that had turned gray, Ye Xiruo finally gained some confidence. She believed that in the face of death, her potential, or whatever it was, would surely be unleashed.

Finally, after classifying all the medicinal herbs that looked similar and were extremely easy to confuse, Ye Xiruo began to compare the subtle differences and respective effects among them, looking extremely serious. Medicinal herbs could save lives or take them. In her previous life, one of her uncles had been misdiagnosed by a quack doctor who mistook the medicinal herbs, resulting in his condition worsening and eventually dying.

After working hard all morning, Ye Xiruo finally completed the most difficult part. Although the remaining number of medicinal herbs was still large, compared to the part she had already finished, it was nothing. Ye Xiruo grinned from ear to ear, looking like a little fox. If she had a tail behind her, it would surely be wagging non-stop. Only today did Ye Xiruo deeply realize that she actually had the potential to be a top student. If she had known earlier, she should have changed her life pursuit in her previous life.

These two days, since Brother Tiesheng had come back, she had persuaded Aunt Wang not to come over and to spend more time with Brother Tiesheng. It was rare for Brother Tiesheng to come home, and who knew when he would be back next time.

Actually, she was quite curious about what level Brother Tiesheng had cultivated to and how he differed from ordinary mortals. If the difference was too great, should she hide herself better, or should she simply reveal her immortal-cultivating physique and join an immortal-cultivating sect to make further plans?

Since the day her pancakes were stolen, Ye Xiruo had been making scallion and egg pancakes for lunch every day. This was already the third meal. Ye Xiruo skillfully kneaded the dough and chopped the scallions. Half an hour later, looking at the pancakes in the pan that were giving off a strong scallion aroma and were golden and translucent, Ye Xiruo took a deep breath and quickly took out the pancakes, putting the remaining ones in to continue baking.

Today, she had made more and was going to send some to Aunt Wang later.

After wolfing down three pancakes and drinking a large bowl of the leftover multi-grain porridge from the morning, Ye Xiruo stroked her round belly contentedly. She was really getting more and more indulgent.

However, due to the ingredients, even with her mediocre cooking skills, the food she made was still delicious. It was truly a blessing in disguise. But now, there was still some rice in the kitchen, but the flour was almost used up, and only two eggs were left that Aunt Wang had given. She had to figure out a way to make money. Ye Xiruo rested her chin in her hands, thinking about how to make money.

Going to the back mountain to try her luck? Forget it. There were too many acquaintances in the outer circle, and it was easy to expose her secret. As for the inner circle, she didn't want to go there and become beast fodder.