In a secluded place within the valley, Li Ying and Han Ying—Fang Xing’s two sworn brothers—guarded the entrance, the golden crow and Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits stood guard inside, and Xu Linyun overlooked the exterior of the cave. The blue-clothed bandit was more free-willed and was allowed to do anything he wished since Fang Xing couldn’t feel any hostility from him even with his keen senses.

　　This place was indeed extremely secluded and Fang Xing decided he would heal himself here. As for the opportunity the golden crow had obtained, Fang Xing investigated it further and discovered that whether it was the Scripture of Revered Resilience ¹ or the Serene Ice Jade Coffin, he wasn’t able to touch any of it; it seemed to be an inheritance only the golden crow could have.

　　It was certainly not a good idea to compare oneself with others. A great number of people had done so much and died or risked their lives just to get the chance to enter the Mysterious Domain for the opportunities within, yet all this damn bird did was come here and walk around a bit only to be covered up in the Mysterious Domain. He was then lucky enough to fall into that lake of blood and stumble upon the mysterious and profound Scripture of Revered Resilience….

　　This scripture was definitely extraordinary. The golden crow seemed to still have a Spirit Stage cultivation level since there wasn’t even a hint of his body changing into human form, yet his blood and Qi had certainly already reached Foundation Stage… and not even ordinary Foundation Stage, either. Not even people with battle prowess on the level of Prince Chu Huang were able to harm him much—this was incredibly abnormal. The golden crow had departed from the standard cultivation practices of the beasts, however, and he had his own concerns to worry about.

　　The beast clans weren’t very powerful and most of their cultivation methods were controlled by the few large clans. This forced ordinary beasts to use instinct to guide their cultivation, and the golden crow didn’t know what kind of path he wanted to take even now. He’d be able to use the manuals of the human race if he took human form, but he’d received a premonition after stepping onto what seemed to be a completely different path: if he were to create a human form, his innate ability with this beast body would be weakened considerably. Fang Xing wasn’t able to help much on this matter either, as his primary concern was recovering from his injuries as soon as possible.

　　Xu Linyun crafted a few cauldrons of pellets based on Fang Xing’s current condition, while Fang Xing himself opened up his little treasure vault—and it truly was a treasure vault, enough to cause Xu Linyun to freeze up in shock when she saw what was inside—and picked out some relevant pellets and elixirs as well. He consumed them to start absorbing the medicinal powers and mend the heavy wounds of his body and soul, and he also took the opportunity while he was being nourished by so many pellets and medicines to cultivate his body at the same time.

　　If the body was carefully nourished and cared for after several extremely intense battles, it was possible for it to be continuously improved. This was literally what it meant to be a battle cultivator, and it was only through a countless number of great battles that a battle cultivator could quickly increase their battle prowess. Of course, it was also necessary to gather an excessive amount of resources and utilize high-quality medicinal and alchemical rejuvenation, otherwise the cultivator’s hidden wounds would continue to pile up and overwhelm the cultivator after only a few battles.

　　The Scripture of Revered Spirit allowed Fang Xing to return to his original state at an extraordinary pace. Hidden wounds were typically far more difficult to recover from than external wounds, yet he required only three days to be nearly completely healed. After thinking about some possibilities of the future, however, he didn’t rush to leave seclusion and instead decided to look at all the resources he’d plundered. This Mysterious Domain had such an abundance of opportunities and fortunes it could even be considered a heaven of sorts, and Fang Xing was determined to make the most of it to the very end.

　　Once again deciding he’d increase his cultivation levels in order to take on the powerful enemy on the horizon, Fang Xing quickly picked out all manner of spirit herbs and pellets that contained great amounts of Qi. The five golden pellets from the immortal’s garden had been the most valuable of his gains, and after giving one to the blue-clothed bandit and consuming one earlier during the battle to have a continuous supply of Qi, he only had three left. These were the most important resources he had to improve his cultivation level. Fang Xing didn’t hurry to consume them, however, and instead first took some other pellets to replenish his Qi and increase his cultivation level to the peak of Foundation Stage tier three. It was only then that he finally took a golden pellet, and since he understood how its medicinal properties worked after taking one once before, he took a few breaths and waited in calm silence.

　　Fang Xing knew this golden pellet was called the Nine-Turn Lucidity Pellet and that its medicinal properties were exceedingly powerful. Once the pellet was dissolved, his blood would temporarily increase the medicinal properties of other pellets by thirty percent—an effect that was nearly magical in practice. He was the only person who’d dare to actually swallow one of these pellets outright—such a thing was unthinkable for an ordinary person—but even he wouldn’t treat them lightly. By the time the pellet had started to dissolve, he was already prepared for the extremely powerful and invasive medicinal powers about to come.

　　After a few breaths, however, some Qi unexpectedly began to tug upon the pellet within his body, and the pellet actually trembled slightly before a number of shining golden strands started spreading outward. These softly shining, tentacle-like strands started seeping into Fang Xing’s internal organs and connecting all throughout his body. Specifically, it was as though a formation had started to appear within his body, and as he continued to draw in and release his breaths, the waves of Qi flowed all throughout….

　　Suddenly, the Qi rushed forward like tens of thousands of horses stampeding across a battlefield, completely catching Fang Xing by surprise—he could feel that the medicinal powers released by the golden pellet were far stronger than what he’d felt during the earlier battle. This actually made him wonder if his decision to use it just to replenish Qi during the battle was perhaps a great mistake. Even if it wasn’t a mistake, it was definitely a great waste; the golden pellets weren’t meant to simply replenish Qi, but to protect the user’s sea of Qi!

　　The amount of Qi contained inside the pellet was certainly very high, but its most important quality actually seemed to be its ability to condense and gather Qi. It created the likes of a whirlpool with Fang Xing at the center, to the point Fang Xing felt as though he was swallowing a spirit pellet with every breath he took.

　　This left Fang Xing filled with bitterness and grief. Compared to the actual purpose of the golden pellet, using it to simply replenish Qi was nothing short of squandering it! Perhaps even the teacher mentioned by the blue-clothed bandit wasn’t aware of a function like this. No one other than a freak like Fang Xing who had the Scripture of Revered Spirit would dare swallow a golden pellet raw the same way he did, but this was precisely why he was able to discover the golden pellet’s other purpose. Although the golden pellet could increase the quality of other pellets he took, it seemed its most potent use was improving the speed of cultivation overall!

　　Rumble rumble rumble !

　　As Fang Xing continued his seclusion, Qi as far as ten miles away began to funnel towards the center of the cave in violent waves. It was as though a great monster was trying to suck up all the Qi to consume it, only to then turn the Qi into thin strings extending into the ground below. That strands of Qi were then swallowed into Fang Xing’s body, where they spread out endlessly and were converted into his own cultivation.

　　Outside of the cave, it looked as though Fang Xing was trying to swallow the sky!

　　“How could this happen?”

　　Han Ying and Li Ying were incredibly shocked to see such a strange thing while standing guard at the entrance of the valley. Li Ying was the first to stand up and begin looking suspiciously into the valley. “Could an opportunity have landed here?” he asked; a similarly bizarre sight had occurred when the immortal’s garden appeared, so he couldn’t help but to make a connection between the two.

　　Han Ying’s gaze grew stern and he replied only after a long time had passed. “When the immortal’s garden appeared, the Qi was far more turbulent than this.”

　　“Should we go check it out inside?” Li Ying suggested with gleaming eyes.

　　Han Ying looked into the valley and took a while to speak again. “If this is the sign an opportunity is going to appear, it certainly isn’t as majestic as the immortal’s garden, and therefore the opportunity itself is not as great as the immortal’s garden. The immortals’ Sword Embryos are far more precious than the immortal’s garden; therefore, I will not offend that little demon and destroy my chance of obtaining the Sword Embryo over the possibility this might be a new opportunity!”

　　Li Ying was slightly surprised at this before nodding his head. “What you said is indeed true. In that case, I won’t bother with it anymore; the immortal’s Sword Embryo is more important. Except…” he paused and began smirking towards Han Ying, “is it my imagination, or does it feel like you’re being somewhat protective of that little bastard? You seem to think rather highly of him?”

　　Han Ying remained expressionless at this and took quite some time before replying, “He dared to declare war with the Huangfu clan. I am inferior to him!”

　　Li Ying seemed to ponder something. “So when you swore brotherhood with him, it was something you genuinely wanted?”

　　“I swore it, so it is naturally genuine!” Han Ying bluntly stated without any hesitation.

　　Li Ying was a bit taken aback by this. “Then why did you not say so at the time?”

　　“One would only say it is genuine if it is fake. Why would I need to mention it if it is genuine?”

　　Li Ying stared unblinking at Han Ying without saying a word.

　　it was Han Ying who broke the silence this time. “I don’t like men, especially a man as ugly as you.”

　　Li Ying instantly jumped up in anger and cursed out, “You think you’re handsome? You think you’re so handsome?”