Chapter 31

After careful consideration, Hu Gao made up his mind to change his target and hunt mid-stage first-rank demonic beasts. After all, with his current strength, dealing with mid-stage first-rank demonic beasts shouldn't be too much of a problem.

"Great, great." Xiao Wu, naturally, had no objections and immediately became elated.

Hu Gao was too lazy to deal with this glutton. The reason he was working so hard to hunt demonic beasts for Xiao Wu and personally roasting them for him was mainly because he wanted to see if Xiao Wu's breakthrough would bring him any surprises and benefits.

After all, Xiao Wu was a divine beast. Once he grew up, he would be a terrifying existence!

"Ten steps to kill a man, a thousand miles without a trace," Hu Gao felt as if he had transformed into a terminator of demonic beasts. As his combat experience grew richer, the speed at which he killed demonic beasts was simply astonishing.

The moon hung on the branches. In just a few hours, Hu Gao encountered nearly twenty mid-stage first-rank demonic beasts. Without exception, all of these demonic beasts were killed one by one.

However, mid-stage demonic beasts were not the same as early-stage ones. Several times, Hu Gao almost became the prey of the demonic beasts, and his body was already covered with injuries. If it weren't for the jade pendant's incredible healing effect, he would have long returned home.

"Poof!"

Under the night sky, after a fierce struggle, Hu Gao finally brought down a demonic beast that could use two different elemental techniques and looked somewhat like a tiger.

Blood splattered, staining the ground red, revealing Hu Gao's indifferent face. At this moment, he suddenly thought of Wu Song from his previous life. He never imagined he could cultivate to such a level, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"Master, wait, this demonic beast has a demonic core inside!" Xiao Wu hurriedly reminded him.

"Hmm? A demonic core?" Hu Gao's expression changed slightly, and he quickly walked over, reaching out to pull out a black, round object from the corpse, about the size of a fist, emitting a powerful elemental energy.

"Finally, I've found something good." Hu Gao held the demonic core in his hand, feeling a bit more balanced. All the demonic beasts he had hunted before had become Xiao Wu's meals, and he hadn't gained any benefits. This time, he finally had some gains.

"Xiao Wu, what's the use of a demonic core?"

"Master, the demonic core is very useful. It contains a large amount of elemental energy, but it also has a trace of demonic aura, so it cannot be absorbed directly. Otherwise, the body might suffer from demonic aura damage, leaving a root of injury."

"Can't absorb? Then what's the use?"

"It seems that the demonic aura can be removed through alchemy, but I'm not too clear on the details."

Hu Gao lowered his head, deep in thought. He thought that this thing should be sold to an alchemist, as it would surely be worth a lot of money. He had killed so many demonic beasts to get just one, and if it weren't for his abnormal healing ability, at least a martial artist at the Body Integration stage or above would be needed to slaughter demonic beasts like this.

"Boss, can I have this thing?" Xiao Wu asked, drooling.

Hu Gao felt a sudden tightness in his heart, as if someone was trying to take his wife.

Xiao Wu immediately put on a pitiful look. "Boss, I feel I'm at the critical point of breaking through. If I absorb this demonic aura, breaking through shouldn't be difficult."

"What? You can directly absorb demonic aura?" Hu Gao asked in surprise.

"Boss, don't worry. The demonic aura is poison to humans, but it's a great tonic for divine beasts. Absorbing a demonic core's demonic aura is almost equivalent to eating the flesh of five same-rank demonic beasts." Xiao Wu was very confident and not at all worried.

"Wow, so powerful?!"

Hu Gao had no objections. Since Xiao Wu was a divine beast, he was indeed powerful, and what could he say? "Alright, you eat the meat, and I'll drink the soup. Don't absorb the elemental energy inside, leave it for me."

The demonic aura couldn't be sold, or it would easily reveal his secret, causing unnecessary trouble. So Hu Gao decided to absorb the elemental energy inside the demonic core to avoid wasting it.

Xiao Wu, hearing this, immediately jumped onto Hu Gao's hand, snatched the demonic core, and quickly began absorbing the demonic aura.

Hu Gao soon saw a thin black gas flowing out of the demonic core and entering Xiao Wu's body. Finally, a faint energy fluctuation came from Xiao Wu's body.

After a moment, the black demonic aura was completely absorbed, and Xiao Wu became quiet, no longer making a fuss or demanding to eat the flesh of the Heavenly Blood Tiger. Instead, he lay peacefully on Hu Gao's shoulder.

His aura became solid and stable, continuously rising.

Faintly, a sacred aura overflowed, and Hu Gao felt the elemental energy in his body becoming active, showing signs of growth.

"Is he about to break through? Divine beasts are indeed divine beasts. Just breaking through can attract the surrounding elemental energy."

Hu Gao was full of amazement. He could feel the special energy emanating from Xiao Wu, calling out the energy in his body, showing signs of improvement.

If he hadn't just broken through to the fifth stage of the Shadow Condensation realm, he believed he could break through without needing a large amount of medicinal water. Moreover, if he chose to cultivate now, his cultivation would improve rapidly.

Suddenly, he saw a thread of golden gas spewed out of Xiao Wu's mouth and then absorbed back.

When the golden gas appeared, the energy in the air seemed to become chaotic.

"This golden gas... This gas transformed my body. Could this be dragon aura?"

Hu Gao recalled the golden gas that overflowed from Xiao Wu's body during his cultivation, nourishing his body and making his physical strength not inferior to his elemental energy cultivation, which was quite unique and greatly beneficial to him.

"It seems Xiao Wu is indeed at the critical point of breaking through."

Hu Gao stood aside, not cultivating, even though it would greatly benefit him. He focused all his attention on watching over Xiao Wu, preventing any danger.

At the same time, he was filled with anticipation, wondering what powerful abilities Xiao Wu would gain after becoming a mid-stage first-rank demonic beast.

"Whoosh..."

Suddenly, Xiao Wu's aura surged, like a divine being ruling the world, emitting supreme pressure, crushing everything around.

"Gurgling..."

Hu Gao felt a gentle sensation from the jade pendant on his chest. This pressure passed through his body like a gentle breeze, causing no harm.

However, the surrounding plants and trees broke, and sand and rocks flew, with a fierce storm raging.

A small breakthrough could cause such a great commotion, which truly amazed Hu Gao.

"Boom!"

Finally, Xiao Wu's aura surged even more, and Hu Gao instantly felt his soul tremble, as if he were being seen through.

"Boss!"

Xiao Wu's eyes suddenly opened, golden light shining, and a pressure emitted as he flew onto Hu Gao's shoulder.

"Did you successfully break through?"

Hu Gao asked with a smile, also observing Xiao Wu. He noticed that Xiao Wu's body had grown larger, and his scales were more lustrous, with the golden light in his eyes becoming more intense.

"Wow, finally broke through, didn't let you down..."

Xiao Wu answered joyfully, very happy. Suddenly, he pointed forward: "Boss, there's a mid-stage first-rank demonic beast ahead, and it has a demonic core. Let's go and hunt it before it escapes..."

"Ahead? Mid-stage first-rank demonic beast? Has a demonic core?"

Hu Gao's expression changed. "How do you know?"

"Because I broke through..."

Xiao Wu quickly answered: "After breaking through, I felt my perception increase sharply. I can clearly sense any living being within 500 meters as long as their cultivation doesn't exceed the third stage. I can even detect their characteristics."

"So powerful?!"

Hu Gao was overjoyed. The third stage was the Essence Burst stage, and the highest cultivation in Ningcheng seemed to be the Essence Burst stage. This meant that in Ningcheng, anyone approaching him within 500 meters would be immediately sensed, and he would instantly know their cultivation level.

This ability was not too significant, but it was not insignificant either.

If he rarely interacted with people of low cultivation, this ability would be useless. However, if someone tried to secretly attack him, this ability could save his life and even help him formulate strategies against enemies, making it a cheat.

Moreover, for Hu Gao, the most important thing was that Xiao Wu could detect demonic cores, which was like having a living treasure...

"Let's go, let's hunt the demonic beast now."

Understanding this, Hu Gao suppressed his joy and quickly rushed forward.

This was an absolute cheat. For example, now, Xiao Wu could immediately sense the presence of demonic beasts around him and even know which ones had demonic cores. This incredible ability made Hu Gao feel like a fish in water in the jungle.

Soon, Hu Gao saw a five-meter-long giant snake ahead, covered in patterns, with fangs protruding, and a body as thick as a bowl. Based on Hu Gao's experience, such large snakes were usually non-venomous and primarily killed by constricting their prey to stop blood flow or by swallowing them whole.

If it weren't for Xiao Wu saying this demonic beast had a demonic core, Hu Gao would have been very unwilling to deal with it. In the jungles of his previous life, pythons were not usually dealt with by brute force. Their bodies were very tough, and fighting them would definitely consume a lot of elemental energy.

Hu Gao calmly searched for a large branch nearby, modified it into a sharp weapon, and tightened his clothes. He then silently approached the giant snake.

"Roar!"

When the distance was only about ten meters, the giant snake suddenly turned around, its huge mouth opening, and it spewed out a cloud of poison!

Hu Gao was stunned. This was absolutely not scientific!

(End of the page)