Chapter 87: Magic Core Energy

Looking at the magic core in his hand, which was slightly larger than a thumb, Jian Chen couldn't help but smile slightly and whispered, "Indeed, it's a second-grade magic core. Judging by the purity of the energy, it's much stronger than the magic cores of the magical beasts in the Kagas Academy. It seems that the magical beasts in the Magical Beast Mountains are much stronger than those raised in the Kagas Academy, and that's not without reason."

After putting away the magic core, Jian Chen looked down at his body, which had completely turned dark green. Despite this, he himself had not been harmed at all. Due to his use of the special cultivation method recorded in the Purple Green Sword Canon since childhood, his physical constitution was very strong. Therefore, although the poison sprayed by the venomous scorpion could make Jian Chen feel pain, it could not invade his body. Moreover, Jian Chen deliberately used holy power to counteract the damage caused by the poison. As a result, although his entire body was enveloped in a layer of dark green poison, he only felt a slight burning pain at first, and then he was fine.

Jian Chen looked around and listened intently for a moment, muttering, "There should be no water source nearby, so there's no way to clean the stuff off my body. It looks like I'll have to make do with a rough cleaning." Next, Jian Chen picked some leaves from the trees and used them to wipe off the thin layer of poison on his body. Then, he took out a new set of clothes from his spatial waist belt and changed into them. Although it was rare to encounter anyone in the vast Magical Beast Mountains, Jian Chen did not have the habit of going naked.

After changing clothes, Jian Chen left directly, leaving the dead body of the venomous scorpion on the ground. Although the corpses of magical beasts and some important parts of their bodies could be sold for a lot of money, this venomous scorpion was merely a second-grade magical beast and not particularly valuable. Even if he sold it, it wouldn't fetch much. Moreover, Jian Chen had a considerable amount of purple gold coins, so he didn't care about that small amount of money.

Although the magical beasts in the Magical Beast Mountains were much stronger than those raised in the Kagas Academy, the number of magical beasts that appeared here was much less than in Kagas. After all, although this Magical Beast Mountain range was not the largest on the Tianyuan Continent, its area was still very vast. The magical beasts were distributed throughout the mountain range, and it was rare to encounter multiple magical beasts in the same place, though not impossible.

For the entire afternoon, Jian Chen slowed his pace and cautiously continued to delve deeper into the Magical Beast Mountains. By nightfall, he had only encountered two magical beasts. Apart from the first scorpion, which was a second-grade magical beast, the other two were first-grade magical beasts.

At night, a bright moon hung high in the sky, casting a clear moonlight. However, the magical forest was still pitch black, so dark that one could not see their hand in front of their face. The dense leaves blocked the sky, preventing the weak moonlight from penetrating.

In a relatively flat area, a fire burned with a fierce flame, flickering and dancing in the darkness of the night.

Jian Chen sat cross-legged in front of the fire, holding a branch with a large piece of meat skewered on it. As the fire continuously roasted the meat, its color gradually turned golden yellow. Drops of fat squeezed out of the meat, dripping onto the burning fire below, making a sizzling sound.

After satisfying his hunger, Jian Chen took out some special-smelling powder from his spatial ring and sprinkled it around. This powder was something every mercenary entering the magical forest had to prepare. Sprinkling it around at night could effectively prevent the harassment of most venomous insects and snakes. Of course, this powder was only effective against ordinary wild animals and had no effect on magical beasts.

After sprinkling the powder, Jian Chen leaped onto a large tree and sat cross-legged on a relatively flat branch. Then, he took out another kind of white powder with a faint, fresh scent from his spatial waist belt and sprinkled it on his body. This white powder could effectively isolate his body's scent, preventing wild animals from being attracted by his scent at night. After all, the sense of smell of both wild animals and magical beasts in the Magical Beast Mountains was particularly acute. Although this powder could not completely mask Jian Chen's scent, it could at least deceive the sense of smell of ordinary wild animals.

In the Magical Beast Mountains, besides magical beasts, there were also many wild animals. They were called wild animals because they did not have magic cores and their strength was not as high as that of first-grade magical beasts, similar to humans who had not yet condensed a holy weapon to become a holy person.

Although wild animals were not very strong and could be easily hunted by those brave enough to enter the Magical Beast Mountains, no one wanted to be disturbed by wild animals while practicing or sleeping at night. Therefore, almost every mercenary entering the Magical Beast Mountains or spending the night outdoors would carry such powder.

After completing the safety preparations, Jian Chen took out a large number of magic cores from his spatial waist belt, holding several in each hand, and then slowly closed his eyes to begin absorbing the energy within the magic cores.

The energy within the magic cores leaked out at an extremely terrifying speed, finally rushing into Jian Chen's body through his pores and nostrils. Such rapid absorption of the energy within the magic cores naturally put some strain on Jian Chen's body, making all his pores feel swollen and painful, as if every part of his body was in pain.

However, such pain was nothing to Jian Chen, who had a very strong willpower.

The energy within the magic cores carried a violent factor. Under Jian Chen's frenzied absorption of the magic core energy, this violent factor rapidly accumulated in his body. If it weren't for Jian Chen's body being strengthened by the elemental energy of the universe since childhood, making his internal organs and meridians much stronger than others, the violent factor in the magic core energy would have caused serious damage to his body.

As the vast energy within the magic cores was continuously absorbed by Jian Chen, the violent factor contained in the energy also accumulated more and more in his body. However, when this violent factor reached a certain level, a suction force suddenly came from Jian Chen's dantian, pulling the violent factor towards the dantian, where it was absorbed by the two light points, one purple and one green, in the dantian.

On the Tianyuan Continent, if martial artists started cultivating by absorbing the energy within magic cores, they would first remove the violent factor hidden in the magic cores, leaving only pure energy for absorption. This process alone would take a lot of time, and the violent factor in the energy could not be completely removed, leaving some hidden dangers in the body. Therefore, although many martial artists on the Tianyuan Continent started cultivating by absorbing the energy within magic cores, no one could persist in it continuously. They would usually take a break every few days or ten days to thoroughly refine the energy in their bodies, to eliminate any potential problems.

However, Jian Chen's absorption of the energy within the magic cores was completely free from such concerns. Perhaps due to the two light points, one purple and one green, in his dantian, the violent factor hidden in the energy would automatically separate as soon as the energy entered his body, allowing Jian Chen to absorb the energy without any reservations. This gave Jian Chen a significant advantage in cultivation compared to others.

As the energy within the magic cores was continuously absorbed by Jian Chen, he could clearly feel the holy power in his dantian growing at a visible rate. Although it seemed slow, Jian Chen knew that this speed was already very fast compared to others. At this rate, it wouldn't take long for his strength to break through to the Great Holy stage.

The next day, when the sunlight filtered through the dense leaves and shone down, Jian Chen, who was sitting cross-legged on a tree, slowly opened his eyes. He then flipped off the tree and landed steadily on the ground.

Jian Chen moved his body and mentally sensed the holy power in his body. A satisfied smile appeared on his face. He could clearly feel that the holy power in his body was much stronger than when he first condensed his holy weapon. According to his estimation, his strength had probably reached the Intermediate Holy stage.

Although it was only the Intermediate Holy stage, Jian Chen had only been a Holy person for less than a month since he condensed his holy weapon. If others knew that Jian Chen had reached the Intermediate Holy stage in less than a month, they would find it hard to believe.

After eating a little to fill his stomach, Jian Chen set off on his journey again.

...

Time passed quickly, and before long, a month had passed. At the foot of the Magical Beast Mountains, a young man in coarse clothes was facing off against a magical beast that was entirely black, about one meter tall, and three meters long, resembling a leopard.

The young man held a silver-white, long, and slender sword. His tall and straight figure stood there, giving a sense of stability like a mountain. His face was smeared with dirt and dust, making it impossible to see his appearance.

The leopard-like magical beast on the opposite side stared at the young man with fierce eyes, emitting a low, deep roar. Its front body was slightly crouched, and its hind legs were tightly supporting the ground, ready to attack at any moment.