Chapter 17

"Phew, let's see what good stuff there is!"

Luck was on his side. In the dim mountain hollow, Li Chen found a small, shimmering object. He sat by the fire, rummaging through the backpacks of the three adventurers.

Rustle!

He flipped through them, and a pile of miscellaneous items fell out.

There were quite a few things, but very few caught Li Chen's eye. He reached out and placed a few jade boxes containing spirit medicines into his own backpack.

Next, he took out all the spirit pills from the three adventurers. These were all good things. Although he didn't need them, he could use them to do someone a favor.

During the years he spent as a medicine slave in the Li family and the few months he spent as a miscellaneous worker in the Xuan Yun Sect, although he was often bullied, it didn't make him lose heart or close his heart off.

More importantly, it made him realize the warmth and coldness of human relationships. Sometimes, it was necessary to learn how to handle interpersonal relationships.

More importantly, that night's battle with the wolf pack gave him a long-lost sense of warmth, even if it was brief and only after he showed his extraordinary strength.

But none of that mattered. People lived with masks on. Li Chen had suffered and toiled for so many years and was already used to it. He naturally had masks, and not just one.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, while sorting through the remaining items, Li Chen's fingers touched a bulging object. It was in an inner pouch that hadn't been emptied before.

Rip!

He used a dagger to cut open the inner pouch and pulled out a small jade box.

Click!

He gently opened the lid, and inside was a crystal core, no bigger than a walnut, with a mottled surface and a faint, star-like glow.

On one side, there was a dark, ancient key, about the length of a finger, cold to the touch.

Li Chen's eyes lit up. He examined it carefully but couldn't determine the origin of the key. After thoroughly searching the other two backpacks and finding no inner pouch, he casually put it aside.

"Ha ha, it was worth all the effort and blood I shed!"

Looking at the shape of the demon core in his hand, although it was at most from a mid-stage first-rank demon beast, it still had significant value for the current Li Chen.

Especially after he devoured the demon core and cultivated inner breath, although the inner breath he refined from the spirit pills was much less than others, he had advanced a step after consuming several bottles of Breath-Gathering Pills.

Now, with this mid-stage demon beast's demon core, it would certainly help him a lot. He might even break through to the sixth layer of the Inner Breath Realm.

Taking a deep breath to calm his emotions, Li Chen checked the wound on his left hand. He found that the blood scab had already formed, but the fine blood vessels had not yet healed.

"It seems I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning!"

Li Chen estimated and took out some wild fruits and dried fruit he had picked. He immediately began to practice the *Fusion of the Sun* technique, sitting cross-legged.

Although swallowing the demon core now would cause his wound to reopen and bleed, it wouldn't hinder him from stabilizing his consumed inner breath. He would break through at his peak state early the next morning.

As he sat cross-legged, no one could see the dark red birthmark hidden under his hair, or the invisible vortex above his head. Each time the light flashed, it synchronized with the vortex's rotation.

Time passed like flowing water, and it was already morning.

The sunlight in the mountains always came late, and since Li Chen was in the cave, he naturally couldn't feel it. However, his habit of waking up early made him automatically wake up.

"It's time!"

A sharp light flashed in his eyes, and Li Chen grabbed the demon core, swallowing it directly. He immediately began to practice the *Fusion of the Sun* technique.

If someone saw him swallowing the demon core this way, they would be shocked.

Because, even a True Forging Realm martial artist wouldn't directly swallow a demon core to refine it.

First, it was hard to swallow, and second, it contained the unique demonic energy of the demon beast, which could cause one's meridians to become disordered and lead to death.

But Li Chen, relying on the physical strength he had honed as a medicine slave for many years and his body's mysterious special nature, endured the pain.

Buzz!

Li Chen, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, didn't notice that the moment he swallowed the demon core, the birthmark on his temple suddenly emitted a blood-red light, making him look even more sinister in the dim cave, like a demon.

Even a foul smell began to emanate from his body, making people feel nauseous.

As time passed, after nearly an hour, the light popping sounds in Li Chen's body became more frequent and dense, like bubbles bursting.

The veins on his face bulged, and a thin stream of blood seeped from his tightly clenched teeth. His brows were tightly furrowed, and his distorted face showed that he was enduring intense pain.

Tap tap!

At this moment, several disordered footsteps and faint breathing sounds came from outside the cave.

"The trail ends here. Second Senior Brother, Little Junior Sister, I can guarantee that the scar-faced man is in the cave!"

A slightly smug and youthful voice said, indicating that the speaker was young.

"Junior Sister, don't go in. Be careful!"

Outside the cave entrance, the five young and ignorant people who had buried the three adventurers the previous night, the steady Second Senior Brother, pulled back the green-robed girl.

"The person is inside. We should just rush in and kill him, and... avenge them!"

The green-robed girl pouted in dissatisfaction but was more excited.

The other three young men were also eager and ready to go.

"Have you forgotten what you promised me last night?"

The Second Senior Brother's face darkened, and he stared at her intently.

"I know, I know!"

The green-robed girl's face suddenly turned red, and she lowered her head.

"Friend inside, please come out and talk!"

Seeing this, the Second Senior Brother gathered his courage and shouted into the cave.

"Talk... talk... talk..."

But after waiting for a while, there was only the echo in the mountain hollow and the cave, nothing else.

After several attempts, no one responded.

"Second Senior Brother, maybe the person isn't in the cave?"

"I think that scar-faced man is probably too scared to come out!"

"Why don't we just rush in and kill that bastard, as Junior Sister suggested?"

The three young men watched the Second Senior Brother shout and couldn't help but mock him sarcastically.

"Shut up, if you have the guts, go in and check!"

The green-robed girl's face turned angry, and she shouted.

"Junior Sister..."

The Second Senior Brother's face changed. He didn't take the three young men's words seriously, but if he let them go in, what would he do if there was real danger?

But before he could stop them, the three young men, who couldn't wait any longer, rushed into the cave.

Seeing this, the Second Senior Brother gritted his teeth and followed.

No matter how they acted, they were still his fellow disciples for many years, and he couldn't let them take risks without caring.

"Second Senior Brother..."

The green-robed girl immediately followed.

"Ghost!"

Just as the two of them rushed into the cave, they heard the three young men scream in shock. They immediately sped up and dashed into the cave.