Chapter 37: Breaking the Profound.

"Come and catch me if you can."

Du Shaofu was enveloped in a golden glow, and then, under the astonished gaze of the girl in the tight-fitting outfit, he leaped off the cliff, plunging straight down and instantly disappearing into the thick fog.

The girl in the tight-fitting outfit was a bit too slow. Standing at the edge of the cliff, she stomped her feet in frustration, unable to pursue him. The bottomless cliff had no place to land, and the fog made it difficult even for flying beasts to find anyone.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several figures quickly landed behind the girl in the tight-fitting outfit on the back of the Flame Demon Falcon. An old man in his fifties, wearing a yellow robe, said, "Is this kid courting death? Jumping off a cliff at the Netherworld Realm is certain death, and swallowing the Blood Baby Lingzhi raw is also a sure death. If he dies, it will be a waste of the Blood Baby Lingzhi."

"Old Huang, can we go down and find him?" The girl in the tight-fitting outfit looked down at the cliff, unwilling to give up. She never imagined that the young man would choose to swallow the Blood Baby Lingzhi raw and then jump off the cliff. This was a matter of life and death. The young man must be crazy; no normal person would do this, risking his life for the Blood Baby Lingzhi.

The old man in the yellow robe shook his head at the girl in the tight-fitting outfit and said, "Princess, the fog below is too thick. Even the Flame Demon Falcon can't find the kid. But we can be sure that the kid is dead for sure. It's just a pity about the Blood Baby Lingzhi."

"Let's go. The Xuanfu Sect, the Heavenly Snake Sect, and the Xuanming Sect have all appeared in the Beast Mountain Range, but without any strong leaders. Something big must have happened. We need to find out what's going on first."

After a moment, the girl in the tight-fitting outfit had no choice but to give up. They then leaped onto the Flame Demon Falcon and flew away from the cliff.

At the bottom of the bottomless cliff, Du Shaofu fell as if from the heavens, accompanied by a lot of falling rocks. His body rolled like a ball, repeatedly colliding with the protruding rocks and cliffs.

When he finally rolled to the bottom of the cliff, Du Shaofu did not seem to have suffered much damage. He stood up immediately, but his face was flushed, his eyes bloodshot, and his body felt as if it was about to burst.

If the girl in the tight-fitting outfit and the others had seen this, they would have been dumbfounded. Jumping off a cliff and not suffering much damage was simply impossible.

"Ah!"

Du Shaofu let out a painful scream, his body swelling and trembling, feeling a surging energy inside him trying to burst his body.

"The power of the Blood Baby Lingzhi is too overwhelming."

Du Shaofu knew the reason. He had swallowed the Blood Baby Lingzhi raw, but the energy it contained was too overwhelming, making his body feel as if it was about to burst. In intense pain, his body trembled.

"Temper the Golden Feathers!"

Du Shaofu gritted his teeth and could only temper the vast energy of the Blood Baby Lingzhi into his skin and muscles. Otherwise, he would be burst alive. He practiced the Golden-winged Great Peng Bird's body-strengthening method, continuously colliding with the cliff walls. Each collision caused a burning pain that pierced his heart, and the pain made the collision points feel numb.

"Continue!"

The pain was intense, but Du Shaofu dared not stop. He continued to collide with the rock walls and boulders, treating himself like a non-human.

After each collision, the energy from the Blood Baby Lingzhi would rapidly flow through the collision points. Stimulated by the collisions, his skin and muscles absorbed the energy, and the energy gradually fused into his muscles and skin. Du Shaofu could feel that, although the pain was intense, his body was quietly strengthening.

At the bottom of the cliff, on a hidden large rock, a giant tiger covered in king-patterned scales was watching Du Shaofu from afar, its eyes filled with confusion.

"Ah..."

With each collision, Du Shaofu let out a painful cry, his face contorted in agony. Fortunately, no one could hear him at the bottom of the bottomless cliff. The painful screams and the 'thud' sounds of the collisions echoed continuously.

After three days and three nights, the painful screams at the bottom of the cliff gradually subsided.

At the bottom of the cliff, a pile of broken stones formed a small hill, and large areas of rock had been reduced to dust. Du Shaofu lay on the broken stones, his body bruised and swollen, and he was at the limit of his endurance, lying there weakly.

"No, I can't give up. There's still medicinal power to refine."

Du Shaofu struggled to stand up, sitting cross-legged on the pile of broken stones. Although most of the medicinal power of the Blood Baby Lingzhi had been dispersed into his skin and muscles, there was still a vast amount of medicinal energy in his body.

He practiced the Golden-winged Great Peng Bird's cultivation method, absorbing the remaining medicinal energy of the Blood Baby Lingzhi into his dantian as mystic energy, immersing himself in the refinement process.

On the pile of broken stones, Du Shaofu was enveloped in a faint golden glow. Strands of mystic energy spread from his body, continuously circling and then penetrating back into his body, forming a continuous cycle, very profound.

Inside his body, Du Shaofu felt that his constitution, already strengthened by the stone coffin in the Du family's ancestral hall, was even more robust. His meridians and acupoints were much stronger than those of ordinary people.

After practicing the Golden-winged Great Peng Bird's cultivation method, his constitution became even stronger, like a demon beast. His meridians and acupoints were even more robust, and the mystic energy they could contain was much thicker and larger. Even his dantian was much wider than others.

As he refined the medicinal energy of the Blood Baby Lingzhi, mystic energy continuously flowed into his dantian. The mystic energy in his dantian rapidly expanded. After an unknown amount of time, the mystic energy in his dantian reached a point where it could not increase any further.

At this moment, Du Shaofu's hand seals changed, and a resounding sound came from the golden glow around his body. His body emitted a golden, domineering light, and a series of runes spread out, finally forming a golden Great Peng Bird shadow behind him.

On the hidden large rock at the top of the cliff, the king-patterned giant tiger watched the golden Great Peng Bird shadow, its massive body trembling, and it prostrated itself in fear.

"Thud!"

A faint sound quietly echoed in his dantian, and the golden Great Peng Bird shadow formed by the runes behind Du Shaofu also dissolved into runes and entered his body. The golden glow around his body gradually faded.

"Phew!"

When everything calmed down, Du Shaofu exhaled a deep breath, opened his eyes, and his clear gaze was tinged with a faint golden color, exuding a domineering aura.

"Netherworld Realm Profound."

Feeling the changes in his body, Du Shaofu's face showed a smile. The original fatigue and weakness in his body disappeared, replaced by a vibrant and radiant spirit. He didn't expect to break through from the initial Netherworld Realm to the Profound level this time.

Suddenly, Du Shaofu seemed to sense something and immediately stood up, his gaze alert and raised.

"Roar!"

A tiger roar like thunder echoed from the top of the cliff. A giant flying tiger with a wingspan of twenty zhang descended, its wings flapping, causing the broken stones at the bottom of the cliff to fly, and the air currents to surge like a storm.

"King-patterned Demon Tiger."

Du Shaofu was surprised. The giant flying tiger was the King-patterned Demon Tiger that had been intimidated and driven away during the competition for the Blood Baby Lingzhi in the Earth Spirit Gorge a few days ago. He didn't expect the King-patterned Demon Tiger to appear here now.

"Roar!"

The King-patterned Demon Tiger's massive body landed in front of Du Shaofu, then prostrated itself on the ground, looking up at Du Shaofu. Its lantern-like tiger eyes showed a gentle and submissive expression, with no trace of ferocity. It let out a low roar, as if trying to say something.

Du Shaofu was surprised. He could sense that the ferocious King-patterned Demon Tiger posed no danger to him. The look in its eyes seemed to be expressing submission.

"Do you want to follow me?" Du Shaofu suppressed his questions and surprise and tentatively asked the King-patterned Demon Tiger.

"Roar!"

The King-patterned Demon Tiger nodded, clearly understanding Du Shaofu's words.

"Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Du Shaofu was shocked. The King-patterned Demon Tiger, the king of the beasts in this mountain range, had clearly reached the level of spiritual awareness. It was said that powerful demon beasts could understand human speech, and even stronger ones could speak human language.

Du Shaofu had once heard a legend that terrifying demon beasts, when they reached a certain level of cultivation, could become spirits and monsters, eventually forming human bodies. However, such terrifying demon beasts that could transform into human form existed only in legends.

"Roar!"

The King-patterned Demon Tiger nodded again, looking at Du Shaofu with a reverent and submissive gaze.

"So, you have reached the Pulse Spirit level?"

After being shocked, Du Shaofu was now excited. The King-patterned Demon Tiger had indeed reached the level of spiritual awareness. A demon beast at the Pulse Spirit level was at least at the Pulse Spirit Realm. A demon beast at the Pulse Spirit Realm was stronger than a Pulse Spirit Realm martial artist. There wasn't a single Pulse Spirit Realm martial artist in the entire Stone City, and for many martial artists, the Pulse Spirit Realm was an unattainable existence.

"Roar!"

The King-patterned Demon Tiger nodded again, acknowledging that it was at the Pulse Spirit Realm.

"Swallow!"

Du Shaofu swallowed a mouthful of saliva. A Pulse Spirit level demon beast king suddenly appeared before him, saying it wanted to submit and follow him. Could it be that his heroic and martial aura attracted the King-patterned Demon Tiger?

[Thank you, Commander Yu Wu Lei, for your generous donation of 10,000 Zuelang coins. Thank you.]