Chapter 48

Lin Tian was startled, clearly feeling that the spiritual energy entering his body through his right hand was so rich and pure, just like the feeling he had when refining the Nine-Curve Essence Pill over a month ago!

"Could it be?"

Lin Tian's face lit up with joy.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Tian quickly sat down cross-legged, and the Four Poles Scripture began to circulate immediately.

"Hum!"

A faint silver light flickered, enveloping his body.

Lin Tian calmed his mind, using his true essence to guide the spiritual energy into his flesh and bones. To his pleasant surprise, he found that he could indeed cultivate with it!

"This..."

Taking another deep breath, Lin Tian suppressed his excitement and began to cultivate seriously.

The Centipede Beast was a fourth-level demon beast, comparable to a Divine Pulse Realm expert. The spiritual energy contained within such a demon beast's core was unimaginably vast. At this moment, with the help of the sword pattern in his right palm, the demon core seemed to be decomposed, and the spiritual energy within it rapidly spread, continuously flowing into Lin Tian's body.

"Temper the flesh! Forge the bones!"

Lin Tian murmured.

His eyes were calm and determined. He endured the intense pain of tempering his body, repeatedly guiding the spiritual energy into his flesh and bones. Under the guidance of true essence, the spiritual energy seemed to transform into sharp blades, madly cutting his flesh and bones.

Tempering the body means destroying first, then rebuilding!

This process was destined to be painful!

Lin Tian repeatedly circulated the Four Poles Scripture, completely ignoring the pain of tempering his body, his eyes always calm. After an unknown amount of time, a series of heavenly drum sounds echoed from within his body, and white smoke rose from his head.

In no time, six hours had passed.

The sky grew dark, and Lin Tian sat in this valley, the demon core in his right palm almost losing its luster, looking no different from an ordinary stone.

At this moment, Lin Tian suddenly trembled.

"Boom!"

A vast aura centered on him quickly spread out in all directions.

This vast aura lasted for dozens of breaths.

After dozens of breaths, all the auras disappeared, and the light on the Centipede Beast's demon core completely dimmed. At this moment, Lin Tian finally opened his eyes, two rays of light flashing and disappearing.

Exhaling a breath of turbid air, Lin Tian stood up.

"Seventh level of Body Tempering!"

He clenched his left fist, immediately feeling a tremendous change, his strength at least doubling!

"Crack!"

At this moment, a crisp sound came from his right hand. The Centipede Beast's demon core, having been drained of all its spiritual essence, turned into an ordinary stone. With a movement of true essence within his body, it instantly developed large cracks. Holding the now useless demon core in front of him, Lin Tian was truly amazed.

Because demon beasts have a different constitution from humans, even though their demon cores contain boundless spiritual energy, human martial artists cannot directly refine them. They can only use them as special materials, such as for refining pills or forging weapons. But now, he had actually directly absorbed the spiritual energy from the demon core, refining and absorbing it like a pill. This was simply a miracle!

If this news were to spread, it would shock countless people.

"This sword pattern..."

Staring at the sword pattern in his hand, Lin Tian felt a chill.

This thing is too mysterious!

At this moment, the sword pattern in his palm had dimmed. After staring at it for a few breaths, the surprise on Lin Tian's face disappeared, replaced by intense joy. With this sword pattern, in the future, wouldn't he have an additional way to enhance his cultivation? He could strengthen his power by refining demon cores!

Thinking of this, Lin Tian couldn't help but laugh out loud.

As he laughed, his face turned cold again.

"Zhou Hao, you wait and see. If I don't kill you in two months, I'll change my name to yours!"

Lin Tian muttered coldly.

Calming down, Lin Tian began to look around. This place was a small valley, seemingly the lair of the Centipede Beast. After a careful scan, Lin Tian discovered that the place was littered with bones, both human and demon beast, though the latter predominated.

After a quick scan, he found no other demon cores.

"Leave first. After returning, I'll use the Hundred Spirit Grass to temper my organs."

Lin Tian muttered.

The Hundred Spirit Grass he obtained from Ge Zheng was a spiritual herb for tempering organs, worth nearly 100,000 spirit coins, and had a miraculous effect on tempering organs. He was eager to use the Hundred Spirit Grass for his next stage of cultivation. Moreover, staying in this demon beast's lair made him feel very uncomfortable.

Stepping out of the valley, a denser old forest lay before him, with thicker tree trunks and a more concentrated demonic aura, making him feel a chill down his spine.

"Roar!"

The old forest echoed with beast roars, shaking the ground.

By the faint moonlight, Lin Tian saw huge demon beasts, not as large as the Centipede Beast but not much smaller. These demon beasts emitted terrifying auras, far stronger than the Red-Faced Ghost he had killed, not even in the same league.

"Is this... a fourth-level demon beast area?"

Lin Tian swallowed.

Calming down, Lin Tian hid in the valley, carefully observing outside.

Soon, half an hour passed, and Lin Tian sadly discovered that he was indeed in a fourth-level demon beast area!

"Damn!"

Lin Tian suddenly felt an urge to kill someone. To return to the Nine Yang Martial Mansion, he had to cross this fourth-level demon beast area, but the demon beasts here were all fourth-level, the weakest of which could match a Divine Pulse Initial Stage expert. He was only at the Seventh Level of Body Tempering, and crossing such a demon beast area was almost certain death.

Although he had relied on the sword pattern to kill the Centipede Beast, those two strikes had almost drained all his true essence. Moreover, he realized that it was just an accidental activation of the sword pattern, and under normal circumstances, he couldn't produce such power.

"Trouble."

Thinking of this, Lin Tian couldn't help but laugh bitterly, wishing he could drag Zhou Hao out and beat him a thousand times.

Calming down, taking a deep breath, he slowly walked out of the valley.

Although the fourth-level demon beast area was dangerous, he had to leave. He couldn't stay here and cultivate until he reached the Divine Pulse Realm, which would take an unimaginable amount of time.

"I have the Two Instruments Step and two Fusion Martial Pattern Scrolls. I'll be careful."

Lin Tian muttered.

Taking advantage of the deep night, Lin Tian slipped out of the valley, cautiously heading toward the third-level demon beast area.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

In the fourth-level demon beast area, the roars of demon beasts echoed from time to time, making Lin Tian's eardrums tingle. He carefully hid in the darkness, suppressing his aura as much as possible, moving like a ghost through the old forest.

"Thud!"

Suddenly, the ground shook, as if a giant was taking steps.

Lin Tian stopped, hiding behind an old tree and looking into the distance. He saw a demon beast resembling an ape fighting with a crocodile-like demon beast covered in scales. As they fought, blood splattered in the air, and the old trees around them collapsed, and boulders shattered, creating a terrifying scene.

Lin Tian couldn't help but swallow.

"Quietly retreat."

Muttering to himself, Lin Tian carefully slipped away.

The night enveloped the old forest, but the demon beasts remained active. Soon, a pair of eerie blue eyes fixed on Lin Tian. It was a strange demon beast about ten feet tall, not very large but emitting a terrifying aura, not much weaker than the Centipede Beast.

With a fierce roar, the demon beast stirred up a foul wind and pounced directly at Lin Tian.

"Damn!"

Cursing, Lin Tian stepped the Two Instruments Step and quickly fled.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

His speed was fast, and he darted through the old forest, leaving a trail of breaking air.

However, the demon beast chasing him was also not slow, and the distance between them was rapidly closing.

Glancing back, Lin Tian's pace didn't change, but he reached into his chest and took out a Fusion Martial Pattern Scroll he had prepared. Infusing it with his will, he threw it directly at the strange demon beast.

"Clang!"

For a moment, a piercing sword cry echoed in all directions, and silver sword screens continuously fell.

The demon beast let out a low roar, and a gale immediately swept up. After three breaths, the gale dissipated, and the Fusion Martial Pattern Scroll of the Wind-Slash Sword left several bloody marks on the demon beast, while Lin Tian disappeared from its sight.

"Roar!"

The demon beast roared in anger, shaking the surrounding old trees violently.

A hundred feet away, Lin Tian heard the roar and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Finally got rid of it."

Lin Tian muttered.

Thinking about it, Lin Tian suddenly felt fortunate that he had prepared a few Fusion Martial Pattern Scrolls before entering the Qingfeng Ridge. Otherwise, encountering such a situation would have been quite troublesome. Although he could also use the Wind-Slash Sword himself, it would take time and consume true essence, which would be very disadvantageous for his escape.

"Only one Fusion Martial Pattern Scroll left. I must be more careful."

Lin Tian thought to himself.

Hiding behind an old tree, he carefully looked around. After confirming that there was no danger nearby, he moved again, stepping the Two Instruments Step and quickly heading toward the third-level demon beast area.

...

Three days later, at the edge of the second-level demon beast area of Qingfeng Ridge, a ragged youth held a broken long sword, his hair disheveled, his body covered in mud, and he walked with a slight stagger, looking no different from a beggar.

This youth was Lin Tian.

"Finally made it out!"

Lin Tian cursed.

During the three days, the last Fusion Martial Pattern Scroll of the Wind-Slash Sword was also used up. After that, to avoid the terrifying demon beasts in the fourth-level demon beast area, he buried himself in piles of rocks, hid in thorny bushes, and concealed himself in dense branches, enduring great hardship.

Most importantly, during these three days, to fill his stomach, he even ate a lot of grass.