Xie Zhaolin stood beside the massive corpse of the Flame Lizard, her breathing slightly uneven.
Her hands were still frozen in their gripping posture, palms blackened and corroded down to the bone. Yet from those mangled wounds, fresh flesh was already writhing and growing under the nourishment of her baleful qi.
She pulled a few pills from her storage ring and swallowed them. Pure medicinal power spread through her body, dispelling the lingering poison from the lizard's flames. Once that was done, she steadied her mind and sank her divine sense into her dantian, carefully feeling out the barrier between her current stage and mid-stage Golden Core.
A few moments later, a flicker of regret passed through her eyes. The barrier had loosened a little, far more than what closed-door cultivation alone could've achieved. But... she was still a long way from breaking through.
That wall was as firm as ever, like a deep chasm separating her from the next realm. One intense battle wasn't enough to cross it.
"So it's true... breaking through the Golden Core stage isn't that simple," she murmured to herself. Her tone was calm, not disappointed.
After all, most cultivators took decades, even centuries, to progress from early to mid-stage Golden Core. Even in her past life, it had taken her over ten years to reach that level—a pace already considered exceptional.
Now, with her past experience, her deep foundation, and countless fortuitous encounters, hoping to leap across in a few short days was still far too naive.
But still...
She rose, stretching her limbs. Though she'd consumed much of her energy, her baleful qi felt denser, her body stronger, her control over both more seamless than ever. Her lips curved slightly. Compared to grinding cultivation in seclusion, this method was far more effective... though not in the sense of being easy.
The "ease" lay in its efficiency, not in the process itself. The danger and pain—only she truly knew what they felt like.
A life-or-death battle didn't just temper one's cultivation. It refined control over baleful qi, sharpened instincts, and revealed the limits of one's body and soul. Dancing on the edge of the blade, finding rebirth through destruction—this was the path that truly suited her.
"Looks like I'll need to find more sparring partners."
Her gaze swept over the Bone-Eroding Flame Lizard's carcass. She didn't bother with any special treatment, simply waved her hand and stored it in her ring.
Then, activating the Breath Concealing Wood Transformation Art, she suppressed every trace of her aura and silently vanished into the dense wilderness, moving deeper into the beast plains.
Over the next few days, she was like a tireless hunter, actively seeking strong opponents in this perilous land.
She faced an Illusion Fox adept at attacking the Primordial Soul, but with the powerful resistance of her Annihilation Yinsha Core, she endured its illusion head-on and tore it apart at close range.
She battled a Dark Armored Earth Dragon with terrifying defense, using the corrosive property of her baleful qi to slowly grind through its thick carapace.
Every fight was brutal and life-threatening. She was wounded many times and even once nearly killed by an ambush from a late-stage Golden Core Shadow Leopard. Only her vast battle experience and her fearless fighting style let her turn the tables and survive.
But the results were undeniable. She could clearly feel that under the mounting pressure of these battles, the barrier in her dantian was starting to quake. The cracks were spreading, growing deeper each day. The breakthrough was close—very close.
That day, after a fierce battle with a Poison Mist Spider, she sat cross-legged atop a hidden tree canopy, meditating to restore her strength and recover her baleful qi.
Suddenly—
Her eyes snapped open. A sharp glint flashed across them as she turned toward the dense forest to her left.
A familiar aura surged through the air, chaotic and fearful, fleeing in the opposite direction.
That's right. The Golden-Backed Wolf!
Her lips curved into a cold smile.
Well, well... what a small world.
So it hadn't gone far after losing its territory, only moved deeper into the plains to carve out another domain. And now, having sensed her presence again, it was terrified out of its mind, desperate to escape.
"Since we've met again, you're not going anywhere."
Her figure blurred—and in the next instant, she appeared ahead of the fleeing beast, blocking its path.
"ROAR!"
The Golden-Backed Wolf froze, human-like fear flashing in its crimson eyes. It remembered this terrifying human all too well—the one who had withstood heavenly tribulation, the one who'd dragged that accursed Bewitching Demon Yam to death with her!
It had no will to fight, only the instinct to flee.
The wolf spun around, its four limbs pushing off the ground in a burst of golden light as it tried to bolt through the forest.
"Trying to run?"
With a cold snort, she vanished, reappearing beside it like lightning. Her baleful qi condensed around her palm, slicing through the air as she struck at its flank.
Forced to defend, the wolf lashed out with its claws, golden light flaring.
Boom!
The shockwave split the air. The wolf stumbled backward, claws bleeding, fear deepening in its eyes. It realized, with growing horror, that this human was far stronger than before. Her baleful qi was denser, her body even more monstrous.
It was completely suppressed.
After another violent clash, the beast was thrown back, landing heavily before scrambling to retreat. Then, with trembling voice and desperate eyes, it spoke.
"Wait! Human! We... we have no mortal grudge between us! That last time, it was just a fight over territory, pure beastly instinct! I didn't even harm you! Why must you chase me to death?
If you let me go, I'll swear a blood oath never to be your enemy again!"
It spoke rapidly, trying to appeal to her reason. Faced with overwhelming power and the certainty of death, this once-proud overlord of the wilds finally lowered its head.
But...
Her attack only paused for a heartbeat. There was no hesitation in her gaze, only cold amusement.
"No mortal grudge?" she asked lightly. "If I were the weak one today, begging for my life... would you spare me?"
The wolf froze, its blood-red eyes flickering.
Of course it wouldn't.
The law of the wild—and of the entire Cultivation Realm—was the same: the weak feed the strong.
Cultivators hunted beasts for their cores, hides, bones, and blood to forge weapons or refine pills. Beasts devoured cultivators, feeding on their flesh and Primordial Souls to grow stronger.
It was a rule as ancient as life itself.
Today, it was weak, so it'd die. Tomorrow, if she was weak, she'd suffer the same fate.
Seeing its silence, her eyes grew colder, though her killing intent didn't flare—it was simply a calm inevitability.
"The weak feed the strong. That's the law of Heaven," she said quietly, her tone flat as if stating a simple truth. "Today you're weak and I'm strong, so you'll become nourishment for my path. If one day I'm the weak one and end up on someone else's chopping block, I'll have no complaint."
Her fingers tightened, baleful qi rising like a storm.
"So... rest in peace."