Lin Xuan lay in the mud for an hour, letting the sensation of power settle in his bones. The blockage in his meridians—the 'Stone Veins' that had cursed him since birth—was gone. In its place flowed a river of energy that felt dense and potent.
He checked his cultivation base. Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation.
"I broke through," Lin Xuan whispered, staring at his hands. "In seconds, I accomplished what took me three years to fail at."
But the hunger was there. The azure vortex in his Dantian wasn't just spinning; it was demanding fuel. The ambient Qi in the air wasn't enough. It wanted something substantial.
A low growl emanated from the brush to his left.
Lin Xuan froze. The back mountain was forbidden for a reason.
Emerging from the shadows was an Iron-Hide Boar. It was the size of a small cart, its skin covered in metallic scales that shimmered in the moonlight. Its tusks were yellow and jagged, dripping with saliva.
A First Rank Spirit Beast. Equivalent to a cultivator at the 4th or 5th layer of Qi Condensation.
In the past, Lin Xuan would have run. An Iron-Hide Boar could snap a normal sword in half. But now, the azure vortex spun faster, sensing the beast's blood energy.
Kill it, the instinct whispered. Devour it.
The boar charged. The ground shook with its heavy hooves.
Lin Xuan didn't think; he moved. His body felt lighter than a feather. He side-stepped the charging beast with a fluidity he had never possessed before. As the boar rushed past, Lin Xuan's hand chopped down onto its neck.
Thud.
He grimaced. His physical strength had improved, but not enough to pierce the iron scales with his bare hands. The boar skidded to a stop, squealing in rage, and turned for another pass.
"I need a weapon," Lin Xuan muttered. He scanned the ground and grabbed a sharp, broken branch from the lightning-struck pine. It was hard as iron, tempered by the heavenly lightning.
The boar charged again. This time, Lin Xuan channeled his new azure Qi into the branch. The wood hummed, glowing with a faint blue light.
"Die!"
Lin Xuan didn't dodge. He stepped forward, thrusting the branch like a spear.
The azure Qi acted like a drill. The wooden branch pierced the boar's eye, punching straight through into its brain. The beast collapsed, sliding to a halt at Lin Xuan's feet.
Before the beast even died, the azure vortex in Lin Xuan's body surged. A visible stream of red essence rose from the boar's body and was sucked into Lin Xuan's chest.
Warmth flooded him. His fatigue vanished. His cultivation base nudged forward, moving from early 4th layer to the peak of the 4th layer in a heartbeat.
"It devours life force," Lin Xuan realized, horrified and exhilarated. "This isn't a righteous art. This is... demonic."
He looked at the carcass. The smell of blood would soon attract other beasts. It was too heavy to carry, but leaving it was a waste of resources.
As he fretted, the azure vortex in his Dantian pulsed again. A strange sensation connected his mind to the bead. He 'saw' a grey, misty void—an empty room about ten meters wide existing inside the bead.
"An Independent Space?" Lin Xuan's eyes widened. In the cultivation world, storage artifacts like spatial rings were expensive luxuries, usually reserved for Elders.
He focused on the carcass and willed it to move. Whoosh. The massive Iron-Hide Boar vanished from the ground and appeared instantly floating in the grey void within his mind.
"Perfect," Lin Xuan grinned, a cold light in his eyes. "Now I can loot everything without carrying a heavy sack. With this Independent Space, my rise will be swift."