The sound of water trickling led him through ferns that were as tall as his chest until he came to a clear pond. Mist hung over the water like silver cloth, and light slipped through branches in changing bars. The whole thing looked too calm.
Once, a frog croaked. Then a different voice croaked back. Then a third voice, lower and guttural.
Xiao Tianjue stopped moving.
The water swelled.
A shape shot up, and its scales shone green and gold. A lizard the size of a wagon landed on the bank and started to whip its tail. Its eyes sparkled with a hint of intelligence, and its skin gave off a faint Qi.
He muttered, "Mid-Qi Refining beast," as he slid a card between his fingers. "Big drop coming."
He set off the Spirit Binding Chains. Ghostly links curled out and wrapped around the creature's front legs. It screamed, and its tail whipped so hard that it broke a tree trunk. The chains groaned but stayed together for three seconds, which was long enough.
Xiao Tianjue threw an Ember Spark into the open mouth. The blast burned its tongue and half of its throat. When the chains faded, the lizard stumbled, which gave him time to stab it with his dagger through the thinner scales under its jaw.
Steam rose, and blood hissed in the water. He stepped back just as the System started to pulse.
[Mid Qi Refining Beast Core absorbed +700 SP | Total = 3,500]
He bent over and laughed so hard he couldn't breathe. "Seven hundred!" Okay, now we're getting somewhere. I could buy lunch, a stage of growth, and still have money left over for a pity pull.
He cleaned the dagger on the grass, picked up a few shiny scales to sell, and looked at the neat little ledger that the System kept in the back of his mind. Not too bad for a half-day's work. But he wanted more. The mental map told him that the pond was close to the edge of the mid-tier area. The real monsters lived farther north, where the rarer herbs grew.
By late afternoon, he had made it to a ravine where moss that looked like lightning crawled up the rocks. The air had a faint smell of ozone, and each breath made my tongue tingle.
He said, "I'm either close to treasure or the world's biggest bug zapper."
He crept along until he saw it: a bunch of blue flowers growing out of a crack in the cliff. The petals shone like little storm clouds.
[Rare Herb (Azure Heart Lotus) Detected. Estimated Value 1,000 SP]
He smiled. "Side-quest jackpot!"
The only problem was that the lotus was protected. A huge snake with scales like hammered silver and faint lightning dancing along its body slept around it. The air shook when it breathed.
He crouched behind a rock and thought quickly. If that thing thought he was a noodle, Stone Skin wouldn't help. He still had one Venom Fang card, but using poison on a snake felt wrong in a philosophical way.
[Host's chance of success without a permanent summon is 60%]
"Sixty percent? Those are the odds for gacha! Perfect."
He took a deep breath, flicked Venom Fang onto his dagger, and crept up. One careful step at a time.
The snake moved, and its eye opened. Xiao Tianjue threw the sword right into that eye.
The thing screamed, and thunder rolled from its throat. Lightning crawled over its body, and the shockwave threw him back into the moss.
Pain shot down his back. He got up quickly, grabbed an Ember Spark, and threw it. The blast hit the wound his sword had made, making the burn worse.
"Die, XP dispenser!"
A last lunge—a sword in its neck. The snake shook once and then went limp.
The altar shone with a bright gold light.
[Mid Qi Refining Beast Core absorbed +1,000 SP | Total = 4,500]
[Rare Herb (Azure Heart Lotus) absorbed +900 SP | Total = 5,400]
"Two grand!" he said in shock. "The forest gives!"
He looked at the glowing lotus for a little longer, then he looked around the cliff ledges to see if the snake had any friends there. There was nothing but the sound of blood cooling and the soft crackle of static.
Now SP at 4,200. Enough to jump a stage or hit the luck meter.
He moved his shoulders. "Greed is also a way to grow."
It got dark quickly in the ravine. Fireflies floated between trees like embers that were too lazy to move. It seemed like every predator woke up at once.
Great for farming.
He stayed low and used the faint light from his cards to see movement. Wolves, monkeys, and weird rabbits with horns fought for seconds now that his body moved like it belonged to a cultivator. Stone Skin turned near-misses into glancing blows; Spirit Binding Chains turned ambushes into open-heart surgeries; Ember Spark finished off the stubborn ones with a showy flair.
He had stacked beast cores high enough to fill the basket by midnight. Every pulse of absorption felt smoother and lighter. His altar throbbed like a happy merchant counting coins.
[Beast Cores absorbed +6,300 SP | Total = 11,700]
He whistled softly. "That's a paycheck now."
He sat down in a hollow space under a big root. The ground shook a little with distant roars, like the forest itself had a heartbeat.
He didn't think twice.
[Spend 1,600 SP → Advance to Fifth Stage of Qi Refining?]
"Yes."
Pain, then purifying fire; the meridians stretched and widened. It sounded like the world was now keeping time with him as the noise in the forest faded to a steady beat.
[Cultivation advanced to Fifth Stage of Qi Refining | Max Qi 1,600 | SP Remaining 10,100]
When he breathed out, steam came out of his mouth. It felt good, like his bones had been put back together the right way.
"Next."
[Spend 3,200 SP → Advance to Sixth Stage of Qi Refining?]
"Now."
The spiritual energy of the night flowed toward him in a tight spiral. Leaves rose, stones shook, and small animals ran away, squeaking in fear. Pain broke him open, and power poured in.
His heart sounded like drums beating in his chest when it was over.
[Cultivation advanced to Sixth Stage of Qi Refining | Max Qi 1,600 | SP Remaining 6,900]
He moved his hand and saw tiny bits of light gather around his fingertips. "Okay. That isn't a placebo.
One more step to reach his goal for the day.
He opened the panel once more.
[Spend 6,400 SP → Advance to Seventh Stage of Qi Refining?]
Close, but not quite. He needed another 500? No. He smiled. He still had 6,900, which was enough to do it right now.
With a snap of his fingers, he closed the panel. "But where's the excitement in that? Let's do it the right way."
The forest sounded like it was angry. Xiao Tianjue smiled into the dark.