Chapter Eighty-Two: Entering the Qi Condensation Realm

After the expedition, only Yang Xiao remained alive.

At this moment, Yang Xiao naturally claimed all the storage pouches of the others, which yielded him quite a fortune. After all, those people possessed considerable cultivation, and thus carried a fair number of spirit stones. Besides the spirit stones, there was Qin Feng’s Ascendant Wheel, a high-grade spiritual artifact. Zhuo Fan and Xia Yu each had a mid-grade spiritual artifact—one a blade-shaped weapon, the other a ruler-shaped one, both of excellent quality. Moreover, they carried a dozen or so low-grade spiritual artifacts.

Such bounty was truly substantial. Staring at the items before him, Yang Xiao finally revealed a look of delight. Though this adventure had been perilous, with so many gains as compensation, even the greatest dangers seemed worthwhile.

After stowing all the spirit stones and artifacts away, Yang Xiao moved to the edge of the spiritual spring. There, he saw the Transforming Essence Liquid, and the corpse of the giant serpent spirit beast floating in the spring.

Naturally, Yang Xiao’s first task was to deal with the serpent’s corpse. He dragged it ashore and began skinning it. Since this serpent had not yet transformed into a flood dragon, its skin was the most valuable part. Yang Xiao kept only the snake skin, discarding the rest of the meat without further concern.

Just then, the spirit beast pouch at Yang Xiao’s side suddenly trembled violently; clearly, the sand beast within was eager to emerge. Ever since he had obtained the sand beast, it had remained quiet within the pouch. Why was it now so restless? Yang Xiao was quite curious.

Opening the pouch, the sand beast slipped out smoothly and made straight for the serpent’s corpse. With its sharp claws, it ripped open the serpent’s belly and searched inside. When it finally discovered a black crystalline pellet, it excitedly swallowed it in one gulp. In that instant, the sand beast’s cultivation soared as if it had consumed some rare treasure. From the early stage of the Spiritual Awareness Realm, it leapt directly to the late stage, nearly matching Yang Xiao’s own cultivation. Its spiritual power surged robustly—an incredible transformation.

Not only that, the sand beast’s appearance also changed. Originally, it supported itself with only two large legs. After consuming the black crystal, two small claws sprouted from its sides, and a pair of little horns grew atop its head, making it resemble the evolution of the serpent toward a flood dragon.

Yang Xiao pondered this strange change and soon understood—the black crystal the sand beast had eaten was the serpent’s beast core. Such cores typically only appear in spirit beasts of the Zhou Tian Realm. When a spirit beast advances to the Golden Core Realm, the beast core transforms into something akin to a golden core.

However, not all spirit beasts possess a beast core; only a few rare ones produce them internally. The fact that this serpent had formed a beast core before even fully entering the Zhou Tian Realm was extraordinary.

That the sand beast could advance its cultivation so dramatically by consuming the serpent’s beast core was something Yang Xiao had not anticipated. It seemed this would be an effective method of helping the sand beast advance. If the sand beast could cultivate by devouring other beasts’ cores, Yang Xiao had found a way to strengthen it. Previously, he had worried the sand beast’s cultivation was too low, fit only as a pet. Now, its cultivation had caught up to his own, suggesting it might well become a powerful ally rather than a burden.

With this thought, Yang Xiao decided to share some of his cultivation pills with the sand beast in the future. Even if its cultivation remained on par with his, it could assist him at crucial moments.

After consuming the serpent’s beast core, the sand beast came to Yang Xiao’s side, affectionately nuzzling him with its head, clearly expressing its gratitude.

Yang Xiao, pleased by the sand beast’s cute behavior, patted its head and returned it to the spirit beast pouch. He still had much to do and could not afford to linger. Especially now, with the Transforming Essence Liquid in hand, he had to test whether its legendary effects were as miraculous as rumored.

Since he intended to experiment, Yang Xiao personally jumped into the spring. Instantly, a surge of pure spiritual energy flooded into his body. This energy was remarkable: it could revive the dead, mend broken bones, and invigorate the body’s vitality.

Feeling the changes within, Yang Xiao was deeply satisfied. The Transforming Essence Liquid truly lived up to its reputation—not only enhancing physical vitality, but also greatly benefiting his cultivation.

Several hours passed swiftly. By then, Yang Xiao sensed his body had undergone significant transformation; both physical vitality and cultivation strength had grown substantially.

With his increased power, Yang Xiao decided to test himself. The method: leaving the spring to seek out large spirit beasts and battle them.

Now he no longer feared injury. With the help of the Transforming Essence Liquid, he could recover from any wound by soaking in it. Such an ability was almost supernatural. It was no wonder so many people coveted the Transforming Essence Liquid.

Without fear of injury, Yang Xiao began to confront large spirit beasts head-on, abandoning evasive maneuvers and engaging in direct combat. This further tempered his body, hinting at a new breakthrough in his Ninefold Golden Body technique.

Thus, time passed as Yang Xiao alternated between soaking in the Transforming Essence Liquid and fighting powerful beasts.

In the blink of an eye, half a year went by.

By then, Yang Xiao’s cultivation had undergone a tremendous transformation. Not only had he broken through the bottleneck of the Qi Condensation Realm that had previously eluded him, but he had advanced to the second level of Qi Condensation. The Transforming Essence Liquid had played a tremendous role in this.

However, after six months of absorption, Yang Xiao had consumed most of the spring’s essence. The spiritual spring had now become a mundane clear-water lake, no longer capable of supporting further cultivation.

It was time for Yang Xiao to leave. He planned, upon exiting the Valley of Ten Thousand Beasts, to head directly to the heart of the remote kingdom. There, surely, he would find greater opportunities to further elevate his cultivation.

“Ten years, reach the Zhou Tian Realm,”—this vow echoed in Yang Xiao’s heart, and for this goal, he would persist relentlessly.