Twelve Levels of Qi Gathering

The Nanli Mountains are located in the southwest of the Fengming Empire, over 1,800 li from the Imperial Capital. With overlapping peaks and steep terrain, they border the Great Xia Empire.

In the mountain range, towering trees reach for the sky, and countless wild beasts roam. From time to time, Demonic Beasts appear. This is a desolate, savage land with no signs of human habitation.

In a valley within the Nanli Mountains, with cliffs rising a thousand fathoms on both sides, lies the only path leading to the Great Xia Empire.

"Boom."

Deep within the mountain range, beside a secluded pool, Long Chen sat cross-legged on a giant boulder. A muffled sound echoed from within his body as his twelfth Qi vortex was born.

The Qi vortex, which was originally only a zhang in diameter, instantly expanded to a terrifying size of over ten zhang, enough to make one's scalp tingle.

A normal person's Qi vortex is only the size of a fist. It is said that some people's Qi vortices are the size of a bowl, and there are even legends of a Genius having a Qi vortex like a water vat. However, Long Chen's Qi vortex had grown so large that it was impossible to calculate.

The size of the Qi vortex often determines the speed and quantity of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi it can extract. When a person advances from the Qi Gathering realm to the Blood Condensation realm, the Qi vortex does not disappear; it remains the ultimate means for absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Usually, an expanding Qi vortex is a pleasant surprise. But when the expansion exceeds your imagination, it becomes a source of genuine terror.

Looking at the twelve perfectly arranged Qi vortices within his Dantian, like a group of wide-open mouths greedily absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Long Chen's heart raced uncontrollably.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi here was far denser than in the Imperial Capital. Long Chen had only arrived two days ago and had already achieved a Breakthrough.

Long Chen felt increasingly uneasy. The Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was too bizarre. If it continued like this, when would it ever end? The size of the Qi vortices was truly terrifying.

"Woo woo."

Just as Long Chen was lost in thought, a snowy-white little creature jumped onto the boulder where Long Chen was sitting and burrowed straight into his arms.

Seeing this cute little creature, Long Chen immediately put his previous thoughts aside and picked it up.

Lu Fang'er had once instructed Long Chen on how to tame Demonic Beasts. Over the past two days, Long Chen had hunted a few pheasants along the way, using their fresh blood to feed the Blazing Snow Wolf.

What amazed Long Chen was that a Demonic Beast is indeed a Demonic Beast; after drinking the blood, its body immediately began to harden, and it no longer walked with a wobbly gait.

What Long Chen found most incredible was that even though the little creature had no teeth, it started biting the pheasant fiercely, managing to tear off a piece of skin and swallowing it whole.

However, its throat was too narrow, and the food got stuck, making it roll its eyes in choking. Long Chen was startled and hurriedly pried the food out.

Yet, as if driven by instinct, the moment Long Chen pulled the chicken skin out, it began biting again.

Long Chen was helpless and had to cut the chicken meat into small pieces to feed it, which almost made his eyes pop out of his head.

This little creature, barely larger than a palm, had actually eaten half a whole chicken—nearly twice the size of its own body.

After half a chicken went down, the little creature's belly was only slightly bulging. It then lay down beside Long Chen and fell fast asleep, only to continue eating once it woke up.

In just a few short days, the little creature had grown from the size of a palm to over a foot long. It had also sprouted four canine teeth; although still very young, it already possessed a certain air of ferocity and would bite frantically whenever it saw food.

The little creature looked fierce, but it was very attached to Long Chen. When tired from playing, it would doze off in Long Chen's arms and sometimes lick his face.

However, Long Chen couldn't let it wash his face anymore; after all, it had started eating meat, and the smell was a bit pungent.

Long Chen gently stroked the Blazing Snow Wolf. Seeing this little creature reminded him of Meng Qi's flawless face, and his heart burned with warmth.

"Boom."

A loud explosion rang out in the distance. Long Chen looked toward the sound and saw a large tree in the dense forest several miles away crash down, accompanied by a heaven-shaking roar.

Long Chen shook his head, picked up the little creature, and ran toward the direction of the sound. When he arrived, he saw that the once dense forest was in ruins within a radius of a hundred zhang; all the trees had been snapped, lying scattered everywhere.

In the center of the clearing, a massive figure was walking out, carrying a giant wild ox that stood a zhang tall.

"A Man, how many times have I told you? Use some technique when hunting. Achieving the goal with the least amount of effort—that is the essence of it," Long Chen said, looking at A Man with a helpless expression.

"Hehe, Brother Long, I remembered what you said before I started hunting, but as soon as I saw the prey, I forgot it all," A Man said, scratching his head in embarrassment.

Long Chen glanced at the wild ox, whose neck had been brutally twisted, and didn't know what to say.

A Man possessed infinite strength, like a humanoid Demonic Beast, and a terrifying one at that. However, it seemed that things like technique had no connection to him.

Along this journey, this was already the fourth Demonic Beast A Man had killed just to satisfy his hunger. Although this wild ox was only a First Rank Demonic Beast, its strength was astonishing; an average Blood Condensation realm expert might not even be a match for it.

Yet in A Man's hands, it was like a little chick, with no power to resist, and its neck was simply snapped.

Furthermore, A Man's favorite way of fighting was the most direct method: overwhelming the enemy with absolute strength, which gave Long Chen a massive headache.

It was as if A Man were a Demonic Beast that liked to act on instinct. Even though he remembered things clearly beforehand, as soon as he started fighting, he forgot everything.

"Alright, let's process this wild ox. Skin it, remove the internal organs, and keep only the meat."

Long Chen took out a sharp knife and began to skin the wild ox. There was no point in expecting A Man to do such delicate work; he was only good at chopping the wild ox into minced meat with an axe.

Because the bloody scent of a Demonic Beast could drift very far—potentially being smelled by other Demonic Beasts hundreds of miles away—after finishing the processing, A Man carried the skinned and gutted wild ox back to the camp.

The camp Long Chen had chosen was behind a waterfall, where there was a natural cave, serving as a ready-made shelter.

Moreover, the flowing water of the waterfall could mask their scent, making it less likely to attract the attention of other Demonic Beasts.

Although they didn't fear ordinary Demonic Beasts, being ambushed by them was still a very troublesome matter. If a Demonic Beast happened to be poisonous, it would be a fatal threat.

The cave was spacious. Long Chen built a large fire and roasted the entire wild ox on a rack. Within an hour, the aroma had filled the entire cave.

"Woo woo…"

Looking at the huge roasted ox, the Blazing Snow Wolf broke free from Long Chen's arms and pounced toward the ox.

Long Chen was startled and hurriedly grabbed it with one hand. If he had been a moment later, the little creature would have pounced right into the fire.

At that point, although the beautiful little creature wouldn't have burned to death, its snowy-white fur would likely have been scorched.

"No messing around!" Long Chen glared at the Blazing Snow Wolf, putting on an angry face.

The little creature seemed to sense that Long Chen was angry and immediately became obedient. It stared at the ground with its big eyes, not daring to look at Long Chen's face, as if admitting its mistake.

Although Long Chen had not planted a Slave Mark on the little creature, he could still clearly convey his emotions using some communication techniques that Lu Fang'er had taught him.

It was just that after planting a Slave Mark, one could control its life or death with a single thought, ensuring it would never harbor thoughts of betrayal.

Long Chen did not treat the little creature as a slave, but as his companion. However, the Blazing Snow Wolf was currently like a child and needed to be taught what to do and what not to do.

After the little creature had been obedient for a while, it secretly glanced at Long Chen. Seeing that Long Chen still had a gloomy expression, it slowly nudged its head over and rubbed against Long Chen's chin, acting as if it were acting coquettishly.

Long Chen wanted to laugh, but he held it back with all his might. If he let it slide this time, it would be even bolder next time; he had to teach it a lesson.

The Blazing Snow Wolf rubbed against him for a long time, and seeing that Long Chen still had a gloomy expression, it actually lowered its head. To Long Chen's surprise, the little creature had actually started crying.

Long Chen simply couldn't believe it. He looked closely and, sure enough, it was tears. Its nose was twitching, just as if it were sobbing.

"Alright, don't do that next time. It's very dangerous and will hurt you. Understand?" Long Chen said with a bitter smile, gently stroking the little creature's head.

The Blazing Snow Wolf seemed to understand Long Chen's meaning and began to use its little head to rub against Long Chen's chin again, starting to curry favor with him.

Long Chen sighed. It seemed this little creature wasn't a worry-free one either. Then, looking at A Man, who had already started chattering away beside him, Long Chen felt a headache coming on.

Seeing that it was roasted enough, Long Chen cut off a large piece of meat and handed it to the Blazing Snow Wolf. This little creature didn't like eating minced meat; it preferred to eat meat it tore off itself.

Long Chen only cut off about a dozen jin of meat; the rest had nothing to do with him, because A Man's stomach was like a bottomless pit—there was never a time when he couldn't eat more.

Even though he had long known about A Man's appetite, when Long Chen watched him wipe out several thousand jin of beef, he still felt shocked. Looking at the bones on the ground and the still-unsatisfied A Man, Long Chen couldn't say a word.

According to A Man, he felt that eating the meat of these Demonic Beasts was exceptionally delicious, and after eating, his body felt full of endless strength—the effect was far, far better than eating beef.

Long Chen had also examined A Man's body again and discovered that the dormant cells in his body were gradually reviving, which was a very good sign.

At the same time, he seemed to understand a principle: the flesh and blood of Demonic Beasts were extremely important to A Man. It seemed the more powerful the flesh and blood, the greater the help it was to A Man.

After eating the meat, the little creature's belly was round, and it began to sleep soundly beside Long Chen. Long Chen also began to prepare for cultivation; since he couldn't enter the Blood Condensation realm, he could only keep condensing Qi vortices.

As for A Man, he hesitated for a moment, then shouldered the giant axe Long Chen had given him and went out to hunt again. He seemed to never be full.

At noon the next day, a breeze blew by, and a noisy sound drifted over. Long Chen, who had been sitting cross-legged in cultivation, slowly opened his eyes. The person he was waiting for had finally arrived.