Chapter 9: Early Stage of Yuan Ying

On Cui Mu Planet, Qu Yi had already obtained the Yuan Ying of metal, water, fire, and earth at the middle stage of Yuan Ying. Now, from Zhan Jin’s storage bracelet, he got the Yuan Ying of wood at the middle stage as well, completing all five elements’ energies and allowing him to advance to the early stage of Yuan Ying.
Qu Yi was naturally very happy.
Bai Man, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan also immediately offered their congratulations.
However, Qu Yi wasn’t in a hurry. He said cheerfully, “Let’s all go and see if that Green Silk Fruit Tree has ripened yet.”
So, the four of them entered the cave together.
It was a natural cave, filled with colorful stalactites that shone with various hues, making the entire cave extremely beautiful.
The four quickly arrived at a spot with blood-red stalactites, where there stood a three-meter-tall green tree with a straight trunk branching into five limbs, each bearing a few Green Silk Fruits. Only on the parts bearing fruits did green leaves grow, and these fruits emitted a faint green glow, which was quite pleasing to the eye.
“It’s so beautiful,” Bai Man praised happily.
Qu Yi agreed, then asked the Artifact God, “Artifact God, have those fruits on the Green Silk Fruit Tree ripened? Will it be useful if we eat them?”
The Artifact God replied immediately, “Stop dreaming. Focus on how to devour Yuan Ying instead. Let me tell you—those fruits are about to ripen. But none of you four can eat them. That Wei Yan you know will find them very useful.”
Hearing this, Qu Yi wasn’t disappointed; instead, he was glad. “That works too. Let’s use these Green Silk Fruits to win over Wei Yan. If we want an ally, he won’t be fully committed without some benefits.”
Suddenly, the Artifact God said, “Qu Yi, I’d better tell you—that Wei Yan you know is actually a demon cultivator, whose true form is a four-winged swift eagle. I think he must have some scheme in mind for coming to the South Demon Continent. Getting close to him might bring some advantages.”
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi was shocked again. Wei Yan was quite bold, daring to ride a windship. If his true form were revealed, he might be taken as a demon pet by others. But now, Qu Yi was even more interested in Wei Yan’s plans and wanted to rush to the Hundred Demons Mountain Range as soon as possible to make a move.
“Qu Yi, are we useful to this Green Silk Fruit Tree?” Bai Man asked, seeing Qu Yi standing quietly.
The conversation between the Artifact God and Qu Yi was conducted through spiritual communication, so the others couldn’t hear it.

Qu Yi immediately returned a smile and then said, “The Artifact God said these Green Silk Fruits aren’t yet ripe. However, they can be stored inside the Dimension Ball. In a few more days, they can be consumed.” Then, Qu Yi took out the Red Nan Sword, channeled his vital energy into it, and swiftly swung it several times beneath the Green Silk Fruit tree before lifting up the entire ground and digging out the whole tree. Soon after, the Artifact God controlled the Dimension Ball to retrieve the Green Silk Fruit tree. Suddenly, the Dimension Ball stopped in midair and didn’t return to Qu Yi’s soul. “Qu Yi, I think you’re a lucky one. Beneath all these red stalactites are Yuan Hong Spirit Crystals. Tell Bai Man to release the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes so they can devour these crystals,” said the Artifact God. Whoosh! Hearing this, Qu Yi let out a long sigh and then stared at the ground he had just dug up, his face filled with ecstasy. Bai Man, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan saw Qu Yi’s expression and realized something was up, so they also looked at the ground. There, blood-colored crystals the size of mung beans were moving in the wind, glowing red and brimming with spiritual energy. “Sister, the Artifact God said these are Yuan Hong Spirit Crystals, even better than Blood Spirit Crystals. Release all the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes so they can devour them—they’ll quickly reach the next level. Oh, and release those two Blood Mosquito Kings too,” Qu Yi immediately called out. Upon hearing this, Bai Man was overjoyed. She tapped her spirit item bag, and all the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes flew out. Indeed, upon smelling the scent of the Yuan Hong Spirit Crystals, they didn’t need Bai Man’s orders at all—they immediately darted down, rushed into the pit, and began devouring the crystals. Especially the two Blood Mosquito Kings, which usually never left their spirit item bag, rushed out, pushed aside the other mosquitoes, and reached the bottom of the pit to devour the crystals greedily. Watching the frenzied scene of the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes, Qu Yi smiled and said, “Sister, Qing Wu Gui, Wu Yuan, wait here for a while. I think I’ll start striving for the early stage of Yuan Ying now.” With the Yuan Ying gathered and his soul realm already at the early stage of Yuan Ying, everything was ready. Bai Man, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan all nodded in agreement. … Qu Yi entered the depths of the cave and sat in meditation alone. In front of him was a jade platform, on which lay five Yuan Ying—one belonging to Master Qing Yang, one to Master Bing Yu, one to Yuan Shan of the Golden-Shelled Lobster, one to the Scarlet Fire Python, and one from Zhan Jin’s storage bracelet.

Because Qu Yi was transitioning from the later stage of the Golden Core phase to the early stage of the Yuan Ying phase, if he wanted to devour a Yuan Ying at the early stage, he needed ten of each of the five elements’ Yuan Yings; whereas if he devoured one at the middle stage, just one of each would suffice.
At some point, Qu Yi suddenly opened his eyes and said with a smile, “Optimal state—Yuan Ying consumption, begin.”
Then, he waved his true energy, drawing the five Yuan Yings into his mouth before immediately sending them to his dantian. Naturally, the five Yuan Yings were immediately broken down by the combined true energy, releasing massive amounts of five-element energy that surged throughout Qu Yi’s body.
At this moment, the five cultivation techniques within Qu Yi’s body accelerated their operation speed. *Golden Splendor*, *Revival of All Plants*, *Unity of Water and Sky*, *Spreading Starfire*, and *Majestic Imperial Land* all increased their speed, rapidly gathering the separated five-element energies into the five internal organs.
From the Golden Core phase to the Yuan Ying phase, all true energy in the body must be transformed into true essence, raising the energy level by one tier. The process involves transforming the Golden Core into a Yuan Ying, which naturally requires a great deal of energy to highly condense and transform a trace of true essence. From one to ten, and eventually all, the true energy is elevated to true essence.
Energy of the metal element entered the metal dantian in the lungs, wood energy entered the wood dantian in the liver, water energy entered the water dantian in the kidneys, fire energy entered the fire dantian in the heart, and earth energy entered the earth dantian in the spleen. At every moment, Qu Yi’s body was processing enormous amounts of energy.
Undoubtedly, Qu Yi felt pain, as if five energy dragons were drilling simultaneously within his body, threatening to burst him apart.
The soul realm is like a bucket, while energy represents cultivation level—the water in the bucket. Qu Yi’s soul realm had reached the early stage of Yuan Ying, giving him sufficient ability to prevent energy from flowing chaotically and to control the five cultivation techniques at their maximum speed, directing all energy to the corresponding internal organs.
As long as Qu Yi could withstand the intense pain and break through to the early stage of Yuan Ying, there would be no doubt about his success.
……
Inside the cave, those Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes continued to devour the Yuan Hong Spirit Crystal.
Five days had passed, yet it seemed less than one-tenth of the entire crystal had been consumed. During this process, all the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes at the Foundation Establishment phase had broken through to the Golden Core phase, while those already at the Golden Core phase had advanced to the later stage.
Two Blood Shadow Kings had even broken through to the early stage of Yuan Ying, directly shattering the belief that Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes could never reach the Yuan Ying phase as mythical beasts.

Naturally, Bai Man, who was watching the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes from the side, was the happiest. She had a large group of experts at the Golden Core stage, plus two demonic beasts at the Yuan Ying stage. Including the Puppet Leopard, she now had three experts at the early Yuan Ying stage under her command.

Qing Wu Gui still held his black sword, lost in thought, constantly sensing the energy within the cave. It seemed he could sense energy anytime, anywhere.

Wu Yuan simply lay on the ground, his dragon eyes fixed on the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes. Whenever one of them reached a new level, he would immediately let out a loud howl.

At that moment, Qu Yi suddenly appeared by the pit. Instant teleportation! This was a skill only possessed by cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage!

Qing Wu Gui opened his eyes and said with a faint smile, “Congratulations!”

Wu Yuan remained lying down, lowering his dragon head before calling out, “Woof, woof! Qu Yi, congratulations on your success.”

Only then did Bai Man realize what had happened. She immediately took Qu Yi’s right hand and looked at him happily. “Qu Yi, have you already reached the early Yuan Ying stage?”

Qu Yi nodded with a smile.

“Then can we kill the Blood-Bone Duo?” Bai Man asked suddenly.

During the month spent on the Wind-Facing Ship, Qi Shen had told Bai Man everything about Qu Yi’s experiences, and she had remembered it all.

“To kill them, it might be possible if we face just one of them. But since the two of them never separate, it will be a bit difficult. But it doesn’t matter. When we meet them again, it will be their death day,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

After suddenly reaching the early Yuan Ying stage, Qu Yi’s mindset had changed as well; he no longer cared much about those at the Yuan Ying stage.

“So, where shall we go next?” Bai Man asked.

Qing Wu Gui also looked at Qu Yi seriously.

Qu Yi smiled and said, “Wu Qing wants to search for the Spirit Talisman Cave. He says it’s likely to be in the Black Bone Mountains. Coincidentally, the Hundred Demons Mountain Range, which we’re heading to, is located near the Black Bone Mountains. Let’s first go to the Hundred Demons Mountain Range to establish a foothold, then help Wu Qing search for the Spirit Talisman Cave.”

Qing Wu Gui immediately smiled faintly and nodded at Qu Yi.

Qu Yi then glanced at the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes, which were still devouring the Yuan Hong Spirit Crystals, and said, “These Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes still aren’t full. How about this? Let Qi Shen take action and put all these Yuan Hong Spirit Crystals into the Dimension Ball. Then we can set off together.”

Hearing this, Bai Man immediately gave an order, and those Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes and the Blood Mosquito King returned to the Spirit Item Bag.

Soon after, the Dimension Ball appeared, spinning in the pit and collecting all the Yuan Hong Spirit Crystals.

The next moment, Qu Yi, Bai Man, and Wu Yuan entered the inch-bound sphere, which attached itself to Qing Wu Gui. Then Qing Wu Gui flew out of the canyon alone, heading toward the Black Bone Mountains.