Chapter Nineteen: Three Months

In the dense forest, Qu Yi was at the front, followed by an Iron Ox Beast in the early stage of Qi Guidance, with Bai Man, filled with joy, riding on it. Bai Man’s mount, the Golden Crown Heron, kept circling above the forest, ready to descend in case of an emergency.

Qu Yi had been training in the forest for three months now. The entire forest was filled with monsters in the Qi Guidance stage; those in the Foundation Establishment stage had not yet appeared. This posed no difficulty at all to Qu Yi, as if he had once again become a lone hunter, mercilessly slaying monsters in the forest.

Over these three months, Qu Yi had amassed a rich collection. He had killed over a hundred monsters, and all the useful materials from them were stored in his storage bags. His own bags were not enough, so he had to use Bai Man’s as well. If it weren’t for the fact that Bai Man lacked true energy and would find it difficult to move around in the forest, that Iron Ox Beast would have been killed long ago. Now, it served as her mount.

Bai Man must have been in the happiest state of her life during these three months. Being with Qu Yi, she felt completely relaxed, and seeing him skillfully slay monsters at every moment was thrilling and fulfilling for her.

At that moment, Qu Yi, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped. “Senior sister, there’s a monster ahead. It’s probably in the later stage of Qi Guidance. Ask the Golden Crown Heron to land first; I’ll go kill that monster,” Qu Yi said with a smile.

Although Qu Yi was confident enough to defeat a monster in the Qi Guidance stage, he considered the unknown nature of the monster. If he failed on the first attempt and the monster hurt Bai Man, he would likely wish to die in pain. To be safe, he needed the Golden Crown Heron to land first so he could kill the monster without worry.

The Golden Crown Heron, being a monster in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, was more than enough to protect Bai Man.

Bai Man nodded, her face glowing with happiness. Qu Yi smiled back, calmed down, and stepped forward quietly.

A five-meter-long Blood-Eyed Wolf was proudly tearing into the corpse of a giant bear, its prey from earlier. The giant bear, though huge—reaching three meters in height—could not withstand the Blood-Eyed Wolf’s attack. A large hole was torn in its throat, and it died instantly.

Qu Yi concealed his presence and quietly approached the Blood-Eyed Wolf. Thanks to the Breathless Technique, which he had mastered over these three months, even the most sensitive monsters could not detect his presence.

At that moment, although the Blood-Eyed Wolf couldn’t sense Qu Yi’s presence, its blood-red eyes flashed with cold light. The special ability of its eyes had already detected Qu Yi’s figure, despite the dozens of trees between them.

Howl!

The Blood-Eyed Wolf was furious. While it was enjoying its food, some reckless fool dared to disturb it—how presumptuous! Dignity must be preserved, especially for a Blood-Eyed Wolf. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! With a single leap, the Blood-Eyed Wolf covered ten meters in one stride. After two more jumps, it arrived in front of Qu Yi and bit down at him. Qu Yi smiled. As the Blood-Eyed Wolf lunged at him, he suddenly stepped sideways. The moment his foot touched the ground, he leaped again, rushing straight at the wolf. In the blink of an eye, Qu Yi had completed these two moves. Howl! As the Blood-Eyed Wolf landed, it let out a pained cry—its waist had been pierced by a sword. Thin waists, a common trait among wolves; a wound there meant severe injury. What Qu Yi had used was the “Point Wood Technique” from the “Cork Ten Styles,” where true energy was concentrated at one point and thrust into the wolf’s waist, penetrating deep to damage its internal organs. Sensing danger, the Blood-Eyed Wolf fled immediately, even faster than before. Qu Yi shook his head, slightly dissatisfied that his move hadn’t killed the wolf. But seeing it try to escape, he smiled and suddenly floated forward, chasing after it. “A single step equals thousands of miles!” Qu Yi used a secret technique—a golden-based skill from the “Five Energies and Three Flowers” divine formula, designed to enhance speed. If fully mastered, it could allow one to travel thousands of miles in a single step. But since Qu Yi was only at the intermediate stage of energy control, its effectiveness was somewhat reduced. Still, it was more than enough to chase the Blood-Eyed Wolf. One step, two steps, three steps. Qu Yi caught up with the wolf and immediately swung his Green Python Sword, using the “Disperse Clouds Technique” from the “Cloud Sword Eight Styles.” Rows of true energy blades flew out, all hitting the wolf’s body. Howl! The wolf fell to its knees in pain, its head twisting as blood-red tears streamed from its eyes as it begged Qu Yi. “Heh, quite interesting. Even wolves beg for mercy. But I grew up in the forest since childhood and know well the ferocity of you wolves. How could I spare your life?” Qu Yi said calmly. Seeing Qu Yi raise his sword again, the wolf realized its pleas were useless. Its eyes flashed with fury. Ignoring the pain from the wounds in its body, it leaped with all its strength and bit at Qu Yi. “What good is stubborn resistance?” Qu Yi said with a faint smile. Just as the wolf’s head reached Qu Yi’s face, he suddenly dodged, and his Green Python Sword slashed swiftly. Before the wolf could land, its head was already separated from its body.

The Green Python Sword, a top-grade magical weapon, could only be forged at the later stage of the Golden Core phase. Its sharpness made it easy to slay this wolf-headed beast. As the wolf’s head fell to the ground, Bai Man emerged on the back of the Iron Ox Beast, smiling more beautifully than flowers. “Younger brother, you’ve killed another monster so quickly. Don’t you feel a lack of accomplishment? How about we go somewhere else and face monsters at the Foundation Establishment phase?” Bai Man said with a sweet voice after clearing her throat. Qu Yi was completely stunned. Although he had been with Bai Man for three months, he had always been deeply attracted to her, unable to resist. “Idiot… what are you staring at? Why don’t you answer me?” Bai Man said angrily, her face red. But inside, she was feeling sweet and happy. Qu Yi stammered in panic for a while before trying to calm down and said, “Senior sister, are you asking me to kill monsters at the Foundation Establishment phase? Okay, I’ll follow your orders.” Hearing this, Bai Man became anxious and quickly said, “No, no! You’re only at the early stage of Qi Guidance. Although you can kill monsters at the later stage of Qi Guidance, you definitely can’t defeat those at the Foundation Establishment phase. I won’t allow you to go.” Qu Yi was astonished and remained silent for a long time. A woman’s mind changes so fast—she asked me to kill monsters at the Foundation Establishment phase, I agreed, but now she’s stopping me. Perhaps this rapid change in a woman’s mind is what makes her charming. Qu Yi shook his head and helplessly began dissecting the corpse of the Blood-Eyed Wolf. That blood eye was still very useful; as an eye for certain magical weapons, it possessed special abilities. As soon as he removed the blood eye, Qu Yi felt a change in his internal true qi—his gathered true qi was converging further, indicating that his true qi was transitioning to the later stage of Qi Guidance. Since reaching the middle stage of Qi Guidance, he had spent three months in the Immortal Cloud Sect and another three months in these Misty Demon Mountains. His true qi had been constantly circulating, and it was time for a breakthrough. Just as Qu Yi was about to smile, the voice of the Weapon God rang out in his soul. “Qu Yi, there should be some medicinal herbs five miles ahead. Go there,” the Weapon God reminded him. Although the Weapon God’s soul resided inside the Inch Realm Ball, its spiritual power was still effective. Nothing around it could escape its perception, which was why Qu Yi had been able to detect the presence of monsters in advance throughout these three months in the forest. Upon hearing this, Qu Yi immediately jumped onto the Iron Ox Beast’s back, ignoring Bai Man’s surprised cry. He slapped the beast’s rump to urge it forward. The Iron Ox Beast, in pain, immediately started running at full speed. Bai Man was in front, Qu Yi behind, both on the back of the Iron Ox Beast, so close together that they were almost touching.

“Junior brother, can you go down?” Bai Man mustered her courage and said slowly.
Qu Yi was stunned for a moment before realizing what she meant. Letting out an “Ah,” he immediately jumped down, moving faster than the Iron Ox Beast and leading the way. Overjoyed earlier, Qu Yi had forgotten the taboo and excitedly climbed onto the Iron Ox Beast’s back.
Seeing Qu Yi really go down, Bai Man appeared happy on the surface, but inwardly felt a hint of disappointment.
Soon, Qu Yi reached their destination. In a green meadow, clusters of bright red grass grew among the plants. These red grasses resembled ordinary blades that sprouted directly from the ground, about the width of a little finger and a foot long, glowing red with a strong aura of spiritual energy.
“It’s Blood Essence Grass! It’s one of the ingredients for the Foundation Building Pill!” Qu Yi exclaimed in delight.
Although Qu Yi didn’t know how to refine pills at the moment, he was familiar with the recipes for common pills like the Fasting Mortal Pill and the Foundation Building Pill, which were documented in the Xianyun Sect’s library. That’s why he recognized the Blood Essence Grass right away.
“Junior brother, you’re really lucky. If you pick these Blood Essence Grasses, you should be able to exchange them for a few Foundation Building Pills. You can use them when you reach the early stage of Foundation Building,” Bai Man said happily, even more excited than Qu Yi.
Without hesitation, Qu Yi took out his spirit bag and started scooping up the clusters of Blood Essence Grasses to put them inside.
Blood Essence Grasses couldn’t be pulled out forcefully, otherwise, the grass would break, causing the blood-red sap inside to leak out. Once that happened, the grass would lose its spiritual energy and could no longer be used for pill refinement.
After gathering all the Blood Essence Grasses, Qu Yi and Bai Man laughed at each other.
…
Meanwhile, in another part of the Misty Demon Mountains, Liu Qingfeng and Mu Qiushui were affectionately embracing.
“Brother Qingfeng, it’s been three months. Should we go look for that Qu Yi?” Mu Qiushui asked with eager eyes.
The two had been practicing cultivation together in a secluded place in the Misty Demon Mountains for three months.
“Qiushui, tell me, could that Qu Yi reach the middle stage of Qi Guidance in a year?” Liu Qingfeng asked while stroking Mu Qiushui’s fair skin with a smile.
“It’s possible.”
“After three months of practicing cultivation with me, you should be nearing the middle stage of Foundation Building too. Do you think it will be difficult for us, one at the late stage and the other at the middle stage of Foundation Building, to deal with him who’s only at the middle stage of Qi Guidance?” Liu Qingfeng stroked her even more eagerly.
“Not at all!”
Liu Qingfeng stopped moving and sneered, “That’s right. Let that kid train in the Misty Demon Mountains. When it’s almost over, we’ll go find him, deal with him, and take his treasures along. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Mu Qiushui laughed heartily, her eyes filled with enchanting charm as she understood Liu Qingfeng’s plan. She said proudly, “Brother Qingfeng, you’re really smart.”
Liu Qingfeng sneered coldly, his gaze dark.