That noon, after Qin Feng finished his cultivation, he sat under a hundred-year-old dragon claw locust tree in the courtyard and summoned the Swallowing Sky Toad, holding it in his palm and observing it carefully for a while.
This Swallowing Sky Toad was still in its juvenile stage, its skin smooth and cool to the touch, making it very comfortable to hold.
Its appearance was also beautiful, covered in an emerald green layer like jade, except for the snow-white belly. Several mysterious patterns ran across its back, adding an air of mystery.
Qin Feng gently stroked its back a few times, then reached out a finger to poke its snow-white belly. It felt soft and delicate, but if he applied more force, he could feel a hidden resilience beneath its skin. Even an ordinary magic artifact might not break through its soft outer layer.
Over a month had passed since his last mission to Qifeng Mountain to clear out demon beasts. The autumn chill had set in, and the grass and trees were turning yellow. Frog sightings in the mountains and forests had decreased as some began to hibernate.
However, the Swallowing Sky Toad was an exotic species demon toad, unlike ordinary toads and frogs that needed to burrow into the ground to survive the winter.
In fact, even if thrown into the Extreme North Ice Field, it could live well.
After examining the Swallowing Sky Toad for a while, Qin Feng stopped toying with it. He merely held it in his hand, stroking its smooth skin while pondering.
He considered the Swallowing Sky Toad's future cultivation. Keeping it confined in the Demon Refining Pot was not ideal, as it couldn't generate spiritual energy, which would slow down its cultivation.
Although this spirit toad's cultivation speed was inherently slow, much slower than normal demon beasts—by dozens of times.
After all, it needed to devour a vast amount of spiritual objects to advance.
Many Swallowing Sky Toads couldn't reach higher realms due to insufficient resources, overwhelmed by the space inside them, resulting in dying of old age without advancing.
Qin Feng had ways to speed up this Swallowing Sky Toad's cultivation. Whether by fusing it with other toad demon beast bloodlines, allowing it to acquire new cultivation techniques, or by placing demon beast corpses or directly inserting spirit stones into the Demon Refining Pot to refine pure spiritual energy, both could accelerate its cultivation.
Although spirit stones were not demon beasts, they essentially contained spiritual energy, similar to spirit veins, but the energy in spirit stones was internalized and needed external communication to be extracted.
Unfortunately, he couldn't procure other toad demon beast bloodlines, and he disdained ordinary spirit toads. Even if he obtained those with superior bloodlines and exceptional talents, he couldn't fuse them now.
Fusing bloodlines required a tremendous amount of energy, and the Demon Refining Pot was empty. To complete the fusion, he needed abundant spiritual power resources.
Except for the dozen or so monkey demon corpses he had obtained from the Huang Family, he only had over a hundred spirit stones left, which was from the magic artifacts his father sold.
He needed to save these spirit stones for the numerous expenses he would encounter after entering the sect, so he couldn't pour all his resources into the bottomless pit of the Demon Refining Pot.
Qin Feng also couldn't hunt demon beasts in the mountains himself to feed the Swallowing Sky Toad.
With his current cultivation, going into the mountains alone would be more of him being hunted by demon beasts than hunting them.
As he frowned, feeling a bit troubled, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the courtyard, followed by Qin Yang's voice.
He flipped his palm, storing the Swallowing Sky Toad back into the Demon Refining Pot.
Then he turned to look towards the courtyard gate.
Qin Yang, smiling broadly and full of energy, seemed much more light-hearted in his steps.
"Haha, Brother Feng, you're really idle, sitting at home doing nothing."
Qin Feng was speechless. What do you mean doing nothing, I've been diligently cultivating.
But he didn't argue, recognizing Qin Yang's words were unintentional.
Judging by Qin Yang's beaming face, something good must have happened.
Coupled with the recent pills their father had brought back for Qin Yang, it was easy to guess that Qin Yang leveled up to Qi Refinement seventh layer.
"Congratulations, Brother Yang, on your significant advancement in cultivation, reaching the late stage of Qi Refinement."
Qin Feng stood up, pretending to congratulate him.
"Hahaha, no need for such words between brothers."
Qin Yang laughed, patting Qin Feng's shoulder, and then casually wrapped an arm around Qin Feng's shoulder, steering him outside: "If it weren't for you, Cousin, I wouldn't have cultivated so quickly. Come, come, today I'm taking you to Lichun House to drink flower wine."
"Flower wine?"
Qin Feng's heart skipped a beat.
He hadn't even held a girl's hand in over a decade, let alone anything more intimate.
But considering his current age, he felt a bit disheartened.
Quickly regaining his composure, he showed a look of disdain and righteousness, shaking off Qin Yang's arm with a light scoff: "I never expected you to be such a person, frequenting such places."
"Uh..."
Qin Yang felt ashamed at Qin Feng's righteous demeanor, his face turning red: "Occasionally, just when socializing with colleagues like Zhao Meng, we might go once."
"Forget the flower wine."
Qin Feng shook his head: "Besides, even if I could go, would you dare take me there?"
"No, no, I was just saying it casually."
Qin Yang smiled wryly: "If I actually took you there, Uncle would break my legs."
Although the Beast Taming Sect's cultivation techniques didn't care about preserving one's virginity, it was better to focus on cultivation in the early stages to avoid distractions.
If young cultivators indulged in pleasures too early and became addicted, unable to resist, their future achievements would be very limited.
So many family forces advised their young members to avoid getting involved with women.
Previously, Qin Feng was too young, so Qin Long never discussed it with him, but Qin Feng knew his father wouldn't allow him to fool around.
"Let's go. I heard Yingxian Building recently hired a new chef who cooks very well. Today, I'll take you to Yingxian Building to drink and celebrate my advancement to the late stage of Qi Refinement."
Qin Yang didn't mention Lichun House again and led Qin Feng towards the courtyard gate.
Qin Feng didn't refuse, as he had nothing else to do and wouldn't mind relaxing in the city.
He hadn't rushed his advancement recently to avoid suspicion, focusing on refining his spiritual power. His spiritual power was much purer and more profound compared to most Qi Refinement cultivators at the same level.
They entered the city and headed to Yingxian Building.
Although called Yingxian Building, it mainly served regular people, with few cultivators dining there.
Other than the three cultivator families, Kun City had only a few loose cultivators living there, making it unprofitable to target cultivators exclusively.
As the two approached Yingxian Building, the waiter's eyes lit up.
As a Deputy Inspection Envoy of the Inspection Department, Qin Yang was a notable figure among Kun City's residents and deserved good service.
They were about to be led to a private room on the third floor when a group arrived from across the street, led by Huang Family's eldest son, Huang Yulang.
PS: Too busy today, no additional updates tonight.
Thanks to Junzi Bowenqiangji, Titanium Alloy Leek, Love Has Gone, Wind Has Stopped, and Walk Shaoshi for the tips!