Huang Xiaolong looked at the several Yang Fruits on the mountain wall, his eyes ablaze with intense light, his throat moving slightly, and then he turned towards the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey, finally understanding the little guy's reason for bringing him here.
The Yang Fruits were growing more than twenty or thirty meters up the mountain wall. The little guy must want to eat them but can't reach them, so did it ask him to come and help pick them?
"Little guy, are you asking me to help you pick these Yang Fruits?" Huang Xiaolong asked.
"Chirp chirp chirp!" The Soul-devouring Purple Monkey's eyes lit up with joy, chirping incessantly while nodding.
Huang Xiaolong smiled. This little guy was quite cute. He turned his head back, looked at the Yang Fruits growing some twenty meters high on the mountain wall, and then scanned the surroundings of the cliff face.
The mountain wall was smooth, almost a straight ascent with hardly any footholds. The difficulty of picking the Yang Fruits from twenty meters up was no small feat, especially for the current Huang Xiaolong.
After a while, Huang Xiaolong leaped up, reaching a height of four or five meters, his right hand formed into a claw, and Inner Strength burst forth as he stabbed fiercely into the cliff. The mountain wall was extremely hard, and with Huang Xiaolong's current Inner Strength, he could only bury his fingers a short distance into the cliff, but it was just enough to support his small body hanging in mid-air.
Then, Huang Xiaolong extended his left hand into a claw and stabbed it into the cliff to steady his body completely before continuing to scale towards the Yang Fruit step by step.
Every step took a great effort as Huang Xiaolong had to run his Inner Strength for support, so it was extremely strenuous. By the time he reached about ten meters high, Huang Xiaolong was already panting heavily, and his speed had slowed down.
The Soul-devouring Purple Monkey, which had initially been chirping noisily on the ground, quieted down upon seeing this, its pale blue eyes anxiously watching Huang Xiaolong who seemed like he could fall at any moment.
Under the watchful eyes of the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey, Huang Xiaolong's slender body finally reached the Yang Fruits twenty meters high on the mountain wall. He looked at the five Yang Fruits in front of him with excitement lighting his eyes. He took out a small cloth he had prepared earlier, picked the fruits one by one, wrapped them in the cloth, and then leaped down towards the ground.
Midair, Huang Xiaolong's feet lightly tapped on several spots beneath the mountain wall, landing steadily on the ground.
Seeing Huang Xiaolong successfully pick the Yang Fruits and come down, the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey let out excited chirps, dancing with joy, extremely delighted. After dancing around for a while, the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey calmed down and then stared intently at the Yang Fruits in Huang Xiaolong's hands, looking eagerly expectant.
"Little guy, catch." Seeing this, Huang Xiaolong couldn't help but smile and tossed two Yang Fruits over. The Soul-devouring Purple Monkey leaped up, catching the two Yang Fruits with its hands, chirped happily at Huang Xiaolong, and then went to one side, stuffing the two fruits directly into its mouth and sat down cross-legged, absorbing the Spiritual Power of the Yang Fruits.
Watching the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey cultivate and absorb the Spiritual Power of the Yang Fruits, Huang Xiaolong wasn't surprised. Most spiritual beasts could cultivate on their own, let alone the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey, which was a top-grade existence among them.
Seeing the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey cultivating and absorbing the Spiritual Power of the Yang Fruits, Huang Xiaolong scanned the surroundings of the valley, confirmed it was safe, and then sat down cross-legged as well. He took out a Yang Fruit, swallowed it, and then began to run his Mystic Azure Technique, absorbing the Spiritual Power of the Yang Fruit.
As the Spiritual Power of the Yang Fruit spread within Huang Xiaolong's body, soon he was surrounded by a bunch of Nine Yang Qi. Nine Yang Qi is one of the most pure and high-quality fire attribute Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth.
Enveloped in Nine Yang Qi, Huang Xiaolong felt extremely comfortable and warm, as if soaking in a hot spring, and the Fighting Energy in the meridians within his body circulated rapidly.
Several hours passed.
The cross-legged Huang Xiaolong slowly opened his eyes. After several hours, he had completely refined and absorbed the Spiritual Power of the Yang Fruit. Huang Xiaolong found that the Fighting Energy within him had become more than twice as thick as before, reaching the Second Order Late Stage!
Originally, he had estimated that it would take at least another month for him to reach the Second Order Late Stage, but now he had easily achieved it.
Huang Xiaolong was overjoyed, but at that moment, a stench invaded his nostrils. Looking down, he saw his skin was covered in a sticky black mud, a byproduct he recognized from his past life experience of ingesting Spiritual Medicines like the Yang Fruit—impurities from within the body.
Huang Xiaolong leaped up, feeling light and airy, and with an inexplicable sense of comfort within him. After moving his limbs around, he noticed the Shi Ling Purple Monkey was still sitting cross-legged nearby, obviously still refining the Yang Fruit's Spiritual Energy. Deciding not to disturb it, he headed towards the green lake in the middle of the grassy field.
Upon reaching the Green Lake, Huang Xiaolong stripped off all his clothes, carefully placed the remaining two Yang Fruits aside, and with a splash, he dove into the lake. Feeling uncomfortable with the sticky black mud all over him, he was intent on taking a refreshing bath.
Once in the Green Lake, Huang Xiaolong quickly washed the grime off his body. Just as he was about to get out of the water, he suddenly felt a cold stream surge from the bottom of the lake. It was subtle, barely noticeable unless one was paying attention. Intrigued, Huang Xiaolong dived toward the bottom to investigate.
It wasn't long before Huang Xiaolong discovered an opening at the lake bed, the source of the cold stream.
A short while later, Huang Xiaolong arrived at the entrance of the cave and jumped in.
Upon entering, he found the cave's walls dry and not as damp as he had imagined. Embedded in the stone wall of the cave entrance was a Water-Repelling Pearl the size of a goose egg.
That single Water-Repelling Pearl, if auctioned off outside, would be worth a hundred thousand Gold Coins.
Curiosity piqued, Huang Xiaolong followed the cave passage for about ten meters and came upon a Great Hall spanning over a hundred square meters. The hall was completely empty, a quick glance revealed nothing within, but there were three rooms around its periphery. Huang Xiaolong headed towards the first room.
The first room held nothing, empty as well. Entering the second room, Huang Xiaolong became slightly dumbfounded to find it, too, was empty.
"Damn, don't tell me the third room is also empty," Huang Xiaolong couldn't help but curse.
In the third room, Huang Xiaolong peered inside to see a jade bed, with a book made of an unknown material placed on top. Besides that, two half-meter long black blades hung on the stone wall.
After a moment's pause, Huang Xiaolong's gaze fell upon the book on the jade bed. Walking over, he picked it up, and although the book seemed thin, it was surprisingly heavy, making Huang Xiaolong's arm sink, weighing perhaps twenty to thirty pounds.
Looking at the cover, Huang Xiaolong saw the title "Asura Technique" written in archaic script. Just then, a terrifying aura of slaughter emanated from it, causing a thunderous noise in Huang Xiaolong's mind and a flash in his eyes. He found himself on the Corpse Bone Mountain Range, constructed of endless skeletons, surrounded by a boundless Blood Sea.
Huang Xiaolong stood atop the Corpse Mountain's peak as if transformed into a Hell Shura.
Resentful Spirits hovered above the skeletons, rushing towards Huang Xiaolong with gaping maws, ready to devour him. Just as the relentless spirits were about to consume Huang Xiaolong, a flash of light appeared before his eyes, and he was back in the cave's chamber.
Although it was only a moment, Huang Xiaolong was soaked in cold sweat. He looked at the Asura Technique in his hands with dread. However, when he looked again, the visions of the Blood Sea and Corpse Mountain didn't reappear, and he exhaled deeply.
After a while, Huang Xiaolong suppressed the shock in his heart and opened the first page of the Asura Technique with somewhat trembling hands.
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