The night was like a blanket of ink that stretched over the forest, small cinders and flames like stars dispersed throughout as disciples of various sects huddled around the flames to stay warm.
The crackles of the flames sounded as they danced, shedding light on the faces of those who kept watch.
Within a corner of the forest, the once-lit campfire was now nothing but ash as Xiao LingYue stood on the corpse of a humongous serpent, his hands reaching deep inside its body as he tore away the uninfected flesh and bones.
His previous saber was lost, his body filled with wounds and his robes were in tatters but that didn't stop him as he ripped his way through the carcass.
Soon his hands reached a marble-like object the size of his palm as he held it above his head, glancing at it under the moonlight.
Its deep red hue gave off a picturesque beauty as it was illuminated.
His eyes widened in shock as he noticed what stage it was.
The size of a stage one core would be the size of a sparrow's egg while the size of a stage 2 core was around the size of a chicken's egg.
This core was around the size of a palm, which meant it soon be shedding its outer layer as its core would then be concentrated before becoming a Demonic Soldier.
This ferocious beast was probably at the half-step Demonic Soldier stage...
He quickly placed the core within his storage pouch as he limped through the forest seeking shelter.
The sounds of the night gave the forest an eerie ambience, the sounds completely contrasting the noisy influx of cultivators earlier in the day.
His eyes constantly roamed within the darkness as he passed by broken remains and corpses as he made his way, his only thoughts were on finding shelter as he dragged his broken and tired body.
Soon he made his way towards the side of a cliff which had a small crack which he could fit his slender body through...
His fingers ran along the side of the crack as he place his ear towards it, before sliding his body between it.
His body was bruised and beaten, his flesh flayed as it rubbed against the rocky walls of the crevice.
Suddenly he fell forward into a small outcrop as he panted, his vision swimming as he crawled up into a Lotus position.
He was filled with injuries inside out and out and urgently needed to heal, his hand grasping towards the uninfected flesh of the half-step Demonic Soldier Serpent before voraciously stuffing it into his mouth.
Handful by handful he gorged himself on the flesh he had taken, his fingers and mouth bloody as he panted like a crazed fiend.
Blood splashed as he ate, his eyes bloodshot as the hair on his body stood on end, the amount of blood qi almost surpassing his threshold as his wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His gashes soon closed and his bones reconnected, his neidan spun furiously like never before as it tried to contain all this new energy!
His neidan continued to rotate as it expanded a size over fully breaking through to a stage 1 beast core!
His flesh was continuously being refined as his eyes went bloodshot, as the blurry image of a demonic ivory-coloured fox appeared behind him, its image slowly becoming more corporeal as a fox tail unfurled behind him.
His Demonic Demeanor Transformation Art had broken through to the 2nd stage as his body slowly shifted; his fox-like features becoming more pronounced.
His claws dug into the ground as he fell forward, his knees scraping the ground as another tail soon sprouted behind him and his ears became more pointed as veins could be seen snaking their way up his neck.
His heart thumped in a frenzied manner as an even purer Demonic Qi filled his body, his spiritual meridians expanding to the verge of tearing as he began to utilize the Moon Lotus Mantra.
His meridians glowed a bloody red colour as they expanded and contracted similar to that of a heartbeat.
Directing the massive amount of Blood and Demonic Qi towards his other meridians!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three meridians were opened as the searing pain slowly began to subside; his body was wracked with pain as he slowly exhaled a smoke-like breath of Demonic Qi.
The Demonic Lotus image appeared behind once more as three leaves fell into his newly opened meridians...
A bit dazed, Xiao LingYue slowly raised himself back into Lotus position as he tightened his fist, feeling the sheer power within his flesh alone.
Upon breaking through to the Meridan Opening Stage, his flesh had previously contained 1 QiongQi worth of strength, but now it was 2 QiongQis worth of pure physical prowess.
His flesh made him seem like he was a stage 1 ferocious beast able to tear cultivators with weak bodies limb from limb once close enough.
His tails billowed behind him as he slowly restrained the aura of his neidan, reigning in his fox-like features as he checked his internal cultivation.
For every spiritual meridian within the Meridian Opening Stage 3 Tiger's worth of strength was given, while 10 Tiger's worth of strength made 1 QiongQi.
Every cultivator aimed to reach the Opening of all 36 meridians which would then give a total of 108 tigers worth or 10 QiongQi worth of strength but each Meridian was harder to open than the last...
His Moon Lotus Mantra had just broken through to the mid-8th Stage as his Demonic Qi constantly became purer due to its cooperation with his neidan, the lotus mark on his forehead deepening incolourr while his cultivation speed increased by a fold.
He was now a 17 Meridian Opening Stage cultivator as he felt the Demonic Qi rushing back and forth within him, standing with renewed confidence; it was time he left this small cave.