After a while Bai Jingshen noticed Sam's growing tiredness. He suggested they should take turns to rest. Sam readily agreed and quickly dosed of. Bai Jingshen was already exhausted himself, but he knew the importance of keeping guard in a dangerous environment. The experienced man quietly observed his surroundings. He noticed how the suns in the sky slowly circled above their heads, distancing themselves from Bai Jingshen's position. Eventually shadows gradually crept up as the suns passed distant mountains. Bai Jingshen wasn't sure yet if this New World knew a real 'night' however.
Eventually, after the young men each managed to rest once, Bai Jingshen finally heard movement from the cave again. The two friends pressed their bodies against a branch, trying to stay out of Spike-tail's sight. Bai Jingshen nodded at Sam, before taking out a big, red fruit. He had noticed before how his hands would itch from only holding this fruit, even as his core energy shielded him from anything harmful.
The two men began to hold their breath as they watched Spike-tail slowly make its way out of its cave. It only took a few steps, before seeing a delicious breakfast dangling before its eyes. It didn't think much about how those leaves suddenly appeared, before making its way over. Bai Jingshen's muscles tensed while holding up the fruit, as Sam even closed his eyes.
Spike-tail finally arrived below their trap. It stopped for a second before looking upwards. The young men could only hope they weren't visible from the ground. Fortunately, Spike-tail didn't seem to see them, as it slowly opened its mouth wide. Just as the beast wanted to grab at its favorite leaves, a red fruit fell from above and entered its mouth.
Suddenly Spike-tail let out a hurt roar, as it kept its mouth open, loudly breathing in and out. Bai Jingshen saw his chance, as he fearlessly jumped down the tree. He slightly drew his sword back, ready to stab at Spike-tail's weakness. Thew beast was still roaring as it saw a human fall in front of it. It instinctively took its head back, trying to shield its neck. Bai Jingshen already expected this to happen, so he delayed his attack slightly, before rapidly stabbing Spike-tail a bit below its neck.
The beast began to thrash its tail around, as Bai Jingshen delivered a deep wound while swiping his sword all the way down to its belly. The young man quickly rolled away as he reached the ground, trying to get out of Spike-tail's range. The beast however saw red as this puny human dared to hurt it and with a nimbleness it hadn't shown before, it brought down both its feet on Bai Jingshen. Sam saw what happened, and without thinking to much, he jumped down, his favorite weapon, the mace, held high above his head.
Bai Jingshen was in trouble as he tried to gain distance, when a loud impact sounded behind him. He looked back and watched as Sam landed on Spike-tail's back, heavily beating down on the beast's head. Sam's valiant effort granted Bai Jingshen a lot of room, as Spike-tail's feet hit the ground earlier than the beast wanted. However, the former emperor could only loudly warn his friend, before one of the beast's tail came crashing down on him. Sam quickly let go of his mace wile jumping to the side. He was still hit in the back, ramming heavily in the ground, but Spike-tail in its rage didn't think about how its own tails would hurt its back.
The beast cried loudly, as scales flew through the air. Bai Jingshen finally saw an opportunity. He hoped his next attack would slay the beast, or else they could only try to run away. Once again, he took on the Blinding Immortal Art's stance. His wrists snapped his sword around, leading to a flash of light drowning the combatants. A silent cut could be heard, followed by a loud impact. Afterwards… silence.
A few seconds later Sam opened his eyes again. The last attack almost hit him unconscious. He needed a moment to reorientate himself, before remembering his situation. Fighting against the immense pain in his back, the young man struggled to stand up. His legs finally managed to carry him again, as he swiftly looked for his friend. Fortunately, he saw Bai Jingshen sitting on the ground, leaning against a dead Spike-tail. Blood could still be seen flowing from a horribly deep cut on the beast's neck.
Suddenly a gush of energy escaped from all over the beast's body. It split into two and rapidly entered the two men's Dantians. While Bai Jingshen jumped up in surprise, Sam at least heard of this phenomenon before.
He quickly explained to his friend, that after killing beasts in the New World you would be able to gain a bit of their cultivation. Bai Jingshen was surprised about this development. Did this mean there were no beast cores in this world? In his experience beasts would store their cultivation in cores, which would still be intact after killing a beast. They could be used to aid cultivators in their cultivation, but were also a widely spread currency. Feeling this energy enter his body, the former emperor was questioning if beasts could even cultivate in this world.
Sam was stumped by this question, seemingly not able to answer, so Bai Jingshen could only put it at the back of his mind now. He quickly asked Sam to help him put as much dirt and leaves on Spike-tail's blood as possible before carrying the carcass away. Bai Jingshen already had a place in mind, as they passed a small cliff a few meters high on their way to Spike-tail's cave. Although the young men were severely exhausted, they couldn't compromise their safety, so they grit their teeth and threw Spike-tail off the cliff.
Finally, they dragged their exhausted bodies back to the cave. They carefully entered it, but upon only seeing an empty cave, they finally found a place to stay. They quickly used their last bit of energy to destroy the cave's entrance, filling it with stone and dirt, before falling to the ground and enjoying their rest.
"Haa. We finally made it. My back hurts like hell."
"You did a good job. Sadly, we don't have anything to heal you, so you should just rest for now."
"Yes I think a will do just that."
After a short talk, Bai Jingshen could already see Sam's eyes closing. Although they rested a few times during their journey, now that they lost a lot of pressure it was only natural that Sam fell asleep. Bai Jingshen took a look at his bruised and scratched body and could only smile. Contrary to Sam he felt the most alive he had felt in a long time.
The former emperor took a deep breath in and out. Finally it was time to break through to the Qi Gathering Realm. Taking on a meditative position, Bai Jingshen slowly concentrated his mind inward. He carefully inspected his Dantian, still surprised by the way he gained the beast's Qi.
He noticed how a light mist of Qi filled his Dantian. While observing closely he also realized however, that this Qi wasn't really his yet. Just by sitting there it was slowly vanishing. Bai Jingshen concentrated and slowly took in Qi from the outside. In order to break through to the first stage of Qi Gathering, he needed to fill his Dantian once and then compress the Qi afterwards. The former emperor was naturally confident in being able so suppress his Qi as much as possible with his strong will. It was important to note, that a stronger suppression would lead to a better foundation later on.
Bai Jingshen felt a great feeling, as he took in the Immortal Qi, before circling it according to the White Illusion Arts once. He was slightly surprised at the strong reaction his illusionary core showed when the Qi passed by, but he quickly focused himself again. He watched on with relish while the Immortal Qi continued to fill his Dantian. Only a few minutes later he felt a slightly hurtful felling, knowing that his Dantian couldn't take anymore Qi. He was already satisfied however, as his Dantian seemed to have an above average capacity already. This was one of the many indicators of great talent, which Bai Jingshen took more or less for granted.
Carefully the young man circled his White Illusion Cultivation Technique once more to put pressure on the Qi in his Dantian. As soon as he applied his will however, a change suddenly occurred. The Immortal Qi he gathered began to churn. It grew volatile, not wanting to submit to Bai Jingshen. The former emperor was stunned and realized he was too hasty. The Immortal Qi reacted stronger than he was used from other Qi. Now he could only take one out of two options: Giving up his breakthrough or brute forcing his way through.