Lu Zheng ran towards the beast and found out that it was a rank two Purple Flame Lion.
ROAR!
The Purple Flame Lion sensed Lu Zheng's aura and pounced on him without delay.
Purple flames took ablaze on its body but Lu Zheng only replied with a punch.
BAM~!
The punch was simple and straightforward but an immense strength was stored within it, sending the Purple Flame Lion flying.
The Purple Flame Lion acknowledged Lu Zheng's strength and shot a purple fireball at him.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You won't hit me with that" Lu Zheng smiled.
He dodged the fireball before coming into close quarters with the Purple Flame Lion.
BAM~!
Lu Zheng punched the head of the beast fiercely.
"Roar!"
The beast was agitated as it urged all of its strength and pounced on Lu Zheng. Lu Zheng controlled his Qi and created a flame on his fist.
The flame was crimson in colour and its intense heat caused the Purple Flame Lion to withdraw. It was the Vermillion True Flame.
Lu Zheng had a bright smile as he punched the beast again, covering the distance between them in one step.
The Purple Flame Lion was fatigued and couldn't bear it anymore and succumbed to the punch.
"Huff, huff" Lu Zheng's breathing was heavy as he lifted the beast, using a small dagger he had kept with him to cut it open.
Using his own fire, Lu Zheng cooked the Purple Flame Lion's meat and ate it.
Despite the beast being thrice his own size, he completely finished it without causing his stomach to increase in size. In fact, he was still hungry.
Lu Zheng ran towards another beast and after some time, killed it and ate its flesh.
The refined fleshy energy stored within the bodies of the beast easily filled Lu Zheng up and cured his hunger.
Suddenly, Qi rushed madly into Lu Zheng's meridians as the Qi in his Dantian Sea began to rise and fall.
The rise and fall of his Qi made him feel uncomfortable and he quickly sat down to calm his Qi.
The Qi became even more turbulent as excess ambient Qi filled his own Dantian Sea nonstop.
From his past life's experiences, Lu Zheng understood he was about to breakthrough to the Condensation realm.
He closed his eyes as he controlled the Qi in his Dantian Sea to form a cyclone. The cyclone rotated swiftly and threatened to destroy his aperture walls.
He knew that he had reached the important stages.
Lu Zheng held his breath and focused his psyche on the cyclone, forcing it to stay still.
In a short while, the influx of ambient Qi stopped and the cyclone disappeared. His Dantian Sea shrivelled up and a large tree replaced it in Lu Zheng's aperture.
It was the Qi tree.
In the Condensation realm, the Qi in the Dantian Sea would be condensed into a Qi tree. A single leaf on the Qi tree was equivalent to one Dantian Sea and the more leaves a martial practitioner had, the more Qi his aperture had.
Most martial practitioners ended up with only two or three Qi leaves while those with better than average talent had up to five Qi leaves.
Extremely talented martial practitioners could have up to ten Qi leaves.
To be able to have more at the first tier of Condensation realm, external factors were needed.
Due to the dense fire Qi within the secret realm, Lu Zheng had fifteen Qi leaves on his Qi tree.
~Fifteen! In my past life, I only had eight Qi leaves. Perhaps being reborn is a blessing in disguise. Hmph! I will still have my revenge though~
Flames flickered in Lu Zheng's black pupils as he walked towards another lava pool, immersing himself in it.
The process of tempering the body was not to be rushed and even though it was painful, Lu Zheng endured.
In his past life, he had witnessed many things that had tempered his willpower, allowing him to endure large amounts of pain.
Most people would have fainted in Lu Zheng's place.
Slowly, time passed as he tempered his body.