Chapter 13
...…
Splurt!
As the black boar beast collapsed in death, its blood gushed out of where its massive head once used to be connected to its body.
However, it wasn't like the creature's grievances mattered to the one who reaped its life.
"..."
Lucifer's Clone blankly stared at the boar's corpse before drawing out a butcher's knife. Then, with a swift motion, he plunged the knife into the beast's body, piercing through its tough hide and carving out a small, shiny red crystal.
This crystal was known as a Beast Core, and its color was red, indicating the beast's Element. On the other hand, the size of the core would correlate to its strength before death.
This was the first core Lucifer had collected so far, but it sure as hell wouldn't be the last.
That fact was proven by the blood spurting from the other two Qi Condensation Realm Spiritual Beasts nearby.
One was a black-feathered sparrow, while the other was a green-burrow fox—both of which were of the Nature Element—an Element that wasn't as well known as the Fire and Water Elements.
In fact, such an Element was quite rare and could even be considered an Auxiliary Element, making the cores of the Nature Beasts highly sought after by herbalists and healers.
In terms of market value, the price of a 2nd Stage Qi Condensation Realm Nature Element Core like the one Lucifer had acquired from the Sparrow was worth around 15 Fire Coins. In comparison, the Core of the 3rd Stage Qi Condensation Realm Boar Beast would fetch roughly 5 Fire Coins.
This disparity wasn't because the Fire Core was worth any less than the Nature Core in terms of energy value; it was simply that the Nature Core was rarer and more desired.
Of course, there existed exceptions to this general market flow—some fire-efficient nations would go to great ends of the earth to acquire high-level Fire Cores, all so as to supplement what they lacked.
All of this meant that Lucifer now had a way to secure a constant flow of income; one he could acquire without massacring a good chunk of the weakling population.
With this in mind, he directed his three Qi Condensation Realm Clones to continue the hunt.
In addition to those three, he refunded his 1,150 Body Refinement Realm clones and used the Clone Essence to purchase another Qi Condensation Realm Clone.
While having numbers could be beneficial in certain scenarios, in reality, there was just no way that a multitude of Body Refinement Realm Clones could hope to compete against something already in tune with Qi.
The Qi Condensation Realm marked a significant and qualitative step as a cultivator, and it was also one of the only realms to have a larger realm chasm than the realms that followed after, making it unlike any other.
For example, the gap between someone in the Peak Body Refinement and Early Qi Condensation Realms was far greater than the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment Realm.
This was just the reality of the situation. After all, the Qi Condensation Realm was the step where one truly became a cultivator.
This fact made it more insane since Lucifer had managed to cross the gap between the Body Refinement and Qi Condensation Realms without having to face much trouble…
Of course, granted that he had his 3rd Stage Fire Body working in his favor; it had played a great role. But even without it, his Battle Power would still be in the Qi Condensation Realm.
Why was this, one might ask?
Well, it was because of the sheer number of Techniques he practiced…
Thanks to his insanely high, innate comprehension speed, no number of Low-Common Rank manuals could possibly pose a challenge for him. And with this ease of mastery, over 80 Low-Common Rank Techniques had already been assimilated into his strength!
Many of those Techniques, like |Iron Skin| or |Extreme Toughness|, were arts that directly enhanced the basic attributes of his body.
Additionally, there were some, like |Qi Compression| or |Sakura Fall|, which boosted any of his energy-related attributes.
Lucifer possessed dozens of such techniques, as well as a plethora of active and passive techniques, which all went to say that he was completely stacked!
And his arsenal would only continuously grow!
Of course, that was only possible assuming he found more Loot Bags to 'borrow' from.
Speaking of Loot Bags, there happened to be a couple of them standing right in the middle of an open field…
_____
"Have you heard about the recent mass killings by the Elusive Shadow, Brother Wang??"
A man of average stature addressed a more robust man dressed in dark yellow robes.
Both of them were currently busy in the act of releasing their fluids into a bush...
"Ahh! Yes, I have heard all about that oh~ so scary killer~! And I have also heard people say that you shouldn't go out alone. That is unless you want him to pop up out of nowhere and-"
The robust man paused mid-stream as his head cocked to the right, and a red liquid gushed from beneath his robe!
"Brother Wang!!?"
The average-looking man's once strong stream came to a sudden stop, and he started to shake his brother, only to be….
"Boo!" Wang Pao suddenly reanimated and spooked the living hell out of his brother!
"Ahhh! You fucking fucker!! What the hell was that for!? You almost had me thinking that you had actually been killed by the Elusive Shadow!"
The average-looking man let out a shrill, girl-like shriek before slapping the large man across his large head. After which he unzipped his pants and continued to unload the dragon's breath.
"I can't believe you actually fell for such a simple trick like that one-... Ahhh…!!! Who the hell are you!? No…! S-Stop it…!!!"
Spurt!
The sound of blood gushing out of a wound echoed once more.
"You really think you can get me with the same trick twice!?" The average-looking man sneered and ignored the gurgling sounds of his older brother.
However, after a few seconds of enduring that grating noise, he swivelled his head around and shouted, "Can you stop all this nonsense!? We still have Spiritual Beasts to hunt—"
"!!!"
A face that didn't belong to his brother hovered over the mauled corpse of a large man, and a shadowy figure slowly turned its gaze in his direction.
"Who are you!? And what happened to my brother-!?" The man attempted to get out of his stupor while unsheathing his sword, but he was swiftly interrupted by:
"Boo."
The shadowy figure spoke a three-letter word in a cynical tone, and that was the last thing the man heard before his head was lobbed off his shoulders.
Astonishment and disbelief were etched across his face during his final moments of life.
From beginning to end, he had never fully grasped the reality of what had happened…
...….