Chapter 103: The Boy Carrying the Horse

As the morning sun ascended, its brilliance washed over the earth, bathing all things in a golden glow.

Qing Xi, mounted on the Dragon Horse, appeared before a vast river: the Xisha River. Throughout the night, he had scoured the cities surrounding the Lingyuan Sect, eliminating over seventy "Otherworldly Demons" of the Innate Realm. This tally included two at the Innate Great Perfection stage, one of whom was the Flame Demon.

His system storage was now piled high with the corpses of these demons. The physiology of these extraterrestrial beings differed vastly from that of humanity, allowing them to integrate spirit ores used in artifact forging into their own bodies to enhance their strength. Thus, even in death, their remains held immense value. Qing Xi kept the rare ores that caught his eye and used the rest to convert into origin energy and life-force essence.

"Master, I'm... I'm so exhausted!" The Dragon Horse drank frantically from the Xisha River, its tongue lolling out as it panted heavily. Though its combat power was modest, its speed was blistering and its endurance immense. Yet, after galloping back and forth all night, its limbs were weak with fatigue.

Qing Xi did not force it to continue. Instead, he communicated with the system. "Xiao Zhu, the Dragon Horse is only at the peak of the Human Rank. Its grade is too low. Is there any way to steadily improve its cultivation?"

"As a reincarnation of a young Heavenly Dragon soul, the Dragon Horse possesses a high-level bloodline. It can consume demon cores to strengthen itself," the system assistant replied immediately.

Qing Xi was enlightened. Previously, the Dragon Horse had drooled over the core of the demon Ebusita. He had assumed it was just acting, but it seemed it truly could rely on consuming demon cores to grow. He retrieved a fist-sized blue bead from the system space and handed it to the horse. "This is the core of an early-stage Innate Otherworldly Demon. It contains immense power. It's yours."

"Really?" The Dragon Horse instantly perked up, swallowing the core in one gulp.

Before long, a powerful aura radiated from the horse, causing the surrounding river water to depress and ripple. It had successfully broken through to the peak of the Human Rank, equivalent to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. Qing Xi waited in anticipation, but when the horse failed to break through further, he was taken aback. A core from an Innate demon only produced such a small gain? That was a rip-off!

"Xiao Zhu, explain this to me!" Qing Xi roared internally.

"The Heavenly Dragon Horse is a high-blooded spirit beast; it requires vast amounts of spiritual energy to evolve. According to system analysis, it needs at least ten early-stage Innate demon cores to reach the Profound Rank and complete its first transformation."

Qing Xi was surprised by the explanation, but upon reflection, he realized that a true Heavenly Dragon was a divine beast; the energy required for its advancement would naturally be significant.

He took out ten more early-stage Innate demon cores. "Dragon Horse, can you handle these?"

"No problem!" Seeing the bounty, the Dragon Horse wore an expression of pure bliss. It inhaled, swallowed all ten cores at once, and let out a satisfied burp.

Qing Xi’s mouth twitched. Those were ten Innate demon cores, containing a massive amount of power. The horse had devoured them all in one go and merely burped. More importantly, there was still no sign of transformation.

"The Dragon Horse's transformation requires time," Xiao Zhu clarified, preempting any further complaints from Qing Xi.

With no other choice, Qing Xi let matters take their course. Man, horse, and monkey crossed the river, arriving on the opposite bank ten minutes later. This region belonged to the territory of the Scarlet Flame Sect. Usually, Qing Xi would avoid this area to prevent being swarmed by the sect’s disciples. But times had changed; the demon invasion had thrown the Eastern Domain into chaos. The elite of the Scarlet Flame Sect were occupied with fighting the demons and had no time to concern themselves with Qing Xi crossing the border.

After a night of slaughter, Qing Xi had cleared most of the demons in the Lingyuan Sect’s territory, yet he had only netted seventy kills. Thus, he set his sights on the Scarlet Flame Sect's domain.

"They say every demon core can be exchanged for points on the Demon Subjugation Ranking. Scarlet Flame Sect, I’ll be taking those points for myself." A smirk played on his lips as he entered their territory.

Using the peerless technique "Heaven and Earth Infinite, Ten Thousand Mile Tracking," he arrived before a large city of seven hundred thousand inhabitants: Flame City.

Flame City ranked in the top ten of the Eastern Domain, with an overall strength surpassing even Wufu City. However, it was currently under siege by eighteen Otherworldly Demons. Using a special technique, they had transformed sand and dust into hundreds of rock giants to assault the city. These giants were not as large as the ones at Wufu City, standing only about three meters tall, with individual strength equivalent to the thirtieth level of Qi Refining. They were not particularly strong, but their numbers were overwhelming. After a long battle, the cultivators on the walls were mostly wounded and exhausted.

Peering at the walls, Qing Xi spotted an acquaintance: Luo Wei, the Second Elder of the Scarlet Flame Sect. When Qing Xi and Qiu Yingying had previously entered the Ancient Luo Lands, they had witnessed Luo Wei and several disciples attempting to capture a Fire Civet, only to be swatted away by the great ape, Dahuang.

It seemed Luo Wei had survived. However, after the night’s carnage, his robes were tattered and he was covered in grime; if someone called him a beggar, no one would argue.

"It looks like the Scarlet Flame Sect can hold for a while longer. I’ll go hunt the stragglers first." Qing Xi didn't intervene. Instead, he turned and ran. He had sensed a lone demon in the mountains a dozen miles away. Compared to the swarms here, a lone target was much easier to handle.

Qing Xi mounted the horse. "Dragon Horse, let's go!"

After consuming so many cores, the horse was in high spirits and ran faster than ever. But as they ran, it felt its eyelids growing heavy, as if weighted with lead. With a thud, the horse collapsed, throwing the man and the monkey to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"What on earth?" Qing Xi brushed off the dirt and checked on the fallen horse, alarmed.

"Detection complete: the energy from the demon cores in the Dragon Horse's body is being digested. It has met the conditions for transformation and has entered a deep sleep. It will take approximately three days to conclude."

Qing Xi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the analysis. He also felt a stroke of luck—had he started a fight at Flame City, and the horse had fallen asleep mid-battle, they would have been trapped without its speed. His ability to hunt demons alone relied entirely on that speed. Now that the horse was asleep, he was admittedly nervous. If he ran into a Spirit Gale Realm demon, he would be in serious trouble.

Since the system space could not store living creatures, Qing Xi had to hoist the dead-to-the-world horse onto his back. "It used to carry me, and now it's my turn to carry it. When will this cycle of retribution end!"

As he prepared to set off, the small golden ape jumped up and sat on the Dragon Horse’s back. Qing Xi looked at the ape in confusion, wondering why it wasn't sitting on his shoulder. Sensing his gaze, the ape chirped, as if saying, "Master, if I sit on the Dragon Horse, I won't be a burden to you."

After using the system to translate the meaning, Qing Xi covered his face, thinking to himself that the little ape had surely been turned simple-minded by the horse...

"Alas, life is truly difficult!" Qing Xi sighed toward the heavens.