Chapter 27: Advancing to the Second Tier

When they met again, Master Mo and his entourage had altered their appearances. He now wore the guise of a fierce, burly man, a sight so intimidating that others dared not approach him easily.

With his ninth-level Qi Refining cultivation and a lifetime of devotion to the art of alchemy, it was only natural that his spirit was stronger than that of an average late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. Once disguised, he was beyond the ability of ordinary late-stage cultivators to discern his true face.

Unless a Foundation Establishment master were involved—at least in the wilderness—ordinary cultivators would not be able to see through the ruse. This was likely one of the reasons he had been able to slip out of the wilderness secretly on behalf of the Zheng family.

After tailing him for half a day and seeing him visit several major chambers of commerce with no sign of an imminent departure, Li Ji’an left another tracking mark and returned.

"Uncle Li, I’ve broken through!" No sooner had he entered the courtyard than little Qiao, who had been practicing Qi for a year, finally shared the good news.

Last year, when Qiao turned fifteen, Li Ji’an had tested her spiritual roots. The results were unexpected.

When she was twelve, Li Ji’an had noticed anomalies in her, suspecting she might possess extraordinary talent and superior spiritual roots. She had already been taking Nourishing Origin Pills and had lived in the Immortal City her entire life. However, it turned out that none of her five elemental spiritual roots had a spiritual resonance exceeding ten strands.

Strangely, all five elements had exactly nine strands—each just a hair's breadth away from the mid-grade threshold.

Li Ji’an had agonized over which cultivation technique she should prioritize. Eventually, based on her unique sensitivity to the earth’s spiritual energy and her own preferences, he purchased the best earth-attribute technique available on the market at the time, one that bordered on being high-grade.

Yet, this past year of practice had been unsatisfactory. Her progress was excruciatingly slow—slower even than his own previous life’s two-strand spiritual root practicing the most basic of techniques—even though he had provided her with high-quality supplementary medicinal pills.

"Could she truly be a 'God-favored' one?" Li Ji’an mused, having carefully sensed her dantian to confirm she had finally reached the first level of Qi Refining and could be considered a true cultivator. "And is it a miraculous trait that offers no benefit to cultivation, but rather a negative influence?"

"Well, your spiritual root aptitude is slightly lacking, so you must work twice as hard. It took you a full year to step into Qi Refining, which is admittedly slow. But do not be discouraged; just do your absolute best. The cultivation world is a place where miracles can happen. Once you reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining, we will attempt Granny You’s array inheritance." Li Ji’an told her the truth, then offered a gentle word of comfort.

Qiao looked somewhat dejected. In truth, she had been diligent and hardworking this past year, even cutting down on playtime with Guagua and the Fire Spirit. It wasn't that she had grand ambitions; she simply feared becoming a burden to Li Ji’an.

Her tragic childhood experiences and isolation with Granny You, who was often busy with research and had little time for her, had left her personality somewhat stunted. It wasn't until she was entrusted to Li Ji’an at twelve and gained the company of Guagua that she began to open up. Now, she had only one wish: to stay by Li Ji’an’s side forever.

"Don't take it to heart. Just understand yourself clearly. I will always be with you." Seeing her distress, Li Ji’an did not pressure her further, offering only encouragement.

Whether it was the trade for Granny You’s inheritance, the favor of obtaining the Fire Spirit, or the four years of living together, Li Ji’an would always look after her as a junior. It didn't matter if she achieved greatness; as long as she understood the underlying logic of this world and her own situation, and could live according to her own desires, that was enough. He had no need for utilitarian expectations.

Three days later.

Li Ji’an, who was refining pills in the alchemy room, suddenly felt a surge of immense demonic energy. He rushed out to see the pond in the courtyard churning; Guagua, the size of a half-grown human, was submerged with only its back showing. Its naturally emerald skin was rapidly shifting colors—from green to blue, violet, red, black, yellow—the colors growing paler until they became nearly transparent, then cycling through again.

"Why so impatient?" Li Ji’an frowned, though this was no time for criticism. He quickly pulled three restriction talismans from his storage bag and activated them, doing his best to prevent the spiritual fluctuations from drawing attention. He then tossed several Spirit Replenishment Pills toward Guagua to prevent a failure due to insufficient energy.

Originally, after obtaining the Blood Pill, he had intended to let Guagua nourish its energy for a while longer and then take it to a rented, spirit-rich cave in the inner city to attempt the breakthrough. After all, while demonic beasts didn't rely solely on spiritual energy, a rich environment made the bloodline transformation more effective and provided a better chance of survival if the breakthrough failed. Guagua was his key survival measure for his own "rejuvenation," and thus was of utmost importance.

He had not expected the beast to act on instinct, swallowing the Blood Pill the moment it felt its state had peaked.

With things having reached this point, there was no use in dwelling on what could have been. Li Ji’an took out the life-saving pills he had specially refined over the past few days, watching Guagua’s state with absolute focus. If there was danger, survival would be his priority.

Guagua remained motionless, the color changes alone lasting for half a day. Unfortunately, Li Ji’an had been too busy with his own cultivation and alchemy in recent years to study beast taming in depth; he was unfamiliar with the nuances of a spirit beast’s second-tier breakthrough and could discern little.

Half a day later, the colors stopped shifting and settled into the murky hue of the pond water. If one didn't look closely, it seemed a natural part of the pond.

"A Color-Changing Frog?" Li Ji’an observed at close range, quite surprised. "A breakthrough to the second-tier bloodline mutation talent?"

If this were true, Guagua’s stealth capabilities would be greatly enhanced. Having already gained the ability to shield itself from spiritual sense detection by consuming too many Soul-Parasite Ants, this new camouflage talent would make it increasingly difficult to track.

Li Ji’an was quite satisfied with this sudden surprise, as it aligned with his philosophy that safety should always come first. However, after sensing for a moment, he noticed the demonic energy within Guagua hadn't changed much, suggesting the breakthrough was only in its early stages and not yet complete.

"Croak!"

Suddenly, an anomaly occurred. Guagua, previously calm, erupted with two different types of bloodline auras. It was instantly torn between the two forces, rolling in the pond in agony. Li Ji’an’s divine sense swept over it, confirming one aura was earth-attribute and the other water-attribute.

"Is the Blood Pill beginning to take effect?" He didn't know what was happening, but he dared not intervene, choosing instead to observe its life force. Fortunately, despite the pain, its vitality was growing stronger, continuously climbing.

An hour later, Li Ji’an sensed those two forces beginning to wane.

"The medicinal effect of the Blood Pill is fading?" As the auras weakened, he noticed Guagua’s demonic energy plummeting from its peak. More worryingly, Guagua’s blood and Qi were leaking away.

"Croak!" With another agonizing cry, Guagua opened its massive, millstone-sized mouth and vomited a large pool of dark, filthy blood.

"No!" Li Ji’an’s face changed dramatically. Without hesitation, he threw Pulse-Protecting Pills and Blood-Replenishing Pills into Guagua’s mouth. "Steady! Refine the medicine. Don't force the breakthrough, just survive!"

He realized that when the energy from the Blood Pill proved insufficient, Guagua had attempted to burn its own essence blood to push through the barrier, only to fail. Guagua opened its large, weary eyes, looking at Li Ji’an with a mix of reluctance and resentment.

"The Blood Pill is flawed!" Seeing the emotion in Guagua’s eyes, Li Ji’an’s expression turned grim for the first time. He realized the bloodline power within the pill had been insufficient, leading to the failure. Guagua had burned its essence blood out of a desire not to let him down.

"Puff!" Guagua spat out more foul blood; its eyes, nose, and mouth—even its entire body—began to bleed. It looked like a frog of blood. Its life force crashed again.

"Treat the dying beast as if it were still alive!" Li Ji’an steeled himself and dumped all the Blood-Qi Pills from his storage bag into Guagua’s mouth. While pills weren't always interchangeable between humans and beasts, those concerning blood and meridians had some crossover.

The Blood-Qi Pills he had stockpiled for his own body-refining progress were now being put to use. As Guagua swallowed them, its dwindling life force began to slowly climb.

"It’s working!" Li Ji’an focused.

"Uncle Li, Guagua..." Little Qiao and the Fire Spirit had been watching, their faces streaked with tears. The Fire Spirit stared intently at Guagua, its flames trembling. Li Ji’an shook his head grimly, unable to offer them any promises. Qiao grew even more anxious, her body shivering. The three of them had been together for four years; the bond was pure.

"Croak!" Suddenly, Guagua roared, and the blood-Qi in its mouth churned. The sheer volume of the hundred pills had stabilized its condition, but now a new crisis emerged: the pills provided massive energy that needed to be refined, and Guagua couldn't process it fast enough. If it didn't, the energy would dissipate, and it would be beyond saving.

"Whoosh!" Just as Li Ji’an was thinking of a way to help, the little Fire Spirit shot toward Guagua’s mouth.

"Fire Spirit?"

The Fire Spirit dove into Guagua’s mouth, erupting with its innate flame power. The churning energy that had been threatening to burst forth was immediately refined by the spirit fire, its intensity shrinking bit by bit.

"Good!" Li Ji’an was overjoyed. As a natural spirit flame, the Fire Spirit had a miraculous ability to refine energy. Diving into the fray was exactly what was needed.

Before long, the massive energy was refined, and Guagua’s vitality was rapidly replenished. Half an hour later, it had almost fully recovered. The blood-soaked frog opened its eyes again, filled with gratitude, joy, and... lingering resentment.

Suddenly, its energy surged again. The stubborn creature was attempting to burn its essence blood to force the breakthrough once more.

"Don't push yourself!" Li Ji’an’s face changed, but the stubborn frog ignored him. The demonic aura flared, and Guagua struck again. Once. Twice. With the Fire Spirit continuously refining the energy, the climb was steadier and faster. However, despite the effort, its own bloodline was too weak to reach the second-tier threshold. Li Ji’an could clearly sense it trying to condense a demonic core, but it was always one step short.

"Croak!" As the last of the hundred pills were refined, it was Guagua’s final attempt. If it failed, it would either have to give up or die. Li Ji’an stood ready, prepared to forcibly stop the attempt if necessary.

"Boom!" Guagua’s energy reached its peak. The faint outline of a demonic core appeared. If it condensed, it would step into the ranks of second-tier beasts.

"Croak!" With the final croak, the core failed to solidify and dissipated like a deflating balloon. Guagua opened its eyes, blood and tears streaming down, filled with despair.

"Guagua! Don't give up! I will help you." Just as Li Ji’an moved to intervene, little Qiao slammed her hands onto the ground, her energy surging into the earth.

Li Ji’an paused, staring at her in astonishment. He felt a vast, immense power gather from the ground beneath them and pour into Guagua. He didn't understand what Qiao was doing or how this sudden force of the earth worked, but he saw the dissipating core outline re-solidify, even more rapidly and densely than before.

In three breaths, a blood-red demonic core formed within Guagua. A powerful demonic aura exploded outward—stronger and more overbearing than the Foundation Establishment aura he had felt from Yan Qingwan.

"Croak!" The energy rapidly retracted, hiding within the core, leaving no trace of aura behind.

"Thud." Simultaneously, Qiao collapsed, as if drained of all strength. The Fire Spirit, its light dimmed by seventy percent, flew out of Guagua’s mouth, swaying unsteadily before diving into Li Ji’an’s dantian to recover.