Su Yu withdrew his focus from the proficiency panel and looked at the empty jade bottle, shaking his head slightly. "Without the essence blood of demonic beasts, this plummeting cultivation speed is truly uncomfortable."
Fortunately, he had finally managed to break through.
In order to break through to the fourth layer of the Body Refining Technique, Su Yu had exhausted all his resources over the past two months. The essence blood of demonic beasts he had obtained from hunting had run out some time ago.
After receiving his monthly allowance, he had purchased some essence blood from mid-tier first-grade demonic beasts.
He had spent all his spirit stones, barely managing to break through to the fourth layer of the "Crocodile Demon One Hundred and Eight Forms Body Refining Technique."
However—
Su Yu felt the changes in his body and the surging, violent strength hidden deep within.
The resources he had invested were well worth it.
After completely internalizing the aura of blood energy, Su Yu stepped outside, gazing at the pitch-black night and the medicinal fields where only the chirping of insects remained.
"It's time to try hunting Earth Rock Rats," Su Yu thought to himself.
It hadn't been easy waiting for those people to calm down.
If he didn't earn some money soon, he wouldn't be able to afford the expenses for his next stage of cultivation.
Returning to his room, Su Yu began grinding Beast Lure Powder. The materials he had purchased earlier were well-preserved and could still be used without issue.
After preparing five portions of Beast Lure Powder, Su Yu quietly made his way to a remote medicinal field. He mixed the powder with spirit rice and set up five traps before leaving.
Two hours later, Su Yu returned to check the traps.
To his delight, three Earth Rock Rats had been caught in the traps, one of which was a mid-tier first-grade demonic beast.
"Counting the bounty materials, I've earned at least sixty low-grade spirit stones," Su Yu thought gleefully as he approached. He grabbed the head of the large demonic rat and twisted it forcefully.
Crack!
The head rotated a full 360 degrees, causing the rat's eyes to bulge and nearly detach from its body.
Compared to when he was at the third layer of the Body Refining Technique, Su Yu felt that twisting the head of a mid-tier first-grade demonic beast was now much easier.
Previously, he had to exert his full physical strength to achieve the same result. Now, he could effortlessly twist off the head of a mid-tier first-grade demonic beast with a casual motion.
"Time to head back," Su Yu thought. After destroying the remaining two portions of spirit rice mixed with Beast Lure Powder, he quietly returned with the three Earth Rock Rats.
Early the next morning.
While others were just waking up, Su Yu had already arrived at the medicinal building of the estate, carrying a sack.
Inside, an elderly man with graying hair was frowning as he reviewed the accounts. Seeing Su Yu enter, his expression softened.
"Do you need something?" the old man asked kindly.
Su Yu approached respectfully and bowed. "Third Elder, I'm here to claim the bounty."
He handed over the sack.
The old man was Su Chang, the Third Elder of the Su family, responsible for guarding the medicinal garden and overseeing the cultivation and operation of its spiritual herbs.
This medicinal building was the heart of the garden.
Su Chang was slightly surprised when he saw the mid-tier first-grade and two early-tier first-grade Earth Rock Rats in the sack. He looked at Su Yu and asked, "Did you hunt these?"
Su Yu quickly replied, "I hunted them with a few senior brothers. I'm just here to claim the bounty."
Su Chang still praised him, "Not bad. Being able to hunt a mid-tier first-grade Earth Rock Rat is a great service to the medicinal garden."
The Earth Rock Rat demonic group was quite numerous, but most were only early-tier first-grade demonic beasts. Mid-tier first-grade Earth Rock Rats were not commonly seen.
The late-stage first-tier Earth Rock Rats had yet to be seen.
After praising Su Yu, Su Chang took out the bounty and the materials from the three demon beasts, which were worth a certain amount of low-grade spirit stones. Since the mid-stage first-tier Earth Rock Rat demon beast did not have any essence blood materials, the total, including the bounty, amounted to only forty-two low-grade spirit stones.
The bounty alone accounted for thirty low-grade spirit stones.
The materials from the early-stage first-tier demon beasts were not worth much.
After receiving the spirit stones, Su Yu respectfully took his leave and exited the medicine hall.
A week later. At night, Su Yu prepared five more portions of beast lure powder and this time, he managed to hunt two early-stage first-tier Earth Rock Rats.
The next day, he chose a time when the Third Elder was not in the medicine hall to go and claim the bounty, also selling the materials.
This time, he obtained fourteen low-grade spirit stones.
Half a month later, it was time for the third hunt.
This time, Su Yu hunted a total of four early-stage first-tier Earth Rock Rats.
The next day, he exchanged them for twenty-eight low-grade spirit stones.
With the spirit stones he had accumulated, Su Yu exchanged for a suitable magical artifact in the medicine hall: the Scarlet Edge Blade.
A low-grade magical artifact forged from the special ore, Scarlet Stone, it was about two feet and two inches long, resembling a short blade with a slightly curved edge and a single-sided blade.
It had only two specialties: sharpness and armor-piercing.
Priced at sixty low-grade spirit stones, it was not expensive.
After acquiring the magical artifact, Su Yu still had twenty-four low-grade spirit stones left.
In the following period, Su Yu did not plan to hunt Earth Rock Rats so frequently, at most once every half month or once a month.
In the medicine hall, the Third Elder Su Chang was slightly surprised as he looked at the bounty records. In just over half a month, that junior named Su Yu had hunted a total of nine Earth Rock Rats.
This number was somewhat unusual.
Upon further inspection, he noticed that Su Yu had recently spent sixty low-grade spirit stones to exchange for a low-grade magical artifact, the Scarlet Edge Blade.
"That kid, he previously said he hunted Earth Rock Rats with a few senior brothers," Su Chang chuckled, "but then he turned around and bought a low-grade magical artifact himself?"
If it weren't for him checking the account records, he wouldn't have noticed.
"Does this kid have some trick to hunting Earth Rock Rats?" Su Chang found it quite interesting and began to pay attention to Su Yu.
After all, Su Yu was only seventeen years old, and according to the records, he was at the second level of the Qi Refining Realm.
But he was able to hunt mid-stage first-tier Earth Rock Rats, which was quite abnormal.
However, Su Chang only paid a little attention to Su Yu and did not go to great lengths to investigate his secrets. There was no need for that.
Returning to his own residence.
Su Yu refined the low-grade magical artifact, the Scarlet Edge Blade, and stored it in his dantian, nurturing it with his spiritual energy.
This magical artifact was not for long-range use but was purchased to leverage the advantages of his body refining technique in close combat.
After all, compared to his second-level Qi Refining Realm spiritual energy, his fourth-level body refining technique was his strongest asset at the moment.
"Next, I will focus on cultivating the Wutong Green Wood Technique," Su Yu thought to himself as he looked at the Scarlet Edge Blade in his dantian, feeling a sense of relief.
With the fourth-level body refining technique and the low-grade magical artifact by his side, he now had at least a little bit of security.
He was no longer a novice cultivator at the mercy of others.
Nurturing the magical artifact, cultivating spiritual energy, and using the essence blood of mid-stage first-tier demon beasts to practice the body refining technique.
Su Yu's life in the herb garden was very routine, working from nine to five every day. Watching the proficiency of his cultivation techniques steadily increase gave him a sense of satisfaction.
However, after his body refining technique reached the fourth layer, the essence blood of mid-tier first-grade demon beasts no longer had much effect on him.
The growth rate of his body refining technique's proficiency had slowed down, much like the mana accumulation of the Wutong Qingmu Art.
This peaceful life suddenly changed after more than half a year.
Su Yu had just requested a leave from the Third Elder of the herb tower, planning to return home to Jiangcheng for a visit. But before he could leave the herb garden, bad news arrived.
Su Qingyi and several other cultivators from the herb garden had taken leave to go out and were ambushed by the Lin Family. Only Su Qingyi managed to escape back to Jiangcheng, but he was severely injured.
The others were all killed in the ambush by the Lin Family.
In an instant, the cultivators of the two major cultivation families in Jiangcheng were on high alert, and the relationship between them became extremely tense.