262: Collect Fire Spirit Stone

You should know, those with poor Aptitude might stay in the Qi Induction Stage for half a year or more. Reaching the first level of the Qi Refinement Stage could take one or two years. Countless others work hard their entire lives only to remain in the Qi Refinement Stage, unable to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, eventually dying of old age with their eyes open in regret!

But Long Yuan had completed Qi Induction on his very first attempt, directly entering the threshold of Qi Refining!

The success of this single step meant that Long Yuan was now a legitimate Cultivator!

This efficiency made Long Yuan want to stay in the crater and begin his cultivation. However, his current primary task wasn't actually to Cultivate, but to collect resources and transform the Heavenly Dao Space. Only then could he obtain a Cultivation Technique to practice. Otherwise, relying solely on his own trial and error, no matter how good his talent, he wouldn't be able to reach a very high level.

Long Yuan took a deep breath and abandoned this tempting idea. He carefully sensed the surrounding Spiritual Qi molecules and began walking toward the direction of higher concentration. The temperature here was getting higher and higher, and the Profound Robe he was wearing was starting to fail. Fortunately, he had just circulated his Fire Spiritual Qi; by accelerating the induction now, he also sped up the circulation of Qi within his body. The Fire Spiritual Power generated from this circulation immediately made him much more comfortable, even saving his Profound Robe.

"Huh? Could those three people from earlier also have Fire Spiritual Power?" Long Yuan suddenly thought of this question.

Looking at their cultivation, they should have reached at least the Martial Ancestor level. However, relying on Martial Ancestor cultivation alone, it would be difficult to go too far into the crater. Yet they had clearly been inside for a while. The possibility that they possessed Fire Spiritual Power was quite high. Of course, it was also possible they came prepared, wearing high-level protective robes, specifically Ice-attribute Profound Robes suited for the crater environment, which would allow them to penetrate deeper.

As he continued deeper, Long Yuan could already sense the magma zone deep at the bottom of the mountain!

He found that his Divine Sense was somewhat restricted here, likely due to the Spiritual Pressure. After walking about another half a mile, he saw that the magma zone was not far away. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "fire crystal stones?!!! Or... Fire Spirit Stones?!!!"

Heavens, there really are Fire Spirit Stones!

Long Yuan was absolutely certain he saw Fire Spirit Stones because, amidst a large pile of fire crystal stones, there were some special stones filled with the aura of Fire Spiritual Qi. Clearly, they were the legendary Fire Spirit Stones!

No wonder those three would risk being discovered by the Flame Flying Lion to hunt for treasure here. Perhaps these fire crystal stones, especially these Fire Spirit Stones, were their main objective.

"It seems one of those three must have Fire Spiritual Power. If this guess is true, perhaps Cultivators have already appeared among the common people!!!" Long Yuan mused.

Hundreds of years is enough time for people in Spiritual Qi gathering spots to develop a Spiritual Root. Those with extraordinary talent would surely discover the anomalies within their bodies, and they would likely figure out some cultivation methods on their own, transforming from a Xuan Practitioner into a Cultivator... If this line of thinking is expanded, there might be even more Cultivators among the Mutated Beasts!

This is because the territory occupied by Mutated Beasts on Blue Star is even more vast. Besides most of the land, there are also the expansive oceans. In such a large area, the number of regions containing Spiritual Qi is countless, and the number of Mutated Beasts is also innumerable. Consequently, a significant portion of Mutated Beasts would be nourished by Spiritual Qi, and their Bloodlines and Physiques would naturally develop toward cultivation, transforming from Xuan Beasts into Spirit Beasts!

Although Mutated Beasts do not Cultivate according to a Cultivation Technique like the Human Race, they have always relied on their instincts and Bloodlines. Whether in the Profound Qi era or the Spiritual Qi era, their cultivation and growth are natural. In this situation, they have an advantage over the Human Race and can develop toward becoming Spirit Beasts faster.

Conversely, the transformation of the Human Race lags far behind. It requires pioneers to discover that cultivation is possible, then create Cultivation Techniques, and then guide others and future generations to practice. By the time all of this gets on track, dozens or even hundreds of years might have passed!

Thinking of this, Long Yuan couldn't help but gasp. He suddenly recalled something mentioned in the Heavenly Dao Eye's records: the Mutated Beasts on Blue Star suddenly began a large-scale retreat several hundred years ago. They did not exert full pressure on the Human Race but only engaged in small-scale harassment and encroachment. This greatly reduced the pressure on the Human Race. Because of this, the Human Race has lived in relative peace for these hundreds of years. Without the powerful pressure of Mutated Beasts, the Human Race instead fell into conflicts between nations. But these conflicts weren't catastrophic; most human nations saw their populations recover, economies develop, and various industries flourish during this period. Even industries like entertainment entered a period of prosperity, and ordinary people became more optimistic and positive, seemingly no longer so afraid of Mutated Beasts... But is that really the case?

Long Yuan wanted to say definitely not, because he thought of one point: why did the Mutated Beasts suddenly retreat?

This point in time coincided exactly with the start of the Spiritual Qi Tide on Blue Star. Mutated Beasts are extremely sensitive to these changes in heaven and earth. The powerful ones among them must have discovered something and began to Cultivate toward becoming Spirit Beasts. As a result, a large number of Cultivators were likely produced among the middle and upper echelons of the Mutated Beasts. Since they were all transitioning, their encroachment on the Human Race came to a temporary halt. However, this is definitely not the end!

It is conceivable that once these Mutated Beasts that have transformed into Spirit Beasts reappear, the Human Race on Blue Star will be finished!!!

With the Human Race's current strength, they absolutely cannot compete with Spirit Beasts. Long Yuan was completely certain of this. It could be said that the Human Race is currently like being roasted over this crater; they might already be seventy or eighty percent cooked, and soon they will be ninety or a hundred percent done... "There's no sense of security! If this continues and the Spirit Beasts on Blue Star mobilize in large numbers one day, even I might not escape... I must act as quickly as possible!"

A sense of urgency grew in Long Yuan's heart. He felt he was now in a race against time. His enemies were not only the Myriad Races of the Universe that might appear in a few years but also the Blue Star Spirit Beast swarms that could appear at any time. Regardless of which one it was, if he didn't have enough strength, it would be difficult to find a space to survive in such a chaotic world.

He immediately took action, removing the fire crystal stones and Fire Spirit Stones he found and transferring them into the Heavenly Dao Space. The quantity of these stones was considerable, and they weren't difficult to take. Of course, the difficulty mainly lay in the fact that one had to go deep into the magma zone to get them. For an ordinary person, it was almost impossible because not only was the temperature extremely high, but the Spiritual Pressure was also immense. It was hard for anyone who wasn't a Cultivator to withstand it, not to mention there was a Flame Flying Lion guarding outside...