28: Chapter 28 Breakthrough! First-Tier Low-Grade

After the Treasure-Seeking Mouse ate and drank its fill, it came up to Chen Changqing and squeaked strange sounds, seemingly trying to tell Chen Changqing to do something.

Chen Changqing couldn't understand a word the Treasure-Seeking Mouse was saying.

"Could it be trying to lead me to find Spirit Medicine?" Chen Changqing muttered doubtfully as he stood up, watching the Treasure-Seeking Mouse tugging at his clothes, pulling him toward a certain direction.

After confirming the Treasure-Seeking Mouse's intention, Chen Changqing followed it while it was still early in the day.

He didn't know how many miles they walked, but they finally arrived outside a cave. What was this place?

Chen Changqing carefully observed the surrounding environment and didn't spot anything unusual. However, he noticed that ever since they arrived here, the Treasure-Seeking Mouse seemed extremely excited, constantly wagging its tail in front of him and squeaking from time to time.

Chen Changqing patted its head and whispered, "Shh, be quiet. I get what you mean. You're saying there's some kind of Heaven And Earth Treasure inside, right?"

The Treasure-Seeking Mouse nodded vigorously, like a chicken pecking at rice.

"You go in first to scout if there's any danger," Chen Changqing said slowly, looking at it.

What? The Treasure-Seeking Mouse was astonished inside. You actually want a tiny mouse to check the bushes for you? Human, don't you know this mouse only knows how to flee and escape?

Squeak, squeak! The Treasure-Seeking Mouse squeaked in discontented protest.

Helpless, Chen Changqing pulled out a qi gathering pill and swung it before the Treasure-Seeking Mouse. The mouse was instantly drawn in by the medicinal fragrance. After hopping up and down several times, it still failed to snatch the Medicinal Pill from Chen Changqing's hand.

Seeing that the Treasure-Seeking Mouse had fallen into the trap, Chen Changqing began enticing it, "If you go, I'll give you plenty of these Medicinal Pills. Go on, hurry! Besides, your Earth Escape Technique is very impressive, so it'll be easy for you to flee if you encounter danger."

In the end, the Treasure-Seeking Mouse couldn't resist the temptation of the Medicinal Pill in Chen Changqing's hand and obediently went inside.

Shortly after the Treasure-Seeking Mouse entered the cave, an angry roar echoed from within, a sound that felt extremely familiar.

Next, the Treasure-Seeking Mouse rushed back to his side at full speed with a Spirit Medicine held in its mouth. Chen Changqing pursed his lips—what a greedy little foodie.

Roar!

The owner of the voice gave chase out of the cave. Chen Changqing's expression grew solemn, but once he clearly saw the Yao Beast, he relaxed. It turned out that the Yao Beast in the cave was also a Black Bear Demon, except it was female and a size smaller than the previous Black Bear Demon.

Moreover, its aura seemed extremely weak, almost as if it had just given birth.

Chen Changqing immediately summoned his qingyang sword and killed the Black Bear Demon in a single move. This Black Bear Demon's strength was far below the previous one, so taking it down required only one strike for Chen Changqing. Previously, when his cultivation was only at the 3rd Layer of Qi Refining Perfection, his strength was already close to the Qi Condensation 7th Layer. Now at the 5th Layer of Qi Refining, his combat power had reached the 8th Layer of Qi Refining.

He stepped forward and, just as before, collected the Materials first before summoning the dao bead to absorb its blood qi.

"This Black Bear Demon's blood qi is too weak; it can barely boost my Physical Body to twelve hundred jin." When he first arrived at the Monster Mountain Range, his physical strength was only around five hundred jin, equivalent to the juvenile stage of a Tier 1 Yao Beast. After absorbing the first Black Bear Demon's blood qi, his physique doubled in strength, reaching a full thousand jin. This Black Bear Demon only added two hundred jin—neither more nor less.

After dealing with the Black Bear Demon's carcass, Chen Changqing held a water wall talisman and an earth escape talisman between his fingers and slowly walked into the cave.

"As expected, this Black Bear Demon gave birth to offspring, which is why its aura was so weak." Chen Changqing looked at the three black bear cubs before him.

"It just so happens that the Family lacks clan-protecting Spirit Beasts. When I return, I'll bring them along, nurture them well in the clan, and tame these cubs."

"Squeak, squeak!" Not far away, the Treasure-Seeking Mouse finally finished eating the Spirit Medicine and ran over. It even tried to dash past Chen Changqing into the depths of the cave, but Chen Changqing grabbed it with one hand.

"Squeak, squeak!" The Treasure-Seeking Mouse struggled, its eyes filled with reluctance.

"You picked the Spirit Medicine from inside there just now, right?" Chen Changqing asked slowly.

He then continued forward until he reached the depths of the cave. Unlike the narrow passage outside, this area was quite spacious, with a nearly circular opening at the top of the cave. Beneath this opening grew three Spirit Medicines—Moon Spirit Flowers, a type of Spirit Medicine that fed on moon essence. Judging by their appearance, each of the three Spirit Medicines possessed over a hundred years of potency, worth roughly several hundred Spirit Stones each by market value.

Seeing the Spirit Medicines, the Treasure-Seeking Mouse in Chen Changqing's hand began struggling again. He immediately picked the three Spirit Medicines and placed them inside a jade box for storage.

"Alright, I can't let you eat these Spirit Medicines, that would be a terrible waste. Here, I'll give you qi gathering pills instead." Chen Changqing poured out a few qi gathering pills to feed it.

With the qi gathering pills in hand, the Treasure-Seeking Mouse instantly forgot about the Spirit Medicine. It picked up a Medicinal Pill larger than its paw and stuffed it into its mouth. Once nearly all the Medicinal Pills were stuffed into its already chubby, rounded cheeks, it finally held onto the last Medicinal Pill and began nibbling on it.

Chen Changqing squatted down and poked its cheek with a finger, thoroughly enjoying himself.

After playing for a while, he stood up to ponder. Since he was going to live in the Monster Mountain Range for some time, he naturally needed a place to settle down. This place was quite good; once a Formation was set up, it could be used for both offense and defense. Combined with his own strength, he wouldn't even fear several cultivators at the Late Qi Refining Stage coming at him.

A moment later, he finished setting up the Formation outside the cave. Aside from defense, this Tier 1 Medium Grade Formation also functioned as a maze Formation. As long as the intruder's cultivation wasn't at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining or multiple people at the Late Qi Refining Stage, it wouldn't pose much of a problem. After all, this Formation cost around five hundred Spirit Stones on the market, so it naturally possessed matching capabilities.

Returning to his Immortal Cave, he sat down to meditate and recover the spiritual power consumed today.

Next, he mapped out his daily routine: going out to hunt monsters, returning to the Immortal Cave after hunting to meditate and restore Spiritual Qi, and using his spare time to craft Talismans to replenish his stockpile in case of danger.

Just like that, he spent a whole month in the Monster Mountain Range. During this month, he went out every few days to hunt Yao Beasts. Fortunately, he carried several Storage Pouches, so the Yao Beast Materials from his hunts weren't wasted due to an inability to carry them.

Furthermore, his strength grew significantly during this period. His Physical Body's toughness reached the level of a Tier 1 Low Grade Yao Beast, with his strength reaching nearly three thousand jin. If he took another step forward, he would reach five thousand jin of strength, which equaled the adult stage strength of a Tier 1 Low Grade Yao Beast.

However, because he had hunted too many Yao Beasts, the number of Yao Beasts around his Immortal Cave plummeted drastically, forcing him to head elsewhere to hunt.