Su Yang absorbed a bit of energy from the Demonic Core and started Phoenix Stance. He tried to refine it, but just a few seconds after the tiger’s Qi entered his body, his eyes turned crimson. He bit his lips as many people manifested in front of him. He froze as he locked his gaze with them.
"Isn’t this trash young master Su?" A handsome young man with an average build, clad in an orange brocade robe, sneered while fanning himself with his rose-patterned hand fan.
"Dai Mu." Su Yang’s already red eyes started to erupt with veins and filled with murderous intent.
An old man with a bald head, clad in a simple white robe, sighed. "Young Master Su, such a pity. Patriarch Su rejected the offer to swap you with my kid."
"Butler Yun!" Su Yang yelled, his fists clenched.
"Useless Su."
"Weakest Su Young Master."
All of them smirked at him, with insults coming one by one from their mouths.
"What are you waiting for?"
A small tiger formed on Su Yang’s shoulder and asked.
It was a miniature version of the Demonic Tiger that he killed. Its teeth grinned against each other in fury.
’I’ll avenge myself for sure.’
"Unleash your full power and go berserk," the tiger whispered softly. "Destroy everyone."
"Nirvana Flames!" Su Yang roared with the last bit of his sanity as he closed his eyes.
White-golden flames erupted from his body.
"What!!!" the tiger barked as it was wiped away in a flash. All the people followed next.
Su Yang felt the silence of the cave for a moment, followed by the sounds of birds. He fell to the ground, panting. He threw the core to the side.
It took him a few minutes to calm down.
"What the hell!" He patted his chest as his heart almost seemed to rise to his throat.
"I shouldn’t use this again." He had overestimated himself, not his Phoenix Stance.
He went through the process in his mind to find out what went wrong.
"Murderous intent filled me, and I seemed to remember my bad memories, all at once." He shook his head. "Luckily, with the last bit of clarity, I used Nirvana Flames to cover my entire body and every sense."
"Is Phoenix Stance weak?" he wondered.
"No..." He folded his hands. "It’s not weak. It wiped out the tiger’s will swiftly, but..."
He stood up and checked his body. "It takes a strong attack, and that annihilates Demonic Qi as well."
He sensed that a bit of a new Blood Qi Wisp had formed in him, but it wasn’t complete yet.
It’s not that Phoenix Stance cannot digest a Demonic Core. It can, and very well at that. However, the remnant monster’s will in the core is a different matter.
A Demonic Beast’s core has both Demonic Qi and the beast’s will. Both of them are fused as one, and if one tries to refine the core directly, both will enter the body. The monster’s will would corrupt a human’s mind through intense emotions.
The only way to escape is to wipe out the beast’s will. But the Demonic Qi is fused with it, so wiping out the beast’s will would also destroy the Qi. Then what’s the point of refining it in the first place?
"Even Heaven Devouring Technique cannot wipe out the side effects of refining a Monster’s Core." He recalled his sister’s words.
Those side effects were what Su Yang experienced: he was flooded with uncontrollable murderous intent and fury. Each person experiences their own weaknesses and goes berserk.
’I can indeed use this if my own will... Dao Heart is strong enough.’ Su Yang mused bitterly. ’Let’s just exchange it for resources from now on.’
He decided not to use it even if his Dao Heart got strong enough to withstand it.
Indeed, people with strong Dao Heart can directly refine Beast Cores if they possess a technique that can digest Demonic Qi.
"The core is very profitable to sell." Su Yang muttered as he placed the golden-black core in his storage pouch. The Monster Cores are worth more than their entire bodies.
"I should learn alchemy." He nodded to himself. "Then I can refine this into a pill and eat it like candy."
He then lay on the ground and snored.
He was too tired. For the past three days, he had been cultivating without stopping like a machine. And the previous stunt had drained his mental strength as well.
He woke up one day later, when the sun was at its peak. He freshened up quickly. He scowled as a stinky smell emitted from him.
"My senses have increased as well." He mumbled in disgust, his nose picking up a bit of sweat, blood, and a light aroma of cooked tiger’s meat.
"I should find a water source to take a bath." He walked out of the cave.
A few days later.
The sun was just rising, filling the sky with an orange-red hue.
Su Yang was tidying his belt and hairpin as he stood in front of a large pond. Many large trees surrounded it, and their leaves had created a canopy.
He was dressed in a clean blue brocade robe. He had taken a nice bath just now. However, he had no good expression on his face. Instead, his lips were downcast in disappointment.
"I didn’t find a single Demonic Beast in the past two days." He grumbled, folding his hands across his chest. After entering the forest, except for the tiger, he didn’t come across any other beast.
[ Su Yang
First Realm: Blood Qi
Entry: 99/100
99 Undying Phoenix Blood Qi Wisps! ]
[ Undying Phoenix Blood Qi Forging Art
Introduction 99/100
Characteristics: Nirvana Flames ]
Due to the lack of resources, his cultivation remained the same. He was irritated like never before as he was only one Wisp away from Minor Perfection.
In fact, the smell of the tiger emitting from him had scared every monster away from him. Though it was very light to him, it was different for them. Their senses were far superior to his.
Now that he had taken a bath, the smell had vanished from him. If he searched now, he would definitely encounter them.
He pushed away the screen as another one flashed in his vision.
[ Undying Phoenix Fist
Introduction 15/100 ]
Same as with cultivation, due to the lack of resources, he couldn’t improve. Phoenix Fist took Blood Qi to practise, but if he ran out of Blood Qi, he’d need resources to regenerate it. Though they weren’t needed as much as cultivating a new Blood Qi Wisp, they were still required. He had spent almost all his time searching for monsters.
He shook his head, patting his cheeks lightly. "It’s been only two days. Let’s go searching."
A few hours later.
Su Yang devoured the last bit of deer’s meat. He entered Phoenix Stance and flapped his hands like a bird.
’Anytime soon.’ He thought as he felt the new Blood Qi was close to completely forming.