The dead of night was silent; all sounds were stilled.
Upon a cliff face within Mount Changyin, a figure with brightly gleaming eyes stepped noiselessly out of a narrow cave entrance.
With the Breath Concealment Spiritual Art fully activated, Luo Chen was like a withered piece of wood as he surveyed his surroundings.
Very good. This entrance had not yet been discovered by the demonic beasts of Mount Changyin.
Some time ago, through his connection with Zeng Wen, he had obtained a gazetteer concerning the Million Mountains of the Eastern Wilderness.
It marked many specific place names unknown to loose cultivators.
Among them, the Guyuan Mountain Range was annotated in the greatest detail; after all, that was where Mountain Breaker Gang cultivators and even Dahe Market loose cultivators went most frequently.
In comparison, the records for the Howling Moon Mountain Range were much simpler.
For instance, the tunnel he had dug extending from Crescent Moon Valley led straight to Mount Changyin.
This mountain was rich in resources and teeming with demonic beasts, and it was perpetually occupied by gray-leaf wolves and frost wolves.
Or rather, the dozens of massive mountains nearby were dominated primarily by these two demon wolf packs.
Additionally, scattered among them were a sparse number of natural predators of the demon wolves as well as weaker demonic beasts.
Having confirmed that the coast was clear, Luo Chen cautiously stepped out of the cave entrance, exploring the surroundings bit by bit.
After a short while, his steps halted.
His gaze focused on a spot three hundred meters ahead.
Two lone demon wolves were locked in a fight to the death, their howls and heavy panting echoing continuously.
"To think that after all this time, the battles between the demon wolf packs haven't stopped yet."
"Still, all the better—it makes things far more convenient for me!"
With a thought, Luo Chen drew four formation flags from his storage bag.
The Spirit Concealment Formation, obtained from Lu Huaiben.
Previously, he had used it to conceal the spiritual power fluctuations of the spirit vein cave, but today it was just right for setting up his battlefield.
Arranging the four formation flags in their specific positions, Luo Chen waited quietly for the battle ahead to conclude.
Fights to the death between low-tier demonic beasts were very pure.
So pure that they did not even cast their innate demon arts, relying entirely on physical combat.
Such a state would only improve once a demonic beast advanced to Tier 2.
It was said that after demonic beasts reached Tier 3, equivalent to human Golden Core cultivators, their sentience would evolve drastically. Many Tier 3 demonic beasts could even refine away the transverse bone in their throats and learn various human languages rather than merely growling and roaring.
The so-called demons speaking human tongue generally only occurred after Tier 3.
The two demon wolves before him were far from that level; their intelligence was quite low, fighting purely on instinct.
Consequently, their battle ended quickly.
The corpse of a gray-leaf wolf lay quietly on the ground.
Mutilated wounds covered the carcass, its fur shredded and innards spilling out, a bloody stench lingering in the air.
After all, this was a season when heavy snow sealed the mountains and frost blanketed the earth.
The gray-leaf wolf had neither the advantage of weather nor terrain.
Yet the victor was by no means in good shape either.
Its fur, originally as white as ice and snow, was torn and mangled, with a wound deep enough to expose bone across its neck.
It wanted to lick its wound, but the awkward location made that impossible, leaving it no choice but to trudge back wearily.
Suddenly, it stopped in its tracks.
Letting out a low growl, its fur bristled all over as an immense sense of danger overwhelmed its limited intellect.
The frost wolf tried to resist, but then a massive cauldron came crashing down overhead.
Four-colored light, like streaming tassels and ribbons, bound its limbs and head firmly in place.
"Though this Four Symbols Cauldron is called a jack-of-all-trades, its various uses are truly remarkable."
Watching the large cauldron suspended over the frost wolf, Luo Chen smiled.
It was said this cauldron was crafted by Master Huyan Zhuo, an artifact-forging master of Tianfan City. Originally, he intended to forge it into a lower-grade magic treasure, but due to issues with the formations and forging techniques, it only ended up as an upper-grade magical artifact.
After obtaining it, Luo Chen had explored its properties frequently and discovered many ingenious uses.
Alchemy, defense, offense, suppression.
The potency of each function was by no means extraordinary, possessing only the power of an ordinary upper-grade magical artifact.
Yet its versatility meant it could be applied in many situations.
For example, right now, Luo Chen displayed its suppression ability to the fullest.
A Tier 1 demon wolf had never been a match for Luo Chen in the first place.
Not to mention it was injured!
Caught off guard, the frost wolf was easily suppressed and subdued by the Four Symbols Cauldron.
Looking at the demon wolf sprawled on the ground, its eyes filled with rage and terror, Luo Chen walked up to it with an amiable expression.
Bending down, Luo Chen smiled warmly and took out a pill as red as blood.
"Little doggy, don't be afraid."
"Big brother has something good here; it's great for your health!"
The demon wolf "compliantly" swallowed the pill, though it nearly choked in its throat, forcing Luo Chen to smooth it down with spiritual power and pat its back.
After feeding it the Blood Burning Pill, Luo Chen cautiously stepped back.
Instead of maintaining the Spiritual Eye Art passively, he actively channeled it, his spiritual eyes fixing intently on the demon wolf.
Soon, the demon wolf reacted!
As the medicinal efficacy spread, the demon wolf let out a low howl, its eyes turning completely crimson.
Its back arched high, and the muscles throughout its body began to tremble continuously, as if earth dragons were rolling beneath its flesh.
Not only that, a foul demon qi billowed outward.
It indicated that its demonic power was surging wildly.
Clang!
Luo Chen's eyelids twitched as he felt the Four Symbols Cauldron under his control waver slightly.
The four-colored tassels that bound the frost wolf were now stretched taut, looking as though they might snap at any moment.
Luo Chen channeled more spiritual power to sustain the suppression.
Yet the ever-swelling strength made the cauldron's already mediocre suppression power difficult to maintain.
Crack!
A faint sound rang out.
The frost wolf sprawled on the ground rose to its feet. Its body, originally as tall as a man, swelled by roughly a third, growing even more colossal.
Standing there, its height nearly exceeded Luo Chen's.
Its demonic frame, knotted with bulging muscles, appeared massive—up close, it looked like an elephant.
Crimson, enraged eyes glared fixedly at Luo Chen. Its previously weakened aura had now become several degrees stronger than when it was at peak condition.
Fierce, domineering, bloodthirsty, and rabid.
Suddenly, it moved.
Shattering the residual suppression of the Four Symbols Cauldron, it charged madly toward Luo Chen.
Luo Chen was fully prepared; far from panicking, he pulled back swiftly.
Moreover, he recalled the Four Symbols Cauldron and continuously shot out four-colored streams of light.
Some served to obstruct, others to suppress.
As for defense, it was hardly necessary.
Luo Chen was simply too fast; with the Cloud Treading Boots fully active, combined with Carefree Wandering and the Wind Riding Technique, one could say he was currently "walking the dog."
Luo Chen was not running around aimlessly either; he circled continuously within a designated area.
And that circular area lay precisely inside the Spirit Concealment Formation he had set up.
Thanks to that, even though the spiritual fluctuations erupting from the frost wolf were immense, not a single trace leaked outside the pre-arranged Spirit Concealment Formation.
While walking the dog, Luo Chen observed the frost wolf's condition and kept track of the elapsed time.
After roughly three or four minutes, the frost wolf's momentum clearly began to trend downward.
At the same time, its sanity seemed to have recovered somewhat.
Seemingly realizing that its enemy far surpassed it and was merely toying with it, it instinctively began to retreat.
Seeing this, Luo Chen reached out and unleashed the Jasper Saber.
The seven flying daggers, in groups of three or two, blocked its retreat. They did not injure it, merely herding it back.
Just like that, another two minutes passed.
The demon wolf's aura plummeted to rock bottom, rendering it even weaker than before.
"That's about enough."
At this point, Luo Chen no longer held back.
The Four Symbols Cauldron shot forth abruptly, crashing down overhead.
The pitiful frost wolf was once again bound to the spot.
Luo Chen stepped forward, sending his spiritual power probing into the demon wolf's body.
After a while, Luo Chen withdrew his spiritual power thoughtfully.
Glancing at the pitiful frost wolf, Luo Chen used both hands to gently tear open the massive preexisting wound on its neck.
The demon wolf thus met its end.
There was not a single trace of Luo Chen's techniques left on its body—only the injuries inflicted earlier by the gray-leaf wolf.
The formation flags turned into streaks of light and flew back into his storage bag.
Having retrieved the Spirit Concealment Formation, Luo Chen did not covet the corpses of the two demonic beasts, returning quietly into the tunnel.
...
[First Trial Report for Blood Burning Pill]
[Stimulates muscular blood and Qi in the body to instantly generate a massive amount of spiritual power, sharing the same principle as refining essence into Qi.]
[Upon stimulation, strength surges by thirty percent, but one's mind becomes clouded and filled with violent tendencies, likely related to the primary ingredient, explosive ape demon blood.]
[However, this effect is forcibly stimulated, damaging the body's foundation and leaving sequelae such as torn meridians caused by dilation, depleted blood and Qi, and other side effects.]
[Duration of pill potency: five minutes. If high-tier techniques are unleashed, the duration may be shortened further.]
[Conclusion: Neither a cultivation pill nor an auxiliary pill; it leans toward being a combat pill. However, the traces of demonic cultivation are not pronounced, so there should be no need to worry about sect prohibitions.]
Luo Chen stopped writing and reviewed the items recorded in his small booklet.
He was very satisfied to have gathered so much information from testing the pill on a demonic beast.
However, certain points were still not entirely certain.
After all, the Blood Burning Pill was formulated for human cultivators; when used on humans, the effects might be completely different from those on demonic beasts.
Unfortunately, the Mountain Breaker Gang lacked medicine-testing subjects like those in Hundred Herbs Hall.
Otherwise, he could have tested it on them.
Thinking of the four remaining Blood Burning Pills in his storage bag, Luo Chen pondered how to ascertain the pill's true effects on a cultivator.
Only after determining the effects could he decide how to handle this pill.
Keep it for personal use? Refine a dozen or so just in case.
Or sell it externally?
If sold, what kind of sales strategy should be arranged?
Distribute it on a large scale like the Jade Marrow Pill? Or sell it at a fixed stall like the Myriad Wonders Pill initially? Or perhaps emulate Spirit Herb Pavilion by treating it as a rare elixir and auctioning it off?
These questions could only be decided once the pill's effects were verified.
And once decided, it would influence Luo Chen's subsequent refinement plans.
"I can't expose the Blood Burning Pill, which makes finding test subjects difficult."
"The gang keeps close watch on me, so I must stay cautious... Perhaps I could have someone else find someone to test the pill for me?"
Naturally, Luo Chen thought of his elder brother Wang Yuan.
A pill that enhanced combat power and was linked to blood and Qi would probably interest Wang Yuan greatly.
After all, no matter how one looked at it, the Blood Burning Pill originated from the Blood Fiend Pill.
Most importantly, Wang Yuan enjoyed far more freedom than he did, controlling a hall independently out in the field!
Chapter 117