Tian Shen's eyes turned icy. He glanced at Feng Yan before raising his foot again.
*Crack*
"AAGHH!"
"AAGHHH!"
The black-robed man's limbs were smashed to pieces, one by one.
The pain was so intense that he nearly fainted.
But each time he slipped toward unconsciousness, a fresh wave of pain jolted him awake.
Feng Yan just turned away with a sigh.
For half an hour, every bone in the black-robed man's body was shattered into powder.
Eventually, he succumbed to the agony, drawing his final breath.
『Congrats host, you killed a 3rd stage of Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator and gained Spiritual Qi ×200 and Spirit ×300.』
"Huh!"
As usual, upon his death, an attribute bubble dropped from the black-robed man's body.
It shimmered blue.
Of course—he was a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. A blue bubble made sense.
『Host gains Luck ×150 and Poison Element ×50.』
Tian Shen was delighted.
It was time to reap the harvest.
With the slaying of Su Jin and the black-robed man, he'd gained quite a lot.
With his current incomplete Spirit Demon cultivation, such gains would've taken him at least several days.
"Oh? What do we have here—storage rings!"
Tian Shen casually snatched the ring from the black-robed man's hand.
With the man dead, the spiritual imprint faded.
But upon checking, the ring was only about a cubic meter in space—smaller than the one Feng Yan had gifted him. Tian Shen's face showed disappointment.
"Spirit stones, materials, techniques… Hmm? What's this jade slip? A secret realm?"
The contents of the black-robed man's ring were standard—nothing stood out.
Except a jade slip, sealed and faintly glowing.
Tian Shen undid the seal and peered inside.
It recorded the location of a secret realm!
"Sect Master, do you know anything about a secret realm called 'Beastial dominion'?"
"A secret realm?! Of course! If it's resource-rich, it could raise a sect to the heavens! Wait—did you say Beastial dominion?"
Feng Yan's eyes widened.
"That's impossible. That place was destroyed hundreds of years ago. How could there be any recent intel on it? Ah… I get it now. This guy wasn't from our Northern Regions. He must've stumbled across the information, unaware it was outdated."
His voice was filled with disappointment.
Tian Shen nodded, but was still very interested in this Beastial dominion Secret Realm.
So he smiled and asked.
"Sect Master, can you tell me more about this Beastial dominion? I've never heard about any secret realms before."
"Sure."
Feng Yan nodded, but pointed to his body and said helplessly:
"I can tell you all about it, but can you wait until I've recovered a bit? Also, please bring Elder Qiu Zheng over. He's our Beast Taming Sect's alchemy elder. He should have some healing pills for me."
"I'll go right away."
Tian Shen suddenly remembered Feng Yan's serious injuries and felt a bit embarrassed.
With directions from Feng Yan, Tian Shen quickly made his way to Elder Qiu Zheng's cave mansion.
Elder Qiu Zheng's cave mansion was quite far from the main sect hall.
As an alchemy elder, Qiu Zheng needed a suitable place for pill refining. Cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm hadn't yet cultivated their own Alchemy fire and could only rely on natural flames.
So, a good location was essential.
Ten kilometers southeast of the main sect hall stood a hill with a magma pool halfway up. Qiu Zheng cleverly redirected the magma's fire flow into his cave for alchemy.
The only downside was the intense heat.
Even Tian Shen felt a scorching wave as he approached.
"Elder Qiu, disciple Tian Shen requests an audience!"
He stood in front of the cave, cupped his fists, and called out. No disciples were in sight.
*Clang**Clang*
A moment later, several footsteps echoed from within and Elder Qiu Zheng, shirtless and covered in sweat, stepped out.
"Ah, it's you, Tian Shen! Are you finally here to learn alchemy from me? Good! Come in quickly, let me see if you have the talent for alchemy!"
Qiu Zheng's eyes gleamed with excitement.
He was well aware of Tian Shen's potential and would love to take him in as a disciple. Though he wasn't Tian Shen's match in combat, Qiu Zheng believed his decades of alchemy experience could still teach Tian Shen a thing or two.
Tian Shen took a step back, flustered by the elder's sudden enthusiasm.
"Elder Zhao, the Sect Master has been badly injured. He asked me to find you and request some healing medicine!"
"What? Sect Master is injured? Was it a cultivation mishap?"
Qiu Zheng's expression shifted to shock and worry. Without waiting for an answer, he rushed back into the cave.
"Hold on! I'll get the pills right now and go with you!"
Tian Shen stood still, scratching his head.
As he waited, his eyes drifted around.
"Huh? Attribute bubbles?"
Near the magma pool, numerous attribute bubbles caught his attention. His face lit up as he walked over.
『Host gained Fire Element ×5』
『Host gained Fire Element ×10』
『Host gained Alchemy Experience ×300』
...
Though they were all white bubbles, within moments, Tian Shen had gathered 139 points of Fire Element and 1,200 points of alchemy experience.
"Nice! That's one of the three requirements met to upgrade the Rainbow Light Blood Fox. Now I just need 5-star Beast Core and Blood Element points. This might actually be easier than I thought!"
Tian Shen was pleasantly surprised.
The 1,200 alchemy experience was an unexpected bonus, though slightly frustrating—his attribute panel still didn't list a sub-profession for alchemy.
So even though he had the experience, he couldn't use it—yet.
He glanced at the cave and muttered.
"I guess it really is time to start learning alchemy with Elder Zhao and formally awaken the alchemist profession."
"Let's go!"
Moments later, Qiu Zheng rushed out of the cave, now fully dressed, holding pills, and looking serious as he dashed toward Feng Yan's cave.
Tian Shen tried to call out and redirect him—Feng Yan wasn't there anymore—but gave up.
Thankfully, Feng Yan's cave was close to the sect's main hall.