After breaking through, Ling Xu continued refining his bones, seeping into the bone marrow with every cycle he did.
The sound of his blood qi became fiercer than before as it could even be heard from outside of his body, making anyone that was near him deeply shocked by the sound of the fierce waves of energy.
Apart from the progress of his cultivation level, he also continued practicing in the foundational sword technique that was taught to every disciple.
In this way, the days passed and Ling Xu repeated the same routine of training and completing his daily task.
He still persisted in finding the feeling he had when he reached perfection in the sword technique, but to no avail as he wasn't even near to the state of clarity he had when he entered the enlightenment.
…
The day after he completed the third week since he entered the sect, something happened.
Coming out of the forest and heading into the line to claim the rewards from the beasts' corpses, Ling Xu and He Xiao witnessed the origin of the changes that had turned the beasts in the forest wreaking havoc.
It had gone to the point that only the disciples who were in the higher stages of Blood Qi could enter, as it was almost fatal for any unofficial disciples that was below the seventh stage of Blood Qi.
Having already lost many disciples in the middle stages because of the number of beasts that kept increasing, the outer disciple in charge of each guarding post in the periphery of the sect banned their entry until they solved the issue at hand.
"Brother Xu, which beast's corpse would you like to keep this time?" He Xiao asked, fully aware about Ling Xu's spatial ring.
After everything that happened the day that he killed the black python, his strength had been fully revealed from He Xiao's perspective as he was now treated as an equal.
This was a great change because in this world, status was everything and strength was what mattered the most.
Ling Xu was shocked about his partner's change in attitude as not only the way he was addressed changed but even how much he opened up to him.
Every day they shared together in their turn he would learn more about his brother's life and past, understanding the reasons why he was so reserved before.
Making him want to share a few of his own experiences too but translating them to the context of this world as he couldn't tell He Xiao that he came from another world.
"I feel like trying the meat from the sharp clawed bear this time as it has been a week since I last tasted it." he said, looking at his partner who had now a completely different aura from before.
After the intense fight he had against the grey wolf in the ninth stage of Blood Qi, the circulation from his blood qi had smoothed down a lot.
This was because this crisis was the kind that would stimulate the whole body, removing him from a state of stagnation in his connection with his blood qi and increasing the speed at which his bones were refined.
Thanks to this change in his mastery in the Basic Blood Circulation cultivation technique and the energy that he ingested from the meat of the black python, he was able to break through into the ninth stage of Blood Qi as well.
He even managed to undergo his second blood exchange as his organs only needed a little of external pressure before they were able to surpass their limit.
This wouldn't be able to happen normally as in the Blood Qi Realm, blood exchanges are only possible at the peak of the third, sixth and ninth stages. But because He Xiao was already one step away from transforming his organs, it was different as this step was put in wait.
"Yeah, I agree. The bear's meat is the one I like the most from the beasts we have hunted so far." He Xiao added as he cut down an arm from the corpse and gave it to Ling Xu to save in his spatial ring.
They continued walking forward being just a dozen meters away from the line as they heard someone behind them yelling anxiously.
"They have done it!"
Everyone looked at him in confusion not understanding what he was talking about.
"The beast that caused chaos in the forest was hunted down by the disciples from the outer sect!"
"What?!"
"The supposed beast that was in the Qi Refining Realm was killed?"
"Then we won't have so much difficulty guarding the forest anymore, although the points we earned increased several times I can't withstand being on edge for such a long time."
A crowd of menial workers who guarded the border of the sect's array was formed as they saw in the distance a few outer disciples coming to their guarding center.
Making the way for them to pass, the unofficial disciples observed the corpse from the beast that made it so hard for them in the last couple of weeks.
"This is the beast that made so much trouble?"
"It doesn't look as terrifying as I thought it would."
Many people commented once they saw it from up close, feeling that it didn't live up to their imagination.
Ling Xu also observed as he saw the corpse from a yellow fox which looked quite grand for its species.
Initially, he didn't feel anything from it as it was already dead and he could only feel this inexplicable atmosphere that could be felt from someone who was above the Blood Qi Realm.
But once he paid attention to its eyes, he seemed to have fallen into some kind of attack as his mind started to make turns.
Fortunately, he reacted in time and stopped looking at it as he realized how fierce this beast actually was, being able to make him fall into such a state even after being dead.
"What was that?" cold sweats came out of his back and he was deeply shocked by the effect of this power that could suppress his mind completely.
In the front of the post, the worker that received the corpses saw the outer disciples come as he stood up to greet them.
"Greetings to my senior brothers, is this the corpse from the beast responsible of wreaking havoc and putting in danger so many of our sect's disciples?"
"It is its corpse indeed, it was very hard to kill as it was very elusive and had a strange power, able to entrap one's mind and suppress it completely."
"What?! This kind of power is something very special, only a few beasts with strong bloodline power have it."
"That's accurate, they aren't the type we have in the Profound Roots Mountain Range and even less in the periphery of our sect." the disciple that was in the front added.
"This needs to be informed to the inner sect, please tell me its cultivation level so I can register it and send a message so you are able to receive the mission's reward."
"This fox was actually much higher than what you initially put in the Affairs Hall, it is in the seventh stage of Qi Refining. We had to incur several injuries before we managed to hunt it down."
"Yeah, if it wasn't because its defense was its weakest point we would have lost at least one of our brothers." Another one of the outer disciples added frustrated at the increase in difficulty.
They were a group of five formed by three that were in the fourth stage of Qi Refining and two that were in the fifth.
If it wasn't because they all had middle grade treasure swords, they would have never been able to make a single injury to it, even though its defense was very low for its level.
"I can't believe it was actually a beast in the seventh stage that caused this problem! Don't worry senior brothers, once the Affairs Hall is informed about this you will receive an appropriate compensation befitting of its difficulty."
"I hope that's the case, after all it was very dangerous." The disciple in front of the sect's worker added once again, putting pressure on him.
"Rest assured senior." he said with difficulty as he was suppressed by their difference in level, having to look to the ground with his back hunched.
He couldn't resist the pressure because he was in the second stage of Qi Refining and there was a great gap in strength.
Then the disciples turned their backs to him and headed to the outer sect once again.
"Brother Xu, did you hear that?" He Xiao asked in surprise of the information they managed to hear from their conversation.
"Yes, I didn't expect it to be around our designated area."
"We were very lucky not to run into it, otherwise we would be dead by now."
Hearing the last words from his partner, Ling Xu had a sense of crisis as he realized how close he could have been of dying if the fox had tried to find the ones responsible of killing the beasts in the forest.
After all, in the last three weeks, Ling Xu and He Xiao had managed to hunt more than a hundred beasts. So if the beast in the Qi Refining Realm had wanted, it would have already found them by now and killed them on the spot.
Back in the line, it was their turn to exchange the corpses already.
After they gave in the five corpses from the beasts with the highest level they hunted for today, they were given the points as He Xiao received them in his identity token.
"What is this?" he asked.
Ling Xu observed from behind too as he saw that the worker handed down a small pouch which seemed to be already full.
"This is the reward for giving the clue to finding the beast responsible of causing all this chaos."
Opening it up, He Xiao saw several low grade spiritual stones pressed hard one against the other.
"Thanks a lot senior brother!" they both thanked him for as he could have easily taken it all for himself without anyone knowing, but instead he gave it its rightful owner.
Getting out of the line, He Xiao was the first to speak.
"Brother Xu, you can have them all."
Ling Xu was about to answer but he was interrupted before he could say anything.
"I know that you don't care about the points because they are very slow to accumulate but this is different." he said as he had counted and there were ten low grade spiritual stones, which was equal to more than a month of pay from the daily task.
This was even better because once a week passed and every unofficial disciple earned the blood tempering and blood replenishing pills, they wouldn't be able to save any of them as they were instantly used to progress in their cultivation stage.
But with this, He Xiao would be able to instantly gain ten low grade spiritual stones which would be saved up to use once he entered the outer sect and needed something to increase his strength while in the Qi Refining Realm.
"Are you sure?" about to refuse, Ling Xu came to a halt after hearing his brother's words which only showed good will.
"Yes, I'm extremely sure, this reward belongs to the both of us and I have decided that I want to give you my part of it. You have not only saved my life but you even gave me the precious meat from a beast which was about to advance into the Qi Refining Realm, helping me advance faster into the ninth stage of Blood Qi with its pure remnant energy."
"He isn't wrong." thinking about what He Xiao said for a few seconds, Ling Xu decided to accept his good intentions as it would only look bad if he didn't say yes.
After all, this was also a way of trying to get on equal terms with him after saving his life, with the intention of maintaining a good relationship once they separated and he entered the sect first.
Although He Xiao still couldn't feel his stage in the Blood Qi Realm, he understood that he had also advanced into the ninth stage once he saw him the day after he broke through, feeling intimidated by his presence alone.