The most valuable things on the body of the Rank 1 Fire Lion were naturally its beast blood and the designated proof worth 1,600 points, as for the hide, claws, bones and other materials, they were also worth a considerable amount of money.
Unfortunately, Ryan couldn't carry the entire carcass away by himself, and dismantling all of it would take too much time. Connor Blake and the others would probably find this place soon, so it was impossible for him to remain here for too long.
After collecting the concentrated Rank 1 beast blood and cutting away the required portion of the Fire Lion's crimson mane, Ryan carefully erased as many traces of his presence as possible, then glanced around the cave once more. There was nothing else of particular value inside, so he didn't waste any more time and immediately left.
Less than ten minutes after Ryan disappeared, a group of students followed the Fire Lion's trail and arrived outside the cave, and Connor Blake and the others quickly entered. The moment they saw the Fire Lion lying motionless inside, their expressions changed.
"The beast is dead!" A student exclaimed.
"Damn it! Someone got here before us!" Connor immediately walked toward the carcass, and his expression became even uglier when he saw the missing section of crimson mane. "The proof is gone."
That was 1,600 points!
The other students hurriedly examined the Fire Lion.
"The concentrated beast blood has also been taken!" Another student shouted angrily.
The crimson mane and the Rank 1 beast blood, the two most valuable things had both been taken away, and the students' expressions were extremely ugly.
They had fought the Fire Lion for so long, all of them had been injured to varying degrees, and several of them had been carried off badly wounded, yet in the end, someone else had arrived before them and taken the most valuable rewards.
"Who did this?" Connor's face was dark.
No one answered. There had been too many students moving through the trial area, and anyone could have followed the Fire Lion after it escaped.
Although the remaining carcass was still worth a large amount of money, Connor and the other seed students of First Martial Academy had little interest in carrying such bulky materials around, so they turned and left. Some of the ordinary students who had followed them, however, naturally weren't willing to abandon something so valuable, and before long, they began dividing the remaining usable materials of the Fire Lion among themselves.
...
Ryan had already traveled far away.
There were many caves and rocky shelters scattered throughout the controlled wilderness area, and after searching for some time, Ryan found a small cave in a secluded location. An ordinary beast had already occupied it, so Ryan dealt with it and took the cave for himself.
Now that he had obtained the designated proof from a genuine Rank 1 Fire Lion, worth 1,600 points, there was little reason for him to keep desperately hunting ordinary beasts. There was still roughly a day and a half remaining before the end of the trial, and with 1,600 points already in his possession, his chances of taking first place were extremely high.
But Ryan had no intention of wasting the remaining time.
"With this much beast blood, I wonder how much my strength can increase?" Ryan looked at the container of Rank 1 beast blood he had collected, looking forward to finding out.
He took a small amount of the beast blood and began cultivating, and Essence Qi circulated through his body.
Boom!
The moment the beast blood began to take effect, a powerful stream of energy spread through him, and Ryan immediately guided his Essence Qi according to his normal cultivation method. The energy contained in the beast blood was gradually absorbed and refined, accelerating the strengthening of his body, and after one full cultivation cycle, most of the energy from that portion had already been absorbed.
Ryan carefully sensed the changes in his body, and his eyes immediately brightened.
"Nearly four times the normal cultivation speed!"
And this was only Low-Grade Beast Blood produced by a newly advanced Rank 1 beast, if it were Intermediate Beast Blood assisting cultivation, the effect would naturally be even greater.
"No wonder some people with ordinary talent can still reach Rank 1 Blood Warrior at a relatively young age, as long as they have access to large quantities of beast blood and other cultivation resources, even mediocre talent can be compensated for to a certain extent." Ryan thought to himself.
Of course, resources like this were far too expensive for ordinary people to use continuously.
Ryan consumed another small portion and continued cultivating. With his Advanced Cultivation Talent, his efficiency in absorbing and refining the energy within the beast blood was extremely high, the beast blood continuously supplied his body with additional energy, and his cultivation speed far exceeded normal.
Several hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Ryan eventually stopped and frowned slightly. Normally, after cultivating repeatedly for this long, his body should already have been considerably more exhausted, but now...
"I'm still not that tired." Ryan carefully examined his condition, and after thinking for a moment, he began cultivating again.
Another cycle passed, and his body still showed no signs of being damaged, so Ryan gradually understood.
Under ordinary circumstances, prolonged cultivation consumed the body's own reserves, and once those reserves were depleted, forcing further cultivation would begin overdrawing the body's potential and could eventually cause damage. But beast blood changed the situation, the energy contained within it replenished much of what cultivation consumed, so as long as Ryan continued absorbing the beast blood properly, his body could withstand far more cultivation cycles than usual.
"So that's how it works!" Ryan's eyes lit up.
Perhaps this wasn't some great secret among experienced Blood Warriors, but ordinary Blood Warrior Apprentices rarely had access to enough beast blood to discover it personally. After all, even powerful families couldn't casually supply unlimited quantities of such resources to every Blood Warrior Apprentice under them.
"This amount should be enough for me to cultivate throughout the rest of the trial." Ryan looked at the remaining beast blood and clenched his fist.
If he continued at this rate, his strength could increase significantly before the trial ended. He had already entered the Peak Stage of Blood Warrior Apprentice, and now, with the assistance of Rank 1 beast blood, he could push himself even closer to the 130-point threshold separating Blood Warrior Apprentices from Rank 1 Blood Warriors.
"Continue cultivating!" Ryan closed his eyes again, and Essence Qi began circulating through his body.
While Ryan was cultivating in seclusion, the situation outside gradually became chaotic.
The trial was approaching its final stage, and the students who wanted higher rankings became increasingly desperate to obtain more points, some began robbing other participants of the beast materials they had collected, and fights between students became more and more common.
However, there was still one line most of them did not dare cross, deliberately killing another participant was strictly forbidden and the punishment would be severe. More importantly, no one knew whether academy instructors or other Blood Warriors were secretly monitoring parts of the trial area.
Even so, the weaker students suffered badly, and materials they had spent days collecting were taken from them by stronger participants.
In the blink of an eye, the three-day trial was nearing its end, and one student after another began leaving the controlled wilderness area and returning toward the entrance of the valley.