In the dense forest, the Silver-Backed Bull was tightly pursuing Wang Ruoxie, crashing down all the trees in its path, unstoppable.
"I can't tell if I'm too lucky or too unlucky, to have encountered a demon beast so quickly, and it's one of those extremely troublesome Tier One demon beasts—the Silver-Backed Bull."
While running at full speed, Wang Ruoxie glanced at the relentless Silver-Backed Bull behind him and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
The difficulty with the Silver-Backed Bull isn't its strength, but its temper; the so-called bull-headed nature means it wouldn't stop until it kills its target.
If his strength were sufficient, naturally, there would be nothing to say—he'd just kill it outright. The blood and flesh of a Tier One demon beast are quite beneficial, especially the heart's blood, which would be more effective for his cultivation than all the wild beast heart's blood he had obtained before combined.
However, now he was only at the Third Layer of the Body Tempering Realm, and even with the experience from his past life and a physique far superior to martial cultivators of the same tier, it was difficult to contend with the Silver-Backed Bull.
Fortunately, though the Silver-Backed Bull's attack and defense are both quite strong, its speed isn't as great as other demon beasts. Even some speed-specialized ordinary wild beasts could outrun it.
In addition, the dense forest full of trees could also slow down the Silver-Backed Bull a bit.
Therefore, although Wang Ruoxie couldn't completely shake off the Silver-Backed Bull, he could temporarily ensure his safety.
"It seems there's a cave ahead, I'll go there to take a brief refuge."
A moment later, Wang Ruoxie noticed a cave not far ahead. Without hesitation, he dashed straight into the cave.
Although his speed was a bit faster than the Silver-Backed Bull, continuously fleeing like this would eventually drain his stamina, and by then, he would likely become the Silver-Backed Bull's prey.
The Silver-Backed Bull, though a bull, is still a demon beast, not just eating grass, or else it wouldn't have pursued him so relentlessly.
"Boom, boom..."
Due to the rather narrow entrance of the cave and the large body of the Silver-Backed Bull, it couldn't enter at all.
Yet it didn't give up, repeatedly slamming into the cave, seemingly wanting to collapse it.
No way around it, a bull-headed temper is just that stubborn.
Feeling the tremors from the ground and the continuously falling stones on both sides of the cave, Wang Ruoxie was a bit speechless; it seemed he couldn't leave for the moment.
"Hmm? The heaven and earth spiritual qi in this cave seems denser than outside."
Wang Ruoxie let out a light exclamation, then quickened his pace toward the depths of the cave.
Places where spiritual qi is dense often hold something extraordinary, along with being the best places for heavenly materials and earthly treasures to form, like some quite rare spirit herbs, spirit fruits, or spirit liquids.
"What a fragrant aroma."
As Wang Ruoxie delved deeper, he noticed a rich fragrance permeating the air.
Following the direction of the aroma, he quickly saw a spring flowing from a crevice, with a plant just a few inches tall below it.
This plant had six fiery red leaves, and at the center of these six leaves was a completely vermillion fruit, about the size of a pigeon egg, exuding an extremely rich aroma.
"It's actually a Vermilion Fruit."
A hint of subtle joy flashed through Wang Ruoxie's eyes; he hadn't expected that there would be a Vermilion Fruit in this cave.
Though merely an ordinary Vermilion Fruit, it was still an exceptional heavenly material and earthly treasure, and among the lower-grade yellow-level spirit herbs, it's nearly impossible to find a spirit fruit that could compare.
With this Vermilion Fruit, combined with the wild beast heart's blood he had collected before, he should be able to directly break through to the Fourth Layer of the Body Tempering Realm, or even higher.
Moreover, the Vermilion Fruit has the effect of improving physique and cleansing impurities. If it's a century-old or even millennium-old Vermilion Fruit, it could completely transform a person.
Encountering such heavenly treasures is indeed fortunate, and Wang Ruoxie naturally wouldn't let it slip by.
Without further hesitation, he plucked the Vermilion Fruit, and the moment it was picked, the leaves and stalk withered instantly, finally dying completely.
Wang Ruoxie sat cross-legged and swallowed the Vermilion Fruit in one gulp while also taking out the porcelain bottle, drinking all the wild beast heart's blood.
Immediately, he felt a scorching torrent rushing into his abdomen through his throat, transforming into surges of violent energy that permeated every inch of his flesh, even down to the cellular level.
His internal organs and every bone and muscle felt as if they were placed in a furnace, constantly being tempered.
"Boom!"
Soon, Wang Ruoxie's body suddenly trembled—he broke through to the Fourth Layer of the Body Tempering Realm.
Shortly after, a muffled sound came from within his body again—Fifth Layer of the Body Tempering Realm.
Feeling the surging qi and blood and strength within, Wang Ruoxie slowly opened his eyes, a glint flashing across them.
Rising to his feet, he punched directly at a half-human-sized boulder.
"Bang!"
With a loud crash, the boulder was shattered to pieces.
"Roughly the strength of a bull and a tiger."
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Wang Ruoxie's mouth as he muttered to himself.
Generally speaking, only martial cultivators at the Eighth Layer of the Body Tempering Realm possessed the strength of a bull and a tiger, equivalent to a force of fifteen hundred pounds, but at only the Fifth Layer, he could already display such prowess.
Moreover, after consuming the Vermilion Fruit and the wild beast heart's blood, his physique had greatly strengthened, not inferior to a true late-stage Body Tempering Realm martial cultivator, possibly even stronger.
Previously at the Third Layer, it was the early stage of the Body Tempering Realm. Now, at the Fifth Layer, it was already the middle stage, a qualitative leap.
For an ordinary martial cultivator to progress so quickly in a short time would be impossible, requiring at least several months of arduous training, alongside a sufficient supply of meat, blood pills, and body tempering potions, to possibly advance from the Third to the Fifth Layer.
However, having been a Celestial Human Realm expert in his past life, Wang Ruoxie's cultivation experience was unparalleled among martial cultivators. Furthermore, he possessed the Blood God Essence Blood, allowing him to directly absorb the essence, qi, and spirit from wild beast heart's blood.
This was just because his current cultivation wasn't sufficient to refine the wild beast's essence blood; otherwise, his cultivation speed would be even faster.
"Now, it's time to face that Silver-Backed Bull."
A smile appeared on Wang Ruoxie's face. In just half a day, he advanced by two small realms; indeed, this trip to the Tongyun Mountain Range was worthwhile.
With his current strength, dealing with the Silver-Backed Bull wouldn't be a problem. A force of fifteen hundred pounds, plus he now could exert the strength of the Fifth Layer of the Ninefold Force; even against an Eighth Layer martial cultivator, he was confident.
Moreover, the Silver-Backed Bull was merely a Tier One demon beast, equivalent to a Seventh Layer human martial cultivator, so naturally, it wouldn't pose much challenge.
Stepping forward, Wang Ruoxie walked toward the cave entrance.
Meanwhile, in the grass not far from the cave, a figure appeared.
"Damn it, how could there be a Silver-Backed Bull here? Could it be that this beast also found the Vermilion Fruit?"
It was a young man wearing a luxurious blue robe, his gaze fixed on the Silver-Backed Bull.