When it comes to cultivating immortality, it naturally starts with upgrading the herb garden.

Song Chen's mind was churning, and thoughts were racing.

The Zhang family's several cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining were actually not weak. After all, they had abundant resources year-round and cultivated diligently, so they could be considered average.

But unfortunately, Song Chen was too strong.

He has a great talent for practical combat and is extremely good at simulating combat in his mind.

This is also the main reason why Song Chen, without leaving his home, can fight against others without being at a disadvantage.

Years of dedicated training have already brought about a qualitative change in his strength.

Even when facing a Qi Refining Level 10 cultivator, one can try to fight them.

As for the peak of Qi Refining, Song Chen could only pray that he could run fast.

Song Chen gathered his thoughts, landed on a small island, and walked into the depths of the forest, where he soon came to a cave.

Instead of entering the cave, he climbed up the outside of the rocks step by step until he saw an open cave, which he then jumped into.

During the day, it's neither dark nor bright here; you can barely see anything. After attaching the luminous talisman, it becomes quite bright and visible.

There is a bear demon in the cave, at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

It was Xiong Tian.

Xiong Tian's breathing was even, completely unaware of Song Chen's arrival. His aura steadily increased, and his lips were moist, clearly indicating that he was cultivating with Star Moon Liquid.

Song Chen glanced at it, then walked towards other cave entrances, found a completely sealed cave, and entered a meditative state to prepare for breaking through to the tenth level of Qi Refining.

He took out three "Spirit Condensation Pills" and swallowed them all at once.

At the same time, the mid-grade spirit stone he was holding in his right hand instantly turned into powder.

But it doesn't matter, there are still quite a few mid-grade spirit stones placed beside him.

The spiritual energy flows into the dantian, and cultivation begins.

Two weeks later, Song Chen emerged from seclusion.

His breathing was steady; he had reached the tenth level of Qi Refining.

Song Chen left the cave and sat down by the stream filled with starlight and moonlight liquid, placing his right hand in it to feel it carefully.

It's very cold.

You can clearly feel the pure energy of the stream lingering around your skin.

He was stunned for a moment, then took out the book of top-grade Foundation Establishment auxiliary spells that had arrived four years late and began to read it.

Upon opening it, Song Chen was bewildered.

The Qi Refining Realm spells available on the market today have all been carefully translated, with easy-to-understand language, ensuring that cultivators can practice and use them after reading them.

This method is completely different.

Not only are the sentences awkward and the text disjointed, but the words are also incoherent and difficult to understand. Even a few individual words are incomprehensible to Song Chen.

He suddenly felt like he had become illiterate, and asked doubtfully, "How could this be?"

In this way, this spell cannot be cultivated.

To practice magic, the prerequisite is to understand it.

Otherwise, how would we know how to cast the spell?

Trying to master a spell that you can't even understand is like a high school student who didn't finish memorizing all the vocabulary for the college entrance exam in their previous life trying to pass the CET-4 or CET-6 exams—absolutely impossible.

Song Chen regretfully withdrew his spell and focused his thoughts on the cool sensation in his right hand.

The sun was high in the sky.

The warm sunlight streamed into the cave, dispelling the chill.

Song Chen murmured, "Why not join the Lower Sword Sect? They also have Ascension Tokens; I'm sure I can get some preferential treatment!"

"What is an Ascension Token? Can you eat it?" Xiong Tian asked, raising his dumbfounded bear head from the other side of the stream.

Song Chen shook his head and said, "No, it's hard."

Xiong Tian stared at Song Chen with a peaceful look in his eyes and smiled, "Oh! Then I'm not interested... You've finally come to see me this time."

"Um."

Song Chen focused on the coolness of his palm and casually replied, "By the way, why are you here? Aren't bear-type demonic beasts usually social animals?"

Upon hearing this, Xiong Tian felt a lump in his throat, and sadness and anger appeared on his face: "I was kicked out by the clan leader because of my strange appearance."

"Sigh, don't let my fur fool you, I'm a stone bear, but I can't petrify, and I've got a bunch of useless fur..."

Song Chen raised his eyelids, somewhat taken aback.

Stone bears are mostly covered in stones, have a hard body, no hair, and prefer to live in dry, hot environments. They are mainly distributed in sandy and desert areas.

The climate of Wandaobo is humid and mild, making it almost impossible for stone bears to survive.

Moreover, Xiong Tian has no characteristics of a stone bear on his body. His skin is soft and resilient, his hair is long and smooth, and his body is covered with fat, making him look just like a brown bear from his previous life.

This is also the main reason why Song Chen didn't consider this category.

Among demons, physical appearance represents the purity of their bloodline.

The higher the purity of a demon's bloodline, the stronger it tends to be. Those whose appearance has been completely altered, like Xiong Tian, ​​are considered to have no potential and are treated as a burden, to be discarded directly.

Xiong Tian continued:

"I come from the southern desert. Back then, my people pushed me off a sand cliff, thinking I was doomed, and I thought so too. But fate had other plans! I drifted with the stream at the bottom of the sand cliff for ten days and ten nights and didn't die. Instead, I came to this island, drank this magical water, and gained sentience, embarking on the path of cultivation. From the first day I drank this water, I knew my mission was revenge. I wanted to go home and take revenge on the chieftain! To take revenge on those bears who pushed me off the sand cliff!"

Xiong Tian became more and more agitated as he spoke, spittle flying everywhere, and towards the end, tears welled up in his eyes.

Song Chen was speechless.

But he didn't feel sorry for Xiong Tian.

Because Xiong Tian is still striving forward, what is there to pity about a bear that is moving forward?

Xiong Tian thought his words had frightened Song Chen, so he quickly laughed it off:

"However, I'm just thinking about it. At my current cultivation speed, I don't know when I'll be able to go back to my hometown."

"Maybe I'll stay here forever! I wonder if I can find a female bear to keep me company..."

Song Chen suddenly stood up, and his body slowly floated up.

Thinking the other person was about to leave, Xiong Tian stretched out his bear paw to try and stop them, saying expectantly:

"How about we leave in a few more days? I'm getting so bored here, a bear like me."

Unexpectedly, Song Chen turned his head and said calmly, "Cultivate well, and go back to take revenge."

Xiong Tian looked bewildered and remained silent.

"Stone bears die when they encounter water, but you do not. Stone bears are hairless, but you have a full mane. There is no doubt that you are no longer a stone bear."

Xiong Tian was stunned, and subconsciously said, "If I'm not Stone Bear, then what am I? Are you saying I'm inferior?"

There are also quite a few inferior ones among the stone bears.

These bears have some characteristics of stone bears when they are born, but they are still better than Xiong Tian.

However, most of them are born with disabilities, either intellectual disabilities or insufficient potential, and are destined to be cruelly abandoned in the long run.

In this respect, he does bear a striking resemblance to Xiong Tian.

If you say it's inferior, that's fair...

"In my hometown, there's a saying that if an outcast suddenly appears in a group and possesses skills that others don't have, it means that this outcast is a more reasonable and powerful being."

Song Chen shook his head.

He refuted Xiong Tian's statement and offered a completely new perspective:

"So, quite the opposite, you are not only not a defective product, but a superior bear."

Xiong Tian swallowed hard, a flame igniting in his heart.

Before it could speak, Song Chen flew away on the wind.

Only Xiong Tian remained, standing there, repeating in a low voice, "I am a superior bear..."