Divine Tang Era

Xu Dan was quite surprised to sense the golden cauldron rapidly forming within his body.

These past few days have been filled with hard work and cultivation, taking several days to condense a golden cauldron. How come it condensed so quickly today? Just what rank is this Ghostly Beast? Its body is so rich in essence.

"boom"

Another golden cauldron was formed, the eighth golden cauldron.

In a daze, Xu Dan seemed to realize something. It seemed that the Golden Cauldron could be formed as long as one had sufficient blood and qi. Therefore, he didn't need to cultivate at all; he could simply eat a large amount of demon beast meat and convert its essence into blood and qi.

Thinking of this, Xu Dan felt deep regret.

If I had known, I would have eaten more monster meat, and I wouldn't have had to cultivate so hard.

However, it's not too late to regret it now. Xu Dan looked at Gui Zheng lying on the ground with a gleam in his eyes.

Ghostly flesh isn't actually very good, because its essence bursts forth suddenly, unlike other beast meats which release it gently and slowly. If someone is unaware of the Ghostly's characteristics and eats its flesh, they will be exploded by the sudden burst of powerful essence.

Because Xu Dan had consumed Earth Milk and Dragon Vein Blood, and had his body repeatedly cleansed and refined by the Purple Golden Lotus, his flesh and meridians were incredibly resilient, enabling him to withstand the impact of the Ghostly Essence.

Ghostly, ghostly.

Its name is like a ghost, its form is like a ghost, and its flesh and blood are also like a ghost.

The Ghostly Beast always lurks in the darkness, devouring ghosts and feeding on carrion, allowing ghostly energy to seep into its body, imbuing even its flesh with a sinister and eerie aura. That's why people in the wilderness rarely eat Ghostly Beast flesh; they never expected to encounter someone as daring as Xu Dan.

The saying "ignorance is bliss" perfectly describes someone like him.

After a while, the swelling sensation throughout his body disappeared, and the Qi and Blood Golden Cauldron stopped at the eighth one. Xu Dan felt that the eighth golden cauldron was already half-formed, and it would be completed after eating a little more monster meat. He then looked at the Ghostly Beast lying on the ground.

The eighth statue has been formed; is the ninth one far behind?

If he could condense the ninth form, wouldn't he be able to cultivate the Nine Cauldrons Divine Transformation Technique? Just thinking about it made Xu Dan feel incredibly excited.

So they continued to cut off the flesh of the demon and cook it.

This time, he didn't care about anything else and just stuffed the cooked demon meat into his mouth. In the end, he calculated that he had eaten about fifty pounds of demon meat. Xu Dan looked at his stomach in disbelief. Where did all that demon meat go? His stomach had only grown a little bit.

As he was still thinking, the demonic flesh inside his stomach began to explode. He quickly raised the Crimson Flame Giant Shield, and the powerful gravity compressed the explosive aura.

Then, he began to practice standing meditation, circulating the "Standing Cauldron and Sealing Furnace Technique," and the essence of the beast meat, which was about to explode, transformed into qi and blood. The vast qi and blood surged like a monstrous wave, crashing and surging wildly into the illusory golden cauldron. In just an instant, the golden cauldron nearly solidified.

The next moment, with a loud "boom", the golden cauldron was formed.

The eighth golden cauldron, with eight thousand units of immense strength, and Xu Dan's hand holding the giant shield moved up a little further.

Before the essence of the demonic flesh was completely consumed, a phantom of a golden cauldron gradually appeared in the center of Xu Dan's body in his imagination.

The surging blood and energy that had been transformed seemed to have found an outlet, rushing into the illusory golden cauldron. This blood and energy failed to solidify the golden cauldron, only making it slightly more visible, giving it the outline of a cauldron. Seeing this, Xu Dan cooked and ate the remaining flesh of the demonic beast.

A moment later, the essence of the Ghostly Ferocious Flesh exploded within his body, and the immense power made Xu Dan's body uncomfortable. He quickly raised his shield and activated the Standing Cauldron Sealing Furnace Technique.

In an instant, the essence transformed into qi and blood, which flowed into the illusory golden cauldron, slowly solidifying it. Finally, with a resounding "boom," the golden cauldron solidified into a physical form.

The ninth golden cauldron, with its immense power of nine thousand, is sufficient to cultivate the Nine Cauldrons Divine Transformation Technique.

Xu Dan looked at the nine golden cauldrons arranged in a nine-square grid in the center of his body, his heart surging with emotion, unable to contain himself. It hadn't been easy; he had finally succeeded. Suddenly, he wondered: Are there only nine golden cauldrons? Can they be condensed again?

Thinking about it, I gave it a try.

Just by trying it out, all the golden cauldrons in my body transformed into a thick mass of qi and blood, surging into the nameless void behind the Tanzhong acupoint in the center of my body.

"boom"

A bolt of lightning struck down from the nameless void above, and in the center, where the vital energy converged, a nameless phantom gradually took shape. After a while, an ancient furnace with three legs and two handles appeared.

Xu Dan was puzzled. The Qi and Blood Cauldron he had condensed before was a square cauldron with four legs and two handles. How come it has changed now?

I can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out.

The rich, viscous energy transformed from the nine golden cauldrons flowed into the ancient furnace, gradually solidifying its illusory form. Upon closer inspection, the furnace body was perfectly round, with subtle, mysterious patterns; its legs were powerful, adorned with the heads and feet of three mythical beasts: dragon, elephant, and rhinoceros; the furnace handles stood proudly, like towering divine gates. Only one handle was missing, but the surrounding energy continuously converged, and the final handle gradually took shape.

Upon seeing this, Xu Dan had an epiphany.

The ancient furnace requires a force of one thousand units per foot, five thousand units per body, and one thousand units per handle, totaling ten thousand units of force.

The "Establishing the Cauldron and Sealing the Furnace" technique doesn't mention that the Qi and Blood Golden Cauldron can condense ten statues! Hmm, it doesn't seem to say that it can only condense nine statues either, so can it condense an infinite number of statues?

Before long, the furnace handles took shape, and the ancient furnace solidified.

The ancient furnace stood in the nameless void, surrounded by countless streams of qi and blood, exuding an indescribable Daoist aura.

From then on, the flesh of the demon was completely digested.

Looking at the ancient and simple furnace body, Xu Dan suddenly felt a stirring in his heart, wondering if he could condense the Qi and Blood Golden Cauldron again. In the blink of an eye, his Qi and Blood stirred, like ripples on a calm lake, wave after wave, surging towards the void beside the ancient furnace.

The phantom image of an ancient furnace slowly emerged.

Hey, it really can condense.

This time, however, it wasn't the Qi and Blood Golden Cauldron, but an ancient furnace. The phantom of the ancient furnace appeared, and the slowly gathering Qi and Blood gradually accelerated, surging in wildly and recklessly. Qi and Blood are transformed from essence; since the essence of the demon beast's flesh was gone, it could only be converted from Xu Dan's body.

In just a short while, he felt hungry, so he quickly stopped the operation of the "Standing Cauldron and Sealing Furnace Technique," took out the large meat buns he had brought, and ate them.

I ate ten in a row, but I still wasn't full.

He quickly took out a sausage made from golden lime beef and started eating. He ate about twenty pounds before his hunger subsided.

Xu Dan leaned against the rock, rubbing his stomach, feeling that the ancient furnace phantom was terrifying. An ancient furnace required ten thousand units of strength and a vast amount of blood and energy, far beyond what his young body could withstand. He still had to eat the flesh of a demon beast.

I feel like if I keep eating like this, the golden lime beef I have at home might not last.

Furthermore, the Golden Tortoise is only a ninth-grade demon beast, and the essence of its flesh and blood isn't particularly powerful. It's still necessary to find some high-grade demon beast meat to eat. I wonder what grade the Ghostly Beast is, and how many there are; otherwise, Ghostly Beast meat would be quite good.

Little did they know that the demon devoured ghosts and rotten flesh, and that its flesh contained evil spirits and poisonous gas.

Eating it once or twice is fine, but if you eat it too much, you'll either be poisoned or die from infection by evil spirits.

That's alright, but what's truly terrifying is becoming a zombie or ghost after death, wandering in the desolate wilderness, unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation, neither alive nor dead, forever trapped in this cycle of suffering. Otherwise, the demons would have been devoured long ago.

After taking a break and packing up the tent, Xu Dan disappeared into the woods.

The monsters in this forest were all killed by the martial arts school seniors during their training, and there are none left now, so hunting must be done far away.

As for that demonic beast, who knows where it came from?

The trees in the forest were incredibly tall, each one requiring more than two people to encircle, and each one was huge and upright, with tough wood that was excellent for timber.

After passing through several groves of trees, we arrived at the foot of Jinshan Mountain.

Looking up, one could see dark figures moving swiftly between the cliffs.

Xu Dan's target on this trip was precisely these dark figures, also known as the Crashing Goats. Crashing Goats have round, disc-shaped horns, glossy black fur, and tender, delicious meat, making them the most popular type of monster meat among the people of Jingning. However, Crashing Goats are sixth-grade monsters, incredibly fast, and have a violent temper; when they get angry, they can even smash through mountains, hence the name "Crashing Goats."

Although Xu Dan is strong, he's not stupid enough to go face-to-face with a goat and compare strength.

He found a towering tree in the woods near the cliff, climbed up, and stood among the branches to observe it.

The mountain goat was very alert. While eating the spiritual herbs on the cliff face, it would always look up and observe its surroundings, never burying its head in its grazing without a care. Even if it saw dew seeping from the mountain inside the rock face, it would look up and glance at it before eating.

This makes killing the goat very troublesome.

However, he still wanted to give it a try.

After observing for a while, Xu Dan took out the Crescent Moon Bow and arrows from his storage bag. Previously, the Crescent Moon Bow was impossible to draw, but now it fit perfectly in his hand. With a glance, Xu Dan drew the bow and shot the arrow at the nearest charging goat.

"call out"

The arrow flew like lightning, with the force of thunder, like a beam of light, shooting into the cliff.

"Meh?"

The lead goat in the herd saw an arrow shot from a distant tree and bleated warily, but it was too late; the arrow had already pierced the belly of one of the goats. Enraged, the lead goat's face turned red, and it bleated as it ran down the mountain.

Xu Dan didn't care about its appearance.

Why did he choose this giant tree that takes four people to encircle? Wasn't it to avoid being hit? The lead sheep came just in time.

Xu Dan drew his bow again and shot at the lead ram. The lead ram turned and dodged the arrow.

"Hey, this guy's not bad!" Xu Dan took out another arrow, nocked it to the Crescent Moon Bow, his double pupils reappearing in his eyes. He stared at the lead ram and released his grip. The arrow flew out like a streak of light, heading straight for the lead ram. The lead ram suddenly lunged forward, the arrow missing its mark and embedding itself in the ground behind it.

Ha, I don't believe it.

Xu Dan drew his bow again, but no matter how he shot, the lead sheep dodged it.

Suddenly sensing that the lead sheep was acting strangely, he quickly put away the Crescent Moon Bow, took out the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer, and carefully dealt with the situation.

In an instant, the lead ram charged to the tree, without bleating, and immediately lowered its head to ram against the tree with all its might. A deafening crash shook the ground, and the giant tree swayed violently. Xu Dan knew that ramming a goat required great strength, but he hadn't expected it to be this powerful. He swallowed hard and clung tightly to the branch.

The goat that was about to be hit retreated a little, lowered its head, gathered its strength, and then charged forward and rammed into the goat with all its might.

"Bang!"

Another loud bang, the giant tree shook, and leaves fell in profusion.

Xu Dan felt that if he let it crash into the tree, it would surely break, and he couldn't help but want to back out. But what about the goat that had been shot and killed? Looking at the lead goat that was still foolishly crashing into the tree, he immediately had an idea.

After the goat retreated and gathered its strength, Xu Dan put away the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer, jumped from the giant tree to another large tree, and ran wildly towards the cliff.

A short while later, he reached the foot of the cliff and put away the shot he had taken from the goats. Looking up, he saw a group of goats standing on the precipice, staring at him blankly. Xu Dan waved to them with interest and said, "Goodbye, everyone."

The goat bleated loudly after being bumped.

Xu Dan noticed something was off about their gazes, turned around, and saw the lead sheep galloping towards him.

"Damn it, how did they get here so fast?" He quickly took out the Crimson Flame Shield, slammed it into the ground, gripped the handle on the back of the shield tightly, and huddled inside.

"Bang!"

The lead ram crashed heavily into the giant shield.

Xu Dan felt as if he had been hit by a train; he and the giant shield were sent flying, rolling on the ground more than a dozen times before coming to a stop. Fortunately, he was strong and sturdy; otherwise, he might have been killed instantly.

Standing up, he saw the lead sheep gathering its strength again, and in fright, he quickly put away his giant shield and ran for his life.

The lead goat immediately gave chase, and the goats standing on the cliff saw their leader chasing the thief and jumped down from the cliff to follow.

Xu Dan turned around and saw a large herd of goats chasing him, which terrified him so much that he broke out in a cold sweat. If he were caught, he probably wouldn't even be able to survive. He was so scared that he used all his strength to run for his life.

"Hey, there seems to be someone over there."

"People are still hunting rams these days; they're practically asking for death. Don't they know these creatures are dangerous?"

"But the meat from the goat is really delicious."

"You have to be alive to enjoy delicious food." On Jinshan Mountain, some people saw Xu Dan being chased by a goat and started discussing it.