Chapter 15: The Essence Delivered to the Doorstep

Qin Liang had already fallen asleep, but his spiritual sensitivity remained keen. At the slightest rustle in the courtyard, he was instantly awakened, his face darkening. "Still not giving up, huh?"

He thought Li Hongcai had brought others with him again.

Being roused in the dead of night would put anyone in a bad mood; after all, Qin Liang was still a youth and naturally felt indignant.

He rolled over, grabbed a long knife from his universe pouch, and crept to the window.

Outside, a blue wolf moved stealthily, having already climbed upstairs to the room's door, radiating a fierce and violent aura. Qin Liang’s heart skipped a beat. "Since when did the Jiang family have such a wolf?"

Before he could ponder further, the blue wolf rammed the door open and burst inside.

At the same time, Qin Liang, agile as a cat, leapt out the window.

The blue wolf caught a glimpse of the corner of Qin Liang’s clothing and immediately turned to give chase, its four legs kicking up the wind.

Qin Liang snorted coldly, swung his knife backhanded, a flash of cold light bursting forth with blade energy scattering all around.

The blue wolf was surprised. Could a third-stage Spirit Refiner really react so quickly? It hurriedly dodged, but a tuft of deep blue fur was sliced off, fluttering like scattered petals in the wind.

"Fourth stage Spirit Refining?"

Qin Liang recognized the wolf's cultivation level, and a smile crept onto his face.

He needed the blood essence of a beast spirit to refine his Berserker Beast Body and had no idea how to obtain it. Now, this blue wolf had come to him, and since its cultivation was only slightly higher than his, its blood would be just right.

Feeling Qin Liang’s intense gaze, the blue wolf shuddered inwardly.

It had come hunting, but now it felt like the prey—it wasn’t right.

"Your master has sent help in my hour of need; I shall not be polite," Qin Liang said as he charged, knife in his left hand and fist clenched in his right, ready to unleash the Seven-Star Fist.

The blue wolf was unwilling to yield. After all, it was just a third-stage Spirit Refiner human—what was there to fear?

However, it soon changed its mind because this human was truly formidable. No matter how fiercely it leapt, the man could always evade with swift, unpredictable steps like the wind.

Swish!

Qin Liang darted to the wolf’s side and slashed.

Clang! The long knife snapped in two, and Qin Liang’s expression darkened.

Spirit-refined beasts had thick hides; ordinary iron weapons couldn’t wound them—at best, they could only shave off some fur. If he wanted to enter Rainbow Mist Mountain, Qin Liang would need a specially forged weapon.

The blue wolf’s fur was now ragged, casually trimmed by Qin Liang, making it look quite disheveled.

"Roar!"

The blue wolf howled angrily, turning to pounce, jaws snapping at the air.

Qin Liang dropped the broken blade handle, switching to fist combat, deploying the Wind Walking Step technique as he battled fiercely with the wolf.

From the second floor to the courtyard, the fight was intense.

Qin Liang’s face grew serious. For the same cultivation level, beasts were far more savage and violent than humans, and much harder to deal with. Both were fourth-stage Spirit Refiners, yet the blue wolf was clearly stronger than Zhong Wei.

Swish, swish!

The wolf sprang up, swiping twice with claws sharp as needles, tearing Qin Liang’s sleeve.

Qin Liang didn’t hesitate; he launched the Seven-Star Fist at the wolf’s head.

His strength was extraordinary, and the punch contained a fivefold hidden power; even a fourth-stage Spirit Refiner would struggle under such a blow.

Boom!

The wolf dodged the vital point but was still staggered, stumbling a few meters away, dazed.

Soon, it went completely berserk, stepping in strange patterns that seemed to channel some demonic technique. The wolf, originally about a meter tall, instantly grew to about three meters, becoming even more ferocious.

Before it, Qin Liang looked quite small, pressure mounting, his expression increasingly grave.

Yet he did not despair and pressed forward, continuously attacking with the Seven-Star Fist.

The wolf’s legs ran like the wind on the ground; each claw swipe cut through the air with a piercing sound. Its blood-red eyes fixed solely on Qin Liang.

It was willing to do anything to devour this human and avenge its mistress.

Soon, a whirlwind stirred in the courtyard. Observers sharp-eyed enough could see man and wolf moving like lightning, their speed and strength nearly equal.

Overall, Qin Liang was somewhat inferior. His physical body was weaker than the wolf’s, unable to withstand a direct clash, forced to evade, thus falling behind and tightening the situation.

The battle reached a stalemate, neither side gaining the upper hand for a long time.

Qin Liang kept calm, focusing on perfecting the Wind Walking Step, his mastery of this martial art visibly improving, which pleased him.

"Indeed, combat is the best training," he thought.

He gradually immersed himself in the rhythm, as if becoming a breeze within the courtyard, moving with the wind’s force.

Each step was borne by a breath of wind beneath his feet, as if treading on the air itself.

His figure was graceful and free, like a wandering dragon dancing in the wind, expressing himself with ease and revealing the air of a grandmaster.

Though it was only a brief moment of leaping through the air, his speed had indeed improved.

After half an hour tangled with the blue wolf, a bright glint appeared in his eyes. "Is this the mastery of great accomplishment? Truly extraordinary."

Martial artists’ proficiency with techniques could be roughly divided into four levels: novice, minor achievement, great achievement, and perfection.

Ordinary people needed at least five rounds of Spirit Refining to reach great achievement with a lower-level Huang-tier technique.

If anyone knew Qin Liang, only a third-stage Spirit Refiner, had already reached great achievement, they would be astonished. He was on track to reach perfection before the birth of his spiritual radiance—such talent was unparalleled among the young generation.

In the whirlwind, the blue wolf just touched Qin Liang’s clothing corner and lost his trace.

"Where are you looking?"

Qin Liang’s voice came from behind, startling the wolf. The youth’s speed had increased so much?

Bang!

Before it could react, a punch struck its back, sending it tumbling forward and crashing into a corner.

Qin Liang seized the opportunity, following up swiftly with a barrage of punches.

Thud, thud, thud...

Powers matched, the wolf could only defend passively against Qin Liang’s relentless fists, but despite its tough hide, it could not withstand the repeated hidden energies penetrating its body.

The combination of punches and hidden power overwhelmed it, and even with its demonic techniques, it could not hold on.

Soon, its meridians shattered, and it collapsed in the corner, barely clinging to life.

"Awooo..."

It made a sound, seemingly begging for mercy.

Qin Liang showed no mercy, delivering a final punch charged with fivefold hidden power that shattered the wolf’s brain, killing it. He exhaled deeply, inwardly acknowledging how difficult high-level spirit beasts were to fight.

This battle had been truly perilous; without the sudden improvement in martial skill at a critical moment, he might have become beast food.

He used a dagger to cut open the wolf’s heart, collecting a few drops of blood essence in a small porcelain vial.

"That should be enough," Qin Liang murmured to himself.

After putting away the vial, he began skinning the wolf, removing bones and cleaning the innards. He carried the carcass to the kitchen, where he lit the largest stove in his courtyard, heating oil, preparing a hearty meal to reward himself.

The spiritual essence extracted from the corpse carried lingering resentment, but the meat of a spirit beast, once the blood was removed, not only reduced the residual malice but was also a delicious restorative delicacy, greatly benefiting cultivation.

Under normal circumstances, Qin Liang wouldn’t have time for such things.

After placing the wolf meat in the pot to stew, he sat cross-legged by the stove, took out the wolf’s blood essence, and began cultivating the secret art of the Berserker Beast Body.