Chapter 20: Battle with the Jackals in the Second Canyon

Qin Youqin was injured, and Qin Anyu became her caretaker—carrying her into the stone trough, fetching water, brewing medicine, and helping her refine her blood, flesh, and bones once more.

The cultivation through the nine stages of the Qi nurturing phase required three attempts at each stage, with the medicinal ingredients varying slightly each time, and the dosage increasing progressively.

Under normal circumstances, this time was not suitable for bone refinement; the interval between attempts was too short. However, given the intensity of the recent battle and her injuries, the timing was actually quite appropriate.

After preparing the medicinal decoction and tending to her, he slung his clumsy sword over his back and entered the Qi refinement phase canyon.

Last time he was driven out by a coalition of beasts as soon as he entered. Now, having refined his blood, flesh, and bones, he wanted to fight inside again—to test his combat power and gather some herbs.

Exhausted on the cliffside, he had yet to fully unleash his potential; his fight with Zhang Yuan had not displayed the true strength of his body.

Now, he needed a fierce, invigorating battle to fully activate the advantages of his internal organs and skeletal system, awakening the potential of his other tissues and organs.

Only through such activation, combined with suitable medicinal herbs, could he achieve the best enhancement.

This also marked the difference between cultivation methods on the Spirit Bridge plane and the Immortal Realm, and explained why the Spirit Bridge plane knew the results but not the underlying reasons.

Entering the first canyon, he walked a circuit with his clumsy sword on his back, driving away the beasts that came to harass him, finding seventeen kinds of herbs not found outside, then proceeded to the second canyon.

Just after passing through the formation, a wild boar charged at him.

He swung his sword down.

The boar slowed its charge, but a blood groove opened on its head.

Feeling the immense force surge back, he couldn’t control himself and retreated from the canyon.

“Still lacking in strength,” he muttered.

Returning to the first canyon, he grumbled, then passed through the formation again into the second canyon.

The boar was still snorting at the spot where he disappeared. Seeing him return, it took a step back and charged again.

This time, he didn’t want to test his strength. Sidestepping the attack, he punched the side of the boar.

The boar spun sideways, stumbled upon landing, and continued moving sideways, finally pivoting on its forelegs to face him once more.

It lunged at him again.

He slashed with his sword, sidestepped again, and punched once more.

With a clang, the boar’s right tusk cracked, and it flew sideways into the distance.

Staggering as it landed, the boar snorted at him for a while, then stepped back, turned, and fled.

The boar was quite clever—it feared being ambushed.

He didn’t pursue but started searching for herbs.

His purpose was combat and herb gathering, not slaughter.

Such opportunities were meant for the young women; the Selfless Immortal Emperor didn’t need them.

Such an opponent had lost the will to fight and wasn’t worth battling further.

After refining the blood, flesh, and bones, the next step was to temper the six viscera—the gallbladder, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, bladder, and triple burner—and it was time to prepare herbs.

He was missing five kinds; he had found three in the first canyon, but still lacked dragon bone and dendrobium. Attempts to buy them twice in the city’s pharmacies failed—dragon bone was not aged enough, and dendrobium was unavailable.

Without those two, the tempering effect would be reduced, only slightly better than the Spirit Bridge plane’s standard.

“A place dedicated to training low-level disciples should have such herbs,” he thought.

After driving away some bothersome beasts, he came to the foot of a cliff and saw a sheer rock fissure ten zhang high, where a long row of tree ferns grew—shortest about four feet, tallest eight feet. Six zhang above, a dense cluster of dendrobium grew.

“Such large tree ferns could be used by many.”

Climbing along the crack, he reached the tallest tree fern.

“Three hundred-year-old herbs that failed to ascend to the human grade—artificial environments just can’t compare.”

Dragon bone was the tree fern’s barkless trunk, so he had to fell the tree.

The trunk was tough; standing on the cliff, he dared not exert full strength. One sword strike left only a half-inch notch.

Just as he prepared to strike a third time, he caught sight of approaching beasts—three jackals. He smiled inwardly, “Finally, a good fight.”

At the fifth stage, he couldn’t handle three Qi nurturing stage beasts; at the sixth, he could easily face one Qi refinement stage wild boar. Now, with three jackals, he could practice the body’s reflexes and coordination.

Jackals were pack animals with a strong appetite for meat. Seeing him, they wouldn’t leave quietly, so he ignored them and continued chopping.

The tree fern fell, tumbling down the cliff.

He didn’t descend immediately but grabbed the protrusions and crevices on the wall to climb higher, aiming to collect dendrobium.

When still about one zhang from the dendrobium, a green snake shot out from the cluster.

He punched it squarely at seven inches, sending it flying, and continued climbing.

After a few steps, he looked down at the jackals. “Why not give them something to do? Let them warm up first.”

Green snakes kept flying at him, each knocked away by his punches and sent toward the jackals to keep them busy.

Upon reaching the dendrobium, he carefully selected three clusters of two-hundred-year-old plants.

With all the herbs needed for tempering the six viscera in hand, he descended the cliff and leaned against it.

Amid the watchful eyes of the three jackals, he cut three sections of the trunk and stored them in his spatial ring.

“Now I can fight you properly.”

Though the jackals were strong and numerous, their cautious nature prevented immediate attack; they communicated softly in turns.

Qin Anyu had a sudden idea and grabbed the crown of the tree fern, dragging it along.

Though the crown was small, its branches were extremely sturdy, serving as a shield to prevent enemies from surrounding him completely. Though confident in his escape, he was not arrogant enough to assume it would be easy.

Seeing him dragging the crown, the three jackals ceased their chatter and swiftly scattered—one leapt toward him, two charged on the ground.

Qin Anyu hurled the crown forward, blocking two charging jackals, then swung his sword at the one leaping.

The jackal that was about to land continued forward, crashing into the rock wall with a dull thud.

Another jackal pushed aside the crown and lunged at him.

He unleashed a sword strike, leaving a deep cut along its neck, then kicked it backward.

The jackal sprayed blood midair like a torrential rain.

Though it landed steadily, its weak whimper revealed it was near death.

Two of the three jackals were injured; he no longer relied on the tree trunk shield, tossing the crown backward to cover the jackal lying by the cliff, then swung his sword at the third.

It lunged; he met it head-on, slicing with his sword.

They both retreated—he a bit farther.

It lunged again; after a sword strike, he sidestepped and punched it into the jackal with the slashed neck. The two collided heavily; the wounded one was knocked down and never rose again.

The jackal under the cliff, dazed, recovered and saw its companion’s grim state. It threw off the crown and charged out.

Qin Anyu swung his clumsy sword to meet it, sweeping aside its paw strike. Its gaping maw was useless.

A gust of bloody wind blew.

The jackal that had been knocked back pounced from behind. Qin Anyu slipped away, slashing its belly with his sword to push it back.

At that moment, another jackal lunged.

The jackals began coordinating.

Qin Anyu chuckled lightly. “This is perfect. In the Qi nurturing phase, the body needs the most honing.”

He slung his sword onto his back and fought barehanded against the two injured jackals.

In the canyon, one man tangled with two dogs—man flying, dogs retreating; man flying, dogs dodging...

Time passed unknown.

The two jackals stood before Qin Anyu, barked once in unison, then turned and left.

Unable to defeat him or feast on his flesh, they would no longer waste themselves.

Breathing heavily, he smiled at them, “Though low-level, today’s fight was truly exhilarating.”

Grabbing the tree fern crown, he turned to leave.