041. The Vanished Essence

After retrieving Abi into the demon-capturing pouch, Lingyu's lips curled into a cunning smile. “Before I let you go, I’ll first find out what’s going on with that bead. Vital essence—it’s a rare treasure indeed!”

The most primordial power between heaven and earth is the world’s original energy, the very foundation of all living things. Unlike spiritual energy, it has an extraordinary ability to repair and restore, making it far more effective. In other words, it's superior to spiritual energy. However, the world's original energy is dispersed throughout the world, impossible to gather or directly absorb.

Vital essence, on the other hand, is different. Living beings are born of heaven and earth, and humans especially are favored by the heavens; the world's original energy merges perfectly with the body, thus transforming into vital essence. Because of this, vital essence can not only be absorbed, but serves as a powerful supplement—this is why some demon beasts devour humans or other demons, and why certain spirits seduce mortals, seeking to drain their life force or essence.

Of course, simply eating raw flesh yields little vital essence, and it’s laden with impurities—not much better than absorbing spiritual energy. Besides, cultivating through devouring or seduction accrues heavy karmic debts, bringing many drawbacks.

Yet the green bead Abi carried was truly unique: it could absorb a person’s vital essence without causing death. If used wisely, it would neither incur karma nor waste the essence—a real treasure. Only a fool like Abi would possess such a treasure and not know how to use it.

Lingyu held the bead and tried to test it. Unfortunately, having consumed too many pills recently, the poisonous residues within her body had yet to be purged. Even vital essence was hard for her to absorb.

“I’ll let you off for now!” Lingyu muttered, tossing the bead into her storage pouch before going to sleep.

The night passed uneventfully. The next day, she joined Zhang Qingshu and the others in scouring the market. Though she’d previously asked Mr. Qi for help, she considered those gains her own and hadn’t planned to share them. Even if she did, there wouldn’t be much to divide.

The five of them spent the day collecting a fair amount of materials, but the quantity still fell far short of their needs. Nevertheless, they were satisfied. Acquiring resources directly in Golan City was much safer than venturing deep into the Xiluo Forest.

On the third day, more cultivators arrived in Golan City, including fellow disciples from the Profound Abyss Monastery, members of other sects, and some unaffiliated cultivators. The five realized that with each passing day, there would be fewer opportunities for easy gains, so they decided to leave as planned.

That evening, Mr. Qi summoned Lingyu and laid out a courtyard full of precious goods. Lingyu picked out a few things and returned, well pleased. Mr. Qi had found more than the five of them together. With this, she had completed one-fifth of her task.

On the fourth day, the group packed up and left Golan City, entering the Singing Sands Mountains.

The air currents above the Singing Sands Mountains were fierce, making flight impossible. Like ordinary travelers, they proceeded on foot.

By this point, no more merchants traveled these roads—only some woodcutters, herbalists, and hunters remained.

Beyond the Singing Sands Mountains, the five pressed deeper into the forest. At first, they encountered only ordinary wild beasts, but after about three days, they finally came across a demon beast.

“Sister Yu, are you all right?” A damp cloth was offered to Yu Xiyin.

Yu Xiyin blinked back to herself, accepted the cloth, and managed a grateful smile. “I’m fine. Thank you, Sister Cheng.” She wiped the blood from her face and hands, letting out a long sigh.

“I couldn’t have made it this far without you all,” Yu Xiyin murmured, gazing at the campfire. “I know I’m timid—if you hadn’t protected me, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”

Lingyu replied, “Sister, you’re too polite. We’ve trained together for years—you’ve always looked after me. This is nothing.”

“Even so, you’re different from the others…” Yu Xiyin shook her head and sighed. “I always thought I had good relations with everyone, but after what happened with Sister Ding, I realized it was all an illusion.”

“You’re still dwelling on that?” Lingyu poked at the fire. “I don’t know what to say, really. You know I’ve never been close to the other sisters. Even if they ignore me, I won’t feel sad—I simply don’t care.”

“Well said,” Yu Xiyin mustered a smile. “If you don’t care, it can’t hurt you.”

Despite her words, her expression remained strained. Lingyu could only urge, “Don’t overthink it. Get some rest—we have a long day ahead tomorrow.”

Yu Xiyin smiled faintly. “I’ll sit a while longer. You go ahead, Sister Cheng.”

Lingyu gave a quiet assent and returned to her tent.

Seated inside, she opened her storage pouch and rummaged through her belongings.

For days, she had diligently taken spiritual herbs to purge the poison from her body, and the toxins had lessened considerably. Perhaps now she could attempt cultivation. The first thing that came to mind was the green vital essence bead—to see if it truly was such a powerful supplement.

But after searching for some time and emptying the entire pouch, she could not find the green bead anywhere.

“How odd, where did it go?” Turning the pouch upside down, she found nothing. At last, among the miscellaneous items, she found a tiny glass bead, amber in color and no bigger than a fingertip, with faint traces of green still visible.

“Could this be it?” Lingyu was shocked. “Did the vital essence just dissipate on its own?” At this thought, she was filled with regret—the vital essence on the bead might have been enough for a great leap in her cultivation!

After a long moment of remorse, she reconsidered. “No, that’s impossible. The storage pouch is completely sealed. If the vital essence had dissipated, the pouch should be full of its energy. But there’s not a trace inside!”

No, something was definitely amiss. Something or someone must have stolen her vital essence!

Grinding her teeth in frustration, Lingyu searched through her belongings again and again for over half an hour, but found not the slightest trace of vital essence.

“How could this be? How could it just disappear?”

“Sister Cheng, is something wrong?” came the voice of Tan Taiyu from outside—he was on night watch tonight.

Lingyu quickly composed herself. “It’s nothing, just lost a little trinket. I’ll keep looking.”

“Alright, I won’t disturb you then.” As Tan Taiyu’s footsteps faded, Lingyu slumped to the floor, staring at the scattered items, utterly baffled. At last, she rolled her eyes skyward in exasperation. “Is this a joke? Heaven, if you won’t give me a shortcut, at least don’t show it to me and then take it back!”

No matter how much she fretted and lamented, the vital essence was gone. She searched the whole night in vain. The next day, Lingyu trudged on, listless, prompting worried glances from the others.

“Sister Cheng, are you alright?” Yu Xiyin sidled up and asked in a low voice.

Lingyu’s face was stony as she shook her head, her tone flat. “I’m fine.”

“Really?” Yu Xiyin was skeptical. The ever-busy, energetic Sister Cheng had never been so dispirited.

Lingyu sighed. “Really, I’m just in a bad mood. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

Not wishing to press the matter, Yu Xiyin fell silent.

At the head of the group, Sheng Yangqiu suddenly halted, holding up a finger. “Demon beasts!”

The other four immediately stopped and readied their weapons.

Soon, the stench of blood filled the air, so foul it made them gag.

“There are three in total—two at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, one at the third,” Lingyu listened to the footsteps and quickly calculated.

A grim look passed among them. Tan Taiyu frowned. “Yesterday, the demon beasts we met had just entered the Qi Refinement stage. How is it we’re facing fourth-layer beasts today?”

Zhang Qingshu drew out a talisman and affixed it to his sword. “Let’s just kill them first.”

The materials they sought in Xiluo Forest included not only demon beast bones but also spiritual herbs and woods. A fourth-layer demon beast was a respectable prize.

“They’re here!” Sheng Yangqiu shouted, brandishing his sword as he charged.

Lingyu raised her arm, spinning her sword in a dazzling arc. The dull gray blade suddenly blazed with light. As the demon beasts approached, she tightened her grip.

A deafening roar split the air as three long-tailed giant tigers appeared, their fur a mix of black and yellow, each with small rudimentary wings beneath their flanks—two large, one small, clearly a family.

Unlike Abi, these tigers had not awakened intelligence—they were simply ordinary demon beasts, acting much like common predators. At the sight of the group, the small tiger retreated while the two larger ones charged, evidently seeing them as prey.

Despite their lower cultivation, the giant tigers were formidable—far above Abi, who was merely a vine spirit with little combat ability and no spells to speak of. The tigers, as kings of the wild, were powerful by nature.

“Sister Cheng, you and Sister Yu take the small one. Tan Taiyu and Little Zhang, take the other,” Sheng Yangqiu commanded. He was the highest in cultivation among them and naturally took the lead in battle.

The others responded in unison. Lingyu flicked her wrist, and the Kanli Sword gave a clear, ringing note. A surge of sword energy, at once fluid as water and fierce as fire, rose into the air.

The Kanli Sword’s energy was a fusion of water and fire, yet more than just their combination. She had comprehended both forms in a month, but it took nearly a year to truly merge them. Now, her mastery was evident, and its unique properties gave her a distinct advantage in duels with her peers.

Before the sword energy even landed, one of the large tigers seemed to sense danger and leapt back, extending its hardened claws to block Lingyu’s attack head-on.

Sheng Yangqiu pursued, thrusting his sword directly at the tiger’s head.

Seizing the opportunity, Lingyu and Yu Xiyin attacked in tandem—one striking at the small tiger, the other at the great tiger’s claws.

A sizzle issued as the Kanli Sword’s energy met the tiger’s claws, sending up a plume of blue smoke.

With a roar, the great tiger howled its pain to the sky.

Sheng Yangqiu’s sword slashed across its head, leaving a deep, bloody gash.

Of the five, two were at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, three at the fifth. Against these tigers, they held an overwhelming advantage—their only weaknesses lay in experience and decisiveness.

But this was of little consequence; they were rapidly growing more seasoned, and even the timid Yu Xiyin now struck without hesitation.

A quarter of an hour later, the five stood, bloodied and panting, over the corpses of three tigers, now well and truly dead.

Tan Taiyu let out a long breath. “Coming to Xiluo Forest was the right choice. Without real battle, I’d never have realized how weak I was.”

“Indeed,” Sheng Yangqiu agreed. “Sparring within the sect doesn’t reveal your true level.”

“There’s still over two months to go. The two senior brothers will have plenty of chances to gain experience.” After a brief rest, Zhang Qingshu drew a short blade from his robe and crouched by a tiger corpse. “The pelts and bones are valuable, but what about the meat?”

“We eat it, of course!” Lingyu replied at once. “This is top-grade spiritual food. If we have tiger meat, I have no wish to eat dry rations!”

Tan Taiyu laughed. “Sister Cheng speaks wisely. Even the ingredients we use at the monastery aren’t this fine!”

“But there’s so much—how will we finish it all?” Yu Xiyin hesitated, glancing at the tiger corpses.

“We can store it in the storage pouch—it’ll keep for days, more than enough for us.”

With Lingyu’s suggestion approved, they set to work, skinning and butchering the tigers, wrapping the meat in pelts, and tossing it all into the storage pouch.