Chapter 9, Celestial Core

He took a piece of jade tablet from the ring, inscribed information into it with his spiritual sense, and then sent it to his master to report that he was safe

However, today's battle has also humbled Li Chengzhu. No wonder the master said that even he does not know what lies within this forest. He does not allow himself to venture too deep, fearing that he might encounter danger. It turns out that he is only slightly better than when he first arrived in the Immortal Realm. Today, a random celestial beast emerged and left him powerless to defend himself. What will happen in the future?

In the past, when bullying those lower-tier spirit beasts, it was merely about injuring them. Even after entering this forest, I have seldom committed acts of killing. Just now, upon seeing the blood and other substances gushing from the African rhinoceros's eye, Li Chengzhu inexplicably felt a pang of sorrow for that rhinoceros, as if the cold light had pierced his own eye. However, it was already impossible to stop.

However, the result left him greatly astonished

But why were those spirit beasts that were killed in the past not present? The roasted literary-browed sparrow, and later in the forest, some spirit beasts resembling dogs and rabbits were also killed to satisfy cravings. Even after eating, I did not see this substance in their hearts. Could it have been roasted away? It seems I need to pay more attention in the future

Li Chengzhu let out a sound of surprise, and as he jumped to the side, he swung his cold light sword, sending a wave of sword energy crashing towards the little mouse

In the days that followed, Li Chengzhu searched everywhere for solitary spirit beasts to challenge in order to hone his skills. If he couldn't win, he would stall; if he truly couldn't stall, he would flee, waiting to recover before seeking trouble with them again

Disgusting, so disgusting! Li Chengzhu couldn't help but exclaim, never expecting such a small creature to be so vicious

It is evident that the small bag is the mouse that just burrowed in (let's call it that for now). Li Chengzhu is quite curious about what it intends to do.

Before he could finish his exclamation, Li Chengzhu discovered a small lump forming inside the African rhinoceros, and that small lump was moving forward at an astonishing speed

After hearing a few "squeak squeak" sounds, the little mouse had lost several corners of the diamond in its hand, while it seemed to be savoring something with great delight.

Thinking of his master, Li Chengzhu smacked his lips. It had been at least ten days since he left his master. He wondered if his master's anger had subsided. After some contemplation, he calculated what kind of situation he would encounter if he returned. The outcome of his calculations was, however, dismal. Li Chengzhu shivered and decided to continue enjoying his time outside for a while longer

The little mouse squeaked and began to make a commotion, darting left and right but unable to escape the confines of Li Chengzhu's grip.

The deeper one goes, the higher the level of the spiritual beasts encountered. Li Chengzhu continuously trains himself during sparring, and inadvertently, his cultivation breaks through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul. He recalls that upon returning, his master will surely scold him again, and he secretly sticks out his tongue. He has also collected dozens of celestial cores, in various colors including blue, gold, white, red, and yellow. Li Chengzhu studies them and finds that the blue one represents the wood attribute of the celestial beast, while the others correspond to gold, water, fire, and earth attributes in order. The most peculiar are the black and silver celestial cores, each unique. The black one is filled with a spiritual energy that makes Li Chengzhu very uncomfortable, while the silver one is just the opposite. Li Chengzhu speculates that they likely represent the attributes of darkness and light.

My dear, how much would such a large diamond be worth if placed on Earth? Li Chengzhu's mouth began to water.

The little mouse, perhaps sensing that escape was hopeless, ceased its frantic squeaking and, with all its might, lifted the diamond and brought it to its mouth

The little mouse, whose fairy core was snatched away, squeaked anxiously and frantically patted the ground with its front paws in front of Li Chengzhu. A thin stream of spiritual energy surged from the ground, reaching the soles of Li Chengzhu's feet. This energy, combined with the power of the earth, quickly gathered the earth attribute spiritual energy beneath Li Chengzhu, forming a sharp earthen pillar that erupted from under his feet

In fact, the diamond should be named: Celestial Core! Only celestial beasts of rank five and above possess it, although occasionally, rank four spirit beasts may also have it; it is the life source of celestial beasts. However, Li Chengzhu was unaware of this and believed that every celestial beast possessed it

"Could it be that this African rhinoceros has developed such a large heart stone?" Li Chengzhu thought maliciously

In a matter of seconds, the small package moved to the position of the African rhinoceros's heart, and then, after a violent writhing, the package swiftly returned along the same path.

Li Chengzhu was indifferent to the little mouse, but he was quite dissatisfied with his performance in the recent encounter. In fact, the strength of that African rhinoceros was not particularly formidable; it was merely that Lightning's speed was somewhat faster. As long as his speed could surpass that of the rhinoceros, he could remain invincible. If he could be even faster, he might be able to kill it on the spot. Today, he encountered only one rhinoceros; what if there were two or three? Was he to flee every time? This was not Li Chengzhu's usual approach.

Although I do not know the purpose of this item, seeing that little mouse enjoying it so much, it must surely be useful for alchemy. At that moment, I placed the diamond from the body of the African rhinoceros into the storage ring

Upon closer inspection of the diamond, although it had been nibbled on by a little mouse, it still retained a considerable size. What astonished Li Chengzhu even more was that this diamond contained a significant amount of wood attribute spiritual energy. Recalling the lightning attack from the African rhinoceros earlier, Li Chengzhu finally understood that this diamond was undoubtedly equivalent to the primordial infant of a cultivator for that African rhinoceros, albeit not as powerful as a primordial infant.

Li Chengzhu controlled the Cold Light Sword to come before him, furrowing his brows as he summoned rainwater to wash it clean, before finally placing it into his storage ring. In any case, Li Chengzhu did not plan to entrust the Cold Light to the Nascent Soul for safekeeping in the near future. Just thinking about having such a disgusting object like the Cold Light inside his body made Li Chengzhu shudder uncontrollably.

Just as he was about to take a step forward, Li Chengzhu suddenly noticed a spirit beast resembling a mouse hopping over to the African rhinoceros in a few quick jumps. After circling around it a few times, it then darted to the side of the African rhinoceros's head and burrowed in through the wound in its eye.

What happened next made Li Chengzhu's jaw drop to the ground

A beam of golden light shot towards the little mouse, trapping it firmly in place

Breaking through the defenses of the African rhinoceros, in just a moment, the cold light rapidly penetrated into its brain, followed by a sound of bones shattering, as the cold light sword shot out from the other side of its head

When the mouse emerged from the wound in its eye, its two front paws were clutching something, and it excitedly scurried back. Due to the blood, even Li Chengzhu could not discern what it was, but it was definitely not a heart; it seemed to be a solid object

Li Chengzhu slowly approached the little mouse, calling for the rain to wash it clean. Only then did he discover that the object the little mouse was holding seemed to be something like a diamond from Earth, but it was quite large, measuring at least two fists in size, and its color was a shade of blue-green

The brain was damaged, and the African rhinoceros could no longer support itself. Its massive body fell to the ground with a loud "bang," toppling several large trees and sending dust flying everywhere.

Looking at the little mouse that seemed to be stealing, Li Chengzhu couldn't help but laugh. He waved his hand and said, "Stop!"

Is this thing specifically targeting hearts? Li Chengzhu thought

With a squeak, the little mouse had half of its tail cut off, and in pain, it quickly fled the battlefield

"Damn it!" Li Chengzhu grabbed the little mouse and snatched the diamond from its hands. "He even knows how to seize the spoils of war," he said, before throwing the little mouse far away.

However, this type of celestial core is extremely rare, leaving Li Chengzhu utterly perplexed.