When Xiao Yan awoke from his unconscious state, it was late afternoon, the sun slanting gently through the room. He slowly opened his eyes, gently moving his fingers—only to find that the intense pain he had expected was absent. Instead, a steady, full-bodied sense of strength flowed through his body. The smooth, abundant sensation allowed him to take a long, deep breath. He tilted his head slightly, and the neatly stacked pale blue metal under-armor and two scrolls resting beside him came into view. At first, Xiao Yan was momentarily stunned, then suddenly sat up, quickly scanning the surroundings. Yet there was no sign of that graceful, elegant figure. A quiet sense of loneliness and dimness gradually crept over his face. "Has she gone?" Smiling faintly, Xiao Yan leaned against the nearby tree trunk, his eyes half-closed as he stared for a while before finally lazily reaching out and taking the neatly folded metallic inner armor from the stack. It felt strangely warm in his hands—far from the expected coolness—soft and almost as smooth as silk, which was utterly unusual. Grasping the pale blue inner armor tightly, he brought it close to his nose and inhaled gently, catching a faint, subtle scent of body fragrance. "She must have kept this item close to her—something she always wore..." His face expressed a touch of wonder. He slowly unfolded the armor, and there, clearly visible, were the paw prints left behind by the Purple Crystal Wing Lion King. Folding it back into his chest, Xiao Yan looked up at the sparse canopy above, a slightly bitter smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Ah, she'll continue to be the revered Duke of the Realm, as always. And I, well, I'll have to keep striving as a Duke-level warrior." Shaken the head vigorously, Xiao Yan, somewhat listless, tucked the two scrolls into his storage戒指. He glanced at the black ring on his finger and asked, "Master, where shall we go now?" The ring trembled slightly, and Yao Lao drifted out slowly, circling Xiao Yan once before suddenly saying, "Look at your current strength." Hearing this, Xiao Yan was momentarily stunned, then closed his eyes as instructed, quickly scanning his inner body with his mind. After a moment, he opened his eyes in surprise and said, "Nine-star Battle User? How did I lose two stars? Was it because of that purple crystal source?" "Only two stars? Good—she isn't that foolish. If she had directly helped you break through to Battle User, things would have been quite interesting." Yao Lao said calmly. "What do you mean?" Xiao Yan asked, puzzled. "The energy of the Purple Crystal Source is indeed magnificent, yet its power is overly dominant. Although that woman has already refined it once, if the Purple Flame continues to strengthen your capabilities, your internal spirals of qi will eventually be ruptured outright. The Purple Crystal Wing Lion King was able to advance directly by one rank precisely because their bodies are exceptionally robust and thus unaffected by the reverse effects of the Purple Flame. As for you, heh—should you rely solely on the Purple Flame to reach the Battle Master level, you would likely be instantly consumed, reduced to ashes. "The Elder of the Medicine said with a warm smile. "Uh…" Wiping a bead of sweat, Xiao Yan finally realized that even the finest nourishing remedies needed to be consumed according to one's body's capacity; otherwise, they could transform into potent poisons. "Even now, under her suppression, you've only advanced two stars. Yet this pace still concerns me. Ah, this woman truly knows how to complicate matters. The drawbacks of such abrupt, leapfrog-style cultivation are numerous." Shaking his head slightly, the herbal elder paused and said, "Within the next month, you must remain deep within the Beast Mountains, hunting at least five first-tier beasts each day. Only through constant combat can your restless ki stabilize, as it did before. Otherwise, when you eventually encounter the 'Strange Fires,' you'll have no qualification to absorb them." "Five beasts, five beasts," he replied indifferently, nodding. Xiao Yan rose, took up the Xuan Zhong Chi, placed the elder into his ring, and glanced around once more before slowly stepping out of the forest. When Xiao Yan departed, he did not notice that atop a concealed peak, just beyond his perception, a woman dressed in a snowy white gown stood quietly, gazing until she saw Xiao Yan safely emerge from the dense forest. Only then did she gently exhale, releasing a soft sigh as she watched the young man's silhouette fade into the distance. With a quiet breath, she finally let go of her lingering attachment. Her back wings trembled slightly, and her form shimmered into a streak of emerald as she swiftly took flight toward the outer reaches of the Beast Mountains. After swiftly climbing a short distance, just as the bloodthirsty mouse lowered its head to sip the sap from the trunk, a streak of white shot down from the tree, blasting a surge of cold breath that instantly froze the mouse's feet in place. The wolf's massive, sharp fangs snapped open and closed with lightning speed, swallowing the startled creature whole in a single bite. A successful and elegant ambush completed, the white-furred, one-horned wolf, now proudly grooming its mane with a composed grace, proved to be an exceptional force among one-tiered beasts—its strength truly at the pinnacle. Thus, dispatching a bloodthirsty mouse was a rather straightforward task. As the wolf began to search for a new target, a sudden development unfolded. "Boom!" A soft thud echoed, and suddenly, dry leaves burst upward from the ground, showering the scene with a downpour of fallen foliage. The sudden turn of events startled the frost-clad unicorn wolf, who hurriedly retreated. Yet as soon as it began to step back, a figure suddenly burst forth from among the dry leaves, delivering a powerful punch that struck the wolf squarely on the head. The force of the blow caused the wolf's fur to stand on end. With its massive, toothed maw agape, it roared a fierce howl, then violently expelled a surge of white, icy breath. Instantly, the breath enveloped the figure, yet this cold vapor proved ineffective. Instead, a gentle glow of golden-yellow, tinged with a streak of purple, aura slowly settled upon the figure's body. Under the intense, fiery nature of this energy, the white vapor not only failed to freeze the figure but was instead vaporized into a fine mist, swiftly dissipating. Seeing the cold breath fail to make an impact, the frost-clad unicorn wolf quickly turned and, with its four legs in motion, began to flee. A human figure stepped forth, the cold air rushing past him, gazing at the surprisingly fleeing ice-frost unicorne wolf. He couldn't help but chuckle, then suddenly twisted his foot in an odd manner before he heavily planted it onto the ground. With a soft cry, a low command emerged from his lips: "Explosive Step!" As the command fell, a faint golden glow shimmered upon his feet. With each heavy stride, the glowing foot pressed firmly into the ground, producing a deep, thunderous boom at the point of contact. At the same time, the figure seemed as though a launch mechanism had been fitted to his back, propelling him forward with astonishing speed—so swift that it resembled a fully drawn and released arrow, leaving the onlookers momentarily stunned. With several consecutive strides, each footfall generated a resonant explosion. Eight steps, eight booms! In just eight steps, the human figure had surpassed the agile ice-frost unicorne wolf through the dense jungle. The body leaped over the frosty unicorn wolf, and the figure spun suddenly, driving a powerful fist with fierce momentum straight into the wolf's head. With a deep, resonant crash, the wolf's swift momentum came to a sudden halt, and the hard skull burst open, splattering blood and brain matter in all directions. After a month of hunting and cultivation, the ki within Xiao Yan that had once worried Master Yao finally stabilized. The forces refined from the amethyst source were repeatedly tempered by Xiao Yan for dozens of cycles, until the spiraling energy at his lower abdomen shrank nearly by a fifth, after which the tempering process ceased. Although the spiral appeared to have shrunk in size, Xiao Yan was very clear that he was now vastly stronger than he had been a month ago. During this month, Xiao Yan also fully mastered the mid-tier spiritual technique left behind by Yunzhi—the very technique he had previously employed, known as "Explosive Steps." By name, it is a body technique that accelerates speed through the impetus of an energy explosion. This is precisely what drew Xiao Yan's interest, prompting him to learn it. However, with his current strength, he can manage only ten steps of "Explosive Steps"—beyond that, he finds himself at a loss. Yet even so, during this month's hunting missions, the "Explosive Steps" proved to be of great assistance. Of the scroll of techniques and cultivation methods left behind by Yun Zhi, Xiao Yan studied only the "Explosive Steps" technique. As for the cultivation method itself, it remains somewhat like a side dish—of little use to him, given his unique and peculiar "Burned Decree" cultivation path. Consequently, he has simply set it aside and stored it in his storage scroll. Overall, over this month of cultivation, Xiao Yan's overall strength has nearly doubled. With all his current limitations fully activated, defeating a two-star combatant has become not only possible, but quite achievable. After the month had come to an end, Xiao Yan stayed in the Dragon's Mountain for several more days, delivering a flawless battle performance to directly defeat a second-stage beast—thus measuring his own cultivation achievements. Upon assessing his strength, a stern-faced middle-aged man appeared vividly in his mind. It was he who had pushed him deep into the heart of the Dragon's Mountain several months prior.