Gao Yuan was still cruising back and forth only at the boundary of the 'blue and yellow' areas.
He would rather spend more time searching for traces of the 'Weird Demon' than risk going deep and taking unnecessary risks.
His luck was not very good today, until he searched round the fourth circle at the boundary of the 'yellow zone'.
It took him almost four hours before he encountered the first 'weird demon' on this trip to the 'grey desert'.
According to the predetermined strategy, he had a hasty fight with the 'weird demon' that suddenly appeared from behind, and then quickly evacuated towards the 'blue area'.
At the same time, through the moment of fighting, this 'weird demon' gave him strength feedback.
He also quickly assessed the latter's level of strength, which was roughly in the middle of the two 'weird demons' he encountered last time.
"This level of strength is very suitable. It is just used to test the power of the new version of 'Humanoid Combat Puppet'!"
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself
Seeing that this 'weird demon' was already in pursuit, he took the initiative to activate his 'crystallization' ability.
Gao Yuan did not dare to be careless at the moment. He activated the secret technique a little and transformed part of the 'violent wind energy', which was combined with the blast spell and the 'phantom body technique'.
While changing lanes from left to right, he tried his best to dodge the repeated attacks of the 'Weird Demon' whose speed was greatly increased due to the activation of the 'Crystalization' ability.
While heading towards the 'blue zone', they evacuated at high speed.
At the same time, his hands tapped lightly on the storage bags hidden in his cuffs.
Following his movements, the 'humanoid combat puppets' that had just been modified and refined in the past two days appeared one after another around him.
Under his guidance, these puppets spread out on their own, like wings, and arranged on his two wings.
At the same time, he followed his figure and floated towards the 'blue area' due north.
"Almost!"
Gao Yuan whispered in his heart as he saw the unique hilly terrain of the 'blue area' gradually appearing within his field of vision.
In view of the fact that the strength of this 'weird demon' was not too strong, he decided to take a little risk this time and slightly adjusted his action plan.
This time, he did not activate the third-order 'Jade Talisman' immediately, and then used the control effect of the latter's burst to limit the movement speed of the 'devil' behind it.
Therefore, despite the superposition of the 'Blast of Wind Strength' and 'Phantom Spirit Body Technique', the light spirit state is added to the body.
But on the retreat, which was less than five miles in total, he had already had four head-to-head encounters with this 'weird demon' whose body shape changed like lightning!
Under the influence of the huge counter-shock force, both of his arms were extremely numb at the moment.
And during the last fight, the latter brought him a strong sense of crisis.
He almost subconsciously prepared to use the third-level ‘Jade Talisman’ to smash this ‘weird demon’ to death!
"What level of strength does a monster like the 'Weird Demon' correspond to in the Hunyuan Realm?"
"With the solid foundation I laid during my time in the Kaiyuan Realm, as well as the physical assistance of the Great Body Refining Master, every time I faced him head-on, it was so difficult to withstand him."
"Can an ordinary early Hunyuan realm monk be the opponent of these things?"
While his body flew back, Gao Yuan also muttered secretly in his heart.
Seeing that he had successfully retreated into the relatively safe 'blue zone', he immediately stopped delaying.
In an instant, he gave instructions to activate the talisman to attack the puppets on both sides who were waiting for orders.
In an instant, auras representing high-grade talismans suddenly rose into the sky.
Along with the violent vibrations in the surrounding void, these majestic momentum soaring into the sky instantly turned into a layer of invisible binding force.
He locked onto this 'weird demon' who had just faced him head-on again and staggered back due to a slight loss of stability.
At this moment, the latter's reclining figure suddenly froze, and then he remained in a funny posture, stagnating in mid-air.
"There's a show!"
Gao Yuan saw this, and his heart suddenly felt happy.
"Sure enough, with the powerful power of twenty square meters of high-grade talismans, I can forcibly control this 'devil' even without the assistance of the third-level 'jade talisman'!"
He whispered to himself, and then suppressed the slight trembling of his arms, which was slightly numb due to the shock.
He quickly ran around this 'weird demon' and scattered a large number of second-level talismans.
Then he stood less than ten meters away from this 'weird demon', quietly condensing the 'Burning Sky and Collapsing Mountain Gang Strength', waiting for the stimulation of the high-grade talismans around him.
…
Everything went smoothly.
A moment later, the 'Weird Demon', who was hit hard by a series of bombardments of high-grade talismans, used his 'Clone' ability on his own.
Gao Yuan used a bunch of preset second-level talismans to immediately locate the latter's body.
He was seen dodging forward like a ghost, and struck out with a sky-shaking fist superimposed with the 'Burning Sky and Collapsing Mountain Gang Strength', instantly killing this 'weird demon' on the spot.
"Breath of Another World 4..."
The system's gray-white prompt text, like a referee announcing the result of a battle, appeared in front of you at the right time.
When Gao Yuan saw this, his heart suddenly relaxed.
He stepped forward and skillfully dug out the pitch-black 'Advanced Crystallized Demonic Core' from the broken body of this 'weird demon'.
Then he didn't stop any longer. Under the urging of the Wind Curse, he floated up and headed straight towards the outer area of the Gray Desert.
…
The junction of the wild forest and the ‘grey desert’.
In a small valley that has been deserted for a long time.
The cyan light and shadow of Gao Yuan's incarnation quickly circled in a circle above the valley, and then quickly flashed into the valley.
It fell straight into the depths of the valley, to the bottom of a cliff that was close to the nearly vertical ground behind it.
There is a hemispherical boulder with a surface covered with snow and a radius of more than one foot.
It is he who controls the phantom formation of the 'Linglong Cave', which is transformed from the latter's entrance stone gate.
After entering the cave through the large hole cracked on the surface of the boulder, Gao Yuan went straight to a rather gorgeously decorated quiet room.
Sitting lazily on the comfortable couch, he quietly replayed the entire battle in his mind.
"Although the various aspects of power of 'Tian Jue Gang Jin' have improved slightly with the advancement of cultivation."
"But I still can't fight against the 'Crystal Demon' who has turned on the 'Crystalization' ability. If I fight forcefully, it will only put a huge load on my body!"
Feeling that after nearly two hours, my arms still had not fully recovered.
Gao Yuan muttered to himself helplessly, took out two 'Difu Pills', swallowed them in one gulp, and concluded softly:
"After all, the 'Blood Jade Technique' is only a second-level skill that targets the Kaiyuan Realm. Even though I have already practiced it to great perfection, it is still far from enough for the third-level Hunyuan Realm."
"Especially when encountering monsters and monsters with extremely powerful physical attacks, once you fight them with melee combat, you will really suffer a huge loss."
"Even against a human monk who is in the Hunyuan realm, once the opponent uses a 'magic weapon' to attack, even with the assistance of the 'Tian Jue Gang Jin', it will be difficult for me to fight with my physical body!"
"If you want your physical body to keep up with the times, it is inevitable to advance the 'Blood Jade Technique'!"
With this thought, Gao Yuan subconsciously opened the system panel.
After searching briefly among the many skills on the 'Deduction' page, I saw the label representing 'Blood Jade Skill'.
As expected, under the condition of unlocking the 'Breath of Another World'.
The "Blood Jade Technique" and "Shentong Technique" and other skills that were originally shown to be unable to be deduced have also listed the corresponding derivation directions.
At a glance, the various directions of deduction were all aimed at each other, which made Gao Yuan extremely eager.
I wish I could deduce one now and practice it hard.
Just when he saw the deduction costs listed behind various directions, he was immediately poured cold water on his face.
As for any skill, whether it is 'analysis' or 'recommendation', its consumption has always been the highest among skills of the same level.
This time is no exception, taking the ‘Blood Jade Skill’ as an example.
Each of the deduction options listed in the system requires 10 Breath of Another World, unless the promotion level is indicated.
If nothing else, after three deductions, it will be deduced to the third level.
The deduction consumption at that time is likely to increase tenfold again on this basis, reaching the height of 100 points of Breath of Another World!
Thinking of this, Gao Yuan subconsciously returned to the main interface of the system.
Including the harvest from the 'Weird Demon' that he just killed, the total amount of breath of other world in his body now only adds up to 10 points.
It can only barely be enough for him to perform a deduction of the same level of the 'Blood Jade Skill'. It is far from the subsequent level improvement!
Judging from the hunting efficiency of these three times, he would have to hunt at least thirty more 'weird demons' before he could accumulate enough 'Breath of Another World' to advance to the 'Blood Jade Skill'.
This is under the condition that there cannot be any consumption during this period, otherwise, it will only take longer!
"I have no choice but to wait until I have upgraded several other more cost-effective skills to improve hunting efficiency, and then I can consider upgrading the 'Blood Jade Skill' and other skills!"
"Just like this, I'm afraid it will be almost time for me to advance to the second level of Hunyuan Realm, right?"
As his mind wandered, Gao Yuan clicked on the 'Condensation' function.
[Condensation is successful, you have obtained True Source Qi 13! 】
After the system prompts flashed, you could feel the pure 'spiritual energy' pouring into your body.
He immediately started the "Red Flame True Technique" and quickly practiced and transformed.
…
A month passed by in a flash.
Gray Desert, North 16th District.
Two feet above Gao Yuan's head, three metal spheres with a radius of about one foot were suspended symmetrically on each side.
These metal balls, like magic weapons, steadily followed his ghost-like figure, flashing close to the ground at high speed.
On the top of these metal balls, each is inlaid with a basketball-sized moonstone covered with a special spotlight cover.
On both sides of it, a shiny metal arm protruded symmetrically, indicating the identity of its puppet.
I saw Gao Yuan's body like a phantom, moving at high speed against the ground.
On the surface of his body, there was a layer of invisible energy that surged violently like a flame.
Under his guidance, they continued to converge towards his unusually thick palms with concentrated red light.
"Boom!"
Like the sound of a bell, the sound waves mixed with countless vibratos, carrying the violent surge of energy, spread towards the surroundings.
Under the influence of the huge counter-shock force, Gao Yuan's speed of flying backwards suddenly increased visibly to the naked eye.
Like a whirlwind, it swept away in the direction of the 'blue area'.
"Ho~!"
Opposite him, followed closely by a 'weird demon' wrapped in a dense layer of 'crystal light'.
Under the influence of the counter-shock force just now, the latter's forward movement was violently stopped.
He let out an angry roar, and then chased after Gao Yuan again as if nothing had happened, and pounced away fiercely.
"Almost!"
After flying back several hundred meters, Gao Yuan looked at the familiar terrain around him and whispered to himself.
As his mind turned, he looked at the 'weird demon' that was approaching again, and suddenly clenched his right hand.
On his right fist, countless dazzling golden haloes enveloped the fist edge with rich blood.
Finally, under the cover of a dense layer of 'Ning Yuan Gang Jin', all the prestige was restrained, and it was condensed without being released.
"Hey!"
A low cry came from his mouth.
Then he twisted his waist to the side, lowered his shoulders and exerted force, facing the huge claws of the 'weird demon' sweeping towards him, and punched out with all his strength.
"when!"
Amidst the clear and melodious ringing of the bell, Gao Yuan and the 'weird demon' each staggered back a few steps, but this time he did not use his strength to escape further.
Before he could stand still, he had already issued an attack command to the "spherical puppets" above his head with the help of the thread of spiritual consciousness.
"Buzz~!"
Amidst the high-pitched and rapid trembling sound, there were huge momentums like mountains.
Immediately, they surged out from the mechanical arms of the six puppets, and each of them soared into the sky with excitement.
Although their number was rare, the momentum was much more powerful than when he activated twenty square talismans at the same time before.
I saw that the thick and chaotic demonic energy that permeated the surroundings spontaneously retreated towards the distance under the impact and shock of these momentums.
Affected by this, the originally dark environment nearby became a bit brighter than before.
At the same time, after the 'weird demon' on the opposite side managed to stabilize its figure, it was about to get together and pounce again.
But suddenly he felt the bounding power of six vast seas falling on it out of thin air.
Like layers of extremely tough giant nets, it was instantly tightly bound to the spot, unable to move at all.
Gao Yuan seemed to have expected this. He stood on the spot and casually pointed at the 'weird demon' opposite.
Four 'spherical battle puppets' loaded with more than a hundred second-level talismans flew around this 'weird demon' on their own under the guidance of his spiritual consciousness.
It was arranged in four directions, surrounding it in the middle.
Gao Yuan himself was standing less than ten meters away from the latter.
Secretly condensing the 'Burning Heaven and Collapsing Mountain Gang Strength', quietly waiting for the opportunity to strike the final blow.
…
After a while.
Accompanied by the violent bombardment of six "top-quality talismans", the "crystallized" armor of this "weird demon" was instantly broken.
There was no longer any obstacle in front of the last "talisman" that followed, and it came with thunderous power, injuring the "weird demon" in one fell swoop.
At this moment, Gao Yuan's figure moved accordingly, and instantly arrived between the dozens of 'clones' that this 'weird demon' had spawned.
Before these 'clones' could disperse and escape, his right fist, which had been ready to strike, was instantly punched at one of the 'clones'.
"Boom!"
Amidst the loud noise like beating a drum, the whole body of this 'clone' trembled violently, and various fragments flew out upside down.
"Breath of Another World 7..."
The system's gray-white prompt text flashed before his eyes.
"Tsk, it's really a big guy!"
"The profit from killing this one is almost twice that of the ordinary 'Weird Demon'!"
Looking at the system prompt text, Gao Yuan said to himself with a satisfied look on his face.
Then he skillfully stepped forward and dug out the 'advanced crystallized magic core' from the head of this 'weird demon'.
After doing all this, he subconsciously raised his head, shot the 'Excellent Talisman' towards the six, and then restored the spherical appearance of the 'Puppet for Talisman'.
"After the top-quality talisman has been strengthened three times through the system's 'deduction' function, although it has not yet advanced to the third level, its power has been greatly improved on the original basis."
"Even if you encounter a much stronger 'weird demon' like this, under six rounds of combined attacks, you can easily defeat its 'crystallized' armor, and even severely damage it with one blow!"
"Looking at it this way, after a while, after I advance to the second level of Hunyuan Realm, I can try to explore deeper into the 'yellow zone'!"
After muttering a few words softly to himself, Gao Yuan's body floated up as he felt the 'spiritual power' still abundant in his body.
Like a whirlwind, it once again swept towards the 'yellow area' that had just been explored.
…
Eighty days later.
Deep in the wild forest, in an underground stronghold.
Gao Yuan sat cross-legged on the soft floor in the lounge, folding his hands and slowly pressing down.
This is used to calm down the 'spiritual power' in the body that has become agitated and out of control in a short period of time due to the breakthrough in cultivation.
After a while, he slowly opened his eyes.
Following his movements, two sharp rays of light shot out from his eyes.
Although no substantial damage was caused, the 'spiritual energy' gathered in the surrounding void by the 'Xiao Sumeru Yin-Yang Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array' also caused a certain degree of fluctuation.
"Huh~!"
"Since I broke through to the Hunyuan Realm, I have been delayed for almost two years. I have finally advanced to the second level of the Hunyuan Realm!"
He sighed sincerely and muttered to himself with some regret.
Cultivation in the Hunyuan realm was much more difficult than he expected.
Especially the cultivation of the 'spiritual orifice' required much 'spiritual power', far beyond his previous imagination.
Originally, after he located the location of the 'First Divine Aperture', he thought that it would only take him more than a month to cultivate it to the point of complete penetration.
However, the actual progress of cultivation was much slower than he expected.
So much so that it took him almost four months to successfully cultivate this first 'divine aperture' to the point where it was fully comprehended!
This is all based on the fact that he has been promoted to the 'Spirit Mapping Talisman Array' and can use puppets to activate the 'top quality talismans' to fight.
And his own strength continues to grow with the improvement of his cultivation, which ultimately leads to his hunting efficiency against 'weird demons' being greatly improved compared to before.
Otherwise, if he wants to advance to the second level of Hunyuan Realm this time, it will only be slower!
"This is simply outrageous!"
"With such a huge demand for 'spiritual energy', how do those outside Hunyuan Realm monks achieve cultivation and improvement?"
"Could it be that the spiritual pulse land in the main city is really so powerful?"
"Or are the Hunyuan Realm monks outside actually just rookies in the early stages of the Hunyuan Realm, just fancy but useless?"
As his mind turned, Gao Yuan quickly ruled out the possibility of the second scenario.
After all, most of the major cities are dominated by powerful masters of the Soul Realm.
And if you want to advance to the Soul Realm, you must at least improve yourself to the peak of the Hunyuan Realm, right?
If there is not a large amount of 'spiritual energy' to supply for cultivation, no matter how talented you are, you can only stare blankly!
"No, there must be some key points here that I don't understand."
"Well, after completing the 'Whip Holder' mission again and unlocking a new number of intelligence consultations, I can consult the alliance on this issue!"
After muttering a few words softly to himself, Gao Yuan did not stand up in a hurry, but instead stretched out his consciousness and quietly sensed the 'spiritual power' that had just calmed down in his body.
In his perception, there was an extremely deep and small hole on the surface of the originally round and flat 'Bird Pearl'.
It was the ‘first divine aperture’ that he finally penetrated after spending several months cultivating it!
A series of abundant and dense 'essences', wrapped in bursts of secret aura, communicated with his body and the external environment through various interactions through this 'divine orifice'.
Affected by this, he felt that the speed at which he absorbed and transformed 'spiritual power' had increased by at least 70% compared to before the breakthrough!
At the same time, because of the ‘divine orifice’ as a special channel for communication between the inside and outside of the ‘natal pearl’, the latter itself has become much more solid and stronger than before.
Thanks to this, the purity and storage limit of the 'spiritual power' in his body have also been improved accordingly!
"Tsk, as a result, my offensive and defensive capabilities and combat endurance have been greatly improved compared to before my promotion!"
"If I were to face the 'Weird Demon' again at this time, even without the aid of external objects such as the 'Top-grade Talisman', I would probably be able to deal with it calmly on my own!"
Feeling the 'body-protecting Qi' lingering around his body, affected by the transformation of his body's 'spiritual power', and growing a lot out of thin air, Gao Yuan said to himself excitedly.
"Coupled with the magic weapon 'Blue Sky Sword' that is about to be refined, once the latter is initially conceived, my strength will be greatly improved again on the existing basis!"
With his thoughts turning, he directly opened the system panel.