In a flash, the man and the wolf were locked in combat. Or rather, the terrifying sword light and wolf claws intertwined.

In that instant, space seemed to stand still.

Xiu Qiyu's eyes sharpened, his frosty gaze meeting the emerald green claw. His sword finally clashed with the wolf's claw. An unparalleled chill erupted the moment it touched the claw, quickly covering it with frost, which then melted away, leaving emerald green flames burning on its surface.

Xiu Qiyu's greatest strength wasn't his mutated ice spirit, but his swordsmanship. In that instant, Xiu Qiyu's sword shifted, and he soared into the air along with the sword's momentum, thrusting downwards towards the tuft of white fur on the wolf's head. Through their previous exchange, he had determined that the wolf's Achilles' heel was this tuft of white fur.

This sword strike was his most powerful, yet restrained, strike; the previous sword moves were merely tests.

The alpha wolf retreated rapidly, trying to escape the deathly sword light above its head. But since this sword strike was meticulously calculated by Xiu Qiyu, how could it possibly be flawed? This was perfect swordsmanship; even the Valley Master of Luoxia Valley himself probably wouldn't be able to break it.

The alpha wolf slowly collapsed amidst a miserable howl, its bright red blood making the sword in Xiu Qiyu's hand appear even more eerie.

From the moment Xiu Qiyu raised his sword to the moment they clashed to the moment the alpha wolf fell to the ground, it seemed like a lot had happened, but in reality, it was only a brief moment before the life and death of the man and the wolf were decided.

Xiu Qiyu, sword in hand, walked towards Ye Xiruo, his steps still steady, his posture still upright as a pine tree. The blood-dripping sword in his hand exuded a menacing aura, causing the remaining two spirit beasts to shrink in shock. This man was actually so powerful; he had killed one of the spirit beasts in a single exchange. Although the spirit beast was injured, the man himself was also severely wounded.

"Although I'm not confident I can keep you all here, I'm confident I can go to the Yellow Springs with you." Xiu Qiyu's cold voice rang out in the dense forest. The two spirit beasts, the tiger and the vulture, exchanged glances and made their choice.

Xiu Qiyu's pale hand gripped the sword tightly. He was not naive enough to think that these two words would scare away the two powerful spirit beasts; it was just a way to buy time.

If Ye Xi successfully advances, their chances of survival will increase by at least 20%.

Night gradually enveloped the mysterious mountain forest, and shadows slowly spread out.

In the darkness, the surrounding spiritual energy continued to surge towards Ye Xiruo's body. All thirty-six acupoints in Ye Xiruo's body had been opened, and an invisible thread seemed to connect these glowing acupoints, like stars containing boundless mysteries. Meanwhile, the small grass-like spiritual root in her dantian was frantically absorbing spiritual energy, radiating a dazzling golden light from its green glow. As the spiritual energy flowed, it cleansed her meridians, purifying the impurities within her spiritual energy.

Ye Xiruo was completely unaware of this; all her spiritual energy was concentrated in the golden gourd. Just moments before, while examining medicinal herbs on Xiu Qiyu's back, she had been secretly memorizing the "Compendium of Ten Thousand Herbs." Whether it was due to the excessively dense spiritual energy of the back mountain or some other reason, Ye Xiruo felt her consciousness suddenly being drawn into the space by a powerful force. This was the first time her soul had separated from her body. The "Compendium of Ten Thousand Herbs" kept changing above her head, and Ye Xiruo suddenly discovered that she could quickly memorize the medicinal herbs by simply separating a wisp of her soul from them.

Ye Xiruo began attempting to split her soul into two parts. The process was incredibly long and painful, and she wanted to give up several times. However, she persevered. For her, it was a matter of life and death. The sooner she could memorize the contents of the "Compendium of Ten Thousand Medicines," the higher and faster she might be able to go.

Ye Xiruo repeatedly splits his own soul, unaware of the immense risks involved. He could easily perish, losing both his soul and his spirit forever.

And so, Ye Xiruo carried the medicinal herbs in front of her without any awareness, until the last herb turned gray before her eyes.

Upon relaxing, Ye Xiruo fainted immediately. When she woke up, she found that she had opened thirty-six acupoints, and her true energy was ten times that of the day before. The biggest change was in the green grass in her dantian; the golden light on the leaves had become even more intense, and the veins on the leaves seemed to be clearer.

Ye Xiruo advanced to the Fusion stage in a rather haphazard way. Although she is still not a fully-fledged cultivator, she is still far superior to those she was this morning.

Although the Fusion stage isn't as risky as the Foundation Establishment stage, where nine out of ten will die, it's still a major hurdle. That someone could pass it so easily is astonishing. If outsiders knew, they'd surely be met with a sea of ​​green stares, a mixture of envy and jealousy.

"Complete the character in 'The Great Compendium of Medicines' and you will be rewarded with a basic alchemy technique book."

Just as Ye Xiru was immersed in the excitement of her rapidly increasing true energy, the system's voice suddenly rang in her mind.

Alchemy techniques? What are these? I don't know how to refine pills, or even how to brew medicine.

"You must become an alchemist."

What's going on here? Alchemy is an expensive profession, and she's now truly poor.

"Should we begin the second task?"

Ye Xiruo saw that there was only one option, and that was "yes." Could this be the legendary required course among electives?

"Cultivating medicinal herbs."

"Why not grow vegetables?"

Ye Xiruo accidentally told the truth.

"If you can complete the task, you can grow vegetables."

"Okay, I accept."

Outside, Xiu Qiyu stood upright, covered in blood, his sword supporting his entire weight. His face was deathly pale, with a trace of bright red blood at the corner of his mouth.

His internal organs suffered severe internal injuries and were bleeding continuously. The wound on his back had also torn open, and his vital energy was severely depleted.

This was almost the greatest risk Xiu Qiyu had ever faced since he began his cultivation; he might really die here today. Unfortunately, if he died, Ye Xiruo would also surely die in the mouths of these spirit beasts.

The excessive blood loss caused his vision to blur for a moment, but his eyes remained sharp as knives. Of course, the tiger, leopard, and vulture were in no better condition than him.

Xiu Qiyu had one of the vulture's wings ripped off, and countless feathers were missing from its body. Xiu Qiyu had blinded one of the tiger's eyes, and its body was covered in numerous wounds.

Before the fight even began, all the weaker spirit beasts scattered and ran away, while the stronger ones watched from afar, ready to rush up and devour Xiu Qiyu's golden core or eat the inner cores of the two spirit beasts.

Therefore, the one person and two beasts maintained this eerie peace.