Of course, boosting Dabai's strength isn't just a matter of blindly giving it elixirs. Many factors need to be considered. Dabai is a demon beast, after all, and very different from human cultivators. Some elixirs suitable for human cultivators may not be as effective against demon beasts.
However, Ming Qi's idea wasn't just a sudden whim. He'd considered it many times along the way, and after integrating his existing resources, he finally settled on this plan.
Demon beast cultivation has significant limitations, crucially regarding innate understanding and foundation, both of which are deeply influenced by the demon beast's constitution.
Saber-toothed tigers aren't inherently gifted demon beasts, so if Dabai's strength is to be increased quickly, its constitution must first be refined and tempered, and only then can its potential for improvement be realized.
Marrow Cleansing Pill, Body Strengthening Pill, Spirit Invigorating Pill
These three elixirs respectively possess the effects of cleansing the marrow, strengthening the body, and purifying the spirit. If Dabai successfully refines them, both his physical fitness and wisdom will rise to a new level.
During this process, Mingqi was also deeply concerned about another matter: what exactly happened that night on the hill behind the village.
Although Mingqi had no memory of it, he harbored a thought: Dabai was there at the time, and perhaps he could explain everything that happened.
Another benefit of the Soul-Nourishing Pill is that it has a certain chance of granting a post-natal cultivator the ability to communicate with their souls. Although Dabai is a demon beast, from a purely spiritual perspective, he is no different from a human cultivator.
Although demon beasts are inherently formidable, Dabai was somewhat overwhelmed by swallowing three elixirs at once. Fortunately, with the assistance of Mingqi's innate energy, he escaped unscathed.
The night was dark, and Ming Qi watched Dabai intently, methodically channeling his energy to help Dabai quickly assimilate the three pills.
Time passed slowly, and at dawn, Dabai finally let out a long roar and rose from his prone position, shedding his old fur.
Dabai had now been transformed, his strength reaching that of a third-level demon beast. His entire body was now tinged with a fiery red. Needless to say, this was infused by Ming Qi while assisting Dabai in refining the pills with his innate energy. This imbued Dabai with a hint of the Red Refining Heavenly Fire, further increasing his power.
Roar!
Dabai roared repeatedly, jumping up and down in excitement before Ming Qi.
A moment later, Ming Qi teleported a wisp of his divine consciousness into Dabai's mind.
"Dabai, try and see if you can transmit your thoughts."
Having just refined the Soul-Nourishing Pill, Dabai was completely unaware of its effects, but he never seemed to doubt them. He accepted anything Mingqi offered him without hesitation. In Dabai's eyes, Mingqi would never harm him.
"Huh, you're back! I'm so happy!"
After a while, a deep, masculine voice echoed in Mingqi's mind, perhaps Dabai had mastered telepathic communication.
Success!
Mingqi's heart skipped a beat, and a smile crossed his face. Dabai could finally communicate with him without any obstacles. Although Dabai couldn't speak yet, telepathic communication was enough!
"Well, let me ask you a few questions first. You must tell me the truth."
Mingqi was a little worried. Did Dabai have no recollection of what happened that night?
But then again, Ming Qi was just trying it out. Although he'd confirmed that the woman had appeared, he truly had no memory of her. It seemed unlikely that Dabai could retain his memory.
After calming himself, Ming Qi pulled a drawing from his ring. It depicted the woman in white who had always troubled Ming Qi.
"Do you still remember this person?"
Ming Qi sent a voice message to Dabai.
Every night after a vivid dream of the woman in white, he would draw a similar drawing. This cycle repeated so often that Ming Qi couldn't even count how many such drawings he had stored in his ring.
"Um, her? I remember her. She gave me a real bad rap that day."
Dabai's somewhat indignant voice echoed through Ming Qi's mind.
Ming Qi was immediately surprised and asked, "Do you remember what happened that day?"
Dabai couldn't help but roar twice, then transmitted his voice, "I do, of course I do. That woman was so vicious. I think she was planning to kill both you and me. I don't know if it was because you applied medicine to her wounds that she didn't kill us."
"Applied medicine to her wounds?"
Ming Qi was confused. He didn't remember anything about that night, and hearing Dabai's words, it suddenly felt even weirder.
"Yes, she seemed seriously injured, otherwise she wouldn't have crawled out."
"Appeared crawling out? How did that happen? Tell me more details," Ming Qi asked anxiously.
"Oh, so she crawled out of the woods that night, and then you went up to talk to her. Then, you took off her clothes and applied medicine to her."
"That's all?"
Ming Qi felt that this was a little too simple. It was just applying some medicine, huh?
Wait, take off clothes?
A flash of inspiration struck Ming Qi, as if he had realized something.
"Of course, she almost slapped me to death later," Dabai said, his voice thick with resentment.
Ming Qi, who had previously been baffled by the connection, now finally had a vague idea. The woman in white had been severely injured due to unusual circumstances, unable to even apply the medicine herself, so she had to seek Ming Qi's help. Furthermore, her injury was in a sensitive area, requiring her to remove her clothes before applying the medicine.
As for why Ming Qi had no recollection of it, it was obvious. The woman in white must have used some unique magical power to erase Ming Qi's memory of that incident. And after erasing the memory of undressing and applying the medicine, she had implanted a portion of the knowledge directly into Ming Qi's mind.
And so, all the questions were answered.
"Didn't she tell me where she was from, or what her name was?"
Dabai shook his head.
Well, Ming Qi didn't plan to ask any further, figuring he couldn't get anything valuable from Dabai. So, he said to Dabai, "Those pills just now have brought you quite a few changes. Just try to adapt to them for a few days. I'll find a way to improve your strength later."
"Oh, so you're taking me out for training?" Dabai's voice was filled with surprise.
"No, your current duty is to protect the people of the village. I'll take you out later." Ming Qi decisively dismissed Dabai's idea.
Daybreak.
Ming Qi stood up and immediately mobilized his energy, rushing towards the mountains behind Yanzhuang.
A moment later, he arrived at the spot he'd been that night. The small cave he'd used before was still there. After a moment's thought, Ming Qi unleashed a stream of energy, completely sealing the cave.
Then he wandered to the patch of grass where he'd unknowingly slept for most of the night.
Nothing had changed here, just as before. He hoped to find something in his surroundings to see if he could recover the erased memory.
But he was soon disappointed. His attempts yielded no results.
It was clear that the woman in white would never allow Ming Qi to clearly remember what she looked like without her clothes, a perfectly natural outcome. Furthermore, from this incident, Ming Qi could tell that the woman's cultivation must be very high, at least at the Xiantian realm, or even higher.
How could a Xiantian master, or even a Martial King, leave such a memory?
Now, all that remained in Ming Qi's mind was the image of the woman in white, nothing else.
New Year, a new day, and the sound of firecrackers could already be heard in the village.
Ming Qi didn't linger long. After uncovering a matter that had troubled him for so long, he felt a deep sense of gratitude towards the mysterious woman in white. Without her, he wouldn't have embarked on the path of cultivation.
Although the path to immortality is brutal and unforgiving, Ming Qi found a feeling he had never experienced in his previous life in his pursuit of power and even immortality.
When he returned home, his mother had already prepared breakfast.
Ming Qi then remembered that he had bought a lot of New Year's goods and hadn't yet taken them out, so he immediately dumped a large pile of things out in the main room.
Everything he needed, from food to daily necessities, was readily available.
After breakfast, Ming Qi, bearing gifts, visited each villager one by one. Although he was now a powerful innate being and had become less concerned with worldly matters, he still harbored a lingering thought: the people he would see this time might not be seen again the next time he returned to Yanzhuang.
So, he made this visit with great care and attention, visiting every villager.
After completing his visit, it was almost noon. Ming Qi returned home and gave his parents and brothers several selected elixirs to take.
These pills were low-level, their potency easily tolerated by even ordinary mortals. Their effects were relatively simple, strengthening the body and prolonging life for ordinary humans.
As the night wore on, daylight gradually darkened.
Ming Qi didn't stop to rest, but instead continued to strengthen Dabai.
Late into the night, Dabai, fueled by the accumulation of numerous pills, reached the peak of a Level 3 demon beast. Although he didn't break through to Level 4, Ming Qi was already very satisfied with the result.
Monster beast cultivation is inherently difficult, so being able to forcibly raise Dabai to a higher level was already a remarkable achievement.