It was the season of blooming flowers.
The dark curtain of night gradually enveloped the entire mountain forest, and towering peaks were hidden in the darkness. The night wind swept through, rustling the leaves in the forest, like a young girl whispering softly. The birds that chattered incessantly in the forest during the day had all flown back to their nests, leaving only the incessant chirping of night insects.
The sky was dotted with stars, like pieces on a chessboard, and a crescent moon hung in the firmament. Streaks of moonlight, as always, scattered across the earth.
A pitch-black tiger moved silently through the mountain forest. Being black, it had a natural camouflage effect in the darkness, making its movements difficult to detect without careful observation.
Di Shitian was heading towards the boulder he had seen during the day.
Perhaps it was due to the anomaly of the previous night, but he felt a significant increase in his appetite. The two adult wolves he had hunted that morning had been completely consumed by the end of the day. Lying in his cave, he could clearly perceive the blood and flesh he had eaten continuously transforming into wisps of vital energy, strengthening the mysterious Qi flow within his body.
This conversion rate was very fast, so the blood and flesh in his stomach would be digested quickly. By the end of the day, he had eaten two wolves down to just a pile of bones.
This was a great peculiarity.
As Di Shitian walked towards the boulder, he fell into deep thought: "Why can't I absorb the essence of the sun and moon? When I breathe, I only inhale air; there's no special power. But if I can't absorb the essence of the sun and moon, then where did the mysterious Qi flow in my body come from?"
Humans are considered the wisest of all beings because they possess Wisdom and the ability to think. Although Di Shitian had undergone Rebirth, he retained human Wisdom. When faced with a question, he didn't just let it pass, but pondered it silently.
Doubt!!
Di Shitian was very doubtful now—
He had only just begun to dabble in the path of Cultivation and couldn't find the source no matter how much he racked his brain. He could only shake his black tiger head and temporarily set these questions aside.
After finishing his evening meal today, he saw the moon appear and eagerly left his cave. He lay at the entrance, tilted his head back, and began to breathe in and out repeatedly, full of anticipation, hoping to absorb the essence of the sun and moon from the sky into his body.
Anticipation, however, did not equate to reality.
This action continued for over half an hour. It was exactly the same as when he was conscious last night; he absorbed not a single bit of the so-called essence of the sun and moon.
This result couldn't help but fill his heart with annoyance.
In his annoyance, he wondered if he wasn't standing high enough. Yesterday, he was lying on top of the waterfall, which plunged vertically into the valley, making his resting spot a small peak.
This thought rekindled hope in Di Shitian's heart. He then rushed back towards the waterfall peak in the darkness.
The jungle at night has always been the most dangerous time of day. Many animals that lurked during the day now emerged from their dens to forage. Di Shitian possessed the innate King of Beasts Aura, coupled with the Killing Intent he had acquired from his first hunt during the day.
As he walked through the jungle, no beast dared to attack him easily.
He arrived at the waterfall peak where he had stayed last night without stopping. His two tiger eyes clearly saw the surrounding scenery in the darkness. In front of him was a river, flowing down from a higher mountain peak. It plunged vertically from the steep mountain, naturally forming a waterfall.
Beside the river grew several pine trees, and there was also that massive boulder. The boulder was shaped like an enlarged egg, oval, and its surface had become very smooth from the rain. Moonlight fell upon it, reflecting a shimmering glow. It faintly exuded a trace of ancient Qi.
"Hoo!!"
Di Shitian didn't pay too much attention to the boulder. He just wanted to find a suitable place to lie down, and the boulder's position was the best. So, he didn't examine it for long. With a leap, he jumped onto the boulder.
"Hoo!!—"
"Inhale!!—"
With his tongue pressed against his upper palate, he looked up at the bright crescent moon above and began to breathe rhythmically. With each exhalation, he expelled the stale Qi from his abdomen, and with each inhalation, there was an Aura as if he wanted to swallow the entire moon in one gulp.
The soft moonlight fell upon the boulder, reflecting a silver halo. Specks of moonlight silently gathered from all directions; these were the essence of the moon. As they gathered, many also fell upon Di Shitian's body, and the moonlight quickly entered his body through countless pores all over him.
"Oh, there's a reaction."
Di Shitian was diligently breathing in and out, hoping to receive the essence of the sun and moon. Suddenly, for some unknown reason, he clearly felt wisps of cool Qi mysteriously drilling into his body from countless pores all over him. At the same time, the Qi flow within his body also became invigorated.
It excitedly circulated rapidly throughout his body, devouring those wisps of Qi. Each wisp devoured made it grow stronger. This situation greatly excited Di Shitian.
"Could it be that I really absorbed the essence of the sun and moon?"
This thought briefly crossed his mind, but he didn't dwell on it. He quickly refocused his mind on his breathing, fearing that this hard-won essence of the sun and moon would suddenly disappear. He silently felt the Qi flow. Unbeknownst to him, Di Shitian found himself in a peculiar state.
In this state, his mind was unprecedentedly tranquil. Although his eyes were not open, he seemed to clearly perceive everything around him.
This indescribable, unexplainable situation lasted for an unknown amount of time.
At some point, Di Shitian only felt that the 'essence of the sun and moon' that had been eagerly rushing into his body through his pores suddenly vanished. He naturally awakened from that profound state. Looking up, the reddish sun had slowly begun to rise from the east. It was already morning.
"Crackling!!"
As he moved his body slightly, a violent sound, like popping beans, echoed from all over his body—it was his bones cracking. After this series of crisp sounds, he felt an indescribable comfort in every inch of his body. Both his body and mind had reached an unprecedented state.
"Ow!!"
A surge of impulse to roar to the sky rose within him. Di Shitian did not suppress it and directly let out a Tiger's Roar. As he roared, the mysterious Qi flow in his body also became excited, quickly appearing at his throat, wanting to rush out with the roar. But for some unknown reason, just as it was about to merge with the Tiger's Roar, a strange object directly blocked it. It was incredibly solid, and the mysterious Qi flow could not break through it.
Even so, this roar was still much louder than usual, and an unprecedentedly intense tiger might roared out. The Aura of the King of Beasts was fully displayed at this moment.
Upon hearing the Tiger's Roar, the morning jungle erupted as if a pot had boiled over, and countless beasts scattered in fright.
"The fact proves that I can indeed absorb the essence of the sun and moon. The mysterious Qi flow in my body has also grown by more than double due to last night's absorption. As long as I persist, I will definitely be able to truly Cultivate into a demon and condense an Inner Core in my body." At this moment, Di Shitian's heart was filled with infinite confidence. Being able to continuously grow stronger meant he had a chance to find White Tiger Mama and his two tiger brothers.
Compared to the confusion and helplessness he felt when he first learned that there were Cultivators in this world and that White Tiger Mama and his brothers had been captured by them, now—Cultivation—was the only straw he could grasp.
"However, why couldn't I absorb the essence of the sun and moon in front of the cave, but I could feel it on the mountain?" While joyful, Di Shitian also felt a hint of doubt. Although he used the same method to absorb the essence of the sun and moon, of course, he didn't know if this method was right or wrong. But he got nothing at the foot of the mountain, yet he could absorb the mysterious essence of the sun and moon on the mountain. This piqued his curiosity.
"Could it be that Cultivation must be done at a high place?" After a long period of contemplation, because he knew nothing about Cultivation, he could only come to this somewhat incredible conclusion.
He shook his head, casting these jumbled thoughts out of his mind, and left the peak to enter the jungle.
Hunting—
Although he now understood the Dao he would take in the future and had achieved some slight results, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon could strengthen the Qi flow within his body. Here, Di Shitian referred to the Qi flow within him as Demon Power.
However, through yesterday's experience, he understood one thing: strengthening Demon Power was not just a single path. After summarizing, he gained some insights.
First, of course, was to strengthen it by normally absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. The Demon Power absorbed in this way should be the purest. It also greatly benefited him.
Second, was to consume blood and flesh, or simply put, food. Refining the energy from food into vital Qi could be used to strengthen Demon Power. This method should be relatively fast and direct. The more he ate, the more vital Qi he would gain after digestion. If he ate the flesh of a century-old Spirit Beast, his Demon Power might explode in a short period.
However, the Demon Power obtained through the second method would likely contain many Impurities and not be pure. After absorption, he would need to carefully refine out the Impurities.
"The essence of the sun and moon cannot be missed, and blood and flesh cannot be given up."
Di Shitian plunged into the mountain forest to hunt. No matter what, he couldn't neglect his stomach.
After a night of Cultivation, his Physical Body's strength increased again. Hunting was no longer a big problem. After hunting a lone wild boar in the forest, just like yesterday, he first used his sharp tiger claws to disembowel the wild boar, remove its internal organs, dig a pit in the ground, and bury them. He ate a full third of the wild boar before silently lying in his cave, closing his eyes to feel the Demon Power circulating within him, transforming the blood and flesh into wisps of vital Qi, strengthening his Demon Power.
After roughly refining it, he went to the cave entrance as usual and diligently tempered his Physical Body.
Knowing how to become stronger, Di Shitian was even more unwilling to waste a single moment.
"Bang bang bang!!"
He repeatedly slammed his body against ancient towering trees. Intense pain constantly reverberated through his body. Imagine, each impact was a solid collision against a tree, undoubtedly a clash between flesh and blood and stone. Such pain was inhuman, but how could that pain compare to the unwavering determination to become stronger and the deep hatred in his heart?
He not only hated the two Cultivators who had captured Baihu and his brothers, but he also hated himself for not having the power to stop it all. Hatred was a piercing pain, but also the motivation to persevere.
"Swish!!"
Just as Di Shitian was slamming into the tree, making loud thudding sounds, he didn't notice a streak of white light streaking across the sky, heading towards the jungle where he was.