The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

At the foot of the Hengduan Mountains lies a small town called Wangjiang Town. It's a small town with only about a hundred households.

When Shen Yifei entered the town, it was just dawn. There were already people on the streets, two or three groups of cultivators, some who had just come out of the mountains and still carried the smell of blood, and others who were preparing to go into the mountains.

He wandered around the town and found a tea stall to sit down.

"Shopkeeper, a bowl of tea, please."

The tea stall owner, an old man at the Qi Refining stage, came over with a bowl of tea and asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, is this your first time visiting Hengduan Mountain?"

Shen Yifei was taken aback: "How did you know?"

"I can tell just by your attire." The old man pointed to the sword at his waist. "An inner disciple, I suppose. It's your first time hunting demonic beasts, and you haven't even brought a decent magical artifact."

Shen Yifei looked down at his sword, a low-grade magic weapon costing twenty spirit stones, which was indeed rather shabby.

"First time here, innkeeper. Are there many monsters in these mountains?"

"Many? Of course there are." The old man sat down opposite him. "The Hengduan Mountains stretch for eight hundred miles, and all kinds of monsters can be found there. First and second-tier monsters are everywhere, and third and fourth-tier monsters are not uncommon. If you're lucky, you might even run into a fifth-tier one."

A fifth-tier demonic beast, equivalent to the late Golden Core stage in humans. Shen Yifei's scalp tingled upon hearing this; if he encountered that thing, he wouldn't even be able to escape.

"I need a second-tier demon core. Do you know which area has the most second-tier demon beasts?"

The old man thought for a moment and said, "Go thirty miles to the east, there's a forest called the Black Pine Forest. It's home to the most second-tier demonic beasts, including Ironback Wolves, Crimson Flame Foxes, and Golden Thread Snakes. But you have to be careful, that place is dangerous."

"Hehe, a second-tier demonic beast is nothing, what's so dangerous about it?"

"Young man, the danger isn't the monsters. That place has other things too."

The old man looked around and whispered, "There are also those who kill and rob, specifically targeting inexperienced newcomers like you. A few days ago, an inner disciple went in and never came out."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yifei became nervous.

In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak, and murder and robbery are commonplace. He, a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator with a broken sword at his waist and dozens of spirit stones in his pocket, was indeed a good target.

"Thank you for the reminder, shopkeeper."

After finishing his tea, Shen Yifei didn't rush into the mountains. He first took a stroll around the town, bought a map of the Hengduan Mountains, and a bottle of antidote pills, spending twenty spirit stones in the process.

Once everything was ready, they headed towards the Black Pine Forest.

The Black Pine Forest truly lives up to its name, as the entire mountain is covered with black pines. Their trunks are black, and their canopies block out the sun, making the forest gloomy and dark.

Shen Yifei stood at the edge of the woods, drew his sword, and walked in.

The woods were eerily quiet. Shen Yifei gripped his sword, taking one step and then stopping, his eyes darting around as if afraid something might suddenly jump out from somewhere.

After walking for about half an hour, we didn't encounter anything.

Shen Yifei was wondering what was going on when he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from ahead. He quickly stopped, gripped his sword, and looked in the direction of the sound.

The sound grew closer and louder.

Suddenly, a clump of bushes was knocked aside, and something the size of a wild boar darted out.

This thing had grayish-brown fur, a head like a wolf, a body like a leopard, a tail like a snake, and was staring at him with a pair of bright green eyes, holding half a bloody rabbit in its mouth.

"Ironback Wolf!"

The Ironback Wolf is a second-tier demonic beast. It is fast and has sharp claws. What makes it most troublesome is its fur, which is as hard as iron and cannot be cut by ordinary swords and knives.

Shen Yifei felt a chill in his heart.

My luck is really bad! This thing is the most troublesome of the second-tier demonic beasts.

When the Ironback Wolf saw someone, and since human flesh was plentiful and more appealing than rabbit meat, it threw the rabbit in its mouth, growled, and pounced on him.

Shen Yifei didn't have time to think. He rolled to the side to dodge the pounce. The Ironback Wolf missed its target, landed, got up, and pounced again.

This time, Shen Yifei was prepared. He raised his left hand and launched a fireball.

The fireball struck the Ironback Wolf, exploding with a "bang." The Ironback Wolf was jolted, its fur singed, emitting a foul burnt smell.

Shen Yifei was overjoyed to see this; the magic was working after all!

He quickly fired two more fireballs, one to the head and one to the stomach.

This Ironback Wolf seemed to think its hide was thick and tough, and it didn't even try to dodge. The two fireballs actually hit their target!

The Ironback Wolf howled as it was struck by the fireball, its body charred in several places, but its injuries were not serious. This completely enraged it, and it pounced wildly, opening its mouth wide to reveal a mouthful of fangs.

This time, Shen Yifei couldn't dodge in time and was knocked to the ground. His longsword also slipped from his hand and flew into the distance.

The iron-backed wolf's claws pressed against his chest, its head close to his face, and the stench of its mouth filled his nostrils.

Shen Yifei braced himself against its neck with both hands, trying to prevent it from biting down. But the Ironback Wolf was much stronger than him, and its mouthful of fangs slowly approached.

As the Ironback Wolf's mouth drew closer, Shen Yifei loosened his right hand and took out the Myriad Things Cauldron from his ring.

He slammed the cauldron down hard on the Ironback Wolf's head, and the Ironback Wolf vanished without a sound!

Shen Yifei lay on the ground, panting heavily, and didn't come to his senses for a long time.

Shen Yifei channeled his spiritual energy into the cauldron, and his consciousness entered the cauldron.

The Ironback Wolf lay motionless in the gray, misty space, as if it were asleep.

Shen Yifei silently chanted in his mind, "Refine the Iron-Backed Wolf!"

A ball of fire erupted from beneath the Ironback Wolf, the flames leaping up and spreading upwards little by little.

The Ironback Wolf has awakened.

It struggled, rolled, and howled in the fire... and soon turned into a pool of brown liquid. The liquid kept gathering in the center and finally turned into a small brown pill.

With a thought, Shen Yifei saw the pill appear before him, its smell slightly fishy.

Shen Yifei was certain that this was a medicinal pill, not a demon pill, and he swallowed it in one gulp.

Immediately afterwards, some information suddenly appeared in his mind.

"The Ironback Wolf's fur is a natural ability that enhances its physical defense."

I've already mentally selected it!

Instantly, he felt as if something had covered his skin, then the sensation disappeared, and his body remained unchanged.

That's it? I now have skin as tough as an Ironback Wolf?

Shen Yifei picked up the longsword and gently tried to slash his own arm.

With a clang, the sword was deflected, leaving not even a white mark on the arm.

Shen Yifei was overjoyed.

This is fucking outrageous!

By crafting an Ironback Wolf, you acquire its fur-bearing talent. If you craft a flying beast, will it be able to fly? If you craft a fire-breathing beast, will it be able to breathe fire?

He became more and more excited as he thought about it, wishing he could find a third or fourth-tier demon beast to refine right now.

But then I thought, if I really became invulnerable to swords and spears, flying and breathing fire at the same time, wouldn't I become a monster?

You can't just train these demonic beasts randomly. What if you train yourself to have long horns, wings, and a body covered in scales? What would that look like?

Shen Yifei abandoned the idea of ​​refining all the demonic beasts for his own use, put away the Myriad Things Cauldron, picked up the half of the rabbit, and continued walking inside.