The Emperor's Domineering Favor, the Evil Consort's Unparalleled Reign

Thinking of Yin Huan from last night, the smile on the charming man's lips suddenly froze.

That man was also shrouded in mystery. Among the many countries and nine great families of the Spirit Realm Continent, no one could find such a unique face or such a powerful spiritual force. Moreover, that man was also a teenager, only about sixteen or seventeen years old.

He brought Ying Li here and generously channeled his spiritual energy into her body repeatedly, cleansing her marrow and bones with it. Those glaring wounds were easily washed away; his regenerative spiritual power was terrifyingly astonishing. To protect Ying Li's heart meridian, he tirelessly refined a heart-protecting pill, only leaving after feeding it to her.

It was unclear whether the other party was friend or foe. Fortunately, the girl was exhausted at the time, and her spiritual power had suddenly vanished; otherwise, she would have undoubtedly aroused his suspicion. Even if he couldn't discern the Bone Ring, he would still detain Ying Li for killing the Spirit-Devouring Python. It was better to let Ying Li know about this existence later, to let her believe that she was the one who did it all, so that her mind wouldn't be distracted.

"Now that you're awake, begin refining this inner core. Although you're injured, with a bit of luck, you should be able to overcome the hurdle of the fifth stage of soul cultivation," the alluring man said to Ying Li as he regained his senses.

Ying Li nodded, looked at the golden inner core, and swallowed it without hesitation.

A surge of heat coursed through her body via her inner core, the surging spiritual energy continuously cleansing her. Ying Li felt her meridians harden, and she sat cross-legged, placing her hands together between her legs, letting the spiritual energy slowly flow from her palms towards her dantian…

Unlike the previous spiritual energy tonic, the inner core of the Devouring Python possessed far more abundant spiritual energy. This energy flowed continuously into the dantian, and due to the previous cultivation, the energy currents spontaneously began to swirl and increase, flowing into the energy vortex. However, what was even more different was that this inner core could not be refined overnight. Based on Ying Li's current energy levels, refining this inner core would require at least five days.

As darkness fell, Ying Li, drenched in sweat, finally snapped out of her refining state. She felt lighter, but the sensation of breaking through to the fifth stage of soul cultivation was still elusive.

"Could it be that there's some obstacle to the fifth stage of soul cultivation?" Ying Li muttered to himself, a hint of doubt on his face.

However, she quickly realized that Ying Luo and Ying Xue each took a year to break through to the fifth stage of Soul Cultivation, so how could she possibly break through in a single day? Although the Devouring Spirit Python's inner core was precious, it was still just an inner core of a demonic beast without any rank. Even if it had devoured a lot of spirits, it certainly did not reach the level of a first-rank spirit beast.

A seventh-tier spirit beast is aimed at the seven levels of spiritual cultivation—Soul Cultivator, Spirit Cultivator, Divine Cultivator, Spirit Opening Lord, Spirit Gathering Lord, Spirit Saint, and Spirit Noble. Even if she reaches the pinnacle of Soul Cultivation, she has no chance of winning against a spirit beast of the next tier, let alone the difference between evil beasts and spirit beasts.

However, something is better than nothing, especially since the inner core of the Devouring Spirit Python is most beneficial to human cultivation. Thinking of this, Ying Li looked at the withered bone ring on his right hand, smiled slightly, then stood up, dressed himself, and went out to find food.

This place seemed to be an inn. The lobby was packed with people, and rows of tables were set up everywhere. Ying Li originally wanted to find a cheap place to eat and rest for the night before continuing his cultivation, but he couldn't find a seat no matter how hard he looked around the lobby.

Fortunately, she had brought a lot of silver with her before leaving home. Ying Li tossed a silver ingot to the waiter and found a seat by the window. It took her most of the hour to finally find a seat and sit down.

"Have you all heard? The Dongfang family wants to break off their engagement with that good-for-nothing from the Ying family. They've even arranged a competition next month for him to enter the marriage registration arena. Isn't that just courting death? Everyone knows that Dongfang Lin is a martial arts prodigy, while the Ying family is nothing but a little good-for-nothing. How can they possibly win?!"

"Exactly! He's overestimating himself. He'll probably be scared out of his wits by Dongfang Lin right from the start and beg for mercy!"

"..."

Hearing the harsh laughter from the table opposite him, Ying Li couldn't help but smile helplessly. These rumors probably wouldn't stop even when the ceremony for registering a citizen at Bixia Palace was held.

He picked up a piece of jade steamed dumpling with his chopsticks and ate it slowly. Ying Li had just left when, unexpectedly, the discussion behind him started again.

"The pawnshop in Linshui City is holding a pawn auction soon, and I heard that the grand finale auction item this year is two Spirit Gathering Grasses. Although these Spirit Gathering Grasses don't have the effect of advancing spiritual power, they are very effective in healing and nourishing. If you get these items, you're sure to make a fortune..."

"..."

Yingli had a sudden thought: if she could obtain a Spirit Gathering Grass for her grandfather, perhaps his illness would improve. If she could refine one of the Spirit Gathering Grasses into a pill, the excess could be used for her own purposes, which might greatly help her advance to the fifth stage of Soul Cultivation.

Thinking of this, Ying Li shouted, "Waiter, the bill!"