My Core is the Boss

Yang Guang's expression changed again and again. "But Brother Qi, the demon essence blood came from two early-stage Jade Blood realm demons. How could it not be enough?"

His suspicion arose. Did I get deceived by his looks? What if he never intended to give me the entry token and is just deliberately making things difficult for me?

Qi Yuan shook his head. "It is not enough."

Holding two hundred drops of demon essence blood, he said softly, "The ancestor of the Taihuang Palace is too strong. I need to rapidly increase my strength. Hmm... Let me demonstrate how I consume demon essence blood."

He then tossed four hundred drops of demon essence blood into the air. The drops fell into his palms and pores.

An Qiao widened her eyes. The last time Qi Yuan cultivated, she hadn't paid close attention. She would watch carefully and see whether he truly used demon essence blood to cultivate. She scrutinized Qi Yuan, not missing a single detail.

In the next moment, her pupils contracted with shock. "He actually absorbed it!"

Yang Guang froze, his mind going blank. He hurriedly warned, "Brother Qi, no! if you do that, you'll explode and die!"

The man was both anxious and self-reproachful. He even wondered if Qi Yuan had been provoked by his words, which led him to swallow all four hundred drops at once.

As if that wasn’t enough, Qi Yuan started narrating in a strange voice, "You have consumed one hundred drops of demon essence blood and gained one hundred days of cultivation. Your blood qi is abundant, reaching perfection in the early stage of the Jade Blood realm.

"You have consumed three hundred drops of demon essence blood. You attempted a single breakthrough to the late stage of the Jade Blood realm. However, despite your talent and intelligence, the demon essence blood held you back. Insufficient nutrition. Cultivation failed. You gained three hundred days' worth of cultivation."

When the voice faded, Qi Yuan joyfully opened his eyes. Pretending to be the system had brought new gains. The system had even learned how to please the host!

"See? I swallowed all four hundred drops and reached the mid-stage of the Jade Blood realm." Qi Yuan extended his hand to Yang Guang. "So, I still lack demon essence blood. Bodyguard... I am sure you understand?"

Yang Guang's mind was in chaos. What he had just witnessed completely exceeded his understanding. Could it be that Qi Yuan had a special talent in absorbing demon essence blood? That was the only explanation he could accept.

Convincing himself, Yang Guang asked with difficulty, "How much more do you need?"

"Eh, not much. Just until I reach a level where I can defeat my great enemy," Qi Yuan replied seriously. "Brother Yang, you're not running out of steam, are you? If it's too much, I won't make you fight the demons alone, I'll join you."

Yang Guang shouted, "No need, I can handle it!"

No matter how much Qi Yuan could consume, there had to be a limit. How powerful could his "great enemy" be, anyway? Probably only around the mid-stage of the Jade Blood realm. Killing one or two more mid-stage Jade Blood demons should definitely be enough.

Yang Guang rallied himself. It's fine, I will just endure a bit longer.

After all, he himself was at the peak of the mid-stage Jade Blood realm, even capable of contending with Zhou Yuan.

Seeing Yang Guang so confident, Qi Yuan couldn't help but praise him, "I know I could count on you!"

Yang Guang put on a brave front. "Hmph! I won't let you suffer losses, Brother Qi. Whenever we encounter demons, I will kill them for you and extract their essence blood. I will make sure you return fully loaded!"

After all, he had handled everything himself the past few times. Since they were already here, he had to finish things perfectly.

Qi Yuan and Huo Mushi were delighted. After all, the corpses of the demons could all be used as food. Afterward, the constables all carried the demon corpses back to Zhenyang. Only Huo Mushi remained in the mountains to guide Qi Yuan and the others.

In the next half day, they went to three more scattered demon territories.

Yang Guang killed three late-stage Qi Blood demons, two early-stage Jade Blood demons, and even one mid-stage Jade Blood demon. He was now covered in wounds, his blood martial qi depleted, looking quite miserable.

Seeing Yang Guang return carrying demon corpses, Qi Yuan couldn't help but give a thumbs up. "You are simply too strong. I can't even see where your limit is. When you staggered off to hunt demons, I thought you'd ask me to go with you, but you came back victorious anyway. I really want to sing you 'Lonely Warrior,' but I'm too old to remember the lyrics."

Yang Guang gasped heavily, glaring resentfully at Qi Yuan. "Cough, cough..."

That was his line! He really wanted to ask Qi Yuan, "What is your limit? So much demon essence blood already, and yet you still want more?!" However, he had made a promise. Even if he had to suffer, he had to see it through.

Qi Yuan tossed him a watermelon. "Here, have some watermelon and rest."

Yang Guang caught the fruit and ate it slowly. The once ordinary-tasting fruit now tasted heavenly. With his blood martial qi running low, he would have to flee if he encountered another Jade Blood demon. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even have enough to protect himself or leave Shuyao Mountain.

Qi Yuan asked considerately, "You're not running out of steam, are you? Why do you look so weak?"

Yang Guang smashed the watermelon rind to the ground. "No, I can protect you just fine!"

Qi Yuan said casually, "That's good. Looking at your complexion, I thought you had kidney deficiency."

Since he didn’t know how to diagnose illness, whenever someone looked unwell, he would just say, “Kidney deficiency,” and he'd be right most of the time.

Yang Guang said hurriedly, "No! I'm not even tired! I could slaughter a whole group of demons right now!"

A man couldn't admit he was weak, nor could he wear the label of kidney deficiency!

Not far away, An Qiao couldn't help but laugh quietly.

Qi Yuan sighed. "That's good. I'm relieved."

Noticing Qi Yuan's expression, Yang Guang hesitated, looking at the darkening sky. "Are we still killing demons today? Isn't it getting late?"

Qi Yuan quickly explained, "Don't worry, I'm not a heartless capitalist. I won't make you kill demons in the middle of the night."

He strictly followed an eight-hour workday.

Yang Guang breathed a sigh of relief. His life was saved.

Then, Qi Yuan added, "But the demons are coming for us. Our slaughter has attracted their attention. To lure more demons here, I didn't conceal our aura. Over ten demons are heading this way. They aren’t that strong though. Only three early-stage Jade Blood demons and a dozen or so Qi Blood ones.”