What is an immortal?

Under Yuan Ming's watchful eye, the black lump of flesh suddenly began to wriggle rapidly, splitting into thin strands of black thread that elongated and reached out towards his chest.

Yuan Ming's eyes widened in alarm, for he'd rather die than be parasitized by this abomination and subjected to a fate worse than death.

As he struggled, he realized that although his arms were still bound, his wrists could move, so he immediately twisted them and threw his hands upward.

The White Bone Short Spear, which he'd been clutching all along, suddenly floated into the air and came in front of his eyes.

Without a moment's hesitation, Yuan Ming used all his strength to headbutt the spear.

The White Bone Short Spear shot out like a javelin at the moment before the Black Bear's ribs closed, and it stabbed right in.

"Roar..."

A roar erupted from the Black Bear's mouth; its ribs, which were closing, stiffened, and the black threads extending towards Yuan Ming slowly retracted.

Next, the Black Bear's chest cavity opened up again, and the Bone Spear, carrying Yuan Ming's last hope, was lodged in the Black Bear's heart, barely inches from the black lump—yet it did not hit its mark.

The Black Bear's heart was still contracting, and those black threads surged towards Yuan Ming's chest like mad.

Yuan Ming was laser-focused, his face tensed up to the extreme.

Just as the black threads were about to touch his skin, the Black Bear's pulsating heart suddenly stopped, and the black lump wriggled frantically as if it had encountered a ghost, attempting to detach itself from the bear's heart.

The threads reaching out towards Yuan Ming lost their strength and drooped down limply.

"Thank goodness, just in time," Yuan Ming was so excited he almost shed tears.

At the critical moment between life and death, the poisonous fruits he had eaten the day before had saved his life.

Right before he had set up the trap, Yuan Ming had mashed up those fruits and smeared the juice on all of the bone spurs and the tips of the two short spears.

Previously, since only the bear's body had been pierced, the parasite was unaffected by the poison. But this time it hit the heart directly, and the black lump was also directly affected by the poison, losing its strength.

The vines binding Yuan Ming immediately fell off, and the strange flowers on the Black Bear withered and turned to powder at a speed visible to the naked eye; both his body and the bear's fell to the ground almost simultaneously.

The black lump that had been parasitizing the Black Bear's heart finally detached and fell aside, its color quickly fading, turning a grayish-white. It looked no different from an ordinary stone.

Yuan Ming saw this and did not dare to delay; he hurriedly got up and went to the Black Bear's carcass.

Before the Black Bear had fully stiffened, he hastened to take the Beast Skin Pouch from his body, cut the Black Bear's neck with a Bone Spear, and collected the remaining blood.

After some effort, all the bear's blood had been drained, and he had collected only a small amount in the pouch.

"The size of wild beasts varies, and so does the amount of blood. The guy didn't say I needed to fill it up; this should be enough," Yuan Ming sealed the pouch and weighed it in his hand, talking to himself.

Having said that, he slung the pouch back on, glanced at the bear carcass beside him, and his stomach "gurgled" once more.

Faced with such a large piece of beast meat, Yuan Ming was reluctant to discard it, but remembering it was parasitized, he felt repulsed.

However, the feeling in his stomach ultimately overpowered the revulsion in his heart.

To be safe, Yuan Ming did not eat the Black Bear's meat raw this time. Instead, he gathered a pile of branches and dead leaves, trying to make fire by rubbing sticks like the ancients did and, with difficulty, managed to start a fire to roast the bear meat.

While the meat was roasting, Yuan Ming went over to the parasitic lump. Seeing that it had turned into a fist-sized gray-brown stone that appeared lifeless, he still couldn't resist prodding it with his Bone Spear.

As a result, he found the stone to be unusually hard, completely different from when it was in its black lump state.

Yuan Ming's interest was piqued.

He waved his hand towards the stone and saw no response; then he got closer with his hand, and again, there was no movement.

"Seems to be completely dead."

Just when Yuan Ming was about to give up, a drop of Beast Blood fell from the Beast Skin Pouch at his waist, "plop" onto the gray-brown stone.

The lifeless lump suddenly swelled up, its surface transforming back into the appearance of the black lump of flesh.

But soon, the power of the blood was depleted, the black lump shriveled again, and turned back into stone.

"This little thing is really quite interesting," Yuan Ming couldn't help but be amazed.

He found a few leaves, wrapped the stone, and set it aside.

Only when the bear meat was roasted to a charred, fragrant crisp did Yuan Ming tear off a piece to eat.

This meal was the most satisfying one he had had in some time, but what puzzled him was that, although the cooked beast meat filled his stomach, it lacked the sensation of enriching the blood that he felt when eating raw marrow the day before.

"Could it be that the Black Bear's blood was drained, and its Qi-Blood deeply deteriorated? Or is it that only raw meat has that effect?" Yuan Ming wondered.

He looked up at the sky and saw it was past midday, leaning towards evening. He decided not to delay any further, taking the unfinished beast meat and the parasitic stone with him, and placed them in the hole where he had hidden before.

He then headed towards the Giant Stone Boundary, following the route he remembered.

...

By evening, Yuan Ming finally returned to the Giant Stone Boundary, but he did not see Elder Hu Huo's figure, only a majestic tiger lying beside the stone with its back to him.

Hearing Yuan Ming's approach, the tiger suddenly turned around, sitting up in human form, and looked toward him.

Yuan Ming also looked at him, neither of them speaking or making any unnecessary movements, just warily eyeing each other from a distance.

At that moment, a thunderous rumbling sounded.

A dark brown wild boar suddenly charged out of the dense forest, barreling toward them.

Yuan Ming immediately gripped the White Bone Short Spear in his hand, on the alert, and the tiger also turned its head, its tiger eyes glaring round.

The boar was covered in scars, with traces of blood on its Beast Teeth, and the Beast Skin Pouch it carried seemed bulging.

As it drew near Yuan Ming and the tiger, its speed quickly decreased, and it eventually stopped not far away.

The three half-human, half-beast creatures formed a triangular surround around the Giant Stone Boundary, guarding against and observing each other.

After a long wait, no other figures appeared.

Not until the sun was about to set did the huge goshawk arrive, flapping its wings, with Elder Hu Huo standing on its back.

After landing, Elder Hu Huo slapped his Beast Skin Pouch, and immediately a streak of blue light flew out, enveloping the imposing and mighty goshawk, which then swept back into the pouch and disappeared.

Even seeing it for the second time, Yuan Ming still found the scene before him extraordinarily magical.

"Give me the Blood Storage Bags," Elder Hu Huo said, his gaze sweeping over the three.

The three of them understood, quickly untying their Beast Skin Pouches and handing them over.

Elder Hu Huo opened each one and sniffed at the opening, carefully inspecting.

When he saw that Yuan Ming's pouch was only half-full, he said nothing, but after opening it and taking a whiff, his brows involuntarily furrowed.

"The Black Bear you killed was parasitized by a Blood Soul Vine?" Elder Hu Huo asked, looking at Yuan Ming.

"What is a Blood Soul Vine?" Yuan Ming asked, looking bewildered.

Elder Hu Huo frowned and said nothing more, waving his hand to collect all the Blood Storage Bags.

"It's not bad, three of you passed the test," Elder Hu Huo nodded, then flicked a finger out.

Three thin white beams shot out from his fingertips, hitting each of the three in the chest and merging into their bodies in a fleeting flash.

Before Yuan Ming could react, he felt a warmth in his chest, followed by the White Ape Beast Skin on his body becoming loose, the blood-colored lines in the skin's inner layer, like roots, were forcibly pulled from his body, tugging at his muscles and organs.

Yuan Ming's face contorted in pain, his whole body aching intensely as if his very skin was being peeled away, more painful than when he had put on the Ape Skin.

His body shivering uncontrollably, he couldn't help but bend his knees and fall to the ground, propping himself up with his arms, yet he clenched his teeth so hard he didn't make a sound.

The other two were in a similar state, but they didn't have Yuan Ming's resilience and were shaking on the ground, screaming in agony.

Fortunately, the process did not last long. After a few breaths, the Beast Skins on the three of them were completely shed and fell to the ground.

But Yuan Ming and the others felt as if they had gone through hours upon hours, sitting on the ground, spent, their skin all over bright red and their clothing tattered.

The three of them lay on the ground, breathing heavily, and it took a while before they could barely recover, looking at the Beast Skins with complicated expressions.

Their strength had greatly increased after donning the Beast Skins, but the pain they went through was indeed severe.

"Experiencing the pain of someone else casting the Fur Cloak Skill is not minor, but once you develop your Mana and cast it yourself, the situation will be much better," Elder Hu Huo's voice came, interrupting their thoughts.

"Really?" they all asked, cheered by the prospect.

"Whether it's true or not, won't you know once you try? Next, I will teach you the Blood Qi Technique. Listen carefully!" Elder Hu Huo said with evident impatience.

The three immediately sat up straight, listening intently.

"The so-called 'Blood Qi Technique' is a Cultivation Technique that enhances Qi-Blood through meditation. Once you have entered it, you have truly stepped onto the envied path of Cultivation, becoming a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator. Once you accumulate enough Mana, you can cast the Fur Cloak Skill. The mnemonic is as follows: 'Earth's core has Fire, entering from the dark spring, rising into the belly, blazing bright as a torch...'" Elder Hu Huo spoke slowly.

The entire Blood Qi Technique mnemonic had two to three hundred words and was quite tongue-twisting, but Yuan Ming discovered he could easily remember the whole thing after just one listen.

"My memory is unexpectedly good," he thought, more pleased than surprised.

The other two continuously scratched their heads in desperation, clearly unable to remember.

"Elder Hu Huo, could you say it again?" The wild boar fur Beast Slave hesitated but then pleaded.

"I'll say it only one more time," Elder Hu Huo looked at them indifferently and recited the Blood Qi Technique mnemonic again.

The two hurried to memorize earnestly, and this time they managed to barely remember it.