The ancient battlefield was about to be shut off in another three months.

During this period of time, Su Zimo, monkey and the others roamed the battlefield freely and collected as many Soul Nourishing Blood Ginsengs as they could.

The five of them were at the peak of their Core Formations and would require Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng to raise their cultivation realm and refine their Essence Spirits after advancing to the Nascent Soul realm.

For something like the Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng, it was definitely the more the merrier.

The term Nascent Soul referred to how the Essence Spirit resembled an infant.

How was an Essence Spirit cultivated?

Ancient sayings mentioned that one could see spirits after they broke through the voids!

That ‘spirit’ referred to the Essence Spirit!

In that case, what were the voids?

How should one break through the voids?

The Essence Spirit resided in a mysterious region within the brain in the depths of the glabella. It was known as the Niwan Palace, or the Spirit Platform.

This was a secret place that the human body could not come into contact with.

It was said that a living being’s soul was contained within!

Prior to this, cultivators had difficulties coming into contact with the Spirit Platform no matter how they tried to cultivate.

There was a barrier between the human body and the Spirit Platform – that barrier was what the void referred to!

To break through the void was to break through the barrier!

At the peak of Core Formation when the power of one’s core was at its limits, a cultivator could attempt to break the barrier by controlling their will.

If they could break the barrier, they would arrive at where the Spirit Platform was.

A living being’s soul was incorporeal.

It was merely an empty ball of light.

After the void was broken through and the Golden Core arrived at the Spirit Platform, resplendent light will fill the place and turn it pure white.

Upon contact, the soul will form something corporeal like a newborn infant – that was the Nascent Soul!

It was also the Essence Spirit!

The human body was extremely mysterious and was a world of its own.

The process of using the Golden Core to break through the void was the process of communicating with the universe!

That was the reason why cultivators could utilize Heaven and Earth powers after cultivating an Essence Spirit, making use of Dharmic powers that were even more terrifying and stronger than spirit energy!

However, Su Zimo’s situation was different from others.

He did not only have a Golden Core within his body; he had an Inner Core as well!

Nobody knew what changes would happen if he broke through given those circumstances.

…

For three months, the five of them encountered a lot of battles of various intensities.

Some ignorant ferocious beasts and ancient living beings attempted to gang up on them and steal their treasures seeing that there were only five of them but ended up being defeated themselves.

There was nothing within this world that could threaten the five of them anymore.

This day, Su Zimo’s group of five defeated another beast stampede and started to tidy up their spoils of war in the battlefield.

Right now, there were already more than 80,000 Soul Nourishing Blood Ginsengs in Su Zimo’s storage bag!

“I’d say we shouldn’t continue and search painstakingly for the Soul Nourishing Blood Ginsengs,”

The spirit tiger said as he collected the storage bags on the battlefield, “We should just rob them! Given our capabilities, we’ll be able to rob tons of them!”

“That sounds feasible,”

Qing Qing said hostilely as well, “There’s been demon beasts that tried to take advantage of us for the past few days. We might as well take the initiative and rob them instead!”

Su Zimo was silent and gazed at a small hill not far away fixedly.

“Young Master, what are you looking at?”

Little Fox was curious and looked where Su Zimo was looking, but she saw nothing.

“A cowardly rat has been following us for a few days now. However, he hasn’t done anything,”

Su Zimo said with a fake smile, “I’m just curious what he’s up to.”

“Huh? Where?”

Little Fox asked with widened eyes.

Su Zimo raised his head slightly and chuckled. “Hiding right beneath that small hill.”

Monkey, the spirit tiger and Qing Qing’s gazes turned over as well. They moved and gradually formed an encirclement, glaring with cold gazes and hostile expressions.

According to Su Zimo’s words, this person has followed them for a couple of days, yet, the few of them did not realize anything at all – this meant that the intruder was rather capable!

In truth, Su Zimo was curious as well.

The person following them was extremely careful and had gentle movements that were almost impossible to detect.

Su Zimo cultivated the Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness and the blood of the Dragon race flowed through his body. As such, his six senses were frighteningly keen. If not for that, it would have been difficult to notice this person’s presence!

More importantly, his spirit perception did not give him any warning.

In other words, the person that followed them was not hostile.

That was also the reason why Su Zimo did not make a move and kill the intruder instantly.

However, that person did not give up even after a few days and continued following them – that irritated Su Zimo slightly.

“Coward, who are you? Come forth!”

The spirit tiger glared at the hill not far away and shouted domineeringly.

To be fair, even as the three of them glared at the hill, none of them noticed that somebody was hiding there.

However, a moment later, the small hill moved.

The ground gradually caved in and a hole the size of a face opened up where it was.

Immediately after, a gray demon beast scurried out of the hole.

Everyone focused their gazes and were stunned.

Little Fox murmured with her mouth agape, “It’s really a rat[1]…”

Su Zimo was slightly stunned as well before he lost his composure and laughed.

The demon was around the size of a guinea pig and was filled with short, gray fur all over its body. It had a long tail and its tiny eyes darted around with a shifty expression – it was truly a gigantic rat!

“Fellow brothers, please don’t get worked up. I’m your good friend…” The rat spoke in human tongue.

“Stop acting chummy with me! Rat, what are you doing following us?”

When the spirit tiger saw that it was a rat, he felt that he could slap the latter to death with a single palm strike. As such, he was invigorated and shouted again.

The rat was so shocked that it shuddered.

“Please calm down, great tiger!”

The rat cupped his tiny paws together and greeted monkey, the spirit tiger and Qing Qing politely as it beamed embarrassedly and spoke in human tongue, “Previously, by coincidence, I came across you guys fighting and was extremely amazed! The unparalleled brilliance is something that I look up to and can’t forget.”

Monkey and Qing Qing did not have many reactions when they heard that.

However, the spirit tiger was extremely proud and blushed with bright spirits.

“Rat, you sure are right about that,”

The spirit tiger nodded and asked, “When you mentioned unparalleled brilliance, which one of us were you referring to?”

The rat replied hurriedly, “You, the great tiger of course! You were incomparably brave and an invincible might! Your torrential aura can sweep through the eight desolates unmatched!”

The spirit tiger was delighted but pretended to be calm as he said deeply, “Yes, you’re quite the sharp person.”

“Wow!”

Qing Qing and Little Fox could take it no longer as they rolled their eyes and retched.

“After one whole day, you’ve yet to tell us what you’re doing following us!” Monkey sneered and kicked the rat without exerting much strength.

The rat’s eyes flickered. “Brothers, the main reason why I’m following you guys is because I can’t forget about your brilliance…”

“If you don’t start getting honest, I’m going to cut off your head and hang it on my waist so that you can follow me forever, how about that?” Monkey smirked.

The rat shuddered and behaved himself before smiling embarrassedly. “I wish to invite you guys to head to my territory. I believe you’ll be able to dominate the place with your capabilities!”

Su Zimo’s heart stirred and he asked, “Where is your territory?”

“In the Middle Continent, the Thousand Demon Valley!”

The rat replied.

[1] The word can be used to describe a coward as well