This sight comforted Qin Yao, at least this pain seemed worth it, and it was not like she could keep up this after Qi Refinement Realm. After Qi Refinement, the Heavenly Dao would protect cultivators' bodies, and stealing its essence would be not, as suffering from pain for extended periods was sure to twist a person. Qin Yao wanted to be authentically herself for the rest of her life; it was changing for other people that killed her in her past life, she had no reason to repeat her mistakes.

Qin Yao dazedly flipped through Zhong Xian's cultivation method, and although her cultivation level wasn't poor, she still fought like a mortal. Qin Yao could not find anything other than a cleaning spell, but that made sense. No one would carry skills they already mastered on their bodies, and it seemed like her old servant had a problem with cleanliness. Qin Yao let out a small laugh and began studying. It would be much more convenient for her if she could rely on this spell rather than finding a suitable body of water to bathe. As she studied this cultivation method, she chewed on her dry-aged jerky and tried to visualise the technique. Though her way of learning may be considered irreverent, Qin Yao was not the type of person to pay attention to such details.

She gently closed her eyes as she slowly circulated her spiritual qi around her body; after a few breaths of time, she felt comfortable controlling her qi at varying speeds and truly began learning her first technique. After circulating her spiritual qi once her body and following set meridian paths, her golden qi turned silvery-white and flowed her palm, forming a circle around her, getting rid of the dirt and grime stuck on her body and clothes. Qin Yao could not help but sigh at the mystical sight in front of her, regardless of other things, this alone beat her old world by many miles. She then performed the cleaning spell on the remaining blood of the previous beasts, and the ground appeared no different from other patches, leaving absolutely no traces behind.

Qin Yao couldn't help but muse at how easy it would have been to clean up a crime scene with this spell; if Qin Yao had this spell in her previous life, even if they caught her, they would not be able to prosecute and execute her. Qin Yao closed her eyes and reaffirmed her resolve, as no matter how many ifs she thought of, it would not change her past.

Early at dawn, the tweeting of the birds and the howling of the wolves marked the beginning of the day, waking Qin Yao from her sleep. She dazedly looked around and started stretching, her night in the woods left her muscles sore, and although she had lived a harsh life before, it was not to the extent of sleeping in the woods. At least last night, the fox's fur made it a bit more comfortable to sleep outside. Qin Yao sat down in a lotus position and began her first actual cultivation session; she synchronised her breathing with her heartbeat, breathing in for one, holding for the next, exhaling and then retaining again. She maintained this state until mid-noon, as the mottled grey Qi entered her body, was purified, and she exhaled its impurities, leaving behind only pure golden Qi to circulate her body. At the end of her session, Qin Yao exhaled the remaining impurities in the spiritual Qi and finally got up. Qin Yao felt much more rejuvenated after this than when she woke up. If it stayed this way, then Qin Yao figured she might as well not sleep anymore; though the speed of cultivation was slower than that of blood sacrifice, she found that she liked this feeling much more than any sleep she had experienced.

And with this, Qin Yao picked up her belongings and began her day with a light jog. After a few incense sticks worth of time, Qin Yao heard a high-pitched screech as a bald eagle dived towards her, and she rolled out of the way in surprise. She thought she was much too large to be considered as prey by a bird, but then why would the cultivation world follow her previous world's knowledge. Qin Yao dropped her luggage and unsheathed her dagger, guardedly staring at the bald eagle. Qin Yao was unsure how to fight a flying being, but she was not afraid to try. The bald eagle let out another high pitched screech as it dived towards her, its sharp talons letting out a cold, chilling light as it approached her. Qin Yao placed her dagger between herself, and the bird, causing it to wrap its talons around the blade instead. She swung down, but the bald eagle just let go of the dagger without much resistance; Qin Yao could not help but admire the bird, it was only natural for the bird to try and get rid of her weapon, but it seemed to be smarter than that. The only injury it sustained was a small cut on its claws. Unluckily for this eagle, Qin Yao had already coated her dagger with the previous snake's venom regardless of what this eagle did; its destiny was to die the moment its talons touched her blade. All she had to do now was make sure this eagle didn't leave. Qin Yao smiled at her bald friend and walked away from this scene, from what she saw, this eagle was intelligent and would take this as a provocation. Unsurprisingly, an angry screech sounded from behind her and sounds of breaking wind soon followed behind her. Qin Yao began to dodge, as she did not want to allow the bird to touch even the tips of her clothes. As this game of cat and mouse continued, the eagle's stamina quickly began to run out, its feathers began to fall, and it looked extremely dispirited. Soon it was unable to carry itself off the ground, and it weakly lay there. Qin Yao smiled at this sight and quickly walked towards the eagle, twisting its neck and taking it out of its misery.

"Pride, the weakness of men and beasts alike." Qin Yao could not help but recite aloud.

"Pride is what differs us from beasts." A cold voice suddenly sounded. These words came from a young man appearing to be about 15-16, and his robes were pure white, unstained by his surroundings and had the demeanour of the child of a noble family.

Qin Yao did not allow her surprise to show up on her face as she calmly turned around and cupped her fists, "Greetings, fellow Daoist," she smiled, "I did not mean to offend you by my words, it was just something my late mother used to say." Qin Yao neither knew who this man was nor could she sense his cultivation, so it was best for her to maintain a polite demeanour.

The man coldly glanced at her messy visage and did not bother saying another word; he just coldly snorted and scanned his surroundings, his gaze finally landing on the bald eagle in front of Qin Yao. A sadistic smile appeared on his face, and he pointed to the corpse beside her feet, "If your apology is sincere, how about you give me that beast. "

Qin Yao's heart could not help but burn with anger, but she smiled nonetheless, and at the very least, this could be a way to test his true strength. After all, she had no way of knowing if what was blocking her from sensing his cultivation level was his true strength or if he was using some artefact, and if it was the latter, Qin Yao would not hesitate to kill him.

With this thought, Qin Yao swiftly stepped a safe distance away and gestured towards the beast, "Please."