The tracks that Yuan Taotu located eventually led them to a nest. It was located almost four miles from the ruins and was a simple natural cave on the hillside. The fact that a Spirit beast was present was confirmed. The confirmation came from the disturbance in the surrounding qi, showing that someone or something was absorbing it.

They did not expect much difficulties, as rat-like Spirit beasts around this zone could only be evolved from an 'Inflating Rat'. Considering this, the beast they would encounter should be a 'Rock Eater'.

They were sensed right as they approached the cave and unsurprisingly the owner came out of it, accompanied by several other beasts.

As expected the main beast in question was a 'Rock Eater' or rock rat as they would be called by hunters and cultivators alike. The evolution or breakthrough had not much effect on the original body of the rat except the fur covering it becoming far harder. The main benefit apart of the qi was that now it would digest anything far quicker. As for the only loss, it could not inflate anymore and so could consume less at a time. Its teeth and claws were its only weapon and so they were obviously were far stronger, with qi now naturally strengthening them.

It was considered a 1st level Spirit beast because it absorbed qi, but in reality, it could be considered a fake Spirit beast. These beasts did not obtain any techniques or advanced intelligence during their evolution. Adding to that, the one in question had not even formed its spirit core, which could be said to be alike a dantian, although with far less capacity and use. Normally such fact would be hidden, but the core of the 'Rock Breaker' would be located in its head, and so a small part of it would be visible.

The fight against the 'Rock Breaker' and the six 'Inflating Rat' beasts that accompanied it was easy and even boring. Wu Guang used his flying daggers to take out three of the weaker beasts right away while the other three were quickly dispatched by him relying on his speed. Yuan Taotu was the one who found the beast and so he fought it, but regretfully for the rat, it was simple extermination. It was finished before the rat could even do anything, with a single lunge of the spear-like staff. It penetrated the cranium of the beast and killed it on the spot. Yuan Taotu did use something resembling a technique to give his attack more power but it was a simple non-elemental cover of qi over the tip and no real combat technique, so indeed, this was not a fight.

Strangely, this boring fight was rewarded far better than one could expect.

The 'Rock Eater' had decent intelligence and so gathered qi infused plants and even rocks from around. This could only mean that the beast planned either to devour it in hopes of advancing further or to evolve his brethren. But either the heavens or its bad luck acted, and so it was killed before the completion of any plan it had and its hoard became the spoils of the hunters.

Among what they found in the cave the most valuable or worth to be mentioned things were a pair of 'Dragonferns' and a few qi infused rocks. The latter were not really valuable for selling as the qi would slowly erode but were useful on the spot. These rocks stored and so would serve as an external, easily absorbed qi to hasten cultivation.

The spoils from inside were divided equally while the ones coming from the beasts went to the respective killer, so even if it was a boring episode, Wu Guang still was pretty happy to obtain a spirit herb, several non-spirit but qi infused herbs, and five stones with qi.

The stones after emptied could still gather a bit of qi later and if, which Wu Guang meant to do, inlaid with a simple gathering rune would do so permanently. But in reality, using them as batteries was not the plan of Wu Guang and he quickly shared his idea with Yuan Taotu. Any natural qi containers could be stored into one's dantian after reaching the 7th level of the Spirit realm. And by doing so, after some time stones as such would transform into real Qi Stones. Which after being polished and cut would net them spirit or qi shards. From the size of the stone, Wu Guang calculated that each stone would convert into four or five shards, which meant a small fortune for them.

After gathering the spoils and this small lesson from Wu Guang, the pair did not leave the lair. This was not because they were tired, but because they intended to absorb the external qi to quicken their cultivation without losing the amount that would spill out and dissipate if the stones were moved far from their original location.

A Spirit beast lair was normally a forbidden territory for normal beasts, so the pair was safe inside. They simply sat down and absorbed the qi present in the stones without any worry.

Wu Guang while doing as he did normally recalled the correct explanation for the case "Normal qi is the one that a cultivator can absorb naturally. A cultivator can also speed up the process by using a breathing technique, but such techniques simply absorb the same qi that one would do naturally in a quicker manner. So the difference with an external source is that the qi would never be different or exceed the quantity around one - while the qi from an external source is something outside this system, basically a bonus amount - no matter how small it is". Here one also would need to add that as a cultivator progressed, breathing techniques even very advanced as the 'Chaos Gathering' would lose effectiveness; Right now, Wu Guang natural absorption thanks to the 20 meridians and solid dantian was almost half of the one he would reach when using the breathing technique and most importantly, the natural absorption did not require any effort and would be active even when he moved.

The stones did not have much qi indeed, but still, when absorbing it while combining the process with breathing, Wu Guang managed to almost complete his astral layer. Normal cultivators of his level could not combine qi manipulation or circulation with the breathing technique. But not Wu Guang, as he had the passive benefit from his almost god-like (at least for the plane he was in) Saint-level consciousness. This passive benefit made his brain operate far quicker, giving him extreme comprehension and allowing him to multitask. This latter allowed him to simultaneously recite and use several mantras, techniques, or even weapons with no issue.

After finishing the absorption Wu Guang and Yuan Taotu separated. The latter wanted to continue scouting the surroundings while the formed had decided to return to their base and if nothing was amiss then also continue the exploration on his own side.

***

Wu Guang returned to their base in full speed and so it took him only a few minutes to cross the almost four miles of hilly terrain that separated the nest from the ruins. He did not know why his internal sense or intuition made him return right away in place of simply exploring into a direction opposite of Yuan Taotu, well, he did not know but still followed this feeling; and it turned to be right.

As he approached the only remaining building or the main building of these ruins that they used as their base, Wu Guang felt that something was not right. Quickly scanning his surroundings he understood that the reason for his unease was the fact that one of the paired entrance doors was half-open.

Deciding to not signal Yuan Taotu before confirming the situation, Wu Guang cautiously approached the door.

He did not feel any danger and so decided to enter and find out what was happening. Still, he did not expect such a guest. His memories quickly identified the seven feet tall creature that he saw, but even so, his surprise was enormous, after all, it was a lizardman or 'Lower Dragonewt'.

Lizardmen as well other beast evolved races were a common sight in medium-tier planes, even having a few of them under their full control. But they would never appear in lower-tier ones as the plane itself could not sustain them. Even without talking about the enormous amount of time a race would need to reach such a level of evolution. As for 'Dragonewt's or basically dragon race people, they were an even more advanced race that could only appear in high-tier planes. Not only a normal Dragonman was around the Sky realm in human terms, but also their race required the existence of Dragons nearby.

With his mind almost going blank in surprise Wu Guang still managed to maintain a calm attitude. He even greeted the visitor by using the language that Beast races shared all along the planes connected to the Astral Road.

"Greetings Man-Lizard" The term man-lizard was how they called themselves. And in truth, this term was correct. After all, they still were beasts, and only after reaching the peak of the Saint beast ranks, they could evolve further and become real beastman.

In truth, a Lizardman could be called a beastman already, but the term 'real' was added as they would fully shed their beast past. Meaning that not only they could assume a human form but also they would start cultivating - as opposed to consuming flesh and resources with qi.