"Yu Bai, guard here," Lu Zhen said as he clenched the pearl in his hands, his body still marked with bloodstains. Luckily, the rain was gradually washing away the traces of blood.

When Yu Bai saw the pearl, he was stunned, but it soon turned to happiness.

"Young master, are you sure you want to cultivate that right now?" Yu Bai asked with an uncertain expression.

"It will be fine, it doesn't matter," Lu Zhen said as he waved Yu Bai away.

"Alright, let's get started," Lu Zhen said as he found a large tree that could shield him from the rain. He sat in a meditative position.

He took deep breaths as he gradually sank deep into meditation. His long and ragged breathing gradually cooled down, falling into a strange rhythm.

Lu Zhen's mind soon became empty as he started to visualize a blurry picture that looked like a tree in his mind.

The moment the tree appeared in Lu Zhen's mind, the qi in the surroundings began to be slowly absorbed by him. The attributeless qi in his body followed a set pattern that resembled a tree as it circulated in his body and converted to wood qi.

Actually, only third stage martial artists could convert their qi to attribute qi through the qi pathways they had established and circulate it. However, Lu Zhen could directly take in qi through his body, allowing him to convert attributeless qi to wood qi, even though his qi was still meagre even for a martial trainee stage martial artist.

The rate, however, was slow and unprogressive. Suddenly, the pearl on top of his head shone with a green light, resonating with Lu Zhen. This caused almost all the qi in the surroundings to slowly convert from attributeless qi to wood qi.

The rate at which Lu Zhen absorbed the wood qi grew faster and faster. Even the unconverted attributeless qi in his body quickly transformed into wood qi.

As time passed, his storage of qi increased, and his visualisation of the tree became clearer.

[You have meditated]

[You have acquired the meditation skill]

A system prompt appeared, but Lu Zhen was so immersed in meditation that he didn't even notice. The rate at which he visualized the tree became faster and faster, consequently increasing the rate at which he absorbed qi.

Time slipped away as Lu Zhen meditated, completely ignoring the sound of the heavy rain falling to the ground.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, Lu Zhen opened his eyes as a green light flashed past his vision.

"Hmm, sigh, it's quite hard to reach the third stage," Lu Zhen said as he gazed at the remains of the pearl.

Lu zhen only reached the middle stage of martial trainee with the help of this pearl.

"Looks like I need more qi items like this to increase my qi storage," Lu Zhen sighed as he examined the pearl's status.

[Snake Neidan (used)]

[Remarks: The catalyst of gorgon snake power can help cultivation if the user meditates near it.]

"Hmm.." a log button caught lu zhen's eyes.

"Huh did i gain skill while just meditating?" Lu Zhen thought with excitement as he opened the long with a thought.

[You have meditated]

[You have acquired the meditation skill]

[your meditation skill has levelled up from 1 to 2]

Seeing the prompt lu zhen felt a little funny.

"What the hell are these names? They're literally the same as what I do. It's as if the creator was too bored to name the skills and wrote them as they are…" Lu Zhen thought, but he decided to ignore it this time since they were useless to him.

"Old Bai," Lu Zhen said as he got up from his meditative position.

"Yes, young master?" Yu Bai responded, instantly appearing by Lu Zhen's side. However, he was taken aback when he sensed Lu Zhen's aura.

"His aura hasn't increased much?" Yu Bai thought, visibly frowning.

After Lu Zhen acquired the aura control skill, he deliberately kept his aura weak, embracing the tactic of "play the pig, eat the tiger". He had read about protagonists using this strategy in many novels and was curious to test it himself.

"Oh poor souls don't meet me or I will slaughter your whole generation." Lu zhen thought with an evil smirk.

"Let's go," Lu Zhen said, picking up the snake's heart from the ground as they departed.

Nearby, Lu Zhen had concealed the massive snake's body in a makeshift cave created with Yu Bai's assistance.

Although not a perfect solution, considering the snake's value and the scent it emitted, there was a risk of wild animals discovering and devouring it or even humans discovering it.

Despite the imperfections, Lu Zhen had no better options at the moment. Without a storage bag or similar items, he could only hide the corpse and hope it remained untouched until an escort arrived.

"Do you know how such a massive Qi beast can still exist in this forest, Old Bai?" Lu Zhen asked, a frown creasing his face as they continued to travel.

"I don't know, young master," Yu Bai replied with a matching frown.

The Snake Forest, which they were currently in, was recognized for harbouring beasts no more advanced than the martial trainee stage.

This was due to the depletion of resources caused by the constant hunting and resource plundering carried out by everyone who ventured into the forest. Even if there were third-stage martial beasts, they were quickly hunted down due to the value they held.

Apart from martial cultivation and combat arts, beasts were highly prized resources. They provided a rich source of protein and nutrients, and countless treasures could be derived from them.

Lu Zhen then proceeded to gather the twins and search for a place to rest. His intention was to take a break, not due to physical exhaustion, but rather mental fatigue brought on by the encounters with the snakes and his cultivation efforts. The process had proven mentally taxing for him.

"Master, over there," Yu Bai pointed towards an old, dilapidated temple in the distance.

The temple was constructed from bamboo and clay, showing clear signs of age and decay, revealing its antiquity.

"Huh, there's smoke," Lu Zhen observed, narrowing his eyes.

"There was none when I previously scouted the area, young master," Yu Bai stated, visibly shocked by Lu Zhen's observation. Even he could only see the temple's outline from here.