"Ding~ Cultivating the Unyielding Fist Intent for 7200 days, your Unyielding Fist Intent has increased to 33.007%"
Yang Hong's eyes widened as he looked at the prompt, and indeed it was 33.007%.
He hadn't misread, nor had he misheard.
Cultivating the fist intent for 7200 days had only increased its artistic conception by a mere 0.007%.
It seemed the灌顶 (guàndǐng - anointing/bestowment) system wasn't omnipotent after all.
"Combat is still faster," he mused.
Thinking about how he had reached 33% artistic conception in half a day, and then comparing it to the current return from the anointing, Yang Hong felt it was simply not worth it.
With that much cultivation time, it would have been better to upgrade his martial arts and spells.
After all, the next evolution of the Intermediate Body Tempering Technique required a full 30,000 martial arts points.
He not only lacked the quantity of martial arts, cultivation techniques, and spells he had collected,
let alone upgrading his martial arts and spells to their max levels.
Compared to the upgrade of artistic conception, he needed the upgrade of cultivation techniques more.
"It was the right decision to enter the Hong Dong Secret Realm this time. There are so many demonic beasts here, which should be enough for my cultivation."
Thinking of the number of Crimson Viper Snakes, while still feeling a lingering fear, Yang Hong also looked forward to the demonic beasts he would encounter next.
"Right, I haven't tallied my spoils yet."
Yang Hong skipped bathing, simply changed into a set of magical artifact clothes, and came to the shore to start inventorying the eight storage equipment.
As for the human corpses the vipers had brought back when he fought the large vipers later, he had seen them,
but he had entered a state of enlightenment while fighting.
When he woke up, he was driven away by the stench of the vipers.
Those storage equipment would have to be a boon for those who came later.
"Right! And the Golden Core. Those vipers definitely had Golden Core realm cultivators. I actually forgot to collect their Golden Cores.
I must be more mindful next time."
"Oh, wow~ this storage ring has so many treasures~ jade slips, magical artifacts, pills, and what is this..."
...
As Yang Hong exclaimed in surprise, in a grassland on the northeastern edge of the secret realm, on a small hill,
ten women were forming a circle, back to back, defending against the attack of a pack of demonic wolves.
"Sister Yu Zhi, I need a moment to rest here," the nearly forty-year-old You Da Xiang called out to Song Yu Zhi as "sister" without any discomfort.
"Alright, retreat into the circle and drink quickly to recover."
Song Yu Zhi replied concisely and decisively.
As Yang Hong's principal consort, she was naturally the eldest sister to everyone.
"Constrict the battle circle, pay attention to filling in gaps."
With a command from Song Yu Zhi, You Da Xiang swiftly unleashed two sword strikes and immediately retreated.
Jia Yuan Chun, beside her, wielding a great saber four feet long, shifted her position slightly to intercept the next attack.
You Da Xiang, who had been tensed and ready to continue fighting, didn't stand on ceremony. She walked to the center of the defensive circle, sat down,
picked up a wine jar from the ground, took a big gulp, and immediately began meditating and cultivating.
She needed to race against time to recover her true qi and relieve her sisters.
Song Yu Zhi and the other nine had relatively good luck.
When they entered, they were in this grassland, and they didn't fall into a wolf's den or get surrounded by the wolf pack initially.
Moreover, they held hands tightly, and their formation was not broken, which allowed them to hold on for more than a day when they were eventually surrounded.
They had personally witnessed packs of rogue cultivators, due to their poor landing points, falling prey to wolves as soon as they entered.
There were also many groups of rogue cultivators who, although not immediately devoured by the wolf pack,
slowly starved to death after being surrounded and attacked by the wolves due to insufficient strength, becoming food for the wolves.
Of course, there were even more cultivators who took advantage of the fact that wild wolves could not fly and escaped by flying in the air.
As for whether they escaped?
That was hard to say.
After all, there were also flying demonic beasts in this secret realm.
It was already considered good luck for Song Yu Zhi and the ten of them to have run through the grassland for a while and found a relatively advantageous terrain before being surrounded by the wolf pack.
"Awooo~ Awooo~"
As time passed, the sun was about to set.
The wolf pack began to get excited.
Wolves were nocturnal animals, and their combat effectiveness could increase slightly at night.
On the other hand, human combat effectiveness would decrease slightly at night.
"Sister Yu Zhi will have to stay up again tonight."
"I know. Everyone, tighten your formation. Always have two people on standby, and one to light the potent liquor.
Wang Xi Feng, you can retreat now. You and You Da Xiang, prepare yourselves."
"Yes."
Their current battle had been ongoing since last night.
After two days and one night of fighting, they had accumulated some combat experience.
As for when the battle would end?
That would depend on the mood of the wolf pack.
From yesterday until now, the ten of them had killed at least 300,000 first-tier demonic wolves and over ten thousand second-tier demonic wolves.
Fortunately, this area, known as the Azure Wolf Grassland, did not have third-tier wolf kings.
Otherwise, they wouldn't even have a chance to hold on.
As for the number of wolves?
It could only be described as stretching as far as the eye could see.
As night fell, looking in all directions, all they could see were wolf eyes, tinged with red and green, shimmering with a faint glow.
Endless!
Yang Hong's task for Song Yu Zhi and her companions was simple: survive.
They did not need to collect any resources. They only needed to survive and reach the safe zone of the trial area, which was the designated area for teleportation out at the end of the secret realm.
Given their strength, breaking through the encirclement of first and second-tier wolves was not a major problem.
However, all ten women were strong-willed and wanted to prove themselves, so they chose to occupy advantageous terrain and engage the wolf pack in battle.
But now, they all regretted it.
The number of demonic wolves was simply too overwhelming, far exceeding everyone's imagination.
"You Da Xiang, Wang Xi Feng, throw the potent liquor!"
"Crackling~ Crackling~ Crackling~"
As Song Yu Zhi commanded, over a dozen jars of fiery liquor were thrown out, landing rhythmically around the pile of wolf corpses that formed a high barrier.
"Wang Jing~ Zhang Leng Yue."
"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"
Upon hearing their names called by Song Yu Zhi, Wang Jing's fireballs and Zhang Leng Yue's fire serpents followed immediately.
"Whoosh~ Crackle~"
The fireballs and fire serpents ignited the potent liquor, as well as the high wall of wolf corpses.
"Awooo~ Awooo~"
Seeing the flames rise, the wolf pack roared but still slowly retreated.
Demonic wolves, being wolves, still retained their innate fear of fire.
This was the biggest reason why Song Yu Zhi and her group could fight for two days and one night.
However...
"Sister Yu Zhi, we don't have much potent liquor left. Besides the Tiger Bone Wine for recovering true qi, we only have thirty jars of potent liquor."
Jia Yuan Chun took a moment to remind Song Yu Zhi.
Before entering, Yang Hong had given them two storage bags, those two storage bags with a width of three zhang.
And Yang Hong, considering they would need to fight after entering, not only gave them all his second-tier magical artifacts but also prepared a large quantity of supplies in the two storage bags.
"Leave two people on guard, and the rest of you quickly recover your true qi. We're going to break through."
Song Yu Zhi was not foolish and knew they couldn't drag it out any longer; they had to break through and escape.
...
In various corners of the secret realm, scenes of humans killing demons and demons eating humans were unfolding everywhere.
There wasn't a single moment when someone or a demon wasn't dying!
Under the terrifying numbers of demonic beasts and their relentless, unhesitating attacks, the human population was rapidly declining.
In just two days, more than half of the rogue cultivators were gone.
Even the sect disciples who entered later suffered heavy casualties.
The moment the sun set in the secret realm, which was also the moment Golden Core cultivators entered, the fourth-tier Golden Core demonic beasts in the core area of the secret realm seemed to have received some kind of instruction.
They all emerged from their lairs and flew towards these Golden Core cultivators.
Furthermore, countless third-tier Integration realm demonic beasts disengaged from their own battles, abandoned their territories, and all rushed towards the small lake where Yang Hong was resting.
Meanwhile, Yang Hong was happily humming a tune and roasting fragrant grilled fish.