How valuable was a live second-tier Explosive Ape?
This beast was classified as fire-attributed, violent in nature, devoid of intelligence, and incredibly difficult to tame. Without special beast-controlling methods, its value was not particularly high. At best, it could be slaughtered for materials and sold for four to five thousand spirit stones.
It was completely different from the Blazing Cloud Roc Luo Chen had purchased. While the Blazing Cloud Roc was also a second-tier demonic beast, it was a rare and elusive avian-type creature. If its wings were intact, they alone would be considered top-tier forging materials for second-tier forging materials.
For this reason, the price of a Blazing Cloud Roc had always remained exorbitantly high. In comparison, the value of an Explosive Ape in the hands of others was quite low.
However, that was only the case for others.
Luo Chen was different! He was an alchemist, and he just so happened to possess an alchemical formula specifically designed for Explosive Ape blood. At this moment, as Luo Chen gazed at the battered and bloodied Explosive Ape, excitement surged through his heart.
If I refine Blood-Burning pills using the blood of a second-tier Explosive Ape, how powerful will they become?
Does this mean they could be suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators?
If so, the value of Blood-Burning pills would skyrocket. Even now, their price was already comparable to that of ordinary second-tier pills.
But that was only due to their unique effects. If refined using second-tier demonic beast blood as the main ingredient, they would undoubtedly become true second-tier pills with enhanced properties.
Hehehe...
"What are you giggling about?"
Amidst the desolate ruins of the battlefield, Wang Yuan strode forward as if walking on solid ground.
As Luo Chen approached, he raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to kill it?"
"This beast is still useful, so I'll keep it for now."
He had no intention of killing the second-tier Explosive Ape. Keeping it captive and extracting its blood for alchemy would maximize its utility.
"Then take this demonic core."
As he spoke, Wang Yuan casually tossed the demonic core he had seized to Luo Chen. The moment Luo Chen caught it, the unconscious Explosive Ape beneath his feet convulsed.
"Oh! Its instincts are still trying to reclaim its demonic core."
Luo Chen grinned and examined the demonic core in his hand.
Numerous blood-like threads coiled around the fist-sized crystalline core like tiny writhing serpents. Within the crystal, faint traces of pure demonic energy could be seen swirling.
Aside from the blood threads, a faint blue barrier enveloped the core. This was the Blue Musk Poisonous Fragrance released by the Blue Musk Gathering Serpent Banner.
The reason Wang Yuan was able to prevent the core from self-destructing was partly due to Luo Chen’s contribution.
The two wasted no time, as there was still much to handle back in Crescent Moon Valley.
Luo Chen infused his spirit power, conjuring chains that tightly bound the Explosive Ape’s motionless body. Dragging the unconscious beast, he flew towards Crescent Moon Valley.
"What a shame it shrank so much. If not, we could have made a fortune just selling its meat."
Hearing Luo Chen’s money-grubbing tone, Wang Yuan, walking beside him, couldn’t help but chuckle.
"Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to demonic beasts."
"Oh?"
"When you have time, you really should read Sky Roc Transformation—there’s a wealth of information on demonic beasts in it."
Under Wang Yuan’s explanation, Luo Chen finally understood why second-tier demonic beasts exhibited such drastic changes in body size.
A larger body meant a higher demand for sustenance. Even minor movements would rapidly deplete their vitality. Because of this, many demonic beasts instinctively shifted their cultivation focus upon advancing to the second-tier.
Instead of continuing to develop their physical strength, they redirected their efforts toward accumulating demonic power.
This shift in cultivation led to the formation of the demonic core, the ultimate result of a demonic beast’s progression.
Unlike human cultivators, who typically condensed their golden core during the Golden Core Realm, demonic beasts formed their demonic core as early as the second-tier.
At this stage, they embarked on a cultivation path similar to that of humans—absorbing and refining spirit energy, then storing it within their demonic core, converting it into their innate demonic power. Once in combat, they could unleash vast amounts of stored power, allowing them to cast powerful demonic techniques and even expand their body size at will.
After hearing this explanation, Luo Chen suddenly realized why most of the demonic beast meat sold in the market was from first-tier creatures.
Logically, second-tier demonic beasts were larger, weighed more, and should have yielded more meat. However, in reality, all their essence was concentrated within the demonic core, making their flesh far less valuable.
This also explained why, when Xiong Kun sold him the Blazing Cloud Roc, his focus had been entirely on the demonic core and its wings.
He had barely cared about the tens of thousands of jin of flesh on its body. In fact, he had simply intended to sell the excess flesh offhandedly to rogue Qi-Refining cultivators, as if it were just an afterthought.
"It seems Sky Roc Transformation truly holds some unique insights."
Luo Chen praised the technique, then suddenly had a thought.
He happened to have the corpse of a roc-type demonic beast in his storage pouch.
If he refined it properly, he could extract a significant amount of essence blood—which could be useful for Wang Yuan’s cultivation of Sky Roc Transformation.
Unaware of Luo Chen’s thoughts, Wang Yuan sighed and said, “Since it’s a third-stage physical refinement technique, it’s bound to have some merit.”
"Brother Wang, was the physical transformation technique you used just now derived from Sky Roc Transformation?" Luo Chen asked curiously.
Wang Yuan shook his head. “Not really. I’ve known that technique for a long time—it’s just an application of blood qi and Physical-Refining. However, Sky Roc Transformation did give me some inspiration.”
Luo Chen blinked. “So, do you want to cultivate Sky Roc Transformation?”
He had already made up his mind—if Wang Yuan truly needed it, he would give him a portion of the Blazing Cloud Roc’s essence blood. The remaining portion would still be sufficient for him to refine Imperial Nectar in the future.
To his surprise, Wang Yuan curled his lips in disdain.