The ferocious beast stared fixedly at Ethan Brooks, its eyes filled with bloodlust. Ethan Brooks's expression changed; the moment he met its gaze, his mind was instantly shaken, as if his consciousness was about to be sucked away by the beast’s eyes. What’s more, Ethan Brooks could sense fluctuations of cultivation power emanating from the beast.

“Qi Condensation, second level!” Ethan Brooks retreated again, his face extremely grim. He realized this was not a mere wild beast, but a demon beast, clearly drawn here by the bloodshed in the desolate mountains during the day.

There was no time for Ethan Brooks to think. The long-haired demon beast, resembling a monkey, suddenly leapt up. In an instant, a ball of flame appeared outside its body. Strangely, the fire did not burn its fur, but instead, accompanied the beast as it howled straight toward Ethan Brooks.

At this critical moment, Ethan Brooks's expression changed. He didn’t know if the bronze mirror would work on demon beasts, but there was no time to hesitate. Almost at the very instant the demon beast pounced, Ethan Brooks dodged in a panic, pulled out the bronze mirror, and shone it at the beast.

A miserable scream instantly echoed all around. The demon beast, still in midair, spurted blood from its rear, its expression twisted. Its eyes, in a flash, were no longer ferocious but filled with confusion, as if in all its battles, it had never suffered such an injury... Yet it did not retreat. Instead, its next scream was even more shrill, and with a loud bang, a torrent of blood burst from its rear.

This time, the confusion in its eyes turned into unprecedented terror. In its mind, the mirror in the hands of the youth before it was unimaginably terrifying. It turned around, clutching its rear with one paw, and without the slightest hesitation, tried to flee with the ball of fire. But before it could get more than a few zhang away, its rear exploded again—this time, five times in a row. Its screams rose and fell in waves, and when it had fled more than ten zhang, Ethan Brooks clearly felt the bronze mirror in his hand tremble with excitement, as if a great force erupted from it, shooting straight at the demon beast’s rear and instantly burrowing inside.

An unprecedented scream resounded throughout the desolate mountain. The lower half of the demon beast’s body exploded, flesh and blood falling in a mangled heap. Even as it lay dying, its face was still filled with terror, and it died with its eyes open.

The whole scene happened so quickly that even after it was over, Ethan Brooks stood there in a daze for a long while before finally gasping and looking at the bronze mirror in his hand, his breathing growing rapid.

“Even demon beasts can’t escape having their rear blown up. This mirror... must be a peerless magical treasure.” Ethan Brooks, excited, felt even more awe toward the bronze mirror. After putting it away, he glanced at the demon beast’s corpse, a thought stirring in his heart.

“The Qi Condensation manual mentioned that demon beasts have demon cores inside them, containing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and can be consumed directly.” He quickly walked over to the demon beast’s corpse and found, in its abdomen, a demon core about the size of a fingernail, crystal clear and flawless. Unlike the bloodiness, the demon core exuded a faint fragrance, making his whole body feel comfortable just by smelling it.

After putting away the demon core, Ethan Brooks continued on his way. Unfortunately, demon beasts were not common in these desolate mountains, and he didn’t encounter a second one before returning to his cave dwelling, which left him a bit disappointed.

By the time he returned, it was already late at night. Ethan Brooks sat cross-legged on the ground, looking at the demon core and bronze mirror in his hands, his eyes flashing with excitement.

“This demon core can be consumed, but I still have the Qi Condensing Pill given by the sect. I’ll take the Qi Condensing Pill first, then the demon core.” Ethan Brooks made up his mind, placed the demon core and bronze mirror beside him, and took out the half piece of spirit stone, placing it there as well. With the spirit stone nearby, he could absorb more spiritual energy.

After finishing these preparations, Ethan Brooks took out the Qi Condensing Pill and swallowed it in one gulp. The pill dissolved as soon as it entered his body, turning into threads of spiritual energy that slowly spread out. Ethan Brooks circulated his cultivation, quickly digesting the power of the pill.

Half an hour later, Ethan Brooks opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance passing through them. He thought to himself that the power of this pill was indeed much faster than meditating, but unfortunately, there were too few Qi Condensing Pills. Since this couldn’t be helped, Ethan Brooks stopped thinking about it. Without looking away, he raised his right hand, grabbed the demon core beside him, and swallowed it without hesitation.

As soon as the demon core entered his body, a surge of spiritual energy far surpassing that of the Qi Condensing Pill instantly burst forth, making Ethan Brooks's body tremble as if he couldn’t withstand it. He quickly circulated his cultivation, constantly merging the energy. His body gradually began to tremble, and even threads of impurities seeped out from his pores. After four or five hours, there was a loud boom in Ethan Brooks's mind. He felt as if his body had suddenly become light, and the spiritual energy inside him was no longer just thin threads, but intertwined together, forming a stream like a small creek.

“Spiritual energy like a creek, impurities expelled from the body—could this... could this be the second level of Qi Condensation?” Ethan Brooks opened his eyes, revealing an expression of disbelief. He looked down at his body and carefully felt it for a long while before finally confirming that he had indeed broken through the first level of Qi Condensation and entered the second level.

“Is the effect of this demon core really so great?” Ethan Brooks's eyes shone brightly. He got up and walked a few circles around the cave, feeling the spiritual energy inside him flowing like a stream, joy filling his heart.

“I’m now a second-level Qi Condensation cultivator too!”

“It’s a pity demon beasts are so rare, otherwise I’d have found a way to speed up my cultivation. All of this is thanks to the treasure mirror.” Ethan Brooks looked at the bronze mirror, but as soon as he did, his body suddenly trembled. He instinctively rubbed his eyes, and when he looked carefully, he was instantly filled with disbelief.

The bronze mirror was still there, but the half piece of spirit stone on it had disappeared. Yet, on the mirror, there was now a demon core!