The Big Toad once again saw Ji Yuan's figure walk out from the mist, but before it could say a word—

it saw a huge black shadow being tossed over.

It immediately opened its mouth, shot out its tongue, and snatched up that shadow in one swift move.

Its huge mouth opened wide, and half a Spirit Pig was swallowed down in just a few gulps.

After finishing this Spirit Pig, the Big Toad had just lifted its head when another dark shape was thrown its way. It ate again; by the time Ji Yuan walked up to it, it had already wolfed down three Spirit Pigs in a row.

One huge toad, two bites for each pig.

At first, Ji Yuan was feeding it himself, but after a while, he couldn't even be bothered to feed it anymore.

This kind of work with zero skill involved is perfect to hand over to Tu Yue.

He just tossed a few Storage Bags to Tu Yue, made it clear that as soon as the Spirit Pigs on the ground were gone, she should just keep taking out more to feed.

As for Ji Yuan himself, he retreated back into the Cave Mansion to do alchemy and talisman painting.

The past few months he'd been running around all over for the Spirit Pig stuff and hadn't had a moment for his side hustle.

Now that he'd finally reached Body Foundation Establishment, Ji Yuan planned to draw some talismans and refine a few elixirs to sell back at the sect for Spirit Stones, to pad the household purse a bit.

Might as well take a look at those quests he put up a few months ago, see what's up with those too.

If he managed to score that Illusion Heart Flower all in one go, that'd be the best—then he could just come back and level up the [Enlightenment Room].

If not, well, he'd just have to figure out something else.

Ji Yuan holed up in the Cave Mansion for cultivation, leaving all the daily chores outside to Tu Yue. About half a month went by like this, until one day, while painting talismans, he suddenly sensed a surge of incoming energy.

His hand gave a little shudder, and the talisman paper in his grasp disintegrated into flying ash.

But Ji Yuan wasn't annoyed—on the contrary, he was downright delighted.

With one step out of the Cave Mansion, and another, he arrived at the Big Toad's side.

The Big Toad… was even bigger now!

Where before it was only a dozen meters or so, now it had to be over twenty meters. Squatting on the island, it was like a small mountain; the warty bumps on its back had grown more numerous and much bigger, with a clear layer of stone scales that looked way more defensive than before.

Especially the area above its eyelids.

Those two bulges really looked like horns now, suddenly making it appear a lot more imposing.

Probably because it had just made its breakthrough, it hadn't reined in its demon aura yet.

Standing right in front of it, Ji Yuan could feel a faint pressure… Damn, demon beasts really are something else—way too damn strong!

The Big Toad still seemed to be in a bit of a daze from its breakthrough.

Ji Yuan was so close he could hear its heart thumping away—"thump, thump"—for a whole half-candle's time.

The Big Toad suddenly opened its eyes, and its external aura was instantly pulled back in.

"Gwaa—"

It only needed to open its mouth, and all that kingly, tyrant-like aura vanished into thin air.

Especially that look it gave Ji Yuan—there was, without a doubt… a hint of flattery.

Now that the Big Toad had broken through, its brain was a bit sharper too. How could it not get that everything it had was all thanks to this awesome Big Bro standing before it!

If it wanted to keep getting stronger, it'd definitely need this Big Bro's help in the future, too.

"Gwa-gwa—"

"Alright, that's enough snuggling."

If it had been before, Ji Yuan might not have been able to fend off the Big Toad's affections, but now, as long as the Big Toad didn't get all rough, Ji Yuan could easily push it away if he wanted to.

Seeing the Big Toad looking a little put out,

Ji Yuan had a thought. He pointed toward the direction of the Cloud Rain Marsh, made an eating gesture, then pulled out a chunk of Spirit Pig meat and tossed it on the ground, raising a hand to spark a fire underneath.

The Big Toad understood instantly; its lantern-sized eyes lit up.

"Gwaa—" it croaked, then with a big leap, jumped dozens of meters straight into the Cloud Rain Marsh.

This Big Toad was now late Stage Tier Two—surely that made it a local boss around here?

Since that's the case, what's the point of letting it laze around here freeloading? It should get out there and be a wandering toad, bringing back demon beast corpses or Water Spirit Earth Treasures every now and then—now that's the ticket.

I spent so much money raising it, fed it all those Spirit Pigs—gotta recoup the investment, right?

Ji Yuan had just counted—getting the Big Toad to break through had cost him a whopping 148.5 Spirit Pigs.

This bill—the Big Toad's gotta pay it off.

Then Ji Yuan activated the [Kitchen] effect and started up a fire to grill some meat.

Just as his meat was almost ready, the wandering Big Toad returned, bringing back a Tier Two early-stage demon beast corpse with it.

Blade Snake Loach.

One of the stronger sorts among Tier Two demon beasts. Any ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator would definitely steer clear of this guy—but too bad for it, it ran into a late Stage Tier Two Big Toad.

"Get the fire going! Prep the fire!"

Ji Yuan called Tu Yue over to help with the fire, while he eagerly went over to give that Blade Snake Loach some—uh—CPR.

Yep… took its demon pill.

CPR failed.

With that, plus the snake demon's demon pill from earlier—

For just the Foundation Establishment Pill ingredient of Tier Two demon pills, Ji Yuan now had two of them in hand.

Only thing is, he still had just one stalk of Millennium Greenrush Herb.

Looks like I need to really start hunting for more news on that front, too.

A while later, Ji Yuan was munching on barbecue enhanced by the [Kitchen] skill, sipping fine wine brewed by the [Wine Cellar], with a beauty—oops, no, a beautiful corpse—helping out on the grill beside him.

This feeling—man, it's impossible to describe how great it is.

Even the barbecue they were eating was demon beast meat from a Tier Two beast.

I mean, seriously, how many mere Qi Cultivation Stage folks could ever have it this good?!

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