When he woke up, the Sun was just rising above the sky. He only slept a couple hours, so his body was still sore and aching. But to his astonishment, he wasn't in deep pain. He looked at his chest, and realized all his burns were healed. His skin was as smooth as a newborn baby.
"I healed your body when you were sleeping," the cat said from behind him.
"Thank you. What happened to the wolf?"
"Your last attack was quite powerful considering your cultivation level, but that wolf was in the Qi Absorption Realm. If I didn't scare it away after you fainted, you'd be in its stomach now."
Harry sighed. His knew his strength was still too low. But he was just at the 6th level of the Body Tempering Realm, while the wolf was an entire realm higher. Even someone at the 9th level wouldn't be able to kill that wolf. Actually, even someone at the 1st level of the Qi Absorption Realm would have difficulty killing it. From the very beginning, he was doomed to lose.
"But, I've changed my mind about you. Your Nameless Technique is extraordinary powerful, far more powerful than what should be possible. As long as you don't lose that determination you showed last night, you just might have what it takes."
Harry stared at the cat with his mouth open. Was it praising him?
"Hmph. Don't get full of yourself. Reflect upon that battle, if you can even call that a battle. Besides the very end, did you even get a chance to fight back?"
"You're right," Harry sighed. "I couldn't match up to its strength at all, nor could I keep up with its speed. If it weren't for Strengthening Flesh, I would have died 10 times over. And if it weren't for the Nameless Seed, I'd be a pile of ashes now."
"Speaking of that, how far along are you with Burning Blood?"
Harry took a moment to sense the changes in his veins, and let out a stream of curses.
"15%," he groaned in misery. At first, he thought he sensed incorrectly, but upon double checking, he truly only completed 15%. He wanted to smash his head against a wall out of sheer frustration.
He suffered through so much pain, but made such a meager amount of progress. If he were to keep using this method, he'd probably die before cultivating the Nameless Technique to completion.
"Try to refine these."
The Exalted Cat pointed at a large pile of shiny red Beast Cores, the rewards of his efforts last night. It evidently cleaned up the battlefield, as all the corpses were gone. The only signs of the battle last night were some traces of blood and charred trees surrounding the clearing.
Harry grabbed one and spurred the Nameless Seed into action.
Immediately, Fire Qi was sucked out of the Beast Core, and began travelling through his body. Drops of blood began changing at a quick rate – the speed was faster than with the berries, but still slower than using the Scarlet Flame Wolf's fire. Every couple of seconds, 100 new drops of blood were formed. Each was filled with power.
One by one, Harry grabbed the cores off the pile, and allowed the Nameless Seed to work. Fire Qi steadily flowed through his body, entering the Nameless Seed and then integrating into his bloodstream.
"Exalted Cat, how come that wolf could shoot fire out its mouth?" Harry asked as he cultivated.
"Boy, that beast was in the Qi Absorption Realm. At that realm, one can absorb Qi from their surroundings and store it in the body. Also, Magic Beasts gain innate abilities as they get stronger. Those wolves have an ability to generate Fire Qi, then ignite the Fire Qi and launch a ball of flames. It's not a rare ability. Many Fire Attribute beasts, once they reach the Qi Absorption Realm, can do the same."
From this, Harry could tell the Qi Absorption Realm was fundamentally a different level. In the Body Tempering Realm, cultivators focused on strengthening their body through opening their meridians. But in the Qi Absorption Realm, the focus was on using external Qi for cultivation.
"Those kinds of fires are known as Beast Flames, and are one of the rare types of flames that Slughorn mentioned, which contain potent Fire Qi. In fact, it's better to say that the flame is entirely supported by Fire Qi. That's why after you refined the Fire Qi, the flame died out. In that regard, you were very lucky. If you leapt into a regular fire, the Nameless Seed couldn't have helped you."
"You should know it's very difficult to absorb pure Fire Qi, just like how humans can't absorb Wood Qi. The human body simply isn't designed for that. But somehow, that seed of yours did it."
"I understand. By the way, how strong was that beast, relative to the Qi Absorption Realm?"
"That wolf only recently entered the Qi Absorption Realm. In human terms, it would be equivalent to the 1st level."
Harry sighed yet again. So, that wolf only just entered the Qi Absorption Realm, and could barely be considered at the low-level. Despite that, it was strong enough to the point that he couldn't put up a fight at all.
Thinking on last night's fight, he was reminded of his horrible fight against Dudley all those months ago. He was many times stronger than before, but he still lost miserably. If it weren't for the Nameless Seed and the cat, he'd be dead.
He also thought about his enemies, the people who poisoned his mother and killed his parents. Those people were above even the Qi Absorption Realm! How was he supposed to fight against them?
Shaking his head, he continued cultivating.
"Boy, it's good to understand how weak you are. But that being said, there's no need to get depressed. Those at the 6th level like you generally have strength around 90 kilograms. Those at the 9th level generally have strength around 180. But the gap between realms is an enormous one, incomparable to the differences at the Body Tempering Realm. Even those at the 1st level of the Qi Absorption Realm can reach nearly 300 kilograms."
The Beast Core he was holding nearly dropped out of his hands. Did the cat just say 300?
"300?" he echoed.
"Well, not quite 300, but around there. That's what I was referring to earlier, about your Nameless Technique being impossibly powerful. Your defensive strength is actually at the Qi Absorption Realm, something that is unheard of. And as for your offensive strength, well, it is around the 9th level, which is extremely rare."
The disappointment Harry was feeling melted away. He never realized the gap between him and that wolf was actually that large. Turns out, he only felt weak because the Exalted Cat kept forcing him to fight against far stronger enemies. And his Nameless Technique wasn't even 40% completed!
With renewed vigor, Beast Core after Beast Core entered his hands, and the Fire Qi contained in them entered his body. An hour later, Harry finished refining all the Beast Cores, which turned into dull brown spheres.
"Boy, what's your progress with Burning Blood?"
"If I was 15% done before, now I'm 16% done," Harry grumbled.
It wasn't that the Beasts Cores didn't contain much Fire Qi, or that there weren't enough cores. It was that his consumption was way too high. He was painfully reminded of the thousands of trees he'd hugged to complete Strengthening Flesh. When he thought about that, it made sense why his progress in Burning Blood was so slow.
That Beast Flame, on the other hand, was made from pure Fire Qi, and came from an Earth Grade Magic Beast. It was no wonder so much of his blood was transformed at once.
"Should we go back to Slughorn now?"
"Not yet, boy. Didn't you notice something strange about those wolves last night?"
"No?"
"Most wolf packs are only five or six wolves. Yet, last night, we saw over 60, and even one at the Qi Absorption Realm. Why do you think there's a huge pack of Scarlet Flame Wolves here?"
"Wolves live in the forest, don't they?"
"Not Scarlet Flame Wolves. What attracts these wolves?"
"Fire?"
"Right. These wolves only nest in areas rich in Fire Qi, since they need that to grow. For there to be such a large pack, there must be a source of Fire Qi nearby, and not just any source, it must be a rich one. Let's go find it, and see if you can use that."
"Exalted Cat, you're a genius," Harry exclaimed, then got up to follow the cat.
The two of them followed the trail of the wolves that had fled. Along the way, the Exalted Cat pointed out the various clues that allowed it to recover their position. Not a single detail was left out of its sight.
It took nearly an hour of walking, but eventually they stepped out of the Wyvern Woods and reached a flat area where the rocks and soil turned dark brown. The vegetation disappeared, and the only plants growing were some grasses and weeds that sprung through the dry dirt. Rocks were studded around the land, and a large, flat-topped hill could be seen far in the distance. On their left and right were steep cliff walls made of obsidian.
The temperature noticeably increased by a couple degrees, and the atmosphere was much drier here than in the forest.
"Boy, you really had a stroke of dog-shit luck."
"What do you mean?"
"You can feel it, can't you? The atmosphere has changed. For that to happen, there must be a natural source of Fire Qi present. That hill up front is known as Godric's Seat, and used to be an active volcano, though that was many hundreds of thousands of years ago. But despite that, there may still be some underground magma around."
"Who's Godric?"
The cat turned to look at Harry like it was looking at an idiot.
"Boy, you haven't heard of Godric Gryffindor?"
"No? Who's that?"
"He was a powerful cultivator, who lived a thousand years ago. One of the strongest to ever live in the empire. The volcano up there is named after him."
"How powerful was he?"
"Speaking of the magma," the Exalted Cat continued, outright ignoring his question, "just like how the fires produced by beasts are called Beast Flames, we refer to fires produced by the environment as Natural Flames. They also contain very rich Fire Qi. Over time, some of it must have seeped through the ground, and pervaded the atmosphere."
Harry nodded at that explanation.
"It's very strange though," the cat mused as it looked around their surroundings. "This volcano has been dormant for a long period of time. There shouldn't be so much Fire Qi around here."
"So, could I cultivate Burning Blood just by staying here?"
"In theory, but it would take you forever. The Fire Qi has dispersed across the area, so the concentration in the atmosphere is quite low. It would be better for us to enter the wolves' nest. See that hole over there, at the base of the cliff? Go in there."
Harry immediately ran towards a cliff in the distance. The hole was just large enough for him to fit through, and was illuminated by a pale red glow. Even when he stood outside the entrance, he could feel heat radiating out of it.
When they entered the tunnel, the heat increased even more. The outside was slightly hotter than the temperature in the forest, but the inside of the cave was sweltering. Harry felt like he was standing directly next to a fire. The tunnel branched out on multiple locations, but when it did, the cat just directed him towards the right entrance. They walked for a couple minutes, and when they reached the end of the cave, Harry gasped.
They not only reached deep into the cliff, but also many meters below ground. The small passageway opened up into an enormous cavern. In the middle of the cavern was a pile of red rocks, ranging from the size of small pebbles to the size of his fist, which gave off blistering heat and produced harsh light.
On the opposite side of the cave were around five or so Scarlet Flame Wolves, who hissed at the intruders. But Harry ignored them, as they were no threat to him. The Qi Absorption Realm wolf wasn't present.
"So, this place naturally gathers Fire Qi," the cat muttered. "No wonder, no wonder. And even Natural Essences have formed."
"What are Natural Essences?"
"Boy, how can you be so ignorant? Have you ever picked up a book?"
"No."
"A Natural Essence is an object formed when natural energies take a physical form. In this case, the rich Fire Qi in this area has birthed a physical object. It's basically a solidified Natural Flame."
The cat pointed to the pile of red rocks.
"Those rocks in the center aren't natural rocks, as in they aren't made of minerals. Instead, they were formed by the intense Fire Qi in this place, condensed many times over, until they finally reached their current size. It must have taken at least a decade of accumulation. Many of them are practically Earth Grade resources."
"So, the rocks are the Natural Essence," Harry realized. "Is the Natural Flame also near here?"
"Boy, you may have heaven defying luck, but it's wasted on your idiot brain. The Natural Flame is hundreds of meters below the ground, unreachable to you. But even if it was reachable, could you use it? We can feel the heat through a hundred meters of rocks, so at the very least, it's a grade or two above that wolf's fire. If you stuck your hand into that flame, Nameless Seed or not, it'll melt away. Your hand would be gone before I could even scold you for being an idiot."
The cat waved its paw, and the red rocks disappeared. Harry knew it merely stored them somewhere else for later.
"Let's get back to Slughorn's place. You can refine these while he concocts your pills."
Harry walked back to Ox Ford City, carrying the Exalted Cat in his arms. He would have been in a good mood – if it weren't for the cat's unending comments.
"Boy, you are holding me too tightly."
"Sorry, Exalted Cat."
"Boy, massage my hind legs."
"Yes, Exalted Cat."
But even then, he couldn't get too upset. After all, he would soon be in the high-level of the Body Tempering Realm. It was a level that he dreamed about for years, a level he previously thought represented the peak of cultivation. But now that his horizons were broadened, he knew the Body Tempering Realm was far from the end of cultivation. There were greater heights for him to reach.
They finally reached the outskirts of Ox Ford City, and Harry began navigating his way to Slughorn's home.
"Exalted Cat, should we be worried about the Ox Ford Sect? What if those disciples come back with some higher-ups of their clan?"
"It's unlikely. Those five were just Outer Disciples, among the weakest of the clan. There are hundreds of those Outer Disciples, so the Ox Ford Sect simply can't manage them all. Besides, disciples get injured during training sessions all the time. Unless you killed or severely injured them, the Ox Ford Clan won't do anything."
"And even if they did, so what? The Ox Ford Sect and Ox Ford Clan are nothing. The reason they haven't come for you is naturally because of me."
'Bullshit,' Harry mentally snorted as the cat entered its self-flattery mode. That night when he'd beaten the Ox Ford Sect disciples, all the Exalted Cat did was warm itself by the fire. They probably thought it was his pet cat.
But the cat suddenly stopped talking, abruptly breaking off and staring into the distance.
"Something's wrong. Get to the house!"
Harry immediately broke into a sprint, not questioning the cat at all. In just a few minutes, they reached Slughorn's dilapidated house, which looked as ruined as always. Harry ran inside, into the crumbling kitchen, opened the trapdoor to the basement – and saw no stairs.
The pristine stairs leading to Slughorn's underground room were gone. Instead, all he saw was the dirt underneath the house.
"Where's Slughorn?"
But the Exalted Cat ignored him, instead leaping over to a broken table, where a gray ring was placed. It rubbed the ring, and a piece of paper appeared out of thin air.
Harry ran over, and realized the paper was a letter.
Old cat, they are getting close.
I have left the city, and will meet with you at the rendezvous point at the agreed upon time. You know what to do.
H, I am leaving the Nameless Rock with you, along with the remaining 12 Body Nourishing Pills. If we are fated to, we shall meet again.
Yours,
H. S.