Beside a water pool in Breeze Valley, Yang Ye sat cross - legged on the ground, his eyes slightly closed as he sank his mind into his body.

After the initial excitement, Yang Ye felt that something was amiss. Two dantians - no matter how he thought about it, it just didn't seem right. So he decided to figure out the small vortex dantian deep within his dantian.

This time, he clearly saw the small vortex dantian. It was only about the size of a palm and constantly exuded a suction force. It was precisely because of this suction force that every time he absorbed profound qi after training, it was instantly sucked into this small vortex.

This small vortex drained all the profound qi in his dantian, preventing him from becoming a profound cultivator. No, actually, he should have been a profound cultivator a long time ago. Whether one could become a profound cultivator depended on one's talent. If one could absorb profound qi through physical training, then that person was a profound cultivator.

However, the profound qi he absorbed into his body was immediately sucked up by the small vortex, leading him to mistakenly believe that he wasn't a profound cultivator for a year. According to the criteria for becoming a profound cultivator, he had been one in the past.

Yang Ye tried to control this small vortex. In his opinion, since this small vortex was inside his body, it should belong to him and be under his control. However, he was disappointed. Whenever he tried to pull profound qi out of this small vortex, the small vortex seemed to be stimulated by something and started spinning faster, making it impossible for him to pull out even a wisp of profound qi.

"Those profound qi are mine!"

After struggling for a long time and seeing that the small vortex still refused to release the profound qi, Yang Ye became a bit angry and cursed in his heart. If he couldn't control this small vortex, wouldn't he be working for it for the rest of his life?

Most importantly, without profound qi, how could he increase his training intensity? He knew that his current training volume had already reached his limit. Without cultivation resources, if there was no profound qi to strengthen and repair his body, increasing the intensity further was likely to cause irreparable damage to his body.

"Give me a little, just a little. You should know that without me, you can't absorb profound qi. If you give me a little, I can absorb more profound qi. And won't all the profound qi I absorb still belong to you? How about it? Cooperation benefits both, while separation harms both!"

Since the tough approach didn't work, Yang Ye decided to try the soft one. Although it was a bit humiliating, after all, those profound qi were painstakingly cultivated by him. But there was no other way. Profound qi was related to whether he could become a true profound cultivator and whether he could become an outer - sect disciple. He had to yield.

After a while, there was no response from the small vortex. Just as Yang Ye was about to curse, suddenly, a wisp of light - golden profound qi flowed out of the small vortex. Seeing this, Yang Ye was so excited that he almost jumped up. After a while, another wisp flowed out. Gradually, wisps of light - golden profound qi continuously flowed out. It was only after about twenty wisps of light - golden profound qi had flowed out that the small vortex stopped.

As the light - golden profound qi flowed into his normal dantian, Yang Ye was about to shout out in excitement. Just then, the light - golden profound qi suddenly spread out in all directions along his meridians. Then, wisps of light - golden profound qi slowly seeped into his muscles. At this moment, Yang Ye seemed to be able to hear the cheers of countless cells in his muscles. The soreness and fatigue quietly disappeared, replaced by an increasingly abundant energy.

Just as Yang Ye was puzzled, he suddenly felt something wriggling on his body. He quickly took off his clothes and looked down. His eyes immediately widened. He saw that the skin on his body was peeling off at a visible speed!

Skin - shedding!

Skin - shedding was a phenomenon that occurred when the "Body - Tempering Technique" reached the fourth level. Reaching the fourth level of the Body - Tempering Technique meant that he was now at the fourth rank of the profound cultivator realm!

"Hahaha..."

Thinking of this, Yang Ye jumped up from the ground and burst into laughter. After laughing for a while, he seemed to realize that it was inappropriate and quickly stopped. He lowered his head and looked at his body.

Seeing that his body was still constantly peeling, Yang Ye quickly took off all his clothes and then jumped into the water pool. After the skin had completely peeled off, he rolled around in the water pool and then jumped out. He slowly stroked his chest with his palm. Wherever his palm passed, it was like touching a smooth stone, and a strange sense of hardness was transmitted to his palm.

"Smack, smack, smack!"

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Yang Ye picked up a branch beside him and immediately performed a set of basic sword techniques. After a set of sword techniques, there was a gust of wind, and it actually lifted some of the dust on the ground. The momentum was far beyond what he could achieve before.

After finishing the sword techniques, Yang Ye quickly sank his mind into his body again. Moments later, an ecstatic expression appeared on his face. Yes, he had really reached the fourth rank of the mortal realm!

Going from not being a profound cultivator at all to suddenly reaching the fourth rank of the mortal realm, Yang Ye had a dream - like sense of unreality. But soon he understood. From the moment he arrived at the Sword Sect, he had started to practice the Body - Tempering Technique hard. Among the outer - sect disciples at that time, although he couldn't be said to be the most hard - working one, he could definitely be ranked among the top three.

From that moment until now, he had been practicing this Body - Tempering Technique for nearly two years. His physical body had already reached a very tough level. Now that profound qi had entered his body, it was like he had a ten - million - gold - note and suddenly obtained the password. With the password, he could naturally withdraw the gold coins in the note.

To put it simply, it was a case of long - term accumulation leading to a sudden outburst!

Suddenly, Yang Ye frowned. He suddenly thought of a question - his profound qi was light - golden! Light - golden profound qi? Was it unique to him, or was the profound qi in other people's bodies also light - golden? Yang Ye was a bit confused.

"Never mind. When I enter the outer - sect disciples in the future and have more contact with others, I will surely know if I'm the same as others!" Yang Ye wasn't a person who liked to dwell on things. After thinking for a while, he put this matter aside.

Sitting cross - legged on the ground, he sank his mind into his body again. At this time, in his normal dantian, the previously golden profound qi had disappeared completely, leaving it empty.

"Old fellow, I think you understand what I said. Here's the deal. In the future, for the profound qi I absorb, we'll split it fifty - fifty. I'll give you all the profound qi I absorb, but you have to give me that light - golden profound qi. I'm not taking advantage of you. You should also know that only when I become stronger can I absorb more profound qi. On the contrary, if I don't become stronger, the profound qi I absorb will definitely be very little. So, for now, it should be centered around me. Only when I become stronger can you get more profound qi. How about it?"

Yang Ye had a ridiculous feeling that he thought this small vortex could understand him. There was no particular reason; he just had this feeling. So he decided to negotiate with this small vortex. Otherwise, if this small vortex monopolized the profound qi in the future, he would really be at a loss.

After a while, just as Yang Ye was getting impatient, the small vortex suddenly started spinning. It spun for a while and then stopped.

Feeling the movement of the small vortex, Yang Ye smiled. His intuition told him that the small vortex had agreed. Apparently, the small vortex was also dissatisfied with his current speed of absorbing profound qi and decided to first help him become stronger. This was called an investment!

Putting on his clothes, Yang Ye walked to the place where he hid the profound iron blocks and put them on his body. At this time, Yang Ye didn't feel the slightest weight.

He didn't have any cultivation methods at present, so he could only absorb profound qi through physical training. The harder he trained, the more profound qi he would naturally absorb. The more profound qi he absorbed, the more light - golden profound qi he would obtain. With more light - golden profound qi, he could use it to strengthen his body and improve his realm.

"Ah... Help! Don't chase Baor. Grandpa, help..."

Just as Yang Ye was about to start his extreme training, a shrill scream suddenly came from the distant forest. The voice was somewhat childish, obviously belonging to a little girl.

Hearing the sound, Yang Ye stopped in his tracks and looked towards the distant forest. Suddenly, a little girl in a broken - flower white dress ran out of the forest in a panic. The little girl was only about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a long braid tied behind her head. Her face was deathly pale, her small mouth tightly closed, and she was running as fast as she could, using both hands and feet.

When the little girl ran out and saw Yang Ye, her already pale face became even paler. She ran and shouted, "That little servant, run! The little snake has gone crazy..."

"Rumble!"

Just as Yang Ye was stunned, suddenly, the ground trembled. A huge creature charged out of the forest behind the little girl, crashing through everything in its path.

The Giant Python King!

Seeing this huge creature, Yang Ye's face turned as pale as the little girl's. This was a little snake? This was the Giant Python King!

The Giant Python King, a fifth - rank profound beast, was as big as three adults, three zhang long, with eyes as big as fists. Most importantly, its scales were so tough that even sword techniques might not be able to split them!

......