To verify his conjecture, Chen Zheng flipped over and landed, picking up the long saber that had fallen to the side.
The Magic Leopard, with its injured eye, became even more ferocious, flipping to its feet.
It crouched low, emitting guttural growls from its throat, its single remaining eye glaring fiercely at Chen Zheng, pacing back and forth around him, searching for an Opportunity for a fatal pounce!
Chen Zheng was also observing the Magic Leopard.
Every movement and expression of the Magic Leopard was incredibly clear in his eyes; he could even vaguely infer its next move.
"This is..."
A wave of information surged through Chen Zheng's mind.
"Mental Energy!"
This was a special power that would only emerge when one had tempered their Physical Body to the extreme and achieved a Breakthrough into the Kai Mai Realm!
Why was the Kai Mai Realm so powerful?
Not only because Internal Energy was condensed, but also because of Mental Energy!
Previously, Chen Zheng couldn't understand why, no matter how strong one was in the Houtian Realm, they were no match for someone in the Kai Mai Realm; now, he had gained some enlightenment!
"Roar!"
The Magic Leopard circled Chen Zheng a few times, finally unable to restrain itself, and attacked again!
This time, the Magic Leopard's attack was even more vicious!
It even stirred up an invisible hurricane.
But in Chen Zheng's eyes, it was still full of flaws!
Whoosh!
The long saber swung down; Chen Zheng did not use a killing move, just an ordinary stance from the Flowing Cloud Saber Technique!
As the long saber swung down, Chen Zheng discovered that his Flowing Cloud Saber Technique, which he had thought was perfected through life-and-death tempering, still had many errors.
The force exerted when drawing the saber, the control of Qi and blood, the angle of the swing, the timing of the chop... all of this became increasingly clear under Chen Zheng's powerful Mental Energy!
After Chen Zheng made adjustments accordingly, the originally unremarkable strike suddenly possessed a profound, effortless elegance!
In the Magic Leopard's eyes, Chen Zheng's not-so-fast strike felt unavoidable.
"Ow!"
The Magic Leopard let out a pained howl; Chen Zheng's strike had landed precisely on its weakest spot.
Immediately after!
Chen Zheng exerted force with his wrist, and the saber's speed suddenly erupted, revealing terrifying lethality at this moment!
Whoosh!
A ferocious leopard head shot into the sky.
Chen Zheng moved aside, and the headless corpse of the Magic Leopard slid past him, crashing heavily to the ground and raising a cloud of dust.
Blood gushed like a spring, and the scent of blood spread.
Chen Zheng stood to the side, not paying attention to the Magic Leopard's corpse, but rather carefully savoring the essence of his own strike.
An ordinary strike erupting with the power of a killing move—this was something he could never have imagined before.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
Beast roars echoed all around, coming from far and near, interrupting Chen Zheng's thoughts.
Feeling the ground shake, Chen Zheng didn't hesitate; he strode to the Magic Leopard's corpse, dug out the demonic core, and then turned and left.
He needed to find a sufficiently quiet and safe place to sort out everything that had happened to him.
Just a few breaths after Chen Zheng left, seven or eight powerful Demonic Beasts, drawn by the scent of blood, searched the area.
In less than a moment, the Magic Leopard's remains became a pile of white bones... In a hidden mountain cave, Chen Zheng sat cross-legged.
This was once the lair of a Peak First-Rank Demonic Bear, but it had been abandoned; however, the lingering aura of the Demonic Bear around the cave entrance still caused many Demonic Beasts to actively steer clear.
Chen Zheng slowly opened his eyes, his excitement barely concealed.
He had figured out the changes that had occurred to him!
Firstly, the surging Mental Energy was because the alchemy knowledge that Dan Chenzi forcibly crammed into his mind had broken open his mental gate, which should have only opened when he broke through to the Kai Mai Realm.
Normally, if the mental gate were forcibly broken open, a person would either die or go mad.
But because Chen Zheng had the protection of the chaos divine cauldron and the Chaos Divine Sky Art, his fundamental spiritual intelligence was not damaged, and he thus turned misfortune into a blessing!
Now, not only did he possess Mental Energy in the Houtian Realm, but when he later broke through to the Kai Mai Realm, his Mental Energy would receive a second enhancement!
This meant that, within the same Realm, because his foundation was deeper, his Mental Energy would far surpass that of others!
Moreover, this gap would become even more pronounced as his strength increased!
Secondly!
It was the extensive alchemy knowledge that appeared in his mind!
In terms of theoretical knowledge alone, Chen Zheng could now be considered a Fifth-Rank Alchemist!
The alchemy techniques transmitted to him by Dan Chenzi not only included alchemy itself but also encompassed identifying Spiritual Plants, cultivating and caring for medicinal ingredients, and refining and fusing liquid medicines—it was truly all-encompassing!
The reason it was only Fifth-Rank was that, given Chen Zheng's current capacity, he could only receive this much knowledge.
The remaining alchemy memories were refined and sealed by the chaos divine cauldron, and he would only be able to unseal them after his strength broke through to a certain Realm.
As for the specific extent, Chen Zheng did not yet know.
However, the status of an Alchemist was noble; even becoming just a Fifth-Rank Alchemist was an Opportunity that others desperately sought but could not obtain!
Finally, there was the change in the chaos divine cauldron!
Chen Zheng immersed his consciousness into his Divine Soul, and within the chaos divine cauldron, he saw that, in addition to the accumulated golden liquid, a drop of blood-colored liquid was forming.
This blood-colored liquid was condensed by the chaos divine cauldron absorbing the essence of the Demonic Beast's blood Qi at the moment Chen Zheng killed it!
Unlike the golden liquid, the blood-colored liquid could not enhance Chen Zheng's cultivation, but it could enhance Chen Zheng's Qi and blood strength, up to the Physical Body's limit!
As long as there was enough blood-colored liquid, Chen Zheng's Physical Body in every Realm could reach the legendary state of Physical Body Perfection, and breaking through cultivation in this state would yield infinite benefits!
This function was originally meant to be available to the chaos divine cauldron only after Chen Zheng broke through to the Kai Mai Realm, but due to the accidental premature opening of the mental gate, the chaos divine cauldron also gained some permissions ahead of time.
"Normally, killing an Eighth-Stage First-Rank Demonic Beast should condense one to two drops of blood-colored liquid, but because only some permissions were enabled, leading to incomplete functionality, only a little over half a drop was condensed, reducing efficiency by at least half!"
Chen Zheng withdrew his thoughts, feeling a touch of emotion.
Then he chuckled, "Greed knows no bounds, She Tun. This was a privilege meant for the Kai Mai Realm, and I've unlocked it early. What more could I be dissatisfied with?"
Shaking his head, Chen Zheng cast aside the distracting thoughts in his mind.
Dan Chenzi's "gentle" face flashed through his mind, and a surging killing intent flickered in his eyes.
Although all these changes in him were due to Dan Chenzi, Dan Chenzi had intended to kill him from the very beginning!
Chen Zheng would not be grateful!
However, this person's origin was mysterious and his strength powerful; seeking revenge would probably not be easy... "This grudge! I shall remember it for now!"
As the saying goes, a gentleman's revenge, though it takes ten years, is not too late!
As long as he continued to grow stronger, there would be a day when he could avenge today's grievance!
After suppressing the hatred in his heart, Chen Zheng pulled out the yin spirit grass from his bosom.
Now, he possessed a wealth of theoretical knowledge as an Alchemist, but how the practical operations would fare remained to be seen.
Now was the perfect time to try!