Xiao Hua looked at Yuan with a pondering gaze. "Brother Yuan's cultivation base was only at the early stages of Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice before consuming the Jade Frog monster core. Even if Brother Yuan consumes the entire Jade Frog monster core, he shouldn't be able to break through to Eighth Level Spirit Apprentice right away and would only be halfway there…"

"Additionally, Brother Yuan also directly absorbed the entire monster core and did not receive any backlash but had a breakthrough instead… Xiao Hua has never seen anything like this before…"

"Perhaps it had something to do with my physique?" Yuan said.

"Brother Yuan's physique?"

"It's called Heaven Refining Physique," he said, hoping she'd know something about it.

However, Xiao Hua only tilted her head. "Heaven Refining Physique? Xiao Hua has never heard of it before…"

"But if it has something to do with why Brother Yuan was able to consume that Jade Frog monster core, then we can obtain some more monster cores to experiment."

"Hmm…" Yuan suddenly retrieved the token given to him by the goddess during his character evaluation and showed it to her. "Then do you know what this thing is, or its purpose?"

Xiao Hua's eyes instantly widened with shock when she saw the jade token in his hand. "Ancient Spirit Jade! And so big!" she exclaimed loudly, "Where did Brother Yuan obtain this!?"

"It was given to me by some beauty. I don't know her name, though. What does it do?" Yuan became curious when he saw her shocked expression, looking as though she just witnessed the heavens collapse before her.

"This is a Spirit Jade; it is somewhat similar to a monster core but holds far more Qi within. Even a pebble-sized Royal Spirit Jade of low quality, the lowest grade, is extremely valuable in the higher heavens… since it can awaken or bestow bloodlines..." Xiao Hua forcefully swallowed her saliva and continued, "The Ancient Spirit Jade in Brother Yuan's grasp is three grades above the Royal Spirit Jade… and is probably of high quality… Not to mention it is the size of a palm-sized rock…"

The presence of the Ancient Spirit Jade was enough to make the usually calm Xiao Hua tremble uncontrollably — it was just that valuable of a treasure.

"Hmmm… So I can consume this and obtain Qi like monster cores, right?" Yuan licked his lips when he thought about how sweet the Jade Frog monster core tasted. "I wonder how much stronger I'll grow if I were to eat this…"

Xiao Hua nearly received a heart attack when she heard his words and hastily grabbed his hands. "You mustn't! If Brother Yuan consumes this, even if you have a unique physique, you will surely explode to death! Even a peak Spirit Emperor would not dare to imagine consuming it!"

Yuan chucked when he saw the anxious face she made, "Relax, Xiao Hua. I won't consume it. Such a valuable item, how could I consume it before I find that beauty to ask her why she gave me this Spirit Jade?"

'For that person to have this Ancient Spirit Jade, she must have a shocking background… Maybe someone from the Supreme Heaven?' Xiao Hua thought to herself.

"Xiao Hua, here."

"?"

"!!!"

Xiao Hua's soul nearly abandoned her body when Yuan suddenly threw the Ancient Spirit Jade at her. Barely catching it, she looked at him with a baffled expression. "Brother Yuan…?"

"It'd be wiser if you were to keep this Ancient Spirit Jade for me until I become strong enough to protect it," he said.

"Xiao Hua cannot hold something this valuable!" She instantly refused while shaking her head, her hands already trembling from the invisible weight coming from the Ancient Spirit Jade.

Yuan frowned, "If you don't want to hold it, then who will? I am aware of my weak existence in this vast world, so having me hold something like that will only bring endless trouble. If I could, I would just throw it away, but now that I know its value… You know what I mean, right?"

Xiao Hua clenched her fist and nodded with a serious expression. "Xiao Hua vows to protect this Ancient Spirit Jade even at the cost of her life!"

"Wrong!" Yuan said loudly. "No matter how valuable that Spirit Jade is, it is only an object and will never be as valuable as your life! If it ever comes to losing your life or that Spirit Jade, then you will choose to lose the Spirit Jade!"

"But…"

"No buts! This is an order!" Yuan was adamant about his decision. In his eyes, there is nothing in this world that can be as valuable as Xiao Hua's life.

"...Xiao Hua understands…" She reluctantly nodded before storing the Ancient Spirit Jade in her storage pouch.

With the Ancient Spirit Jade gone from her sight, the atmosphere was no longer as heavy and suffocating.

'I was unable to learn more about that beauty or why she'd give me such a valuable treasure… How unfortunate.' Yuan sighed inwardly.

—

"Where do we go to obtain more monster cores?" Yuan asked her with the steel sword still in his grasp, his blood still heated from the battle with the Jade Frog.

"Any monster with a cultivation base of Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice and above will have a chance to drop a monster core," she said.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get hunting!"

Xiao Hua began leading Yuan around to find monsters for him to fight. With her cultivation base, it was an easy job for her to locate monsters within a thousand-meter radius.

"There's a middle-level monster 200 meters to the north."

Low-level are monsters between levels one to three, middle-level between levels four to six, and high-level are monsters between levels seven to nine.

"Eh? If it isn't at least at a Seventh Level, what point is there for us to hunt them if they don't drop monster cores?"

"Brother Yuan, no matter how talented an individual is or how many heavenly techniques they have, without the experience to use them properly, they will still be regarded as someone weak."

"I cannot argue against that…" Yuan nodded.

Thus, the two began slaughtering every monster that crossed paths with them… or more precisely, every monster that was unfortunate enough to be in that area.