Ye Ningze took great effort to drag the giant python's corpse back to Xiaobai's territory, then collected its essence blood.
"Xiaobai, I'll reward you with the giant python's bones and flesh. Leave the scales for me, I have use for them."
The giant python's scales were arguably the most durable part of its body, comparable to C-grade Yuan weapons.
They would be good for crafting defensive armor in the future or selling on the black market.
"Okay, Master!" Xiaobai replied obediently.
In fact, even without Ye Ningze's explicit instruction, it had no intention of eating the scales. They were too hard and uncomfortable to chew.
Xiaobai dragged the giant python's carcass aside and began to feast.
Ye Ningze was not idle either. He used this time to work on his defensive talent.
"Fusion!"
He sat cross-legged and began to fuse his defensive talent.
Slowly, sweat began to bead on Ye Ningze's body, and his entire form turned red.
It felt like being roasted over a fierce fire, incredibly uncomfortable. However, Ye Ningze, long accustomed to the fusion process, was not overly surprised.
An hour later.
Ye Ningze had completely fused the defensive talent. Then, a set of data appeared before his retinas.
Race: Human.
Cultivation Talent: A-grade.
Blade Skill Talent: B-grade.
Flame Shadow Talent: C-grade.
Healing Talent: S-grade.
Endurance Talent: B-grade.
Strength Talent: A-grade.
Defense Talent: B-grade.
Seeing the newly acquired defensive talent, Ye Ningze's lips curved upwards involuntarily.
"Apart from cultivation talent, I now have seven special talents. The situation is probably unique in the world!" Ye Ningze mused inwardly.
Now that he had fused the defensive talent, Ye Ningze decided to test how much his defense had improved.
He took out his intermediate Yuan force blade and slashed it against his skin.
With one strike, not even a trace was left, let alone breaking the skin.
However, this was understandable. The previous slash had only used about tens of thousands of pounds of force, making it difficult to break through his own fleshly defense.
Ye Ningze instinctively increased the testing force, and only at three hundred thousand pounds of force did he manage to leave a shallow cut on his skin.
The tested force of three hundred thousand pounds did not mean that Ye Ningze could only withstand attacks of that magnitude in actual combat.
A martial artist's physical defense also relied on the augmentation of Yuan force.
Considering this, Ye Ningze immediately activated his Yuan force shield and then swung the blade again, intending to test how much force he could withstand.
After a series of tests, his Yuan force shield finally broke at 1.5 million pounds.
"To be able to withstand 1.5 million pounds of force, not bad!" Ye Ningze was quite satisfied with this result.
As a martial artist's realm increases, their defense also strengthens.
If Ye Ningze could withstand 1.5 million pounds at the initial stage of Grandmaster, then by the time he reached the peak Grandmaster stage, his defensive capabilities would see a qualitative leap.
At that point, even if Ye Ningze stood still and allowed any martial artist below the Transcendent realm to attack, they wouldn't be able to harm him in the slightest.
"It's alright. Finally got the defensive talent. Mid-grade is fine for now; I'll switch if I find a better one later!"
After the tests, Ye Ningze began his cultivation.
For the next ten days, Ye Ningze and Xiaobai remained in seclusion within the territory, not going anywhere.
Of course, during this time, Xiaobai often led its kin on hunts and patrols.
Even so, Xiaobai did not neglect its cultivation. By now, it had broken through to the peak of the initial stage of Grandmaster.
Having successfully stabilized its realm, Xiaobai's speed saw some improvement, increasing from its previous twenty-three times the speed of sound to twenty-five times.
Ye Ningze's speed had also reached twenty-three times the speed of sound.
"It's good to cultivate here, but the high-level ferocious beasts in our vicinity are becoming increasingly scarce..." Ye Ningze's thoughts began to wander.
Due to Ye Ningze's involvement, the high-level ferocious beasts near Xiaobai's territory had become increasingly rare, bordering on extinction.
Just as Ye Ningze was contemplating whether to relocate his base, on the other side, deep within the Great Prajna Forest's mountain range, a top-tier ferocious beast suddenly appeared.
It was a white giant ape, about eighty meters tall. The silver-white fur on its back stood on end, shining beautifully in the sun.
In fact, there were many top-tier ferocious beasts living in the Great Prajna Forest.
Each top-tier ferocious beast ruled its own territory.
This white giant ape was the overlord radiating over Xiaobai's territory. All the leaders of the high-level ferocious beasts living there had to obey its commands.
Periodically, they had to offer it some flesh and blood to receive its protection.
However, for some time now, no high-level ferocious beast had come to offer it flesh and blood.
This situation made the ape overlord feel very strange.
"Could they have all run away?"
The ape overlord was somewhat puzzled.
It emerged from the depths of the mountain range and scouted some areas, but it couldn't find even a single ferocious beast hair.
Just then, the ape overlord unexpectedly spotted a Light-Chasing Silver Dragon Leopard in front of it.
It was Xiaobai, on patrol nearby under Ye Ningze's orders.
"Finally found one!"
The ape overlord took one look and finally found a high-level ferocious beast.
Although it had found one, the ape overlord still felt somewhat strange, thinking inwardly, "I know all the high-level ferocious beasts in this area. How come I haven't seen this leopard before? Did it break through recently?"
This was because all the high-level ferocious beasts in the ape overlord's territory had to regularly provide it with blood tribute, so it was familiar with every existing high-level ferocious beast.
Xiaobai, on the other hand, had only broken through after encountering Ye Ningze recently.
In reality, Xiaobai had never met the ape overlord before. If it had known about the existence of such a top-tier ferocious beast in this area, it would have warned Ye Ningze long ago.
"This is bad, a top-tier ferocious beast! I need to report back to Master immediately!"
Although Xiaobai had not seen the ape overlord before, it recognized the terrifying aura emanating from it and immediately turned to flee.
Its vision pierced through layers of space as the ape overlord's gaze fell upon Xiaobai.
Although it didn't recognize Xiaobai, as a beast living within its territory, it should have submitted to it, or else it would become its meal.
*Swish!*
The ape overlord moved. Its massive body completely ignored topographical obstacles, leaping several thousand meters in a single stride.
Its speed was not as fast as Xiaobai's, but its sheer size and powerful leaping ability allowed it to disregard obstacles like giant trees and rocks. This speed was already astonishing.
Unlike Xiaobai, which had to constantly dodge obstacles, its speed was naturally inferior to the ape overlord's.
Soon, the ape overlord caught up to Xiaobai.