My Celestial Ascension

"I'll entice the beast out of the cave and kill it outside the cave; fighting him within the cave will be extremely difficult," Yuan remarked before approaching the cave, calm and confident.

Xi Meili then turned to Valeria and stated, "Big Sister Valeria, I encourage you to stay behind me for your safety; if the Scale Viper strikes you, you will not be able to survive."

"Scale Viper? This is the first time I've heard this; is it truly as harmful as you claim?" General Valeria inquired, her curiosity clear.

"A Spiritual Beast is many times stronger than a Magical Beast; even an SS-rank monster is like a mouse in front of a venomous snake," Xi Meili stated to Valeria, adding, "So, you best be careful and stay behind me!"

General Valeria gazed towards the cave and then at her hand with a peculiar expression on her face; she felt weak and incapable because this was the first time she had met such a circumstance.

'Am I really that weak that I have to hide behind someone who is not even half my age? This is the first time I felt helpless...' General Valeria sighed inwardly; she never imagined that she'd have to hide behind someone else because she was weak.

Grace noticed Valeria's dejected expression and placed her hand on her shoulder, smiling softly.

"Mother-in-law Grace..." Valeria whispered as she felt her hand on her shoulder.

"Just Grace will do; there is no need to call me with such a long title, as you plainly are older than me," Grace stated in an indifferent tone, leaving Valeria wondering if she disliked her or not.

Valeria was skeptical since she couldn't sense Grace's familial care for her, and her expression was constantly frigid.

"You shouldn't think of yourself as useless or weak, Valeria; you're not weak; it's just that the beast Yuan is going to kill is not the kind of beast that a mortal like you can manage," Grace stated, her tone impersonal and chilly, but it contained tenderness, which Valeria could feel very clearly.

She went on to say, "Even if you bring thousands of great magicians and warriors, you will be unable to defeat a Spiritual Beast; only us cultivators can manage such a beast."

"Look, the beast is ready to emerge from its cave; you'll understand what I mean after you see it for yourself." Grace abruptly pointed her finger toward the cave and spoke.

General Valeria then turned her sight to the cave and noticed Yuan standing there with a sneer on his face.

Suddenly, a great pressure dropped, followed by a deafening monster roar from the cave, causing the ground to tremor and the air to tremble.

Valeria felt a shiver run down her spine, and her legs trembled from the intense pressure and bloodlust emanating from the cave. Her complexion turned pale, and her heart began to beat irregularly.

'This much bloodlust and such strong pressure... It's on an entirely different level than the magical beasts!' Valeria pondered, feeling fear like she'd never felt before, as if the beast's aura alone would devour her whole.

Xi Meili stared at the cave and glanced at Grace and Valeria. "It is coming!"

Suddenly, a large snake emerged from the cave, hissing at Yuan and looking at him with bloodlust. Its body was covered in spiky green scales that appeared to be extremely durable and impervious to magic spells and weapons.

"So, this is what a Scale Viper looks like, right?" Yuan smirked as he glanced at the tall serpent. "I must admit, it's quite strong and terrifying compared to the mystical monsters we've been fighting and slaying up to this point."

Valeria went to her knees as soon as she saw the towering figure of the Scale Viper, who was staring at them with an intimidating gaze, and her body seemed to cease listening to her.

'So this is the Spiritual Beast Yuan and the others are referring to; I doubt that even if we thoroughly train the entire empire's army, we would be able to defeat such a beast! It's significantly stronger than anything I've seen!' Valeria glanced at the viper with horror on her face as if she was about to die.

'Such intense pressure...It feels like it is going to break my bones! Mother-in-law Grace was correct; I am powerful, but in the presence of this monster, I am vulnerable and can be killed in a second!' She remembered what Grace had said just now and clenched her fist tightly before rising from the ground.

Grace and Xi Meili grinned as they canceled the viper's intense pressure and surrounded Valeria with their own Qi, protecting her from it.

"As you can see, this is a Spiritual Beast with Peak Spirit Master Level cultivation; simply its aura may kill you," Xi Meili remarked gravely, her attention set on the viper. "This is the distinction between a magical monster and a spiritual beast."

"This is a Spiritual Beast called the Scale Viper..." General Valeria swallowed anxiously, unable to gaze straight into the snake's eyes.

Roaaarrrr!! The Scale Viper let out a deafening roar, causing the air to quake and a violent wind to pick up, sending several trees flying. Its eyes blazed bright red, and a powerful killing intent radiated from them.

"I want to fight you with my bare hands, but I don't have time for that, therefore I have no alternative but to kill you as soon as possible." Yuan sighed, held his sword securely, and gave the Viper a serious look.

His figure vanished from his location and reappeared in the air behind the viper's head in the blink of an eye.

The Scale Viper looked around in confusion as Yuan's figure vanished from the scene, and then he sensed Yuan's presence behind him; however, it was too late for him.

Yuan swung his Empyreal Oblivion quickly and precisely, decapitating the Scale Viper with a single swing of his sword, causing its blood to fly everywhere.

The next minute, its decapitated head landed a few meters distant from its body, causing a large amount of dust to fly around.

Yuan cleared the dust with a simple wave of his hand and smiled as he looked at the decapitated Scale Viper.

He was surprised to discover that even a Peak Spirit Master-

level Spiritual Beast posed no threat to him, despite the fact that the beast was far stronger than its cultivation level when compared to humans.

General Valeria was stunned to see Yuan destroy the Scale Viper with a single swing of his sword; it was beyond her imagination, and she nearly couldn't believe it.

'How powerful! He defeated such a powerful beast so simply; he is incredibly strong!' General Valeria pondered.

Then Grace and Xi Meili approached Yuan, Grace leading Valeria along. Xi Meili said, "Hubby, didn't I tell you that with your cultivation level, you could destroy this viper as easily as breathing? Look, you didn't even break a sweat."

"My darling is simply too awesome and powerful; no one can match him!" Grace murmured this with a proud grin on her lips, kissing Yuan's forehead and beaming.

Yuan immediately turned to Valeria and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright," Valeria said, smiling as she glanced at the viper's body. "What now? What will we do with its body? The scales are fairly sturdy, and they should sell for a high price in the empire's capital."

"I don't believe that's conceivable; no blacksmith will be able to use the resources from a spiritual beast, therefore it's pretty much useless to them." Xi Meili shook her head.

Then she went on to say, "However, the meat of a spiritual beast is highly important for cultivators such as ourselves, as it contains a tremendous quantity of spiritual energy and will also make our body become stronger."

"And, since this is a Peak Spirit Master level beast, it must have a beast core inside its head, which we should acquire."

"Although blacksmiths could not use the scales to manufacture weapons, they are still highly valuable."

"We should save it and then sell the scales once we get to the empire's imperial capital." Xi Meili replied with a smile.

"You are correct, Xi Meili." Yuan smiled as she acknowledged Xi Meili's explanation.

'With the help of the meat from the Scale Viper, my ladies will become even stronger; I've made the best option in coming here.' Yuan thought with a smile.

Yuan then extracted the beast core from the viper's head and placed it in his system storage, as well as the viper itself after butchering it.

He smiled as he glanced at his mother, Grace, and his wives. "Now let's go collect the Spiritual Herbs inside the cave."

"Naturally," Grace nodded as she entered the cave.

Upon entering the cave, they detected a tremendous amount of spiritual energy, and Valeria felt the air becoming thicker because she couldn't detect the Spiritual Energy in the air.

The inside of the cave was dark, but Yuan and his women could see it easily, with the exception of Valeria, who had some difficulties seeing clearly.

"The Spiritual Herbs are growing deep into the cave; it's only a few meters away." Xi Meili said, leading the way to the site of the spiritual herbs.

It only took them a few minutes to arrive, and once there, Yuan and his women saw hundreds of spiritual herbs blooming in the cave's black soil, generating a great spiritual force.

Yuan and his wives quickly began collecting all of the mystical herbs inside the cave.

It took them nearly half an hour to gather all of the spiritual herbs inside the cave since certain herb roots had penetrated fairly deeply into the dirt and they needed to be especially cautious while collecting them.

"When compared to magical herbs, these herbs are heavy. A single herb weighs the same as twenty magical herbs; very unusual." Valeria was startled by the Spiritual Herbs because they are both similar and different.

After successfully collecting all of the spiritual herbs from the cave, Yuan smiled at his women and said, "Now that we've concluded our business here, let us return to where the others are."