Immortal Refiner

Hearing these words, Li Qing felt a surge of emotion.

Abandoning Immortal Path cultivation to instead cultivate the Red Moon Secret Power?

If true, wouldn’t those priceless Immortal Path Secret Manuals become utterly worthless?

Top-tier cultivation manuals, secret techniques, even the so-called inheritances of cultivation techniques—wouldn’t they all be relegated to dusty stacks, forgotten and obsolete?

While it was true that these things had already lost their value in the End of Dao Era, before this new cultivation system emerged, people still clung to them out of habit.

Now that a new Dao had appeared, the ancient cultivation manuals were truly obsolete.

Suppressing his turbulent emotions, Li Qing pressed his question:

”If cultivation relies on absorbing the Red Moon Secret Power from moonlight, why is bloodletting from ordinary people necessary?”

This question stumped Miao Jiu. After all, he was just an ordinary person who hadn’t embarked on this path of cultivating the Red Moon Secret Power.

”Brother Li, I wouldn’t know about that,” Miao Jiu said with a wry smile. ”But you could ask the Gang Leader. She definitely knows more than I do.”

Li Qing fell silent, his mind drifting to the cold, alluring woman with whom he had once shared intimate moments.

”How has An Xuan been these past years?”

”After contacting the Immortal Master, the Gang Leader obtained a manual on cultivating the Red Moon Secret Power from Tianliang Mountain. Now, some of the gang’s higher-ups have abandoned the Martial Dao and begun cultivating the Red Moon Secret Power instead.”

”As for me, my talent in this path is lacking. Although cultivating it could grant me longevity, I refuse to become the kind of person who sustains themselves on human blood.”

Miao Jiu didn’t finish his sentence, but Li Qing understood his implication.

He was hinting that the An Xuan Li Qing remembered might be different from the person she had become.

Li Qing sighed inwardly.

People change—he knew this all too well. After so many years, it would be stranger if she hadn’t changed at all.

He didn’t want to interfere further, respecting others’ destinies and letting events unfold naturally. He would simply observe how things played out.

Finally, Li Qing asked to see An Xuan. Before leaving all those years ago, he had asked her to help gather spiritual materials.

After so much time, he wondered what progress she had made.

As an artifact refiner, Li Qing had already grasped certain truths.

In the End of Dao Era, where spiritual energy was absent, Spirit Herbs and spirit wood would lose their vitality and wither completely.

However, artifact refinement materials were different. Even in the absence of spiritual energy, their inherent spirituality remained largely unaffected.

At most, they might lose a bit of spirituality over time, but as long as they didn’t completely degrade into useless scrap, they could still be used.

With an artifact refiner’s skill, all it took was re-tempering them with spiritual energy, crafting them into Magic Artifacts, and then bringing them to a world brimming with spiritual energy. Their spirituality would then be rekindled.

At the Righteous Gang’s new main headquarters, Li Qing finally ”met” An Xuan, the Gang Leader of the Green Gang.

However, a thin black veil separated them, making it difficult to clearly see each other’s faces.

The room was cold and dimly lit, illuminated only by a single glowing night mushroom.

Finally, An Xuan spoke first, her voice carrying the weight of years: ”Brother Li, after all these years, you haven’t changed at all. It’s truly astonishing.”

”But I’ve grown old.”

Hearing that voice, weathered by time, Li Qing felt a pang of emotion. He murmured, ”I heard you’ve also cultivated the Red Moon Secret Power?”

”Yes. The Red Moon’s power grants longevity. I wanted to live longer, hoping I might see you again.”

”Over the years, I sent Green Gang members across the Black Wind Domain, searching every corner, but we never found a trace of you.”

”After all these years, I’m so happy to see you again,” An Xuan’s voice trembled slightly, filled with longing for Li Qing.

Even Li Qing, whose resolve to pursue the Dao was unwavering, felt a faint flicker of doubt.

The hardest thing to bear is the kindness of a beautiful woman.

He took two steps forward, but An Xuan quickly stopped him.

”Don’t come any closer. I don’t want you to see me as I am now.”

”I’ve ordered my men to bring some spiritual materials the Green Gang has collected over the years. After that... you should leave.”

Cultivating the Red Moon Secret Power grants immortality, but it cannot preserve one’s youthful appearance. Time leaves its mark.

Moreover, this sinister power is inherently malevolent, potentially causing grotesque mutations.

At the Mid Qi Refining Realm, one cannot yet project their divine sense beyond their body.

Even with Li Qing’s eagle-like vision, he couldn’t clearly discern An Xuan’s current appearance through the thin black veil in the dimly lit, chilly room.

However, he could sense faint fluctuations of energy emanating from behind the veil.

It was neither the aura of a Martial Artist nor the qi of a cultivator, but a strangely demonic energy, almost sinister.

Li Qing clenched his fist, slowly releasing it after a long moment.

After another long pause, he finally uttered a single word: ”Alright.”

At that point, he said nothing more.

He was clumsy and rough when it came to handling emotions, and in this situation, he felt utterly lost.

Soon, someone came to escort Li Qing away to the warehouse where the Green Gang had stored the spiritual materials they had collected over the years.

As he turned to leave, Li Qing clearly heard muffled sobs coming from behind the black veil.

Helpless and unsure of what to do, he could only continue on his way.

He arrived at the warehouse in a daze, his mind in turmoil. Since beginning his cultivation journey, this was a rare disturbance to his Dao Heart.

Clang!

The tightly sealed warehouse door swung open, releasing a musty, moldy odor that filled his nostrils.

Before Li Qing could begin examining the spiritual materials, a robust voice boomed from behind him:

”Though these items have lost much of their value, gathering them was no easy task. The Green Gang spent years using every means at their disposal to acquire them.”

The voice sounded familiar. Li Qing turned around and exclaimed in surprise, ”Zhao Kou!”

Zhao Kou had changed dramatically—far more than Li Qing had imagined.

The last time Li Qing had seen Zhao Kou, he was still a youth, full of vigor and ambition. When Zhao Kou left Blackrock City, he had even challenged Li Qing to a duel.

Now, by the World of Eternal Night’s reckoning, over twenty years had passed.

Zhao Kou’s hair was streaked with gray, and his face bore the marks of time. Yet the sinister aura that had once clung to him was gone, replaced by the dignified presence of a true martial arts master.

”Brother Li!” Zhao Kou took a deep breath, his composure finally cracking as he recognized Li Qing’s face.

For years, Zhao Kou had regarded Li Qing as his martial arts ideal.

Even when the Green Gang acquired a cultivation method for the Red Moon Secret Power, Zhao Kou refused to touch it, steadfastly adhering to his original martial arts principles.

As a martial arts fanatic, Zhao Kou naturally saw Li Qing as a guiding light on his path to mastery after learning that Li Qing had become a Grandmaster.

Boom!

Martial artists need no lengthy greetings or reminiscing. Fists and feet speak the truest language!

In an instant, Zhao Kou’s figure blurred as his vital energy surged within him.

”Hahahaha! Excellent!” Li Qing roared with laughter, his eyes gleaming as he faced Zhao Kou’s radiant gaze.

He could see that Zhao Kou’s martial arts had improved significantly over the years, reaching the Peak of Inner Strength, just half a step away from the Grandmaster Realm.

Although Zhao Kou was aging and his Vital Energy had waned, it was clear he had specifically cultivated his Vital Energy, maintaining a state of robust middle age.

Zhao Kou’s fist shot straight for Li Qing’s face, the crisscrossing gusts of wind carrying immense threat.

Yet Li Qing merely raised a single finger, as effortlessly as he had faced Zhao Kou’s challenge years ago.

With his Grandmaster-level physique and incomparably dense Vital Energy, combined with his self-created supreme martial art—the Limitless Art—a single finger was more than sufficient to counter a Peak of Inner Strength fist.

Bang!

The fist and finger collided. Zhao Kou’s expression twisted violently as his Inner Strength failed to penetrate Li Qing’s finger even a fraction. The finger felt as solid as if it were cast from iron, utterly unyielding.

In an instant, Zhao Kou staggered back several steps, his fist recoiling as if struck by lightning.

”Is this the Grandmaster Realm?”

(End of the Chapter)

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