Immortal Refiner

In the ancient hall’s secret chamber, a cage reeked of stale blood.

Faint etchings, numbering around seventeen, could still be seen on the walls.

The old man imprisoned here for seventeen years was now barely clinging to life, his vital signs so weak that he seemed on the verge of death at any moment.

With a thread-thin breath, the old man lifted his drooping eyelids and strained to study the tall young man slowly approaching his cage.

”Friend... who are you? How did you get in here?” His voice was barely audible, a faint whisper.

Li Qing stood with his hands clasped behind his back, taking his time to observe the old man before answering.

Finally, he reached a conclusion: the old man wouldn’t last much longer.

Even if he were to give him every healing pill he had, it might not be enough to save his life from its impending end.

The old man exuded a profound sense of decay and desolation, like a withered leaf about to rot in the soil, his life essence completely depleted.

”Are you the old mountain lord of Tianliang Mountain?” Li Qing asked calmly.

The old mountain lord’s physical form was still relatively normal. Despite having cultivated Red Moon Secret Power, his body retained the appearance of an ordinary elderly man.

The only noticeable mutation was his hair. The white strands were incredibly long, forming a thick carpet on the ground.

”Indeed... it is I,” the old mountain lord replied, as if answering the question had exhausted all his strength. After a long pause, he spoke again: ”Those two scoundrels... did they die at your hands?”

Li Qing nodded. ”Yes. Mo Shan and Black Feather became a great scourge, slaughtering cities and raising mortals as blood slaves. I couldn’t stand by and watch, so I intervened. Both are now completely vanquished.”

Listening to Li Qing recount this fact in such a calm tone, the old mountain lord took a long time to fully process the implications.

”Good... they deserved it! Hahaha... cough cough!”

Already on the brink of death, the old mountain lord laughed as if he had finally released a long-held grudge.

Imprisoned for so many years, surviving only on small doses of fresh blood at long intervals, he should have died long ago.

The fact that he was still clinging to life was largely due to the unwavering obsession in his heart. Now that he knew Mo Shan and Black Feather were both dead, that obsession had finally dissipated. This also meant his life was coming to an end.

Li Qing frowned. He still had many questions to ask, but he hadn’t expected the old mountain lord to be dying so soon.

As if sensing Li Qing’s hesitation, the old mountain lord forced himself to speak. ”Fellow Daoist, I know you still have many questions. Please choose the most pressing ones and ask them quickly. My time is running out.”

”I have only one request. After I die, bury me on the main peak of Tianliang Mountain. Will you grant this?”

Such a detached attitude toward life and death earned Li Qing a newfound respect for the old mountain lord. He nodded, tacitly agreeing to fulfill the dying man’s final request.

”Tell me briefly about the Blood Lotus Sect. I heard the Black Feather Mountain Lord mention the name before he died.”

The old mountain lord answered without hesitation. ”After the red moon mutation began, cultivators quickly discovered that absorbing the Red Moon Secret Power could extend their Lifespan.”

”This was a monumental discovery, rekindling hope in many cultivators who had nearly given up. If cultivating Red Moon Secret Power could grant immortality, they abandoned the Immortal Path without hesitation.”

”But soon, the side effects of cultivating Red Moon Secret Power began to manifest. Some became monstrous, neither human nor ghost, while others completely lost their sanity.”

Just as many people began to hesitate, a mysterious sect suddenly appeared in the Autumn Mountain Domain. Called the Blood Lotus Sect, its members were all former immortals.

”The Blood Lotus Sect discovered numerous methods to stabilize the side effects of the Red Moon Secret Power. Becoming a black feather yin crow was one of them.”

As he spoke, a deep sorrow filled the old mountain lord’s eyes.

”An old friend of mine was in the Blood Lotus Sect. I exchanged the Yin Crow Technique with him. Who could have imagined those two wretched creatures...”

If not for that, he might still be alive today.

Li Qing paid little attention to the old mountain lord’s grief. He silently repeated the names in his mind: Autumn Mountain Domain, Blood Lotus Sect.

Its members were all former immortals who had now converted to the Red Moon Secret Power.

To gather and command so many near-extinct immortals in this world, the mysterious leader behind the Blood Lotus Sect must be no ordinary figure.

Most importantly, a sect differs from a sect in that the former incorporates elements of faith and has a unique doctrine, while the latter is relatively more relaxed.

The Blood Lotus Sect was definitely not simple.

Just as Li Qing was about to ask his next question, he suddenly realized that the old mountain lord had completely stopped breathing, his life extinguished at some unknown moment.

He paused, slightly stunned. He still had so many questions to ask! At the very least, he needed to pry out details about Tianliang Mountain’s unique immortal dao heritage.

”Forget it,” Li Qing murmured. ”I’ll just take my time and search myself.”

He prepared to collect the body, intending to honor his promise to bury the old mountain lord on Tianliang Mountain’s main peak.

But then he stopped, his steps halting. Narrowing his eyes, he felt a strange familiarity about the scene.

Had the old mountain lord truly died? It all seemed too sudden!

A wisp of crimson Innate True Fire flickered at Li Qing’s fingertip. He muttered to himself, ”Old mountain lord, we cultivators of the Immortal Path rarely concern ourselves with what happens after death. Besides, cremation is quite popular these days. Consider it your contribution to conserving burial space and land resources.”

As soon as the words left his lips, he unleashed his Innate True Fire, which surged toward the old mountain lord’s corpse, now as brittle as dry wood.

Boom!

The scorching flames instantly reduced the body to ashes.

Just as the spiritual light was about to reduce the old mountain lord’s skull to ashes, a faint, dim spiritual light suddenly shot out, hurtling straight for Li Qing’s forehead.

Seeing this, Li Qing merely sneered, showing no panic.

Having prepared for this long ago, his eyes suddenly turned golden, then transformed into a golden blade that slashed out with lightning speed.

Swish!

The spiritual light hurtling toward him was instantly shattered, turning into a shower of glittering sparks that quickly extinguished.

”Such a cautious brat... I hate it!”

With the old mountain lord’s final thought fading away, he truly perished, his Dao extinguished.

That’s right, the old mountain lord had attempted a final gamble, preparing to seize Li Qing’s body.

Fortunately, Li Qing had lived a long life and understood body seizing well enough to guard against it.

Li Qing sneered, ”Even if I hadn’t been prepared, you wouldn’t have succeeded today.”

His divine soul was as powerful as a cultivator in the mid-foundation establishment stage, while the old mountain lord’s cultivation had only reached the foundation establishment realm in his prime. After enduring the End of Dao Era for so many years and being imprisoned for so long, his divine soul had long since weakened to a pitiful state.

Even if Li Qing hadn’t used the Soul Condensing Slash and had allowed the old mountain lord’s remnant soul to enter his Sea of Consciousness, his divine soul could have easily dealt with it.

However, the human Sea of Consciousness was the most mysterious place, and he didn’t want to risk letting anything else in lightly, not even a sliver of risk. That’s why he used the Soul Condensing Slash to completely obliterate the remnant soul!

”Heh, the old ghost was quite patient. After waiting for so many years, he finally found a cultivator. This was likely his last chance to seize a body in his remaining lifetime.”

”What a cunning old fox, putting on such a show. If he hadn’t helped Ye Feng seize a body before, I might not have even realized what he was up to.”

Li Qing couldn’t help but sigh, then recalled several ironclad rules about body seizing in the cultivation world.

One of them was that cultivators couldn’t seize the bodies of mortals without Spiritual Roots. Otherwise, the old mountain lord would likely have tried to seize the black feather mountain lord’s body long ago.

Seeing the last pile of bone dust left behind by the old mountain lord, Li Qing gathered it all into a container. Finally, he scattered it over Tianliang Mountain, casually activating a wind-type spell to let it disperse with the breeze.

”I won’t hold your body-seizing against you. I’ll let you take one last look at the scenery of Tianliang Mountain.”

With that, Li Qing turned and returned to the ancient hall within the Forbidden Land.

Now, it was time for his harvest!

Without hesitation, Li Qing picked up a well-worn book. After only glancing at it, he tossed it into his storage bag—it was just a basic metal-attribute cultivation manual.

His movements were swift. He flipped through one book after another, discarding anything useless into his storage bag without a second thought.

The book-bound content naturally held nothing of value. Most were inheritance manuals or secret manuals suitable only for the qi refining realm, of little use to Li Qing.

After searching through the entire collection, he finally found something worthwhile.

First was a first-tier formation inheritance. It not only explained the Dao of Formations but also detailed several first-tier formations. However, having never studied formations, Li Qing found it too profound after a cursory glance and also stored it in his bag.

”All this talk about terrain and Spiritual Veins is just too complicated. The Dao of Formations really demands a sharp mind. I’ll sell this off when I get the chance.”

The second item was a map encompassing the entire Black Wind Domain and its surrounding areas.

The Autumn Mountain Domain, where the Blood Lotus Sect was located, was also included. It lay southeast of the Black Wind Domain, quite close by.

Li Qing stroked his chin thoughtfully, then picked up the third item of some value.

Tianliang Refinement Art - First Volume!

That’s right, something related to artifact refinement inheritance. This was a first-tier refinement art inheritance. If he mastered it, he’d be fully capable of refining Mid-Grade Magic Tools.

Of course, the refinement techniques themselves were trivial to Li Qing. The most valuable aspect was the unique spirit patterns.

While the art could only produce Mid-Grade Magic Tools at best, many of the spirit patterns still held some reference value for him, sparking new insights.

Most importantly, if there was a first volume, then the complete second volume must be here as well!

At this thought, Li Qing’s breath quickened slightly. He turned his gaze toward the scattered jade slips lying nearby.

(End of the Chapter)

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