Immortal Refiner

Primordial Chaos Qi Induction Manual, Qi Refining Realm to Core Formation Realm. This cultivation manual has no Five Elements attributes, and the mana cultivated through it is neutral and balanced.

Li Qing slowly set down the jade slip. This was the first cultivation manual he had obtained that could be cultivated all the way to the Core Formation Realm.

The greatest advantage of this manual was its ease of transition. It didn’t favor any specific Five Elements attribute, making it easy to switch to regardless of the attribute of the cultivation manual previously practiced.

Furthermore, its neutral and balanced nature allowed for relatively rapid cultivation.

The only drawback was its average offensive power and lack of special secret techniques. It could only be considered a fairly standard cultivation manual.

”Should I switch to it? This manual is likely the core inheritance of Tianliang Mountain.”

Li Qing frowned slightly, lost in serious thought.

For a cultivator like him with average Spirit Root aptitude, choosing this manual was clearly the safest option, offering a wider path on The Dao.

”I’ll set it aside for now. If I still can’t find a heavenly spirit fire in the future, I’ll consider switching then.”

Without heavenly spirit fire, the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art would only offer a slight advantage in true essence attack power. Its cultivation speed would be absolutely inferior to the Primordial Chaos Qi Induction Manual.

However, once he could find heavenly spirit fire, the upper limit of his current cultivation manual would be far higher. It would not only boost his cultivation speed but also grant him formidable combat abilities.

Li Qing returned the jade slip to his storage pouch and continued to examine the other jade slips, each containing a different inheritance.

Blood-Burning Secret Art!

This forbidden secret technique involved burning one’s own essence blood and life essence in exchange for mana, offering a desperate chance for survival in dire straits.

After reading the secret technique’s contents, Li Qing narrowed his eyes.

Undoubtedly, this was a forbidden technique. Using it would come at a significant cost to the user.

”Interesting. I might consider learning this. If I ever truly reach a dead end in the future, this secret technique could prove invaluable.”

Of course, Li Qing only intended to keep this secret technique as a contingency plan. He certainly hoped he would never need to use it.

Who, after all, would willingly wish to be cornered in a desperate situation when they had plenty to eat?

Li Qing began searching through Tianliang Mountain’s inheritance. These jade slips contained the accumulated knowledge of Tianliang Mountain over many years—a priceless treasure trove of Immortal Path wisdom!

Now, these cultivation manuals were freely available for Li Qing to peruse. One could imagine his delight.

Soon, he unearthed two more cultivation manuals, both foundation establishment realm cultivation Chapters. One was metal-attribute, the other earth-attribute. Neither held much appeal for Li Qing.

Still, they had value. If he ever needed spirit stones, he could sell them off—they would fetch a handsome price.

Before long, Li Qing finally held the artifact refinement inheritance he had been eagerly anticipating.

Tianliang Artifact Refinement Compendium!

As he read the jade slip’s contents, a wide, joyful smile spread across his face.

”Excellent, excellent! It truly is a second-tier artifact refinement inheritance! It even includes spirit patterns for crafting top-grade magical artifacts.”

Spirit patterns for top-grade magical artifacts were incredibly complex, unlike the single-attribute patterns found elsewhere. They often combined multiple elements.

A single spirit pattern might incorporate three or four of the Five Elements, an astonishing feat!

”The profound ice thunder spirit pattern... to combine Ice Attribute and Lightning Attribute spirit patterns like this... once inscribed, its power will likely be astonishing.”

Of course, bearing such a spirit pattern would undoubtedly require magic artifact materials of exceptionally high quality. Inferior materials would likely be shattered by a spirit pattern of this caliber.

What a treasure!

Once he fully comprehended and mastered these techniques, Li Qing would become a true second-tier artifact refiner. Countless cultivation clans would undoubtedly extend olive branches to him, even offering exorbitant prices to commission him to refine a top-grade magical artifact as a clan heirloom—a treasure to safeguard their lineage!

Moreover, not even all the elders in charge of the Lingyun Sect’s refining hall possessed the ability to refine top-grade magical artifacts.

Li Qing skimmed through the jade slip’s contents, planning to return to Lingyun Sect and enter seclusion again to thoroughly master the knowledge it contained.

But when he reached the end, he froze in place, a surge of ecstatic joy flooding his heart.

”Top-Grade Magical Artifact: Heavenly Net Banner Refinement Diagram. Main Materials: Second-Tier Demonic Beast Spine, Six-Legged Shadow Spider Silk. Auxiliary Materials: Inkleaf Stone Powder, Spirit-Nurturing True Water...”

Artifact Refinement Diagram!

This was actually a diagram for refining a top-grade magical artifact! The steps were incredibly detailed, yet the required materials were surprisingly simple.

It meticulously recorded everything, from how to forge the artifact’s shape to which spirit patterns to inscribe.

”Hiss! Even top-grade magical artifacts have refinement diagrams? Unbelievable!” Li Qing gasped, his heart filled with excitement.

Once he gathered the necessary materials, he could begin refining the Heavenly Net Banner, a top-grade magical artifact.

This Artifact Refinement Diagram was priceless!

Even if this expedition had yielded nothing else, obtaining this diagram alone would have made it worthwhile.

Li Qing carefully stored the jade slip in his storage pouch. This second-tier artifact refinement inheritance was far more valuable than he had imagined.

Once the Heavenly Net Banner was refined, his combat strength would soar once again!

A top-grade magical artifact offered a significant advantage to a foundation establishment cultivator. If he faced other foundation establishment cultivators who lacked such an artifact, he would hold a considerable edge.

Keep searching!

With only a few jade slips remaining, Li Qing hoped to find something valuable.

He had to admit, the accumulated inheritance of an immortal sect’s dao tradition was truly astonishing.

Among the last few jade slips, he discovered something that would be useful to him: the Shattered Origin Grand Seal!

The name was unremarkable, but the technique itself was far from ordinary.

This divine ability could only be cultivated by foundation establishment cultivators, but once mastered, its power would increase exponentially.

Li Qing carefully studied the basic introduction to this divine ability: ”Cultivate a pure spiritual energy grand seal within your body using your own mana. The longer the seal is nurtured, the more powerful it will become.”

”Furthermore, this divine ability will manifest different powers based on the attribute of the cultivation manual you practice.”

How fascinating!

”Since I cultivate a fire attribute cultivation manual, I can nurture a Shattered Origin Great Fire Seal within my body.”

If one cultivated a metal attribute cultivation manual, the resulting divine ability would be the Shattered Origin Great Metal Seal. The same principle applied to other attributes. For those who practiced attribute-less cultivation manuals, the result would be a pure Shattered Origin Grand Seal, without any attribute-specific mana enhancement.

”Attention! Cultivating more than two shattered origin grand seals within your body will slightly impede your cultivation. Do not greedily pursue quick gains!”

Li Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief upon reading this.

It seemed there were indeed limitations. Otherwise, he could have cultivated a dozen or two shattered origin great fire seals within his body, nurtured them for centuries, and then emerged to sweep through the foundation establishment realm. He might even be able to take on cultivators at the pseudo core formation stage.

Li Qing wasn’t overly disappointed by this.

If there were no restrictions at all, this divine ability would be far too powerful—something no ordinary person could possibly create!

”That’s enough for now. I’ll try cultivating it later!”

This harvest had been truly immense. He had much to learn, not just this Shattered Origin Grand Seal but also the second-tier artifact refinement inheritance and the Blood-Burning Secret Art.

Moreover, he still needed to meditate and cultivate mana daily. After all, realm was the foundation of everything. Without mana, everything else would be like a rootless duckweed, unable to endure.

”There’s also body refinement cultivation,” Li Qing mused. ”It seems body cultivators are truly rare. Even Tianliang Mountain, with its centuries of accumulated inheritance, doesn’t possess a single Second-Tier body refinement secret technique.”

Having obtained so much at once, Li Qing was naturally overflowing with satisfaction. However, fully digesting these treasures and integrating them into his own strength would take an incredibly long time.

Fortunately, Li Qing had plenty of time. With his long and boundless Lifespan, time would always be on his side.

”Only someone like me could pull this off,” he thought. ”Ordinary foundation establishment cultivators wouldn’t have the time to cultivate such a diverse range of skills.”

At that moment, Li Qing suddenly understood the regrets that must fill the hearts of cultivators facing their great limit. For them, time was always in short supply. There were too many secret techniques and divine abilities to master, and they still had to focus on improving their cultivation.

”No wonder some powerful cultivators choose to leave behind their inheritance before they die,” Li Qing realized. ”If they couldn’t complete their own goals, they could only entrust them to future generations.”

Li Qing exhaled deeply, his future Dao path suddenly filled with anticipation.

He naturally understood the saying ”don’t bite off more than you can chew,” but against the relentless march of time, no matter how tough or abundant the treasures, he could grind them all to dust!

With a wave of his hand, he gathered all the jade slips into his palm.

Finally, his gaze turned to the storage pouches scattered throughout the ancient hall.

But this time, there wasn’t much left for Li Qing.

He used his mana to open the long-sealed pouches, but found little of value within.

Withered and decaying Spirit Herbs, pills whose medicinal power had completely evaporated, and Spirit Stones whose spiritual energy had completely dissipated.

In the context of the End of Dao Era, even storage pouches couldn’t preserve these treasures.

”What a pity,” Li Qing sighed, taking out the bottles and jars containing pills. He could barely even identify their types or functions.

The pills were cracked and crumbling, some collapsing into dust at the slightest touch, leaving nothing but a pile of residue.

Of course, it wasn’t a complete loss.

In another pouch, he discovered a small quantity of Spirit Materials, though their spirituality had diminished significantly, requiring deep purification to restore their essence.

To be honest, these spirit materials weren’t very valuable. Most of them could only be refined into Mid-Grade Magic Tools.

For Li Qing now, Mid-Grade Magic Tools were no longer very useful. Only high-grade magical artifacts and top-grade magical artifacts held any value for him.

”Better than nothing,” he muttered. ”If nothing else, I can refine a few in my spare time to extend my lifespan.”

Finally, he pulled out a tattered banner from a storage bag.

”Tattered” was no exaggeration. The pole was broken, and the banner cloth was torn, with only half of it remaining. Even that half was covered in scars.

The spirit patterns were dim, and the spirituality had faded.

Li Qing barely recognized it as the Heavenly Net Banner, though it was so badly damaged it was completely unusable. He even suspected that the slightest pressure would cause the already cracked banner to shatter.

The thought crossed his mind, and he decided to test it. He unleashed his Inner Strength.

Crack!

As expected, the cracked banner pole shattered into pieces under Li Qing’s immense force. It simply couldn’t withstand his strength.

”What kind of battle could have damaged a top-grade magical artifact like this?”

Though he couldn’t be sure, Li Qing could only speculate. This damage likely occurred during the early stages of the End of Dao Era, when the cultivation world was thrown into chaos.

To preserve the dao lineage, even the old mountain lord must have endured more than one Great War.

”Phew, time to go!”

(End of the Chapter)

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