Immortal Refiner

From the depths of the earth, several haired zombies, their bodies covered in coarse black fur and their faces twisted into hideous grimaces, clawed their way out in a single breath.

Li Qing frowned as he watched the zombies charge toward him.

”As expected of the Nether Domain,” he muttered. ”We’ve barely arrived and already encountered zombies that would give even foundation establishment cultivators a headache.”

Even as he spoke, Li Qing’s hands moved swiftly. He retracted the Netherworld Cold Fire and opened his mouth, unleashing a torrent of crimson pill fire.

Boom!

The pill fire of a core formation realm cultivator possessed a certain degree of restraint against yin and evil entities. While not overwhelmingly yang or righteous, it was more than sufficient to deal with a mere handful of zombies.

In an instant, the blazing crimson flames incinerated the black-haired zombies into ash, leaving no room for doubt.

Having dealt with the threat, Li Qing soared into the air, flying toward the edge of the dried-up river valley.

Perhaps due to the absence of stars and moon, the night in the Nether Domain was profoundly dark—the deepest night Li Qing had ever witnessed, surpassing even the World of Eternal Night in its oppressive darkness.

In this night where not a single ray of light could penetrate the darkness, Li Qing, soaring through the air, seemed to merge seamlessly with the shadows, making his flight path nearly impossible to detect.

As he flew, Li Qing secretly calculated the passage of time.

Soon, he noticed another peculiar phenomenon.

The nights here seemed extraordinarily long. He had been flying through the night sky for several hours, yet there was still no sign of dawn.

Finally, after aimless flight, Li Qing spotted signs of human habitation!

”I thought this domain was truly a Dead Zone,” he muttered. ”At last, I’ve found people!”

Ahead on the ground, earthen fortresses rose from the earth, each topped with a flickering torch.

The swaying flames stood out starkly against the deep, impenetrable darkness.

Li Qing hadn’t forgotten his mission: to find his fellow sect members who had fled here.

But in this vast, unfamiliar domain, searching aimlessly alone would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

First, he needed to find a human settlement. Where there were people, there would be news, and he could follow the trail from there. It was a better approach than aimless searching.

”Wu Chong, that fatso, was already a step ahead of me in cultivation back then. And since he cultivates the Gluttonous Divine Art, a supreme cultivation manual, he should have already reached core formation, even in this spiritually barren great domain.”

With this thought, Li Qing flew toward the peculiar cluster of buildings on the horizon.

A core formation realm cultivator with distinctive traits would be much easier to track down.

Concealing his aura, Li Qing slowly approached the earthen fortresses from above.

Buzz!

His powerful divine sense expanded outward, instantly enveloping the surrounding area.

Soon, a cacophony of guttural voices erupted from the fortresses. Li Qing froze in mid-air, startled.

The language was incomprehensible!

Without hesitation, Li Qing decided to seize a random person and perform a soul-searching technique to learn the local language.

Just as he was about to act, a crisp ringing of bells suddenly echoed through the ancient castle.

Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!

The sound reverberated instantly, carrying across vast distances.

Within moments, everyone in the castle reacted, rushing out in a frenzy.

Sensing the commotion, Li Qing cursed inwardly. He must have triggered some unknown restriction, alerting the entire castle.

”No matter,” he muttered. ”I’ll just grab someone and learn the local language.”

With that, Li Qing moved swiftly. A burly man in coarse hemp clothing had just emerged from the nearest castle when Li Qing struck him unconscious.

He hoisted the unconscious man over his shoulder and fled the scene.

”Ugh... Immortal Master, spare me! Immortal Master, spare me!”

The burly man Li Qing had captured now knelt trembling on the ground, his terror palpable.

Li Qing stood with his hands clasped behind his back atop a nearby boulder. In the brief interval, he had successfully extracted the Nether Domain language from the man’s Sea of Consciousness.

Furthermore, Li Qing had thoroughly familiarized himself with the basic conditions of this region.

The place he had found earlier was called Lian Family Village, a settlement primarily populated by mortals, though a small number of cultivators also resided there.

These cultivators, who ruled over Lian Family Village, were required to pay tribute to a force known as the Western Mausoleum Hall during the polar day.

As for the Western Mausoleum Hall’s true power, Li Qing couldn’t ascertain it. The man he had captured was merely a mortal with limited knowledge.

However, one thing was certain: the Western Mausoleum Hall had been collecting tribute from small factions across the region for a considerable time, as long as the mortal could remember.

The tribute consisted of a substance called Yin Stone.

Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, Li Qing glanced back at the man in coarse linen clothing and shook his head.

”I won’t kill you, but I need to verify some information. Answer truthfully, and you’ll live.”

”Immortal Master, ask whatever you wish!” The burly man didn’t dare lift his head, keeping it pressed against the ground.

It wasn’t that Li Qing didn’t want to directly search the man’s Sea of Consciousness for answers, but a person’s memories were far too chaotic and disorganized. Sifting through too much of it could even tarnish his own spiritual altar.

”How many other villages in this area collect Yin Stones like you do? What rewards do you typically receive after offering the stones?”

The burly man paused briefly before answering immediately, ”In the entire Wen River Valley, besides Lian Family Village, there are four other villages of similar size that also collect Yin Stones for the Western Mausoleum Divine Temple.”

”After each offering, the temple distributes rewards to the immortal masters in our villages, who then distribute them to us.”

Li Qing nodded slightly, understanding.

Just now, he had sensed a cultivator in Lian Family Village at the early stage of foundation establishment, with the rest being qi refining realm cultivators.

If all the villages were of similar scale, that meant there were at least five foundation establishment cultivators in this region.

Therefore, the so-called Western Mausoleum Divine Temple must be presided over by at least one core formation true lord.

In this great domain with its sparse spiritual energy, such a power would undoubtedly be considered a top-tier force.

”Yin Stones... the Western Mausoleum Divine Temple... I wonder what use these stones mined by mortals could possibly have.”

”Still, since the temple is so powerful, investigating Wu Chong’s whereabouts through them might yield some clues.”

(End of the Chapter)

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