Immortal Refiner

As Li Qing examined the beautiful corpse of the white-haired woman, something terrifying happened in the next instant.

The woman’s eyes, which had been tightly closed, suddenly snapped open, her eyeballs bulging out as if they were about to pop. The sight was utterly horrifying.

Zhang Mo, standing nearby, was so terrified that he collapsed onto the ground, momentarily forgetting he was a cultivator in the core formation realm.

”Did it... did it turn into a zombie? Impossible! This corpse has been dead for at least a thousand years. How could it suddenly reanimate?” Zhang Mo’s voice trembled, a truly embarrassing display for a cultivator.

Li Qing, watching from a distance, was also surprised, but he didn’t lose his composure like Zhang Mo. He narrowed his eyes, observing intently.

The corpse remained a corpse, with no signs of the soul returning to reanimate it. However, Li Qing noticed the white-haired woman’s body suddenly began to shrivel, losing its previous plump and lustrous appearance, which had made it seem almost alive.

Soon, the toxic swamp’s poisonous qi rapidly converged toward the corpse. The body disintegrated, all flesh drying up until only an emerald green, eerie heart remained floating in the air.

”W-what... what’s going on?” Zhang Mo stammered, completely bewildered by the situation.

The Heavenly Poison Physique’s corpse had ultimately left behind only a green heart. He had never encountered anything like this before.

As the corpse disintegrated, the toxic swamp’s poisonous miasma vanished entirely, transforming into an ordinary, unremarkable mud swamp, devoid of its previous deadly toxicity.

Li Qing observed for a while longer, confirming that the eerie green heart showed no signs of unusual activity before slowly approaching it.

The heart continued to beat slowly, as if still alive, which surprised Li Qing.

After so many years of death, the body had decayed, leaving behind only a heart that still pulsed with life.

Was this a unique characteristic of the Heavenly Poison Physique?

In his years of cultivation, Li Qing had encountered many powerful Dao Physiques. For instance, during his nascent soul formation, he had absorbed the primordial origin of an Exquisite Treasure Physique.

But he had never witnessed anything as bizarre as this.

”This heart contains potent poison. Ordinary people who touch it would likely die instantly. Even cultivators in the nascent soul realm wouldn’t fare well if they were poisoned by this,” Li Qing murmured.

Li Qing whispered, even from a distance, he could sense the threat hidden within the venomous heart.

Beside him, Zhang Mo, a poison master, stared at the heart with burning eyes, as if gazing upon a peerless treasure.

”Do you know where this heart came from?”

Zhang Mo nodded vigorously before speaking. ”This is likely the most terrifying poison in the world. If used skillfully, it could easily poison even a Nascent Soul cultivator to death.”

”The Heavenly Poison Physique doesn’t manifest in childhood. It only appears upon reaching adulthood or entering the dao.”

”This physique is inherently poisonous. By refining various rare poisons, one’s cultivation can advance rapidly. It’s the natural nemesis of all poisons.”

”This Heavenly Poison Physique cultivator actually reached the Nascent Soul realm. They must have refined countless rare poisons. This heart is likely the essence of their cultivation.”

Hearing this explanation, Li Qing thought, ”Truly, the world is vast and full of wonders.”

Though Li Qing knew of the Heavenly Poison Physique, a rare Dao Physique, he had never understood its secret: that cultivating by refining various deadly poisons could enhance one’s cultivation. Truly astonishing.

Gazing at the eerie heart, a daring idea suddenly sparked in Li Qing’s mind.

Could he use these deadly poisons to temper his body, thereby cultivating the Dao Tribulation Limitless Sutra?

He was now only a thin sheet of paper away from breaking through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage. All he needed was an opportunity to pierce that paper and officially enter this realm.

Initially, Li Qing had planned to use a miraculous water concocted from Yellow Springs River Water and Great Yin True Water he had brought back from the World of Eternal Night’s Yellow Springs Holy Sect for this trial. However, he had decided to spend more time cultivating and refining his understanding.

It would be best to wait until he had refined a heaven-piercing spirit treasure and his Lifespan had increased significantly again before undergoing this trial.

That approach would be the safest. Even if his life essence proved insufficient during the metamorphosis, he could continue without restraint, merely sacrificing some Lifespan.

Don’t let his current lifespan of over two thousand years fool you. The daoist arts he created are still too fierce and overbearing. If he were to use them to break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage, the toll on his lifespan would be even more drastic.

If he were to lose over two thousand years of lifespan in one go, he might as well sit down and die right then and there.

After all, the strange spiritual water mixed with Yellow Springs River Water and Great Yin True Water was far more potent than the Profound Yellow True Flame he had used to test and temper himself during his Fire Tribulation.

Looking at it now, this heart seemed like a fairly suitable material for tempering. If he were to undergo metamorphosis using it, would he develop a body immune to all poisons?

With this thought in mind, Li Qing took action, carefully collecting the highly toxic heart and storing it separately in a storage bag.

Regardless of whether he would ever need it, the heart’s venom was terrifyingly potent. It might prove useful against certain enemies in the future, serving as an unexpected trump card.

Zhang Mo’s eyes betrayed a hint of regret. As a poison master, he naturally coveted such a heart, one brimming with the world’s most exotic poisons.

But Zhang Mo couldn’t argue. Facing a Nascent Soul senior who had just saved his life, he dared not say much.

Li Qing saw the desire in Zhang Mo’s eyes and chuckled softly. ”You want some? I can give you some of this deadly poison, but what will you offer in exchange?”

At these words, Zhang Mo scratched his head awkwardly. ”What does Senior want? As a rogue cultivator, I doubt I have anything that would truly impress you!”

Li Qing responded with amusement, ”Really? Nothing at all? This Heavenly Poison Physique was a Nascent Soul cultivator in her lifetime. Aside from whether her inheritance is here, I recall you didn’t seem to have a storage bag when you first brought out her corpse.”

Zhang Mo’s face instantly turned as green as if he’d been poisoned. But facing a Nascent Soul cultivator, he dared not hide anything, fearing the senior might simply swat him dead without bothering to question him further.

He immediately pulled out a colorful brocade pouch from his chest. ”This is the storage bag I found on the Heavenly Poison Physique. Please accept it, Senior.”

Li Qing unceremoniously took the storage bag and began examining its contents.

His eyes lit up.

Inside, there were two gleaming golden flame insignias, identical to the ones he had been searching for!

In addition, there were a few scattered spirit stones and some poisonous flowers and herbs.

Li Qing wasn’t particularly interested in these items. As a major sect like the Lingyun Sect, a few thousand spirit stones were nothing to him.

However, the secret manuals inside piqued his curiosity. He took them out and flipped through them casually.

Hundred Transformations Toxin Dispersal, Golden Profound Bone-Corroding Pill, Frozen Heart Marrow.

These were all highly unorthodox yet incredibly lethal poison formulas. It was clear that the Heavenly Poison Physique was truly extraordinary. While others cultivated and collected pill formulas to enhance their cultivation, this physique collected various deadly poison recipes.

Although Li Qing wasn’t particularly interested in the contents of these poison formulas, he silently memorized them just in case they might prove useful someday.

Following the principle that one can never have too many skills, he read through all the Mysterious Classic Secret Manuals inside.

In the end, he finally found a decent secret technique.

The Calamity Crossing Toxin Transformation Art!

This secret technique focused on refining poisons, mitigating the damage they caused within the body. In cases of incurable toxins, it could provide temporary relief.

A poison that would have killed him by the third watch might, with this technique, allow him to survive until the fifth watch.

Li Qing silently stored the secret technique away, then retrieved two flame insignias from his storage bag. Finally, he returned the colorful, peculiar storage bag to Zhang Mo.

Zhang Mo, who had expected Li Qing to take everything, was pleasantly surprised to see the storage bag back in his hands. He realized he had truly lucked out this time, encountering a relatively reasonable senior.

”Thank you, Senior! Thank you, Senior!”

Li Qing shook his head as he retrieved the eerie emerald-green heart. He then spoke:

”I’m not an unreasonable person. Since you arrived here first, I wouldn’t take your harvest.”

”I took this toxic heart only because of the promise you made earlier when I saved you.”

As Li Qing’s words faded, he flicked a finger, extracting a strand of dark green poison from the emerald heart and handing it to Zhang Mo.

After carefully storing the deadly poison, Zhang Mo was now overwhelmed with gratitude towards Li Qing.

”Senior, your virtue is truly boundless!”

”By the way, Senior, what were those Flame Gold Marks you took just now? I vaguely recall someone in the Cloud Marsh Domain collecting such rare treasures, and the price they offered seemed quite high.”

At this, a flicker of surprise crossed Li Qing’s eyes. He asked, ”Someone in the Cloud Marsh Domain is also collecting these? Do you know who it is?”

Zhang Mo replied truthfully, ”It should be the Western Heaven Pavilion. They’re a powerful immortal dao faction in our domain. Their pavilion master broke through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage centuries ago and is likely nearing the late-stage nascent soul realm by now.

”Furthermore, the Western Heaven Pavilion is rumored to have two early Nascent Soul Realm ancestors as well. All cultivators in the Cloud Marsh Domain must rely on this faction’s influence to survive.”

Three Nascent Soul Ancestors?

Such power was indeed terrifying, and calling them the overlords of the domain wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Li Qing’s expression grew slightly grave upon hearing this. He hadn’t expected such a formidable competitor.

Seeing this, Zhang Mo whispered, ”Actually, this happened many years ago. The Western Heaven Pavilion has probably long forgotten about it.”

Li Qing, however, turned to glare at Zhang Mo sideways and asked, ”You wouldn’t have informed the Western Heaven Pavilion about this, would you?”

”Hehe, Senior is overthinking things. If I had such intentions, why would I have revealed this information in the first place!”

”To be honest, the reason I left the Cloud Marsh Domain was because I offended a pavilion elder of the Western Heaven Pavilion. Forced to flee, I ended up here.”

Zhang Mo chuckled nervously, his expression ingratiating.

Li Qing wasn’t overly surprised by this, but he began to ponder the Western Heaven Pavilion’s affairs internally.

It seemed the Western Heaven Pavilion also possessed some Flame Gold Marks, though he didn’t know how many they had collected.

Three Nascent Soul Ancestors, including one who had reached the mid-Nascent Soul stage years ago—this was indeed a formidable force.

For now, there was no need to dwell on this matter. Li Qing wasn’t in a rush to collect all the Flame Gold Marks. Having gained some leads and information was already a good start.

Finally, Li Qing glanced around one last time to ensure nothing was overlooked. Satisfied, he soared into the air and left the grotto-heaven.

Behind him, Zhang Mo slapped his forehead and quickly chased after him, shouting, ”May I ask your name, Senior? I will never forget your life-saving grace!”

Li Qing departed without turning back, leaving Zhang Mo only his tall, graceful figure.

After a long moment, a faint voice echoed in Zhang Mo’s mind: ”Limitless.”

”Limitless...” Zhang Mo repeated, his eyes widening. ”Could it be Ancestor Limitless of the Lingyun Sect? He’s the only Nascent Soul Ancestor openly active in this domain!”

”What a truly righteous senior! Much more kind and reasonable than those from the Western Heaven Pavilion!”

After leaving the grotto-heaven, Li Qing immediately returned to his cave abode.

Less than a year remained until the grand auction hosted by the Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild. The event would not be held in the Azure Ridge Domain but across the sea, in the Wind Origin Domain!

This domain was a considerable distance from the Azure Ridge Domain. Even a cultivator in the nascent soul realm traveling at full speed would take at least half a year to reach it.

Despite possessing the forbidden artifact Wind-Thunder Silver Wings, which granted exceptional speed, Li Qing still needed to prepare in advance.

”I never expected to cross the Boundless Sea again,” he mused. ”But this time, my cultivation is far stronger. Even if I encounter another windstorm, I won’t be as defenseless as before.”

Li Qing unfolded the Human Realm Map he had obtained from True Monarch Tianbao of the Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild. The lower realm resembled a continent surrounded by the sea, with numerous landmasses forming great domains that encircled the Boundless Sea.

The Azure Ridge Domain was located in the slightly northern region, followed by the Great Wilderness Domain and the territory bordering the Nether Domain.

Crossing the sea eastward led to the landmasses and archipelagos of the demon realm and the Wind Origin Domain.

Li Qing’s gaze then settled on a somewhat central landmass southwest of the Azure Ridge Domain. The words ”Cloud Marsh Domain, Western Heaven Pavilion” caught his attention.

”Cloud Marsh Domain, Western Heaven Pavilion...” he murmured, then folded the map and began preparing for his journey.

(End of the Chapter)

---------------------------------------------------------

Continue Reading (REFINER) on CinderTL• ⓒⓞⓜ

Read Ahead to Ch970 • Free Chapters • No Login

---------------------------------------------------------