Immortal Refiner

During his return to the sect, Li Qing remained productive.

He excavated vast quantities of earth and rock from the land, filling the Void Shell with it.

This Mustard Seed Contains Mount Sumeru Treasure differed significantly from a true Cave Heaven Treasure. The latter was immense, practically a self-contained miniature world.

In contrast, the Void Shell was completely empty, requiring Li Qing to gradually build everything from scratch—filling it with earth, shaping its terrain, and crafting every detail himself.

By the time Li Qing returned to the sect, the Void Shell had been lined with a thick, compact layer of earth, though it still appeared barren.

After retreating to his cave abode, Li Qing planted the Spirit Spring Eye he had acquired from the Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild. From that moment onward, a Spirit Spring would gurgle forth, infusing the space with abundant spiritual energy.

With this spiritual energy, any living beings placed within the Void Shell could now thrive.

However, the heaven and earth spiritual energy provided by a single Spirit Spring Eye remained somewhat sparse, far inferior to that of a true high-grade spiritual vein.

To compensate, Li Qing added spirit stones to the space, allowing the spiritual energy radiating from them to further enrich the environment.

Buzz!

Li Qing activated the Void Shell, using his mana to refine the silver spatial pearl within the scallop shell. After a long while, he finally entered the Void Shell’s spatial realm.

Surveying the slightly barren land around him, Li Qing felt no dissatisfaction. Instead, he sighed, ”At least I have my own private plot now. If I can find more Spirit Spring Eyes to plant here in the future, the spiritual energy within this space will become even denser.”

With that, Li Qing retrieved a massive pile of spirit stones from his storage bag, stacking them into a pile as tall as a small mountain!

The spirit stones shimmered with brilliant, multicolored spiritual light. Soon, spiritual energy began to emanate from them, merging into the surrounding heaven and earth.

Li Qing invested twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones at once, letting their spiritual energy diffuse and nourish the land into a misty, immortal realm.

”Next, I just need to gradually transfer the Fire Jade Bees, blood lotus, Golden Silk Silkworms, and Mysterious Wooden Vine here.”

”But there’s no rush. I’ll be staying at the sect for quite some time. For now, the spiritual energy in this space will have to rely on the Spirit Spring Eye for replenishment. Once it’s depleted, I’ll need to spend more spirit stones to replenish it.”

Although a single Spirit Spring Eye was already an exceptionally rare spiritual object, its natural rate of spiritual energy recovery remained somewhat slow.

The Fire Jade Bees and other spirit insects were voracious consumers of spiritual energy. Rather than move them in prematurely, it was better to let them remain in the cave abode for now.

After all, situated atop the sect’s high-grade spiritual veins, there was no shortage of heaven and earth spiritual energy.

With that, Li Qing cast a final glance at the space he had personally crafted.

Though still barren, at least a Spirit Spring had begun to gurgle forth, its waters gradually forming a small, babbling stream that silently nourished the surrounding earth.

He imagined that within days, the dormant seeds hidden within the soil would sprout and take root, gradually painting this desolate landscape with tender green hues and infusing the space with vitality.

Having completed these preparations, Li Qing once again channeled his mana to refine the Void Shell, returning to the outside world.

”The travel time is too long to use this as an escape route,” he mused.

”I’ve heard legends of Cave Heaven Treasures that allow instant entry with a mere thought, without wasting a moment.”

Li Qing sighed, then examined the Void Shell in his hand.

The Void Shell appeared unremarkable at first glance, its exterior revealing no special features.

Yet the silver pearl within was exceptionally condensed, as if containing countless strands of dao patterns that defied detailed scrutiny.

Even Li Qing, an artifact refiner himself, couldn’t glean any insights from it.

Forcibly attempting to decipher the mysteries of the spatial Dao patterns within would undoubtedly cause the Void Shell to collapse, destroying the spatial realm it contained.

True Monarch Wan He had warned him about this beforehand, so Li Qing naturally wouldn’t attempt such a foolish act.

”Their security measures are watertight,” Li Qing murmured with a shake of his head and a wry smile. ”Not a single commercial secret is allowed to leak.”

He abandoned his attempts to unravel the Void Shell’s secrets. The Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild would never easily allow others to learn their most confidential spatial Dao patterns.

After stowing the Void Shell away, Li Qing stepped out of his cave abode and ascended to the summit of Azure Cloud Peak. From there, he surveyed the sprawling layout of the Lingyun Sect.

The Lingyun Sect had now entered a period of steady progress, growing stronger with each passing day.

During his time in the World of Eternal Night, the sect had held two more ascension conferences, recruiting a vast number of new disciples.

Additionally, foundation establishment elders occasionally discovered promising young talents with exceptional innate aptitude during their travels and chose to take them as Personal Disciples, bringing them back to the sect.

The sect’s total membership had now swelled to nearly ten thousand, its aura as the dominant force in the Azure Ridge Domain’s immortal dao was beginning to solidify, truly overshadowing the entire region.

”No internal worries, no external threats... yet this world is about to face a great calamity,” Li Qing sighed, his hands clasped behind his back.

The Lingyun Sect was his life’s work. How could he bear to watch it all be destroyed by the demonic cataclysm?

”We don’t know when the demonic cataclysm will strike, but it can’t be long now. Even the Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild is already preparing. How can I afford to be complacent?”

”Three days of quiet meditation, then I’ll begin artifact refinement!”

For the next three days, Li Qing remained seated in his cave abode, motionless. He didn’t even circulate spiritual energy, instead emptying his mind completely, thinking of nothing, and entering a state of profound emptiness.

This state of emptiness, while not directly enhancing his cultivation, proved to be an excellent form of relaxation.

During this process, his entire consciousness became utterly vacant.

The sect patriarch, the impending calamity, the need to advance his strength—all were cast aside.

Li Qing relished this sense of liberation, even wishing he could remain immersed in this state of empty thought indefinitely.

However, an unusual fluctuation of spiritual energy from the outside world eventually jolted him awake from his meditative trance.

It was the spirit peak where True Lord Fu Xuan resided. A powerful aura surged skyward, drawing in all the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy.

”Hmm? This aura... someone is undergoing core formation?” Li Qing murmured, slightly surprised. He extended his divine sense to envelop the peak, observing the scene with perfect clarity.

Indeed, someone was undergoing core formation, and the commotion was considerable, attracting the attention of many.

The aura grew increasingly intense, the dense, surging heaven and earth spiritual energy coalescing into a veritable spiritual baptism.

Within the sect, numerous foundation establishment elders and disciples sensed the phenomenon and rushed toward the peak, eager to understand the situation.

After a long interval, the aura of the core formation process stabilized, indicating a high probability of success.

Finally, a triumphant, girlish laugh rang out:

”Hahahaha! From this day forward, I, Chu Lingyi, am also a core formation ancestor of the sect!”

A woman in a yellow dress stepped out from the spirit peak. Without relying on any magic artifacts or treasures, she maintained her levitation solely through her own mana—a clear mark of a core formation realm cultivator.

”I didn’t expect Junior Sister Chu to achieve core formation, but it’s not surprising. I remember when the sect was first established, she was already at the late foundation establishment realm. After years of accumulation and personal guidance from Fellow Daoist Fu Xuan, she should have reached core formation long ago.”

The addition of another core formation true lord to Lingyun Sect was naturally a cause for great celebration, and Li Qing felt genuinely happy for her.

Speaking of which, Lingyun Sect now had several elders at the late foundation establishment realm or pseudo core formation stage, each just one opportunity away from achieving core formation.

With the spiritual energy in the Azure Ridge Domain growing increasingly dense, it was likely that more sect members would begin attempting to break through to this realm in the future.

Chu Lingyi’s core formation caused quite a stir within the sect, filling many disciples with a sense of pride and honor.

The strengthening of the sect’s power was naturally a cause for universal celebration.

However, this wave of excitement didn’t reach Li Qing. He was already preparing to begin artifact refinement.

Amidst the festive atmosphere, Li Qing slowly retrieved a demon bird skeleton with several broken bones from his cave abode.

The skeleton was quite large and radiated a faint, oppressive aura that made one’s heart race.

Even approaching it induced a feeling of chest tightness and shortness of breath.

”The True Bone of a fifth-tier demonic bird truly lives up to its reputation,” Li Qing remarked, retrieving other artifact refinement materials.

Thunder Sound Bamboo, Void Moon Crystal Sand, North Sea Essence, Wind Cave Stone

Instantly, Li Qing’s cave abode was illuminated with a dazzling array of colors, a breathtaking sight.

He had long committed Senior Bai Ling’s treasure refinement method to memory. Combined with his previous experience refining a forbidden artifact version of the Wind-Thunder Silver Wings in the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm, he felt fully prepared for this undertaking.

Boom!

A three-colored spiritual flame, formed from the fusion of several heavenly spirit fires, erupted forth. Li Qing swept his hand across the fifth-tier demonic bird’s True Bone, using the heavenly spirit fire to purge its malevolent energy.

Soon, thick, almost tangible strands of black baleful aura were forced out, writhing like living entities.

Unlike ordinary demon beast materials, purifying the malevolent energy from the True Bone of a fifth-tier demonic bird proved exceptionally time-consuming and arduous.

The entire process lasted three full days before the malevolent energy was completely purged from the entire skeleton.

”This bone has been submerged in the Yellow Springs River for countless years, absorbing an indelible trace of nether qi. I wonder if this is a blessing or a curse.”

Li Qing frowned slightly. Even combining his Three Spirit Flames couldn’t completely eradicate the nether qi, as it had become inextricably bound to the True Bone.

Deciding not to dwell on it further, he focused on refining the bone now that the malevolent energy had been purged.

Li Qing summoned Void Moon Crystal Sand from thin air. These fine, shimmering grains glowed like distant stars in the darkness.

This spirit material contained spatial power, making it indispensable for constructing teleportation arrays.

Channeling his supreme mana, Li Qing began extracting the Secret Power within the Void Moon Crystal Sand.

The sand levitated within the cave abode as he activated his unique artifact refinement technique.

Once all the Secret Power had been refined, Li Qing’s fingers flashed, precisely striking the bone wings of the fifth-tier demonic bird’s True Bone.

After being melted down once more, the bone wings’ original jade-like pale yellow luster gradually transformed into a brilliant silver.

A faint spatial fluctuation rippled outward.

But this was just the beginning. Since this Heaven-Piercing Magical Treasure was named the Heaven-Piercing Silver Wings, it naturally had to be primarily imbued with Wind-Thunder attributes.

To achieve this, Li Qing had prepared Thunder Sound Bamboo and Wind Cave Stone!

These were both extremely rare materials, and Li Qing had paid a considerable price to obtain these peerless spirit materials.

Rumble!

Before long, the Thunder Sound Bamboo began to resonate with thunderous roars. The sound was so immense that Li Qing felt his internal organs vibrating in symphony with the thunder.

”As expected of a complete, three-thousand-year-old Thunder Sound Bamboo. The thunderous power contained within is truly astonishing.”

”No wonder some say that when this thunderous sound is combined with a secret technique, it can temper the body. It seems this legend is no exaggeration.”

Li Qing suppressed the vibrations in his internal organs, channeling his abundant vital energy to protect his lungs and other organs.

After all, he was a body cultivator comparable to a Fourth-Tier Transformation Demon King. He wouldn’t be disturbed by mere thunderous resonance.

”Refine thunder into bone—this is the Thunder Dao nature of the magic treasure!”

”Simultaneously draw in wind and thunder, merging their powers to form the fundamental properties of the bone wings,” Li Qing murmured, repeating the artifact refinement steps. His hands moved with unwavering precision as he began refining the Thunder Sound Bamboo and Wind Cave Stone, tempering them into the demonic bone.

This process was already proving strenuous. Even with Li Qing’s exceptional artifact refinement skills, he had to slow his movements, his expression utterly focused on this crucial step.

As Li Qing tempered the bone with Wind-Thunder Power, altering the very nature of the bone wings, subtle changes began to manifest in the celestial phenomena outside his cave abode.

After all, this was the True Bone of a fifth-tier demonic bird, a creature that had once rivaled a human cultivator in the Divine Transformation stage—a being capable of commanding the Primordial Energy of Heaven and Earth.

By using this bone as the primary material for his magic treasure, Li Qing was naturally triggering shifts in the celestial phenomena!

This was no surprise, considering he was refining a heaven-piercing spirit treasure—a true heaven-piercing spirit treasure, not some mere forbidden artifact!

In an instant, violent winds and thunder erupted outside Li Qing’s cave abode. The once clear and bright sky seemed on the verge of unleashing a tempest of lightning and hurricanes.

The commotion drew the attention of many, including Chu Lingyi, who had just successfully achieved core formation. She stared in astonishment at the spectacle.

Sensing an overwhelming threat from the Wind-Thunder celestial phenomena, her recent joy and self-satisfaction vanished completely.

”Senior Brother Li never rests,” she muttered. ”What’s he up to now, causing such a commotion? I thought he only broke through to the nascent soul realm a few years ago. Is he about to advance again?”

Chu Lingyi blinked her gem-like black eyes and pursed her lips. I haven’t even had time to bask in my achievement before he’s already left me in the dust again!

She wasn’t alone in her reaction. Many sect disciples and elders also noticed the spectacle.

Gazing at the colossal Wind-Thunder celestial phenomena, many even speculated that Li Qing was about to undergo another heavenly tribulation, leaving them feeling dizzy and bewildered.

Our sect patriarch is becoming ridiculously powerful!

(End of the Chapter)

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