Immortal Refiner

The moment the nine-headed serpent appeared, the entire field fell into a deathly silence.

Another True Spirit!

And it was the nine-headed serpent, a True Spirit renowned for its ferocity and ruthlessness. Such beings were exceedingly rare, with few records or legends ever mentioning them.

No one had expected Li Qing, who had seemed on the verge of defeat, to suddenly unleash a secret technique that rivaled the Qilin Inheritance.

”What a rare sight! To see a Qilin and a nine-headed serpent locked in combat.”

”Though they aren’t the actual True Spirits, the spectacle is still terrifying.”

”Who ever gets to witness True Spirits fighting? It’s only ever been recorded in myths.”

”Prince Liyang has even resorted to his True Spirit Inheritance, yet the outcome of this battle remains undecided.”

”...”

Amidst the gasps of astonishment, the Five-Colored Qilin, treading upon the heavens, made its move. Its body trailed ten thousand feet of auspicious radiance as it descended upon the nine-headed serpent below.

”Hiss!”

The nine-headed serpent showed no fear. Instead, it charged forward with lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, its nine heads sank their fangs into the Five-Colored Qilin’s body, its golden vertical pupils burning with extreme ferocity.

”Roar!” The Five-Colored Qilin bellowed in fury. The pair of golden horns atop its head erupted with immeasurable radiance, violently scraping away a layer of scales from the nine-headed serpent.

A sharp pang of pain immediately surged through Li Qing’s mind. After fusing with the serpent spirit, he could wield its immense power, but he also shared its agony.

Yet, despite the pain, he could feel a boundless strength surging within him—a sensation he had never experienced before.

In the next instant, he coiled his serpentine body around the Five-Colored Qilin, dragging it ruthlessly to the ground.

His razor-sharp fangs, backed by his terrifying strength, finally pierced the Qilin’s defenses, tearing through its flesh and drawing blood.

The Five-Colored Qilin spat out a rainbow beam imbued with an auspicious aura, severing one of the serpent’s heads in a single strike.

Thud!

The massive head fell to the earth, its sharp fangs still stained with crimson blood.

The agony of the severed head only fueled the savage rage within Li Qing. After transforming into the nine-headed serpent, he was increasingly influenced by its ferocious and violent nature.

Crack!

The Five-Colored Qilin’s bones snapped. The nine-headed serpent’s strength was simply monstrous, its coils constricting the Qilin so tightly that it couldn’t even budge.

Li Qing’s serpent spirit had been refined using the essence blood of an eighth-rank Earth Nether Python. After its creation, he had spent nearly eight thousand years nurturing it with his own lifespan.

Only after it reached its absolute limit did Li Qing stop feeding it.

This was a serpent spirit of great perfection, taking the form of a nine-headed serpent. The power it could unleash was nearly on par with a great demon of the Body Integration Realm.

However, Prince Liyang refused to give up. He once again unleashed a divine ability from the Qilin Treasure Art.

”Roar!”

A dense, auspicious aura surged from the Qilin’s body. The bones that had been crushed by the nine-headed serpent rapidly healed.

”The Destiny Calamity-Averting Art—the Qilin’s innate precious technique? Prince Liyang can actually perform it?”

”This is a technique comparable to Phoenix Nirvana, capable of averting calamities and disasters. Only the auspicious Qilin is supposed to be able to use such an innate precious technique.”

”His Highness Prince Liyang’s opportunities are truly profound. I wonder where he obtained the true qilin blood...”

Many of the officials present were adept at reading the situation. They saw astonishing potential in Prince Liyang, sensing he might be a future candidate to inherit the throne.

The true qilin blood was no ordinary treasure. They suspected His Majesty the Emperor had a hand in this, though whether there was a deeper meaning behind it was something they needed to ponder carefully.

After recovering from its injuries, the Five-Colored Qilin overbearingly broke free from the nine-headed serpent’s coils and once again fled on its auspicious steps.

But Li Qing refused to let go. He urged the serpent spirit to give chase, the coldness and ferocity in his pupils intensifying.

One represented ferocity, the other represented auspiciousness—two completely different True Spirits.

Just as the nine-headed serpent was about to catch up to the Five-Colored Qilin, the latter suddenly turned around, raised its front hoof, and stomped down toward the attacking serpent.

True Qilin Heaven-Treading Steps!

BOOM!

With two loud crashes, two more of the nine-headed serpent’s heads exploded, turning into a mist of blood.

But soon, the remaining six heads once again clamped down on the Five-Colored Qilin’s body, biting tight and refusing to let go.

Before long, one of the nine-headed serpent’s heads stretched out to face the Five-Colored Qilin, staring directly into its eyes.

Li Qing unleashed the Serpent Gaze of Deception from the Nine Serpent Heart Sutra. Many of the domineering divine abilities and secret techniques within it required this pair of serpent eyes to be cast.

”Nine Serpents Life-Devouring Art!”

The Five-Colored Qilin, its body once again covered in wounds, saw its vitality plummet, its aura becoming withered and listless.

Seizing this opportunity, Li Qing extended another serpent head to meet its gaze, its eyes also replaced by the Serpent Gaze of Deception.

”Nine Serpents Plant the Divine!”

The Five-Colored Qilin’s once gentle and beautiful eyes gradually transformed into golden vertical slits, and a single, chilling aura emanated from them.

Meanwhile, within Prince Liyang’s mind, the phantom shadow of a nine-headed serpent began to take hold of his consciousness. Just as it was about to fully form, the resolute prince managed to shatter the phantom image through sheer force of will.

But the moment he breathed a sigh of relief, a killing sword shimmering with a strange purple light appeared before him.

The sword was straight and slender. Though not as sharp as the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, it still filled Prince Liyang with a profound sense of unease.

Another earth-grade spiritual treasure sword?!

Confirming this, he finally lowered his head, his Qilin true body gradually fading as he reverted to his human form.

”I lost.”

Though unwilling to accept it, he had to admit defeat—defeated by someone whose cultivation was far below his own.

Hearing this, Li Qing slowly sheathed the Immortal-Trapping Sword and reabsorbed the serpent spirit beside him into his body.

This was the wondrous nature of the Nine Serpent Heart Sutra: it allowed one to not only merge with the serpent spirit as one but also to use it to assist in battle.

Li Qing had just temporarily severed his fusion with the serpent spirit, and after separating from it, he had used his second killing sword to end the battle.

”You have been too kind, Prince Liyang!” Li Qing took a deep breath, then cupped his fist in salute to the prince.

At this moment, the entire crowd erupted in a commotion.

”Whoosh!”

”He actually won! Who is this person? With only an early Void Refinement realm cultivation, he managed to defeat two late Void Refinement realm experts!”

”You have to understand, the people he defeated are no nobodies. One is Prince Liyang, and the other is the Young Master of the Yan Family, Yan Huizhi.”

”Both of them are prodigies capable of holding their own against Body Integration realm cultivators, yet they were defeated by the same person.”