Chapter 416: Seven Times |
Seventeen drops of spirit liquid dissolved within his body. The tremendous and pure essence surged like a breached river, roaring and rushing through his meridians.
Chen Qing sat cross-legged in the depths of the underground crevice, his aura rising and falling erratically, his robes moving without wind.
He didn't rush to consume all the spirit liquid at once, but rather followed the circulation method of the Supreme Void True Scripture, drawing the spirit liquid drop by drop into his dantian for slow absorption.
Within his dantian, that pale golden True Origin vortex spun faster and faster, tidal-like surging sounds faintly emanating from its center.
The liquid True Origin that had originally been just a shallow pool was now visibly increasing!
[Supreme Void True Scripture: Sixth Layer (51652/60000)]
[Supreme Void True Scripture: Sixth Layer (53987/60000)]
[Supreme Void True Scripture: Sixth Layer (58999/60000)]
Chen Qing's mind and spirit remained calm as water, yet he could clearly sense the qualitative change occurring in his True Origin.
As the True Origin circulated, it created rippling waves of light.
Time flowed on, and soon the seventeen drops of robbed spirit liquid were completely refined by Chen Qing.
"Just a little bit more..."
Chen Qing took a deep breath and retrieved the seven drops of spirit liquid he'd collected himself, swallowing one without hesitation.
Another drop of spirit liquid entered his belly, transforming into a gentle yet tremendous torrent that merged into the river of his meridians!
"Boom!"
Deep within his dantian, it seemed as if thunder exploded!
That last trace of sluggishness shattered at the sound!
[Supreme Void True Scripture: Seventh Layer (1/70000)]
Almost at the same instant the technique broke through, the True Origin within Chen Qing's body suddenly trembled!
What came next was the key point!
The surface of the originally pale golden liquid True Origin lake suddenly collapsed inward!
All the liquid True Origin seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, madly converging and compressing toward the center!
Chen Qing groaned, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.
He could clearly feel his dantian's True Origin undergoing a fundamental transformation.
From primarily gaseous with liquid as supplement, completely transforming to liquid!
This process was painful and long.
Every drop of True Origin was being tempered and refined, removing the last trace of impurities, becoming more condensed, more pure.
As if countless invisible iron hammers were repeatedly forging his True Origin.
Each strike made the True Origin more refined, each tremor turned impurities to nothingness.
"Crack... crack..."
Minute shattering sounds came from within Chen Qing's body, a sign that the last stubborn impurities in his True Origin were being completely refined.
Time passed bit by bit.
After an unknown period, the tremors within Chen Qing's dantian finally gradually subsided.
At this moment, within his dantian was a dark golden True Origin lake!
The lake wasn't large, yet was deep as an abyss.
The lake surface was calm and waveless, yet faintly emanated a heart-palpitating heavy aura.
Each drop of liquid True Origin was crystal clear, like melted dark gold, heavy as mountains, pure as crystal.
Seven True Origin refinements!
"Seven refinements... True Origin realm late stage."
Chen Qing sensed the surging power within his body, his heart utterly clear.
Seven True Origin refinements was an important watershed.
From this moment on, True Origin was completely liquefied, its power multiplied.
If at six refinements True Origin was still 'gas-liquid mixed,' then after seven refinements it became completely liquid!
"Liquid True Origin is only the first step on the path to Grandmaster."
Chen Qing thought to himself, "To condense a martial Dao Golden Core and step into the Grandmaster realm, one must further refine and compress the liquid True Origin, ultimately transforming it into a solid Golden Core."
"This process is like repeatedly forging fine steel. The more refinements, the purer the True Origin, and the stronger the condensed Golden Core."
"Nine refinements can condense a nine-pattern Golden Core, which is also the realm of ordinary Grandmaster experts. Ten refinements can condense a ten-pattern Golden Core; eleven refinements can condense an eleven-pattern Golden Core; if one can complete the legendary twelve or thirteen refinements..."
Chen Qing's eyes were profound.
That was a realm even heavenly prodigies like Nan Zhuoran and Jiang Tuo were pursuing.
He stood and moved his muscles and bones, his joints emitting crisp popping sounds.
Seven refinements brought not only a qualitative change in True Origin, but his physical body and divine sense also rose with the tide.
He could clearly feel his divine sense had become considerably more resilient, and his control over True Origin had become even more precise and subtle.
"Four more days remain."
Chen Qing glanced at the daylight filtering into the crevice from outside. "Must seize the time to collect more spirit liquid."
Then he took out a marching pill to consume.
This pill could supplement vital energy, allowing one to go days without hunger, but the taste was dry and rough, far inferior to normal food.
Chen Qing swallowed the pill, then his figure flashed as he left the underground crevice to collect spirit liquid.
Within Taiyi Spirit Ruins, heaven and earth essence remained dense, but Chen Qing clearly felt that spirit liquid appeared far less frequently than the first day.
Everywhere he went, most places had already been claimed by others. Forget spirit liquid—even the dense essence that nurtured spirit liquid seemed to have been swept by a violent wind, dissipating by seventy or eighty percent.
Only devastation from being thoroughly plundered remained.
"With thirty-six people plundering together in this Taiyi Spirit Ruins, naturally it's greatly diminished."
Chen Qing understood clearly. "The further along, the more intense the competition will be."
He swept toward several directions where essence was relatively concentrated according to his perception.
An hour later, Chen Qing stood before a dried stone depression only as large as a bowl's opening, his brow slightly furrowed.
This place had obviously had a small spirit spring not long ago, but now not even a drop of the basic milky white spirit liquid remained. Messy fingerprints still remained at the spring eye's edge.
He silently turned and continued searching.
During this time, he distantly sensed several powerful auras.
That expert from Lingxiao Upper Sect had an aura profound as a deep pool and lofty as mountains, True Origin already at eight refinements peak. Must undoubtedly be a veteran sect elder.
Another group was from Taiyi Upper Sect. As masters of this place, they had the most people entering the Spirit Ruins. Two of them traveled together, one around six True Origin refinements, the other slightly weaker at only five refinements.
Chen Qing concealed his aura and took a detour.
In half a day, he only found two drops of spirit liquid in two extremely concealed deep rock crevices.
He carefully collected the spirit liquid into jade bottles, calculating inwardly, "The harvest has sharply decreased. At this rate, in the remaining days, I'm afraid even this small harvest will be hard to maintain."
He raised his head toward the Spirit Ruins' depths.
In that distant sky, the milky white skylight grew increasingly thick, faint misty rosy clouds flowing within.
Even separated by great distance, he could feel pure essence surging toward him like tides.
That was the core area of Taiyi Spirit Ruins.
Before Chen Qing and the other two entered Taiyi Spirit Ruins, Luo Zhixian had warned them, "Though spirit liquid is abundant in the Spirit Ruins depths, 'Spirit Eye Storms' often rage there, extremely dangerous."
But at the same time, Chen Qing also keenly noticed that many powerful auras were moving toward that direction.
Among them were even several experts with nine True Origin refinements, as well as several obscure auras never sensed before.
Danger and opportunity had always been two sides of the same coin.
"They're all heading toward the center..."
Chen Qing's eyes focused slightly. "Spirit liquid production is becoming increasingly difficult. The periphery has been thoroughly plundered. The central area has denser essence, so there must be more spirit springs, but the competition will probably be more direct."
He took a deep breath and carefully crept toward the central area.
He didn't rush at full speed, but rather used terrain and forest to conceal his form. Though divine sense was suppressed to five zhang, after seven refinements his intuition for essence flow was more acute, allowing him to avoid some obviously chaotic essence areas in advance.
Just as he passed through a dense forest, his brow suddenly furrowed.
About ten zhang behind him, two auras followed like ghosts.
They concealed themselves extremely well, almost imperceptible. They clearly excelled at tracking and concealment techniques and coordinated seamlessly, one left and one right, maintaining distance while staying close.
Chen Qing's expression remained unchanged, his steps not even pausing, but he thought to himself, "They've locked onto me? Think I'm a lone fat sheep?"
He hadn't deliberately concealed his cultivation, displaying only the realm of having just entered seven refinements.
This level of strength could only be considered middle to upper-middle within Taiyi Spirit Ruins.
Chen Qing deliberately slowed slightly, as if carefully searching for possible spirit springs.
Just as his figure entered that shadow—
"Attack!"
An extremely low fierce shout exploded behind him!
The person on the left, his form like a leopard that had been lying in wait, suddenly shot forth!
His entire body was shrouded in gray misty vapor, his face unclear, only his eyes shooting cold light.
His hands formed claws, fingertips glowing with ghostly blue light, clearly a sinister claw technique. He directly grabbed for Chen Qing's back heart and kidney vital points, movements fast and vicious, even the air making abnormal sounds!
The person on the right attacked almost simultaneously, but he took a different approach.
His shadow flickered like a ghost, actually arriving first despite starting later, instantly circling to Chen Qing's side-front. A short sword soundlessly slid from his sleeve, its body pitch black without any reflection of light, like a viper extending its tongue!
This sword had no radiance or momentum, yet brought speed and concealment to the extreme. Before the sword tip arrived, a sinister killing intent had already locked onto Chen Qing.
The two worked one in front and one behind, one open and one hidden, coordinating seamlessly. They clearly weren't doing this kind of business for the first time.
The attack launched the instant Chen Qing walked into a visual blind spot, the calculation precise, meant to catch him completely off guard!
However, they were fast, but Chen Qing was faster!
The instant their auras changed slightly, the True Origin lake within Chen Qing's body boiled thunderously!
The explosive power of seven-refinement liquid True Origin far exceeded the gas-liquid mixture stage. At the movement of his thought, True Origin was like a prehistoric beast awakening, surging power instantly filling his four limbs and bones.
Facing the deadly black sword stabbing from ahead, Chen Qing didn't dodge or evade, only simply punched out!
This punch had no complex variations, no earth-shaking momentum, only the purest speed!
Where the fist passed, the air seemed forcibly pushed aside by invisible tremendous force, emitting muffled booms!
Arriving first despite starting later, the fist shadow flashed and had already beaten the black sword to his throat, imprinting toward that sword wielder's chest!
The calmness in the sword wielder's eyes immediately transformed to terror!
He didn't see clearly how Chen Qing had attacked at all. He only felt his vision blur, and fist pressure that made him suffocate had already reached his body!
"Not good! We've kicked an iron plate!"
Alarm bells rang wildly in his heart. His combat experience was also fairly rich. The stabbing black sword forcibly retracted, wanting to block, while his form twisted to the rear-side with all his might, trying to dissipate the force.
But it was too late!
Chen Qing's fist speed far exceeded his reaction! The fist solidly imprinted at the junction between his hastily protecting arm and chest.
"Bang!"
A muffled sound, immediately followed by bone-cracking sounds.
That sword wielder couldn't even scream. He only felt an incomparably fierce tremendous force crash into his body!
The True Origin he'd condensed at his arm to block instantly collapsed. Countless ribs shattered, his five internal organs and six bowels seemingly violently stirred!
"Poof!"
He wildly sprayed a blood arrow of dark red mixed with internal organ fragments from his mouth. His entire person was like being frontally struck by a charging giant elephant, flying backward off the ground, consecutively smashing through three bowl-thick ancient tree trunks before falling unconscious.
All this happened in a flash!
From the two suddenly attacking to the sword wielder being blasted away unconscious with one punch took only one breath!
The person using poisonous claws to attack the back heart, his claw force had already touched Chen Qing's clothing.
His companion's instant defeat terrified him out of his wits. His forward momentum forcibly halted, his eyes full of unbelievable terror.
Flee!
This was the only thought in his mind.
Without any hesitation, he fiercely kicked the ground with both feet, his form bouncing backward like a startled rabbit. At the same time, both hands waved repeatedly, several poison-quenched ghostly blue needle glows shooting toward Chen Qing's face, trying to block pursuit.
However, his form just moved when his vision blurred. Chen Qing had already appeared ghost-like on his retreat path, right blocking between him and the light beyond the dense forest, calmly watching him.
"Sen... Senior, spare my life!"
This person knelt without hesitation, both hands holding high a mutton-fat jade bottle, speaking extremely rapidly, "This junior had eyes but failed to see, offending Senior's tiger might! This is all this junior's gains, a total of three drops of spirit liquid. I'm willing to offer them all, only asking Senior to be magnanimous and spare this junior's life!"
The jade bottle's opening was slightly open, indeed showing three drops of spirit liquid slowly circulating inside.
Chen Qing's gaze fell on the jade bottle, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger. "Three drops?"
"Yes... yes! Nowadays most obtained spirit liquid has been absorbed. There's really only this much! This junior absolutely doesn't dare conceal anything!" That person hurriedly explained.
"You're not being honest." Chen Qing said lightly, but his tone suddenly turned cold.
That person's heart jumped. Before he could open his mouth to explain again, he saw Chen Qing had already punched through the air toward him!
This punch differed from that purely fierce punch just now.
As the fist emerged, dragon-elephant phantoms faintly flashed behind Chen Qing, a domineering fist intent that suppressed hell and shattered everything explosively erupting!
Precisely Dragon-Elephant Prison-Shattering Force!
The fist force condensed like substance. Before it even reached the body, the kneeling person already felt the air around him solidify, as if suppressed by an invisible mountain, unable to move even a finger!
In terror, he urged all his remaining True Origin to deploy a gray misty barrier before him.
"Bang!"
The fist force contacted the barrier. Without earth-shaking boom, that seemingly indestructible barrier instantly shattered!
The fist force drove straight in, solidly bombarding this person's chest.
"Crack! Crack!"
Arm bones shattered at the sound, the fist force's momentum unabated, penetrating through the body.
"Ah!"
This person emitted a short shrill scream, blood threads simultaneously seeping from his seven orifices. His entire person was struck flying several zhang in the air, collapsing limply, falling unconscious.
Chen Qing walked slowly forward, first going to the sword user's side and bending to search.
He found two jade bottles in his chest, one mostly empty, the other containing five drops of pale golden spirit liquid. In his close-fitting inner pocket, he discovered a heavy black token, precisely a Black Water Giant City identity token.
"Black Water Giant City people?" Chen Qing glanced at the token and put it away together with the spirit liquid.
He walked to the side of the one who knelt begging for mercy. Sure enough, from a hidden compartment in his sleeve pouch, he found another small jade bottle containing two drops of spirit liquid.
This person had no obvious sect markings on him, only some miscellaneous items commonly used by independent cultivators and several bottles of poison. Should be a lone independent cultivator.
"One from Black Water Giant City, one an independent cultivator... joining hands for this no-cost business, quite the perfect match."
Chen Qing tallied the harvest. Adding his original eight drops, plus the ten drops searched from these two, subtracting the three actively handed over, he currently had eighteen drops of spirit liquid!
"I only casually tested him with one sentence. Didn't expect he really was hiding some."
Chen Qing shook his head and carefully stored the spirit liquid. "Originally I only wanted to peacefully collect spirit liquid. Who exactly led this bad atmosphere?"
He knew what he'd just witnessed was merely an ordinary scene within Taiyi Spirit Ruins.
This world was like a dark forest where everyone no longer adhered to rules.
Chen Qing sensed the murderous atmosphere all around and reached back to grasp the long spear on his back.
In the mist, a hundred ghosts walked at night, while some people mixed among them, laughing more joyfully than ghosts.