Lu Qing remained expressionless as he watched the middle-aged woman's life force gradually fade away.
When he first saw the information about the middle-aged beauty, he never intended to actually let her go.
The reason they didn't kill her immediately was simply because she still had some use to them.
Even the poison he gave her was real.
The poison was found by Lu Qing on the body of an assassin from the Seven Kill Tower; it was extremely vicious.
If the middle-aged beauty fails to take the antidote within the time limit, she will indeed die from intestinal perforation.
However, considering that she had led the way for him, Lu Qing ultimately chose to let her die without pain.
After examining the middle-aged woman's body and confirming her death using his supernatural abilities, Lu Qing finally left the secret room and departed from the Zheng residence.
However, before leaving, he did something else.
"The fire's started! The fire's started!"
A quarter of an hour later, when Lu Qing stood atop the tower, the Zheng residence was in complete chaos.
Several streaks of fire shot into the sky, the flames raging fiercely.
The fire started in the warehouse that Lu Qing had looted, the courtyard where Old Lady Zheng lived, and two other uninhabited courtyards.
Lu Qing did this, naturally, to cover his tracks.
Once the fire is extinguished, the warehouse and the courtyard where the old woman lived will likely be reduced to ruins.
No one knows how much of the contents were burned or how much was stolen.
After watching from the tower for a while, seeing that the fire wouldn't be extinguished anytime soon, Lu Qing left with satisfaction.
Anyway, he had already taken the most precious things inside, so he wouldn't feel bad even if the entire Zheng mansion was burned down.
Moreover, the houses on the west side of the city are all inhabited by wealthy families.
Each house is independent and far apart from the others.
No matter how big the fire was at the Zheng residence, it wouldn't affect other households.
So he left the prefectural city with peace of mind.
As Lu Qing was leaving the prefectural city, he saw a large group of people, including a refined old man, returning from outside the city.
However, no one was able to find Lu Qing's whereabouts.
Seeing the refined old man and his entourage hurrying towards the Zheng residence, Lu Qing felt a little strange.
I wonder what their expressions will be when they discover that the Zheng family's treasure trove has been burned down.
With a very pleasant mood, after leaving the prefectural city and entering the mountains, Lu Qing immediately activated the Earth Element Talisman and used his movement technique to head towards Jiuli Village.
After traveling at various stops and spending most of the day, Lu Qing successfully returned to Jiuli Village.
However, he did not go home, but went directly into the mountains and forests and came to the Jade Transformation Cave.
Everything in the Jade Transformation Cave remained the same. Lu Qing sat on the jade bed in the dark room and took out the Earth Spirit Pearl from the Qiankun Qi Bag.
The reason he passed by his home without going in was because of this earth-elemental treasure.
Even in the era of cultivation, the Earth Spirit Pearl can be considered a supreme treasure, its value no less than that of powerful high-level spiritual artifacts.
Because these treasures, born from the very origin of the earth element and containing the purest earth element power, have all sorts of incredible uses.
Once refined, cultivators will gain all sorts of unimaginable benefits.
"One of them is that my already limitful aptitude can be improved again." A glint appeared in Lu Qing's eyes.
According to the records of the Li Huo Sect.
The five primordial spirit pearls each possess various wondrous uses.
If one can refine one of them for one's own use, one can use the power of the spirit pearl to cleanse the physical body and improve one's own aptitude.
Lu Qing had already consumed the Earth Vein Elixir, which had already raised his cultivation aptitude to a certain limit.
Unless he can find a spiritual object even more miraculous than the earth vein elixir, it will be almost impossible for him to improve his cultivation aptitude further.
Coincidentally, this Earth Spirit Pearl is a cultivation item that is far more precious and magical than the Earth Vein Spirit Liquid.
"That old woman Zheng has weak spiritual power and no inheritance, so she has the precious pearl but is completely unable to understand its mysteries and does not know how to refine it. She can only put it into the secret vault as a collection."
"But I am different. The Li Huo Sect is a cultivation sect that is very good at both alchemy and weapon crafting. It has many methods for refining spiritual objects in its heritage, including several divine refining methods. Now, I can make use of them."
After a moment of turmoil, Lu Qing finally calmed down and composed himself.
He sat cross-legged, then held the Earth Spirit Orb in front of him with both hands, ready to begin refining it.
Thanks to the energy from the array within the cave, the jade bed has been nourished for countless years, making it extremely sturdy.
It can withstand the weight of the Earth Spirit Orb.
Once his thoughts had completely calmed down, the soul talisman trembled slightly. Lu Qing extended a wisp of soul power from the acupoint between his eyebrows and wrapped it around the earth spirit pearl.
The moment Lu Qing's divine soul power touched the surface of the Earth Spirit Orb, his first feeling was that it was heavy, extremely heavy.
When he collected the Earth Spirit Pearl before, he relied on the power of the Qiankun Qi Bag, a spiritual artifact, and didn't feel much of a difference.
But now, when he used his own divine soul power to touch and feel this Earth Spirit Pearl, he truly felt the power of this earth-element treasure.
His spiritual power was like an ant climbing a mountain when facing the Earth Spirit Pearl; it couldn't budge it in the slightest. It was truly a case of an ant trying to shake a tree.
However, Lu Qing used his divine soul power not to move the spirit pearl, but to refine it.
As the thought crossed his mind, Lu Qing recalled the soul-refining techniques from the Li Huo Sect's inheritance.
The wisp of divine soul power that was wrapped around the Earth Spirit Orb suddenly became incredibly gentle, like flowing water and mist, and gently seeped into the Earth Spirit Orb, intending to leave its divine soul imprint inside.
Of course, as a treasure of the earth element, the interior of the Earth Spirit Orb is not so easy to penetrate.
This is destined to be a long and arduous process that tests patience and willpower.
Fortunately, Lu Qing didn't lack either of these things.
Time passed slowly, and in the Jade Cave, the world was oblivious to day or night. The cave walls on both sides shimmered with a soft white light.
Lu Qing remained seated cross-legged on the jade bed, motionless.
However, his pale complexion showed that he was not so relaxed.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Qing suddenly relaxed, opened his eyes, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Finally, the refining was successful."
"Although it's only the initial refinement, I can at least barely control this Earth Spirit Orb."
"Fortunately, the spiritual energy has not yet recovered. This Earth Spirit Pearl has experienced tens of thousands of years of spiritual energy depletion, and its spiritual essence has been exhausted, and its power has also been greatly reduced. Otherwise, with my current cultivation level, it would be wishful thinking to try to refine it into my own possession."
"Now let me experience just how wondrous this legendary Earth Spirit Orb truly is."
With a thought, Lu Qing suddenly activated the soul restriction mark he had painstakingly left inside the Earth Spirit Orb.
Suddenly, the Earth Spirit Pearl shrank, transformed into a beam of light, and disappeared into the acupoint between his eyebrows.
