After absorbing all the spiritual liquid, Lu Qing put the Five Elements Gourd back into his body.
He then focused his mind on the Five Elements Gourd and began to refine the spiritual liquid within it.
The spiritual liquid that can nurture such a top-grade spiritual medicine as the Five Elements Lotus is truly extraordinary.
As the Five Elements Gourd operates, a large amount of Five Elements essence is continuously extracted.
Lu Qing's dantian felt as if it were being stretched.
He dared not delay and immediately activated the 【Five Elements Body Refining Technique】 to begin his cultivation.
As a large amount of the Five Elements essence was refined, Lu Qing's cultivation level also began to rise steadily and rapidly.
...
While Lu Qing was in seclusion cultivating, deep within the Hundred Thousand Mountains, in a secret realm, the experts at the Innate Realm finally engaged in battle after a period of exploration.
"Brother Wang, I discovered this spiritual herb first. Isn't it against the rules for you to forcibly take it?"
In a mountain valley, a burly man with a grim expression spoke to a lean middle-aged man in front of him.
In the lean middle-aged man's hand, he was holding a fiery red spiritual herb.
"Rules? What rules?" The lean middle-aged man smiled faintly upon hearing this. "Brother Qiu, I think you're probably confused."
This is a secret realm; everything inside is unclaimed.
Since they are unclaimed, all the treasures naturally belong to whoever gets them first.
"Blame it on you, Brother Qiu, for neglecting your training and being too slow."
If Lu Qing were here, he would recognize that the two were two of the Innate Realm cultivators he had seen in the dense forest not long ago.
"Good, very good!"
When the burly man surnamed Qiu saw that the lean middle-aged man had not only snatched his spiritual herbs but also made sarcastic remarks, his face immediately turned gloomy.
"Wang Yuanshan, you're just relying on the fact that you've cultivated a Primordial-level movement technique, which makes you a little faster."
"Since you're so arrogant, then I'll show you my Mountain-Moving Saber Technique!"
After saying that, the burly man surnamed Qiu drew his sword from his back, and a heavy aura emanated from his body.
Upon seeing this, the lean middle-aged man's expression changed, and a long sword also appeared in his hand.
The next moment, a fierce wind arose, and sword and blade energy flew everywhere. A battle at the innate level broke out in the mountain valley.
The two men, who had previously addressed each other as brothers, suddenly found themselves locked in a fierce battle.
"Wang Shouzi and Qiu Fei got into a fight?"
Not far away, a middle-aged woman sensed the murderous intent and looked surprised.
However, although she noticed the commotion, she didn't go over to check it out.
"Wang Yuanshan and Qiu Fei are both not to be trifled with. If I go there, they'll join forces against me first, which will be troublesome. It's better to stay away from them."
The middle-aged woman looked around at her surroundings, her eyes filled with joy.
"I didn't expect that this place would not only be full of spiritual energy, but also have a very rich concentration of the five elements. It truly lives up to its reputation as a legendary secret realm."
Perhaps, I can take this opportunity to successfully cultivate my secret technique.
Once the secret technique is mastered, I will be able to fight even someone at the Great Perfection of the Innate Realm!
It will be much safer to look for opportunities then.
Just as the middle-aged beauty was plotting where to find a secluded place to practice her secret techniques.
Suddenly, a chill ran through her, and a strong sense of crisis rose within her.
Without a second thought, disregarding her image, she rolled away to the side.
Just as she rolled away, a black needle was embedded in the spot where she had just been standing.
Not only was a bottomless hole left in the ground, but even a small patch of the surrounding flowers and plants withered.
"Poison needle!"
The middle-aged woman's eyes widened suddenly, her face filled with shock and anger.
She was furious that someone dared to ambush her, and shocked that the poisoned needle was so powerful that even someone with a naturally strong constitution would have found it difficult to withstand if she hadn't dodged it.
"who!"
The middle-aged beauty looked in the direction from which the poisoned needles came, while simultaneously raising her mental perception to its peak.
Even with all her senses, she still couldn't detect the attacker.
She felt a bitter taste in her mouth.
Since the changes in the world and the resurgence of spiritual energy, the once invincible sensory abilities of these Innate Realm martial artists have been repeatedly suppressed.
Especially after the five sounds of the Dao, the evolution of the rules of heaven and earth became more stable, and their ability to sense with their souls was weakened even more.
In the past, innate martial artists could sense each other's innate aura even from several miles away.
However, now, if the other party deliberately conceals their aura, they might not be able to detect them even at a distance of only tens of meters.
For experts at the Innate Realm, a distance of tens of meters is nothing more than a blink of an eye.
However, although she couldn't find any trace of the other party, the middle-aged woman still felt a trace of murderous intent surrounding her that hadn't dissipated.
It felt like a fishbone stuck in her throat, causing a slight pain in her heart.
After a brief stalemate, the middle-aged woman realized that this couldn't go on.
After a thousand thoughts raced through her mind, she suddenly smiled alluringly and said in a sweet voice:
"May I ask which hero you are, joking with me like this? If you want to be friends with me, just say so. I love making friends with heroes and good men."
Why frighten me like this? I am but a weak woman, and I cannot withstand such a fright from a hero.
Accompanied by these soft, sweet words, the middle-aged woman exuded a charming and alluring aura.
She really does look pitiful.
Seeing her attitude, the person hiding in the shadows finally couldn't help but speak up.
However, the words he uttered were full of hatred.
"You vile woman, stop pretending! I never expected to run into you here. Heaven truly has eyes!"
"Today I will kill you, to avenge my deceased elder brother and the entire Zhao family!"
As the words fell, a figure emerged from the woods.
"It's you!"
When the middle-aged woman saw the figure clearly, she was filled with shock.
"How could that be? I strangled you to death with my own hands back then!"
"Heaven has eyes. I wasn't completely dead back then, and I crawled out of the coffin again."
Poisonous woman, I have been searching for your whereabouts all these years, but I never expected that you would hide in this remote Cangzhou.
If it weren't for the opening of this secret realm, which aroused your greed, I probably wouldn't have even encountered you.
This is fate, it's Heaven's mercy on the Zhao family, it's determined that you will die by my own hand!
The figure emerging from the woods was a young man, who was staring at the middle-aged woman with hatred in his eyes, as if he wished he could tear her apart, rip her skin off, and drink her blood and eat her flesh.
The middle-aged woman also stared at the young man, and after confirming that he was indeed the same person from back then, her expression relaxed.
"So it really was you. No wonder I've felt uneasy these past few years, as if someone was watching me from the shadows."
Therefore, he had no choice but to travel to another prefecture and live in seclusion in the remote Cangzhou.
So it turns out there was still one bastard child like you who didn't die out back then!
"Perfect, let's settle this today. I'll make sure your Zhao family line ends completely!"
At this point, the middle-aged beauty's alluring face contorted in pain.
Suddenly, a short sword appeared in his hand, and he took the initiative to attack the young man.
In an instant, a fierce battle broke out in the woods.
The opening of the secret realm of the Ten Thousand Mountains attracted powerful figures from several surrounding states.
These powerful individuals either had pre-existing grudges or were vying for spiritual treasures. In any case, within just a few days of the secret realm opening, numerous battles at the innate level had already occurred, resulting in many deaths and injuries.
And this is just the beginning.
As time went by, news of a secret realm appearing in Cangzhou spread further and further.
Finally, the news reached Zhongzhou.
