"This strange bird has such a strong ability to conceal its presence; I didn't even notice it beforehand."
Lu Qing felt a chill run down his spine.
However, his reaction was extremely fast.
They joined their fingers to form a sword, and a sword aura shot into the sky.
Sensing the sharp killing intent of the sword energy, a look of panic suddenly appeared in the strange bird's eyes.
I never expected that this unassuming human boy, who was only at the third level of the Golden Core realm, could unleash such terrifying sword energy.
It flapped its wings frantically, desperately trying to dodge.
But Lu Qing's sword energy was incredibly fast, and the strange bird was already charging at top speed.
So it had no time to dodge and was cleaved in two by the sword energy, its blood splattering across the sky, and a demon core fell from it.
Lu Qing swept past, already storing the halved corpse of the strange bird and its demon core into the Li Huo Cauldron.
He then twisted his body and fell down to a mountain range below, where he found a cave and crawled inside.
After knocking out a group of leopard-like spirit beasts and temporarily taking over their den, Lu Qing then used an array plate to hide the cave.
He then sat down cross-legged, breathed a sigh of relief, and took out the corpse of the strange bird.
Sensing the powerful aura emanating from the strange bird's corpse, the largest leopard in the nearby nest stiffened and then fainted.
Lu Qing smiled slightly, then examined the strange bird corpse in front of him.
To be honest, he was quite startled.
The strange bird appeared very suddenly, seemingly hidden in the clouds, its aura completely blending with the mist.
This meant that even he didn't immediately realize something was wrong.
Fortunately, this strange bird is not very strong, only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.
If it were a powerful demon beast in the late Golden Core stage, he might suffer a slight loss.
"It seems I'll have to be more careful when traveling in this Tianyuan Great World from now on," Lu Qing thought to himself, secretly on guard.
Even while flying in the sky, one can encounter attacks from this strange bird that can conceal its presence.
This time, he was strong enough, so he was fine.
But it's hard to say whether you'll have that kind of luck next time.
"Owner."
Just as Lu Qing was reflecting on his actions, Wu Xing, who was standing to the side, nudged the hem of his clothes.
"What is it?" Lu Qing turned his head.
"Can I eat the carcass of this strange bird?"
Wu Xing pointed with the tip of his tail at the two halves of the strange bird's corpse.
"You want to eat this?" Lu Qing asked in surprise.
"Yes, I can feel it. Eating it will be good for me."
Lu Qing fell into thought. He naturally knew that demonic beasts and spirit beasts could cultivate and evolve by devouring blood and food.
Even in their home world, the distinction between demonic beasts and spirit beasts is actually based on whether they cultivate by consuming blood and flesh.
Those who like to devour blood will be affected by the bloodthirsty aura, becoming relatively violent in nature, and are thus called demonic beasts.
Those that primarily absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and comprehend the laws of nature are much gentler in temperament and are called spirit beasts.
In fact, there is no essential difference between the two; they are simply different paths of spiritual practice.
This strange bird is a Golden Core Realm demon beast, and its body contains a vast amount of essence.
It's normal that the Five Elements would be envious of this.
Lu Qing was pondering whether or not to let it follow the path of devouring blood.
However, he immediately remembered that when he underwent tribulation, there were only eight tribulation lightning bolts of the five elements.
The potential they've shown is still somewhat less than that of Xiao Li.
Perhaps by also cultivating the path of devouring blood, it can make up for its fundamental deficiencies.
As for the demonic beasts that follow the path of devouring blood, they tend to be relatively violent, but this is not a problem for Lu Qing.
The Five Elements had long been enslaved by his soul and were absolutely obedient to him.
It is not affected by the blood-fiend energy generated when consuming blood food.
"Xiao Li, would you like to eat this?"
However, even though he had made up his mind, Lu Qing still asked Xiao Li first.
"No! Give it to that stinky snake."
Unexpectedly, Xiao Li looked at the strange bird's corpse with disgust.
It only likes to eat fish and has no interest in these strange and unusual things.
"Alright, Five Elements, you can take this corpse. But I can't give you the monster bird's demon core; I still have a use for it."
"Yes, Master!"
The Five Elements were overjoyed, and their bodies swelled up, swallowing the strange bird's corpse whole.
Then its body returned to its original shape, and it lay down to the side, beginning to refine and absorb the essence of the strange bird.
Lu Qing looked on thoughtfully.
Back in their home world, the Five Elements did not exhibit the same desire for the bodies of other spirit beasts and demon beasts.
Is this a new change that occurred after refining the dragon turtle's bloodline, or is it because the spirit beasts and demon beasts in its home world were too weak to arouse its interest?
After thinking for a while, Lu Qing regained his composure and let the Five Elements refine the strange bird's corpse.
He then took out several items.
There were two storage bags and an antique ring.
It was the two storage bags that Mo Hongyun gave him, and the storage ring that Nangong Yuanwu gave him.
"Unfortunately, Gongshu Yu and the two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators still didn't dare to take the storage bags."
Looking at the storage magic treasures in front of him, Lu Qing felt a pang of regret.
Previously, when he defeated Gongshu Yu and captured the two unconscious Gongshu family members at the Yuan Shen realm, he brought them into the city.
There was actually an opportunity to take their storage treasures.
However, after careful consideration, he ultimately did not do that.
After all, he didn't know whether the Gongshu family had tampered with those storage magic items or the treasures inside.
What if there were some tracking techniques left on it, and he didn't know them?
Don't let yourself be found out later and still clueless about everything.
So, for safety's sake, he ultimately didn't touch the three people's storage artifacts.
Although the treasure was tempting, he would definitely need to cultivate in the Tianyuan Great World for a considerable period of time.
We must not let momentary greed leave us with such a huge hidden danger.
Picking up one of the storage bags, Lu Qing released his divine soul power and probed inside.
If he remembered correctly, this storage bag should have been left behind by Master Qiu.
Master Qiu has already been killed by Mo Hongyun, and the storage bag he left behind has naturally become ownerless.
Therefore, Lu Qing's spiritual power entered it very easily.
Then his expression turned somewhat surprised.
"This Master Qiu is quite wealthy. Is the Treasure Pavilion really that good to him, or is it all embezzled?"
Lu Qing saw that Master Qiu's storage bag contained many talismans, magical artifacts, pills, various spiritual herbs and medicines, and refining materials.
In addition to the jade slips and other miscellaneous items.
It has everything you could want, all sorts of things.
Lu Qing did not examine closely the talismans and magical artifacts crafted by Master Qiu.
He was more interested in the jade slips, spiritual herbs and medicines, and refining materials.
Suddenly, his expression changed, and a brocade box about a foot square appeared in his hand.
"So heavy?" Lu Qing raised an eyebrow.
He had initially thought that it contained some kind of precious medicinal herbs or other treasures.
Now it seems he was wrong.
With a hint of curiosity, Lu Qing opened the brocade box.
The next moment, a dazzling, jewel-like light emanated from within.
When Lu Qing could see what was inside, he couldn't help but take a soft breath.
Inside was a box filled with neatly arranged spirit stones, all of which were mid-grade spirit stones.
A rough estimate suggests that there are at least a thousand mid-grade spirit stones in this brocade box.
"It seems that this is why Master Qiu is so rebellious and caused demonic energy in the Treasure Pavilion."
Lu Qing immediately understood when he saw the spirit stones in °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the brocade box.
Although Master Qiu held a high position in the Treasure Pavilion, it was impossible for him to have accumulated so many spirit stones.
A stingy and greedy person like him will not do anything without a profit.
Without a sufficient price to pay, no one would be willing to take such a great risk and unleash demonic energy within the Treasure Pavilion.
Now it seems that the spirit stones in this brocade box were the price to pay.
"However, Tianjifang is quite generous, spending over a thousand mid-grade spirit stones in one go."
Lu Qing was somewhat amazed, but then delighted.
Tianjifang's lavish spending has now benefited him.
With over a thousand mid-grade spirit stones, plus what he's earned recently, Master Qiu is now considered to have some savings even among all the Golden Core Realm experts in the Tianyuan Great World.
Lu Qing thought to himself with delight.
"Oh, right, there are also the storage magic treasures of the Lord and the City Lord."
Lu Qing picked up another storage bag and storage ring.
He remembered that Mo Hongyun and Nangong Yuanwu had also given him spirit stones.
After Lu Qing used his divine soul power to examine the remaining storage bags and storage rings...
He suddenly became somewhat dazed.
It took him more than ten breaths to come to his senses.
He murmured, "Now, it's not just a little bit of savings..."
Lu Qing estimated that there were at least five thousand mid-grade spirit stones in the storage bag given to him by Mo Hongyun.
The storage ring given by Nangong Yuanwu, while not containing that many, still held a full three thousand mid-grade spirit stones.
It seems that this powerful cultivator at the Nascent Soul Realm, despite being the lord of a city, must have incurred considerable expenses for cultivation on a daily basis.
The accumulated spirit stones were not as many as those of Mo Hongyun, who was skilled at making money.
However, with this, plus what he had earned before, Lu Qing now had more than ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones in his possession.
It has reached over 11,500!
This is a huge sum of money!
Just a short while ago, he was worrying about the spirit stones he was staying at the inn.
Now, holding tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones in his hands, Lu Qing's heart couldn't help but surge with excitement.
After a while, Lu Qing finally calmed down.
At the same time, I secretly reminded myself not to get carried away with my success.
He estimated that his current accumulation of spirit stones was not only among those in the Golden Core Realm, but probably not too poor even among those in the Nascent Soul Realm.
If others knew that he possessed so many spirit stones, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would probably be tempted to rob him.
Therefore, one should be mindful of keeping a low profile and not flaunting one's wealth.
This is not his home world; he no longer possesses that invincible, sweeping power.
Even a random Nascent Soul cultivator would be beyond his ability to handle.
If one becomes too flamboyant, it might attract an unstoppable enemy, and then joy will truly turn to sorrow.
"Aqing, what's made you so happy that you're laughing like that?"
Seeing Lu Qing's silly grin, Xiao Li couldn't help but ask.
"Xiao Li, we've struck it rich this time!"
Lu Qing picked up Xiao Li and vigorously rubbed its head a few times, expressing his joy.
He rubbed the little guy so hard that he couldn't help but roll his eyes at him several times.
However, Xiao Li became curious: "You struck it rich? That woman and the city lord gave you a lot of spirit stones?"
"Well, with the spirit stones given by the Lord and the City Lord, plus what we earned before, guess how many spirit stones we have in total now?"
Lu Qing couldn't resist keeping Xiao Li in suspense, letting her guess.
"How much? Could it be four or five thousand mid-grade spirit stones?" Xiao Li's eyes lit up immediately.
"No, no, no." Lu Qing held up one finger and shook it. "We currently have over 11,500 mid-grade spirit stones!"
"Over 11,500 mid-grade spirit stones..."
Xiao Li's eyes widened when she heard the number.
After entering the Lesser Cang Realm, although it rarely went out, it knew what an astonishing number this was.
"Ah Qing, have we really struck it rich?" Xiao Li murmured.
"Yes, of these spirit stones, the one given by the Lord is the most, a full six thousand mid-grade spirit stones."
Lu Qing also attributed the spirit stones in Master Qi's storage bag to Mo Hongyun.
After all, Master Qiu's storage bag was given to him by Mo Hongyun.
"That woman is really rich!"
Xiao Li couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"Oh, right, Xiao Li, this is for you."
Suddenly, Lu Qing picked up the storage ring and took out a piece of refined iron.
After being forged with true fire, it was transformed into a gleaming silver magic weapon chain.
He then put on the storage ring and hung it around Xiao Li's neck.
"This storage ring has quite a bit of space inside, so you can use it to store your own things. You're not used to using storage bags anyway."
I've already put one hundred mid-grade spirit stones in the ring.
You may use it freely during your cultivation.
Xiao Li stared blankly at the storage ring hanging around her neck for a moment.
Upon hearing Lu Qing's words, he quickly added, "Qing, you're telling me to use spirit stones for cultivation? Isn't that too extravagant?"
"What's there to be afraid of? We have plenty of spirit stones now," Lu Qing said with a smile. "Spirit stones are good, but the most important thing is to convert them into our own strength. Otherwise, they are just external possessions."
This Tianyuan Great World is rich in spiritual energy and contains unique meanings.
It is sufficient for our usual spiritual practice.
However, it is still far inferior to the spiritual essence of a mid-grade spirit stone.
So if you feel that you have encountered a bottleneck in your cultivation, then just use spirit stones to cultivate.
"It seems we'll be staying here for quite some time now."
"Ah Qing, you're going to go into seclusion here? Didn't you say you wanted to travel around first?" Xiao Li asked, puzzled.
"That's just what they say to outsiders. I didn't expect the Lord and his group to give us so many spirit stones."
Now that we have enough resources for cultivation, it is naturally the most important thing to improve our strength first.
Moreover, it will probably take some time for the Five Elements to digest this process.
Didn't you just say you were about to break through?
"In that case, let's go into seclusion here for a while."
Lu Qing's main purpose in wanting to enter the Tianyuan Great World was simply to improve his cultivation.
Broadening one's horizons is just a side effect.
Now, Mo Hongyun and the others have suddenly gifted such a large sum of immortal resources.
So naturally, he needs to digest it first and transform it into his own strength.
