Seeing that the Five Treasures Taoist had already begun refining the bloodline, Lu Qing smiled slightly.
He then summoned the Fire Cauldron and put the remaining Black Scale Rats into it.
However, he did not display the magical power of the Li Huo Cauldron; he simply used the Nanming Li Huo within it to refine the bloodline of the Xuanlin Black Rat.
Both of them were diligently refining their bloodlines. Although Lu Qing was refining several times more Xuanlin Black Rats than the Five Treasures Taoist.
However, his cultivation level was far superior to that of the Five Treasures Taoist, and he was wielding a mid-grade spiritual artifact like the Fire-Separating Cauldron.
Therefore, not long after, the Five Treasures Taoist priest had already extracted all the bloodline.
After a quarter of an hour, the Five Treasures Taoist priest finished refining the black-scaled rats inside the red gourd and extracted more than ten strands of bloodline from them.
"This is......"
Looking at the dozen or so blood vessels before him that resembled blood diamonds, and at his own heartfelt longing, the Five Treasures Taoist was stunned.
Even if Lu Qing didn't say it, he knew that these bloodlines must be a great opportunity.
"This is the strange bloodline contained within the black beast. As long as we refine it, we can enhance our physical strength."
However, one should also be careful, as there is a powerful malevolent energy within this bloodline.
If too much of it is refined, the evil energy will invade the soul and corrupt the mind.
Therefore, when refining, one must act according to one's ability and not be greedy.
Otherwise, it could easily lead to unbearable consequences.
Although Lu Qing felt that the evil energy extracted from the Xuanlin Black Rat was not strong and had no effect on him.
But he won't use his own feelings as a standard.
Perhaps for an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, that malevolent energy would not be easily dispelled.
"I see."
The Five Treasures Taoist suddenly realized.
He knew that there were no free opportunities, and that there were always certain risks involved.
"Xiao Li, Daoist Master, you should each try consuming and refining a wisp of bloodline first. I will protect you," Lu Qing said.
“This isn’t right. These black beasts were captured and killed by Fellow Daoist Chen and Xiao Li together. I didn’t contribute anything,” Wu Bao Daoist said hesitantly.
"It's alright. We've captured quite a few black beasts this time, enough for us to share. At most, we can continue to sweep through this forest later," Lu Qing said, seemingly unconcerned.
Moreover, he had a feeling that the effects of the Witch's Essence Blood within these Foundation Establishment Realm Xuan Scale Black Rats should have their limits.
Once a certain amount is absorbed and refined, it may no longer have much effect.
Of course, the exact quantity will only be known when the refining process actually begins.
"Since that's the case, then I'll be shameless this time."
Feeling the longing in his heart for the bloodline that resembled a blood diamond before him, the Five Treasures Taoist priest finally couldn't resist the temptation and said somewhat embarrassedly.
After saying that, he opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing in a wisp of the witch's essence blood.
As for Xiao Li, she had already grabbed a wisp of primordial blood and stuffed it into her mouth.
Seeing that both the human and the beast had begun refining the primordial blood, Lu Qing observed their condition.
A moment later, he saw that Xiao Li's expression remained unchanged.
But a hint of struggle appeared on the face of the Five Treasures Taoist.
"Xiao Li is fine, but the Daoist seems to be in some discomfort. Sure enough, the evil energy in the blood of the witch is not to be underestimated. Even a high-grade innate golden core that has survived seven tribulations cannot be completely ignored."
Upon seeing this, Lu Qing suddenly understood.
Indeed, although the Five Treasures Taoist priest concealed his true nature with extraordinary treasures, how could he possibly hide it from Lu Qing, who possesses supernatural abilities?
He had long known that it was a high-grade innate golden elixir condensed after passing through seven tribulations of lightning.
Moreover, his true cultivation level is not the superficial second stage of Golden Core, but the fourth stage of Golden Core, which has already entered the middle stage.
However, it is now clear that the malevolent energy contained within the blood of the Witch is indeed formidable.
Even a high-grade Golden Core cultivator like the Five Treasures Taoist would find it somewhat troublesome.
Fortunately, although the Five Treasures Taoist's expression fluctuated, he did not appear to be in pain, so he should still be able to handle it.
After observing for a while and confirming that there would be no problems, Lu Qing focused his attention on the Qiankun Qi Bag.
Then he saw that the Five Elements were still fast asleep inside, and he shook his head.
Ever since Wu Xing obtained some corpses of Golden Core Realm spirit beasts from Xiao Li last time, he has been in a deep sleep after consuming them.
It seems that it will remain dormant for some time to come.
He originally wanted the Five Elements to refine some of the Witch's Blood Essence, but now it seems he has to postpone it for now and save the Blood Essence for it.
After a while, Xiao Li opened her eyes first, her eyes revealing surprise.
"Ah Qing, this bloodline is indeed powerful. Just a trace of it has greatly enhanced the strength of my physical body!"
"How do you feel the malevolent energy within?"
Xiao Li tilted her head: "I didn't feel much. That evil energy didn't affect me much."
Lu Qing understood. It seemed that after Xiao Li had survived the nine tribulations and condensed a flawless, high-grade innate demon core, her soul had become extremely powerful.
The malevolent energy of the witch's blood could not trouble it.
"In that case, you can refine more of these bloodlines."
Lu Qing waved his hand gently, and several streams of witch blood fell in front of Xiao Li.
"But Aqing, don't you need to refine it?" Xiao Li asked.
“I’m not in a hurry,” Lu Qing said. “Although this bloodline is extraordinary, it doesn’t significantly improve my physical body. You can try it first and see how much you can refine.”
A wisp of witch blood can only slightly increase the strength of Lu Qing's physical body.
Even if he refines and devours all the primordial blood here, his physical strength will not change much.
He wanted to see how much Witch Essence Blood a flawless, high-grade Golden Core cultivator like Xiao Li could refine.
"Then I'll refine some more."
Seeing his words, Xiao Li didn't stand on ceremony and continued to swallow a wisp of Wu Zhi Yuan blood.
Just as Xiao Li was almost finished refining and absorbing the second strand of primordial blood, the Five Treasures Taoist finally finished refining the primordial blood he had swallowed and opened his eyes with a look of surprise and delight.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, this bloodline is truly miraculous. I feel that the strength of my physical body has increased by nearly one-tenth! No wonder those black guys have such powerful bodies."
The Five Treasures Taoist now finally understood why those black beasts had such powerful physical bodies.
Despite being only at the Foundation Establishment stage, his physical body is stronger than that of most people at the early Golden Core stage.
With such a miraculous bloodline within his body, it would be difficult for his physical body not to be strong.
"It seems you've gained a lot, Daoist Master," Lu Qing said with a smile.
“Indeed, my cultivation method is not particularly good at tempering the physical body, but now with this strange bloodline, it can make up for this shortcoming of my path.”
The Five Treasures Taoist was filled with joy.
"Then why doesn't the Taoist priest refine a few more strands of bloodline? Perhaps that can completely make up for the shortcomings," Lu Qing suggested.
"I would like to say that," Wu Bao Daoshi said, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, as Fellow Daoist Chen said, this strange bloodline does indeed contain some kind of powerful evil energy."
Just now, when I was refining my bloodline, I felt the power of this evil energy and was almost invaded by it.
Even now, that malevolent energy still exists within me.
I estimate that I can refine at most two more strands of bloodline before reaching my limit.
"We cannot refine this bloodline any further until the malevolent energy is completely neutralized."
"Can only three strands of bloodline be refined at most?"
Hearing this, Lu Qing was somewhat surprised.
The malevolent aura of the Witch's Blood was far more powerful than he had imagined.
Even a powerful figure like the Five Treasures Taoist, who had survived seven tribulations and reached the fourth stage of the Innate Top-Grade Golden Core realm, could only refine three strands of primordial blood at a time.
If it were a regular low-grade or mid-grade Golden Core, wouldn't it be possible to refine only a wisp of Witch's Essence Blood at most at one time?
"Seeing this opportunity is not something that's easy to obtain," Lu Qing thought to himself.
Not to mention whether the other cultivators in the secret realm can discover the primordial blood of the witch within the bodies of these creatures in the secret realm.
Even if they discover it, only a small number of powerful individuals would be able to refine and devour it, thereby greatly enhancing their physical strength.
"No matter what, Daoist, you should first increase your strength. This secret realm is so unusual, and there may be things beyond our control that happen later. The more strength we have, the more confident we will be."
Many thoughts were swirling in Lu Qing's mind, but he did not reveal them. Instead, he spoke to the Five Treasures Taoist.
These words made the Five Treasures Taoist priest's heart skip a beat. He had originally wanted to make an excuse, but his expression immediately became solemn.
He said, "Fellow Daoist Chen is right; it is my path of attachment to appearances."
Immediately, the Five Treasures Taoist also swallowed another wisp of the Witch's Essence Blood and continued to refine it.
At that moment, Xiao Li had already completely refined and absorbed the second strand of primordial blood.
Without hesitation, it opened its mouth and swallowed another wisp of primordial blood.
And so, under Lu Qing's protection, the Five Treasures Taoist and Xiao Li continued to refine the Essence Blood of the Witch.
Among them, Xiao Li's refining speed was much faster than that of the Five Treasures Taoist.
It often takes three or four strands of primordial blood for a Taoist priest to refine even one strand.
After the Five Treasures Taoist finished refining the third strand of primordial blood, Xiao Li began refining the twelfth strand of primordial blood.
"Master, how is it?"
Lu Qing saw that the Five Treasures Taoist had opened his eyes and asked a question.
He had just seen that the other party's face showed pain when he was refining the third strand of primordial blood.
"Just as I predicted," sighed the Five Treasures Taoist. "Refining three strands of bloodline in a row is already my limit."
If I continue refining it, my soul will likely be unable to hold on and will be corrupted by the evil energy, doing more harm than good.
There was a hint of resentment on the face of the Five Treasures Taoist.
It's rare to encounter such a unique bloodline that can rapidly enhance one's physical body and compensate for the shortcomings of his lineage in cultivation.
But he was unable to continue refining it, which he was truly unwilling to accept.
"Why should you worry about it, Daoist? Once you've purified all the evil energy in your body, you can continue refining it. It'll just take a little longer. Being anxious about gains and losses will only hinder your Daoist heart," Lu Qing comforted him.
"Fellow Daoist Chen is right. I was too hasty."
The Five Treasures Taoist priest snapped to attention, calmed down, and quickly said...
Having said that, he immediately circulated his internal energy to calm his mind.
After a while, feeling his chaotic thoughts completely calm down, Wu Bao Daoist bowed to Lu Qing.
He said gratefully, "Thank you for reminding me, Fellow Daoist Chen. I almost got caught up in appearances again."
"I was just giving you a heads-up, it's nothing to worry about."
“Fellow Daoist Chen, I have reached my limit. How about I protect you and help you refine this bloodline?”
"No rush, I'll wait until Xiao Li finishes refining it before we talk about it." Lu Qing was still not in a hurry.
"Has Xiao Li not finished refining it yet?"
Only then did the Five Treasures Taoist notice Xiao Li, who was refining the primordial blood.
"It should be about time."
As soon as Lu Qing finished speaking, Xiao Li opened her eyes.
However, its eyes held a look of confusion.
"Aqing, I think I've reached my limit too."
"Oh, so you can no longer refine this bloodline?" Lu Qing asked in surprise.
Based on Xiao Li's performance, it shouldn't be unable to withstand the baleful energy in the primordial blood.
Moreover, it didn't show any signs of discomfort on its face just now.
“It’s not this.” Xiao Li shook her head. “It’s this bloodline. It seems to have no effect on me anymore. After refining this wisp of bloodline just now, my physical strength hardly increased.”
Is this the limit?
Lu Qing was taken aback at first, then a look of understanding appeared on his face.
As expected, his previous guess was correct; the primordial blood of the witch within the Xuanlin Black Rat had its limits.
This was within his expectations, after all, these Xuanlin Black Rats were only at the Foundation Establishment stage.
If the primordial blood within them could infinitely enhance the physical strength of other living beings, that would be abnormal.
"So, Xiao Li, how much has your physical strength increased?"
"About one-tenth," Xiao Li replied.
"One-tenth is still pretty good." Lu Qing nodded.
One-tenth may not seem like much, but it depends on who you're referring to.
It should be noted that Xiao Li is a spirit beast that has survived nine tribulations and condensed a flawless innate top-grade demon core.
His physical strength far surpasses that of cultivators at the same level.
Just a dozen or so strands of bloodline were enough to strengthen its physical body by one-tenth.
The effects of this witch's blood essence are already quite incredible.
"It seems that the effect of the primordial blood in these Foundation Establishment stage black beasts is just like this. If we want to further enhance our physical bodies, we may need the bloodlines from those more powerful beasts."
Lu Qing hadn't forgotten the note he'd discovered earlier using his superpower.
The information revealed is that the strange beasts in this secret realm all possess mysterious bloodlines.
In other words, even the more powerful alien beasts also possess the essence of witchcraft.
"Ah Qing, after you've refined these bloodlines, shall we go and search for even more powerful beasts?"
Xiao Li's eyes lit up again when she heard this.
"Alright, I'll see how much of this strange bloodline I can refine."
Lu Qing and Xiao Li were communicating telepathically, which was observed by the Five Treasures Taoist priest.
However, he did not say anything to disturb them.
Having spent time with her, he had long known that Xiao Li possessed exceptional spirituality.
Not only do they understand human nature, but they are also capable of transmitting their thoughts through spirits.
However, Xiao Li was extremely proud and never communicated with him.
I just don't know when he'll be able to gain this little guy's approval.
Just as the Five Treasures Taoist was thinking about it casually.
He saw Lu Qing suddenly sit down, then open his mouth and swallow ten strands of blood in one gulp.
