"Fellow Daoist Chen!"
Seeing Lu Qing swallow ten strands of blood essence in one go, the Five Treasures Taoist's eyes widened in surprise.
He had just personally experienced the malevolent energy within this strange bloodline; the feeling of it wanting to penetrate and erode one's soul in every way was truly terrifying.
Moreover, he almost couldn't withstand it each time he refined just a wisp of bloodline.
Lu Qing had just swallowed ten strands of bloodline at once. He simply couldn't imagine how terrifying the impact of the baleful energy he would have to endure would be.
However, the Five Treasures Taoist dared not make a sound again, for fear of affecting Lu Qing's refining process.
On the contrary, Xiao Li wasn't worried at all.
It knew that Aqing never did anything without being sure of success.
Moreover, it only refines ten strands of bloodline at once, which even it could barely manage on its own.
Aqing is much stronger than it, so there won't be any problems for her.
As expected, just as Xiao Li had thought, after swallowing ten strands of blood, Lu Qing's expression remained calm and composed, showing no sign of discomfort.
About fifteen minutes later, Lu Qing opened his eyes, a hint of regret in them.
"As expected, the effects of the Witch's Essence Blood extracted from the Foundation Establishment Realm Xuan Scale Black Rat have their limits."
Having absorbed ten strands of primordial blood at once, Lu Qing, like Xiao Li, felt that the effect of this primordial blood on him was almost negligible.
In fact, to be more precise, after absorbing six or seven strands, Lu Qing already felt that the Foundation Establishment Realm's Yuan Blood was useless to him.
Those last few strands of primordial blood were actually wasted by him.
"These ten strands of primordial blood have increased the strength of my physical body by about one-thousandth."
However, Lu Qing was still somewhat satisfied.
After refining and absorbing this primordial blood, his physical strength increased by about one-thousandth.
Don't underestimate one in a thousand; you should know that his physical strength is now terrifying.
Even those in the late Golden Core stage who follow the path of body cultivation might not be able to match his physical strength.
The primordial blood extracted from the bodies of some Foundation Establishment Realm Xuan Scale Black Rats was enough to enhance his already strong physical body by one-thousandth.
Honestly, the effect is already extremely amazing.
After all, even those Golden Core-level pills specifically designed for tempering the physical body were practically useless to Lu Qing.
It is far inferior to one's own perfect golden elixir, which has a better nourishing effect on the physical body.
"I wonder if there are any Xuanlin Black Rats at the Golden Core Realm level in this forest," a thought flashed through Lu Qing's mind.
The primordial blood of witchcraft within the Foundation Establishment stage Xuanlin Black Rat was no longer of any use to him.
However, if it's someone at the Golden Core stage, things might change differently.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, are you alright?"
Just as Lu Qing was pondering this in his heart, the Five Treasures Taoist asked.
At the same time, there was a hint of nervousness in his eyes.
Seeing that Lu Qing remained silent after waking up, he assumed something was wrong.
"It's nothing, thank you for your concern, Daoist Master." Lu Qing came back to his senses and smiled. "Alright, we can continue to sweep through this forest."
"Fellow Daoist Chen, you have already refined all those bloodlines?" Five Treasures Daoist asked in surprise.
"Well, I guess you could say that." Lu Qing nodded. "However, although these bloodlines are strange, their effects are limited. After refining those bloodlines, the rest may not be of much use to me."
Upon hearing this, the Five Treasures Taoist was immediately stunned.
It wasn't until Lu Qing had collected the jade talisman from the ground that the Five Treasures Taoist came to his senses.
The look in his eyes as he looked at Lu Qing now carried a hint of awe.
Although Lu Qing didn't say it explicitly, various clues had already made him realize that Lu Qing's strength was likely much greater than he had imagined!
In the following time, Lu Qing led the Five Treasures Taoists to continue sweeping through the forest.
Although the Witch's Essence Blood in the Foundation Establishment Realm Xuanlin Black Rat had almost no effect on him and Xiao Li.
However, this primordial blood is still extremely rare and can be considered a true treasure.
He tried to collect as much as possible, so that whether he left it for Xiaoyan and his master or auctioned it off to exchange for spirit stones and treasures, it would be an excellent choice.
boom!
Another tremor followed, and Lu Qing captured a black rat with black scales, killing it with the shockwave, and then put it away.
"It's taken so long to find another one. We've probably captured almost all the black beasts in this forest."
Lu Qing looked around.
This is the third day since they refined the primordial blood.
In the past few days, Lu Qing and his group have swept through most of this forest area.
As they continued their sweeps, the Black Scaled Rats became increasingly difficult to detect.
They had been searching for almost half an hour before finding this one.
“That’s right, I feel that we’ve almost finished searching this forest.” Wu Bao Daoist nodded in agreement.
Lu Qing pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, let's prepare to leave. We've already caught enough black beasts; there's no need to waste time on the remaining ones that slipped through the net."
In the past few days, Xiao Li has found over a hundred Xuanlin Black Rats.
This quantity is more than enough for Lu Qing's use.
"Alright, it's always good to leave room for maneuver. It's not good to really exterminate all the black beasts in this forest."
The Five Treasures Taoist also agreed.
Moreover, he already knew from Lu Qing that the strange bloodline's enhancement of the physical body had its limits.
In any case, they have captured enough black beasts in the past few days.
"Let's go now."
Having made their decision, the two immediately transformed into streaks of light and flew towards the southeast.
As he left, Lu Qing glanced back and sighed inwardly.
He originally thought that such a large forest should contain Xuanlin Black Rats at the Golden Core Realm.
Unexpectedly, after sweeping through most of the area, they found no trace of the Golden Core Realm Xuan Scale Black Rat.
It seems that there must be some kind of rule in this forest that suppresses the breakthroughs of the Xuanlin Black Rats.
The two flew southeast.
This time, because the forest had already been cleared by them, the journey was peaceful, and the two did not encounter any further attacks until they flew out of the forest.
"Finally out."
The moment they flew out of the forest, both of them felt a sense of relief.
Although the forest posed no threat to them, seeing the same scenery all the time could still get a bit boring.
After leaving the forest, Lu Qing and his group were greeted by a vast grassland.
In the far distance, the faint outlines of mountains could be seen.
"This secret realm is really huge."
Lu Qing sighed.
The sheer size of the forest they emerged from was comparable to several states in their home world.
And this meadow is the same.
More importantly, they haven't encountered another cultivator yet.
It should be noted that there are tens of thousands of cultivators in Tian Shu City.
So many cultivators entered the secret realm a day earlier than them, yet they hadn't encountered a single one even after several days.
There's only one explanation.
The area of this secret realm is surprisingly large.
Even if tens of thousands of cultivators enter, it is like a drop of water entering the ocean, unable to create any ripples.
"Master, can you divine where the others in the secret realm have gone, and which direction we should go next?" Lu Qing asked.
"I'll give it a try."
The Five Treasures Taoist priest took out his black tortoise shell again and began to perform divination.
"According to the divination, if we continue to head southeast, we should be able to encounter people."
After more than ten breaths, the Five Treasures Taoist looked at the divination symbols on the ground and said.
"Is it still in the southeast direction? Could it be in those mountains?"
Lu Qing gazed at the shadow of the mountains in the far distance.
"In that case, let's continue our journey after you have recovered from your meditation, Daoist Master."
The Five Treasures Taoist did not refuse. It had been quite some time since his last meditation, and he had already depleted more than half of his magical power.
We don't know what dangers we might encounter on the grasslands, so we should try to stay in top condition.
Immediately, he took out a mid-grade spirit stone and began to absorb its spiritual energy to recover.
Lu Qing stood by, continuing to protect him.
However, at this moment, a strange thought came to Lu Qing's mind.
Since entering the secret realm, due to the thin spiritual energy here, they have had to absorb the spiritual essence from the spirit stones every once in a while to restore their magical power.
In the past few days, I have already spent several mid-grade spirit stones.
For him, these spirit stones were nothing.
However, this may not be the case for many other cultivators who have entered the secret realm.
Many cultivators, in particular, purchased treasures and pills to enhance their strength before entering the secret realm, spending a considerable amount of spirit stones.
But who could have imagined that this secret realm would be so special, with its spiritual energy being extremely thin?
Once magical power and spiritual energy are depleted, it is impossible to replenish them by absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
This greatly increases the importance of spirit stones.
Those cultivators who didn't bring many spirit stones with them are probably going to be in trouble.
It's even possible that this could trigger a major incident.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, my teachings are sufficient."
As Lu Qing's thoughts were in turmoil, the Five Treasures Taoist finally finished his meditation and returned to his peak condition.
"Then let's go."
The two transformed into streaks of light once more, flying towards the shadowy mountains.
On the way, the two discovered that the grassland was not completely desolate.
There are still quite a few living beings living in it.
However, these beings are not at a high level; the most powerful among them is only at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Without exception, these creatures also possessed strong physical bodies, but no spiritual power within them.
"Indeed, these beings also possess the essence of witch blood."
Floating in mid-air, Lu Qing held a creature that looked like a rabbit in his hand, looking at the message on the note in his field of vision, and thought to himself.
He just caught it from the grassland below.
After examining it with his special abilities, he discovered that it did indeed contain the essence of witch blood.
However, this rabbit is only at the Qi Refining stage, and the essence of the witch within it is extremely weak, so it should be of no use to him.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, how is it?" asked the Five Treasures Daoist.
He already knew that Lu Qing possessed a technique that could detect the bloodlines within these strange beasts.
"Our guess was correct. The creatures on this grassland also possess that strange bloodline. This must be a unique feature of this secret realm."
"But their bloodline is weak, so they're not of much use to us. There's no need to waste our time."
Lu Qing casually tossed the rabbit in his hand into the Li Huo Cauldron.
Although the primordial blood in the rabbit's body was useless to him, rabbits are still very delicious when roasted.
I wonder what the spirit rabbits in this secret realm taste like.
After this brief incident, the two continued on their journey.
Along the way, the Five Treasures Taoist priest regulated his breathing several more times. Finally, as evening approached, they arrived at the edge of the grassland, where they could see the shape of the mountains more clearly.
Indeed, this secret realm also has night and day, just like the outside world.
"Master, we're almost inside the mountains. Would you like to take another breath adjustment?"
When they were still dozens of miles away from the mountains ahead, Lu Qing asked.
“Alright.” Wu Bao Daoist nodded.
Although his current magical power consumption is not too high, deep mountains and forests often represent unpredictable dangers.
He didn't want to run into trouble because of insufficient magical power if anything happened after he entered.
Thinking of this, the Five Treasures Taoist looked at Lu Qing with awe.
After entering the secret realm, Lu Qing and he traveled together, but he never saw Lu Qing need to adjust his breathing.
After inquiring, it was learned that Lu Qing's cultivation method was quite special. He could absorb the spiritual energy from spirit stones at any time without needing to regulate his breathing.
The Five Treasures Taoist priest naturally knew the reason for this.
This shows that Lu Qing has reached a point of perfect control over his own power, and his ability to absorb and control the spiritual energy from the outside world has reached an extremely terrifying level.
Therefore, even in the extreme environment of this secret realm, where the consumption of magical power increases tenfold, he can recover at any time.
In other words, as long as he has enough spirit stones, he can absorb the spiritual essence within them at any time without worrying about running out of magical power.
The two landed on the ground, and Lu Qing was still protecting them while the Five Treasures Taoist priest regulated their breathing.
This time, since there was nothing else to do, Lu Qing did not set up the formation.
Instead, they paid close attention to the surrounding noises.
Just as the Five Treasures Taoist was recovering, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked towards the mountains ahead.
Just then, Xiao Li's voice transmission rang in his mind: "A Qing, someone is coming this way."
"Yes, I can feel it."
Lu Qing responded lightly, then flicked his fingers, sending several jade talismans around the Five Treasures Taoist to protect him.
He then levitated and looked in the direction from which the aura was coming.
Then he saw more than ten figures, divided into two groups, coming towards them from one in front and one behind, about ten miles ahead.
Among them, three or four figures were fleeing in front, while seven or eight people were chasing after them.
However, everyone used their movement techniques to run on the ground, rather than fly.
"If you still want to escape, stop immediately and hand over all the spirit stones you have, or you will be killed without mercy!"
Just as Lu Qing was observing, one of the burly men chasing after them shouted a threat.
"You want us to hand over spirit stones? Dream on! Let's see if you can catch up with us first!"
The person in front replied with a sneer.
Not only did they not stop, but they also moved even faster.
"If you won't listen to reason, you'll have to suffer the consequences!"
Seeing that he was stubborn and unyielding, the big man no longer held back.
Suddenly, he summoned a long sword-shaped magic weapon, which transformed into a streak of light and hurtled forward!
