It wasn't until the people of the Qiankun Sect disappeared into the dense forest that the powerful figures from various hidden forces finally realized what was happening.
Immediately following was an incredible gasp of amazement.
"What did I just see? That person actually went head-to-head with the beast, smashing the black wolf's head to pieces with a single punch, killing it instantly!"
"He fought the black wolf beast head-on with his bare hands and even managed to kill it?"
"This person is definitely not a disciple of the Qiankun Sect. Who exactly is he?"
"Indeed, if the Qiankun Sect had such a powerful disciple, they wouldn't have been tricked by the Gongshu family a few days ago, resulting in casualties!"
"Go investigate immediately and find out this person's identity and background!"
For a moment, exclamations of amazement rose and fell throughout the dense forest.
Countless powerful figures were shocked by the scene of Lu Qing killing the black wolf.
They were all very clear about the strength of the Black Wolf Beast.
Although his strength is still at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, his physical body is exceptionally strong and his vitality is incredibly powerful.
In addition, the special nature of this secret realm greatly reduces the power of their Taoist magic and magical treasures.
Therefore, even for those in the late Golden Core stage, killing these black wolf beasts is extremely difficult.
As long as it's not a fatal blow, they can recover quickly regardless of the severity of the injury.
That's why everyone was so shocked when they saw Lu Qing kill a black wolf beast in one fell swoop.
"Brother Batian, this person's physical body also seems extremely powerful. He was able to shatter the head of that black wolf beast with a single punch. I wonder how he compares to you?"
In a dense forest, Shen Zangfeng also looked surprised and asked Batian, who was standing next to him.
"It's hard to say." Ba Tian shook his head, his expression somewhat solemn. "Although that black wolf beast is only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, its physical strength is comparable to that of a magic weapon."
If I were to kill him with my physical strength alone, I could do so, but I might not be able to do it so cleanly and efficiently.
Therefore, we'll only know after we've actually competed.
"Is this person really that powerful?"
This time, it was Shen Zangfeng who was surprised.
He had only asked casually, but he didn't expect that Ba Tian wouldn't be sure.
It should be known that the Overlord Clan contains ancient bloodlines within their bodies, giving them an extraordinary physique, powerful physical strength, and exceptional skill in physical cultivation.
Ba Tian is the strongest among the younger generation of the Ba Wang clan. He has cultivated the clan's secret technique, 【Ba Wang Lu】, and has already reached the ninth level of the Golden Core stage.
Although he has not yet truly reached the perfect state of the Golden Core, which is the ninth stage of the Nine Revolutions, his physical strength has already reached an incredible level.
Shen Zangfeng had fought him before. Without using any magic weapons, his sword energy could hardly cause any damage to Batian.
Therefore, he had a very deep understanding of the strength of Batian's physical body.
Now that he heard Ba Tian say that the physical strength of that person was probably no less than his own, how could Shen Zangfeng not be shocked?
"It's just physical strength. This person must have followed the path of pure body cultivation. He may have even obtained some rare and precious materials, which is why his physical body is exceptionally strong."
Ba Tian laughed and said, "In terms of physical strength alone, I dare not say that I can suppress him. However, in the cultivation path of our Ba Wang clan, physical strength is only one aspect."
In a real battle, 【domineering aura】 is our foundation.
Shen Zangfeng nodded.
The Overlord Clan's clan-protecting technique, the Overlord Record, cultivates the Overlord Aura, which is renowned and is an extremely domineering and troublesome force even in the entire Tianyuan Great World.
Moreover, only members of the Overlord Clan can cultivate this power. It is precisely because of this domineering magical power that the Overlord Clan has been able to maintain its position as one of the top three of the thirty-six superior clans for so many tens of thousands of years.
"However, this person is indeed quite capable, but I don't know his background. I've never heard of the Qiankun Sect having such a powerful disciple."
"Regardless of his background, he is just one person. Even if we add the disciples of the Qiankun Sect, he is not much of a threat to us," Ba Tian said. "For us, the most important thing is the opportunity in the ancient tower."
Well, Brother Shen, you know what's going on inside the ancient pagoda.
With our individual strengths alone, we fear we will find it difficult to overcome the internal challenges.
"Would your Heavenly Sword Sect like to join forces with our Overlord Clan?"
"I cannot make this decision on my own. I need to go back and discuss it with my fellow disciples before I can give you an answer, Brother Batian."
"Then Brother Shen will have to hurry, otherwise I feel that Daoxu Temple and Biluo Palace may make some moves. If they get there first and seize the opportunity, then it will be too late to regret it."
I will get back to you as soon as possible.
...
"Interesting lad, such formidable physical strength is truly rare. Could he be a disciple of those old monsters?"
Meanwhile, somewhere in the dense forest, someone was chuckling softly.
"It's just killing a black wolf beast, nothing special. If we weren't afraid of angering the beasts inside, we could have killed them easily too," another cool voice said indifferently.
"That being said, it is rare to encounter a Golden Core cultivator who has reached this level of cultivation, and I am quite excited."
"What, you've perhaps taken a fancy to him and want to make him your golden-armored bodyguard?"
"I do have that idea. Soon, I will be competing with my fellow disciples for the position of young abbot. Having a golden-armored guard like this would be a great help."
“I think it’s a bit difficult. This person doesn’t seem like the type to be subservient to others. Besides, didn’t you just say that he might be a disciple of those old monsters? If that’s the case, would you dare to take him in as a Golden Armor Guard?”
"It's not confirmed yet. What if he's a rogue cultivator? In that case, being able to join my Daoxu Temple would be an opportunity that countless geniuses would never dream of."
"Alright, these are all minor matters. You just said you wanted to cooperate with our Biluo Palace to enter the tower and seize opportunities. Is that true?"
“That’s right. We’ve both been to the ancient tower. You should understand how difficult the trials there are. We probably couldn’t overcome them on our own. Only by working together can we have a chance.”
The cold voice remained silent for a moment before finally agreeing, "Okay, but before we go in, we must make a solemn oath and agree to three rules."
"Of course."
...
“Ah Yu, your feeling that day was right, this person is indeed very dangerous.”
The woman, her face showing surprise, couldn't help but speak from the location where the Gongshu family members were.
The other members of the Gongshu family were equally astonished.
No one expected that the kid they had just encountered, who was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, could unleash such terrifying strength.
They had all personally experienced the power of that black wolf beast.
That unassuming kid was able to kill them with a single punch; if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they simply wouldn't have believed it.
Some members of the Gongshu family couldn't help but feel relieved that they hadn't attacked Lu Qing and his companion earlier.
Otherwise, if they were caught off guard and took such a punch, no one here except Gongshu Yu would be able to withstand it.
"Yes, I didn't expect that."
Gongshu Yu's expression was somewhat solemn.
Although he had sensed before that Lu Qing and the other person were not as simple as they seemed on the surface.
But no one expected that its strength would be so formidable.
The thought that such a person was so close to the people of the Qiankun Sect made Gongshu Yu feel rather uneasy.
Furthermore, thinking of Ye Qingzhu and the others he had just seen, his intuition told him that the recovery of Ye Qingzhu and the others' injuries was likely also related to Lu Qing and the other person.
Thinking of this, Gongshu Yu's eyes darted around as he began to ponder.
Lu Qing had no time to pay attention to the shock and reactions his killing of the black wolf beast had caused among the various forces in the dense forest.
He had now returned to the valley where the Qiankun Sect members had previously stayed.
Soon, a group of Qiankun Sect disciples and Five Treasures Taoists also returned.
"Fellow Daoist Chen..."
Qin Zheng was about to speak when Lu Qing waved his hand to interrupt him: "Fellow Daoist Qin, I would like to meditate for a while. May I ask if I may borrow a room here?"
"Is Fellow Daoist Chen injured?" Qin Zheng swallowed the words he was about to say and quickly replied, "Of course it is. Please use it."
"I wouldn't call it an injury, just a bit of a drain on my energy. I'll have to trouble you all to wait a moment."
Qin Zheng recalled that Lu Qing had previously expended a lot of his magic power to heal Ye Qingzhu and the others.
Having just killed another black wolf beast, he immediately said, "Then Fellow Daoist Chen should quickly adjust his breathing."
After bowing, Lu Qing led Xiao Li into the house, casually set up an array to conceal their aura, and then summoned the Li Huo Cauldron to begin refining the bloodline within the Black Wolf Beast.
The reason he was willing to expose part of his strength in front of so many powerful figures in order to kill this black wolf beast was naturally for the witch's blood essence within it.
Such a treasure, capable of permanently enhancing one's physical strength and potential, is extremely rare and hard to come by. Now that one has encountered it, one naturally cannot let it go.
While Lu Qing was refining the essence blood of the black wolf beast inside the house, the disciples of the Qiankun Sect outside, under Qin Zheng's command, redeployed the defensive formation to protect the entire valley.
After finishing all this, the Qiankun Sect disciples came to a corner of the valley.
Qin Zheng looked at Ye Qingzhu and the others.
"Junior Sister Qingzhu, didn't you say before that Fellow Daoist Chen was skilled in swordsmanship and possessed divine swordsmanship? How come..."
Qin Zheng didn't continue speaking at this point, but the meaning behind his words was quite clear.
The other Qiankun Sect disciples also looked at Ye Qingzhu and the others.
Even now, when they recall the scene of Lu Qing slaying the black wolf beast, their hearts are still filled with emotion.
Amidst the roars of tigers and the howls of dragons, the sight of someone smashing the head of a black wolf beast with a single punch using only their bare hands was truly awe-inspiring.
It made them almost doubt whether what they were seeing was an illusion.
But while they were shocked, they also had the same questions as their senior brother Qin Zheng.
Wasn't it said that Fellow Daoist Chen was skilled in swordsmanship, and that he was able to kill Li Motian, who had fallen into the demonic path and whose strength was comparable to the late Golden Core stage, with just a single sword finger strike?
But just now, he used his bare body to withstand the attack of the black wolf beast and killed it.
Although the strength it displayed was equally formidable, its fierce fighting style was hardly related to sword cultivation!
"I don't know either." Ye Qingzhu also looked confused. "When Fellow Daoist Chen killed Li Motian, he did use swordsmanship."
Even my master, after seeing the sword wounds on Li Motian's body, praised his swordsmanship.
I had no idea he was also skilled in martial arts and had such a powerful physique.
Ye Qingzhu was no less shocked than her fellow disciples.
She had always thought that Lu Qing was an extremely powerful sword cultivator who was also incredibly skilled in medicine.
For this reason, she even asked her master if there was any powerful cultivator in the world who was skilled in both medicine and swordsmanship and might be Lu Qing's master.
However, what she had just witnessed told her that what she knew was only one side of Lu Qing.
Lu Qing's mystery and power far exceeded her imagination.
As for Zixiao and Chu Xiaojing, they also looked bewildered.
I can't understand why Lu Qing, who was originally a powerful swordsman, is also so powerful in fist techniques.
"Even you don't know?"
Looking at the expressions of Ye Qingzhu and the other two, Qin Zheng knew that they really didn't know about this matter.
But since even Elder Mo Xuan praised his swordsmanship, Lu Qing's swordsmanship must be extremely impressive.
Immediately, he turned his gaze to the Five Treasures Taoist.
But the fat Taoist priest waved his hand and said, "You don't need to look at me. I'm just like you all. We met by chance on the way to Tian Shu City."
We only traveled together because we had a very pleasant conversation.
But I don't know as much about Fellow Daoist Chen as you do.
"The astonishing fist technique that Fellow Daoist Chen just displayed was something I'd never seen before, and I'm still incredibly awestruck."
“Yes, Second Senior Brother,” Chu Xiaojing said at this moment. “When Brother Chen saved us, he was alone. It was only when we met in Tian Shu City that Daoist Wu Bao was with him.”
Qin Zheng was taken aback upon hearing this.
He hadn't expected that the fat Taoist priest who had ventured into the secret realm with Lu Qing was just like them, unaware of Lu Qing's true nature.
He looked towards the room where Lu Qing was, a strange look appearing in his eyes: "It seems that Fellow Daoist Chen's background is truly unfathomable."
The Five Treasures Taoist also looked towards the house.
However, while he was marveling at Lu Qing's mystery, he was also thinking about something else.
"Fellow Daoist Chen is probably not recuperating inside, but rather refining the bloodline of that black wolf beast."
The Five Treasures Taoist had a deep understanding of the extent of Lu Qing's magical power.
While the two were traveling, he had adjusted his breathing and recovered countless times, but Lu Qing had not adjusted his breathing even once.
Therefore, he simply did not believe that the burst of energy he had just unleashed when he killed the black wolf beast would have caused Lu Qing much depletion.
I recalled the strange bloodline within those black rats in the forest.
The Five Treasures Taoist vaguely guessed the real reason why Lu Qing killed the Black Wolf Beast.
It must be for the sake of the bloodline within its body.
Of course, the Five Treasures Taoist priest would not voice these speculations.
Since Lu Qing didn't bring it up, he would naturally keep it a secret.
Just as everyone was lost in thought, a voice suddenly came from outside the valley.
"Brother Qin Zheng, I have some business to attend to."
Upon hearing this voice, all the disciples of the Qiankun Sect changed their expressions.
Because they could all recognize that it was Gongshu Yu's voice.
