"The Gongshu family still has the nerve to come looking for us?"
"We haven't even demanded an explanation from Zhao Gang and the others for their deaths!"
"Perfect timing, let's settle our old scores with them!"
...
Upon hearing Gongshu Yu's words, all the disciples of the Qiankun Sect changed their expressions drastically and became furious.
"Alright, calm down. We are guests, so we must not be rude."
Qin Zheng's expression also changed slightly.
But first, we need to calm down our junior brothers and sisters.
They are currently in a secret realm, their future uncertain, and it is not the time to clash with the Gongshu family.
"Let's go out first and see what the Gongshu family's purpose is in coming here."
Qin Zheng activated the formation and led his fellow disciples out of the valley. They saw that it was indeed Gongshu Yu, who was waiting outside the valley with the Gongshu family.
"Brother Qin Zheng, how have you been?"
Seeing Qin Zheng and the others come out, Gongshu Yu asked with a smile.
They seemed completely oblivious to the unfriendly expressions on the faces of the Qiankun Sect disciples.
"Thanks to everyone, everything is fine, except that my junior brothers Zhao Gang and Wang Ming died rather tragically."
Although Qin Zheng's expression was calm, his words were anything but.
Upon hearing this, the unfriendly expressions on the faces of the Qiankun Sect disciples intensified.
"I am also deeply saddened by the deaths of my two junior brothers. I regret that my strength was limited. On that day, I could only do my best to protect my clansmen, but I was unable to lend them a helping hand. I am truly ashamed."
Gongshu Yu's ashamed expression only fueled the anger of the Qiankun Sect disciples.
Chu Xiaojing could no longer hold back and shouted, "It was clearly you who broke your promise and deserted without permission, disrupting the formation, which led to the deaths of Senior Brother Zhao Gang and the others. Yet you still dare to come here and make sarcastic remarks. It's simply too much!"
"That's right, this is absolutely outrageous!"
"What a deceitful and petty person!"
"Shameless! I never imagined that the Gongshu family, one of the thirty-six noble clans, would be so despicable!"
Immediately, the crowd was indignant, and the other Qiankun Sect disciples also began to shout and curse.
Hearing this rude insult, the Gongshu family members' expressions changed.
They already looked down on these disciples of the Qiankun Sect, and now that they dared to insult them, they couldn't stand it anymore.
"How dare you insult the Gongshu family! Are you tired of living?!"
"We came here to give you face, yet you are so ungrateful and dare to insult us. You are simply courting death!"
"You accuse us of being faithless, but it's clearly you who lack credibility. When we entered the secret realm, we agreed to explore it together, but your own strength was too weak to withstand the attacks of the alien beasts, resulting in casualties. Now you're blaming us for it, which is utterly absurd!"
"Have you considered the consequences of insulting my Gongshu family? Could it be that your Qiankun Sect wants to start a war with my Gongshu family?"
"You..." Hearing that the Gongshu family not only refused to admit their mistakes but also tried to shift the blame, Chu Xiaojing became even angrier.
She never imagined that the Gongshu family could be so shameless.
He was so angry that he wanted to draw his sword.
"Xiao Jing!"
Qin Zheng's expression was equally unpleasant, but he still stopped Chu Xiaojing from doing anything.
Currently, the overall strength of the Gongshu family is significantly greater than theirs, and Gongshu Yu's cultivation level is also superior.
If a fight were to break out here, their Qiankun Sect would likely suffer a loss.
Therefore, Qin Zheng tried his best to suppress his anger and looked at Gongshu Yu.
"Young Master Yu, you didn't come here just to mock us, did you? Tell me, what is your true purpose?"
"Brother Qin Zheng, you've misunderstood me. I did come to express my apologies," Gongshu Yu said with a smile.
However, what he saw was Qin Zheng's indifferent gaze.
After a slight pause, he stopped being polite and said, "Of course, besides apologizing, I also want to discuss the cooperation between our two families with Brother Qin Zheng."
Upon hearing this, the disciples of the Qiankun Sect were once again enraged and wanted to shout insults.
But Qin Zheng suppressed it with a wave of his hand.
"Young Master Yu is joking," Qin Zheng said coldly. "Do you really think our two families can still trust each other after what happened that day?"
"That's fine. If Brother Qin Zheng doesn't trust us, we can make a soul oath to each other. That way, you can rest assured, right?"
However, Qin Zheng remained unmoved: "I appreciate Young Master Yu's kindness, but we are disheartened by the deaths of Junior Brother Zhao Gang and the others."
In addition, Junior Sister Qingzhu and the others have not yet recovered from their injuries and still need to rest.
"I don't wish to venture into the secret realm any further for the time being, so I would appreciate it if Young Master Yu could find another helper."
Upon hearing Qin Zheng's second refusal, Gongshu Yu's smile finally faded.
"So, Brother Qin Zheng, you really don't want to join forces anymore?"
"Please leave, everyone."
Gongshu Yu looked at Qin Zheng quietly and saw that his expression was calm but his eyes were very firm. He immediately understood what Qin Zheng meant.
"Brother Qin Zheng, have you forgotten what your sect's senior disciple instructed us when we entered? He told us that our two families should work together to compete for the opportunities in this secret realm. Now you want to unilaterally break the agreement. Have you thought about how you will explain this to Senior Qian Lingxiao?"
"This is a matter for our Qiankun Sect, so there's no need for you to worry about it, Young Master Yu," Qin Zheng said calmly.
"Good, very good." Gongshu Yu's face darkened. "I hope Brother Qin Zheng will not regret his choice today."
"Please leave."
Gongshu Yu gripped the jade fan in his hand, but ultimately chose not to make a move.
There's no benefit in clashing with Qin Zheng and his group now.
The opponent is no pushover; even if they win, it will only be a Pyrrhic victory.
With their vital energy greatly depleted, the Gongshu family will be even more vulnerable in this secret realm.
Therefore, engaging in such a petty argument now would be a losing proposition.
Having figured this out, Gongshu Yu suppressed the coldness in his heart and waved his hand one last time.
"Let's go."
The other members of the Gongshu family also turned cold when they saw that the Qiankun Sect had refused.
As they left, their gazes toward Qin Zheng and his group were filled with hostility.
"Second Senior Brother, I don't think the Gongshu family will let this go so easily. Next time we meet, we'll probably be enemies."
After the Gongshu family members left, Ye Qingzhu said with some concern.
"What's there to be afraid of? At worst, we'll just fight them. If my second senior brother had stopped me, I would have slashed him with my sword just now!"
A disciple of the Qiankun Sect shouted.
"That's great, it'll be perfect for getting justice for Senior Brother Zhao Gang and the others," Chu Xiaojing exclaimed.
"Gongshu Yu and his group probably won't confront us directly; that wouldn't benefit them," Qin Zheng said. "However, we still need to be careful that they don't attack us from the shadows. From now on, none of you should act alone, lest you get ambushed when you're isolated. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Second Senior Brother!"
Upon hearing this, all the disciples of the Qiankun Sect were startled and responded in unison.
They all knew that, given the shamelessness of the Gongshu family, they might actually do something so despicable.
"Alright, let's retreat back into the valley for now. Just be more careful in the future."
When the group returned to the valley, they saw that the Five Treasures Taoist was still guarding the place, and the wooden house where Lu Qing was was still tightly closed.
"Master Wubao, has Fellow Daoist Chen finished his meditation?" Qin Zheng asked.
"Fellow Daoist Chen just sent a telepathic message to me, saying that he had gained some insights during his battle with the Black Wolf Beast and needed to go into seclusion for a while to digest his understanding. He told everyone not to worry about waiting for him, and that he would probably be able to emerge from seclusion by tomorrow."
The Five Treasures Taoist replied.
"Fellow Daoist Chen is indeed a genius, able to gain insights even in battle," Qin Zheng exclaimed. "In that case, we don't need to stay here any longer; you can all go about your own business."
"Junior Sister Qingzhu, Junior Brother Zixiao, your bodies haven't fully recovered yet, so you should take this opportunity to rest and recuperate."
"Yes, Second Senior Brother."
Ye Qingzhu and the others did not refuse.
They also knew that only when they fully recovered their strength would they not be a burden to their fellow disciples.
After all, this secret realm is fraught with danger.
Now that they have truly broken ties with the Gongshu family, they are likely to face further targeting from them in the future.
Only by quickly recovering our strength can we better cope with all of this.
Immediately, all the disciples of the Qiankun Sect went about their own business.
Some were meditating and cultivating, while others were studying cultivation techniques. Ye Qingzhu and the others held a spirit stone in their hands, absorbing its spiritual energy to heal their injuries.
Meanwhile, Lu Qing, inside the wooden house, was staring blankly at the dazzling bloodline floating in front of him.
Indeed, he has extracted the essence of witch blood from the black wolf beast.
The primordial blood of witches within a Golden Core level beast is indeed extraordinary.
Lu Qing sensed that the bloodline before him contained immense energy.
Deep down, he felt an intense longing for it, as if he wanted to devour it all at once.
However, Lu Qing managed to suppress his body's instincts with his strong willpower, preventing them from affecting his mind.
"Ah Qing, do you want to refine this bloodline?"
Xiao Li stood on Lu Qing's shoulder, looked at the bloodline that resembled a blood diamond, swallowed hard, and then asked.
Deep down, it also harbors an extreme longing for this bloodline.
If it hadn't already developed intelligence and hadn't followed Lu Qing on his travels, its Dao heart wouldn't have been tempered so well.
I'm afraid I won't be able to suppress my inner desires.
"Hmm, I don't know what risks there will be in refining this Golden Core level bloodline. I'll give it a try first."
If the risk is not too great, we can hunt other Golden Core level beasts later and extract their bloodlines for you to refine.”
Lu Qing rubbed the little guy's head to comfort him.
The blood essence of the witch contains malevolent energy. Lu Qing doesn't know how powerful the malevolent energy in this Golden Core level blood essence is, so he dares not risk letting Xiao Li refine it first.
Xiao Li understood this as well, and immediately urged, "Then A Qing, hurry up and refine it, otherwise I'm afraid I won't be able to resist swallowing it!"
"good."
Lu Qing smiled, and without further hesitation, opened his mouth and swallowed the Wu Zhi Yuan blood that was floating in front of him.
As soon as the primordial blood entered his body, Lu Qing immediately activated his mind to refine it.
Instantly, the vast and strange life energy within his primordial blood erupted and was continuously absorbed by him, causing his physical body to rapidly strengthen at a visible speed.
Along with the primordial blood, a powerful baleful aura also erupted.
The malevolent energy exploded within Lu Qing's body, rampaging and rapidly rushing towards his brow acupoint.
"Is this the baleful aura that Xiao Li and the others felt?"
As Lu Qing sensed the bursting murderous aura, a sudden realization dawned on him.
When he refined the Foundation Establishment level witch essence blood extracted from the Xuanlin Black Rat, he could only feel a "gentle breeze" blowing on his brow acupoint.
It couldn't even budge the acupoint between my eyebrows.
He wasn't even sure if it was malevolent energy.
Now, as he refines this Golden Core-level Yuan Blood, he finally understands what the so-called erosion and impact of baleful energy is like.
However, Lu Qing soon discovered this.
Although the baleful aura of this Golden Core level Yuan Blood is more than ten times stronger than that of the Foundation Establishment level.
But it still couldn't do him any harm.
Compared to his rock-solid brow acupoint, this Golden Core level Yuan Blood Killing Qi was merely a "wind" blowing more fiercely.
It was utterly impossible to truly shake the defenses of the brow acupoint, let alone invade it and erode his soul.
"Is it because the Black Wolf Beast is only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm that, although its baleful aura is much stronger, it is still not too powerful?"
Lu Qing sensed all of this and silently began to analyze it.
If that's all there is to it, then Xiao Li should be able to withstand this level of malevolent energy.
As for the Five Treasures Taoist, that's hard to say.
Its foundation was ultimately weak; it had already encountered some difficulties when refining the primordial blood of the Xuanlin Black Rat.
If one were to refine this Golden Core level Yuan Blood, it's doubtful one would be able to stabilize their mind and withstand the impact and erosion of the baleful energy within.
"However, this blood essence of witches is indeed miraculous."
Lu Qing felt a sense of awe as he watched his physical body grow stronger.
He could sense that the Blood of the Witch was not simply enhancing his physical strength; it was also causing a transformation in his body at a deeper level, greatly enhancing his potential.
This is undoubtedly an extremely miraculous ability.
It should be noted that after Lu Qing condensed a perfect golden core, his foundation was already deep enough.
Even a flawless innate top-grade golden core, hailed by the world as a chosen one of heaven, an unparalleled genius, and a seed of the Dao.
His foundation, spiritual cultivation, and potential for spiritual practice are far inferior to his.
Putting aside other things, a flawless innate top-grade golden elixir, barring any unforeseen circumstances, can generally be cultivated to the perfect state of the ninth stage of the golden elixir.
Furthermore, the probability of achieving the primordial spirit is extremely high, as long as one does not commit any heinous crimes that incur the wrath of heaven and man, and are abandoned by both heaven and earth.
Generally speaking, for those who cultivate diligently and practically, achieving the primordial spirit is not difficult.
This is also why, in the cultivation world, cultivators who have survived the nine tribulations of lightning and condensed a flawless, high-grade innate golden core are called Dao children.
Because once such a flawless golden elixir is formed, it is equivalent to condensing the seed of the Dao.
In the future, achieving the primordial spirit and pursuing the Great Dao will have laid a foundation.
The flawless innate superior-grade golden elixir already possesses such immense potential that it has astonished the world.
However, Lu Qing's perfect golden core is much more powerful than this!
Because its cultivation limit is not nine cycles of the Golden Core, but twelve cycles of the Golden Core!
