Chapter 211: Chapter 209: Another Improvement!
Xiaohai had a look of longing on his face. And just like that, a fine, upstanding young Spirit Beast from the forbidden land of Profound Island was led astray by a certain unscrupulous individual.
Without a map or any sense of direction, Qin Li had to give up on his plan to immediately charge back to the Four Seasons Sect. Besides, even if he went back now, he and Xiaohai together would be no match for that woman. He might as well use this opportunity to focus on increasing his strength.
Although this place was extremely dangerous and escaping would be incredibly difficult, it also meant that if Qin Li cultivated here in peace, absolutely no enemies could get in!
This place was impossible to escape!
At this thought, Qin Li couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger at Bing Mengyun’s vicious intentions. Before he left the Qin Family, he had created a Jade Token using a drop of his blood. If anything were to happen to him, that Jade Token would shatter. As long as he wasn’t in the Four Seasons Valley, even if he died in an "accident," the Qin Family couldn’t blame the Four Seasons Valley. As for Qin Li’s master, he would have even less reason to cause trouble for them.
’Your disciple wanted to venture into the forbidden land. What does that have to do with us?’
Resigned to his situation, Qin Li settled down and consumed the other four red Vermilion Fruits. Xiaohai loyally stood guard over him for more than a month before Qin Li finally clawed his way back from the brink of death.
Qin Li’s meridians were now worlds apart from what they once were. Compared to when he took the first Vermilion Fruit, they had widened by far more than ten times. Judging by the fact that he was now absorbing Spiritual Qi over ten times faster than before, his meridians had widened by at least a hundredfold!
If Qin Li’s meridians were once a trickling stream, they were now a mighty, surging river of raging waves!
The transformation the red Vermilion Fruit had on a person’s meridians was nothing short of miraculous! No wonder that Golden Giant Tiger had been so enraged after Qin Li stole the Spirit Grass.
However, Qin Li never wanted to experience the agony of consuming a Vermilion Fruit ever again. He had already gone through it several times, and each time, the torment was so excruciating it made him wish for death.
It was enough to make the Black Panther, who had originally been eyeing the small red fruit covetously, tremble in fear. ’To be able to torture such a powerful human to this extent, just how terrifying must it be?’ he thought. He decided that even if Qin Li begged him to eat it, he wouldn’t.
In the blink of an eye, half a year passed. During this time, Qin Li finally confirmed one thing: his "Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Only I am Venerable" combat technique had reached the third level!
It had advanced automatically under the immense pressure from Bing Mengyun!
This was the transformation of his tendons, bones, skin, and flesh!
It would be no exaggeration to call Qin Li’s current body a human weapon. When sparring with Xiaohai, Xiaohai would use his full strength—the power of an early-stage Celestial Embracing Realm expert—to strike Qin Li, but Qin Li would only be sent flying with minor internal injuries. In contrast, even Xiaohai didn’t dare to take a full-powered blow from Qin Li head-on!
As for why this human, whose aura was clearly stronger than his own, seemed to have less raw power, Qin Li’s explanation was: "I’m doing this to train you, to help you succeed in your cultivation sooner so you can win back your love and take your revenge."
Xiaohai was deeply moved and respected Qin Li even more, training even harder as a result.
Another blink, and a year had passed since Qin Li arrived. The man and the panther had carved out a cave abode on a nearby mountain and expanded their territory to a radius of dozens of miles.
Thanks to the presence of the scheming human Qin Li, combined with the formidable strength of both him and Xiaohai, all the surrounding Spirit Beasts gave them a wide berth.
Qin Li had even driven out the weasel-like Spirit Beasts that attacked him when he first arrived, because Xiaohai had told him that there were many Spirit Medicines and Spirit Flowers in this area!
Sure enough, over the past year, Qin Li had managed to find all four of the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Grasses needed for the Blast Pill right in this vicinity! This made him ecstatic. One had to know, the Blast Pill was an ultimate-grade elixir that even an Alchemy Family like the Qin Family could never hope to refine!
If elixirs were graded on a scale of six tiers—Ordinary, Middle Level, High Level, Upper Grade, Saint Grade, and Divine Grade—then the Qin Family’s Jade Dew Pill could be considered Upper Grade, and their Golden Wind Pill could be considered Saint Grade!
But the Blast Pill, Strengthening Pill, and Essence Pill were all absolutely top-tier, Divine-grade Elixirs!
Before leaving the Qin Family of Fengsha City, Qin Li had hesitated, wondering if he should give his mother a few Pill Formulas to help the family grow stronger. After much deliberation, he had temporarily dismissed the idea. It wasn’t that he was being selfish; rather, the current Qin Family was simply not powerful enough to possess such Unparalleled Pill Formulas!
Countless people coveted elixir formulas for pills on the level of the Jade Dew Pill and Golden Wind Pill. If the Qin Family were to possess formulas for Saint-grade or even Divine-grade Elixirs, he was certain that the super-clans and major sects would absolutely not let them off the hook.
Elixirs that could raise one’s overall strength by several levels—who in this world wouldn’t want them?
Therefore, after repeated hesitation, Qin Li decided that he would only give the pill formulas to his mother when he either possessed enough strength himself or was certain the Qin Family could keep the secret. Furthermore, he would have to ensure the family would not use the elixirs for profit.
If word ever got out, the Qin Family would be annihilated!
At first, while Qin Li knew the Pill Formulas Prince Wu had left him were powerful, he hadn’t thought they were *that* miraculous. But after personally witnessing the Qin Family of Fengsha City sell their elixirs, he finally understood why Prince Wu had been so cautious.
Unleashing those elixirs upon the world would be nothing short of a disaster!
If you could keep the secret, it would be a disaster for other families. If you couldn’t, it would be a disaster for your own.
So, Qin Li decided that once he got out of here, he would leave Profound Island and return to the Mortal Realm. That Mysterious Land, the Paradise Celestial Palace, was actually a pretty good spot. It was now completely deserted, so Qin Li decided to claim it for himself.
’When I go back there, I’ll bring Xiaohai and the Little Fox, Linghu Feiyue. I’m sure that even if the Golden Giant Tiger comes knocking, we won’t have to fear it.’
’Only Leng Yao can refine these elixirs! And I... must be the one who decides who gets them!’
Even if he were to build a power, it had to be one that was truly his own. If he couldn’t be certain of his control over it, Qin Li would never give these elixirs to anyone.
Of the seven Spirit Flowers needed for the Strengthening Pill, Qin Li had found four. There was another that he and Xiaohai had searched for across hundreds of miles, even getting into fierce conflicts with some Spirit Beasts, but they still couldn’t find it.
As for the other two, they only grew on islands in the sea, so Qin Li hadn’t expected to find them here anyway.
Most of the powerful Spirit Beasts within a several-hundred-mile radius knew that a very strong and exceptionally cunning human had appeared in the forbidden land. He’d run if he couldn’t win a fight and steal if he couldn’t snatch a treasure. In short, his methods were endless, and he would stop at nothing.
In just one year, the man and the panther had made a big name for themselves within a hundred-mile radius. However, it was a bad name; one might even call it infamous.
A certain Black Panther, who should have been a fine, upstanding youth, had finally been "infected" by someone’s shamelessness and turned into a scheming Spirit Beast.
This personality would be despised by all Spirit Beasts for thousands of years to come. But more than that, they would feel a deep, soul-shaking terror whenever they faced Xiaohai.
Time flowed like water. In a flash, two years had passed. The daily routine for the man and the panther was to roam around, stealing any treasures they saw, snatching them if they were discovered, and running if they couldn’t win the fight.
Although they had faced danger a few times, even encountering Spirit Beasts at the Venerable Realm, the two of them always managed to escape.
Their strength had grown considerably over the two years, but what they had really gained was experience in fighting and fleeing. In those respects, the two of them were now absolute masters.
Xiaohai could now occasionally take on human form: a shy, dark-skinned boy of thirteen or fourteen who was clumsy with words. He only became talkative when he was in his Spirit Beast form.
This left Qin Li speechless, so he simply let the guy communicate with him in his original form.
In two years, Qin Li’s strength had advanced from the early stage of the Celestial Shattering Realm to its peak! This was all thanks to his current meridians. His absorption speed for Spiritual Qi was simply too fast, so much so that it felt like a dream!
However, while he had accumulated enough power and gained plenty of combat experience, breaking through to the next realm and achieving a fundamental leap in strength was not something that could be done in a short time.
The so-called Celestial Shattering Realm was like using a sword to slice a giant gash in the sky—that was "shattering the celestial."
In other words, a Martial Artist at the Celestial Shattering Realm already possessed a terrifying power that could make others tremble. They could mobilize the Spiritual Qi in the sky and even slash through space in an instant.
As for a Martial Artist at the Celestial Integration Realm, the simplest explanation is this: destruction is much easier than creation!
If the Celestial Shattering Realm was about destruction, then the Celestial Integration Realm was about creation!
One had to comprehend the essence of their combat techniques, their internal Primordial Power and Heart Method had to reach a top-tier level, and they had to undergo a fundamental improvement from the outside in. Only then could they be considered to have reached the Celestial Integration Realm!
At this realm, a Martial Artist could constantly replenish their consumed Spiritual Qi during battle. Therefore, it wasn’t impossible for two evenly matched opponents to fight for ten days or even half a month!
The Celestial Embracing Realm was even more difficult. Not only did one need to achieve consummate mastery of their combat techniques and have a certain level of enlightenment in the Martial Dao, but their accumulation of Primordial Power also had to reach an astonishing level!
Both creation and destruction leave a trail to follow, but integrating oneself with the world leaves no trace!
This was why many Martial Artists could never reach the Celestial Embracing Realm in their entire lifetime!
This so-called enlightenment of the Martial Dao was different for everyone.
Although Qin Li’s strength was only at the peak of the Celestial Shattering Realm, his body, Divine Sense, and combat techniques were so advanced that even a Venerable Realm Martial Artist would drool with envy and die of jealousy upon seeing them!
Because they had never seen anyone who could perfect all of these aspects to such a degree!
When Qin Li’s Spatial Ring and his five pieces of space jewelry were all filled with various Spirit Flowers and Herbs, as well as the Inner Cores and Tendons and Bones of some Spirit Beasts, Qin Li looked to the east and said to Xiaohai,
"Brother, let’s go. Big bro is taking you to kill some people!"
