Immortal Refiner

In the depths of Small Jade Ridge, Kaiyuan Year Four.

Splash!

Beneath the ceaseless torrent of a raging waterfall, a figure sat cross-legged!

Facing the waterfall’s violent assault, this figure remained as steady as a rock, seated in the midst of the turbulent current. His form remained completely motionless, as though he were embedded in the stone itself.

No one knew how long he had been there. After a long while, the figure suddenly opened his eyes.

Two beams of piercing light shot from his eyes, as solid as physical substance.

”Roar!”

The figure seated beneath the waterfall was none other than Li Qing.

He opened his mouth and roared, his Vital Energy exploding throughout his body. The cascading water was forced aside, creating a temporary vacuum.

As a clear whistle echoed through the mountains, a terrifying tiger’s roar, filled with immense ferocity, reverberated through the forest.

The trees rustled as a magnificent, striped tiger, nearly four meters long and two meters tall, burst from the forest with incredible speed.

In its jaws, it carried a massive deer, weighing an estimated five to six hundred pounds.

Astonishingly, this didn’t affect the tiger’s speed at all. It continued to move nimbly through the forest, its movements incredibly swift.

Soon, the tiger, carrying the giant deer, arrived at a pool formed by the impact of a waterfall.

Spotting Fan Tong, Li Qing stopped his cultivation and leaped out in a single bound.

Just as he was about to plunge into the pool, he lightly tapped his toes against the water’s surface, preventing himself from sinking. Instead, he used the water’s momentum to leap out of the deep pool in a second bound.

If any Martial Path experts had witnessed this, they would have been stunned, marveling at how his Lightness Technique had reached a level of unparalleled mastery.

Indeed, after four years of secluded cultivation in the mountains, Li Qing had pushed all his Martial Arts to their absolute limits, surpassing even the realm of Great Completion!

Of course, the Golden Body Technique was an exception. Despite the aid of the Five Poisons Blood-Activating Wine, he had only managed to reach the fourth layer in four years.

Earlier, Li Qing had been meditating beneath the torrential waterfall, practicing the fourth layer of the Golden Body Technique.

Maintaining a fixed posture beneath the powerful current of the waterfall subjected his entire body to immense pressure.

With such harsh and grueling cultivation conditions, Li Qing even suspected that the Golden Body Technique might not be as simple as traditional Martial Arts.

Bang!

Fan Tong dragged the giant deer to Li Qing’s feet, then nudged him affectionately with its massive tiger head.

Four years had passed, and Fan Tong’s size had become even more exaggerated. It was now more than half as large as a normal adult tiger, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure.

”Excellent work. I didn’t expect you to actually succeed in hunting down the Male Deer King of the mountains,” Li Qing said, lifting the deer’s massive antlers and praising Fan Tong.

Just a year after entering the mountains, Li Qing and Fan Tong had discovered the Male Deer King leading its herd.

Li Qing, eager to hunt, had wanted to take down the majestic stag himself, but Fan Tong had stopped him, insisting on hunting the deer personally.

Li Qing had no objections, figuring it would be a good way to hone Fan Tong’s wild instincts.

The hunt lasted for over three years. The Male Deer King was incredibly alert and possessed formidable strength, managing to hold its own against the fully grown Fan Tong.

Several times, Fan Tong had been knocked senseless by the Male Deer King’s antlers. Fortunately, Fan Tong’s constitution was far stronger than that of an ordinary tiger, and he recovered quickly.

”These deer antlers of the Male Deer King are quite valuable. They’ll be perfect for brewing wine with the remaining half of the Bitter Profound Ginseng.”

With that, Li Qing produced a sharp long knife and began to butcher the deer.

During his four years in the mountains, Fan Tong had been the primary hunter, and he had nearly wiped out the local wildlife.

Fortunately, the forest of Small Jade Ridge was vast, and there was no shortage of beasts. By venturing a little further, they could always find something to hunt.

Li Qing swiftly skinned the Male Deer King, then severed its antlers and a hind leg.

The remaining parts and internal organs were devoured by Fan Tong.

Boom!

A roaring bonfire sprang to life. Li Qing propped the massive deer leg over the flames to roast, while also skewering several flatbreads to heat alongside it.

”Ah, after four years of eating, we’re almost out of food and seasonings,” Li Qing sighed. ”It’s time to head down the mountain.”

After four years in the mountains, Li Qing felt like he was turning into a wild man. His diet consisted entirely of wild beasts from the forest—wild boars, wild deer, and even the occasional Blind Bear that Fan Tong managed to hunt down.

However, Li Qing had never stopped practicing martial arts during these four years. His martial arts skills had improved remarkably, reaching the peak of the Inner Strength realm, with no further progress possible.

All that remained was to grind away at the Golden Body Technique’s progress with time. It was worth noting that he had already finished the Five Poisons Blood-Activating Wine and the Tiger Bone Nourishing Wine.

Without the aid of those two large vats of medicinal liquor, the Golden Body Technique’s cultivation progress had slowed down again, crawling forward like a tortoise.

”Divine Intent Realm...” Li Qing murmured, his eyes filled with endless contemplation.

Over the past few years, he had brushed against the edge of the Divine Intent Realm, a realm of profound mystery.

Unfortunately, Transformed Strength still remained a hazy concept to him, something he could see but couldn’t quite grasp.

Li Qing believed he was close to the Divine Intent Realm. If he could grasp that elusive, profound feeling, he would instantly ascend to the Grandmaster Realm.

At the Inner Strength level, his accumulation was exceptionally profound. He had mastered four external Martial Arts to their peak: the Light Silk Leg Technique, Shadow-Seeking Footwork, Fierce Tiger True Intent Diagram, and Ancient Mystic Hammer Art.

His Golden Body Technique had also reached the fourth layer, a level where ordinary blades and spears could barely penetrate. Even Inner Strength experts at the same level would struggle to harm him.

As for the only internal Martial Art he practiced, the Turtle Breathing Art, over the years, Li Qing had cultivated a substantial reserve of Inner Strength within his body.

It was worth noting that, including his age in the World of Eternal Night, Li Qing was nearing twenty-six.

His Vital Energy had reached its peak, the most vigorous state a human body could achieve.

Crucially, when Li Qing checked his bone age, it had entered a state of stagnation.

Despite being almost twenty-six, his bone age remained at twenty-five.

Li Qing suspected that his physical condition would remain at this age indefinitely after he turned twenty-five.

Li Qing’s body would only gradually age and his Vital Energy would decline once the lifespan rewarded for forging weapons was exhausted.

”No one stays young forever, but there will always be young people.”

”Who says I can’t stay young forever?”

Realizing this, Li Qing was immensely pleased.

In other words, as long as he continued forging weapons to extend his lifespan, he could remain eternally youthful!

This was a dream many people craved but could never achieve, yet Li Qing had truly realized it.

Beside him, Fan Tong, who was voraciously devouring the male deer, glanced sideways at his master, wondering what he was grinning about.

Noticing Fan Tong’s gaze, Li Qing felt as if he was being looked down upon, and his smile froze.

”Ahem, I’m going to leave the mountain for a while. I have a feeling the Grandmaster Realm isn’t far off. Can you stay in the forest alone for the next few days?”

With that, Li Qing used a sharp dagger to carve a piece of meat from the male deer’s hind leg and stuffed it into his mouth.

The moment Fan Tong heard Li Qing was abandoning him, he became instantly alert. He stopped chewing and fixed his massive eyes on Li Qing.

”Awoo! Awoo!”

It was as if he were asking why Li Qing was leaving him behind. Had he eaten too much?

Fan Tong signaled that he could eat less. It was no problem at all!

Noticing Fan Tong’s distress, Li Qing rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He ruffled the tiger’s head, enjoying the feel of the thick, soft fur.

”Silly tiger, if you went down the mountain like this, you’d probably scare half the population to death. You’re just too conspicuous.”

”Listen to me. Stay here in the mountains. I’ll return for you once I’ve reached the Grandmaster Realm.”

”Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Besides, I’m curious to see what kind of nation those Marauders have built in the north.”

As he spoke, Li Qing’s tone gradually turned cold.

With his recent surge in strength, he was confident that he was now virtually unmatched at the Inner Strength level. Even the once-renowned Inner Strength experts who had dominated the region would be no match for him.

Just considering his Vital Energy, as vast and deep as a river or sea, if unleashed at full power, it would undoubtedly be a monstrous force.

Combined with his current invulnerable Golden Body Technique, Li Qing even felt he could contend with a Grandmaster Realm expert.

Of course, this was just speculation. After all, since entering the martial world, he had never truly experienced the full extent of a Transformed Strength Grandmaster’s power.

In any case, it should be far stronger than he imagined.

But none of this mattered, because Li Qing was on the verge of entering the Grandmasters realm himself. He had a feeling that day was not far off, just a single opportunity away.

While soothing Fan Tong, Li Qing devoured a roasted deer leg.

After finishing, he sliced the Male Deer King’s antlers into thin slices of deer antler velvet and retrieved a nearly empty jar of strong liquor.

He tossed the remaining half of the Bitter Profound Ginseng and the deer antler velvet into the jar, completing a batch of Bitter Ginseng Deer Antler Wine.

Of course, this wasn’t a formal recipe, and whether it would have the same effects as Tiger Bone Wine or Five Poisons Wine was unknown.

(End of the Chapter)

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