Immortal Refiner

Azure Radiance Pool, Inner Cave Abode.

Cultivation speed within a Second-Tier Spiritual Vein was truly different, significantly faster than in the outer regions.

As soon as Liu Hanyue left, Li Qing eagerly moved in. The cave abode was completely empty, but Li Qing didn’t need much. He simply set up his Artifact Refining Furnace and left a spacious secret chamber for Fan Tong. The rest of the rooms remained vacant.

Li Qing wasn’t particular about accommodations. Accustomed to rigorous cultivation, he wouldn’t bother with decorations—a true ascetic’s lifestyle.

Of course, no matter how simple, it didn’t change the fact that this was a Second-Tier Spiritual Vein!

After finishing a day of meditation and Qi Refining, Li Qing leisurely took out a jet-black storage pouch from his waist. This pouch was his reward for protecting Liu Hanyue and slaying a remnant of the Shi Clan.

”Though they’re Shi Clan remnants, the Shi Clan was once a prominent Major Immortal Clan,” Li Qing mused. ”And after the Shi Clan’s downfall, these people turned to banditry. Their collection should be quite impressive.”

With that, Li Qing eagerly opened the storage pouch.

”After the Shi Clan was destroyed, these people turned to banditry. I’d wager their loot should be quite impressive,” Li Qing said, his voice filled with anticipation as he opened the storage pouch.

Over the years, he had acquired several storage pouches from others, but the thrill of inventorying his spoils never faded.

”No wonder bandit cultivators are so persistent, always popping up. This feeling of effortless gain is truly tempting,” Li Qing sighed, reminding himself not to be swayed by it. He must remain true to his principles.

Though killing and arson might lead to riches, such people rarely live long. He would never actively engage in banditry, only reluctantly playing the part when forced.

Li Qing easily broke the pouch’s restriction, revealing its contents at a glance.

First came the spirit stones. Their number was fewer than he had expected, only eight hundred or so—less than the wealth of a typical Late Qi Refining Realm cultivator.

But on reflection, the leader of these Shi Clan remnants was clearly Shi Tong. Most of their treasure was likely in his storage pouch.

Thinking of this, Li Qing couldn’t help but envy Daoist Qingyang. It seemed that the Guardian operation of the past few days had benefited him the most.

Not only had he obtained four storage pouches, but he had also befriended Liu Hanyue and gained considerable advantages from it.

Of course, Li Qing wasn’t particularly concerned about the quantity of spirit stones anymore. He valued other things more.

For example, the Shi Clan’s inheritance. As a Major Immortal Clan that had stood firm in the immortal cultivation world for so many years, their inheritance was naturally extraordinary.

The very name ”Medicine King Ridge” indicated that the Shi Clan had undoubtedly reached the pinnacle of spirit plant cultivation and Pill Refinement.

”There are quite a few pills for cultivation. These two bottles are Guangling Pills, these seem to be healing pills, and these four bottles are all Foundation Nurturing Pills! With these, plus the Foundation Nurturing Pills I already have, I won’t have to worry about pills for a long time.”

Li Qing’s eyes lit up as he took out all the white jade pill bottles and jars, carefully placing them into his own storage pouch.

There were quite a few pills, suggesting that before the Shi Clan’s downfall, these remnants had looted their own stores before fleeing.

As for Magic Artifacts, they were rather commonplace, mostly of mediocre quality, which Li Qing, being an artifact refinement expert, found unimpressive.

Only the leaf-shaped flying Magic Artifact caught his interest. He played with it for a while. This artifact could expand or shrink, functioning somewhat like a simplified spirit boat. At its largest, it could easily accommodate seven or eight people standing on the leaf.

Moreover, it consumed little spiritual energy to operate, requiring only slightly more than half the energy needed to normally activate a Magic Artifact. This efficiency was due to the spirit patterns etched onto its surface.

Its quality was equivalent to a Mid-Grade Magic Tool, and it possessed decent speed, but it lacked offensive or defensive capabilities. If attacked by something faster, it would be vulnerable, unable to defend like a spirit boat or counterattack with its own Magic Artifact.

Li Qing glanced casually at the other Magic Artifacts, finding nothing noteworthy. He planned to sell them all later for spirit stones.

Now came the main event. Inside the man’s storage bag, there was indeed a portion of the Shi Clan’s inheritance!

In the storage pouch, two jade slips and several books lay quietly in a corner. Li Qing couldn’t help but rub his hands together in anticipation.

The Shi Clan was renowned for its Pill Refinement and spirit plant cultivation, so Li Qing hadn’t expected to find any artifact refinement inheritance within.

However, even a Pill Crafting inheritance would be invaluable. While he didn’t intend to pursue Pill Refinement himself, he could use it to trade for artifact refinement techniques later.

Li Qing first took out the books and eagerly began flipping through them.

Gentle Water Manual!

This was a complete water-attribute cultivation manual spanning the entire Qi Refining Realm, from the first to the tenth layer.

Li Qing wasn’t particularly interested in this, so he quickly turned to the second book.

Spirit Plant Compendium!

As the title suggested, this was a comprehensive inheritance on spirit plant cultivation, detailing every step of planting and nurturing numerous Spirit Herbs. It even included information on the growing preferences and habits of long-extinct ancient Spirit Herbs!

Even though Li Qing wasn’t interested in spirit plant cultivation, he couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, ”Truly worthy of the Shi Clan of Medicine King Ridge!”

He scanned the book with his spiritual sense, quickly finding the section on spirit trees and the cultivation methods for the Jade Locust Tree he had planted.

”So that’s how it is. I didn’t realize there were so many intricacies to growing spirit wood. Besides abundant spiritual energy, cultivation and pruning techniques can actually slightly accelerate its growth, bringing it to maturity faster.”

After some exploration, Li Qing found the Spirit Plant Compendium to be quite excellent and not too difficult to learn, as long as he memorized everything.

After carefully storing the book, Li Qing turned to the final volume.

This was a secret technique called the Wooden Spirit Puppet Art, which allowed him to refine spirit wood imbued with life force into puppets!

Puppets crafted using this secret technique were not only incredibly powerful and obedient but, most importantly, when motionless, they appeared exactly like ordinary spirit trees, making it nearly impossible to detect their true nature!

”Once a Wood Spirit Puppet is created, it will be an absolute trump card for ambushing others. Without proper preparation, no one would ever suspect that a tree rooted in the soil is actually a puppet capable of attacking them.”

Li Qing muttered to himself, then carefully put the item away. This thing was definitely valuable and might prove unexpectedly useful later.

Moreover, he already had a Jade Locust Tree planted. While he intended to use it for cultivating the Precious Wood Body Refinement Manual, he could also use other spirit wood to practice this body refinement secret technique and then refine the Jade Locust Tree into a Wood Spirit Puppet!

”I’ll consider this matter later. A puppet that moves as if it were an extension of my own arm is certainly a tempting prospect.”

Of course, Wood Spirit Puppets had certain limitations. Their power depended on the age of the spirit wood used to create them.

Furthermore, only living spirit wood could be used to begin the refining process. Once the refining was complete, the spirit wood would no longer grow, flower, or bear fruit.

The three books—aside from the basic cultivation manual—were both incredibly useful. Li Qing was already quite satisfied with his haul.

Finally, the remaining two jade slips made his eyes burn with excitement. Secret techniques recorded on jade slips were bound to be extraordinary!

Li Qing took out a jade slip and infused it with spiritual energy. Instantly, a flood of text information surged into his mind.

Soul Condensing Slash!

Li Qing’s breath quickened. This was actually a divine soul attack technique, a divine ability only cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm could cultivate!

The divine soul had countless wondrous uses. Li Qing’s divine soul was already incredibly powerful, yet he had struggled to find a way to utilize it effectively, treating it like a portable radar for far too long.

He never expected to finally obtain a secret technique for divine soul attacks today. This killer move could directly harm a cultivator’s divine soul, completely ignoring logic!

Unless the target was prepared in advance, a surprise attack from this technique could leave them mentally incapacitated or even cause their divine soul to shatter.

However, its immense power came with strict limitations. Only cultivators with a Foundation Establishment Realm divine soul could begin cultivating this secret technique. Forcing oneself to practice it with insufficient divine soul strength would undoubtedly harm the practitioner.

”What a killer move! This must be a core inheritance of the Shi Clan. I wonder if I can even master it now. If I can, I should be able to walk sideways through the Qi Refining Realm. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators might fall victim to it if caught off guard.”

Li Qing’s heart pounded in his chest. He carefully stored the jade slip away. The cultivation method for the Soul Condensing Slash had already been imprinted in his mind, and he planned to start practicing it soon.

His spiritual sense strength rivaled that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, clearly meeting the threshold for cultivating this secret technique.

”Worst case scenario, I’ll just return to the secret realm, break open a mountain peak, and eat a few stalks of Millennial Heavenly Star Grass first.”

Suppressing his excitement for the moment, Li Qing examined the final jade slip.

As expected, it contained the inheritance of a Pill Refinement Technique—a remarkably complete one, spanning from apprentice Pill Refiners to Second-Tier Alchemists.

It also included unique Pill Crafting techniques exclusive to the Shi Clan, representing nearly all the clan’s accumulated experience over the years.

In short, mastering the contents of this jade slip would grant one the skills to become a valued guest of any major power.

”If even this small fry possesses several such precious inheritances, I can’t imagine what core treasures Shi Tong, the leader, might have carried out of the secret realm.”

Li Qing couldn’t help but envy Daoist Qingyang again. His gains must have been immense. With four storage pouches in his possession, Daoist Qingyang likely held half of the Shi Clan of Medicine King Ridge’s core inheritance.

Even if Daoist Qingyang ever considered establishing his own sect in the future, these inheritances would lay a solid foundation for him.

Of course, Li Qing didn’t know that the Shi Clan remnant he had slain was far from an ordinary lackey.

Consider this: someone who could be brought by Shi Tong to attack Liu Hanyue, had a cultivation base in the Late Qi Refining Realm, and bore the Shi surname as a direct descendant—even within the Shi Clan’s former glory days, this person would have been a core figure.

This was precisely why he had managed to escape with these inheritances after the Shi Clan’s downfall. He was undoubtedly a trusted confidant of the clan.

After inventorying all the spoils, Li Qing exhaled deeply and, filled with a sense of accomplishment, began his arduous cultivation.

He was determined to transform these treasures into his own strength!

”Phew! Time is tight. I need to meditate and refine Qi, and there are also several secret techniques to cultivate.”

”First, the Vital Essence Enhancement Secret Art must continue. Mana is always a cultivator’s most crucial foundation. The Wooden Spirit Puppet Art can be put on hold for now; I haven’t found suitable spirit wood yet.”

”Finally, there’s the Soul Condensing Slash. I’ll need to invest some effort in practicing this secret technique from now on.”

Li Qing muttered to himself, quickly organizing his upcoming tasks.

(End of the Chapter)

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