Immortal Refiner

Even a clay figure has a spark of anger, let alone Li Qing. No matter how benevolent he usually was, being treated like a dish on a platter would ignite a surge of fury within him.

Boom!

In that instant, Li Qing no longer suppressed his aura but unleashed it fully.

His Vital Energy surged like a torrential river, its roar resembling thunder.

Having mastered the second layer of the Precious Wood Body Refinement Art, his physical strength now far surpassed any Grandmaster in the mortal realm.

The Black-Feathered Man, hurtling towards him at breakneck speed, felt this overwhelming aura and his expression instantly changed.

”How can such vigorous Vital Energy possibly exist!!!”

He was a connoisseur of Martial Artists’ blood, but he knew that Li Qing’s terrifying physique was far beyond his capabilities to handle.

Through the mutation brought about by cultivating the Red Moon Secret Power, he had indeed slain more than one Martial Dao expert, even claiming the lives of Grandmaster-level masters.

Yet this tall, slender young man, with such a youthful face, had somehow forged a body of such unparalleled strength.

Terrified beyond measure, the Black-Feathered Mysterious Person stopped in his tracks, intending to escape. But it was too late. Li Qing’s speed was like lightning. With a powerful earth-shaking stomp, he slowed the Black-Feathered Mysterious Person’s momentum and seized him in his grasp.

Just moments ago, the Black-Feathered Man had been arrogant and overbearing. Now, in Li Qing’s hand, he was like a mere chick, held aloft by his neck.

”You said you wanted to taste my blood?” Li Qing’s voice was devoid of emotion. His right hand, fingers locked like iron chains, clamped tightly around the Black-Feathered Mysterious Person’s neck.

”Spare me... I failed to recognize a Grandmaster,” the Black-Feathered Mysterious Person croaked, begging for mercy. He could feel the immense force pressing against his neck, a power he couldn’t resist, one that could easily crush him.

”Oh? Weren’t you acting so high and mighty just now?” Li Qing’s tone remained cold and unwavering.

Bang!

With a single-handed throw, he slammed the Black-Feathered Man violently onto the ground.

A cloud of feathers erupted into the air, and the impact caused the ground to tremble slightly.

Faintly, the sound of bone snapping could be heard.

”You!” The Black-Feathered Mysterious Person raised his head, the searing pain in his body confirming that one of his black-feathered wings had been broken.

This was the culmination of over a decade of arduous cultivation, now destroyed in an instant. Resentment surged within him.

Li Qing ignored the venomous glare, striding forward and stomping down, forcing the Black-Feathered Mysterious Person’s head back into the dirt.

”You’ve transformed yourself into a mere feathered bird. Besides flying, what other divine abilities do you possess? Show them now, or you won’t get another chance.”

As he spoke, Li Qing twisted his foot, which was still crushing the Black-Feathered Mysterious Person’s head, treating him like an insignificant ant.

Overwhelmed by humiliation, the Black-Feathered Man roared, ”I’ll fight you to the death!”

Whoosh!

In an instant, every feather on his body shimmered with a metallic sheen, becoming as hard as steel.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The next moment, his entire body’s feathers shot out like razor-sharp arrows.

Li Qing raised an eyebrow, surprised. He hadn’t expected the Black-Feathered Mysterious Person to possess such a remarkable divine ability. This was a pleasant surprise.

Li Qing, however, made no attempt to dodge. He kept one foot firmly planted on the back of the Black-Feathered Man’s head while silently circulating his Limitless Art!

Limitless Golden Body!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The iron feathers striking Li Qing’s body sounded like sharp swords hitting an iron shield, producing crisp, metallic echoes.

Hearing this, the Black-Feathered Man turned his head with great difficulty, his eyes filled with despair as he stared at Li Qing.

”What kind of Martial Dao is this?”

He saw that his signature move, the black iron feathers, couldn’t even scratch Li Qing, let alone tear his clothes. This made him wonder if something had gone wrong with the feathers he had refined, as if they were just ordinary feathers.

Of course, the reason Li Qing’s clothes remained intact was because he was wearing a cultivator’s robe, which could be made impervious to mortal weapons like swords and spears with just a trace of spiritual energy.

Li Qing grinned, saying, ”This is called Iron Shirt.”

As his words faded, Li Qing picked up an iron feather, studying it closely in his hand.

”This is rather interesting,” Li Qing thought to himself. ”It’s somewhat like a divine ability, except it’s not formed from spiritual energy and its destructive power is limited.”

The next moment, Li Qing spoke: ”I’ll ask, and you answer. If you’re honest, I might just let you live if I’m in a good mood.”

Without waiting for his agreement, Li Qing immediately asked, ”I remember the mushroom tree forest wasn’t like this thirty years ago. Why has it suddenly become so ferocious?”

The Black-Feathered Man rasped, ”Twelve years ago, these mushroom trees underwent a mutation, developing a bloodthirsty instinct. They devour all living creatures in the forest, even ferocious beasts. Now, it’s become a Forbidden Land.”

Li Qing nodded slightly. It seemed this mutation hadn’t occurred long ago, likely happening during his years of seclusion in the Azure Radiance Pool.

”What about the martial arts experts of Giant Rock City? Give me a brief explanation.”

This question startled the Black-Feathered Man. He thought, ”Aren’t you a martial arts expert yourself? Why are you asking these questions?”

Could this person not be from Giant Rock City, or perhaps not even from the Black Wind Domain?

He thought to himself, though since it wasn’t a secret of Tianliang Mountain, he answered truthfully.

It turned out that after Li Qing had left Giant Rock City, Zhao Kou, following his guidance, had broken through to the Grandmaster level after several years.

Later, chaos finally erupted in Giant Rock City. The Mysterious Persons in the Daoist Temple, who practiced the Red Moon Secret Power, lost their sanity and transformed into bloodthirsty monsters.

Many people died in the city during the chaos, but Zhao Kou, in alliance with the Green Gang’s Martial Artists, managed to suppress the unrest.

From that point on, the Martial Dao began to flourish once more. However, the Martial Dao in the World of Eternal Night was no longer the traditional one.

Modern Martial Artists now followed the Martial Dao Path, first tempering their bodies, cultivating their essence, qi, and spirit, and cultivating abundant Vital Energy within themselves.

With abundant Vital Energy, they then used the Red Moon Secret Power to break through Martial Dao bottlenecks, making breakthroughs easier than before.

Martial Artists who already possessed strong Vital Energy were immune to the Red Moon Secret Power’s effects on their sanity. This had effectively created a new power system.

Hearing this, Li Qing was slightly stunned. He hadn’t expected the Martial Dao in the World of Eternal Night to evolve so dramatically in just thirty years.

”Using the Red Moon Secret Power to break through a bottleneck... is that still the Martial Dao?” Li Qing shook his head, unwilling to make a hasty judgment.

After a thorough interrogation, Li Qing had learned most of what he wanted to know. He was considering whether to use his divine sense to erase the Black-Feathered Mysterious Person’s memories and let him go.

But just then, three more Black-Feathered Men flew in from three different directions in the night sky.

”Senior Brother... Who are you, to injure a disciple of Tianliang Mountain!”

”A Martial Dao expert? It must be him.”

”Seize him!”

The Black-Feathered Mysterious Person pinned under Li Qing’s foot turned green with fear, desperate to stop his three Senior Brothers from approaching. But Li Qing clamped his mouth shut, preventing him from speaking.

Li Qing raised an eyebrow slightly, then sneered. He moved his hands rapidly, then swung them forward with a sudden force.

Boom!

Several intensely hot fireballs shot out at incredible speed. Their temperature was high enough to melt metal and sever iron, and each was about the size of a human head.

After reaching the ninth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, the power of the few spells he had mastered had also increased significantly.

Moreover, Li Qing primarily cultivated a fire attribute cultivation manual. When he cast several Fireball Techniques simultaneously, their combined power was devastating.

Witnessing this scene, all the Black-Feathered Mysterious Persons were frozen in shock. This was an ability they couldn’t comprehend at all!

Only after the fireballs struck their bodies, igniting their black feathers from head to toe, did they finally meet their bizarre ends, still reeling in disbelief.

Three charred corpses plummeted from the sky, flames still flickering and burning.

The Black-Feathered Man Li Qing stood on was completely stunned, his eyes wide with disbelief.

”How... how did you do that? Are you... a legendary immortal cultivator?”

Hailing from Tianliang Mountain, though young, he had heard tales of a bygone era when spiritual energy was abundant, allowing cultivators to achieve immortality.

But that era had passed over a century ago, long since buried in the dust of history.

If not for the ancient texts and profound classics preserved within Tianliang Mountain, he might have dismissed it all as mere fantasy—a mythic tale.

Who could have imagined he would witness such a reality today?

A sense of absurd surrealism flooded his mind—a myth brought to life.

Li Qing didn’t answer his question. Instead, he patted his storage pouch, and as if by magic, a razor-sharp Wandering Dragon Dagger appeared in his hand. With a swift, decisive strike, he ended the Black-Feathered Man’s life.

”I’ve shown you too much,” Li Qing said, his voice calm. ”Even if I were to erase this memory with my spiritual sense, I’d still feel uneasy.”

”To be safe, I have no choice but to end your life.”

With those words, Li Qing retracted the Wandering Dragon Dagger. The blade, shimmering with a snow-silver light, remained pristine, untouched by a single drop of blood.

After slaying the four Black-Feathered Men from Tianliang Mountain, Li Qing gazed around.

”The Mushroom Tree Forest is definitely off-limits. Let’s see if we can catch some strange beasts on the periphery.”

As for Tianliang Mountain itself, his current strength wasn’t sufficient to handle an entire faction of mutated individuals alone. He planned to return after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, when his self-preservation abilities would be significantly enhanced. Even the former Foundation Establishment Realm master of Tianliang Mountain would pose no threat to him then.

Next, Li Qing released Fan Tong, instructing it to continue its metamorphosis under the Red Moon. He cautioned it not to rush, emphasizing that its safety must always come first.

Then, he moved to another area, using the Jade Pendant that opened the Hidden Realm to channel the crimson moonlight, hoping to lure out strange beasts from the World of Eternal Night.

(End of the Chapter)

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