Immortal Refiner

Eternal darkness and cold—these were the best words to describe the World of Eternal Night.

Surviving in this world was an incredibly difficult task.

Sitting on Fan Tong’s back, Li Qing surveyed the surroundings. He noticed that the Bloodthirsty Mushroom Forest had expanded further. Clearly, during his absence, it had been actively spreading.

”Back then, I was chased away in a sorry state by that One-Eyed Giant Deer. Now, if we meet again, I can at least be a little more composed.”

Having reached foundation establishment and possessing a Serpent-Head Spirit Boat specializing in speed, even if he couldn’t defeat the One-Eyed Giant Deer, which was equivalent to a Second-Tier late-stage cultivator, escaping wouldn’t be a problem.

Boom!

As Li Qing murmured to himself, the Bloodthirsty Mushroom Forest sensed the potent Vital Energy within him and erupted into a frenzy.

The forest trembled, releasing a torrent of crimson spores. Without even needing the wind, these spores actively drifted toward Li Qing.

Having learned his lesson the hard way before, Li Qing wouldn’t fall for the same trick again. Besides, he was still a considerable distance from the forest.

”Let’s go. There’s no need to waste spiritual energy here. We’ll head straight to Tianliang Mountain.”

Li Qing’s purpose was clear: he had come to explore Tianliang Mountain and had no intention of lingering anywhere for any reason, wasting his mana needlessly.

This was the End of Dao Era, a time when heaven and earth spiritual energy had completely dried up. Even though he had achieved Foundation Establishment and possessed immense mana, he didn’t want to expend it carelessly.

Fan Tong let out a furious roar that shook the heavens, its sound waves rolling outward. Then, it charged south, as Li Qing had indicated.

After breaking through to the Second-Tier, its speed had increased dramatically, blurring the scenery on either side into afterimages. In moments, it had covered an immense distance.

Feeling the wind whistling past his ears, Li Qing closed his eyes and extended his divine sense power, keeping it constantly active to guard against any hidden dangers in the surroundings.

In this world, where no new immortals could be born, his divine sense was the ultimate detection tool. He had no fear of being detected by others.

Sitting atop Fan Tong, Li Qing recalled the general direction of Tianliang Mountain and used their mental connection to guide the tiger.

As they raced across the land, Li Qing took out a small trinket he had refined himself. It was an hourglass, barely qualifying as an Inferior-Grade Magic Tool, yet it could accurately measure time without being affected by external factors. Each time the hourglass ran out, it marked the passage of a day.

After nearly three and a half days of travel, Li Qing and the tiger stopped before a desolate plain covered in black mushrooms.

Deep within this plain, three identical mountain peaks stood tall. Each peak was faintly dotted with bizarrely styled structures, appearing eerie in the eternal night.

”We’ve arrived,” Li Qing said, gazing at the three peaks. He knew that beyond this point lay Tianliang Mountain’s territory.

He strained his eyes, using his eagle-like vision to peer into the shadowy clusters of buildings. He saw figures with black feathered wings occasionally flitting through the air around the eerie structures.

Li Qing narrowed his eyes, recalling the Black-Feathered Men who had once tried to make him their blood food.

There had only been four of them back then. Now, after all these years, Tianliang Mountain had cultivated so many Black-Feathered Men, who patrolled their territory in large groups.

The question now was: How should he enter Tianliang Mountain?

Force his way in? Or try to sneak in?

”Even though I abandoned the Immortal Path for the Red Moon Secret Power, Tianliang Mountain shouldn’t have destroyed all those Immortal Path Secret Manuals. They must have preserved some, at least.”

To leave something for the future, to preserve a glimmer of hope.

After cultivating the Red Moon Secret Power, one could also attain a long Lifespan. Li Qing had reason to believe that the cultivators of this world’s past would have prepared for both possibilities, preserving various Immortal Path Secret Manuals from the past.

Spiritual energy had vanished, but who could say it wouldn’t reappear?

”I can’t worry about that now. Since I’ve come this far, I must personally ascend the mountain and explore to fully understand the situation.”

With that, Li Qing returned Fan Tong to his spirit beast pouch and vanished into the night, becoming one with the surrounding darkness.

Tianliang Mountain consisted of three peaks of equal size, but the central one was the main peak, while the other two served as residences for disciples.

”Those barbarians in the martial alliance are becoming increasingly troublesome. They’re even trying to turn all of Giant Rock City into a martial society. They truly don’t know what’s good for them.”

”Sigh, if this continues, obtaining blood food will only become harder. In the end, war will be the only option.”

”To be honest, I’d rather go to war and turn those mortals in Giant Rock City into blood slaves!”

”You wolf-hearted, dog-livered scoundrel! Without our Tianliang Mountain’s Red Moon Secret Manuals, how could their vital energy martial dao have ever developed?”

”...”

Giant Rock City? The martial alliance? Vital energy martial dao?

Li Qing, who had been stealthily approaching the side peak’s base, used his divine sense power to eavesdrop on the conversation of a group of Black-Feathered Men just now.

From these fragments of conversation, Li Qing pieced together crucial information and roughly understood the current conflict between Giant Rock City and Tianliang Mountain.

”Let’s continue up the mountain. I want to see what has become of this once-glorious immortal cultivation tradition—now a demon’s den,” Li Qing muttered, his gaze suddenly turning sharp and cold.

In the past, the Moon Cultivators had helped the people of Giant Rock City deliver babies, preventing deformities in newborns. In exchange, they received the blood of the people as nourishment for their cultivation.

Both sides benefited from this arrangement. Even if some people risked their lives, Li Qing had no objections.

Now, Tianliang Mountain seemed to have delved deeper into the Red Moon Secret Power, not only creating numerous Black-Feathered Mysterious Persons but also planning to raise mortal commoners as blood slaves.

Li Qing never claimed to be a chivalrous hero, but as someone who had once been a mortal himself, he had his own bottom line. If such a thing were truly happening, he wouldn’t hesitate to take action and eradicate this demonic scourge.

With his thoughts settled, Li Qing casually slapped a low-grade Aura Concealment Talisman onto his body, then extended his divine sense, maintaining constant awareness of his surroundings.

He then began his ascent, effortlessly evading patrol after patrol of Black-Feathered Men with the aid of his divine sense power.

As Li Qing reached the mountaintop complex, a faint scent of blood assaulted his nostrils.

It was coming from the stone temple at the summit.

Li Qing raised an eyebrow and continued forward, making no sound and attracting no attention.

Soon, cries of struggle echoed from within the temple, sounding like anguished shouts mixed with curses.

”Bastards! Kill me if you dare!”

”You shadowy, worthless scum! Just wait until our alliance leader hears of this! He’ll flatten Tianliang Mountain!”

”Ugh—”

The cries of pain were punctuated by curses, but soon even those faded away.

”Heh, these brute-force warriors do have some backbone. No matter how many times we bleed them, they remain so arrogant.”

”I’m sick of hearing the same old lines over and over. Not a single new insult.”

”Only these muscle-bound brutes who follow the Martial Dao have bodies strong enough to withstand repeated bleedings. They’re perfect for blood slaves.”

Outside the stone temple, Li Qing stopped.

Normally calm and composed, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of fury after using his divine sense to see the scene inside.

(End of the Chapter)

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