Immortal Refiner

Li Qing, who had been closely observing the chase and escape, remained patient, focusing most of his attention on the young man named Cao Xiu.

After a long moment, Li Qing finally confirmed his suspicion: this was indeed Cao Xiu, the little brat from Azure Radiance Pool!

Though Cao Xiu’s appearance had changed dramatically, Li Qing recognized traces of his former features in his eyebrows, eyes, and facial structure.

”This kid... after all these years, he’s already reached foundation establishment. Not bad for him,” Li Qing nodded approvingly.

Of course, Li Qing’s own progress far surpassed Cao Xiu’s. When they last parted, Li Qing had been merely a rogue cultivator at the ninth layer of the qi refining realm.

Now, in the blink of an eye, he had achieved the peak of the core formation realm, his status and influence transformed beyond recognition. From a cautious rogue cultivator, he had risen to the pinnacle of the Azure Ridge Domain.

Despite confirming Cao Xiu’s identity, Li Qing still refrained from intervening.

He wanted to see if Cao Xiu had developed any real skills in their years apart, while also secretly observing the foundation establishment cultivator who commanded the Fire Jade Bees, to determine if they possessed more of the venomous insects.

Buzz! Buzz!

A swarm of crimson Fire Jade Bees clustered tightly behind Cao Xiu, occasionally sending one or two bees darting forward to sting him with their venomous stingers.

”Damn it, there are too many of these Fire Jade Bees! I can’t afford to be slowed down!” Cao Xiu’s face was as dark as water, his expression grave.

He didn’t swat away the two Fire Jade Bees that landed on him, instead allowing them to sting him.

Cao Xiu understood that if he became entangled, he would soon be overwhelmed by even more bees.

Trapped in such a swarm, even an immortal would struggle to escape.

In the next instant, the two Fire Jade Bees mercilessly plunged their stingers into his flesh.

Hiss!

A searing pain erupted across Cao Xiu’s back, like his skin was being burned by scorching flames—a pain that pierced his very soul!

Yet Cao Xiu merely sucked in a sharp breath, refusing to slow his escape. In fact, he flew even faster.

If one were to lift his robes, they would see a patch of crimson skin where the Fire Jade Bees had stung him.

This was the telltale sign of fire poison entering his body. Without immediate treatment, the wound would continue to burn with agonizing intensity.

Moreover, once the fire poison accumulated to a certain level, even a foundation establishment realm cultivator would instantly perish.

Of course, such a tactic came with a price.

The two Fire Jade Bees that had stung Cao Xiu just now plummeted from the sky, as if drained of all their strength.

Like most ordinary bees, Fire Jade Bees possess barbed stingers. Once they sting, their stingers remain embedded in the wound.

Without its stinger, a Fire Jade Bee’s life comes to an end.

Thus, commanding these spirit insects always requires a sacrifice.

Li Qing, who had been observing everything from the sidelines, nodded inwardly:

”Hmm, impressive composure. Enduring the searing pain of two Fire Jade Bee stings and still maintaining maximum escape speed.”

”However, the pursuer behind him is remarkably restrained in his use of the Fire Jade Bees. He could have unleashed a swarm to quickly end the battle, yet he’s only sending one or two at a time to harass Cao Xiu.”

”It seems this person doesn’t possess a Fire Jade Bee Queen. He likely just got lucky and stumbled upon a batch of Fire Jade Bees.”

Li Qing shook his head slightly, a hint of regret in his eyes. But upon further reflection, he realized this was perfectly normal.

Ordinary foundation establishment cultivators simply lacked the ability to subdue a Fire Jade Bee Queen!

Subduing a few Fire Jade Bees was entirely different from taming a Fire Jade Bee Queen.

With the former, the Fire Jade Bees would dwindle with each use, eventually running out.

But the latter held a far greater significance. A Fire Jade Bee Queen could continuously lay eggs, hatching endless swarms of Fire Jade Bees.

As long as sufficient nourishment was provided, controlling a Fire Jade Bee Queen meant commanding an entire Fire Jade Bee colony, eliminating any concerns about depletion.

Moreover, the Fire Jade Bee Queen could also produce King Bee Eggs and queen bee eggs. The former yielded a superior Fire Jade Bee variant with exceptional combat capabilities, boasting both remarkable offensive and defensive prowess.

As for the queen bee eggs, when a Fire Jade Bee Queen neared the end of her lifespan, she would concentrate all her essence and spiritual energy into laying a single queen bee egg, ensuring the colony’s survival.

Each Fire Jade Bee Queen could only produce one queen bee egg in her entire lifetime.

If a queen bee met an untimely end before laying her queen bee egg, the world would be permanently deprived of a Fire Jade Bee Queen.

This is why Fire Jade Bees are so rare in the immortal realm today.

After observing for quite some time, Li Qing confirmed that the foundation establishment cultivator pursuing Cao Xiu no longer possessed the queen bee.

Ahead, Cao Xiu’s figure swayed precariously. In just a short span, he had been stung by several more Fire Jade Bees.

The fire poison spread through his body, and it was clear Cao Xiu had reached his limit, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

The Bandit Cultivator behind him snarled, ”Cao Xiu, you’re remarkably resilient! You’ve forced me to expend eight Fire Jade Bees and still haven’t fallen.”

”But this is where it ends. As long as I obtain the map detailing the location of Fire Cliff Cave, these losses will be insignificant.”

With these words, the Bandit Cultivator abandoned all restraint.

Gritting his teeth, he focused his mind and sent the majority of his Fire Jade Bees swarming toward Cao Xiu.

He was willing to sacrifice the lives of his bees to claim Cao Xiu’s! This was clearly a desperate gamble.

The Bandit Cultivator felt a flicker of fear at the resilience Cao Xiu had displayed.

He vividly remembered the excruciating pain of being stung by a Fire Jade Bee, the fire poison searing through his veins.

Yet Cao Xiu had endured eight consecutive stings without collapsing—a testament to his indomitable will that now filled the Bandit Cultivator with dread.

If Cao Xiu escaped today, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Unwilling to let such a threat materialize, the Bandit Cultivator resolved to crush this future menace in its infancy.

”Die, Cao Xiu! In your next life, learn your place—some things are beyond your reach!” The Bandit Cultivator’s eyes hardened with murderous intent.

Li Qing, who had been observing from the shadows, prepared to intervene, ready to rescue Cao Xiu at the critical moment.

But just as Li Qing raised his hand, he slowly lowered it again.

At that very moment, Cao Xiu, who had been on the verge of collapse, suddenly turned around. In his hand, a golden flying sword had materialized.

A swarm of Fire Jade Bees descended upon him, poised to deliver the killing blow.

Then, a surge of razor-sharp metal attribute spiritual energy erupted.

”Golden Annihilation Breath Slash!”

Whoosh!

A dazzling golden light suddenly coalesced into a razor-sharp blade.

The swarm of Fire Jade Bees charging toward Cao Xiu was instantly annihilated, exploding into a shower of crimson jade fragments.

The Bandit Cultivator, who had been certain of victory, watched his pupils contract in shock. He never imagined Cao Xiu possessed such a terrifying trump card.

He tried to evade, but it was too late. He had deliberately maintained his distance, anticipating Cao Xiu’s desperate counterattack, but he never expected it to be so devastating.

The golden blade sliced through the air with impossible speed, its trajectory nearly invisible to the naked eye.

In the next instant, the blade cleaved through half his body, sending blood spraying across the ground.

Crash!

The life force of both men rapidly faded, their vital energy withering away.

Thud! Thud!

Two figures plummeted into the dense forest below, landing with dull thuds.

Li Qing, who had been secretly observing the entire scene, was left speechless. He was utterly stunned by the ferocity of Cao Xiu’s final, desperate strike.

It wasn’t that the golden blade from just now could threaten a core formation realm cultivator that surprised Li Qing. Rather, it was the fact that even when he was at the foundation establishment realm, he doubted he could have safely withstood such a desperate strike.

”Three days apart, Cao Xiu has truly made me see him in a new light,” Li Qing murmured to himself. He then hurried toward the direction Cao Xiu had fallen, naturally unwilling to let the young man die.

In the dense forest, the Bandit Cultivator lay sprawled on the ground, his face twisted in agony. A large patch of earth was stained crimson with his blood.

His chest heaved violently, each rise and fall bringing forth gouts of blood. It was clear he wouldn’t survive much longer.

As Li Qing observed the dying Bandit Cultivator, he extended his divine sense, effortlessly piercing the man’s Sea of Consciousness.

With death imminent, the fragmented memories within the Sea of Consciousness rapidly faded into darkness, yielding little useful information.

Yet Li Qing still managed to extract a few key memories.

”The Fire Cliff Cave... rumored to house a Fire Jade Bee hive?”

”When did such a place appear in the Azure Ridge Domain? I’ve never even heard of it before.”

Li Qing’s eyes flickered with interest. He resolved to investigate the Fire Cliff Cave immediately.

A Fire Jade Bee hive meant there was a queen bee inside!

This was a spirit insect of immense value, far surpassing the worth of mere swarms of Fire Jade Bees.

Even with his perfect core formation realm cultivation, Li Qing felt a surge of excitement.

Of course, his immediate priority was rescuing Cao Xiu.

Not far ahead, Cao Xiu lay propped against a large tree.

Sensing someone approaching, his fingers twitched slightly, but he lacked the strength for further movement.

Cao Xiu was now clinging to life by a thread, on the verge of drawing his last breath.

Is this the end?

Mother, your worthless son is coming to see you.

I can’t accept this. Is this all my dao amounts to? Cultivation is like rowing against the current—stop, and you fall behind.

As death approached, Cao Xiu recalled these words, which had profoundly shaped his dao. They had driven him to rise from obscurity and achieve foundation establishment as a rogue cultivator.

Suddenly, a tall, imposing figure appeared in Cao Xiu’s fading vision.

The figure blurred and overlapped with a memory of someone from his past, like a hallucination before death.

”The fire poison has already invaded his vital organs and bone marrow. Even an immortal would struggle to save him now.”

”Lucky for you, kid, you ran into me. With injuries like these, most core formation realm cultivators wouldn’t have a clue how to help.”

Li Qing shook his head slightly before placing his hand on Cao Xiu’s body.

Cao Xiu’s body was as red as a boiled shrimp, radiating an even deeper crimson glow.

Boom!

In the next instant, Li Qing simultaneously activated the two heavenly spirit fires within him.

The Spirit Devouring Demon Flame surged forth, its black flames engulfing Cao Xiu’s body under Li Qing’s mental control. The scorching demon flame devoured the fire poison within Cao Xiu’s body, extracting every trace from his flesh and blood, even the poison that had seeped into his bone marrow.

However, the Spirit Devouring Demon Flame was a heavenly spirit fire Li Qing had subdued himself. Even when suppressed, its temperature remained terrifyingly high. Prolonged exposure within Cao Xiu’s body would inevitably cause irreversible damage.

Therefore, Li Qing simultaneously activated the Netherworld Cold Fire, using its icy chill to neutralize the Spirit Devouring Demon Flame’s extreme heat.

After a considerable time, under Li Qing’s treatment, the last trace of fire poison was finally purged from Cao Xiu’s body.

However, Cao Xiu’s injuries were severe. Beyond the fire poison’s corrosive effects, his dantian qi sea had been completely drained of mana.

Still unconscious, Cao Xiu clutched an empty sword hilt in his hand. The golden blade that had once adorned it had vanished without a trace.

It seemed Cao Xiu’s final strike before death had been achieved by sacrificing his magic artifact, granting it such immense power.

”Well, might as well see this through. Besides, I’m also interested in the Fire Cliff Cave.”

With that, Li Qing hoisted Cao Xiu to his feet and found a secluded natural cave nearby to take shelter in.

After tending to Cao Xiu’s injuries, Li Qing settled down to wait quietly for him to regain consciousness.

Just then, Dao Lord Bai Ling, who had been accompanying them, emerged from the fragment of Immortal Spirit Green Gold.

His figure slightly ethereal, Dao Lord Bai Ling scrutinized Cao Xiu’s features with intense focus. The longer he looked, the more complex his expression became—a mix of surprise and regret.

Before Li Qing could voice his curiosity, Dao Lord Bai Ling spoke first:

”What’s your relationship with this young man?”

Li Qing answered directly, ”He’s a junior I used to know. His mother once asked me to take him as my disciple, but my cultivation was still too shallow back then, and I couldn’t even take care of myself, so I declined.”

”In the end, I only imparted two artifact refinement techniques to him. After that, we never saw each other again.”

Dao Lord Bai Ling sighed softly. ”This young man has stirred my interest,” he said. ”I want to pass on my legacy to him.”

”But his spirit root aptitude is rather poor, making it difficult for me to make up my mind,” Dao Lord Bai Ling said with a sigh.

Li Qing’s eyelids twitched slightly. Cao Xiu possessed three spirit roots, lacking the Water and Earth elements.

While not exceptional, such an aptitude could hardly be considered poor, could it?

Li Qing, who only had four spirit roots, felt a pang of shame.

Sensing Li Qing’s thoughts, Dao Lord Bai Ling sighed again and said slowly, ”In a way, your innate spirit root aptitude is actually slightly better than his.”

”If only he had five or even four spirit roots, it would be easier. But three spirit roots? It’s neither here nor there, truly troublesome.”

Li Qing was dumbfounded, his mind clouded with confusion.

”Senior, what do you mean by that?” he asked. ”Isn’t it common knowledge in the immortal realm that fewer spirit roots indicate higher aptitude? The heavenly spirit root is considered the best, followed by variant spirit roots, then dual spirit roots, and so on, with five spirit roots being the worst. How could my aptitude be better than his?”

Li Qing humbly sought clarification, for what he had stated were the most basic tenets of cultivation. Dao Lord Bai Ling’s words, however, seemed to challenge his understanding.

(End of the Chapter)

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Translator’s Corner

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