Immortal Refiner

In the end, Li Qing decided to secretly follow the corpse puppets deeper into the hall to investigate the situation.

If even Dao Lord Bai Ling sensed a faint familiarity in the qi mechanism, Li Qing’s curiosity was piqued. Could it be another remnant soul or lingering obsession from the Ancient Era?

Driven by this curiosity, Li Qing exerted every effort to completely conceal his presence.

”Stay here and don’t move. Don’t act rashly!”

”I’ll be back soon!”

With these words, Li Qing entered the passage the five corpse puppets had taken, under Cao Xiu’s slightly worried gaze.

The upcoming mission was likely to be dangerous, possibly involving combat at the core formation realm.

Therefore, he didn’t want Cao Xiu to accompany him. After all, Cao Xiu was merely a foundation establishment cultivator with limited abilities and would be of little help.

If a battle erupted, Li Qing would have to worry about Cao Xiu’s safety, which would only hinder him.

So, Li Qing instructed Cao Xiu to remain behind, promising to return for him once the matter was resolved.

Along the way, he evaded swarms of ferocious Fire Jade Bees, moving silently and stealthily behind the corpse puppets as they advanced quietly.

With his current cultivation level, Li Qing could accomplish all of this with ease.

As for the Fire Jade Bee Queen within the Red Jade Beehive, Li Qing decided to return later to subdue her.

After all, he couldn’t be sure if the corpse puppets might suddenly return, so it was best to first uncover who was controlling them.

Thus, Li Qing continued his winding journey through the tunnels within Fire Cliff Cave, discreetly leaving fire seeds of Netherworld Cold Fire along the way.

Finally, the corpse puppets halted before two massive, half-closed Stone Gates.

At the center of these gates was engraved a circle of profound patterns, resembling a peculiar flame motif.

One of the third-tier corpse puppets set down the stone basin it was carrying, then reached out and completely closed the Stone Gates.

Boom!

With a deafening thud, the Stone Gates slammed shut. The flame pattern at their center closed as well, forming a complete design.

In the next instant, the engraved patterns glowed with crimson spiritual light. As the light swirled, the corpse puppets vanished into thin air before the gates, along with the stone basins containing the Fire Origin Nectar.

Li Qing, who had witnessed everything firsthand, felt a profound sense of awe. This formation was truly extraordinary, capable of teleporting people into thin air.

In all his years, Li Qing had never encountered such a peculiar formation.

”Even in the Ancient Era, such formation techniques were exceedingly rare,” Dao Lord Bai Ling remarked, clicking his tongue in amazement. ”This is no ordinary feat.”

Hearing Dao Lord Bai Ling’s assessment, Li Qing grew even more aware of the formation’s exceptional nature.

”Why do I feel a faint sense of familiarity?” Li Qing murmured, frowning slightly as he studied the intricate pattern etched at the center of the Stone Gate. ”When the formation activated just now, my mana seemed to resonate faintly, as if I’d encountered something similar before.”

By now, no trace of the corpse puppets remained before the Stone Gate, having clearly been teleported inside by the formation.

After a long moment, the Stone Gate emitted a deep rumble and returned to its half-concealed state.

”A clever trick,” Dao Lord Bai Ling observed. ”This half-concealed state is meant to deceive unsuspecting intruders.”

”This place is protected by two formations: one visible and one hidden. The pattern at the center of the Stone Gate is the visible Teleportation Formation. It can only be activated by closing the gate completely, allowing passage to the space beyond.”

”Hidden within the Stone Gate’s seams lies a lethal formation. Anyone who pushes the gate open without knowing about it will face a fierce attack.”

Dao Lord Bai Ling’s words made Li Qing’s heart tighten slightly.

The person who set these formations is truly cunning, he thought. They’ve exploited human nature to its fullest extent.

A normal person arriving here would instinctively push the gate open, eager to see what lies beyond. But doing so would trigger the hidden formation, likely leading to a fatal outcome.

To glimpse what lies beyond, one must act contrary to instinct: close the half-open gate completely, merging the central pattern into a unified whole.

”Boy, what’s your next move? Want to take a risk and peek inside?”

”Who knows? A fortune beyond your wildest dreams might be waiting for you!”

Dao Lord Bai Ling smiled at Li Qing, his words subtly urging him to explore the interior.

But Li Qing wasn’t a fool. While Dao Lord Bai Ling’s claim of immense wealth awaiting him inside might be true, nothing in this world is absolute. This ”immense wealth” could very well conceal unimaginable dangers!

Rushing in recklessly would be irresponsible toward his precious life!

”Senior must be joking,” Li Qing said with a dry laugh, clearing his throat. ”If I rashly activate the Teleportation Formation and enter, I fear my head would be rolling before I even glimpsed this ’immense wealth.’”

Dao Lord Bai Ling’s enthusiasm waned at these words.

”You young man have no sense of adventure whatsoever. How utterly dull!”

”Such excessive caution... I wonder where you learned that.”

”If it were me back in my day, I would have teleported in with those puppets without hesitation. Immortal or ghost, one must see for oneself!”

That’s why you’re now just a lingering obsession in this world, while I’m still alive and well! Li Qing silently retorted in his mind, then shook his head.

”That would be quite inappropriate.”

In truth, Li Qing was also eager to know what lay beyond the Stone Gate. When the formation activated just now, his true essence had faintly resonated with it, stirring an unsettling curiosity within him, like a cat’s claw scratching at his heart.

”Senior, I recall your mastery of puppet art reaches profound depths!” Li Qing said.

”I happen to have a second-tier Spirit Puppet crafted from spirit gold. I acquired it long ago in another great domain, but since I know nothing of puppet art, I’ve never bothered with it.”

”Senior, could you modify my Spirit Puppet and have it blend in with those corpse puppets?”

The Spirit Gold Puppet Li Qing mentioned was the one he had obtained when he established the black market in the Great Wilderness Domain. As his cultivation advanced and his techniques grew more complex, the puppet had been relegated to the bottom of his storage chest. Now, it seemed the time had come for the Spirit Gold Puppet to serve its purpose.

”Show it to me first,” Dao Lord Bai Ling said.

Without hesitation, Li Qing produced the Spirit Gold Puppet he had acquired in the Great Wilderness Domain.

The Spirit Puppet exuded a cold, metallic aura, its exterior hard and its puppet body heavy.

”You really have a knack for this,” Dao Lord Bai Ling remarked, raising an eyebrow in mockery. ”Even with your core formation realm cultivation, you’re still clinging to this piece of junk?”

To him, the Spirit Gold Puppet was indeed a dilapidated mess.

Not only was its refining crude and amateurish, but much of its core had been obliterated.

”This puppet is utterly shoddy!” Dao Lord Bai Ling continued his critique.

Li Qing remained silent. He knew nothing of puppet art and had once tried to control this puppet himself, but he had never grasped the technique.

His plan was simple: a classic substitution trick.

He intended to have the Spirit Gold Puppet slip behind the Stone Gate alongside the corpse puppets, hoping to scout the interior.

If the puppet was destroyed in the process, he wouldn’t feel any regret. After all, it was merely a second-tier puppet.

If it could gather useful intelligence, that would be ideal.

Finally, Dao Lord Bai Ling spoke: ”It’s not impossible. We just need to make some minor adjustments to the puppet’s core.”

”I must warn you, though, the refining techniques used to create this puppet are exceedingly crude. Even if we repair it, it won’t possess any significant combat capabilities.”

Li Qing harbored no illusions about this. After all, even when he was at the foundation establishment realm, he had easily erased the puppet’s divine sense imprint and defeated it.

”That doesn’t matter,” Li Qing replied. ”The most crucial task right now is to investigate what lies beyond the gate. As long as we can achieve that, even if the Spirit Gold Puppet is destroyed in the process, it won’t be a loss.” Li Qing had already steeled himself for this possibility.

Hearing this, Dao Lord Bai Ling said nothing more. His ethereal form directly possessed the Spirit Gold Puppet.

After a long wait, Dao Lord Bai Ling slowly floated out of the puppet.

”Alright, now you just need to imprint your divine sense into the puppet.”

Li Qing followed his instructions. His powerful divine sense spread out, effortlessly imprinting his divine sense imprint into the core of the Spirit Gold Puppet.

Once this was done, he attempted to sense his divine sense imprint.

Soon, Li Qing felt as if he had gained a second body, one he could control with a mere thought, moving it as effortlessly as his own limbs.

Previously, even after imprinting his divine sense, he couldn’t manipulate a puppet with such precision. But after Dao Lord Bai Ling’s modifications, this level of control came effortlessly.

Just as Li Qing was about to experiment further, a rumbling echoed from the Stone Gate around the corner.

”They’re back so soon?” Li Qing murmured, startled. He quickly retracted his Spirit Gold Puppet into his storage pouch and carefully concealed himself.

This time, three corpse puppets emerged, all at the peak of the second-tier. The two third-tier puppets from before were nowhere to be seen.

After careful observation, Li Qing noticed these puppets weren’t carrying stone basins, indicating they weren’t heading to the Red Jade Beehive for Fire Origin Nectar.

Suppressing his curiosity, Li Qing refrained from following them. Instead, he patiently waited near the Stone Gate for their return. When they did, he planned to have his Spirit Gold Puppet infiltrate their ranks and finally uncover what lay beyond the Stone Gate.

If he detected any hidden danger, he would use every means at his disposal to escape as quickly as possible.

But what Li Qing hadn’t anticipated was that his wait would stretch into an unexpectedly long period.

Time had no clear meaning within Fire Cliff Cave, but Li Qing silently estimated that roughly two or three days had passed.

Finally, just as his patience began to wear thin, movement echoed from the passage behind him.

Li Qing’s heart tensed, and he immediately extended his divine sense.

The three corpse puppets that had previously departed had returned, but this time they carried several mangled, blackened corpses in their hands!

Li Qing’s heart jolted at the sight. He hadn’t expected the corpse puppets to have gone out to kill.

He initially feared Cao Xiu had fallen victim to their rampage, but quickly realized this wasn’t the case—Cao Xiu’s body wasn’t among the corpses.

One of the bodies wore unfamiliar attire, unlike the robes commonly worn by cultivators in the Azure Ridge Domain. Instead, it was clad in fur-lined garments sewn from animal hides, exuding both warmth and an exotic, foreign charm.

”A Grasslands tribesman?” Li Qing muttered, recognizing the corpse’s origins from its features. He then watched as the three second-tier corpse puppets once again approached the Stone Gate.

This time, Li Qing wasted no time. He directly controlled his Spirit Gold Puppet to approach stealthily.

He remained undetected!

Corpse puppets were like that. Unless actively controlled by divine sense, they would only execute rigid commands.

Thus, when Li Qing’s Spirit Gold Puppet quietly approached, it failed to attract the attention of the corpse puppets.

The moment the Stone Gate closed, completing the pattern, a dizzying sensation surged through Li Qing’s divine sense imprint.

The next instant, what flooded Li Qing’s divine sense was a crimson expanse!

A crimson sea of fire!

No, not merely a sea of fire, but a sea of magma!

After following the corpse puppets through the Stone Gate, he seemed to have arrived at the Earth’s molten core. The surroundings glowed crimson, the temperature unbearably scorching.

The only foothold was right before the Stone Gate; a few more steps forward would plunge him into the churning magma.

Rumble!

Within the crimson ocean, magma roiled ceaselessly, erupting in fiery waves.

Before Li Qing could observe further, the second-tier corpse puppets began to move.

The corpse puppets marched forward stiffly. Just as Li Qing thought they would plunge into the sea of fire, a series of steps materialized beneath their feet, rising automatically to support them.

The steps led all the way to the sky above the sea of fire. Li Qing, controlling the Spirit Gold Puppet, looked up and saw an ancient, floating palace hovering above the churning magma.

Above the palace hung a crimson plaque of unknown material, bearing three ancient characters: Crimson Radiance Hall.

The moment Li Qing saw the floating Crimson Radiance Hall, an inexplicable sense of awe surged through him.

In that instant, he finally understood the strange sense of familiarity he had felt earlier.

It was the cultivation manual he practiced—the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art!

He was absolutely certain that the Crimson Radiance Hall above the sea of magma was deeply connected to his cultivation manual.

”So that’s it! No wonder my true essence resonated faintly just now!”

”Could the complete inheritance of the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art be within this Crimson Radiance Hall?!”

(End of the Chapter)

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