Immortal Refiner

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Li Qing had no idea why his actions had drawn the attention of the Formless Saint Ancestor. All he had done was use the sealing formation left behind by the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch in the Human Realm to destroy a single dao body of the Formless Saint Ancestor.

Yet the Saint Ancestor had gone so far as to issue a Saint Ancestor’s Decree, summoning countless ancient demons from the demon realm to open void rifts and descend to the lower realms via the demon subduing platforms.

The scale of this operation was staggering. The demon realm’s power was immense, and these invading ancient demons were directly tasked with capturing all cultivators in the Human Realm at or above the nascent soul realm!

”As expected of the demon realm, which constantly wages war with the spirit realm. Their power and foundation are truly terrifying. It’s almost impossible for the Human Realm to resist them.”

Through soul-searching and soul-refining of the demonic infant, Li Qing learned that in the demon realm, those bearing the title of Saint Ancestor were absolute supreme beings.

When a Saint Ancestor’s Decree was issued, all ancient demons in the demon realm were compelled to obey!

Their power was boundless; they could reshape entire regions with a flick of their hand, truly immortal and indestructible. Even if only a drop of blood or a single hair remained, they could regenerate into a living body.

At such a level of cultivation, their lifespans were as eternal as the sun and moon. As long as heaven and earth endured, they would endure. Only beings of equal stature could pose a threat to them.

Being targeted by such a being, Li Qing felt a genuine sense of crisis.

”Unless I ascend to the Spirit Realm, hiding in the Human Realm will only lead to disaster.”

”The Demon Realm’s power is far too overwhelming for me to resist. Only the upper realms can truly counter them. If that were the case, even the Demon Realm Saint Ancestors couldn’t act with impunity.”

Li Qing muttered to himself, and for the first time, a genuine longing for ascension surged within him.

Previously, he had believed that with his extended lifespan, he could achieve immortality through continuous artifact refinement and treasure refinement, living forever in the Human Realm without any worries about his great limit.

Thus, he had never shared the fervent desire for ascension to the upper realms that other cultivators possessed.

He had imagined that one day, after successfully cultivating to the Divine Transformation stage, he would become a carefree Immortal Ancestor in the Human Realm, living freely and eternally.

But now, unforeseen circumstances had arisen!

Shen Ningbing had been unexpectedly swept into a void rift, activating the Yin-Yang Spirit Seal. Through the Spirit Realm beacon imprinted on her fleshly body and divine soul, she had achieved the ascension that countless Divine Transformation Great Powers in the Human Realm had dreamed of.

And now, he had been targeted by a Formless Saint Ancestor of unimaginable power, all because he had slain one of the Saint Ancestor’s dao bodies.

Of course, Li Qing was still unaware of the true reason why the Formless Saint Ancestor had targeted him.

In short, the Human Realm had become increasingly inhospitable for him.

”Alas, in the end, I must quickly enhance my strength. Otherwise, let alone the Demon Realm Saint Ancestor, I might not even survive this current crisis.”

He had just eliminated three Nascent Soul stage ancient demons, but the ancient demons descending from the demon realm were far more numerous than that.

Now, he could only hope that the ancient demons who had left the Azure Ridge Domain wouldn’t return too soon, or that the Divine Transformation stage great powers in other great domains would be effective enough to slaughter all those who had departed the Azure Ridge Domain.

However, Li Qing disliked relying on others for his fate. The most urgent task was to enhance his own strength!

With this thought, he returned to the depths of his cave abode and entered the secret chamber where the blood lotus was planted.

Over the years, this blood lotus had absorbed vast quantities of essence blood alongside Li Qing, including that of fourth-tier Transformation Stage Demon Kings. It had grown exceptionally lush and vibrant.

Gently swaying in the pool, it exuded an eerie, bewitching aura.

”Now that I’ve reached the Nascent Soul stage, rapid improvement is nearly impossible. I also lack the necessary spirit pills and elixirs.”

”At this point, I can only see if the blood lotus can refine the bodies of these ancient demons.”

Having slain three ancient demons, Li Qing had collected their demonic bodies, hoping to refine essence blood from them to nourish his blood lotus and thereby enhance his own cultivation.

However, the structure of the ancient demons’ bodies was peculiar, and the blood flowing within them was a rare, dark purple.

Li Qing felt uncertain about this endeavor, but he decided to try anyway.

He even worried that the blood lotus might not be able to adapt to blood refined from the demonic bodies.

But he had no other choice; he had to give it a try.

Having made up his mind, Li Qing immediately sprang into action.

He first retrieved a damaged ancient demon body and began refining it with his pure mana, purging the primordial demonic qi lingering within.

This process was slow. The primordial demonic qi and the spiritual energy he had cultivated from heaven and earth spiritual energy mutually suppressed each other, making it extremely difficult even to infuse spiritual energy into the demonic body.

Finally, Li Qing decided to use the heavenly spirit fire.

Boom!

Three spiritual flames of different colors erupted and, amplified by Li Qing’s mana, quickly blazed with intense heat.

Under the refining power of the spirit fire, the primordial demonic qi within the demonic body hissed and crackled, boiling and churning like cold water dropped into a hot oil pan.

”It truly works wonders!”

Li Qing’s eyes lit up as he accelerated the refinement of the demonic body, intensifying the heavenly spirit fire to even greater intensity.

Soon, the primordial demonic qi within the demonic body was completely purged by the raging heavenly spirit fire, as if it had encountered its natural nemesis.

Seeing this, Li Qing felt a slight joy. It seemed the heavenly spirit fire truly possessed some power to suppress the demonic race. No wonder the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch had been able to establish a sealing formation using only a single strand of Profound Yellow True Flame, a Fire Spirit Pearl, and the Crimson Radiance Hall, suppressing a saint ancestor’s dao body for countless years.

Thus, under the combined power of the three heavenly spirit fires, the primordial demonic qi within the ancient demon’s body in Li Qing’s hands was finally cleansed completely.

After completing this, he proceeded as usual, refining the body to extract its essence blood.

However, the essence blood was dark purple and looked quite sinister. Whether the blood lotus could absorb it remained to be seen.

After channeling all the dark purple essence blood into the blood pool, he finally threw the entire withered ancient demon corpse into the pool, allowing it to serve as nourishment for the blood lotus.

Li Qing quietly stayed by the blood pool, observing the changes.

As the pool filled with purple-black essence blood, the Bewitching Blood Lotus rooted within it soon began to stir.

The blood lotus swayed more vigorously, as if trembling, and its petals unfurled.

Then, strands of purple veins emerged from the lotus’s roots, spreading all the way to the center of its petals before stopping.

These purple veins resembled blood vessels, making the blood lotus even more bewitching.

At the center of the pool, the lotus petals opened and closed. Watching this scene, Li Qing was momentarily unsure of what to do.

”It seems the blood lotus has truly absorbed the essence blood of this ancient demon’s demonic body. But why are purple veins appearing?”

Puzzled, Li Qing hesitated whether to sit at the center of the blood lotus as usual to receive its nourishment.

In the end, he decided to try. In this critical time, he didn’t want to miss any opportunity to enhance his strength.

If the blood lotus could truly refine the ancient demon’s essence blood and nourish him, then this demonic invasion might not be a disaster, but rather an opportunity for him.

With this thought, Li Qing settled cross-legged at the center of the blood lotus.

The purple-black veined petals of the blood lotus closed over Li Qing, who sat at its center with eyes slightly closed, carefully absorbing the nourishment from the lotus.

At that moment, he felt the life essence within his body surge with vitality, its efficiency surpassing even that of the two Transformation Stage Demon Kings he had previously refined.

”To think that essence blood refined from a single ancient demon body could generate such a torrent of life essence!”

”Incredible! This proves that the Primordial Energy of Heaven and Earth in the demon realm is incredibly dense. Otherwise, such a body could never have been sustained.”

Li Qing felt a thrill of both fear and exhilaration.

If the blood lotus could absorb the essence blood refined from ancient demon bodies, he could even consider actively hunting demonic creatures to refine their essence as nourishment for the lotus!

As Li Qing quietly absorbed the life essence that entered his body, his mana cultivation also subtly increased.

Though the gains were not substantial, they were far faster than normal meditation and cultivation by absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy. In fact, it was equivalent to saving several years of arduous practice.

Once the purple-black essence blood in the pond was depleted, Li Qing proceeded to refine the other two ancient demons, extracting even more essence blood.

Just as before, he settled at the center of the blood lotus, feeling his life essence surge and his cultivation rapidly advance.

Of course, the emergence of evil thoughts was unavoidable during this process.

If not for the protective barrier of the Exquisite Immortal Sound, Li Qing would likely have lost his sanity long ago, transforming into a demon driven solely by slaughter.

The celestial melody, like heavenly music, continuously echoed in his mind. Whenever evil thoughts arose, they were immediately suppressed, allowing his mind to remain tranquil and harmonious, preventing him from losing his true self.

As one’s cultivation progresses to higher realms, such auxiliary melodies become increasingly crucial.

Generally, powerful cultivators in the nascent soul realm rarely experience distracting thoughts and can easily calm their minds.

However, if such thoughts do arise and disrupt their mental state, the consequences can be as devastating as a heart demon.

Thanks to the passive protection of the Exquisite Immortal Sound, Li Qing could effectively purge these chaotic evil thoughts, preserving his true self.

After more than ten days had passed, the demonic race’s essence blood in the pool once again ran dry.

This time, both Li Qing and the blood lotus benefited significantly. His cultivation advanced by a noticeable margin, allowing him to progress further within the mid-Nascent Soul stage.

The blood lotus appeared even more vibrant, its aura noticeably more refined. It was in far better condition than when Li Qing had first planted it.

”Though I don’t know how effective a pill that enhances Nascent Soul cultivation would be, I doubt it would surpass the blood lotus’s effects.”

”This is quite an unconventional approach, finding a way to rapidly enhance my mana cultivation.”

With that, Li Qing produced another pitch-black demonic infant.

After the soul-searching and soul-refining process, he had erased the demonic infant’s primordial spirit consciousness, rendering it an ownerless entity. Even if the seal were lifted now, the demonic infant would pose no threat.

”Inside is pure primordial demonic qi—the Dao Fruit cultivated over a lifetime by a powerful demon.”

”It’s a shame I don’t have a Cultivation Method for cultivating a second nascent soul. Otherwise, I could refine this into my second nascent soul, creating an external incarnation no weaker than my main body.”

In the end, he decided against pursuing such a bizarre secret technique. After all, he lacked the specific Cultivation Method needed, and even if he wanted to, he had no path to follow.

Gazing at the demonic infant in his hand, Li Qing briefly considered having the blood lotus devour it in a similar manner.

However, Li Qing felt that doing so wasn’t a good idea. First and foremost, the demonic infant contained primordial demonic qi, not spiritual energy.

Even if the blood lotus could devour and refine it, Li Qing likely wouldn’t gain much benefit. In fact, it might even be harmful, as primordial demonic qi from the demon realm is a potent poison to cultivators.

Unless Li Qing intended to transform himself into an ancient demon, like the young master of the Blood Spirit Sect had done, and ascend to the demon realm in the future, this action would likely be tantamount to suicide.

”Ah, I almost forgot! The blood lotus might not be suitable, but the other Wooden Spirit Puppet—the dark willow—might be worth a try!”

Li Qing’s eyes gleamed with a plan. He decided to find a secluded, uninhabited place and have his living Wooden Spirit Puppet, the dark willow, attempt to devour the demonic infant.

He clearly remembered that when the demonic willow was alive, it had devoured countless crimson crystals from strange beasts.

It had even nearly refined him into its own form. Without the protection of the Black Furnace, he might not have survived. It was only because the Wooden Spirit Puppet secret technique was so overbearing towards spirit plants that Li Qing had managed to win.

For his omnivorous Wooden Spirit Puppet, which devoured both meat and plants without discrimination, Li Qing decided to let it try refining the demonic infant.

Since the thing had already lost its life force, it was nothing more than a Wooden Spirit Puppet at best. Even if there were any hidden dangers, they wouldn’t pose a threat to him.

He decided to act immediately. While finding a secluded place in the Azure Ridge Domain might be difficult, the World of Eternal Night was full of vast, uninhabited lands.

In the next moment, Li Qing activated interdimensional travel from his secret chamber, effortlessly arriving in this world of darkness and cold.

Using his Wind-Thunder Silver Wings, he flapped continuously and quickly located an area devoid of any signs of life.

With a wave of his hand, the Red Moon’s glow in the sky suddenly dimmed.

A colossal willow tree, towering enough to pierce the heavens, descended with immense force. Now, it should be called the Dark Willow Spirit Puppet, and Li Qing could control it with ease.

Next, he retrieved the demonic infant of the demonic race. After a moment’s hesitation, he tossed it to the massive wooden spirit puppet.

Dark willow branches sprang forth with agility, wrapping around the demonic infant with precision.

(End of the Chapter)

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