Chapter 586

Chapter 586

I Can See Through Everything

Lu Qing was pleasantly surprised.

He still wasn’t sure what the trial in this Secret Realm was truly meant to test.

But without a doubt, this Witch Bloodline Essence was a tremendous fortuitous opportunity.

Even just a trace of this Bloodline Essence had further strengthened his already formidable body.

If he could obtain enough of it, he might be able to push his physical strength to an entirely new limit.

“Ah Qing, this bloodline is so miraculous—do you think I can refine it too?” Xiaoli asked hopefully.

“You probably can,” Lu Qing said after a moment’s thought. “But the bloodline contains baleful energy. If you refine too much at once, it could erode your Divine Soul. That’s something we’ll need to be cautious about.”

Xiaoli had already passed the Ninefold Lightning Tribulation and was a superior Golden Core cultivator. Its Divine Soul was extremely strong, not something ordinary baleful energy could easily harm.

Refining a small amount of the Witch Bloodline Essence shouldn’t be a problem.

“That’s nothing to worry about! With you here, Ah Qing, I’ll be just fine!” Xiaoli said confidently.

Lu Qing chuckled, then said, “In that case, there’s no need for us to rush out of this forest sea.”

Xiaoli was momentarily stunned but quickly caught on. “You mean we should catch more of those black mice?”

Lu Qing nodded. “Exactly. The Blackscale Venomrats in this forest all carry that strange bloodline. And they’re not too hard to handle. We can catch more of them and extract the bloodline.”

The ones that had attacked them before were just Foundation Establishment-level Blackscale Venomrats.

So he surmised that the vast majority of these rats in the forest were only at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Given that the situation outside was still unclear, they might as well seize the opportunity in front of them.

“Great! Those black mice can’t hide from my senses. Let’s sweep them all up!” Xiaoli said excitedly.

“Then I’ll leave the task of tracking them down to you,” Lu Qing said with a smile.

These Blackscale Venomrats had a strange aura-concealing ability. Even Lu Qing found it difficult to sense them.

But Xiaoli, as if born to hunt them, could effortlessly track their whereabouts.

“Leave it to me!” Xiaoli said, puffing out its little chest.

As the two chatted, off to the side, Daoist Wubao had just finished regulating his breathing. He slowly opened his eyes.

And saw Lu Qing playing around with Xiaoli.

“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Chen, for guarding me,” Daoist Wubao immediately said.

“No trouble at all—we didn’t encounter anything dangerous,” Lu Qing replied with a smile. “By the way, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Oh? What is it?” Daoist Wubao asked.

“While you were recovering, I examined the black beast we encountered earlier. I made a bit of a discovery.”

“Oh? What did you find, Fellow Daoist Chen?”

Daoist Wubao’s eyes lit up.

He recalled how peculiar that black beast had been. Had Lu Qing uncovered something profound?

“I found a strange bloodline inside the beast. Refining it can enhance our physical strength. I believe it’s one of the opportunities hidden in this Secret Realm.”

Lu Qing didn’t keep it to himself and explained everything openly.

After all, he was planning to sweep through the forest sea to hunt more of these beasts. It would be impossible to keep it from Daoist Wubao anyway.

Since they were companions, it was better to be forthright.

“That black beast harbored such a wonder?” Daoist Wubao exclaimed.

“That’s right. So next, I plan to stay here and search for more of those black beasts. We’ll have to stop advancing for now.”

“Of course! We shouldn’t be rushing forward,” Daoist Wubao replied quickly.

They’d just discovered such a precious opportunity—how could they think of moving on? That would make the trip here pointless.

“In that case, let’s seize the opportunities this forest sea holds first. Daoist, your divination really was spot on. Coming this way was indeed auspicious.”

“No, it’s thanks to your great fortune, Fellow Daoist Chen,” Daoist Wubao said, flattering him.

At the same time, he felt even more fortunate to have entered the Secret Realm alongside Lu Qing.

Without him, he would never have discovered the hidden treasure inside that black beast.

With their decision made, the trio set out immediately.

Lu Qing first gathered up the talismans scattered on the ground, which once again surprised Daoist Wubao.

Because he had sensed no sign of any formation in the area at all.

This meant Lu Qing’s attainments in Formation Arts were extraordinary. The formation he laid had perfectly blended with the environment, making it undetectable.

In that moment, Lu Qing’s aura of mystery rose even higher in Daoist Wubao’s heart.

After putting away the talismans, Lu Qing led Xiaoli and Daoist Wubao to begin tracking the Blackscale Venomrats.

This time, they didn’t take to the skies but moved directly through the forest.

With his feet touching the ground, a soft yellow light flickered in Lu Qing’s eyes.

The Earth Vein Magnetism Field around them immediately fell under his control.

This was the ability of the Earth Spirit Pearl, one of the Five Elements Pearls.

So long as he stood on solid ground, he could effortlessly control the earth vein magnetism within several li around him.

He could also use it to sense the presence of nearby living beings.

However, the Blackscale Venomrats seemed to have a natural ability to completely suppress their own auras.

Even the earth vein magnetism struggled to detect them.

So the main burden of finding the rats fell to Xiaoli.

Its strange sensory abilities made it even more effective than Lu Qing at this task.

And sure enough, before long, Xiaoli had found something.

“Ah Qing, a hundred zhang ahead to the right, underground—there’s a black mouse!”

Hearing this, Lu Qing activated a trace of earth vein magnetism and probed the location Xiaoli had pointed out.

Sure enough, one zhang underground and a hundred zhang ahead to the right, there was a faint aura.

It was so well-hidden that it completely melded into the surroundings. Without Xiaoli’s guidance, even he might not have found it.

But now that it was located, everything else would be easy.

Lu Qing tapped his foot lightly, and the earth vein magnetism surged forth, instantly binding the Blackscale Venomrats.

Boom!

The rat, which had been burrowed underground, was startled. With low intelligence, it had no idea what was happening and began struggling violently on instinct.

Its powerful strength caused the ground to shake and roll.

Although the Blackscale Venomrats had a fearsome physique, with brute force on par with a Golden Core-level being—

Now that Lu Qing had grasped its capabilities completely, he naturally had a way to subdue it.

The earth vein magnetism he controlled coiled like spider silk, tightly binding the creature.

No matter how violently the rat struggled, it was helpless against the flexible and shapeless magnetism. It couldn’t break free at all.

“What’s happening?” Daoist Wubao was startled by the sudden tremor.

“It’s nothing. Xiaoli found a black beast—I’ve already subdued it. Let’s go take a look.”

“You’ve already caught one?” Daoist Wubao was even more amazed.

He hadn’t sensed anything—how had Lu Qing managed to catch one so suddenly?

Still dazed, Daoist Wubao followed Lu Qing to the source of the disturbance.

Then he saw a black beast, similar to the one he had seen earlier, wrapped in a halo of yellow light.

No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t escape the silk-like restraints of that yellow glow.

“This is… Earth Vein Magnetism?”

Daoist Wubao immediately recognized the yellow threads binding the Blackscale Venomrats.

Only then did he understand—Lu Qing had used Earth Vein Magnetism to trap it. No wonder there had been such a commotion earlier.

But that only made him more astonished.

Earth Vein Magnetism was typically a domain only those who specialized in earth-element techniques could control well.

Yet Lu Qing not only wielded it with such power, but also with remarkable precision—sealing a physically formidable Blackscale Venomrat from a hundred zhang away.

His mastery of earth-element techniques had to be incredibly profound.

Yet according to Ye Qingzhu and others from the Qiankun Sect, Lu Qing was supposedly most proficient in the Way of the Sword.

And thinking back to the intricate formation Lu Qing had laid while he was meditating—

The more time he spent with Lu Qing, the more unfathomable the man seemed.

“Fellow Daoist Chen, how did you detect that black beast from so far away?” Daoist Wubao couldn’t help but ask.

Blackscale Venomrats were incredibly adept at concealing their presence. Even at close range, most Golden Core cultivators couldn’t detect them.

Yet Lu Qing had captured one from a hundred zhang away—unbelievable.

“That’s not my doing. It was Xiaoli who found it.” Lu Qing rubbed the little beast’s head.

“Xiaoli?” Daoist Wubao turned to look at the small creature.

“That’s right. Xiaoli has an unusually keen spiritual sense and can easily track these black beasts,” Lu Qing explained.

Noticing the Daoist’s gaze, Xiaoli gave him a sideways glance, then lifted its head slightly with a haughty expression.

Daoist Wubao didn’t know how to respond.

He suddenly recalled the terrifying aura Xiaoli had revealed back at Viewing Peak, that single fleeting moment of power.

Indeed, this spirit beast of Fellow Daoist Chen’s was far more than it seemed on the surface.

“Let’s go, Daoist,” Lu Qing said casually.

While Daoist Wubao was still in shock, Lu Qing had already cleanly killed the Blackscale Venomrat, stored its body, and continued forward with Xiaoli in his arms.

Leaving Daoist Wubao standing there, a little dazed.

Suddenly, a troubling realization struck him.

At this rate, he wasn’t contributing anything at all.

In that case, what right did he have to share in the gains from this fortuitous opportunity?

“Daoist?” Lu Qing had walked a few dozen zhang ahead and turned back, confused when he noticed the Daoist hadn’t followed.

“My apologies,” Daoist Wubao came to his senses and hurried to catch up.

At the same time, he quietly made a decision—to prove his usefulness in the time ahead.

Otherwise, even if Lu Qing offered him a share of the reward, he would have no face to accept it.

“Looks like I’ll have to use some of my trump cards after all,” he muttered, his hand brushing the gourd at his waist.

From then on, Lu Qing and Xiaoli continued moving through the forest sea, using Xiaoli’s tracking abilities to hunt down Blackscale Venomrats one by one.

As Daoist Wubao had suspected, he truly had no role to play.

Every time Xiaoli located one of the rats, Lu Qing would instantly summon Earth Vein Magnetism to bind it—there was never even a chance for him to act.

However, now that he had resolved himself, he no longer felt conflicted. Instead, he gripped the gourd at his waist, his expression solemn as if preparing for something.

With Xiaoli’s help, Lu Qing swept through a large portion of the forest sea and caught or killed more than twenty Blackscale Venomrats in one stretch.

These rats appeared to be solitary creatures—never once did they find more than one in the same area.

Even more strange was that, throughout the forest, there seemed to be no other beasts—only Blackscale Venomrats.

“Daoist, let’s rest for a bit. We’ve slain quite a few of these beasts—it’s time we processed them,” Lu Qing said after finishing off another rat.

“I’ll follow your lead,” Daoist Wubao replied without hesitation.

In fact, he was a little excited.

He hadn’t yet witnessed the true effects of the black beasts’ bloodline.

Lu Qing quickly picked a suitable spot and laid down another formation.

This time, Daoist Wubao watched him closely as he worked.

Once the formation was complete, he focused carefully—and at last, he could sense the faint flow of formation energy around them.

He was even more awed by Lu Qing’s mastery of Formation Arts.

Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed such a powerful formation was hidden in plain sight.

Lu Qing’s skill had likely reached the level of a true master.

After finishing the setup, Lu Qing brought out the corpses of the Blackscale Venomrats, piling them up into a small hill.

Though each was only a few feet long, the sheer number—several dozen—made for an impressive sight.

“Daoist, I plan to extract the bloodline from these beasts. Do you have any suitable refining methods?” Lu Qing asked.

“I have a top-grade artifact—a pill-refining gourd. It should be able to help refine a portion of them,” Daoist Wubao replied.

“Then I’ll trouble you with refining these,” Lu Qing said.

With a wave of his hand, about a quarter of the corpses were lifted by his magic and placed before Daoist Wubao.

“It’s no trouble at all,” the Daoist said, nodding immediately.

He quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, he could do something useful.

He removed a fiery red gourd from his waist and, with a thought, opened its stopper. A suction force pulled in over ten rat corpses.

Then, channeling his magic, the red gourd swelled to half a person’s size and hovered before him, radiating an intense, scorching heat.