Chapter 711

“An opportunity?”

Doctor Chen’s gaze fell on the jade bottle in Lu Qing’s hand.

“While in the Tianyuan Great World, I once entered a strange secret realm. Inside a certain exotic beast, I discovered a peculiar kind of essence blood. This essence blood can greatly strengthen the body and physique…”

What Lu Qing took out was none other than the Witch Blood Essence he had obtained during the Wu Clan’s Trial Secret Realm.

Back then, he had collected quite a lot—some suited for the Foundation Establishment Realm and some for the Golden Core Realm—intending to prepare them for Xiaoyan and his master.

“Witch Blood Essence that can enhance the fleshly body? Such marvelous bloodline vitality?”

Doctor Chen’s eyes lit up with intrigue.

“This bottle is from a Foundation Establishment Realm beast, and this smaller one is from a Golden Core Realm beast,” Lu Qing explained, producing another small jade bottle.

“This Witch Blood Essence contains a powerful fiendish aura—it can corrode both body and soul. Master, when you refine it, please be cautious. If the fiendish aura accumulates beyond tolerance, stop refining for a while. Once you’ve dissolved the fiendish energy, you can continue.”

“I understand.”

Doctor Chen nodded solemnly, taking Lu Qing’s warning to heart.

He carefully accepted the two jade bottles and stored them away with great care.

After seeing his master put them away, Lu Qing took out dozens of jade slips.

“Master, these jade slips are various cultivation techniques I’ve collected. Among them, I’ve selected over a dozen related to the Dao of Water and Fire at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul levels. The rest are sword dao and medical inheritances.

If you’re interested, you might study them in your spare time.”

“So many techniques?”

Doctor Chen was stunned as he looked at the small pile of jade slips.

He had already been astonished when Lu Qing mentioned earlier that he had obtained some Nascent Soul-level techniques outside.

Now, seeing this many, especially those centered on the Dao of Water and Fire, he realized that his disciple’s experiences in the starry sky must have been far more thrilling and dangerous than what he had let on during last night’s dinner.

Still, Doctor Chen said nothing. He knew Lu Qing’s silence about such perils was only to keep them from worrying.

“Right, Master—there’s one more thing.”

When Doctor Chen finished putting everything away, Lu Qing spoke again.

“What is it?”

“You mentioned before that a demonic cultivator attacked the village and was injured and driven away by you. I wonder if that demon left anything behind—blood, hair, even residual demonic qi would suffice.”

“You want his blood or hair, you mean to…” Doctor Chen began to realize.

“Indeed. That demon is a Nascent Soul Cultivator from the previous era of cultivation. He has now recovered to the late Golden Core Realm and remains hidden in the shadows. For the people of the world, he is a disaster waiting to happen.

Only by finding and completely eradicating him can we end this threat.”

“You’re right. His cultivation is profound. We may not fear him, but to most cultivators and sects under heaven, he’s a terrifying enemy they can’t resist.”

Doctor Chen nodded gravely. “If blood or hair will do, then yes. When I cut his body in half that day, plenty of demonic blood splattered.

Most of it was purified by the village’s formation, but some spilled outside. I was worried about the villagers and didn’t clean it up. It may still remain.”

“Outside the village, then?” Lu Qing mused.

A short while later, Lu Qing appeared on the outskirts of Jiuli Village.

Xiaoyan and Xiaoli followed beside him, while Han Lingshuang stayed behind at the half-mountain courtyard.

Lu Qing soon discovered something unusual amid a patch of scorched grass—the area was shrouded in demonic qi, the plants withered, life completely extinguished.

Even a few drops of blood from a late-stage Golden Core Realm demonic cultivator could devastate the land like this.

Seeing this, Lu Qing’s resolve to find and slay that demon only deepened.

He took out a Bagua Compass-shaped artifact and drew a few wisps of demonic qi from the ground, placing them into the compass.

After a brief incantation, a red line of causality extended from the artifact, pointing into the distance.

This was the very same Eight Trigrams Artifact left behind by the two Golden Core Realm cultivators from beyond the heavens—an artifact capable of divining cause and effect.

Seeing the thread of causality appear, Lu Qing smiled faintly.

“Brother, that red thread points to where the demon is hiding, right?” Xiaoyan asked.

“Yes. Let’s go. It’s time to destroy the last of them.”

After speaking, Lu Qing looked around once more and purified every trace of demonic taint outside the village.

Once certain nothing remained, he held the Bagua Compass, transformed into a stream of light, and—together with Xiaoyan and Xiaoli—raced away following the thread of fate.

…

Far from Jiuli Village, deep within a mountain range spanning several provinces, the Eagle Demon sat cross-legged on a stone slab in a hidden underground cave, silently healing his wounds.

His body had been re-stitched together, demonic qi swirling about him. Though outwardly whole, his aura was weak—far from his former peak.

Suddenly, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, a crack splitting open across his chest. A sharp sword qi shimmered from within.

But the demonic energy quickly surged, closing the wound once again.

Even so, his aura weakened further.

“Damn it! Just how deep has that old man’s sword dao reached, that the sword qi he condensed refuses to dissipate!”

The Eagle Demon’s face twisted in fury.

He had only wanted to capture Lu Xiaoyan’s kin to refine into blood souls, yet nearly lost his life instead.

That seemingly ordinary Golden Core Realm old man’s sword dao was terrifyingly refined—imbued with the Dao of Water and Fire, containing the endless cycle of life within destruction.

The sword qi lingered within him like venom, eroding flesh and draining mana without pause.

“If not for that old man, how could I have ended up in such a miserable state? This hatred—I swear I won’t remain a demon if I don’t repay it!”

The Eagle Demon gnashed his teeth, hatred for Doctor Chen now even surpassing that toward Lu Xiaoyan.

Little did he know that Demon Lord Xiefeng and the others were already dead.

Just as he was plotting his revenge, the cave began to tremble violently, as if the earth itself were turning over.

“What’s happening? An Earth Dragon awakening?”

He panicked, preparing to flee—when the ceiling burst open and a massive Five-Colored Glazed Law Palm descended, seizing him in an instant.

An immense sealing force poured from the palm, freezing him in place, crushing the entire cave as it pulled him upward.

“This isn’t an earthquake—it’s someone capturing me through the ground! But who could wield such power?”

Terror filled the Eagle Demon’s eyes. Even at his peak, he couldn’t perform such a feat—let alone now.

He was lifted from the shattered cavern to the sky. The palm shrank as it rose, its pressure reducing the surrounding rock to dust.

When they emerged above the mountains, the Five-Colored Glazed Law Palm was only a zhang wide, yet its suppressive might remained undiminished.

No matter how he struggled, the Eagle Demon couldn’t move.

Resigned, he finally stopped resisting and looked up—only to have his pupils constrict sharply.

Floating before him were two figures.

One was a plain-clothed young man, calm and composed, with a small black-flamed beast perched on his shoulder.

The other was a cold-eyed girl of striking beauty—Lu Xiaoyan.

Her presence alone made his heart tighten.

“You… Lu Xiaoyan?! You dare leave the Sacred Mountain!”

Then his gaze shifted to the young man, and his blood ran cold.

The youth seemed utterly ordinary, devoid of any spiritual fluctuations—yet the Eagle Demon’s instincts screamed danger.

He finally realized—the one who had seized him with that terrifying divine ability was this unassuming youth.

“Demon, weren’t you so arrogant that day? Now that my brother has returned, your end has come!” Lu Xiaoyan said coldly, killing intent flaring in her eyes.

“Brother…?”

The Eagle Demon froze, then shuddered violently. His face twisted in disbelief.

“You’re that so-called ‘number-one under heaven’—Lu Qing! You entered the starry sky. How could you have returned?”

His voice trembled.

In his era, no cultivator who ventured into the starry sky had ever come back. Even Nascent Soul experts had vanished forever.

Realizing this young man truly was Lu Qing—the same one he thought long dead—the Eagle Demon was more shocked than when he’d been captured.

“So you’re the Eagle Demon,” Lu Qing said indifferently. “You do know how to hide. The four demons that survived from the last cultivation era—three have already been slain by me. You’re the last. Any final words?”

“What… You killed Xiefeng and the others?”

“They sought to invade the Sacred Mountain and seize its soul. I crushed them. Now, it’s your turn.”

The Eagle Demon stared, despair dawning in his eyes. The might restraining him left no doubt—this man could end him effortlessly.

With a bitter laugh, he said, “So be it. I’ve lived long enough. Before I die, may I ask just one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Beyond this world… are there truly other realms of cultivation?”

Lu Qing was silent for a moment, then nodded. “There are indeed other worlds—vast, magnificent, and full of wonder.”

Hearing this, the Eagle Demon smiled faintly, relief softening his features.

He had already guessed as much from Lu Qing’s power, but hearing it confirmed brought him peace.

“So the outer worlds truly exist… What a pity, that I’ll never see them. Do it then—dying by your hand is no shame.”

Boom!

The Five-Colored Glazed Law Palm clenched gently.

In an instant, the Eagle Demon’s body was crushed into a cloud of blood mist.

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