Translator: AnubisTL
Another half-year passed in the blink of an eye, yet Li Qing still hadn't received the Yin-Yang Spirit Mushroom from True Monarch Tianbao.
Two years had elapsed since they signed the spiritual contract.
Fortunately, Li Qing wasn't in a hurry. He lived a simple life of cultivation during this time, focusing most of his energy on studying the daoist arts and divine abilities left behind by Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch.
It's also worth mentioning that he had begun nurturing the Fire Jade Bee Queen he obtained from Fire Cliff Cave, observing her progress every few days.
To this end, Li Qing had specially created an Insect Rearing Chamber within his cave abode. The chamber contained only a solitary Red Jade Beehive suspended in the center, surrounded by Fire Jade Bees buzzing through the air.
The Fire Jade Bees thrived best when fed fire-attribute spirit objects, such as spiritual herbs and spirit herbs rich in pure fire attribute primordial energy.
Of course, the heavenly spirit fire Li Qing had subdued remained one of their finest foods. He personally separated small portions of spirit fire daily to feed the Fire Jade Bee Queen.
Approaching the Red Jade Beehive, Li Qing used his divine sense to carefully observe the queen bee's changes.
"After half a year of feeding on heavenly spirit fire, the queen bee's carapace has deepened in color, making her roughly equivalent to a mid-second-tier spirit insect now."
"The Fire Jade Bee eggs laid by this queen bee are of much higher quality now. Each newly hatched Fire Jade Bee is significantly stronger than before."
"As expected of the descendants of the Fire Jade Bee Queen raised by the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch. Their potential is truly remarkable. It seems that providing them with sufficient high-quality fire essence will allow them to grow rapidly."
Li Qing murmured to himself, a hint of delight in his voice. He felt this Fire Jade Bee Queen was well worth his dedicated cultivation efforts.
Given the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch's immense power, the Fire Jade Bee Queen he had raised must have been equally extraordinary.
However, over the generations, the Fire Jade Bees had been confined to the Fire Cliff Cave, where magma was their only reliable food source. As a result, the queen bee's strength had gradually waned.
Had this not been the case, Li Qing might never have had the opportunity to subdue this swarm.
If he had encountered a third-tier Fire Jade Bee Queen, he would have been in dire straits.
The offspring of a third-tier Fire Jade Bee Queen would all be at least second-tier in strength. Though lacking demonic cores and individually weaker than normal second-tier demon beasts, their sheer numbers would more than compensate.
A dense swarm of these bees would send shivers down the spines of most core formation realm cultivators.
Furthermore, a third-tier Fire Jade Bee Queen can lay king bee eggs, which hatch into exceptionally powerful Fire Jade Bees. Each one rivals a third-tier demonic insect in combat prowess. When these forces combine, even one or two core formation realm cultivators would be no match.
In fact, the Fire Jade Bee Queen Li Qing had tamed could also lay king bee eggs to hatch Fire Jade Bee Kings.
However, he chose not to let her do so. For his current needs, one or two additional second-tier Fire Jade Bee Kings would be of little use.
Moreover, each time the queen bee laid a king bee egg, she would enter a period of severe weakness, suffering significant damage to her vital energy.
Once the Fire Jade Bee Queen matured into a third-tier spirit insect, Li Qing would consider allowing her to lay one or two king bee eggs to assess the true strength of the Fire Jade Bee Kings.
But that time had not yet come.
After observing her for a while longer, Li Qing lightly flicked his finger, and a pure, jet-black flame danced at his fingertip.
This was the Spirit Devouring Demon Flame he had separated, intended to nourish the Fire Jade Bee Queen.
"Eat up, little one," Li Qing murmured softly, extending the wisp of Spirit Devouring Demon Flame toward the queen bee. "Grow strong quickly."
The Fire Jade Bee Queen's carapace now glowed with a dark crimson, radiating a jade-like luster.
The Fire Jade Bee Queen moved its proboscis to Li Qing's fingertip, and in moments, the pure, dark flame was completely drained.
After finishing, Li Qing returned the queen bee to the beehive.
During this process, the surrounding Fire Jade Bees swirled around Li Qing at dizzying speeds, their movements radiating palpable tension.
Watching this, Li Qing couldn't help but chuckle softly and shake his head.
After all, he had only established a spiritual contract with the queen bee. These Fire Jade Bees hadn't recognized him as their master. To command them, Li Qing relied solely on the queen bee's orders.
Though his divine soul was formidable, comparable to a cultivator in the nascent soul realm, it was utterly incapable of imprinting divine sense marks on so many Fire Jade Bees simultaneously. The burden would be overwhelming, likely beyond even the endurance of a cultivator in the divine transformation stage.
"It seems my approach was correct," Li Qing mused. "Focus on nurturing the queen bee to accelerate her growth, while letting the Fire Jade Bees forage freely."
Feeding such a vast swarm of Fire Jade Bees with heavenly spirit fire every few days would be unsustainable, the consumption far too great.
Fortunately, the sect had array formations to draw Earth Core Fire from the earth's depths. This Earth Core Fire proved sufficient for the ordinary Fire Jade Bees' sustenance.
After tending to the Fire Jade Bees, Li Qing left the Insect Rearing Chamber and headed to another secret chamber within his cave abode.
He deactivated the restriction, and the stone gate of the secret chamber slowly floated open.
Buzz!
A pungent, overwhelming stench of blood immediately assaulted his senses, causing even Li Qing to frown slightly.
Inside the chamber was a pool filled with dark crimson blood. At its center, a blood lotus bud was on the verge of blooming. It appeared that within a few more days, it would fully blossom into a blood-red lotus throne.
This blood lotus flower had grown from the Blood Lotus Seed Li Qing had obtained in the World of Eternal Night.
The blood lotus was no ordinary plant. Li Qing had been forced into a fierce battle to claim it. Even after its death, it had reverted to a Blood Lotus Seed. Upon being brought to a Spirit-Infused World, the seed underwent a metamorphosis, becoming even more mystical.
Since returning from his sea voyage, Li Qing had hunted numerous third-tier demonic beasts, some with exceptionally powerful bloodlines. The blood in the pool was refined from the flesh, blood, and bones of these formidable creatures.
With such a blood pool nourishing the Blood Lotus Seed, one could only imagine how extraordinarily powerful the soon-to-bloom blood lotus flower would become.
Even Li Qing was filled with anticipation, eager to witness the blood lotus in full bloom and discover the benefits it would bestow upon him.
"Let's add some more fuel to the fire!" he murmured, tossing the last of the third-tier demonic beast corpses from his storage pouch into the blood pool.
The corpses rapidly dissolved into a putrid, bloody sludge, causing the pool to overflow slightly and intensifying the acrid, metallic stench.
After completing this task, Li Qing forced himself to endure the overwhelming stench as he slowly retreated from the secret chamber, leaving the eerie blood lotus to sway gently in the pool.
This was the simple life Li Qing had been living since returning to the sect: tending to his bees, cultivating flowers, and occasionally feeding his little golden silkworms.
The three silkworms had undergone significant changes as well. They had devoured all the spirit gold materials in the Lingyun Sect's treasure vault.
Nourished by this diverse array of spirit gold, the silkworms had reached the late second-tier in strength and had now entered another dormant phase.
This slumber was to accumulate energy for their advancement into third-tier spirit insects. When they awoke again, they might finally evolve into third-tier Golden Silk Silkworms.
Yet, despite their rapid growth, the ultimate metamorphosis into Six-Winged Golden Moths still seemed impossibly distant.
Li Qing had been calling these little golden silkworms "money-losers" lately. In terms of cost-effectiveness, they were far inferior to the Fire Jade Bees.
After all, they had already consumed nearly all the common spirit gold types available in the Azure Ridge Domain. Once they reached the third-tier, Li Qing genuinely didn't know what he would feed them.
For now, he could only take things one step at a time, not particularly worried about the future.
However, these three little golden silkworms weren't entirely useless. At least the Lingyun Sect's treasury now contained a substantial amount of second-tier Golden Silkworm Silk, a high-quality material for refining top-grade magical artifacts.
The artifact refiners in the refining hall were overjoyed, recognizing this as an exceptionally rare and valuable spirit material.
As for Fan Tong and Ninth Insect, they hadn't changed much. The former had grown even lazier, often dozing in some corner of the sect for ten days or half a month without so much as twitching, resembling a stone statue.
By now, the sect's disciples and elders had grown accustomed to this, knowing it was the Demon Tiger raised by Ancestor Limitless. As long as they didn't disturb it, there would be no trouble.
Only Li Qing knew that Fan Tong was digesting the immense energy of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Fruit, using it to strengthen himself.
The ninth insect, on the other hand, was a homebody. While ordinary demon beasts would never willingly stay in a spirit beast pouch, it defied convention. Unless Li Qing mentioned it, the insect seemed content to remain inside the pouch until the end of time, the complete opposite of Fan Tong's insatiable appetite.
These days of quiet cultivation passed peacefully. The Lingyun Sect continued its steady development, with no major incidents occurring.
This tranquil existence persisted until a seemingly ordinary afternoon.
Clang!
A resounding bell suddenly echoed from the Soul Lamp Hall of the Lingyun Sect.
The sound carried far and wide, and every disciple who heard it paled, their gazes snapping toward the spirit peak where the Soul Lamp Hall stood.
In his cave abode on the spirit peak, Li Qing swiftly set aside the scroll he was reading, his expression turning grave.
"Has something happened to a supreme elder's soul lamp?" he murmured, extending his divine sense to survey the spirit peaks of the other supreme elders.
After confirming the presence of activity on the other peaks, Li Qing's eyes narrowed slightly.
"It's Wu Chong? He's not in his cave abode. Where could he have gone?"
Soon, Xu Xia, the sect leader of Lingyun Sect, arrived outside Li Qing's cave abode. His daoist name was Xuan Yun, and he rode a long spear, flying swiftly through the air.
Xu Xia had long since shed the title of "Acting Sect Leader" and was now the official sect leader of Lingyun Sect.
This was because he had successfully achieved foundation establishment half a year prior, finally embodying the proper image of a sect leader of a cultivation sect.
With a grave expression and speaking rapidly, Xu Xia reported, "Martial Uncle Limitless, Martial Uncle Gluttonous's soul lamp suddenly dimmed significantly. The elder of the Lamp Hall noticed immediately and sounded the alarm bells."
In an instant, Li Qing emerged from his cave abode. His gaze fixed on Xu Xia, he asked in a deep voice, "What exactly happened? Do we know the situation?"
Xu Xia replied, "Two months ago, Elder Cao Xiu said he felt a premonition and planned to travel abroad, likely staying around the Black Sand River area."
"Then, half a month ago, the lamp hall elder suddenly noticed Elder Cao's soul lamp flickering, as if he were in mortal danger."
"I immediately dispatched several Law Enforcement Elders with considerable combat prowess to investigate. At that moment, Martial Uncle Gluttonous happened to be in the Law Enforcement Hall reprimanding disciples."
"After hearing about this, Martial Uncle Gluttonous decided to personally investigate the situation along the Black Sand River with several Law Enforcement Elders."
"And then, the events in the Soul Lamp Hall just now occurred!"
Hearing this, Li Qing's brow furrowed deeply.
Cao Xiu's trip to the Black Sand River area was likely his attempt to claim Dao Lord Bai Ling's full inheritance.
As for reporting to the sect beforehand, he probably lacked confidence and planned to seek help from the sect only if he encountered danger or insurmountable problems.
Li Qing had personally arranged the inheritance site. He knew that while there might be some challenges, they couldn't possibly threaten Cao Xiu's life!
Moreover, Wu Chong had also gone there. Wu Chong was now close to the late-stage core formation realmβhow could he possibly be in mortal danger?
Who exactly had they encountered? Cultivators from the Grassland Holy Temple? Or perhaps someone from the outer domain?
In a flash, Li Qing's thoughts raced, but he couldn't afford to dwell on them.
Immediately, a pair of silver wings imprinted with Wind-Thunder Dao Patterns materialized behind him.
"Inform the other supreme elders. I'll go ahead!"
After leaving those words, Li Qing's Wind-Thunder Silver Wings fluttered slightly.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Li Qing transformed into a streak of light, hurtling toward the Black Sand River at top speed.
"Martial Uncle Limitless, please be careful!" Xu Xia clasped his hands in a hurried salute before rushing off to inform the other supreme elders at their respective spirit peaks.
Meanwhile, at the Black Sand River...
This area had once been the territory of the Heavenly River Sect, named for the black sand that lined its banks.
Now, several core formation realm cultivators stood poised above a winding stretch of the river, their cold gazes fixed on a swirling vortex in the water.
"The formation within is quite intricate. It will take some effort to break through by force."
"Who would have thought that foundation establishment brat could summon core formation realm reinforcements? They must be disciples of the Lingyun Sect."
"Hmph, what's there to fear? The Free and Unfettered Sect intends to establish our presence and spread our teachings in this region. Conflict with the Lingyun Sect is inevitable."
"Exactly. Let's eliminate one of their core formation realm supreme elders today. Once the ancestor arrives, the situation will be settled."
"..."
(End of the Chapter)
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