I Can See Through Everything

Lu Qing watched as Ice Soul Valley transformed from illusion to reality. Under the unprecedented upheaval of the world's spiritual currents, he finally achieved Perfection in the Yang Talisman stage.

Of course, this was also thanks to his year-long journey across the land—beholding wondrous sights, studying the contours of mountains and rivers, and attuning himself to the currents of Heaven and Earth.

His foundation had already grown immensely deep, and he was only a step away from Perfection.

Now that he had broken through, it was a natural culmination—water overflowing after a long accumulation.

"At last, I've reached Perfection in the Yang Talisman stage."

At this moment, Lu Qing felt a crystalline clarity within his mind, as if bathed in the glow of the Soul Talisman. His divine soul surged in strength.

His sensitivity to the world's spiritual energies also sharpened dramatically. Every ripple, every shift, was reflected in his mind with unparalleled clarity.

This was because his divine soul had grown so powerful that his perception of the Rules of Heaven and Earth had reached new heights.

But this wasn’t even his greatest gain.

That breakthrough just now also allowed him to finally grasp a faint, elusive spark of inspiration. He now had a real lead in the Technique Deduction of the tenth transformation of the Golden Core.

"So that’s how it is... To truly break through convention and surpass the limits, one must achieve Perfection in body, divine soul, and spiritual power. Only when these three aspects unite can the ultimate boundary be transcended, and that unfathomable realm be stepped into."

A profound understanding rose within Lu Qing.

At this moment, he finally understood the path of the tenth transformation of the Golden Core.

However, with this realization came new doubts.

"The tenth transformation of the Golden Core requires Perfection in body, divine soul, and spiritual power. But then, how did those geniuses in history who forged a Flawless Golden Core manage to break through?

"Or... were some of them just like me, stuck at a bottleneck, unable to complete all twelve transformations?"

Achieving Perfection in all three—body, soul, and power—sounded simple.

But Lu Qing knew just how difficult it had been for him to reach this point.

It had taken countless Opportunities, rare fortune, and his unique Spiritual Powers. Only through a series of fortunate coincidences had he cultivated all three to Perfection.

Could it be those Flawless Golden Cores had blessings equal to his?

After pondering for a while, Lu Qing still found no answer and chose not to dwell on it further.

Since leaving his home world, he had yet to meet another peer who had also formed a Flawless Golden Core.

He didn’t even know if, in this era, anyone besides him had reached this stage—so there was nothing to compare to.

Gathering his thoughts, he focused on the present.

The enormous snowy valley ahead had now fully manifested, suspended in the air.

Its powerful aura spread forth. The icy astral winds howled even more fiercely, causing the temperature in a hundred-mile radius to plummet even further.

Even Golden Core cultivators had to circulate spiritual power to protect themselves from being frozen solid.

As Ice Soul Valley fully revealed itself, all the cultivators nearby had already launched themselves forward, turning into streaks of light that vanished into the valley.

Lu Qing thought for a moment and decided to go in as well.

Although he was eager to immediately seclude himself and deduce the tenth transformation, now was clearly not the right time.

He had fully grasped the thread of inspiration and understood how to shatter the limits.

The realm of the tenth transformation was already within reach.

Waiting a little longer to deduce it wouldn’t hurt.

The hardest part was always the beginning. Now that the path ahead had been illuminated, he didn’t just have clarity on the tenth transformation—he even had vague insights into the eleventh and twelfth.

Once Ice Soul Valley had been explored, he would enter seclusion again and fully deduce the final three transformations.

Then his path through the Golden Core Realm would lead directly to true Perfection.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, Lu Qing stood up from his cloud and took a step forward, heading toward the vast, icy valley.

"This Ice Soul Valley… it’s not just spatially vast, its very Rules seem to suppress one’s cultivation?"

Upon entering the valley, Lu Qing’s face showed surprise.

He discovered that the interior was far larger than it appeared from outside.

It was as though he had stepped into a vast snowy mountain range, stretching endlessly. Even with his powerful divine soul, he couldn’t sense its boundaries.

More importantly, Ice Soul Valley seemed to contain a peculiar kind of Rule—

It actually restricted anyone from using Nascent Soul-level power and above.

"No wonder the Golden Core cultivators weren’t deterred by those three Nascent Soul cultivators outside. So, this strange snowy valley has a power-limiting effect like this."

Lu Qing instantly understood.

He had previously found it odd that the Golden Core cultivators weren’t afraid despite the presence of Nascent Soul experts.

Now the mystery was solved.

Glancing around, he saw no sign of anyone. This place also suppressed spiritual sensing to some extent—he couldn’t detect any other cultivators’ presence.

Those who had entered earlier had seemingly vanished.

"Xiaoli, can you sense anything?"

Only then did Lu Qing recall that in his post-breakthrough excitement, he had forgotten to use his Spiritual Powers to probe the valley’s nature.

So he asked Xiaoli for help.

That little creature had an extraordinary ability to sense treasures—surely it would detect something.

Sure enough, the moment they entered Ice Soul Valley, Xiaoli’s eyes lit up.

It excitedly said, "Ah Qing, there are so many treasures here!"

"Oh? So many treasures?" Lu Qing raised an eyebrow. "Then lead the way. Let’s go check them out."

Guided by Xiaoli, Lu Qing headed toward the nearest treasure.

Soon, he arrived beneath a towering ancient tree.

"Right here, beneath this, I sense the aura of a treasure," Xiaoli told him.

Lu Qing waved his hand. A surge of spiritual power swept away the snow, revealing a spiritual herb.

Using his Spiritual Powers to appraise it, Lu Qing quickly obtained its information.

[Snow Spirit Ginseng: Mid-grade, initial-tier spiritual herb.]

[Contains Ice-type Spiritual Essence. Calms the mind and nourishes cultivation. Especially effective for Ice-type cultivators…]

…

Reading the lines of information that appeared in his vision, a faint smile appeared on Lu Qing’s face.

Not bad. The first herb turned out to be a mid-grade one. If converted to spirit stones, it would be worth quite a sum.

After harvesting the Snow Spirit Ginseng, Lu Qing followed Xiaoli’s lead and picked several more herbs nearby.

Though their quality wasn’t as good, he took them all regardless.

The spiritual herbs in Ice Soul Valley were of higher quality than those outside. Plus, they were imbued with Ice attributes—even the low-grade ones were quite precious.

"Ah Qing, there’s a spiritual herb beneath this next tree. I can sense it—its aura is the strongest of all the nearby treasures."

Under another large tree, Xiaoli pointed at the snow-covered ground.

Lu Qing swept the snow away again, revealing a large, decayed tree trunk, aged beyond reckoning.

And growing from the rotten trunk was a crystal-clear, lingzhi-shaped herb, glowing faintly.

Just as Lu Qing was about to appraise it with his Spiritual Powers— 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He suddenly sensed a wisp of chilling intent aimed at him.

Had his divine soul not been this strong, he might not have noticed it.

With a flick of his finger, he sent a force to intercept.

A crisp ding rang out. A transparent, needle-like artifact was deflected, embedding itself in the trunk of another tree.

Lu Qing's expression remained calm. He looked toward the direction the chill had come from.

"Huh? You've got some skill, kid. You actually sensed my Invisible Needle?"

A voice rang out from the woods, tinged with surprise.

The transparent flying needle withdrew from the tree and vanished into the forest.

A moment later, a man stepped forward.

He wore green robes and was a middle-aged cultivator whose aura was strong and unrestrained.

Lu Qing recognized him—one of the group of ten-plus cultivators who had arrived after him.

Though not the most prominent, his cultivation had already reached the late Golden Core stage—Seventh Transformation.

"And who might you be? Why ambush me out of nowhere?" Lu Qing asked coolly.

"Heh. That’s a dumb question. Obviously, I’m after that spiritual herb. But since you sensed my needle, I’ll let you off this once. Scram. That Snow Ganoderma is mine now!"

The green-robed man stared at the crystal-clear herb, his gaze burning with desire.

He hadn’t expected this kid to be so lucky—to find a Snow Ganoderma of all things.

And judging by its appearance, it was fully matured and had reached mid-grade high-tier.

If he could get it, this whole trip would have been worth it.

"Oh? You want it. But what if I’m not willing to hand it over?"

Lu Qing's tone remained composed, showing no anger.

"Not willing? Then die!"

The green-robed man hadn't expected Lu Qing to refuse.

He didn’t hesitate. His brows shot up, and with a flick of his hand, countless invisible needles materialized, shooting toward Lu Qing in a deadly storm.

These needles were sharp enough to pierce anything, terrifyingly fast and precise.

From the start, he unleashed a killing move—aiming to destroy Lu Qing entirely.

Seeing Lu Qing seemingly moments away from being skewered, the green-robed man smirked.

Fool. Did you really think dodging one Invisible Needle meant you were my equal?

But his smile froze.

Lu Qing’s body surged with sword intent, forming a protective shield around him.

All the flying needles stopped mid-air, suspended in place, unable to advance an inch.

Then, from the depths of the green-robed man’s soul, an intense chill erupted.

A terrifying, bone-freezing cold far beyond the valley’s own chill.

Fear struck him. He turned to flee.

But it was too late.

Before he could move his spiritual power, a streak of sword light flashed through him.

His body stiffened, frozen in place.

All his flying needles fell to the ground.

Even the life force within him vanished in an instant.

Lu Qing ignored the corpse, turned around, and picked the crystal-clear Snow Ganoderma, placing it into his Heaven and Earth One Qi Bag.

Only then did a thin red line appear on the green-robed man's face.

It ran from the crown of his head all the way down.

His body split in two and slumped to the snowy ground, dyeing it red.

He had died the moment the sword flashed.

"Ah Qing, your sword Dao is getting stronger. Even a Golden Core Seventh Transformation can’t survive a single strike!"

Xiaoli poked its tiny head out of Lu Qing’s hood, full of awe.

That sword earlier had sent chills down even its spine.

"It was only a Golden Core Seventh Transformation."

Lu Qing shook his head, walking over to retrieve the body and storing it in the Li Huo Cauldron.

With his cultivation, he had already sensed the green-robed man lurking nearby.

But adhering to the principle of "do not offend unless offended," he hadn’t exposed him.

Unfortunately, the man couldn’t resist his greed and struck first.

In that case, he had only himself to blame.

"Well, you've slain Nascent Soul cultivators before, so a Golden Core Seventh Transformation isn't worth mentioning," Xiaoli chuckled.

The difference was, Lu Qing had used his powerful physical body against other Golden Core cultivators before.

This time, he had used sword Dao alone, which was why Xiaoli was impressed.

"Alright, enough of that. Xiaoli, are there any more treasures nearby?"

"Not really. The rest are just low-grade herbs. Want them?"

"No need. Let’s move on to another area."

Low-grade herbs were of no use to him.

Boom!

Just as Lu Qing prepared to leave with Xiaoli, the entire space trembled.

Moments later, several powerful auras erupted and began clashing fiercely.

"What’s going on? The Nascent Soul cultivators are fighting?"

Lu Qing was slightly startled.

He could already tell—these auras belonged to the Nascent Soul cultivators who had appeared outside Ice Soul Valley earlier.

"Why are they suddenly fighting?"

"Did someone find a great treasure?"

"That must be it! No other reason to fight so fiercely!"

Elsewhere in the valley, other Golden Core cultivators also sensed the disturbance.

All were shocked and began guessing at the cause.

Lu Qing was no exception. Before he could make sense of it, a booming voice rang out.

"Zhao Xuantian! You want to claim the Mysterious Ice Cold Flame for yourself?!"

"Exactly! Finders keepers, yes—but don’t think you can hog the spiritual flame alone!" another voice snapped.

"Hahaha! Since you’ve all seen it, there’s no point hiding. There’s only one Mysterious Ice Cold Flame. It can’t be shared. Let’s fight for it—the strongest shall take it!"

Another voice rang out, bold and domineering, shaking the heavens.

Mysterious Ice Cold Flame!

The moment those three Nascent Soul experts named the treasure, all cultivators in Ice Soul Valley were stunned.