Translator: AnubisTL

Is there only one spirit stone vein in this grotto-heaven?

Naturally, no one believed this claim, but they were powerless to refute it. They could only exchange glances, and the matter was left unresolved.

After all, venturing down meant risking one’s life. No one would treat their life so casually.

Thus, the crowd at the grotto-heaven’s entrance dispersed, each lost in their own thoughts.

Li Qing, however, remained rooted to the spot. After observing for a long time, he decided to descend himself and investigate the situation firsthand as night fell.

With a leap, Li Qing vanished into the grotto-heaven’s entrance.

He descended through the air, constantly projecting his divine sense outward. Soon, he reached a profoundly deep area within the grotto-heaven.

This wasn’t a straight, vertical shaft but a winding passage. Only upon reaching the depths could one truly appreciate the hidden world within.

The surrounding rock walls shimmered with layers of golden luster. Judging from the scattered footprints, this must be the spirit stone vein discovered earlier by the others.

Li Qing hadn’t come here to be a miner. He merely glanced at the gold mine before continuing deeper.

"Hmm?"

Soon, Li Qing stopped abruptly, his brow furrowing slightly as he held his breath. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Poisonous gas?"

A colorless, odorless toxin permeated the air. Li Qing only realized its presence after sensing an anomaly within his own body.

However, the toxin wasn’t particularly lethal to him. A brief surge of vital energy was enough to force it out.

Ignoring the relatively minor threat, Li Qing pressed forward.

Before long, a faint green mist began to swirl through the air. Without a doubt, this was poisonous fog!

Ahead, a vast toxic mire had spread out, and crossing it would require passing through this pale green haze.

With this thought, Li Qing summoned spirit fire into his hand. In the next moment, a fiery pillar, like a dragon of flame, shot through the air, instantly vaporizing the poisonous fog.

Boom!

Under the might of the heavenly spirit fire, the toxins vanished instantly.

Just as Li Qing was preparing to cross the toxic swamp, a cry for help suddenly erupted from below.

"Fellow Daoist, save me! There’s a poison dragon here!"

Boom!

The toxic swamp immediately churned with a massive surge of bubbles, and a figure emerged, covered in thick green venom.

It was clear he was being pursued, something hot on his heels.

The next moment, the entire toxic swamp trembled!

Though called a poison dragon, it wasn’t even a flood dragon. It was an ancient poisonous python, colossal in size and already a late third-tier demon beast, its strength formidable indeed!

The figure that had emerged hadn’t flown far when he seemed to be ensnared by some unseen force, pulled back down into the swamp.

His face contorted with bitterness, but facing the approaching green poisonous python, he had no time to dwell on it. He could only desperately dodge its attacks.

Li Qing didn’t rush to intervene. He silently observed the situation.

The cultivator was in the core formation realm, likely from the outer domain, though whether he hailed from the Great Wilderness Domain remained to be seen.

To have entangled with a late third-tier poisonous python for so long, this cultivator’s strength was truly remarkable, especially considering he seemed to be constrained by some sort of restriction in this place.

Yet even with such prowess, he could no longer hold on. He repeatedly called out to Li Qing for help, as if grasping at his final lifeline.

But Li Qing remained indifferent. He casually replied, "It seems Fellow Daoist still has some energy left. Let me continue observing this area to see if there are any other dangers."

At these words, the core formation realm cultivator’s face turned ashen. While fending off the poisonous python’s attacks, he gritted his teeth and said, "If Fellow Daoist can lend a hand, Zhang will repay you handsomely in the future."

Unfortunately, Li Qing never acted without a clear benefit. Empty promises held no interest for him!

Seeing Li Qing’s continued indifference, the cultivator surnamed Zhang finally wore a mournful expression and said, "A Heavenly Poison Physique heart—that’s the most precious treasure I’ve found in this toxic swamp!"

"If you still refuse to help, I swear I’ll destroy these things before I die!"

So he’s threatening me now? Li Qing thought with amusement, continuing to watch the battle in the toxic swamp.

He wanted to see what exactly was trapping the cultivator below, preventing him from escaping. Every time the man tried to break free, an invisible force pulled him back, a truly bizarre phenomenon.

Finally, Li Qing saw it clearly. Deep within the toxic swamp lay a special restriction. The unfortunate core formation realm cultivator had triggered this restriction and was now trapped, doomed to die here.

"This is at least a fourth-tier restriction, a technique of a Nascent Soul cultivator. I wonder who created it."

"Combined with the potent poison in this swamp and that poisonous python, this place is truly a death trap. Any core formation realm cultivator who wanders in here is guaranteed to die."

As Li Qing muttered to himself, Cultivator Zhang was nearing his last breath. Faced with the ferociously raging poison dragon, Li Qing finally decided to strike.

Boom!

A massive flaming palm materialized out of thin air, unleashing a terrifying spiritual pressure from Li Qing’s body without restraint.

Wherever this palm, condensed from spirit fire, passed, nothing could withstand it. Any venom was instantly vaporized!

Just as the poisonous python was about to swallow the cultivator before it whole, the giant flaming palm snatched it back.

The next moment, Li Qing clenched his hand in the air.

Boom!

The poisonous python’s body snapped in two, the wound charred and emitting thick green toxic smoke.

Cultivator Zhang, who had just narrowly escaped the python’s jaws, hadn’t even had a chance to catch his breath before he hastily knelt down, repeatedly kowtowing to Li Qing:

"Thank you, Senior, for saving my life! Thank you, Senior, for saving my life!"

"This junior was blind and foolish, and spoke recklessly, offending Senior. I deserve to die a thousand deaths. Please, Senior, have mercy and spare this junior’s life."

This cultivator’s will to survive was strong, but Li Qing had no intention of actually taking his life. He merely wanted to understand the situation in this place.

"Tell me, where are you from, and what have you discovered here?"

The ashen-faced core formation realm cultivator immediately replied:

"This junior’s name is Zhang Mo, and I hail from Reedmarsh Province in the Cloud Marsh Domain!"

"While exploring the toxic swamp, I stumbled upon the well-preserved remains of a Heavenly Poison Physique cultivator from an unknown era. The corpse was remarkably intact, showing no signs of decay!"

"As a poison refiner, greed momentarily clouded my judgment. I tried to take the body, but accidentally triggered a restriction and encountered a Great Demonic Python!"

At this point, his expression turned bitter. If he hadn’t been a poison refiner, intimately familiar with countless poisons, he would have long since met his demise.

Li Qing nodded thoughtfully. The so-called Heavenly Poison Physique was indeed a type of Dao Physique, but it wasn’t particularly renowned or as powerful as other Dao Physiques, which was why it remained largely unknown. Even Li Qing himself knew little about it, only being aware of its existence.

"So, did you manage to retrieve the Heavenly Poison Physique’s remains?" Li Qing asked casually.

Zhang Mo nodded, he didn’t dare harbor any ulterior motives in front of a Nascent Soul cultivator. He immediately produced the Heavenly Poison Physique’s corpse.

The remains belonged to a woman. As Zhang Mo had said, the corpse showed no signs of decay, remarkably preserved as if she had died only recently. Her most striking feature was her long white hair. Judging from her facial features, she had been quite young and beautiful in life.

(End of the Chapter)

---------------------------------------------------------

Continue Reading (REFINER) on CinderTL• ⓒⓞⓜ

Read Ahead to Ch966 • Free Chapters • No Login

---------------------------------------------------------