While dodging, Qin Bo's eyes rapidly swept over the zombie puppet's body, trying to find its weakness.
Just then, Qin Bo noticed that the runes' glow seemed relatively dim at the point where the zombie puppet's neck joined its body.
His heart stirred. Perhaps this was the key to breaking through the deadlock.
Qin Bo deliberately exposed an opening, luring the zombie puppet into attacking again.
The zombie puppet fell for it. It extended both claws and viciously raked them toward Qin Bo's shoulders.
Qin Bo seized the moment and did not dodge.
Instead, he suddenly stepped forward, raised the Heavenly Dipper Bloodthirsty Saber high, infused it with all his strength, and hacked viciously down at the puppet's neck.
With a "squelch," he failed to sever the zombie puppet's neck completely.
But he still left a deep wound in its neck, from which black liquid gushed.
The zombie puppet let out a pained roar, and its movements visibly slowed.
Qin Bo pressed his advantage.
Finally, he exerted all his strength and unleashed Heavenly Dipper Evil-Slaying Slash.
A bright blade aura cleaved straight down toward its neck.
"Pfft!"
Along with that muffled sound, the blade aura containing Heavenly Gang Power sank deeply into the zombie puppet's neck.
It completely separated the puppet's head from its body.
Its body swayed several times before finally crashing heavily to the ground with a "boom," sending dust billowing everywhere.
[Ding, successfully killed the Zombie Strange Puppet and obtained ten years of lifespan]
As the system notification rang out in his mind, a vast, warm power surged into Qin Bo's body, like a warm current coursing through every limb and bone.
The addition of lifespan also brought a basic enhancement to Qin Bo's body.
His qi and blood grew even more vigorous.
Even so, to the strange beings, he was like Tang Sanzang to demons.
Qin Bo keenly sensed that more pairs of eyes seemed to be spying on him from the darkness around him.
Those lurking strange beings had been drawn by his increasingly powerful qi and blood, just like moths flying into a flame, unable to suppress the longing in their hearts.
Qin Bo hurriedly took out that feather.
He squeezed it in his palm.
Sure enough, the next moment, a hazy energy covered his body, instantly concealing his aura.
The strange beings that had been ready to pounce seemed to suddenly lose their target.
They began wandering through the darkness, letting out waves of unwilling snarls.
"Amazing!"
"I wonder what kind of divine beast that three-eyed bird is?! Its feather is actually this powerful?"
Qin Bo had originally thought he could continue exploring inward like this.
But suddenly, the ground began to tremble.
A crack started bulging up from beneath the ground.
Under Qin Bo's astonished gaze, a gigantic black hand reached out from the darkness.
That black hand was as large as a small mountain.
Its fingers were thick, its nails sharp as blades, and it radiated a revolting stench of decay.
The black hand reached straight for Qin Bo, who could not dodge in time.
One of its fingers swept into him, sending him flying like a cannonball and smashing heavily into the wall nearby.
But in the next moment, the giant hand did not grab Qin Bo.
Instead, it reached directly into the darkness to one side.
When it withdrew its hand again, it was already clutching a handful of strange beings.
Qin Bo felt as though his internal organs had been knocked out of place. His throat turned sweet, and a mouthful of blood burst out uncontrollably.
He widened his eyes and stared fixedly at the black hand, his heart filled with terror and confusion.
The "strange beings" grasped by the black hand looked like balls of twisted shadows.
They struggled and writhed incessantly, making eerie sounds that were part an infant's wail and part a malicious ghost's howl.
Then they shrank back underground into the ancient castle once more.
"Hiss... Could this be the strange being that was suppressed?"
"Just that giant hand alone... How enormous must its body be?!"
"I couldn't withstand even a casual strike from it!"
Qin Bo was filled with terror and confusion, yet he did not dare act rashly.
That black hand had merely waved casually, and he had been completely powerless to resist.
If he provoked the master of that black hand any further, he feared he would be reduced to ashes in an instant.
At that moment, the concealing energy released by the three-eyed bird's feather was still working.
The other strange beings in the darkness had yet to notice Qin Bo's presence.
Qin Bo endured the excruciating pain in his body and slowly crawled up from beside the wall.
He knew that he had to recover his strength as quickly as possible. Otherwise, inside this ancient castle fraught with danger, he would not last three days.
He sat down with his back against the wall.
"System, how much lifespan do I have left?"
[Remaining lifespan: 138 years]
"Burn my lifespan to cultivate Heavenly Dipper Evil-Slaying Slash."
[Ding: Cultivation commencing...] [First year, you carefully studied this blade technique. Aside from repeatedly swinging the blade, you gained nothing.] [Third year, you began to understand the Heavenly Dipper Qi contained within the blade technique. You tried merging it with the qi and blood in your body, but the process did not go smoothly. Your qi and blood always collapsed just as they were about to reach harmony.] [Fifth year, after countless attempts, you finally succeeded in initially merging a thread of qi and blood with the Heavenly Dipper Qi. [When this fused power circulated through your meridians into your arm, you swung the blade and actually left a shallow mark on the wall.] [Eighth year, you became increasingly skilled at merging the Heavenly Dipper Qi with your qi and blood. The might of your blade aura grew stronger and stronger, and the marks on the wall had already deepened to the point where the bones beneath could be seen. You felt that you were one step closer to mastering this blade technique.] [Tenth year, you wanted to follow this line of thought and continue increasing the blade technique's power, but the qi and blood in your body could not break free of your physical restraints. Cultivation failed.]
As the system's final notification rang out, Qin Bo opened his eyes.
"Cultivation failed! It seems this is still because of my strength. Only after reaching the Blood Condensation Realm can I launch attacks with qi and blood outside my body."
"The Blood Condensation Realm?! How am I supposed to break through?"
"Could it be that without a cultivation method, I can't break through?"
"System, burn my lifespan to cultivate Ancient Desolation Body Tempering Technique! I refuse to believe I can't comprehend a cultivation method for reaching the Blood Condensation Realm myself!"
[Ding: Cultivation commencing...] [First year, you devoted yourself wholeheartedly to cultivating "Ancient Desolation Body Tempering Technique." Every day, you endured the agony of your body being repeatedly tempered. Your bones creaked, and your muscles ached intensely, yet you still failed to find the opportunity to break through to the Blood Condensation Realm.] [Third year, you gradually mastered the basic application of strength in "Ancient Desolation Body Tempering Technique." Your physical strength improved significantly, and your skin grew even tougher, as resilient as steel. Yet the Blood Condensation Realm remained as distant as ever.] [Fifth year, amid your ceaseless cultivation and exploration, you discovered that the qi and blood within your body had begun undergoing subtle changes, seemingly showing signs of gathering. However, whenever you tried to condense them into substance, you fell short at the final step.] [Sixth year, you decided to stop stubbornly focusing on body tempering and instead set your goal on condensing your qi and blood.] [Tenth year, you studied the method of condensing qi and blood day and night, constantly adjusting the circulation of your own aura.] [Eleventh year, you tried concentrating your mind to the utmost and guiding your qi and blood to circulate through your meridians along a specific route. You suddenly thought of Heavenly Gang Power and decided to merge it into your qi and blood. After countless failures, you finally caught that extremely faint sensation of qi and blood condensing.]
Before you continue