Slaughter King-level Monsters, Secluded Cultivation

"Roar!"

A violent bestial roar erupted from within the building, which resembled a grand theater.

Two scarlet beast eyes, each the size of a fist, emerged in the dim interior.

"You don't even brush your teeth after eating? Truly foul!"

Li Qingxu frowned slightly, his expression displeased.

The stench wafting over ruined the good mood he had been in after enjoying a delicious meal earlier that evening.

The next moment.

Divine power surged from his Bitter Sea, transforming him into a radiant, golden War God.

With a single step, a blurred Dao Map manifested beneath his feet.

"You should be grateful that I don't eat things devoid of spiritual energy!"

Before the echo of his voice had even faded, Li Qingxu appeared directly above the head of this Lord-level monster.

His golden fist, devoid of any flashy techniques, slammed heavily onto the head of the creature, which was nearly twenty meters long and resembled a crocodile.

The void trembled; his golden fist felt as heavy as a mountain.

"Boom!"

The entire massive building shuddered with a thunderous crash.

In the next instant, another violent tremor shook the area.

Li Qingxu stood atop the neck of the Lord-level crocodile monster, pinning it firmly to the ground.

His golden fists rained down like a torrential storm, growing larger and striking with incomparably savage force, causing the very void to shake.

Punch after punch, he hammered the monster's head deep into the earth.

With a wet, explosive "squelch."

The head of the Lord-level monster was blasted into pieces.

The large building, unable to withstand such violent vibrations, collapsed with a roar.

"Send a team to my current coordinates; help me collect the materials from this monster and sell them."

Looking at the monster carcass beneath his feet, Li Qingxu took out his phone and dialed the Extreme Headquarters.

"Understood, Councilor Li. I will immediately arrange for a War God to take a fighter jet to your location."

As his figure vanished instantly, the nearly twenty-meter-long One-Horned Crocodile lay silently in the deep crater.

Not long after, several War God-level martial artists arrived, drawn by the commotion. Upon seeing the corpse of a Lord-level One-Horned Crocodile, their eyes were filled with shock and even longing.

Yet, they dared only watch from afar, not venturing a single step closer.

Any martial artist capable of slaying a Lord-level monster was undoubtedly a Councilor, a being beyond the War God level.

Though they did not know why this Councilor had left the monster's valuable materials unharvested, anyone who dared to steal a Councilor's spoils would be courting death—a life not worth the taking, and certainly not worth the spending.

The morning sun began to rise.

On the rooftop of a high-rise building near the coast of City 003.

Li Qingxu sat cross-legged, facing the dawn.

After a night of exertion, the cells within his body were exceptionally active.

As he calmed his mind, the omnipresent cosmic energy poured into his Sacred Body.

Massive amounts of essence surged from his cells, guided by the Dao Scripture into streams of vitality that merged into his Bitter Sea.

The golden Bitter Sea shimmered with light; upon its surface, a vibrant, living energy emerged, as if a hint of green was manifesting.

"Condense!"

At Li Qingxu's command, a shout echoed within the Bitter Sea.

A strange plant appeared, flickering in and out of existence within the golden ocean—it was a green lotus, wreathed in chaotic mist!

Above the Wheel Sea, the void was no longer hazy or empty; it was a vast, azure expanse, like the clear sky.

"Without the blessing of the Azure Emperor's green lotus, I can only initially manifest the Chaos Planting Green Lotus phenomenon using the Wheel Sea Secret Realm."

Li Qingxu sighed as he looked at the green lotus.

The effect of this phenomenon would be far inferior to his previous life; he would have to wait until he reached the Saint realm to re-cultivate the Wheel Sea Secret Realm and bring it to perfection.

The sky above was a deep, distant, and profound azure.

Within the Bitter Sea, a single green lotus stood, brimming with vitality, as if it had birthed a living world.

Surrounding it, chaotic mists swirled, mysterious and hazy.

At this moment, Li Qingxu grew calm, his heart ethereal as he observed closely.

The green lotus broke through the golden surface, sprouting three emerald leaves. It possessed a natural Daoist quality, as if interpreting the origin of heaven and earth: the Dao produces one, one produces two, two produce three, and three produce all things.

It was as if something formed from chaos, born before heaven and earth, the ancestor of all things, possessing an aura that existed before the Emperor of Heaven.

This green lotus merged with the Wheel Sea, possessing a strange, profound charm like an unfathomable abyss of the Dao; it was serene and tranquil, as if it could endure forever without perishing.

"Now is the time to reach the Grand Perfection of the Other Shore Realm, and then break through to the Dao Palace Secret Realm."

Li Qingxu settled his mind, absorbing cosmic energy with all his might.

As for the scriptures of the Dao Palace Secret Realm, he possessed a fragment of the Western Emperor Scripture, the Dao Palace volume of which was hailed as the most powerful among all Emperor Scriptures.

To reach the Grand Perfection of the Other Shore Realm, one must undergo the Nine Transformations, where the physical body experiences nine cycles of shedding its mortal shell, gradually transcending the category of ordinary humans.

He was about to undergo the first transformation—a cycle of withered stillness and rebirth, which was the initial process of his metamorphosis.

On the other side, at the supply base of the Southeast Military Region outside City 003.

In terms of scale, the Southeast Military Region was even larger than the North Military Region of Jiangnan Base City.

"This supply base is also much larger than the one in the North Military Region."

After receiving their keys, Luo Feng and his group walked through the supply base, unable to help but exclaim.

The entire supply base far exceeded the North Military Region in the number of residences, and at a single glance, one could see a vast number of martial artists everywhere.

In terms of strength, the martial artists here were also far superior to those in the North Military Region.

"Of course they're much stronger!"

Gao Feng sighed, "City 003 is adjacent to the ocean, and countless monsters from the sea have split the continent, threatening the inland areas along the Huangpu River long ago."

The military region here existed specifically to deal with these marine monsters, while the martial artists here were primarily tasked with dealing with the monsters within City 003.

Compared to land monsters, marine monsters were actually a more terrifying threat to humanity.

Because the ocean's surface area far exceeded that of the land, and the ocean was entirely the territory of monsters, one could only imagine how many monsters resided within it.

"Look, isn't that the 'Poison Demon Spear'?"

"Tsk tsk, holy crap, isn't that a War God? It's rare to see a War God Level powerhouse in the North Military Region, yet we see one the moment we arrive here."

The Fire Hammer Squad watched from the balcony of their residence, each of them marveling in astonishment.

The martial artists here truly came from all corners of the world.

A short while later, the five members of the fully armed Fire Hammer Squad departed from the supply base.

"It's the Fire Hammer Squad; they've come here too?"

"I heard the Madman who recently joined the Fire Hammer Squad is quite impressive. He's an Elementary War General Level, and his progress will surely be rapid in the future."

Some martial artists within the supply base chatted with smiles.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.

Li Qingxu reached the Grand Perfection of the Wheel Sea, his body regenerating. With the nine transformations of the Other Shore, life energy overflowed, causing even the withered moss on the rooftop to regain its vitality.

Every movement was filled with surging divine power. He suddenly opened his eyes and gazed toward the sky.

Two beams of divine radiance shot out, instantly blasting a flock of flying monsters in the distant sky into a rain of blood.

"It is time to break through."

Li Qingxu murmured to himself, closing his eyes once more to settle his mind.

The Wheel Sea was located below the navel, about the size of a palm, while the Dao Palace sat above it.

Having cultivated in his past life, he had already comprehended and mastered the Dao Palace chapter of the Western Emperor Scripture, which corresponded to the five viscera enclosed by the chest and ribs.

The five deities within the Dao Palace were inextricably linked to these organs; they could derive Dao power and generate life force, truly serving as the foundation for nurturing one's life.

The heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys were collectively known as the five viscera, or the five gods.

Storing essence and energy without leakage, and harboring life without decay, it was an extremely powerful secret realm of the human body.

If a person can nurture their spirit, they will not die; with the five gods ever-present, one remains in eternal spring, connecting the five elements and linking with heaven and earth in an endless, continuous flow, allowing one to exist in the world forever.

The Dao Palace is a secret realm that cannot be ignored; if one wishes for immortality, one must exert great effort in this realm.

If one wishes to ascend to a higher level and realize the immortal Dao, one must evolve the five elements once again.