The two figures flickering amid the lightning flashed through the clouds and mist for only an instant. Li Qing couldn't make them out clearly.
He gave a slight shake of his head, then lowered his gaze to the jade tablet in his hand.
The tablet was quite peculiar, entirely blue-green, with a carved dragon painted on it.
"What is this thing for?"
A strange look crossed his face. After thinking it over, he infused it with a wisp of essence.
As the essence flowed in, the tablet suddenly changed.
A faint blue-green light shone from the tablet, and a message appeared out of thin air in his mind.
"Spirit Summoning Tablet! Can summon the phantom of a Flood Dragon to devour souls and consume spirits."
Li Qing's eyes lit up. "Is this some kind of magic treasure?"
His heart burned with excitement.
His biggest problem right now was that he had no real means of attack. If he ran into some wild beasts, he might well be done for.
Now that he'd gotten his hands on something resembling a magic treasure, he immediately felt much safer.
He glanced up at the sky. The heavy rain seemed to be letting up all of a sudden.
The sky brightened. Li Qing thought, I don't know what's going on, but I'd better get moving first.
I mustn't get caught up in a fight between beings like that.
He gathered up the clothes hanging nearby, then darted off.
He sprinted at full speed toward the other end of the gorge.
The rain visibly weakened, turning into a drizzle in the blink of an eye.
Half an hour later, the sky had cleared, and the blazing sun was out again.
As he ran along the road, Li Qing shook his head. "This world is seriously bizarre. It was pouring just now, and now the sun's beating down on the ground?"
"I hope there won't be any more trouble. This little body of mine can't take many more surprises."
Looking at the Spirit Summoning Tablet in his hand, he thought, "I need to find somewhere to test its power."
"Grrrr."
Suddenly, his stomach growled with hunger. Li Qing's face puckered like a bitter melon.
"I only ate two pieces of cucumber this morning. There's not a single village ahead or behind on this road. Where am I supposed to find food?"
By now, he had crossed the gorge and was making his way along a mountain path.
Qingshi County lay in North Province's Huanglong Prefecture. The prefectural seat was called Jade City, a great city with a population of one million.
Outside the city flowed the long Pu River, which ran north and south, splitting the entire Great Tang Dynasty in two.
Qingshi County was roughly three hundred li from Jade City, and that was where Li Qing was headed.
With a population of one million, Jade City had a thriving economy. It was also the commercial center and transportation hub of all North Province, connected to every direction and backed by the water-transport network.
All kinds of mountain produce and heavenly treasures from across North Province were shipped from there into the heart of the Great Tang Dynasty.
The mountain path he was on ran through Black Wind Mountain. Along the three hundred li between Qingshi County and Jade City stood a gorge, a mountain ridge, and three peaks.
Black Wind Mountain was the first peak. They said wild beasts prowled there, and strange incidents often took place.
Li Qing walked alone, keeping his guard up.
He gripped the Spirit Summoning Tablet tightly. At the first sign of danger, he would summon the phantom Flood Dragon inside.
The sky gradually darkened, and Li Qing grew anxious.
He hadn't eaten for half a day and was so hungry his belly was pressed against his backbone.
"I can't be so unlucky that I'll starve to death on the road, can I?"
Suddenly, a ruined temple appeared up ahead. Li Qing's eyes lit up.
But after thinking it over, he stopped in his tracks. "They say you shouldn't enter a forest when you come across one, or a temple when you come across one."
"Besides, this is a dangerous world. If I go in, there's a good chance I'll run into trouble."
After a moment's thought, Li Qing quickened his pace and hurried away from the ruined temple.
Every so often, he looked back at it.
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Only after the ruined temple had completely vanished from sight did he finally breathe a little easier.
"Good thing I didn't get caught in a ghostly loop."
"That old trick won't fool me."
By now, it had grown even darker, and the road was getting hard to see.
Li Qing's expression shifted. "Looks like I'll have to go hungry tonight."
"I'll have to stay in a tree."
He looked at the trees nearby, and one large tree caught his eye.
His eyes brightened. He picked up a dead branch from the roadside and quickly swept it back and forth in front of him.
It was a way of beating the grass to startle the snakes.
That way, a venomous snake wouldn't suddenly dart out of the undergrowth and bite him.
He soon reached the large tree, three zhang into the woods.
He climbed up quickly and soon reached one of the tree's branches.
He was about two zhang above the ground. A fall from there would be no joke.
Li Qing looked around, his face full of helplessness.
"Looks like I won't get any sleep tonight."
"I'm tired and hungry. If I fall asleep and tumble down, I'll really be asking for it."
He held the Spirit Summoning Tablet but didn't use it lightly.
Using it consumed essence, and he couldn't tell whether it would leave him drained afterward.
There was no chance to test it now, so all he could do was sigh and keep it in his hand.
The dark woods were filled with the calls of animals, adding a little life to the blackness.
As time passed, fear crept into Li Qing's heart in the darkness.
Humans were born to fear the dark.
With nothing else to do, Li Qing began silently reciting the verses of the Essence Blood Art.
The faint essence in his blood vessels began to circulate, spreading throughout his body and bringing a trace of warmth.
Li Qing could clearly feel that he didn't have much essence in his body. His excess fat seemed to be burning, turning into essence and flowing into his blood.
The distinctive feature of this cultivation art was that it transformed every unnecessary part of the body into essence, which then gradually nourished specific organs.
He recited the verses just to distract himself, so that he wouldn't be too afraid in the darkness.
Time slipped by. As Li Qing quietly recited, his mind slowly grew hazy, as if he'd entered some wondrous state.
He sat on a sturdy branch, his body gradually relaxing, yet somehow maintaining its balance.
His whole being sank into a mysterious state, as if he were in meditation.
No one knew how much time had passed before a figure appeared on the road outside the forest.
The man stumbled along, his whole body reeking of blood.
A gaping hole was clearly visible in the left side of his chest. His ribs were caved in, and countless streams of blood flowed from the wound.
Splash.
He leaned against a tree, his eyes fixed on the place where Li Qing was perched.
A sinister smile appeared on his face. "Blood Refining Art? Heaven hasn't forsaken me. A Blood Pill has come right to my doorstep."
He struggled forward, his body already weakened to the extreme.
"I have to trick that guy into climbing down."
The rustling in the woods had already awakened Li Qing.
He hurriedly turned toward the sound.
In this dense forest, he could barely see his own hand in front of him.
Visibility was no more than three meters.
A voice sounded from beneath the tree. "Fellow cultivator in the tree, could you save my life?"