Xun'er's Departure

This Heavenly Crystal Spirit Marrow should have come from the Great Thousand World. Along with the Heavenly Flame Remnant Map, the method for making a Flight Dou Technique, and those ancient medicinal pill formulas, the owner of this tomb chamber was no simple figure!

Lin Qing marveled inwardly.

Little Marten's awakening left Lin Qing somewhat relieved. Although Little Marten was not particularly reliable and had taught the illiterate Lin Dong to become a brute, his knowledge was still first-rate.

Since Ling Qingzhu and Li Qingchan had yet to emerge from seclusion, Xiao Yi Xian and Little Lion also entered seclusion after seeing everyone around them improving.

Only Lin Qi, the Tier 3 Little Lion, and Lin Qing remained in the small valley.

"Fine! Then I'll go into seclusion too. Xiao Qi, stand guard! And keep an eye on Little Lion."

Lin Qing said to Lin Qi.

"Okay, Brother!"

After giving his instructions, Lin Qing slipped into the thatched hut.

Once seated cross-legged, Lin Qing took out an Earthfire Lotus Seed and tossed it into his mouth.

The moment the Earthfire Lotus Seed entered his mouth, it transformed directly into a surge of scorching energy that rushed down his throat and rampaged violently through Lin Qing's body.

Very quickly, the vast and scorching energy transformed from the Earthfire Lotus Seed flowed into his meridians. It soon swelled all the meridians throughout Lin Qing's body, while more energy continued pouring in without end.

At a thought, the Xuanhuang Flame within Lin Qing's body rose up, wrapping around and protecting his meridians as it began refining the energy transformed from the Earthfire Lotus Seed.

Under the refinement of the Heavenly Flame, the scorching energy began seeping into Lin Qing's meridians. Specks of jade-like green radiance appeared alongside it and continuously merged into his meridians.

Feeling his meridians becoming broader and more resilient, Lin Qing could not help but feel delighted.

The Earthfire Lotus Seed was known as the essence of Fire Spirit. Only one condensed every hundred years, and its energy possessed both quality and quantity. To Fire Attribute cultivators, it was absolutely a treasure they would scramble for.

Because the energy within it was simply too vast, Lin Qing could not even actively control its circulation.

Unhurried, Lin Qing formed a hand seal and circulated his Cultivation Technique. As the Swallowing Heaven Scripture began operating, the devouring power of the Devouring Ancestral Talisman erupted as well.

With the combined effects of the Cultivation Technique, Ancestor Symbol, Ancestral Stone, and Heavenly Flame, Lin Qing's body seemed to transform into a bottomless black hole. Not only was the Earthfire Lotus Seed's energy devoured frantically, but the Dou Qi of heaven and earth also turned into strands of energy that surged into Lin Qing's body. They were continuously tempered along the Cultivation Technique's circulation route before being absorbed by Lin Qing.

Time continued to pass. Half a month slipped by quietly, and one of the three remaining energy spikes on the Dou Crystal Urchin in Lin Qing's dantian completely retracted into the urchin.

A powerful aura erupted from Lin Qing's body.

Feeling the abundant Dou Qi within him, Lin Qing stood up and stretched lazily.

Seven-Star Dou Spirit!

Two stars in less than a month. One Earthfire Lotus Seed saved me one or two months of hard cultivation, but I need someone to spar with!

After sensing the situation in the valley, Lin Qing found that Little Lion had already emerged from seclusion and was now a Three-Star Dou Emperor, standing rigidly near the rooms of Lin Qing and the others.

Lin Qi, Xiao Yi Xian, and Little Lion were roasting meat.

Xiao Yi Xian had also broken through to the Da Dou Shi realm.

Li Qingchan and Ling Qingzhu were still in seclusion, but judging by their increasingly powerful auras and the energy gathering between heaven and earth, they would not need much longer to break through either.

The moment Lin Qing stepped out of the thatched hut, Lin Qi and the others approached him.

"Brother!"

"Young Master!"

"Young Lord!"

"Roar!"

"You all stay here and watch over Qingzhu and the others! I'm going to find some magical beasts to fight!" Lin Qing nodded slightly.

Over the next few days, Lin Qing left early and returned late every day, constantly hunting nearby magical beasts to temper his Dou Qi and Dou Techniques.

From Tier 4 magical beasts at first to Tier 5 ones later, from needing dozens of exchanges to deal with Tier 4 magical beasts without using Earth Grade Dou Techniques or soul techniques, to being able to kill Tier 5 magical beasts within ten exchanges now, he could instantly kill them on sight with Earth Grade and soul techniques.

Bang!

A Tier 5 Frost Serpent fought Lin Qing for more than ten exchanges, but in the end, Lin Qing still pierced its head with a single finger. Its corpse fell into the cold pool, and the flowing blood soon dyed the water red.

"The third one! As expected, actual combat is the best teacher."

Just as Lin Qing swallowed a medicinal pill to restore his Dou Qi, leaped into the cold pool to collect the corpse, and searched through the Frost Serpent's treasures, he sensed an energy fluctuation coming from the small valley.

That should have been the commotion of a breakthrough.

Lin Qing immediately shot into the sky, summoned his Golden Feather Wings, and flew rapidly toward the small valley.

When he returned to the small valley, Lin Qi and Little Lion had already flown into the air and were keeping watch over the surroundings.

The two immediately noticed Lin Qing as well. Lin Qing nodded to them before returning to the small valley.

The energy between heaven and earth seemed to form two funnel-like vortices as it poured toward the two thatched huts.

Then, two vast auras spread out from the huts, causing faint tremors in the surrounding space.

Immediately afterward, two graceful figures stepped out of the thatched huts into the air.

Dou Zong!

At the same time, at the Xiao Clan in Wutan City.

Within Xiao Xun'er's small courtyard, an aged figure emerged amid a ripple of spatial fluctuations.

"Miss!" The newcomer respectfully bowed to Xiao Xun'er.

"Elder Tongxuan, I didn't expect it to be you!"

Upon seeing who had come, Xiao Xun'er looked somewhat surprised.

Worried that the Ancient Clan might send someone else, she had contacted her father at the time. She was afraid that others would cause trouble for the Xiao Clan. After all, this was where Brother Lin Qing had lived for more than a decade, and his last blood relatives were here. She was even more afraid that others would cause trouble for Brother Lin Qing! That was why she had hoped her father would come personally.

But since Elder Tongxuan had come, there was no problem.

"Miss, shall we return directly, or...?" Tongxuan asked Xiao Xun'er.

"Let's return to the clan first," Xiao Xun'er replied calmly.

"Yes, Miss!"

With that, Tongxuan waved his sleeve and took Xiao Xun'er and Ling Ying away, vanishing from the spot.

Just as Xiao Xun'er left the Xiao Clan, Lin Qing and the others had also departed from the Magic Beast Mountains.

What she did not know was that her Brother Lin Qing had a good younger sister, Lin Qi, by his side. Otherwise, she certainly would not have returned so quickly.

Black Rock City was a large city located in the eastern province of the Jia Ma Empire. It was even grander in scale than Wutan City, and in terms of overall strength, Black Rock City ranked among the best of all the Jia Ma Empire's major cities.

It had many things Wutan City lacked. For example, it had an Alchemist Guild, while Wutan City did not. It also had flying transport teams, which Wutan City likewise lacked.

To avoid drawing attention and causing panic, Lin Qing and the Little Amethyst Winged Lion King had the Amethyst Winged Lion King stop not far outside the city. He had only two purposes for coming here. First, to obtain an Alchemist badge, which would make traveling through the Jia Ma Empire much more convenient. Second, to see whether he could trade for some medicinal herbs.