Qin Tiexin chose the due north direction and kept moving forward at a constant speed.
He didn't walk very fast, and every step landed on the ground. His steps were light, but his figure was very steady. With a height of more than nine feet, he walked through the ancient trees. Sometimes he had to turn sideways or lower his head to avoid overgrown branches, but his movements were not clumsy.
The Spiritual Qi in the forest is rich, and when you breathe it in, you feel a cool and refreshing feeling in your lungs. But the further you go, the properties of Spiritual Qi in the air begin to change slightly - from the initial mixture of multiple attributes, it gradually becomes more biased toward a specific attribute.
Qin Tiexin stopped and stretched out his hand to press the trunk of an ancient tree next to him.
The tentacles are slightly cool and the bark is rough, but you can vaguely feel the weak flow of Wood Element spiritual power inside. It's very light, like the pulse of a deep sleep.
He kept walking forward.
After walking for about half a mile, there was a "rustling" sound from the trees ahead, dense and fine.
Qin Tiexin stopped and put his hand on the handle of the knife.
The trees parted, and a group of dark golden beetles crawled out. Each one was about the size of a fist, with a shiny carapace and sharp edges like a blade. As they moved, their six legs moved, and the carapace made a "rustling" sound when it rubbed against the ground, like a small piece of flowing metal.
Golden beetle. Fifth level of Qi refining.
There are about twelve or thirteen animals, moving laterally along a beast trail, but it seems that Qin Tiexin has not been found.
Qin Tiexin did not move immediately. He was observing - these golden beetles were moving in an orderly manner, with almost equal distances from front to back, as if they had been trained. The carapace glowed with grayish white light and looked extremely hard.
Luo Ling's words flashed through his mind. "Don't fight when you encounter a herd of beasts. Find the leader, or go around."
Qin Tiexin scanned the insect swarm and found no obviously different individuals. Then avoid it.
He took two steps back, preparing to turn.
But at this moment, a golden beetle on the edge of the insect swarm suddenly turned around, the two slender tentacles on its head shook, and then pointed straight in the direction of Qin Tiexin.
was discovered.
The golden beetle let out a sharp "squeak", and the entire insect swarm immediately turned around. Their dark golden carapace was all aimed at Qin Tiexin, and the six legs were paddling, and they rushed towards it at a faster speed.
Qin Tiexin pulled out his dagger, but did not step forward. He stood there, waiting for the first golden beetle to rush three feet in front of him, then moved half a step sideways with his left foot and slashed diagonally with the dagger in his right hand.
"Clang!"
The blade struck the carapace, making a crisp sound of metal collision. The carapace cracked a small crack, but it was not broken. The golden beetle was knocked out, but it quickly turned over and charged again.
What a hard shell.
Qin Tiexin put away the short knife, reached behind his back with his right hand, and held the handle of Edgeless.
Pull out the heavy knife.
The weight of 6,300 kilograms brought a dull sound of breaking wind. Qin Tiexin held the knife with both hands, facing the charging swarm of golden beetles, and slashed horizontally.
There's nothing fancy about this knife, it's just pure weight and speed.
"Dang! Dang! Dang!"
There were three consecutive explosions. The three golden beetles at the front were struck by the blade. Their carapace shattered, dark golden body fluids splashed out, and the insect corpses flew out and hit the tree behind, making a dull crashing sound.
The insect swarm's offensive stalled.
But the remaining golden beetles did not retreat, but became even more manic, outflanking them from both sides.
Qin Tiexin didn't move, only turned his wrist, and Edgeless drew a semicircle around his body. As the blade passed by, there was a continuous sound of cracking carapace. Every "clang" sound was accompanied by a golden beetle's carapace cracking and bodily fluids splashing.
Twelve golden beetles were all destroyed in less than ten breaths.
Qin Tiexin Sheathed the knife and let the tip of the knife hang to the ground. The dark golden insect fluid slid down the dark blade and dripped into the soil, making a slight corrosive sound of "chichi".
He knelt down and inspected the insect corpses.
Although the carapace is broken, the fragments are large and can be collected. The carapace of the golden beetle is a good material for refining weapons. It is tough and lightweight and suitable for use as the lining of armor or small pieces of defense Law Artifact.
He took out a small cloth bag from Storage Bag and began to collect them. He used a short knife to pry open the broken carapace, took out the largest and most complete pieces, wiped off the insect fluid, and put them away.
After cleaning up, he stood up and looked around.
The appearance of the golden beetle is not accidental. The Spiritual Qi here has begun to favor the metal system-sharp, hard, with a faint metallic flavor.
He continued walking forward, this time paying more attention to the Spiritual Qi changes around him.
Sure enough, after walking for about another mile, the golden Spiritual Qi in the air gradually faded away and turned into Wood Element--mild, vibrant, with the fresh smell of vegetation.
A relatively open forest clearing appeared ahead. The ground was no longer pure soil, but was covered with a thick layer of semi-rotted fallen leaves. There were several short spiritual grasses in the center of the clearing. The leaves were light green and there were subtle spiritual fluctuations on the surface.
Qin Tiexin didn't pick it. He walked around the open space and continued moving forward.
After walking for half an hour, a ruin appeared in front of us.
They were several collapsed wooden houses. The roofs had long since rotted and collapsed, leaving only broken beams and broken tiles. The wood had rotted badly in the humid forest and shattered into sawdust at the slightest touch.
Qin Tiexin rummaged through the ruins.
There were some scattered objects buried under the rubble: rusty iron nails, broken clay pots, and a few rusty copper coins. They were all ordinary objects with little value.
But at the deepest point, under a collapsed beam, he found something different.
It's a broken sword.
Only one-third of the sword's body was left, broken in the middle, and the fractures were uneven. The sword's body was severely rusted and dark red, and its original color could hardly be seen. The rope on the hilt had long since rotted, leaving only a bare metal handle.
Qin Tiexin picked up the broken sword and it was heavy, much heavier than an ordinary iron sword.
He scraped the rust on the sword body with his nails. The rust layer was very thick, and there was still rust underneath the layer. But the material under the rust could vaguely see fine textures - this was not ordinary iron, but some kind of low-level spiritual material, but the spiritual power had been dissipated and turned into scrap iron.
But the material itself is not bad. Qin Tiexin weighed the broken sword and put it into Storage Bag. When it is smelted back, some useful metals should be extracted.
He stood up and prepared to leave the ruins.
At this moment, the sound of fighting was heard not far ahead.
There was the crisp sound of weapons colliding, the muffled sound of Law Technique bursting, and the roars and screams of people.
Qin Tiexin immediately lowered his body, hid behind an ancient tree, and poked his head out to take a look.
About thirty feet away, two Rogue Cultivator were fighting together.
One person wields a knife, and the other uses a sword. The person wielding the sword is a strong man, in his thirties, with a full face, and his sword skills are wide open, but a little rough. The person using the sword is a tall and thin man, about 27 or 28 years old, Swordsmanship is agile, and Movement Method is also fast.
On the ground between the two of them, there was a lavender spiritual grass growing, with long and narrow leaves, and a small flower blooming on the top, with a faint spiritual light on the petals.
"Purple heart grass." Qin Tiexin recognized it. It was a second-grade spirit medicine, which could be used to refine detoxifying pills or Ningxin pills. The market price was about five Spirit Stone per plant.
Obviously, the two of them were competing for this spiritual grass.
The battle was fierce. The strong man slashed the air with his sword and hit a nearby tree, causing the bark to burst. The tall and thin man took the opportunity to stab the strong man in the ribs, but the strong man blocked the attack with his sword. The swords collided and sparks flew everywhere.
"I saw this grass first!" the tall and thin man shouted angrily.
"Fart! I was obviously the one who got there first!" the strong man roared, and swung his sword across again.
The two men were both at around the seventh level of Qi refining, and were of equal strength. After fighting for more than ten rounds, they were both stained - the strong man was slashed with a sword on his left arm, and his sleeves were dyed red with blood; the tall and thin man was hit by the back of a knife on his chest, and his face turned pale.
But they didn't stop. Instead, they beat him harder and harder. In addition to anger, there was also greed in their eyes - life and death were necessary for a five-Spirit Stone spiritual grass.
Qin Tiexin watched quietly.
He remembered Chen Xi's advice. "In the ruins, the most dangerous thing is not necessarily Demon Beast, but the people. If you see others fighting, avoid it if you can. You never know if they are acting in front of you to seduce you, if they have any accomplices hiding nearby, or if they will suddenly join forces to deal with bystanders."
He also thought of Luo Ling's words, "The world of immortality is not about playing house. Don't be soft when you need to be cruel, but don't interfere with things you shouldn't."
That Purple Heart Grass is nothing to Qin Tiexin. He has seven bottles of top-quality Yuan-Building Pills given to him by Luo Ling, which are worth far more than this little spiritual grass.
No need to intervene.
He withdrew his gaze, turned around, bypassed the battlefield, and continued walking north.
The sounds of fighting and yelling gradually faded away behind them.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, a second stone monument appeared in front of us.
This stone tablet is more complete than the previous one, with almost no damage. The body of the tablet is about a person tall, and its entire body is blue-grey, with dense ancient Chinese characters carved on its surface.
Qin Tiexin walked to the monument and read it carefully.
The inscription begins with. "Regulations of the Trial Hall for Core Disciples of the Hunyuan Sect".
The rules of the trial are detailed below:
1. The trial hall is divided into three floors: peripheral forest, five domain square, and core hall.
2. The outer forest is the first choice, and you need to cross it according to your strength to reach the Five Domains Square.
3. Five portals are set up in the Five Domains Square: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. One domain is opened every day for five days.
Four and five domain assessments correspond to the five elements Spirit Root. Those who do not correspond to Spirit Root will be excluded by attributes.
5. Those who pass the assessment in all five domains can enter the core hall and receive the final inheritance.
6. Private fights among disciples are strictly prohibited during the trial period, and those who violate the rules will be disqualified.
Qin Tiexin After reading it, he was silent for a moment. Thinking of the two people just now, the last one is probably useless.
He raised his head and looked ahead - the forest was still deep, with towering ancient trees, and gray skylight leaked from the branches and leaves, casting mottled light and shadow on the ground.
He gripped the hilt of the knife and continued to move forward.
The direction does not change, it is still true north.
The goal remains unchanged, it is still the central square.
It's just that his steps are steadier and his eyes are calmer.