The elder emerged from seclusion: the Spirit Seizing Realm!

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Dried snakeskin scattered across the ground, while he swallowed every last bit of the pure Blood Qi. Over three months, he had absorbed a great deal of Blood Qi, but he had not opened his blood vessels.

Qingyang Huan was in no hurry. When he first began Foundation Establishment, it had taken him two or three years to reach Blood Refining. Now, after only a few months of cultivating anew, he had recovered that cultivation, far exceeding his expectations. Afraid his foundation might be unstable, he had spent these days tempering himself.

After three months of accumulation, every piece of flesh in his body brimmed with rich vitality. This had already exceeded his original expectations.

Originally, with his talent, he naturally could have surpassed ten thousand jin of strength at the Peak of Body Forging. Even the elders of the Qingyang Tribe had all thought so. Yet now, he had already achieved it upon merely entering Blood Refining.

"When I reach the Peak of Body Forging, I wonder whether I'll be able to fight a warrior in the Divine Treasure Realm. When my elder brother first entered the Divine Repository, his strength suddenly soared to nearly sixty thousand jin, yet he had only opened a single repository. Are the body's great repositories truly that mysterious?"

Thought flickered in Qingyang Huan's eyes. His eldest brother's surge to nearly sixty thousand jin of strength was also due to the tribe's support. For an ordinary warrior advancing to the Divine Repository, thirty or forty thousand jin of strength was already quite good. Thus, once he reached the Peak of Body Forging, perhaps he would still have a chance.

However, the Divine Treasure Realm was no longer merely a contest of strength, but also a contest between the body's great repositories. More than that, it was an evolution in the level of life itself. Upon entering the Divine Repository, one's lifespan exceeded a hundred and fifty years.

Over three months, he had supplied the tribe with several hundred fierce beasts at the Peak of Body Forging, leaving no such beasts within a hundred li beyond the Qingyang Mountain Range. He had no choice but to travel farther.

Of course, he was not the only one hunting for flesh and blood. The tribe's hunting parties also took turns setting out. Once the men learned that this was to give their children a martial baptism, their enthusiasm soared even higher, and they brought back enormous numbers of fierce beasts every day.

Now, not only had the little children received their baptism and begun cultivating the Body Casting formula Qingyang Huan had passed down under the elders' care, but the youths who had previously reached only the first or second step of Body Casting were also cultivating anew. This was a decision his father, the grand elder, and the other elders had reached together.

For the Qingyang Clan's future, even if these youths lost a year or two, they still had to fight for a chance to advance to the Divine Repository.

The only thing that left Qingyang Huan somewhat discouraged was that, despite roaming the surrounding area for three months, he had not encountered a single variant beast bearing the bloodline of a mighty fiend.

Two hundred li away, a great river surged along.

Qingyang Huan had been lying in wait here for five days. Throughout those five days, he had never strayed far from this stretch of river, because he had finally discovered traces of a fierce beast with a variant bloodline. Its Blood Qi surged like a tide, seething fiercely, clearly exceedingly powerful.

Unfortunately, the beast was far too cunning. It hid in the water and barely showed itself. Qingyang Huan kept prowling around the river like this, but even on the tenth day, all he could see were golden scales gleaming with a pale golden light in the middle of the river, which was several zhang wide.

After these days of cultivation, he could feel the Blood Qi surging within his body, and even a stirring in his blood vessels. But he suppressed it, wanting to catch this variant beast and absorb its Blood Qi to open his blood vessels.

Yet he did not dare enter the water. Countless varieties of fierce beasts lurked there, along with whirlpools and tough aquatic plants. Once entangled, he would struggle to get out.

Huff!

Sitting cross-legged behind a huge rock, Qingyang Huan gazed at the water and could not help sighing. He was still too weak. If he were in the Divine Treasure Realm, he would be strong enough to enter the water and search.

Just then, his nose suddenly twitched, and his eyes lit up. The next instant, he rose and charged toward the river.

"If I don't catch you today, I'm not coming out of the river!" Qingyang Huan shouted as he ran.

Yet just as he reached the bank and was about to leap into the river, his airborne body was hauled back as though someone were tugging him from behind.

"You little brat, playing tricks again. If you wanted to jump in, why shout about it?" A laughing rebuke rang out from the wilderness, followed by a black-robed figure.

"Hehe, Grand Elder, if I didn't shout, how would you come out? Seeing how you've been protecting me for days, I was going to catch a Dragon Whisker Fish to show my respect to you."

Qingyang Huan grinned at the old man. It was none other than Qingyang Rong, the Qingyang Clan's grand elder.

The silvery hair at the grand elder's temples had turned black. The slight stoop he had once had was entirely gone, and he even looked considerably younger.

"You little brat, how did you discover me?"

"In all of Qingyang, only you like drinking blood wine brewed with bitter spring water, Grand Elder. Once might have been a coincidence, but I've smelled it every day for the past few days."

"Hahaha! I'll never need to drink wine brewed with bitter spring water again. My injuries of many years have been swept away. I no longer need bitter spring water to wear down the pain."

At this, the grand elder burst into laughter.

Hum.

Then the grand elder's expression grew intent as he looked toward the center of the river. The next instant, he reached his large hand toward the middle of the water.

Boom!

Waves rolled up, golden scales flashed, and a golden fish a full three feet long was swept into the air.

"A Dragon Whisker Goldfish!"

Qingyang Huan immediately cried out. He had waited for more than ten days precisely for this Dragon Whisker Fish. Fine, close-set scales covered its body, flashing gold. Strangest of all were the two whiskers at the corners of its mouth, each a full zhang long. Like golden whips, they cracked through the air as they lashed about.

"To think this river held such a treasure. It seems it came down from upstream."

Across more than twenty zhang of empty air, the grand elder pulled the Dragon Whisker Fish straight over, amusement in his eyes. This fish qualified as a variant fierce beast. Though he could not determine whether it had Bone Runes, its Blood Qi surged powerfully.

"Oh, there's another!" Just then, the grand elder reached through the air again. This Dragon Whisker Fish was half a zhang long, and its whiskers were as thick as an infant's arm.

At the sight of this Dragon Whisker Fish, Qingyang Huan could not help feeling fortunate that he had not entered the water.

"What cunning beasts."

He had only seen the smaller Dragon Whisker Fish in front, constantly swimming about in the water to lure him. Had he truly entered the water, facing two beasts along with the swift current, he might really have never made it out!

"Little fellow, a few days ago, I noticed the blood radiance clustered all over your body, with your blood vessels faintly showing through. You were waiting for this Dragon Whisker Fish because you wanted to absorb its Blood Qi for a breakthrough, weren't you?"

Qingyang Huan nodded noncommittally.

"I'll stand guard for you. Go cultivate. Once you're finished, head north with me to take back our Qingyang Clan's red copper mine. Counting the days, the Inkstone Mountain Tribe should have just about finished mining it for us!"

"Such good people."

Then the grand elder brought his large hand down, stunning the two Dragon Whisker Fish as they thrashed about, and handed them to Qingyang Huan.

At this, the corner of Qingyang Huan's mouth twitched. Were there any good people in this Great Wilderness?

He immediately grabbed the two Dragon Whisker Fish and walked toward the base of the huge rock from before. Originally, there had been one Dragon Whisker Fish, but now he had two. Perhaps he could open a few more blood vessels today.

With a Spirit Seizing Realm expert like the grand elder standing guard, someone who at least within Qingyang territory could hardly find an opponent, he had no need to worry about his safety!