Qin Lu Shows His Might, Crushing the Nobodies!
"Counting back and forth, I have cultivated for a good twenty years..."
"Ten years of poverty and destitution, ten years of a healer's life, ten years of enduring humiliation and keeping a low profile, ten years of high-spirited vigor-forty years of time..."
"Splendid! Truly splendid!"
"Hahahahaha~"
Qin Lu let out a long-overdue, hearty laugh as he stepped among the sea of clouds, threaded through the bustling city markets, and paced across the summits of the mystic peaks...
Gazing out at the magnificent landscapes of mountains and rivers, stepping upon the common mortals below!
His heart and mind were lucid, all thoughts had their origin, Qi circulated his entire body, and the sea of Qi was boundless...
Waiting for his mind, spirit, and body to return to oneness, majestic spiritual rhyme severed his surroundings, a bold and unrestrained breath reversed three lives, condensing clouds and gathering rain to look up at the immortals!
Qi formed within the Dantian, the spiritual sea expanded once more, and spiritual power surged dramatically...
When he opened his eyes, he had broken through to the Qi Condensation Second Layer!
The scenery all around him was vivid before his eyes, as though countless memories surged to the top of his heart...
"Hoo~"
Turbid Qi gushed from his heart and lungs, transforming into mist and clouds, ultimately turning to nothingness...
Qin Lu's heart was clear; although he felt exulted, he also felt sorrowful.
For no other reason-
Nearing forty years of age, he was merely at the Qi Condensation Second Layer. The further one went in cultivation, the more fraught with difficulty it became, and ultimately his innate talent was too poor. He did not even know if he could reach Qi Condensation completion before turning one hundred...
After all, that Dao Foundation realm.
It seemed like the moon reflected in water; one could see it, yet it could not be touched...
Without reserving more time, let alone seeking the method of the Dao Foundation, even with self-comprehension, a hundred years of time might not be enough to penetrate the mysteries of the Dao Foundation!
"So be it, so be it!"
"With a great battle on the verge of erupting right now, I shall just go with the flow..."
Thinking of this-
Qin Lu drank alone at the mountain peak, the wind blowing his black robe and making it snap loudly...
The children had all grown up, and the pressure on his shoulders had finally dissipated quite a bit. Every day he refined pills, practiced seated meditation, and relished tea and wine...
Like an idle cloud and wild crane, wasting these passing days.
Yet the more solitary he was, the more tenacious and translucent that heart aspiring toward the Dao became!
"Hm?"
"Brat!"
Qin Lu raised an eyebrow, and his figure vanished from the mountain peak...
Reappearing-he was already at Wenge Peak!
The Qing Centipede crawled out from goodness knows where, smoothly making its way up to flatten itself upon Qin Lu's shoulder, its aura having already reached the First-Tier Superior-Grade.
"What is going on?"
"You are saying someone was spying just now, and the aura was similar to that person from before?"
Hearing this-
The Qing Centipede arched its body, shaking up and down as though nodding in confirmation...
"People have been spying on Wenge Peak one after another, and it is none other than for the sake of inherited secret methods. Since the auras are similar, then they are from the same path..."
"Who could it be?"
"Could it be the remnants of the Qi Clan...? But that is hardly likely. Before rising to prominence, they surely would not stick their heads out and reveal flaws..."
"Daliang?"
"Or... other pursuers tracking the Qi Clan who have tracked me down here?"
Qin Lu pondered, then suddenly grinned broadly!
No matter who it was, as long as they were weaker than him, they were mere ants, and he would simply crush them all to death!
A thought stirring-
Qin Lu followed the information provided by the Qing Centipede, pursuing all the way further north, tracking continuously along the Ba River and heading ever northward...
Until reaching its end, a large lake encircled by numerous great mountains.
This lake was named: Ba Lake!
It was the very location where the Ba River originated, only that the aura extended up to here and dissipated near the lake's shores...
"Interesting~"
"There is actually a formation concealing it!"
Qin Lu sneered, lightly raising a finger and pointing slightly toward that hidden spot...
With a "swish!", the Jinyuan Needle pierced through the void in an instant. In merely the span of a single breath, that spell formation shattered instantly!
"Damn it, was it you who lured the enemy over?!"
In a flash-
Dozen-odd figures abruptly scattered like birds and beasts, all of them being a group of middle- and high-realm warriors whose cultivations were underpinned by none other than the True Martial Four Realms...
As for those above the True Martial Seventh Realm, there were actually a full six of them!
"Yo-ho~"
"There are quite a few rats!"
Qin Lu pointed his fingertips in succession, as though conducting a concerto, his fingertips continuously rotating and leaping!
Following that-
The Jinyuan Needle continuously shuttled through the empty air, and its law technique, the Spirit-Breaking Needle, was launched accordingly, continuously empowering and refining at the needle's tip!
It transformed into golden light, its sharpness fully displayed!
"Puff! Puff! Puff!"
The sound of golden needles piercing flesh, and the sound of blood continuously splashing, echoed endlessly in the distance. Although it was so faint...
Yet it was as chilling and terrifying as a demon!
"Run!"
"Run!!"
"It is a Qi Condensation Realm mighty figure!!!"
Someone fled and cried out in panic, and the next second, their head was instantly pierced through!
Seeing that there were still seven or eight people fleeing in all directions, Qin Lu frowned slightly and sped away. He summoned the Tai'e Sword, and in merely the blink of an eye...
First he cut one person in half at the waist, and then nailed another to a rock face!
The Qing Centipede surged forth, looking like a cyan streak of light!
In the span of morning and evening, one person was eroded by the Yi Wood Toxic Miasma, lying on the ground and turning into a skeleton of flesh and blood, their skin and flesh melting into pus...
Following that-
It coiled around another person, burrowed into their throat, and devoured their viscera...
Ultimately bursting out from their abdomen!
On Qin Lu's side, four people were still fleeing. Just as they were about to escape beyond his line of sight...
Two of them suddenly collapsed to the ground, unable to get back up!
The viscera within their bodies had rotted away at some unknown point, and they fell down dead in an instant...
They had clearly been struck by the: Viscera-Decay Poison!
The other two naturally fared no better...
Before running a few steps, the two successively collapsed to the ground convulsing, foaming at the mouth, their true essence entirely dispersed...
They had obviously been struck by the: Bone-Numbing Poison!
"They can still put up a fight, quite good poison resistance!"
Qin Lu stepped through the air, grabbed the two of them, and headed toward Ba City...
"Qing Centipede, eat your fill..."
Hearing this-
Watching his master depart into the distance, the Qing Centipede shook its body in response...
Next up was its time to feast heartily. This was all flesh and blood imbued with spirituality, which was far more gratifying than eating grass...
Flesh and blood had always been the best insect nest!
Muxuan Mountain-
Ever since the Twenty-Four Peaks appeared, Muxuan Mountain had grown much emptier. The medicine fields and tea gardens had been completely moved away, and all sorts of pavilions and towers barely remained...
The entire mountain peak appeared lush and verdant, perpetually enshrouded by clouds and mist, truly possessing a bit of the flavor of an immortal mountain!
Later on-
As the Qin Clan expanded its influence year by year, it naturally offended quite a few minor factions...
Openly, no one dared to say anything.
Yet secretly, several instances of banditry and murder occurred every year, or local rebellions were incited, or else-
Some bandit cultivators caught wind of the Qin Clan's great name and came to pillage out of admiration...
As this went on for a long time-
With too many people being locked up, a dungeon was built on Muxuan Mountain.
The people imprisoned here.
The Qin Clan was in no rush to execute them; instead, after extracting news and intelligence, they raised them at this place to serve as living blood bags...
Drawing blood regularly every month to cultivate the tea trees with it.
And today-
Two more lucky individuals joined this warm family together. Their remaining lives would be spent right here...
Until the very last shred of value was squeezed out of them!
Look, how wonderful!
There was someone providing you with food and lodging, plus a luxury small single room!
Having received such welfare-
How could one not pour out their heart and lungs to show boundless gratitude?!
"Let this seat think..."
"Are you going to confess yourselves? Or shall this seat help the two of you reminisce?"
"Choose for yourselves..."
"This seat has always been benevolent and generous, and dislikes forcing others. If you perform well, this seat might not fail to spare your lives a path out!"
"Come, choose..."