Facing northwest, Liu Xi followed the faint guidance of the Bodhisattva Seed. From that direction came a familiar resonance — the same sacred aura as the seed, yet purer, calmer, and far more tranquil.
"Qing Lin, let's move."
Liu Xi's body blurred into motion, his figure leaping across the colossal chasm ahead as if it were a mere step.
"Yes, Young Master!" Qing Lin responded softly. Though a hint of reluctance flickered across her face as she left Liu Xi's embrace, she had never once allowed her own feelings to hinder his path.
Just as they crossed the gorge, several ear-piercing beastly roars shook the air. Violent auras surged skyward, and four streaks of shadow tore through the wilderness, lunging straight toward them.
"Brain-dead beasts… courting death."
With an indifferent glance, Liu Xi lifted his hand lazily. Four streaks of azure Dou Qi surged forward like coiled dragons, cutting through the air with terrifying precision.
"Wuuuu!"
Four shrill howls followed one after another as the Dou Qi strikes smashed into the beasts midair. Blood exploded in a rain of crimson, and mangled limbs scattered across the rocks.
This was indeed a land for beasts — and a forbidden domain for humankind. Even here at the fringes, random creatures were already at the 8th Rank, equivalent to human Dou Zuns.
With a casual wave of his hand, Liu Xi summoned four head-sized Monster Cores from the drifting blood mist and stored them away.
They might be worthless to him, but wasting 8th Rank Cores would still be unbecoming.
Pocketing the spoils, Liu Xi and Qing Lin continued deeper northwest. To avoid endless skirmishes, they lowered their altitude and concealed their auras. After all, he hadn't come here to hunt — the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree was his true goal. Slaughtering lesser beasts, even in hordes, would yield no benefit.
For an Alchemist of his level, Monster Cores were hardly a source of wealth.
Still, even as they wove through endless towering ridges, trouble refused to stay away. From time to time, scarlet eyes would glint in the shadows, and hulking shapes would charge straight toward them.
At first, Liu Xi even made a game of it with Qing Lin — before each ambush, they'd play a quick round of rock-paper-scissors; the loser had to handle the beast.
He never used his Spiritual Perception to cheat, letting fate and luck decide. Naturally, his luck was far better, leaving poor Qing Lin to do most of the work.
But Qing Lin was no fragile flower. Now a 9-Star Dou Zun — just one step from a 1-Turn Dou Zun — even in her normal form, her strength was astonishing. And once she awakened her Jade Snake Three-Flower Pupils and entered her ancient Heavenly Serpent form, her power surged to Half Saint level. Against even Xuan Kongzi himself, she could stand on equal ground.
Soon, she would return with another Monster Core in hand, leaving behind only mangled carcasses and scorched earth.
Two days passed, and Liu Xi's collection of 8th Rank Cores grew into the dozens — a testament to how overrun this Ancient Wasteland Region truly was with ancient, savage beasts.
Eventually, a colossal mountain came into view, coiling like a heavenly serpent across their path — the only route toward the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree.
But a dense black miasma gushed from its base, spreading like a plague through the air, darkening the skies for hundreds of meters. Within that radius, no beast dared to approach.
Just as Liu Xi and Qing Lin landed near the mist, a piercing serpent's cry ripped through the air, echoing across the mountains.
The entire peak trembled violently as a massive gust split the air. From within the darkness, a colossal black serpent tail — hundreds of meters long — lashed out like a whip of destruction, striking toward the two of them.
The moment the tail appeared, Qing Lin stepped aside with a gleam of excitement in her eyes and raised a hand behind her back. "Young Master, rock-paper-scissors!"
But Liu Xi didn't indulge her this time. Instead, a flicker of interest lit his gaze.
That aura — ferocious, ancient, overwhelming. Its strength was easily that of a 5-Turn Dou Zun. More importantly, this was a Ancient Heaven Demon Python.
A rare variant among ancient beasts, the Heaven Demon Python's bloodline stood frighteningly close to the serpentine progenitors of old. Its violent nature, however, had long stunted its intelligence — a flaw that made clans like the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python look down upon it.
Even so, its blood held powerful purifying and body-refining properties. Though useless to Liu Xi now, it was a treasure for Qing Lin.
And more than that — a creature like this must have nurtured a Heaven Demon Blood Pool, a basin of refined energy forged from centuries of absorbing the essence of countless heavenly treasures. To Qing Lin, that would be a feast.
"No need for games this time. I'll end this quickly — Qing Lin, prepare your Jade Snake Three-Flower Pupils. I'll subdue it for you to control."
The instant he spoke, Liu Xi stepped forward, his robe billowing as boundless Dou Qi erupted like a tidal storm.
His hand swept downward.
Heaven and earth shuddered.
A colossal azure palm, hundreds of meters wide, materialized in the air and came crashing down.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The mountain tilted, trees splintered, and boulders shattered. The once-dominant Ancient Heaven Demon Python — a terror strong enough to match a 5-Turn Dou Zun — now lay crushed beneath his hand like a worm.
Its scales cracked, its body oozed blood, and its enormous scarlet eyes glared up in helpless rage.
"Qing Lin," Liu Xi said calmly, smiling faintly.
"Understood!"
Qing Lin's hands weaved intricate seals, and her jade-green eyes blossomed with three mysterious flowers.
From within the python's massive pupils, three identical green blossoms appeared, spinning slowly.
A wave of spiritual numbness seeped into the creature's soul. Its killing intent flickered, then weakened, then melted away entirely.
A beam of green light shot forth from Qing Lin's gaze, imprinting a glowing flower sigil onto the python's head.
As the mark sank in, the beast's crimson pupils dulled — its savagery fading into silence.
Obedience replaced wrath.
Another mighty ancient beast had fallen under Liu Xi's command.
(End of Chapter)
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