Absolute Destiny Game
Chapter 320 - 110: Qi Refinement Stage 1_2

Chapter 320: Chapter 110: Qi Refinement Stage 1_2

Although Qi Refiners can dine on the wind and drink dew, who knows, maybe they use it as snacks.

Then, Xiao Jie discovered another pond, right under a waterfall, with some silver-white fish swimming in it.

Too bad I don’t have a Fishing Skill, otherwise, I could have fished some to take with me.

Hey, these few vines look pretty good.

Xiao Jie used the Chopping Skill.

System prompt: Chopping successful, obtained [Thousand-year-old Qingfeng Vine].

A thousand years, just by hearing it, you know it’s good stuff. Immediately, with the flick of the knife, another dozen or so Thousand-year-old Qingfeng Vines fell into the bag.

In this valley, Xiao Jie found everything rare and couldn’t help but say it was indeed worthy of being an Ancient Qi Refiner’s land of cultivation; everything grew so peculiar and wonderful here.

The more Xiao Jie harvested, the more excited he became, gradually moving deeper into the valley. The surrounding vegetation became lusher, and after traversing through a patch of weeds, suddenly, a mound appeared in front of him with a stone tablet standing before it.

The stone tablet bore eight large characters—Tomb of the Qi Refiner Linglongzi.

Huh?

Qi Refiners can die too?

That’s right, if a Qi Refiner cannot achieve Ascension to Immortality, their lifespan should be limited as well...

Thinking this, Xiao Jie felt something wasn’t right.

That’s not right; as long as there is abundant Spiritual Energy, cultivation should be quite easy. Even a newbie like me could reach the First Realm in half an hour.

If the Qi Refiners in this valley studied cultivation methods with each other, there is no reason why others would cultivate well for hundreds or thousands of years, and this one just mysteriously dies?

No, this is absolutely not right!

According to the Red Dust Taoist, before this, the Spiritual Energy was very abundant until the other Qi Refiners gradually achieved Ascension to Immortality and left one by one. It was then that he realized something was wrong, and the Spiritual Energy became sparse.

That means, logically, no one should have died before this, right?

A bold idea suddenly sprung up in Xiao Jie’s mind. He had a hunch that Linglongzi might know something. Should he just dig him up and ask?

He glanced far toward the entrance of the valley, but because it was too far away, he couldn’t see the specifics of the old man.

If he got caught in the act, that would be problematic. This wasn’t the same as casually picking some fruit, after all, this was someone’s Daoist brother...

And what if Linglongzi truly knew some secrets? Wouldn’t that mean—

No, I must find out. Otherwise, this will always be a hidden concern. Let’s take a risk!

Xiao Jie summoned Xiong Da.

"Xiong Da, go on lookout for me. If you see anyone coming, give me a roar, then immediately pounce on them, and hold them down by any means necessary!"

Xiong Da growled in acknowledgment, then ran off to keep watch.

Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Jie quickly equipped his iron shovel and used his digging skill.

In just a few moments, he dug out a corpse from the mound.

To his surprise, the corpse was not decomposed, looking lifelike as if asleep, if not for the status bar showing zero when the mouse hovered over it.

Linglongzi was a rather handsome young man, only his hair woven with many white strands, adding a sense of age.

Xiao Jie directly used the Corpse Language Skill.

The screen in front of him suddenly darkened, and the surrounding scenery seemed enveloped in a layer of gray fog, and even nearby sounds grew muffled.

Only the corpse in front of him became incomparably clear, and it slowly lifted its head and opened its eyes.

Those dim, spiritless, empty eyes looked at Xiao Jie, and because the corpse’s preservation was too perfect, it almost seemed alive.

The first question—"How did you die?"

"I was killed by... Red Dust..."

Xiao Jie suddenly thought, there’s something fishy! Red Dust actually killed a fellow Qi Refiner, he’s indeed no good person!

The second question—"Why does Master Hongchen want to kill you?"

"For... immortality... to take my... cultivation..."

Damn! This old man really is problematic!

The third question—"How did Master Hongchen take your cultivation away?"

"Took my... Golden Core... refined... gourd..."

Golden Core! Golden Core!

Xiao Jie instantly remembered some of the lines related to the Golden Core from the Ancient Qi Refining Skill.

It seemed that the Golden Core Realm was a middle to late stage, and once achieved, the spiritual energy would form a Golden Core within the cultivator’s body. At this stage, the cultivator’s life span would greatly increase, truly embodying the principle "Once the Golden Core is swallowed, one realizes that fate is not bound by heaven."

The Golden Core is a special product formed by the convergence of spiritual energy, somewhat similar to the inner core of the Demon Race.

Could it be that the Red Dust Taoist took the man’s Golden Core, directly refined it, and then absorbed it himself? He made the Demon Refining Gourd, probably with the intention of targeting his fellow Daoists!

Xiao Jie could almost picture what had happened. As the immortals ascended, those left in the valley who had not ascended would be extremely anxious. With not enough spiritual energy, internal strife broke out for the sake of Ascension to Immortality.

The Red Dust Taoist, willing to kill fellow cultivators for the sake of becoming an immortal, would hardly place his hopes on himself, right?

There’s definitely something wrong with this situation.

By now, he had roughly understood the Red Dust Taoist’s plan.

Master Hongchen was now just one step away from Ascension, which is why he had given Xiao Jie this Demon Refining Gourd, ordering him to collect inner cores and refine spiritual energy.

There might be a problem with this Demon Refining Gourd, and it’s also possible that the Qi Refining Skills on the wall had been tampered with. In any case, once he reached the Golden Core Realm, but before Ascension, he would definitely hit a bottleneck and couldn’t ascend. Then, naturally, he would have to seek Master Hongchen’s help.

At that time, that would be his moment to strike, killing Xiao Jie to acquire his cultivation, and he could finally ascend to immortality!

The more Xiao Jie thought about it, the more he felt that this must be the case.

His mind was racing with thoughts. So, what should he do?

Reject the proposal? But by doing so, he would be unable to cultivate. Although the Red Dust Taoist had some secrets, some of his words must certainly be true, like his statements about spiritual energy.

Moreover, if he refused and the other party got desperate, what if he got rid of Xiao Jie as well?

The Taoist had already killed his Daoist brother; killing an ordinary person would mean nothing to him.

No, he would have to accept the offer, even if it was to feign compliance. He had to stabilize the situation. The Red Dust Taoist was acting somewhat normal for now, but as soon as Xiao Jie lost his value, it’s very likely he would be disposed of immediately.

Xiao Jie hurriedly reburied the corpse.

Then he hastily left the valley, sent Xiong Da away, and returned to the stone platform where he had been meditating, sat cross-legged, and continued with Qi Refinement.

Of course, he isn’t really able to make any progress with Qi Refinement, but he doesn’t need to show any actual results. He just needs the other party to believe he’s diligently working on Qi Refinement.

He didn’t know how long it had been when a yawn echoed through the cave.

"Ah, what a good sleep, what a good sleep!" Red Dust Taoist leaped down from the stone wall and in two or three jumps, landed in front of Xiao Jie.

"Little brother, how’s your Qi Refinement going? Have you made any progress?" The tone of the Red Dust Taoist had become friendly.

But Xiao Jie didn’t dare hold any illusions and immediately gave the premeditated excuse, "Ah, I have already reached the First Realm, but for some reason, no matter how much I practice, the spiritual energy won’t increase."

"Hehehe, of course, it won’t increase. The density of spiritual energy in this valley isn’t enough anymore. The spiritual energy in the Heavenly Waterfall Cave is only enough for you to reach the First Realm. If you want to advance further, you would need a place with far stronger spiritual energy, which is rare in this world. Where can you find such a place?

"Besides, even if you find one and are lucky enough to advance one or two realms, then what? It’s still a dead end in the end.

"You should heed my advice and cooperate with me. There’s no second person in this world who can help you achieve immortality.

"I’ll help you, you help me, we help each other and ascend together. Wouldn’t that be nice?

"I don’t want to waste words with you anymore. Just give me a straight answer. Are you going to accept this task or not?"

The Red Dust Taoist spoke, and his tone gradually turned stern.