117: Chapter 117: Straight Up the Ice

Li Qing leaned against the rock wall of the ice cave, and when he suddenly heard shouting from outside, his brows instantly furrowed.

"Senior Brother Shi has ordered: whoever kills the Loose Cultivator Li Qing will be rewarded with one foundation establishment pill!"

These words exploded outside the ice cave like a thunderclap, every single word piercing into Li Qing's ears.

He was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but sneer, though the coldness in his eyes grew increasingly intense.

A foundation establishment pill?

The Houtu Sect is really going all out.

He knew the weight of this foundation establishment pill all too well; for all Cultivators at Qi Refining Perfection, this was something they dreamed of—the foundation establishment pill could cleanse the marrow and cut the meridians, helping people achieve a Breakthrough from the shackles of Qi Refining and formally step into the Foundation Establishment Realm. Once successful, one's lifespan and strength would be vastly different.

For such a foundation establishment pill, let alone the Disciples of the Houtu Sect, even Loose Cultivators from other Sects would go red-eyed and charge forward.

Li Qing slowly stood up and tightened his grip on the flowing cloud sword in his hand.

The sword body gleamed with a cold light under the ice, and the tassels on the sword hilt swayed gently, carrying an unquestionable Killing Intent.

"Since you want to deliver yourselves to my doorstep, then I will fulfill your wish."

Li Qing muttered to himself, his footsteps without a hint of hesitation as he walked directly out of the ice cave.

Since the Houtu Sect wanted to hunt him down throughout the entire Secret Realm, he would no longer hide. He would take the initiative to attack, teach these troublemakers a good lesson, and let all the Cultivators in the Xuanbing Secret Realm know that he, Li Qing, was not someone to be trifled with.

Just after stepping out of the ice cave, he saw three Houtu Sect Disciples holding Magical Artifacts, cautiously feeling their way toward the ice cave.

The leading Cultivator had a smug smile on his face, clearly thinking that Li Qing must be hiding inside, afraid to come out, while he kept muttering:

"That brat Li Qing must be scared witless, hiding inside and afraid to come out. Once we catch him, the foundation establishment pill will be mine!"

The other two Disciples chimed in, their eyes filled with greed.

They didn't notice at all that Li Qing was already standing silently on the ice field not far behind them, his aura completely concealed, blending in with the surrounding ice and snow.

It wasn't until Li Qing gave a light cough that the three Houtu Sect Disciples turned around abruptly. When they saw Li Qing standing there, all three instantly froze, the smug smiles on their faces vanishing instantly, replaced by terror.

"Li, Li Qing?!"

The leading Cultivator reacted, immediately raising the earth-yellow shield in his hand and shouting sternly:

"Quick! He's right here, everyone attack and kill him!"

The other two Disciples also reacted, immediately pulling out their respective Magical Artifacts, their eyes filled with madness as they pounced toward Li Qing.

They thought that with the three of them joining forces, even if Li Qing could kill seven Cultivators at Qi Refining Perfection, he might not be able to defeat the three of them together.

But they forgot that Li Qing's ability to kill seven Houtu Sect Disciples at Qi Refining Perfection did not rely on luck, but on solid, hard strength!

Li Qing's eyes turned cold, his wrist holding the flowing cloud sword exerted sudden force, the ice surface beneath his feet trembled slightly, and his entire body rushed out like an arrow released from a bowstring.

"Seeking death."

As these two simple words fell, the flowing cloud sword, carrying sharp Sword Qi, thrust toward the leading Cultivator.

The Cultivator raised his shield to block, but Li Qing's sword speed was too fast, so fast that he couldn't even react in time.

"Clang!"

With a crisp sound, the shield was split directly by the Flying Sword, and the flowing cloud sword took the momentum to pierce through his shoulder.

The Cultivator let out a miserable scream, his entire body forced back several steps, and blood instantly stained his earth-yellow Magical Artifact robe red.

Seeing this, the other two Disciples' hearts skipped a beat, and they instantly panicked.

They hadn't expected Li Qing to be this strong, heavily injuring their Senior Brother in a single move.

But now that they were riding a tiger, it was hard to get off, so they could only bite the bullet and continue to attack.

One Cultivator brandished a long spear, thrusting it toward Li Qing's waist, the tip of the spear carrying Earth-elemental spiritual energy, glowing with a heavy yellow light.

Another Cultivator crushed a Talisman, and an Earth Spike Technique drilled out from the ground, shooting toward Li Qing's ankle.

Li Qing sidestepped to dodge the earth spike, the flowing cloud sword sweeping horizontally to directly parry the long spear, while his left hand quickly formed a seal, and an Earth Spirit Shield instantly appeared in front of him, blocking the attack from the earth spike.

Immediately after, he moved his feet, his figure ghost-like as he circled behind the two Cultivators, the flowing cloud sword swinging backhanded, sending two streaks of Sword Qi slashing toward their backs.

"Puff!"

With two soft sounds, the two Cultivators didn't even have time to scream before they were struck in the back by the Sword Qi, falling to the ground on the spot, their breaths completely dissipating.

The leading Cultivator watched this scene, his legs turning to jelly from fear, and he turned to run.

"You want to run?"

Li Qing's eyes turned cold, he flicked his finger, and an Earth Spike Technique shot out, accurately pinning him through the back.

The Cultivator let out a muffled grunt and fell heavily onto the ice surface, his eyes wide open before he died, full of disbelief.

Having dealt with these three Houtu Sect Disciples and collected their Storage Pouches, Li Qing didn't linger at all and continued walking toward the direction of the Ice Peak deep within the ice mountain.

He knew this was just the beginning.

The Houtu Sect would definitely send more people to surround and kill him, and Disciples from other Sects, seeing that the Houtu Sect Disciples were all looking for him, would certainly fish in troubled waters, thinking of taking advantage of the opportunity to pick up scraps.

Sure enough, not long after walking, Li Qing encountered the second batch of people.

This time, there were five Loose Cultivators, each with a vigilant look in their eyes, holding Magical Artifacts, clearly having heard the news and come specifically to find him.

"Li Qing, hand over the corpse of the Ice Armor Beast and surrender!"

The leading Loose Cultivator shouted loudly, his tone carrying a threat.

They knew Li Qing had killed seven Houtu Sect Disciples, and they also knew he had killed the Tier 2 Early Stage Ice Armor Beast.

But facing the temptation of the foundation establishment pill, they couldn't care about any danger.

Li Qing glanced at them and said indifferently:

"You want it? Come and take it yourselves."

As soon as he finished speaking, the five Loose Cultivators rushed up simultaneously, various Magical Artifacts and Talismans greeting Li Qing, and for a moment, the three types of spiritual energy—Earth, Fire, and Wind—intertwined together, enveloping Li Qing.

Li Qing's eyes narrowed, without the slightest fear, he brought out the Earth Spirit Shield, blocking all the attacks.

At the same time, he summoned the Iron Corpse, which instantly crawled out from the corpse bag, waving its heavy iron claws and pouncing toward the five Loose Cultivators.

The Tier 1 Perfection Iron Corpse not only had immense strength and tough skin, but with Li Qing's long-range support, it was fiercely powerful for a time.

Li Qing held the flowing cloud sword, wandering on the edge of the battlefield, specifically looking for those isolated Loose Cultivators to target.

His swordsmanship was fast, accurate, and ruthless, with every sword strike accurately hitting the enemy's vital points; in just a moment, three Loose Cultivators had fallen under his sword.

The remaining two Loose Cultivators saw their companions being killed one after another, their hearts completely panicked, and after exchanging a glance, they turned to run.

"Can you run?"

Li Qing snorted coldly, his fingertips forming a seal, a Golden Blade Slash killed one Loose Cultivator, while the other Loose Cultivator was cornered by the Iron Corpse and torn into two halves.

Having dealt with these five Loose Cultivators and collected the spoils, Li Qing wiped the blood off his sword and continued walking forward.

Along the way, he encountered several more waves of people looking for trouble, including Houtu Sect Disciples, Disciples from other Cultivation Families, and even Disciples from other Nine Great Sects.

But no matter how many people came, no matter what their status, as long as they dared to attack him, Li Qing would kill them without mercy.

Every time he killed a person, his eyes grew a degree colder, and the Killing Intent around him grew a degree heavier.

Blood stained the ice field beneath his feet red, and the Cultivators in the Xuanbing Secret Realm, hearing more and more news of deaths, were all too scared to easily approach Li Qing.

Some people watched Li Qing's figure from afar, unable to help but whisper and discuss:

"This Li Qing is too ruthless, killing so many people without even blinking."

"Ruthless? If it were you, being chased and killed by an entire Sect, would you go soft? Besides, they were the ones who looked for trouble with Li Qing first; they brought this humiliation upon themselves."

"But he is also too powerful; so many people surrounded and killed him, yet they were all killed by him in return. Now, in the entire Secret Realm, no one dares to stop him anymore."

The discussions continued, but no one dared to step forward.

Everyone knew clearly that Li Qing was now a cold-blooded Devil Head, and whoever went up would die.

And Li Qing didn't care about this at all; he was only focused on his own goal—the Ice Peak.