51: Chapter 51 Five Elements Spiritual Power

More than a month had passed since the Houtu Sect posted that bounty.

Five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones was not a small sum; it was enough for an ordinary Loose Cultivator to upgrade their equipment significantly.

Precisely because the rewards were so lucrative, the Yunling Mountain Range near the entire Xiuchun Market was in an uproar; Loose Cultivators, Family Disciples, and even Rogue Cultivators all flooded into the Yunling Mountain Range.

Everyone was looking for Li Qing, but strangely, Li Qing had vanished into thin air, leaving not a trace.

Some people followed footprints, crossing mountains and ridges, and found the secret cave where Li Qing had temporarily stayed before.

And the result? The cave was empty, without a single trace of habitation.

The person had completely lost contact.

A large group of Rogue Cultivators had gone into the mountains and busied themselves for a round, but without even finding a single hair, they were already fuming inside.

Seeing many Loose Cultivators still running around in the mountains, searching blindly like headless flies, sometimes even competing with them for Spiritual Plants and Yao Beasts.

These Rogue Cultivators were naturally unhappy—if we can't find Li Qing, don't we still have you?

Thus, in this already dangerous Yunling Mountain Range, unexpected slaughter began quickly.

Loose Cultivators suspected each other, and Rogue Cultivators robbed whoever they didn't like of their resources; at the slightest disagreement, an explosion of Qi would lead to bloodshed.

The Yunling Mountain Range had suddenly become a slaughterhouse.

...

Inside the Immortal Cave, in the training room.

Li Qing sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his eyes tightly closed, his hands forming seals.

His entire body seemed to be tightly wrapped by an invisible net.

Inside his body, the Five Elements Qi—Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood—was surging wildly through his Meridians according to a set route.

Over this past month, Li Qing had finally Cultivated his Fire-type Qi to Qi Refining Stage 7.

Now, he had just completed the Five Elements cycle.

The moment his Fire-type Qi reached Qi Refining Stage 7, the Five Elements Qi, which had previously flowed separately, suddenly seemed to have a common "center point."

The Earth-type Qi was thick and steady, the Metal-type Qi was sharp and keen, the Water-type Qi was clear and flowing, the Wood-type Qi was gentle and growing, and the Fire-type Qi was hot and unbridled.

Five completely different powers began to operate synchronously within his body.

There was no conflict, no turbulence.

Instead, following the principle of the Five Elements mutual generation—Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, and Fire generates Earth... it circulated round after round.

With each cycle, Li Qing felt his Dantian expand a little.

His Dantian spiritual sea felt as if it had been completely stretched open; it used to be just a clear, bright body of water, but now it felt bottomless.

His total amount of Qi had surged significantly.

Moreover, this newly formed Qi was no longer a simple accumulation of Five Elements Qi, but had fused into a brand-new power—Li Qing gave it a name: Five Elements Qi.

This power was quite miraculous.

When unleashed with a Fire-type technique, it carried the sustained vitality of Wood-type Qi and the penetration of Water-type Qi; when used for Earth-type defense, it was wrapped in the hardness of Metal-type Qi and the explosive power of Fire-type Qi.

With the five attributes fused together, it was no longer a simple addition; one plus one was greater than two.

Li Qing slowly opened his eyes.

The gaze that had originally been that of a cold youth now became incomparably deep, with a faint, five-colored light flashing across the depths of his eyes.

He could clearly feel:

His Realm was completely stabilized.

His total Qi had surged.

His control over the power of the Five Elements had directly ascended to a higher level.

Even if he just casually unleashed a Fireball, its power was several times stronger than before; a simple Earth Shield could easily withstand two or three attacks from someone at the same level without any problems.

Qi Refining Stage 7 was no longer just "a little stronger than Stage 6," but a qualitative leap.

"It's done."

Li Qing whispered these two words, his voice carrying a hint of irrepressible excitement.

He hadn't hidden in vain for the past month or so.

While others were busy hunting, plundering, and throwing their lives away, he had hidden in his Immortal Cave, relying on Spirit Stones to forcefully push his Five Elements Qi to Qi Refining Stage 7.

The only drawback was that previously, Li Qing could have reached Qi Refining Stage 8 by absorbing the Qi from 640 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Now, he had to absorb the Qi from 3200 Low-Grade Spirit Stones to reach Qi Refining Stage 8—a full five-fold increase.

And Li Qing currently only had 2680 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and 100 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

But it also brought him five times the combat power.

...

It was time to go out.

Li Qing stood up and stretched his limbs.

As his Qi circulated within his body, with a thought, he first activated two secret techniques—the Spirit Concealment Art and the Hundred-Face Transformation Technique.

The Spirit Concealment Art allowed Li Qing to freely conceal his aura; as long as he didn't actively expose it, it was estimated that even a Cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection wouldn't be able to tell that Li Qing was hiding his cultivation level.

It was especially suitable for him to pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger.

The Hundred-Face Transformation Technique was not a simple disguise art.

The subtlety of this technique lay in:

It wasn't simple "disguise," not applying a mask, but adjusting the structure of his Physical Body through Qi.

Muscles could be relaxed, tightened, or expanded;

Bones could be fine-tuned in length and width;

Even skin tone, pore size, and facial lines could all be adjusted one by one.

To put it bluntly, he could completely become another person.

Not to mention people he had only met a few times, even if his own parents stood in front of him, as long as they didn't peel back his Qi to take a close look, they wouldn't recognize him.

Unless a Foundation Establishment Master appeared, it was estimated that no Cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage could see through his disguise.

Li Qing faced the water mirror in the Immortal Cave and began to fine-tune his figure.

He first enlarged his original youthful outline bit by bit, broadened his shoulders, thickened his back, changed his face shape from thin to slightly square, and then added a rough texture to his skin.

Finally, he turned into the appearance of The Bald Man, one of Boss Scar's subordinates.

Li Qing touched his current face, touched the stubble on his chin, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Perfect."

He removed part of his aura disguise, revealing only the level of Qi Refining Level 5; coupled with this face, he was undoubtedly a low-level Loose Cultivator.

Even if the people from the Houtu Sect really came looking, standing in front of him, they would only treat him as an ordinary passerby; it was impossible for them to associate him with the "murderer who killed Deacon Han Pei."

No matter how powerful the Houtu Sect was, it was impossible for them to dispatch a Foundation Establishment Master to hunt down Li Qing.

After all, being a Foundation Establishment Master, one had their own pride, unless Li Qing was unlucky enough to run straight into their hands.

Li Qing took a deep breath, suppressing the agitation in his heart.

With a thought, he flashed out of the Portable Cave Abode.

The sky outside had already darkened, and the night curtain was like a huge black cloth, covering the entire Yunling Mountain Range tightly.

Only the occasional roar of a Yao Beast could be heard from afar, and faint sparks of fire were visible on distant mountain peaks—that was other Cultivators building fires to travel at night.

He had been hiding here for more than a month; it was time to leave.

He flipped his right hand, and a faint Wood-type light emerged from his palm.

The next second, a palm-sized small wooden boat quietly appeared in his palm.

This was the flying Magical Artifact he had refined from Deacon Han Pei—the iron wood boat.

Li Qing tapped with his fingertip, and the small wooden boat instantly grew to its normal size.

He leaped, and his whole body landed steadily on the wooden boat.

The iron wood boat swayed gently, and a layer of pale green Wood-type light emerged from the bottom, like an air cushion, lifting him steadily into the air.

"Go!"

Li Qing let out a low shout, injecting Qi into the boat.

The iron wood boat shot out like an arrow from a bow, with a "whoosh," cutting through the night curtain and soaring straight into the sky.