70: Chapter 70 Qi Refining Level 8

Li Qing fled all the way, only daring to breathe a slight sigh of relief when he could no longer feel any trace of Deacon Hu Fei's spiritual energy fluctuations behind him.

Activating Shadow Evasion, he ran for another long distance. Once he was absolutely sure he was safe, he quickly summoned his iron wood boat. With a flash of spiritual light beneath his feet, he transformed into a streak of light and sped away into the distance.

Although his brief clash with Deacon Hu Fei had been short, it made Li Qing realize that the gap between himself and a top-tier expert of Qi Refining Perfection was simply too vast.

With just a casual move, the depth and control of the other party's spiritual energy completely overwhelmed him.

Li Qing silently compared his own spiritual energy in his heart and couldn't help but sigh:

"Once I truly Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 9, I should be able to go head-to-head with someone at Qi Refining Perfection."

The horizon gradually turned the color of a fish's belly as the darkness of night completely faded away.

Li Qing found a secluded corner overgrown with weeds in a depression of a cliff. After scanning left and right to confirm no one was around, he immediately slipped into his Portable Cave Abode.

He had already planned this out: for the next stretch of his journey, he would hide in his Immortal Cave and Cultivate peacefully during the day, and travel under the cover of darkness at night.

With a life-saving Divine Ability like Shadow Evasion in his hands, as long as a Foundation Establishment Stage expert didn't pursue him in person, he was confident he could escape unscathed.

The moment he entered the Immortal Cave, the first thing Li Qing did was check on Zhou Yao's condition.

Seeing that her breathing was steady and her face, though still pale, was not deteriorating further, the heavy weight in Li Qing's heart finally eased by more than half.

He gently held Zhou Yao's cold hand, his voice low but exceptionally firm, "Just wait a bit longer. I'm going to the Luoshui Sect right away, and I definitely won't let anything happen to you."

Li Qing had already carefully extracted the Soul-Devouring Needle that was previously stuck in Zhou Yao's forehead.

Leaving that thing in her head would erode and destroy her Divine Soul every single moment. If he had been any later in pulling it out, even if she were saved, her Divine Soul would have been completely ruined.

Li Qing erased the imprint and spiritual energy left on the Soul-Devouring Needle by the Mysterious Woman, planning to find time to refine it anew.

This item was an excellent weapon for sneak attacks—stealthy and vicious, it could save his life at a critical moment.

After settling Zhou Yao, Li Qing walked out of the small stone chamber in the Immortal Cave and went straight into the training room.

He pulled out a large pile of Spirit Stones he had prepared beforehand, stacked them in front of him, sat cross-legged, and immediately entered a state of deep Cultivation.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a whole month passed just like that.

During this month, Li Qing strictly adhered to his plan of resting by day and traveling by night. He Cultivated frantically in his Immortal Cave during the day and steered his iron wood boat at night, venturing deep into the outer regions of the Yunling Mountain Range.

Perhaps his movements were too stealthy, or perhaps the people of the Houtu Sect did not dare to barge in blindly without accurate coordinates, but he actually didn't encounter any major trouble along the way.

The occasional blind Rogue Cultivators he ran into were easily dealt with by Li Qing, unable to cause even the slightest ripple.

There was not even a shadow of the Houtu Sect pursuers. Without Li Qing's exact location, they wouldn't make a grand show of rushing into the Yunling Mountain Range for such an obviously laborious and fruitless task.

Moreover, Li Qing was now about to step into the Luoshui Sect's sphere of influence. On someone else's turf, no matter how bold the Houtu Sect's people were, they wouldn't dare to pursue and kill him so brazenly.

Li Qing slowly walked out of the training room, exhaling a long breath of turbid Qi. Feeling the spiritual energy in his body that had surged and thickened several times over, he couldn't help but curve his lips into a smile.

Qi Refining Level 8!

Relying on a massive amount of Spirit Stones, coupled with the looted qi gathering pills, he did not disappoint and broke through to Qi Refining Level 8 in one go.

This was his first time using Medicinal Pills to elevate his cultivation base, and the sensation was extraordinarily distinct.

Cultivating with Spirit Stones was superior in its stability and gentleness; spiritual energy accumulated bit by bit, and once a Breakthrough was achieved, the cultivation base could be quickly stabilized.

But Medicinal Pills were different. Their medicinal power was fierce, causing spiritual energy to surge dramatically in an instant. While it felt great, one had to spend time properly stabilizing it afterward, or else it would easily lead to a fragile Foundation and leave hidden dangers.

The cultivation boost from a single High Grade qi gathering pill was equivalent to the total spiritual energy of a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Li Qing had consumed ten High Grade qi gathering pills.

Yet, the Spirit Stones on his person exceeded ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

The bulk of it came from Boss Scar and the Rogue Cultivators he had killed along the way.

Boss Scar alone had contributed five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones to Li Qing. As expected of someone who ran a casino, he was far wealthier in Spirit Stones than ordinary Rogue Cultivators.

After breaking through to Qi Refining Level 8, Li Qing did not continue to Cultivate.

Instead, he went to take a look at Zhou Yao. She remained in a comatose state, showing no signs of improvement, yet not getting any worse either.

Li Qing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to reach the Luoshui Sect. Once he found that expert of the medical Dao, there would definitely be hope of curing Zhou Yao.

Delaying no further, Li Qing turned and left his Portable Cave Abode.

He raised his hand to summon his iron wood boat, wrapping his entire body in spiritual light. He pulled a map from his robes to verify the directions, locked onto the location of the Luoshui Sect, and with a movement of his feet, transformed into a streak of light, hurtling forward.

The iron wood boat was extremely fast. The wind howled in his ears, and the surrounding trees and mountains receded rapidly.

But he hadn't flown very far when Li Qing suddenly furrowed his brows. He heard intense fighting coming from deep within the dense forest ahead—the explosive sounds of spiritual energy colliding, the crisp clashing of weapons, and the sinister, eerie laughter of a man clearly echoed over.

"Jie jie jie! Luo Bing, now that we have you completely surrounded, let's see how you escape this time!"

"Luo Bing?"

Hearing this name, Li Qing paused abruptly, steering his iron wood boat to a halt in mid-air, a hint of surprise appearing on his face.

Luo Bing? Wasn't she the highly renowned, Qi Refining Perfection genius of the entire Luoshui Sect, hailed as Fairy Luoshui? Why was she here, and why was she being besieged?

Li Qing instantly began to ponder. He was currently heading to the Luoshui Sect. If he could lend Luo Bing a hand in passing, he might be able to earn a favor from the Luoshui Sect, which would make things much smoother for him within their territory.

However, since the other party dared to besiege Fairy Luoshui, their strength was bound to be on par with hers. He was currently only at Qi Refining Level 8; rushing in blindly might end up getting himself killed as well.

After a moment's hesitation, Li Qing quietly concealed his aura and steered his iron wood boat slowly closer, planning to hide to the side first to assess the situation before deciding whether to make a move.

After all, Zhou Yao was still waiting for him to save her, so he couldn't take unnecessary risks. However, if the opportunity was right, establishing a connection with the Luoshui Sect would definitely bring nothing but benefits.

In the dense forest, the battle raged on. Luo Bing's figure was tightly entangled by several dark shadows, her situation already looking extremely precarious...