217: Chapter 217 Golden Qi
The Yao Beast that was troublesome for a Huajin Martial Artist was, in the hands of Li Qing, who was in the fourth Realm of Body Tempering, merely a plaything to be kneaded at will.
Whether it was Physique, strength, speed, or reaction time, they were not on the same level of existence.
Li Qing toyed with the Iron-eating Bug in his hand. It tried its best to resist, suddenly extending its head, and a mouthpart filled with sharp fangs bit down on Li Qing's hand.
Ding!
A metallic sound rang out.
With Li Qing's martial arts Realm and the augmentation of the [Toughness] trait, his defensive power was something even those Extreme Realm Martial Artists could not hope to match; how could these Iron-eating Bugs possibly break through it?
Iron-eating Bug: ?
Li Qing laughed, "No wonder ordinary Disciples are unwilling to provoke them; their bodies are hard, their teeth are sharp, and their necks can even extend and retract like a tortoise."
Can't break through, can't withstand, can't defend.
However, under Li Qing's immense strength, the Iron-eating Bug was kneaded into various shapes like a noodle.
Squeak! Squeak—squeak—
Ignoring the fact that the Iron-eating Bug's wails were growing softer, Li Qing gained a general understanding of it.
Finally, Li Qing activated [Intimidation].
Hum!
Instantly, a primal aura radiated into the Iron-eating Bug's mind, causing its body to tremble continuously. However, whether it was due to low intelligence or decent strength, even when Intimidated, the Iron-eating Bug still tried to attack Li Qing almost instinctively.
"It's not bad if it has an effect."
Having obtained the desired result, Li Qing tightened his palm, and the Iron-eating Bug instantly perished.
Subsequently, [Demon Heart] was activated, and the Iron-eating Bug's essence blood was absorbed by Li Qing. Its corpse became increasingly shriveled; anyone who saw it would not think it had just died.
Unlike the Iron-eating Bug variant, the essence blood of ordinary Iron-eating Bugs was just like this Waste Sword Mountain—useless—so Li Qing had no issues with absorbing their essence blood directly.
Li Qing plucked off the marble-sized scarlet single eye from the Iron-eating Bug's forehead.
With this as proof, Li Qing could take it to the Internal Affairs Hall to exchange for merit points.
As for the shriveled corpse of the Iron-eating Bug, after it died, it was almost no different from scrap metal and had no value.
He looked at the panel.
[trait: Demon Heart (1/30)]
[Demon Heart Bloodline: Water Element Snake (Pupil), Yuncao Insect (Liquid Gland)]
"Still need twenty-nine more, doesn't seem difficult?"
"The second one." Soon, Li Qing caught another one, followed the same procedure, and absorbed its essence blood.
The third one, the fourth one.
Li Qing discovered that starting from the second one, the Iron-eating Bugs were becoming less and less 'proactive'.
The fifth one, the sixth one.
These Iron-eating Bugs actually chose to curl up into a ball after sensing Li Qing's aura, in an attempt to avoid him!
Soon, he arrived at the seventh one.
This time, the Iron-eating Bug actually ran away directly!
Ran away?
Li Qing 'saw' that this Iron-eating Bug was no longer aggressive; instead, it burrowed into the cracks beneath it, wanting to get away from Li Qing.
He felt a bit strange, but still tried to search for the eighth one.
It also fled in a panic!
Li Qing rubbed his chin: "What is going on here?"
He recalled the memory of the hunt just now and suddenly noticed a detail.
A tiny, almost insignificant detail!
After the first Iron-eating Bug, the second Iron-eating Bug had been hiding under a pile of scrap metal; it had clearly noticed Li Qing, yet it hesitated slightly, and only launched a fierce attack after Li Qing feigned an approach.
Li Qing had only thought it was a minor difference between individuals of the same species.
"That is to say, ever since I hunted the first Iron-eating Bug, the subsequent Iron-eating Bugs noticed a slight change in me, and then this change gradually accumulated, making the later ones increasingly fearful?"
Change—
Li Qing looked himself up and down. Under the absorption of [Demon Heart], there was not the slightest trace of Iron-eating Bug Demonic Qi remaining on him.
It was not Demonic Qi causing trouble.
Could it be Qi and blood?
"That's not right, under the augmentation of the [Qi Concealment Art], my aura is only at the ordinary Huajin level."
Suddenly, Li Qing took out a handful of marble-like scarlet eyeballs from his bosom.
Because of the death of the Iron-eating Bugs, the single eyes on them had changed from their original aggressive, dull red color to a translucent blood-red, like rubies.
What was even more miraculous was that the Demonic Qi on them had completely disappeared in Li Qing's eyes.
It was not 'almost' disappeared, but 'completely' disappeared!
In its place was a type of aura that [Demon Heart] could not absorb.
"Gold Qi." Li Qing said softly.
Just like the herbal aura in medicinal ingredients, there was also Gold Qi in minerals. The reason why weapons forged by True Qi Realm Artifact Refiners, such as the Spirit Rain Sword or the Golden Slaughter Spear, possessed better performance than Sharp Weapons forged by ordinary blacksmiths or even so-called Great Masters, was because those Artifact Refiners had used True Qi to fuse and regulate the 'Gold Qi' within them!
Metallic aura, herbal aura, flesh and blood aura.
The regulation of these 'Qi' levels was the extraordinary aspect of Alchemists and Artifact Refiners.
And in the Iron-eating Bug's single eye before him, there was an extremely faint trace of 'Gold Qi'.
"This is not strange then." Li Qing suddenly realized.
Just like how a Huajin level Yao Beast would flee in panic if it sensed the aura of a Core Formation level Martial Artist.
Each Iron-eating Bug only had this much 'Gold Qi', yet Li Qing had many times more of this aura on him!
It was equivalent to an executioner hanging several people's heads around his neck.
It would be strange if they didn't run!
"It seems that after these Iron-eating Bugs eat that scrap metal, they can not only produce refined metal particles but also form a trace of Gold Qi in their single eyes."
No wonder they could specifically designate a small mountain for them to settle and reproduce, and even set up a huge metal ring outside.
Captive breeding!
Not only could they recycle scrap metal, but they could also produce Gold Qi!
One bug, multiple uses!
"However, for me, it is bad news."
For other Martial Artists, if operating alone, they might only be able to hunt ten or so in a month, which was only one merit point, and they still had to bear the risk of injury.
There was sharp, corrosive scrap metal everywhere here, and they also had to guard against the Iron-eating Bugs that would sneak attack at any time; the cost-effectiveness was too low!
If it weren't for the Iron-eating Bug variant, it was likely that very few people would come here.
"No wonder it is a multi-person operation; it is likely that one or two people are specifically tasked with carrying the Iron-eating Bug single eyes."
Li Qing laughed at himself. What other Named Disciples might achieve in over half a month, he accomplished in less than half a day, so no one thought to give him a reminder?
Moreover, the most troublesome thing was that as long as one touched the single eye, this Gold Qi aura would linger for a period of time.
"Since that is the case..." Li Qing thought of a method.
Li Qing headed back.
The next day, in addition to the Spirit Rain Sword, Li Qing brought a long pair of pliers and a bag.
"Since the Gold Qi is on the Iron-eating Bug's single eye, it would be fine to isolate it from the beginning."
Li Qing quickly found an Iron-eating Bug. Sure enough, the Iron-eating Bug attacked proactively again, and Li Qing sent it to its demise with one sword strike.
Then, he took out the pliers, clamped the single eye out, and put it into the bag.
Then, Li Qing absorbed the Iron-eating Bug's essence blood.
Then, he placed the bag at a distance he could keep an eye on, and went to search for the second one, finding it the same as the first—still attacking proactively.
Li Qing obtained the second single eye!