110: The sixth level of the Divine Strike! The Golden-backed Mantis has recovered from its injuries!

Chapter One Hundred and Ten: Spirit Shocking Thorn, sixth layer! The Golden-Backed Saber Mantis's injuries are healed!

Inside the Chixiao Cave, the years were peaceful and quiet.

Since the Great Evolution Art broke through to the third layer and his Divine Sense surged, another month had passed.

During this month, Lu Qiu was in no hurry to head to the Panlong River.

Instead, he continued to concentrate on consolidating his Realm, while putting more energy into the two secret techniques that relied on Divine Sense: the Dragon Imprisonment Seal and the Spirit Shocking Thorn.

In the Quiet Room, Lu Qiu's eyes were slightly closed, and an invisible, heart-palpitating fluctuation of Divine Sense permeated his surroundings.

Compared to when he had just broken through a month ago, this fluctuation was more mellow and restrained, and his control was more refined.

"Condense!"

With a slight movement of his thoughts, the majestic power of the Divine Sense in his Sea of Consciousness was used as easily as his own fingers, quickly differentiating and condensing.

At the center of his brow, several invisible and intangible yet extremely sharp "thorn" phantoms flashed and vanished, then quietly dissipated, retracted and released at will.

"The Dragon Imprisonment Seal has finally reached Minor Achievement."

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Qiu opened his eyes, a flash of satisfaction in them.

Benefiting from the qualitative change in Divine Sense brought by the third layer of the Great Evolution Art, his understanding and control of this enslavement secret technique, the Dragon Imprisonment Seal, had jumped to a new level.

If it were said that before, performing the Dragon Imprisonment Seal required caution for fear of backlash, now he had absolute confidence in being able to completely suppress and drive beings of the same or even slightly higher stage with his Divine Sense, imprinting an indelible mark on their Divine Soul.

"It's time."

Lu Qiu communicated with the gray spatial bead with his thoughts. With a flash of light, a massive dark-gold figure appeared in the open space of the Quiet Room.

It was precisely the seventy-third on the list of strange insects—the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis!

After nearly a year of slow nourishment by the spirit eye spring in the spatial bead, the wounds on the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis had basically healed.

The hideous metallic-textured carapace once again gleamed with a dark luster, and that fierce Yao Beast aura had also recovered somewhat.

But compared to its Peak period—the terrifying strength of a Peak Fourth-Tier, enough to go head-to-head with a Core Formation Early Stage Cultivator.

At this moment, it still appeared very weak, roughly equivalent to the strength of a Third-Tier Demonic Beast, and its eyes were slightly dim, clearly showing that its Origin Qi was greatly damaged and its Origin had not yet recovered.

Had it been before the Breakthrough of the Great Evolution Art, facing this ancient strange insect that still radiated an unruly ferocity even in its weakness, Lu Qiu would still have felt an invisible pressure mentally at close range, an instinctive deterrent brought by the level of life and the baleful aura.

But at this moment, the situation was completely different.

Lu Qiu looked calmly at the massive creature before him, his gaze deep.

After breaking through to the third layer of the Great Evolution Art, his Divine Sense strength was already comparable to the Core Formation Early Stage!

At this moment, as he slightly released his Divine Sense, a steady, vast, and invisible force with a sense of absolute Dominator enveloped the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis like mercury spreading over the ground.

"Buzz..."

The Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis's massive body trembled imperceptibly.

In its pair of compound eyes, the trace of wildness and untameability that had originally remained quickly receded under this powerful Divine Sense pressure that far exceeded before, replaced by a deeper level of awe and obedience.

It lowered its head, its sharp forelimb saber-arms lightly touching the ground in a posture of absolute submission.

A complete sense of control, originating from the level of the Soul, arose spontaneously in Lu Qiu's heart.

Now, at the level of Divine Sense, he could completely suppress this ancient fierce insect!

Lu Qiu no longer hesitated. With a wave of his hand and a slight movement of his thoughts, a more solid and complex "Dragon Imprisonment Seal" rune, shimmering with a faint golden light, emerged from the center of his brow and instantly sank into the forehead of the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis.

The process was incredibly smooth. The Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis did not resist at all, even actively opening part of its Divine Soul defense, allowing the brand to be engraved deeper and more firmly into its Origin.

Having completed this step, light flashed in Lu Qiu's hand again, and an object appeared.

It was a crystal about the size of a fist, deep red all over like blood, and as crystal clear as the finest ruby.

Inside the crystal, blood seemed to flow slowly, emitting a thick essence of blood aura and majestic life energy that could not be dispersed. It was precisely the top-grade demonic blood stone obtained from the Dali Mountain Range, formed from the entire blood essence of the Fifth-level Demonic Beast "Blood-Eyed Demon Ape"!

This item was of extremely high value, an excellent material for refining certain top-tier Medicinal Pills or cultivating special spirit pets. An ordinary Cultivator who obtained one would surely treasure it.

Lu Qiu looked at the red-glowing crystal in his hand, then at the weak but infinitely potential Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis before him, his lips curling slightly: "It's quite a bargain for you."

After saying that, he casually threw the top-grade demonic blood stone to the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis.

The Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis reacted extremely quickly, or rather, it was driven by an instinctive desire for blood essence energy.

It suddenly raised its head, its sharp mouthparts opened, and it accurately caught the demonic blood stone, swallowing it whole without almost any chewing!

"Gulp."

The moment the demonic blood stone entered its stomach, a sudden change occurred!

A layer of blood-red mist, so thick it could not be dispersed, suddenly gushed out from the gaps in the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis's carapace, quickly wrapping its entire massive body within!

The mist churned, and a heart-palpitating "gurgling" sound came from within, as if thousands of bloodstreams were rushing.

The Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis let out a low and comfortable hiss, its massive body trembling slightly. The dark-gold lines on its carapace suddenly lit up like ignited molten gold lines, crazily absorbing the pure energy from the blood-red mist.

Its aura began to climb and recover at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Lu Qiu did not disturb it. With a thought, he directly took the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis, which was currently absorbing the energy of the demonic blood stone, along with the mass of blood-red mist, back into the gray spatial bead, allowing it to complete this crucial recovery in the most stable environment with the most abundant Spiritual Qi.

"Once it has completely absorbed the energy of the demonic blood stone, its injuries are fully healed, and its strength returns to the Peak Fourth-Tier... plus my own Divine Ability Breakthrough."

Lu Qiu's eyes flashed with sharp light as he looked towards the east, the direction of the Panlong River. "I will truly have an eighty to ninety percent certainty of subduing that heavily injured and slumbering Bloodline Flood Dragon."

"However, there's no rush for this moment. The third layer of the Great Evolution Art has just been achieved and still needs further consolidation. The cultivation of the Spirit Shocking Thorn has also reached a critical moment."

Lu Qiu suppressed the thought of leaving immediately, sat down cross-legged again, and once more entered a state of deep secluded cultivation... Time flew by, and another month passed.

In the Quiet Room of the Chixiao Cave, the aura around Lu Qiu became increasingly steady and condensed, as if he were merging with the surrounding Spiritual Qi and the ley lines of the Immortal Cave.

His Sea of Consciousness, after another month of nourishment and tempering, had completely stabilized at the Realm of the third layer of the Great Evolution Art. The sea of Divine Sense was calm yet contained vast and majestic power.

On this day, he was repeatedly refining and compressing the "Spirit Shocking Thorn" in his Sea of Consciousness.

Strands of invisible Divine Sense threads were extracted, vibrating, intertwining, and compressing at high speed along specific trajectories and frequencies... from the initial gaseous state to a liquid state, and then gradually solidifying into a nearly substantial "needle" shape.

This process was extremely taxing on the mind, but it also placed very high demands on the control of Divine Sense.

One, two, three... when the fifth Divine Sense thorn was successfully refined and existed stably, Lu Qiu felt that he had touched a certain Bottleneck.

He did not force a Breakthrough but instead slowed down his pace, carefully comprehending the essence of "dividing Divine Thought, condensing without dispersing, and being irresistibly sharp" in the Spirit Shocking Thorn technique.

The qualitative change in Divine Sense brought by the third layer of the Great Evolution Art allowed him to have a deeper level of understanding of these essences.

"Divine Sense is not stronger simply because there is more of it; its strength lies in its 'quality' and 'condensation'. To divide without chaos and to gather with sharpness is the superior way..."

As his thoughts flowed, the five already refined Divine Sense thorns in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly began to rotate slowly in a mysterious trajectory, creating a strange resonance between them.

Within this resonance, a sixth wisp of pure Divine Sense power was quietly drawn in and joined, beginning to rapidly condense and take shape along the trajectory of that resonance... after an unknown amount of time.

"Buzz!"

A clear and melodious sound that only Lu Qiu himself could hear seemed to ring out in the Quiet Room!

Six Divine Sense thorns, refined to the extreme, invisible and intangible yet radiating a sharp chill, hung quietly at the core of his Sea of Consciousness like six dormant peerless divine weapons. Though not yet unleashed, they already made one feel a stinging pain in their Divine Soul.

Spirit Shocking Thorn—sixth layer! Success!

Lu Qiu slowly opened his eyes, and a sharp starlight seemed to flash and vanish in his gaze.

He carefully experienced this newly broken-through sixth layer of Spirit Shocking Thorn.

"The power is at least fifty percent stronger than the fifth layer! If all six are released together..." He estimated in his mind.

"Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, if without a special Divine Sense protection Magic Treasure or secret technique, would likely have their Divine Soul instantly shredded and die on the spot if caught off guard! Even a Cultivator in the False Core Realm would surely suffer heavy damage to their Divine Soul and a great loss in combat power if hit by such a strike. Even for a Core Formation Early Stage Cultivator, if they are hit when their mind is relaxed or in the heat of a fierce battle, it would be enough to cause their Divine Sense to vibrate and make them lose focus instantly, revealing a fatal flaw!"

This undoubtedly made his trump cards even sharper. Whether in a one-on-one duel or a chaotic battle, he had gained another means to settle the matter with a single blow.

"It's time to see how that fellow is recovering."

With a thought, Lu Qiu communicated with the spatial bead.

The next moment, a dark-gold light filled the Quiet Room!

A massive giant insect nearly two zhang long, its entire body covered in a thick dark-gold carapace, its forelimb saber-arms gleaming with a cold light, its compound eyes flashing with ferocity, and radiating a suffocatingly baleful aura, suddenly appeared before Lu Qiu!

It was precisely the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis!

It was completely different from its state a month ago when it was wrapped in blood-red mist and its aura was unstable.

At this moment, the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis's carapace had a deep and heavy luster, as if it had undergone a thousand temperings; the lines of its body were smooth and full of explosive power; those compound eyes were bright and piercing, showing a majestic ferocity in its gaze; a terrifying Spiritual Pressure belonging to a Peak Fourth-Tier Yao Beast permeated without reservation, making the air in the Quiet Room seem to solidify somewhat!

It had completely absorbed the Fifth-level Demonic Beast blood essence and life essence contained in that top-grade demonic blood stone!

Not only were its old injuries completely healed and its Origin Qi replenished, but its strength had also fully recovered to its Peak state—a genuine Peak Fourth-Tier Yao Beast!

It was enough to go head-to-head with a human Core Formation Early Stage Cultivator, and even gain the upper hand by virtue of its terrifying speed, attack power, and carapace defense!

After the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis appeared, it first instinctively radiated a bit of its ferocity, but then sensing Lu Qiu's even deeper and more vast Divine Sense envelopment, it immediately restrained its aura, lowered its hideous head, and let out a respectful hiss, showing its submission.

Lu Qiu nodded with satisfaction, walked forward, and reached out to pat the cool and hard carapace of the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis, feeling the explosive power contained within.

"Very good! You've recovered well!"

With the Peak-state Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis as an ace for close-quarters combat and breaking through defenses, the sixth layer of the Spirit Shocking Thorn as a Sharp Weapon for Divine Sense surprise attacks, the absolute control after the Dragon Imprisonment Seal's Minor Achievement, and even more, the powerful Divine Sense comparable to Core Formation from the third layer of the Great Evolution Art as a Foundation... A sharp light flashed in Lu Qiu's eyes, and there was no longer any doubt in his heart.

"With such strength, there should be no problem at all."

He looked out of the Quiet Room, his gaze seemingly piercing through the stone walls, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers, and once again saw that deep river bottom and that miniature Bloodline Flood Dragon that had fallen into a slumber.

"Tomorrow, I will set out for the Panlong River!"

With the Opportunity before him and his strength prepared, he should rise with the wind and take the flood dragon into his embrace!