Beneath the night sky, across the Plain of Divine Demise, Qin Ming was in full flight.
The Old Donkey commanded the gathered monsters—wolves, sheep demons, rat creatures, and more—to surround, pursue, and cut off his escape. Every last one was mobilized, and dog demons were dispatched to deliver messages.
It joined the hunt itself, ripping away its tattered squire robe. Abandoning its upright posture, it dropped onto all fours, kept its donkey face dark and stern, and bolted in hot pursuit.
The Old Donkey was virtually uninjured and retained tremendous combat strength. Its hooves had only been trimmed when it unleashed its smashing fists earlier. At this stage, among the four old demons, it was the only one that posed a lethal threat to Qin Ming.
Qin Ming dashed through the forest, drenched in blood, several bones broken. Ever since stepping onto the Newborn path, this was the most severely injured he had ever been.
Normally, the Old Donkey should have overtaken him long ago.
Yet the further it ran, the more awkward it felt. Its four hooves had been carved unevenly by Qin Ming's mutton-fat jade iron saber, ragged and mismatched, making its gait unsteady.
One of its forehooves was nearly whittled down to nothing, while the hoof beneath its right hind leg was intact, having escaped the blade. This gave it a lurching, bumpy gallop, nearly twisting its ankle several times.
Its long donkey face pulled taut, dark enough to drip water!
Even so, it was closing the gap. Nearing the tattered, blood-drenched silhouette ahead, it accelerated at once to make the kill.
Suddenly, Qin Ming spun around, brandishing his saber as he charged straight back at it.
In an instant, the Old Donkey went rigid and skidded to a halt. When it saw the human youth brandishing that pristine, jade-white miniature sword once more, its donkey hair stood on end!
It had witnessed with its own eyes how miserably the Black Peng and the Fire Qilin Lion had suffered, and the lingering terror ran deep. Qin Ming feinted, raising his hand as if to fling the miniature sword!
Spooked, the Old Donkey dropped into an unseemly roll, throwing all gentlemanly dignity to the wind. By the time it raised its head again, the human youth had already wheeled around and bolted. Feeling mocked and humiliated, it charged after him in a furious chase.
When it drew near a second time, Qin Ming spun around again and raised the miniature sword toward it. Sure enough, all its raging fury evaporated, and it shrank back once more!
Once there was a second time, there was naturally a third, continuing all the way to the fifth. Convinced that the boy was truly spent and could no longer muster such a lethal trump card, the Old Donkey raised its hooves and pursued him relentlessly, intent on kicking this dying human youth to pieces!
This time, however, Qin Ming poured his heavenly light into the miniature sword without holding anything back, making it blaze with dazzling brilliance before hurling it at point-blank range.
With a wet thud, the Old Donkey twisted to shield its vitals, but a bloody hole was punched clean through its body!
The pain dredged up vile memories from its past—the years when it had been enslaved by humans. It had endured in silence for a very long time before finally rising to power, and caution was bred deep into its bones. At this moment, it spun around and fled.
Qin Ming retrieved the miniature sword cast from exotic metal and leaned against an ancient tree to keep from collapsing. Blood bubbled steadily from his mouth and nose; his wounds were grave.
As he gasped for breath, his chest heaved violently. The broken ribs in his chest and abdomen scraped against his internal organs, sending cold sweat pouring down his face. Gritting his teeth against the searing agony, he set his own bones.
If the splintered bones punctured his organs, his plight would become far worse. With no time to linger, Qin Ming pressed onward through the dense woods.
He needed to find a spot to refine the silver heart. He could not perform any sudden mid-battle breakthrough; renewal was a gradual process that required a day or two.
"Over here!" a bird shrieked in midair.
*Thwack!*
In the next instant, it exploded, blasted to pieces by Qin Ming's ordinary iron arrow!
His situation was dire. The Old Donkey had issued orders, mobilizing countless beasts and birds of prey, whether soaring through the sky or running on the ground. This territory fell under the dominion of the four old demons, and none of the bird fiends or beast monsters dared disobey.
A five-meter-long fire bat flapped its blood-red, leathery wings as it closed in. While no match for the four old demons, it was at the Outer Sage level and posed a serious threat to the increasingly weakened Qin Ming.
Qin Ming took a deep breath to steady himself, drawing his bow once again. This time, he intentionally feigned weakness, and the loosed iron arrow lacked power.
The fire bat was cautious. Refusing to draw too close, it opened its maw and spat a blinding sweep of crimson light. The searing heat instantly reduced the massive tree behind Qin Ming to ashes.
Qin Ming dodged in some disarray. He chose not to waste heavenly light on defense, and when a lock of hair caught fire, he severed it with the edge of his palm.
Closing the distance, the fire bat flapped its fiendish, blood-red wings. It salivated greedily, catching the scent of the Silver Wolf King's heart, and continuously spewed dense waves of fiery light from its jaws.
Qin Ming drew his bow. This time, he notched a jade iron arrow and exerted all his strength. With a dull thud, the arrow pierced its skull, and overbearing heavenly light detonated within.
The headless bat carcass plummeted to the earth, snapping several thick branches along the way.
A towering ancient tree suddenly shattered as an enormous bear appeared without a sound, launching an ambush on Qin Ming. A bear paw came crashing down, blasting apart the trunk he had been leaning against.
Weak as he was, Qin Ming stumbled and shifted laterally, narrowly dodging the blow.
The giant bear roared and lunged to slaughter him. A behemoth like this was extraordinarily dangerous for Qin Ming in his current state, clearly possessing the strength of an Outer Sage.
Massive trees snapped throughout the area as the giant bear radiated a blood-colored glow, raging violently. Lush woodland toppled left and right as if the beast meant to raze the ground flat.
After a brutal struggle, Qin Ming leaped violently into the air and drove his blade into the bear's skull. With a tremendous crash, the colossal carcass crashed to the ground.
Qin Ming collapsed alongside it, soaked in bear blood, lying there unwilling to move even a finger. He was utterly drained, yet he had no choice but to struggle back to his feet, as more monsters were already prowling nearby. Clearly, he would find no peaceful sanctuary to refine the silver heart anytime soon.
Sitting where he was, he first circulated the Wuji Classic, drawing a small amount of earth essence to replenish his strength. Then, gazing at the heart with its rippling silver light, he tilted his head and drank a mouthful of silver blood directly.
According to the records in the Destiny-Altering Scripture, one ought to refine silver blood with heavenly light and purify it repeatedly until its medicinal properties dissolved into clouds and mist to nourish the physical body.
How could he afford to be so meticulous now?
After swallowing the silver blood, he felt his stomach ignite, as though it were being pierced through.
Sure enough, acting so crudely had led to trouble. The method of extracting medicinal essence detailed in the Destiny-Altering Scripture was sound, whereas the wolf blood's composition was far too complex.
Even in this era, one would first seek an apothecary to refine the silver blood's essence rather than gulping it down in great draughts. Excruciating pain tore through Qin Ming's abdomen as if his flesh were ripping apart.
His intestines felt as though they were severing, and he wanted nothing more than to roll across the ground in agony.
The Silver Wolf King had once possessed boundless potential and rapid growth, but it had failed in its transformation into a silver creature. Its cultivation had stalled right there, leaving behind not only partial silver blood but also a slew of accompanying impurities.
Qin Ming was soaked from head to toe. Beside sweat, fine threads of blood seeped from his pores. Only after a long while did the excruciating torment begin to recede.
All around Qin Ming, pair after pair of greedy eyes watched from the dark—all monsters and strange beasts. Yet seeing the colossal bear carcass and the headless fire bat nearby, none dared rush forward for the moment.
Having endured the ordeal, Qin Ming felt a surge of vigorous vitality awaken within him. The beneficial components of the silver blood were absorbed into his flesh, and his condition began to turn for the better.
At the very least, he was no longer so feeble. Qin Ming sprang to his feet, swept out like lightning with the mutton-fat jade iron saber, and in a flurry of wet thuds, slew six beasts in succession, two of which were at the Outer Sage level.
Instant chaos erupted across the area as the beasts and bird monsters scattered in panic.
After such an exertion, Qin Ming felt fatigue creeping in again. He desperately needed quiet recuperation, but the surviving old demon would never grant him the time.
Experienced in wilderness survival, he quickly gathered several plants, crushed their leaves, and smeared the sap over his body to mask his scent.
Yet the silver wolf heart was troublesome to handle; no matter what method he employed, he could not conceal its faint, sweet fragrance. As Qin Ming journeyed onward, monsters inevitably caught his trail.
Fortunately, that mouthful of silver blood continued to work its wonders. His body burned hot, and his vitality grew stronger.
Qin Ming realized he would find no safe haven to rest. Rather than searching in vain, he might as well refine the silver heart directly.
Once he had recovered slightly, he channeled his heavenly light force, unleashing a dazzling brilliance that wrapped around the invaluable wolf heart as he refined it on the go.
Silver vapor steamed upward amidst curling mists of light, releasing an extraordinary medicinal fragrance. It was intoxicatingly alluring—a fatal temptation for strange beasts in particular.
Hordes of monsters converged once again.
Even though Qin Ming bound the silver heart with heavenly light, keeping as much of the misty light and medicinal aroma close to his body as possible, faint wisps still leaked out into the air.
He could no longer worry about it. Once the refinement of the silver blood began, he refused to stop. Clashes along the path were unavoidable, and he carved a bloody trail forward.
The Old Donkey appeared twice more. Watching him temper that silver heart, even it could not help swallowing hard.
It led the horde to encircle Qin Ming, but it was far from its peak, hobbled by a bloody puncture wound through its body. Deeply wary of Qin Ming, it held back and hesitated to commit fully.
Furthermore, it noticed that Qin Ming's condition was steadily improving.
In the end, the Old Donkey made a decisive move, sending word beyond the territory to summon allies and post a kill bounty on the human youth. The so-called "outer domain" referred to the territories beyond the four old demons' domain; under normal circumstances, monsters of comparable standing would never cross boundaries lightly.
Now, by actively issuing an invitation, it broke that precedent!
All at once, Qin Ming was plunged into another mortal crisis.
Earlier, Qin Ming had refrained from venturing far beyond this territory largely out of fear of encountering unknown, formidable fiends and demons from other lands.
After all, with the four old demons in this region all crippled, it was relatively safer here. Yet now that the Old Donkey had begun summoning outside demons, everything changed.
Birds carried messages, and almost instantly, powerful creatures in neighboring territories learned of the situation. "Though that scoundrel of a silver wolf failed in its evolution, a portion of silver blood still lingered within it."
A number of astonishingly powerful old demons were stirred. Even if their cultivation was too profound to benefit from the heart, they could still bestow it upon their descendants. Qin Ming was on the run once more. His condition had improved, but the monsters he encountered grew increasingly formidable.
He was currently pursued by a black elephant—an old demon that had crossed over from an adjacent territory. Colossal in size, its power rivaled that of the Silver Wolf King. Qin Ming had not yet fully recovered, putting him at a severe disadvantage against the giant elephant. Whenever those thick elephant legs stomped, the earth trembled and the mountains shook; a sweep of its massive trunk pulverized ancient trees into dust.
Twice, Qin Ming had narrowly avoided being crushed beneath its massive feet.
Heavenly light surged from the black elephant's body. Its colossal frame posed a lethal threat to Qin Ming in his current state.
Amidst the relentless chase, he brought his jade iron arrow to bear. Spotting the perfect opening, he loosed the shaft, blowing out one of the black elephant's eyes. The beast bellowed in agony, nearly tumbling headlong to the ground.
A jade iron arrow could likewise pierce heavenly light, though not with the effortless ease of exotic metal.
"What a pity. Another jade iron arrow lost, and who knows if I can retrieve it later." Naturally, Qin Ming did not linger, wheeling around and slipping away.
What followed infuriated him: several human adventurers on the Plain of Divine Demise, having caught wind of the news, had also rushed over—not to help, but to hunt him down!
All of them stared hungrily at the silver heart in his hands, their eyes gleaming with avarice!
In the dense forest, Qin Ming severed the head of a middle-aged man with a single blade strike, moving on without pausing.
"Brother, we're on the same side! I've come to help!" a young man called out, raising his open hands amidst the bushes to signal peaceful intent.
Yet behind Qin Ming, several ambush arrows forged from secret metal shot forth with lethal speed, aiming for his head, back, and other vitals.
His condition had improved considerably. Not only was his heavenly light steadily swelling, but his divine wisdom and conscious spiritual light had also deepened, granting him exceptionally keen instincts.
Qin Ming evaded the ambush arrows and unleashed a counterattack with his mutton-fat jade iron saber! Moments later, three heads tumbled to the ground, and he swept away like a shadow.
As time passed, Qin Ming gradually refined all the essence from the silver heart.
The silver blood's composition was extraordinarily intricate, containing both the spiritual substance needed for his seventh renewal and mysterious medicinal properties that could deepen his foundational roots—an incomparable treasure!
The bad news was that the surrounding territory had fallen into utter chaos. Demons and monsters ran rampant, and even human adventurers joined the hunt, all scheming to take his life.
He drew a deep breath and cast aside the shriveled silver heart.
Around his body, silver vapor steamed and light mist swirled, submerging him completely within an overwhelmingly rich medicinal aroma. Qin Ming purified it repeatedly before beginning to absorb it.
Renewal was a gradual process that required a day or two, but starting from this moment, his body would grow stronger with every breath!
Chapter 144