Beneath the night sky, a gigantic white peacock hovered in midair, its radiating aurora seemingly warping space itself as the torrential downpour failed to reach its feathers.
"Since wild wondrous medicines have been discovered, why haven't the elders of the ancestral court transplanted them?" an exotic bird asked.
The white peacock shook its head. "With human interference, the wondrous blood inside them vanishes. It's likely tied to the unique environment of the Plain of Divine Demise."
Beyond the curtain of rain, within the towering building, a rich medicinal fragrance drifted around Qin Ming. He felt as though he were drinking celestial nectar; clouds steamed and rosy mists gathered within his internal organs, immortal haze flowing through him.
He was deeply astonished, for amid the blood interwoven with scarlet rays, he had glimpsed the faint silhouette of a fire qilin.
"Tracing the bloodline origin of the Fire Qilin Lion, could it have come from a terrifying godkin creature?"
Putting the thought aside, he absorbed all the refined medicinal essence into his body at once. It was like imbibing liquid jade, noticeably invigorating his flesh and blood!
Qin Ming rose to his feet and examined the changes within himself. The elevation of his foundational baseline made it clear to him that this was broadening the ceiling of his future growth.
Deeply satisfied, a look of delight spread across his face.
"There are countless beasts and strange creatures in the outside world, yet none have ever been seen giving birth to wondrous blood. Could it truly be related to this great plain's environment?" Qin Ming mused.
At this moment, he realized more than ever that the ancestral courts of great sects, millennial clans, outer realms, and esoteric sects were unfathomably deep—they had undoubtedly harvested wondrous blood before.
Prior to this, Qin Ming had never encountered it at all.
He thought of Cui Chongxuan, who had not yet been a mutant when they crossed paths at Luofu Immortal Mountain, simply nourishing his body with the Six Imperials Heart Scripture.
Yet before much time had passed, Cui Chongxuan had already stepped into that domain, poised to become a core disciple of the Six Imperials.
"A single portion of wondrous blood consumed the Black Peng's entire fortune. It seems exceedingly precious. Having refined five kinds of wondrous medicine in a row, just how much gold would that be worth? What's more, the degree of improvement isn't exaggerated—one could even call it quite modest. Ordinary people truly could never afford this!"
By his calculation, one variety of wondrous blood could boost his initial baseline strength by nearly thirty jin. For ordinary people, such a return on investment was utterly unacceptable.
Yet the ancestral courts of great sects and millennial clans considered it well worth the price.
To them, the number thirty was not measured in jin, but regarded as a measure of future potential.
A single portion of wondrous blood might allow a youth on the verge of becoming a mutant to step into that domain, reaping far greater benefits during their ninth Newborn—their final transformation.
Only mutants could achieve nine Newborns!
"Juvenile extraordinaries" earned their moniker because the leap in strength during their final Newborn shattered standard limits, setting them apart from ordinary folk.
Qin Ming noticed that the medicinal efficacy of the wondrous blood seemed to yield diminishing returns for him.
"Sigh, everything has its ceiling!" he lamented.
In the end, he had still underestimated the rarity of wondrous blood. Every variety he refined meant an elder of the Six Imperials ancestral court had been "harvested" by him.
These wondrous medicines were still seedlings, useless to the elders right now, but nurturing them might prolong their lives in the future. Besides, who didn't have a favored descendant or a valued disciple?
Qin Ming gazed into the rain. "I wonder if other parts of the Plain of Divine Demise harbor wondrous creatures that have developed wondrous blood."
Turning around, he asked, "You gathered the jade iron arrows I left behind at the Wolf Palace, right?"
"All of them are here!" Old Donkey nodded hastily, frightened out of its wits. Several aged monsters and the man from the Godkin Society had all been slain.
Which of them hadn't been stronger than it? Now, every older brother on the mountain lay dead, leaving only it, the little brother, still alive!
Qin Ming practiced archery in the rain, focused and earnest. The Archery Classic opened up a brand-new realm of the art for him; wind, rain, and thunder could all be harnessed to imbue arrow feathers with spirit and vitality!
What had once been mere technique was elevated by the Archery Classic into a higher conception: wherever the mind directed, the arrow flew, hitting the mark a hundred times out of a hundred!
"Merely practicing the archery of the Wu family from Black-White Mountain, I had already caught up to you." Qin Ming felt that the Archery Classic falling into the large hedgehog's paws had been casting pearls before swine. Now that he possessed the complete text, he would naturally carry it forward.
Old Donkey's gaze shifted. No wonder this human youth was terrifying like a fiend-god; he cultivated bitterly at every moment, undeterred by wind or rain.
Qin Ming's archery improved rapidly. Already possessing superb skill, his mastery of the mnemonic formulas and specialized force techniques from the classic allowed him to advance at an astonishing pace!
As for the hedgehog's personal insights and experiences, Qin Ming discarded them entirely as dross. He was not being conceited; that was simply the truth, and such "master-level attainment" amounted to nothing more.
Just as before, the weasel had claimed to be a saber master of this territory, yet after practicing for ten to twenty years, it had never mastered the saber control art. Once Qin Ming obtained the complete manual, he had mastered it immediately.
Even with far more difficult arts like the Departing Fire Classic and the Golden Silkworm Classic, where he had possessed only handwritten copies, he had developed those profound force techniques in a very short time.
Afterward, Qin Ming practiced the Blazing Sun Sword Classic. This, too, was an exceptional discipline, but he felt the Godkin Society's second-in-command had practiced it far too crudely.
Once mastered to a certain degree, the blade in hand should be like a blazing sun, illuminating all directions and purging demons across the eight realms! Yet in that man's hands, the greatsword had merely carried firelight—a world away from a blazing sun, a difference of kind.
Having obtained the Blazing Sun Sword Classic, Qin Ming naturally severed the man's dross-like experiences, allowing himself to grasp it faster and more powerfully.
By now, only original ancient tomes bearing the crystallization of their creators' lifeblood were worth consulting.
What he sought to comprehend was why the scripture was created and the journey of the predecessor's mind; everything else was unworthy of emulation.
Next, Qin Ming turned to study the remnant of the Black Peng Scripture.
Old Donkey was shaken to its core. In a daze, it felt as though it saw its eldest brother taking human form, sweeping across the torrential rain. That fierce aura, terrifying claw art, and swift footwork made its spirit tremble.
Having absorbed the essence of the wondrous blood and practiced both the archery and blazing sun sword techniques, Qin Ming broke into a warm sweat. His entire body felt relaxed and comfortable, and his mood was excellent, though he had grown hungry.
He instructed, "Roast the Black Peng. Let's see what peng meat tastes like."
At this, Lu Chongxiao went completely numb all over. It was being ordered to roast its sworn elder brother with its own hooves?!
In the deep night, a rich aroma filled the building. After tasting everything carefully, Qin Ming found the hedgehog meat quite good, while the lion meat was mediocre, tasting slightly sour and gamy. The peng meat and sparrow wings were fragrant once roasted.
Yet his favorite remained the donkey meat simmering in the iron pot—tender, chewy, and thoroughly suited to his palate.
It was not that he insisted on slaughtering the donkey once the milling was done; rather, the old donkey had continually harbored thoughts that a gentleman's revenge was never too late even after three hundred years. How could he tolerate that? It had once bided its time for a century just to slaughter the descendants of its former master. This time, it had been encouraging itself that once the human youth's lifespan ran out in three hundred years, it would go and butcher his offspring.
Qin Ming had long since detected its intense emotional waves through spiritual resonance, so he naturally sent it on its way.
"So much monster flesh and blood, yet I can't finish it alone. What a waste!" He did not inform the various villages to collect the meat; this was not human territory, traveling here was perilous, and the villagers could easily face retaliation from other beasts afterward.
More importantly, along the frontier of the great expansion, land was vast and people were few. The fire fields tilled by the border folk were exceptionally fertile and yielded abundantly. Were it not for the demon attacks in recent years, this would have been a very pleasant place to live.
"I am pioneering!" Qin Ming realized that by breaking into beast territory and taking the heads of long-lived monsters, he had far exceeded the requirements of the assessment.
As he thought of this, a shadow crept over his heart.
When the Black Peng, Fire Qilin Lion, and Silver Wolf King had ambushed him, a human had delivered messages for them. Could the Six Imperials ancestral court be involved behind the scenes? After all, they were leading the local assessment.
If the shadow of the Six Imperials truly loomed behind this, he would want to flee immediately, subdue an avian monster, and set out alone.
Yet the return journey of forty thousand li was too far. The endless, pitch-black territory held countless dangers; ordinary birds of prey could never cross it and would easily be hunted by unknown creatures along the way.
After careful consideration, Qin Ming concluded that the basic rules of the Six Imperials ancestral court still held sway.
If someone truly possessed the power to blot out the sky and a major catastrophe had occurred, they would have simply come to kill him directly; how could he have survived until now?
Qin Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Having eaten and drank his fill, he set off into the heavy rain.
Lightning tore through the night sky, and downpours blanketed the entire great plain. Amid the boundless forest, rainwater splashed, cloaked in a thin mist.
In the rainy night, Qin Ming looked like a banished immortal, borne aloft by green mist. Stepping upon the grass and trees, a single stride carried him a great distance. Enveloped in green light, ethereal and nearly divine, the Yimu essence of the vast plain was his to command, submerging him entirely.
As he journeyed, not only did he feel no fatigue, but Yimu spiritual medicine entered his body, the essence of mountains, streams, and vegetation constantly purifying his flesh, blood, and spirit.
Following the battle at Black Peng Mountain, he had consumed four varieties of wondrous medicines, genuinely extending his life, expanding his potential, and elevating his strength. Having tasted the benefits, he decided to strike again.
This time, his target was the leader of the Godkin Society!
Incidentally, he also intended to find out whether the shadow of the Six Imperials was behind this matter.
"Arrived!"
It was merely fifty li, and riding the Yimu essence, Qin Ming arrived swiftly. The green glow and the fresh vitality of the vegetation buoyed him, lending him an exceptionally otherworldly grace.
A great mountain stood ahead—the stronghold of the Godkin Society. Normally, no one dared to provoke them, as it was considered an exceedingly perilous domain.
Qin Ming ascended silently. The stronghold housed beast aberrations, bird monsters, and humans alike, forming a complex assembly. Its supreme leader deep in the night mist world was a "godkin creature," though its motives for founding this organization remained unknown.
That night, rain poured relentlessly over the mountain summit of the Godkin Society's stronghold. Abnormal bolts of lightning fell one after another, shattering a cliffside and sending massive boulders tumbling down.
Many members were shaken. What was happening?
As blood-red lightning slashed across the sky, why did they see figures crossing paths as if locked in combat? The boss was in a life-and-death struggle with someone!
Monsters surged upward, and humans rushed to the mountain peak as well, but screams of agony soon rang out.
This battle proved exceedingly grueling for Qin Ming. He had observed from the shadows for a long time, moving to hunt only after determining the level of the leader's strength.
He had not expected the man to be even more formidable than imagined.
For he hailed from a prominent background—the Five Elements Palace—having simply become an outcast after rebelling against the renowned sect of the night mist world. Named Sun Teng, he had stepped into the Outer Sage domain many years ago and mastered more than one top-tier art, the most proficient being the Withering and Thriving Classic.
Not only could he draw upon the vegetation essence of this plain, but he had also comprehended the shifts of yin and yang from withering and thriving, possessing immense skill. Masking his presence through these cycles of change, he had even caused Qin Ming's judgment to falter.
Using the Overlord's Testament as his foundation, Qin Ming harnessed the night's extreme atmospheric conditions to summon wind and lightning to bombard his opponent. Yet Sun Teng had thoroughly grasped the yin-yang transformations of the Withering and Thriving Classic, managing to neutralize a portion of the lightning with the twin energies of yin and yang.
Had Qin Ming not refined the four wondrous medicines on Black Peng Mountain to elevate his potential and strength, tonight's clash with Sun Teng would have been an even match, the victor impossible to predict.
By now, the mountaintop lay in ruins, the ground fractured and marked by scorched earth. Numerous corpses were strewn about, all members of the Godkin Society—some slain by lightning, others cut down by Qin Ming's mutton-fat jade iron saber.
"A pity I didn't obtain the top-tier Withering and Thriving Classic. Sun Teng's will was forged like iron; no wonder he achieved such heights," he sighed softly, feeling quite regretful.
Such a ruthless man had shown not the slightest emotional ripple, his willpower immensely strong.
"The foundations of great sects are truly profound; direct disciples never lack wondrous arts."
Here, Qin Ming learned that he had been exposed because he had once invited a fellow traveler on the Plain of Divine Demise to hunt the Silver Wolf King, only to be sold out.
He was momentarily lost in thought. Back then, he had even helped that person slay a monster. Yet far from feeling grateful, the other party had gifted him such a "grand surprise."
Among the corpses on the summit, Qin Ming spotted the man, whom he had already cleaved in two with a single saber stroke.
"There's no need to investigate further; the matter ends here."
Qin Ming stripped off his tattered rags, searched the premises, and changed into a brand-new set of clothes. Then, riding the Yimu essence, he departed into the distance, his broad sleeves billowing like an immortal on the wing.
The following day, Zhou Tao, an elder of the Six Imperials ancestral court, arrived in person on the Plain of Divine Demise astride a raptor. He addressed the white peacock high above.
"Time is nearly up. Have there been any unforeseen incidents? Is everything still proceeding according to the rules?" He spoke very politely to the white peacock, treating it as an equal.
After all, it was exceedingly formidable!
The enormous white peacock nodded. "Some situations have arisen. In fact, they even involve you, Elder Zhou."
"Oh? What happened?" Zhou Tao grew solemn.
The white peacock informed him, "Elder Zhou, your wondrous medicine was harvested. Not only that, but the wild medicines discovered by other elders of the ancestral court were plucked as well."
"What?! Who broke the rules?!" Zhou Tao raised his voice.
The white peacock replied, "One of the youths, acting strictly within the rules, pulled several wondrous medicines up by their roots."
Chapter 150