The divine medicine was a drop the size of an infant's fist, glistening with five vibrant colors and exuding a rich, fragrant aroma. Merely smelling it made one feel light and airy, as though on the verge of ascending to immortality.
Qin Ming pondered, "Does this 'half a lifetime of extended longevity' calculate based on my current age, or does it count according to the potential lifespan I could reach in the future?"
He sealed the divine medicine within a piece of spiritual crystal. Inside, the five colors flowed and blended together, like a hazy little world in the making.
"Will I face a True Form Tribulation in the fifth realm?" Qin Ming began contemplating the challenges after breaking through to become a grandmaster, especially since he intended to fuse Tathagata Force, Six Imperial Force, Yuqing Force, and the others.
If a bloody calamity befell him then, this divine medicine might save his life.
Then he thought of those close to him. For instance, if his grandfather were still in this world, he would likely be in the twilight of his years by now; this medicine could prolong his life.
"There shouldn't be anything wrong with this medicine, right?" Holding the clear crystal, Qin Ming peered into the drop of radiant, five-colored medicine with his Eye of New Life and blazing, sun-like consciousness.
He asked the dust-laden supreme treasure, "Old Huang, can you see anything?"
After sensing it carefully, the Yellow Silk Canopy replied, "I see nothing amiss. It should indeed be a precious life-extending medicine."
Wrapped around Qin Ming's wrist were several bracelets—spoils taken from other grandmasters. Unable to hide his joy, he rubbed them with his fingertips and began taking inventory of his gains.
The most abundant among them were healing medicines: green liquids in various bottles and jars, powders radiating golden glow... All of them were carried by grandmasters on their expeditions, and none was ordinary.
"Good stuff. This bottle of silver liquid can instantly restore depleted spirit to its peak state."
"This jar of purple liquid, extracted from rare minerals, can cause even a shattered body to rapidly knit together and recover upon consumption."
Qin Ming inspected them one by one, the smile on his face growing broader.
In addition, there were extraordinary cultivation methods and profound scriptures. Carried on the persons of grandmasters, none was mediocre.
"When I return to that world, if the timing is right, I can pass these along to Sanhua, Heibai, Lihua, and the others."
Among the exotic treasures, the weapons of the golden-horned blade insect stood out the most: a sharp, conical implement and two blades. All were short and used little material, but they were forged from exotic metal bearing natural grain patterns and enveloped in a faint purple mist, making them priceless.
At the time, Qin Ming had nearly had his neck severed by them.
He already had the pure white exotic metal dagger and the golden ring acquired on the Plain of Divine Demise. Adding this purple exotic metal, he had truly accumulated a respectable cache of treasure-grade materials.
"A pity the quantity is still a bit small. I'll keep gathering them, melt them down in the future, and alloy them together to forge a handy long saber or immortal sword."
His current mutton-fat jade iron saber was getting inadequate. Every grandmaster-level opponent he faced possessed superior materials; after just one battle, numerous cracks had appeared on the saber again.
Fortunately, mutton-fat jade iron was miraculous. Given time, or nourished with heavenly light, it could heal itself.
"No rush. For now, I still have the God-Measuring Ruler offered by Helian Zhaoyu, and Old Huang might even reach the grandmaster level before I do."
The most abundant harvest from Qin Ming's trip was naturally the divine grain. Spread across several storage bracelets were mountains of it.
While sailing toward their final destination on the glowing red ocean, Old Goat had picked through the divine grain, keeping only a portion to sample while giving the rest to Qin Ming.
After all, Old Goat had once been a True God of the seventh realm. To reach such heights without altering his life form meant his innate aptitude was frighteningly immense.
The supposed benefits of using divine grain to supplement one's bone structure and raise one's talent to the peak grandmaster level were utterly useless to Old Goat.
Back then, Old Goat's condition had been poor. Afraid that Qin Ming, being young and hot-blooded, might strike first to seize the advantage, he had astutely handed over most of the divine grain to ease the tension between them.
In truth, during that final leg of the journey, Qin Ming had been anxious as well. It was like striking a wolf with a hemp stalk—both sides were terrified, stressed to the utmost, and deeply wary of each other.
The black wheat grains were plump and translucent, resembling carved black jade, and gave off a rich cereal scent. Qin Ming ate some raw that day; they tasted good, leaving a lingering sweetness in his mouth.
However, just as he had expected, they offered him no noticeable boost.
Indisputably, his own innate aptitude was already terrifying.
Five days later, figuring that the turmoil in that chaotic territory had likely died down, Qin Ming quietly stepped through the ancient mist portal into the otherworldly realm once more.
"Hiss... Decaying deities have revived, willing to risk decay and permanent dissolution just to strike?" Qin Ming was deeply astonished. The matter had blown completely out of proportion!
Someone had seen Old Goat transform from a decrepit elder back toward youth, giving off billowing showers of feathering light. It caused a massive sensation; many claimed he had obtained an immortal medicine that reversed time, allowing him to undergo complete nirvanic rebirth.
Now, several beings of the seventh realm could no longer hold back. They were scouring the lands for him, intending to brew him into medicine, while other old monsters wanted to swallow him whole.
Qin Ming had no choice but to retreat, fearing he might cross paths with dying deities roaming the territory.
"I'll come back in a month. The rainy season shouldn't be over by then." He beat a prompt retreat.
Leaving Jinrui City, Qin Ming took a detour before returning to Twin Trees Village. He traveled to the border between Great Rui and Kunling, where the Black Dragon Pool lay—gloomy and bone-chillingly cold. It was here that he had once fished out a patriarch of the silk book path.
Under cover of night, using the pool as a focal point, he searched outward, digging along the area where he remembered that sky-piercing beam of light had vanished.
Yet after searching this region for three days and three nights, he failed to find the patriarch's body.
Years ago, before the old patriarch had fully passed away, he had set out to bury himself.
Back then, at the shrine, Qin Ming had received blessings from this patriarch and viewed the revised silk book technique.
Now, he came with the thought of trying his luck. Having the life-extending divine medicine on hand, sharing even a little might save the man's life.
"I was overthinking it. He has likely dissolved into Dao rhymes completely, melting away into heaven and earth. After all, the powerful experts of this era are plagued by grave afflictions and dare not easily show themselves—let alone a patriarch whose form and spirit were already covered in cracks back then. Weathering this age of great Dao rhyme turbulence, there was virtually no chance of survival."
Qin Ming stood lingering in the night for a long time before finally departing.
Riding the wind and occasionally traversing above the night mist, he returned to Twin Trees Village that very day.
"Uncle!" Wenrui possessed great perseverance, spending most of every day cultivating beneath the Black-White Twin Trees. At once, he spotted the familiar figure walking in from outside the village.
The red squirrel that grew up alongside him was also practicing fist techniques beneath the trees. Its three heads bared their large front teeth as they cried, "Big Daddy Qin!"
Gone were its former reservations and resentment. Seeing Qin Ming return, it acted extraordinarily affectionate, for Big Daddy Qin was truly generous enough to impart miraculous arts and profound scriptures to it.
Soon after, the Thunder King Bird and Yuque flew back from the Black-White Mountains. Wenhui also came over, bringing along Heavenly God Liu's four-year-old son, Liu Bai.
Qin Ming first offered them guidance in their cultivation. Then, treating everyone equally, he brought out the dark-glowing divine grain, ground it into flour on the spot, and baked flatbreads for them to try.
"There's a warm current inside my body!" Wenrui said in surprise.
Their reactions varied. Although four-year-old Liu Bai was still a bit naive and muddle-headed with his potential yet to be developed, the black wheat had virtually no effect on him.
Qin Ming showed a surprised look. Worthy of a Heavenly God's child—his innate bone structure was truly beyond compare!
"These are for you all. Wenrui, remember to eat some every day." He left behind a generous amount of divine grain.
At the village entrance, a straw-hat-wearing black-and-white bear poked its head around warily. A little uneasy, it shrank down to a foot in height and rolled straight across the ground toward them.
It was clearly afraid of startling Liu Bai and did its best to look cute and harmless.
"Is the food you're giving the Divine Child reliable?" it asked, inspecting it closely for fear of any issue.
Before long, the black-and-white bear was dumbfounded. They had originally prepared green bamboo rice and golden grain, but now found them too shameful to present—they simply couldn't compare to this translucent black wheat.
It gasped in admiration, "This is an extraordinary grain that consolidates the foundation and cultivates vitality, a tonic with zero side effects. Wonderful stuff!"
The bear looked at Qin Ming with entirely different eyes. The item this youth casually produced was higher in grade than the crops they cultivated in their forbidden grounds.
"This is my disciple," Qin Ming said, pointing at Wenrui.
In secret, he communicated with this grandmaster-level black-and-white bear: if the mountains contained precious medicines capable of reshaping bone structure and innate aptitude, he wished to trade for some.
Seeing Qin Ming casually give divine grain to Wenrui, Liu Bai, and the others, the black-and-white bear nodded and said, "Alright, you have good intentions."
The next day, Meng Xinghai arrived, high in spirits. Having narrowly escaped death last time, he had turned misfortune into a blessing; the deity roots of that three-eyed elder had been sliced into ginseng-like pieces, serving as a tremendous tonic for him.
Meng Xinghai said, "You were gone for so many days, venturing into the otherworldly realm all by yourself. I was truly worried."
Qin Ming smiled. "Everything went smoothly. Uncle Meng, I brought back some local specialties for you to take home and nourish the two kids' bodies."
"Divine grain? A subterranean ocean...?" Meng Xinghai listened as if hearing fantastical legends, unable to calm down for a long while. Particularly upon learning Qin Ming's cultivation stage, his expression grew complex—it wouldn't be long before this nephew surpassed him.
"As far as the New Life path goes, your cultivation speed is truly terrifying—unprecedented! You've surpassed the patriarchs of all past generations and are about to become a grandmaster in your twenties!"
Looking across the entire world, how many people could stand as equals to such an achievement?
It was common knowledge that the New Life path was arduous and required enduring the passage of time, yet Qin Ming progressed even faster than many top geniuses of the Immortal and esoteric sect paths.
Meng Xinghai knew well that at Qin Ming's rate of growth, he was bound to become a genuine fifth-realm grandmaster in just a few more years.
If word of this got out, it would inevitably cause a massive sensation, mostly because he was simply too young for anyone to believe it!
Meng Xinghai shared some recent developments, saying, "The contest for the supreme heritages on high has caused quite a stir. Many young people have gone to challenge it. A genius from the surface named Wei Shouzhen showed astonishing prowess, powerfully passing the preliminary trials to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the core disciples of Yujing."
When Qin Ming heard that Wei Shouzhen hailed from the monster and demon territories, he grew suspicious. Could he be the true master behind the mind monkey that even Qin Ming felt wary of?
At the same time, Qin Ming also learned the name of Yujing's third core saint: Wen Dao.
"A peerless powerhouse jointly endorsed by the old mountain strongholds on high."
Hearing such an appraisal, Qin Ming genuinely wanted to test how capable this person truly was.
Meng Xinghai warned, "Xiao Qin, if you encounter them in the future, you mustn't be careless. For example, Heavenly Immortal, whom you once defeated on the sword arena, was not in her complete form. Now that she and Heavenly God have merged, she is called Yun Jianyue, securely holding the title of First Disciple, unfathomably profound."
Qin Ming nodded; he had known this for some time.
"Besides Wei Shouzhen, the other figure standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the core saints of Yujing, Xie Xiyan, was also suspected of potentially coming from the surface."
Meng Xinghai told him that precisely because of this, the people on high had taken an interest in the surface lately, studying the various heritages of the 'lower realm.'
Among them, Qin Ming's silk book technique was one of the popular scriptures from the surface.
"I won't be targeted by some old monsters again, will I?" Qin Ming frowned.
Meng Xinghai laughed. "Word has it that this is because the Saint's disciple, Li Wanfa, is exceptionally powerful and at a very high realm, qualified to stand in the same rank as Wen Dao and Wei Shouzhen."
"That's good, then." Qin Ming nodded. As long as they didn't come looking for him, it was fine.
"Although no one is keeping a close eye on you, your name is still mentioned quite often."
Mainly, everyone had been misled into believing Qin Ming was still in the third realm. Thinking he would need at least three or four more years to achieve perfection and break through to the fourth realm, they did not make him the center of discussion; otherwise, he would surely have been the talk of the world.
"By the way, before long, a group of young people from on high might visit the surface to call on the various ancestral courts for an exchange. Do you plan to meet them?" Meng Xinghai asked.
Qin Ming shook his head. With that time, he would rather go to the otherworldly realm to slay karmic sin and refine medicine, striving to break through as early as possible.
He casually asked, "Aren't their eyes always fixed higher than the sky? Why do they suddenly care so much about the surface?"
Meng Xinghai said, "Xie Xiyan and Wei Shouzhen forged startling records of victory on high, prompting those above to take certain heritages from the surface seriously. When the time comes, they might exchange scriptures."
Qin Ming did feel a flicker of interest. If those people brought along original classical scriptures and he were present to resonate with them in secret, it would be no different from entering an unguarded scripture library.
He shook his head inwardly; that was probably unlikely.
"When does it begin?" Qin Ming asked.
"They probably won't reach Yezhou for another month or two. They plan to visit places like the Sacred City of the Tai Ruins and the Northern Wastes' Heavenly God Dao Arena first. After all, those places are far too famous."
Several days later, Qin Ming received a few letters inviting him to join the journey, with the first stop being Sea God Island in the West Sea, traveling alongside the visitors from on high.
Qin Ming politely declined.
In addition, he received other letters; some orthodox lineages beyond the nine heavens wished to win him over, having taken an interest in his aptitude.
"A powerful sect on high related to sword cultivators—an expert from there extended an olive branch, saying that since I've mastered Chaos Force and built a solid foundation, I could take up sword cultivation?"
Qin Ming was astonished. This was truly unexpected.
"What's going on here?" Qin Ming was puzzled. In that letter, the people from the sword cultivators' ancestral court had even mentioned 'Slaying Through the Thirty-Six Heavens with a Single Sword,' noting that he was also a formidable body refiner.
The letter praised Qin Ming's body refining path as stunning, suggesting he might well become a figure like 'One Sword.'
Why were they dangling such pie in the sky? He found it utterly baffling.
The crucial point was: he himself was One Sword! Did he need to emulate anyone else?
In truth, the heaven's sudden interest in studying surface heritages, recruiting prodigies, and other anomalies were all tied to recent disturbances.
"The Golden Board has stirred, and it flashes with light from time to time. Is it about to fully awaken?" On high, some furrowed their brows, their hearts filled with unease.
The New Board, in most cases, involved friendly internal sparring and contests.
The Golden Board bore an entirely different significance: to leave one's name upon it required outward expansion, sword battles against supreme civilizations outside Yujing, large-scale campaigns, and the like.
Thus, when some of the old fellows learned that the Golden Board was about to revive, their scalps tingled with dread.
"Have they gone mad?! In an age of great Dao rhyme turbulence, even stepping outside might get us killed, and now they want to clash with other supreme civilizations? Are they trying to send all of us to our graves?!"
Several old monsters felt intense apprehension. It was precisely because of this that all kinds of arrangements and maneuvers arose on high—such as sending tour delegations to the surface, unearthing mystical heritages, and searching for certain lost, specialized weapons.
Qin Ming put down the letter and said, "Not much sincerity. Talking about letting me become someone like 'One Sword,' yet not even sending a couple of scriptures first? Forget it."
Relatively speaking, Tianzun Lu Heng was somewhat more considerate. Though not handwritten by him, others had followed his instructions and transcribed a few pages of the Extreme Dao Golden Body Scripture.
"Asking me to try practicing it to see how many layers of spiritual radiance can emerge?" Qin Ming wore an intrigued expression.
Tianzun himself was among the most powerful body refiners of the Immortal lineage; his golden body had undergone nine revolutions, manifesting nine layers of spiritual radiance, which was considered the utmost pinnacle.
Yet back on high, when Qin Ming took on the guise of Taiyi, he had already displayed his might—ten halos of light had enveloped his body.
Qin Ming shook his head and said, "My golden body has achieved ten revolutions, and I already possess the complete Extreme Dao Golden Body Scripture. The terms in this letter hold no appeal for me."
In fact, members of the Lu family had recently been discussing Qin Ming. Some favored bringing him up to the heavens, even wishing to take him in as a son-in-law.
Yet direct descendants of the Lu family shook their heads, believing that to gauge a person's potential, one needed only to watch the contest for Yujing's supreme heritages. Even if they couldn't recruit the likes of Xie Xiyan or Wei Shouzhen, attracting other top challengers would be more than enough.
"Jingli, what do you think?" an elder of the Lu family asked.
Lu Jingli replied, "It makes no difference to me. I trust the family can select someone even better. I will abide by your arrangements."
The third letter came from Bai Meng, who extended an enthusiastic invitation: "Brother Ming, come to Tai Ruins! You must attend this exchange gathering! I've prepared surprises for you—we don't just have the Fortune Pool, but other things as well!"
Qin Ming figured that Bai Meng had definitely been threatened and intimidated by Tang Yushang—likely writing this letter only after taking a sound beating.
Because the Golden Board was gradually awakening, the group of old monsters on high had all grown tense, prompting an influx of moves and arrangements.
Time slipped away, and a month passed in the blink of an eye. In Yezhou, autumn had arrived; the mountains and fields were filled with the fragrance of ripening fruit. It was a season of harvest.
Qin Ming set out, once again passing through the ancient mist portal into the otherworldly realm. His own season of harvest had arrived. Regardless of how the winds and clouds shifted in the world outside, all he needed to do was focus on elevating himself.
Chapter 517