The Terrifying Path of Immortal Cultivation

"Yì rǎn, yěxǔ wǒ yīnggāi diàochá yīxià zhè fāngmiàn de xìnxī le."

"At present, the information I know can confirm that it seems to be some kind of unknown mysterious force or existence attempting to descend."

"Possession by the infected cultivator."

"For the sake of safety, I need to establish my own rules of conduct."

"Based on the two infections I have encountered so far, both are a kind of voice tempting me to do something."

"Rule 1, be vigilant about any sudden voices, verify the identity of the other party as genuine before establishing contact and communication, otherwise do not obey any information from the other party."

"Rule 2, any investigation work, information gathering, and strategizing should be done as much as possible using shadow paper figures, and once used, the shadow paper figures cannot be retrieved, they can only stay outside and be used for the next time."

"They can be destroyed when necessary."

Li Qing silently set rules for himself in his heart and went back to bed to continue waiting.

His consciousness once again attached to the shadows entering Dragon Path City, controlling one of them, silently heading towards the Zhou Mansion.

This shadow paper figure stood guard outside the Zhou Mansion, naturally targeting Zhou Xinglong.

He remained vigilant, ready to prepare in advance if he sensed any danger.

After arranging this incarnation, Li Qing dispersed the shadow paper figures back to various locations in Dragon Path City.

Sensing the members of the Blood Demon Cult hidden in the Wulin Source in the north, he felt that these people seemed to be up to something.

Arranging the shadow paper figures allowed him to sense danger in advance and make targeted arrangements.

Just like in Jade City.

Whether to inform Jixia Academy in secret or report to the authorities, both were good choices, and there were people to take the lead at that time.

But this time, he wouldn't make the same mistake as in Jade City, exposing himself.

"Preventive measures are better than cure, let's see the situation first."

In the blink of an eye, it was the next day, and early in the morning, a visitor arrived at Li Qing's door.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Is Li Xunyou here? I am Fang Qinghong, the instructor in charge of the warehouse at the academy."

"The master asked me to bring something to you."

Li Qing first used his spell to check and confirmed that it was an unfamiliar person.

Creak.

After opening the door, there was a teacher in a black robe outside, his face expressionless, belonging to the type of stern and unyielding.

Seeing Li Qing opening the door, he reached into his sleeve and then took out a large wooden box.

The box was three feet long, one and a half feet wide, and about one and a half feet thick.

"The master asked me to bring you 1000 pieces of Essence Qi stones, please check."

Li Qing's eyes lit up, and after taking it, he smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

After checking the wooden box, he said to Zhang Qinghong, "No problem, the quantity is sufficient."

Zhang Qinghong nodded slightly, "Good, then I'll take my leave."

"Please."

Zhang Qinghong walked away along the corridor, and Li Qing was full of joy. He closed the door directly and placed the box on the bed.

He still had 290 pieces of Essence Qi stones in his hand, totaling about 1290 pieces.

The Essence Qi in his body had reached sixty-five percent, and recently he had accumulated it to this extent by eating.

After completing three full Body Strengthenings, to complete nine Body Strengthenings, he still needed 535 pieces of Essence Qi stones.

Li Qing began to take out the Essence Qi stones one by one.

The Jade Tablet trembled slightly, devouring the Essence Qi from each stone and purifying it before flowing into his body.

As time passed, a day went by in the blink of an eye.

Li Qing had completed nine rounds of Body Tempering, feeling his body as strong and perfect as a furnace.

Although there was not a trace of Essence Qi in his body, he felt that his life essence had reached a critical point, completely different from an ordinary person.

There were still 755 pieces of Essence Qi stones left.

After devouring another 100 pieces, the Essence Qi in his body quickly returned to its peak state.

His body's emptiness was filled, and Li Qing felt all-around powerful.

It seemed that both his physical body and Essence Qi had reached their peak.

Li Qing looked at the remaining 655 pieces of Essence Qi stones, "Now my body should have reached a flawless state."

"What would happen if I absorb one more? Maybe I should give it a try."

"I feel like something is still missing."

Li Qing felt a subtle change in his body as he completed the ninth Body Strengthening and reached the peak of Essence Qi.

A peculiar aura emanated from his body.

He thought to himself, "This seems to be the aura of the Human Tribulation."

He only sensed this peculiar aura for a moment, then picked up an Essence Qi stone.

The Jade Tablet trembled again, refining a pure strand of Essence Qi.

This Essence Qi merged into his body, and Li Qing silently operated his technique.

The infusion of Essence Qi made his body feel swollen, and as he continued to operate his technique, he felt a slight increase in his body's strength.

Similar to the previous state, but the effect was much weaker.

A hint of surprise appeared in his eyes, "After nine Body Strengthenings, have I not yet reached the limit of body strengthening?"

Without any hesitation, he immediately began to absorb one piece after another.

He controlled the speed of Essence Qi extraction, wanting to see where his body's limit lay.

Seconds turned into minutes.

One piece, two pieces... ten pieces... a hundred pieces...

Li Qing was filled with strength, and he could clearly feel that his body was undergoing a transformation towards a higher level.

He was about to touch that critical point, a kind of instinctive feeling within his body, mysterious and indescribable.

He remained calm, controlling the speed and absorbing piece by piece.

Seven days and nights passed, and the 500 pieces of Essence Qi stones completely disappeared from his hands.

When he had 300 pieces of Essence Qi stones, his body had already reached the limit of the critical point.

He could clearly feel a tremendous force within his body, restricting his breakthrough.

But he continued to absorb the Essence Qi stones. With each absorption, he felt the pressure in his body increase.

This pressure brought about pain, and each time he had to spend a considerable amount of time compressing the Essence Qi.

At this point, the compression of Essence Qi seemed to have reached a certain limit, and a mysterious barrier within his body was making cracking sounds.

"Crack."

A sound of complete shattering rang out in his mind.

The Essence Qi in his entire body boiled like a raging flame, boiling within every cell of his body.

Infinite heat and pain rose from within his body.