Cube-like Supernatural Powers: Longevity Begins with Qi Refining

Chapter 24 Wheat Appears in the Azure Sky Realm

Azure Sky Realm.

In a dilapidated city more than 23,000 miles away from the ancient battlefield, wisps of smoke and dust slowly rose into the sky amidst the incessant tremors of the earth, like a layer of haze covering the world.

Containing legal principles and roaring with hunger, it erupted amidst the tremors, causing the already dilapidated city to crumble step by step, its bricks and stones crushed into dust, transforming into the gray-white clouds drifting in the sky.

A disheveled, muscular, dark gold-colored corpse, with a ferocious expression and wearing tattered heavy armor, was swinging a halberd forward in a place where the sun could not shine directly.

Meanwhile, the corpse's pupils, filled with a deep sense of death, stared intently at a golden velvet ball rising in the distance outside the city.

"roar!"

A terrifying roar rose again, obliterating the entire city, leaving not a single brick or tile in sight.

The golden corpse, dragging its massive, broken body, charged wildly toward the golden ball of fluff, intending to devour it and make it a part of itself.

This allure, rooted in blood ties, was utterly irresistible to the mentally impaired corpse.

"Thump!"

As the golden corpse stepped on an array pattern, the earth vein energy that surged to the heavens erupted instantly, like a divine dragon soaring from the earth, coiling around the mangled body.

The dragon scales shimmered, and group after group of earth vein array patterns were arranged and combined to form an array within an array. The vast earth vein energy connected to the boundless earth, evolving into ninety-nine legal shackles, firmly imprisoning the golden corpse, preventing it from moving.

"roar!"

As the golden corpse roared once more, the golden fluff ball floating in mid-air slowly drifted to its chest, touching the muscle texture imbued with death through the tattered heavy armor.

The golden corpse stopped roaring and fell silent.

What rises instead is a rustling sound, resembling the rapid growth of plants, as if taking root in the earth, carrying a strange sense of malevolence and unease.

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

At some unknown time, the surface of the golden corpse was covered with serrated dark gold leaves, and blood-red roots, which seemed to replace blood vessels, were buried deep beneath the golden skin, pulsating slightly, like worms laying eggs and constantly wriggling.

The golden corpse's pupils gradually dilated, its taut muscles relaxed as the blood-red roots throbbed, and its aura plummeted from the third level of Qi Refining, gradually sliding down to freezing point, until it finally lost all its power.

"Splash..."

The dragon that had been entwining the golden corpse dissipated, transforming back into the earth's energy and merging into the depths of the land.

"Bang!"

Then, the golden corpse fell to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. It lost its luster, slowly disintegrated, and became one with the world.

Standing ten miles away.

Li Tianqing fanned himself with the ink-wash landscape fan in his hand and sighed softly, "No matter how many times I look at it, this eerie golden ball of fluff still sends chills down my spine."

Wu Kang tightened his grip on the Tenglong Bow and said, "Indeed, this kind of spiritual plant, which is born from the distortion of the law... is too evil, giving people a strong sense of foreboding."

With one hand emitting red light and the other blue light, Duanmu Ning made hand seals, causing the serrated plants on the corpse to bloom and bear fruit, and a golden velvet ball to grow on the top of the head.

She retrieved the malevolent object, chuckling, "That's right, this thing is very evil and ominous, but it's also very useful, isn't it?"

"Without this abomination born from the distortion of laws, it would be impossible for us to deal with such a mutilated corpse without a major battle."

"Unlike now, we've already dealt with over 180 of these golden mutilated corpses."

Zi Xuan retrieved the earth array flag that was standing on the ground and said, "Junior Sister Duanmu is right. We are here to complete our 'mission'. As long as the items are useful, we don't care what kind of evil things they are or how strange and ominous they are."

"Besides, even if it really gets out of control, the creator who made this thing is still with us."

Zi Xuan looked behind them and saw Xiong Zhou, who was sitting cross-legged, seemingly enlightened, with his aura sublimating. He was meditating with his eyes closed.

Li Tianqing and Wu Kang nodded in unison.

That makes sense. They came to the Azure Sky Realm to complete their sect's mission, and they didn't use such heinous methods. They were only using them to eliminate the remnants of the zombies. There's really no need to worry too much.

However, Li Tianqing paused, looked in a direction a hundred miles away, and said in a low voice, "It is the spiritual abominations created by Junior Brother Xiong Zhou that we do not care about, but the native creatures of this world seem to care about them very much."

His lips twitched slightly as he continued, "They've come to the point that they're treating us like demons."

Duanmu Ning immediately perked up.

She asked curiously, "Senior Brother Li, tell me quickly, what did you see?"

"According to Senior Sister Zixuan's deductions, aren't the vast majority of beings in the Azure Sky Realm gathered on the other side of this realm to survive and reproduce?"

"What are they trying to do by approaching these ancient battlefields overrun with corpses?"

Zi Xuan raised the shrunken earth array flag in her hand and said, "Junior Sister Duanmu, don't underestimate the native creatures of this world."

"Although their cultivation methods, philosophies, and systems are inferior to those of our Tai Li Immortal Sect, this place is still considered an extraterrestrial realm, and over the years, quite a few outstanding talents have emerged here."

"There are always a few who are exceptionally outstanding, and they are not much inferior to some of the senior brothers and sisters in our sect."

Duanmu Ning's expression immediately turned serious.

She, as someone who was almost at the bottom of the Tai Li Immortal Sect's inner disciples, knew all too well what level the senior brothers and sisters in the inner sect were at.

If they encounter some senior disciples who have accumulated profound knowledge at the fourth level of Qi Refining, their entire team will most likely be wiped out if they attack together.

This is still taking into account Junior Brother Xiong Zhou's ability to wield that unreasonable power of abundance. If this advantage is not taken into account, then he wouldn't even have the right to make a move.

If the entire Mountain and River Squad is in good condition, they may only be able to temporarily contend with some inner sect senior brothers and sisters who are not good at fighting and whose cultivation level is at the third level of Qi Refining.

As for achieving victory, or even a partial victory, that's out of the question.

Li Tianqing nodded and said, "Senior Sister Zixuan is right. There are indeed capable people in the Azure Sky Realm, and they should not be underestimated."

"Right now, there is a being who has expanded his cultivation level to the 'Subtle Entry' stage, and whose realm is about the third level of Qi Refining, and who is in the ageless realm, leading a group of over a hundred people to come here."

"Our location, and the corresponding information we exposed in the Azure Sky Realm, may have already been calculated by some old guys in this realm."

Duanmu Ning's expression relaxed slightly.

Her tone softened slightly. "So it's the third level of Qi Refining at the 'Subtle' level. Isn't that equivalent to some of the lower-middle level outer sect senior brothers and sisters in the third level of Qi Refining?"

"It's alright. These guys of this caliber haven't cultivated any immortal scriptures or received any immortal inheritance. Any one of us who is at the first level of Qi Refining can fight them to a standstill, even if it drags on for a while. It's not difficult to win if we can keep up with them."

Li Tianqing shook his head slightly; he did not agree with Duanmu Ning's opinion.

His gaze remained fixed on the approaching group a hundred miles away, and he said, "If a combat power on par with the outer sect senior brothers and sisters is combined with many beings at the Immortal Realm to form a war formation, even if we are true disciples of Tai Li, we will not be able to gain any advantage once we encounter them."

"Therefore, it's best if we don't encounter the native creatures of the Azure Realm before completing the second stage of the quest."

Duanmu Ning shrugged, extended her delicate finger, and pointed to the sturdy figure still meditating on the futon.

She said, "That's not up to us to decide. Junior Brother Xiong Zhou has clearly gained some insight. If we want to avoid this situation, we have to wait until he wakes up from his meditation."

Suddenly, faint flames rose from Xiong Zhou's body, and the scorching temperature caused the earth outside the futon to show signs of melting, as if it were about to turn into hot magma flowing on the surface.

His eyes opened, and the emerald light, like starlight, rose, burned, condensed, and arranged, eventually transforming into illusory cubes that coalesced into a strange phenomenon reflected in the sky.

It was a tranquil, pixelated picture.

Pixel-art lava flows across the land, extending in all directions, while equally angular wheat takes root and sprouts beside the lava river, growing into one golden ear of wheat after another.

The sparks dancing in the lava interacted with the rustling sound of wheat ears colliding, creating an exceptionally peaceful and serene scene.

The enormous phenomenon formed from the condensation of cubes spread out directly, causing the ageless beings who were approaching from a hundred miles away to instantly stop in their tracks, their bodies stiffening.

Gazing at this extraordinary phenomenon, Wu Kang murmured to himself, "The Dao is manifesting..."

"If we don't count the two new disciples who joined this year, this is already the strength of a Tai Li disciple at the first level of Qi Refining, in the top tier."

"that is......"

Wu Kang sensed the subtle charm of this manifested path, his expression becoming somewhat ambiguous.

After Zi Xuan, Duanmu Ning, and Li Tianqing sensed the charm of this path, their expressions also became slightly subtle.

Li Tianqing grinned, stopping her fan in her hand. "Holy crap! We're disciples of the Tai Li Immortal Sect, who focus on cultivating both body and spirit, yet a Tai Li True Disciple has actually reached the first tier of Tai Li True Disciples at the first level of Qi Refining, on the path to becoming a Saint of the Divine Path..."

"Could this be the first case in the long history of the Tai Li Immortal Sect?"

This is truly the most "heretical" thing ever.

With such divine talent, why would he want to be a disciple of the Tai Li Immortal Sect?

Go to the academy of the Qin Dynasty and become an official in the Qin Dynasty; that is the place to give full play to one's divine talents.

Even if all else fails, going to the Ancient Dragon Palace and becoming a master of water vein management is also a good option.

Duanmu Ning chuckled.

She rubbed her hands together, took out a jade slip from the wooden box behind her, and directly recorded Xiong Zhou's breakthrough.

"If this is truly the first case in the long history of the Tai Li Immortal Sect, then we're going to make a fortune."

"If I were to sell this record outside of the Tai Li Immortal Sect, my little treasury would definitely be filled to overflowing, enough to support my extravagant spending until I reach the third level of Qi Refining."

"Even if we split the profits 50/50 with Junior Brother Xiong Zhou, we'll still be financially independent. As for cultivation resources in the second level of the mortal realm, it's like wearing one item, eating one item, and losing one item."

However, Duanmu Ning's excitement didn't last long.

The jade slip she was holding was pixelated, as if assimilated by the unfolding phenomenon, scattering into countless tiny pixel cubes on the ground.

"Senior Sister Duanmu, that's not very ethical of you."

Xiong Zhou stood in front of his awkwardly laughing twin-tailed senior sister, his face dark and like a small mountain.

"Who would use their junior's breakthrough to achieve financial freedom?"

"That's a bit much..."

Although Xiong Zhou's safety is absolutely guaranteed within the Tai Li Immortal Sect, anyone who wants to harm his true form would have to break through the sect's various Immortal True level or even Dao Lord level defenses to have even a slight hope.

However, this information leak will definitely bring him some unforeseen trouble.

For example, some martial arts fanatics within the sect would come to his door, wanting to test their skills against him.

For example, it might attract the attention of some immortal elders who might emerge from seclusion, who would then personally intervene to discipline this "unorthodox" Tai Li disciple.

At that time, Xiong Zhou could no longer leisurely cultivate Qi.

Moreover, Duanmu's behavior reminded him of Baiyu, who was meditating in the Tianli Dojo.

Another case of someone who's all bark and no bite!

"cough."

Duanmu Ning took a few steps back, slightly distancing herself from Xiong Zhou, who seemed to have grown another centimeter taller.

"Junior Brother Xiong Zhou, now that you're awake, let's make a quick getaway."

"If those natives arrive, it will be another problem."

As she spoke, Duanmu Ning handed the golden pom-pom in her hand to Xiong Zhou.

"Also, Junior Brother Xiong Zhou, you should quickly check how many more corpses this spiritual abomination needs to take root in before it can be fully restored?"

Xiong Zhou pursed his lips, took the fluffy ball, and opened its information panel.

Name: Seed of Immortality

Level: Fourth level of Qi Refining (incomplete)

Category: Bloodline-related Special Resources

Description: The flesh-and-blood dandelion seed, gold, was transformed after absorbing an unknown amount of ancient blood.

Special: Blessed by Abundance, Spiritual Abomination, Ancient Refinement, Immortal Mark

Completion progress: 42%

Xiong Zhou pinched the golden velvet ball, which was several times larger than before and resembled a small rubber ball.

"We've only completed a small part of it. To finish this [Chain Quest 2], we need more Ancient Blood."

Xiong Zhou used his innate divine power: █ (Pixel Cube) to drive the abundant power remaining within it, causing it to slowly rise into the air and drift in another direction.

-----------------

Several hours later.

An armored army of over eight hundred men, led by a commander at the third level of Qi Refining, arrived at the place where Xiong Zhou had previously meditated.

A military officer said softly, "Commander, we're late."

"Those extraterrestrial demons have grown stronger through slaughter and the absorption of primal blood."

"Moreover, their direction of travel seems to be getting closer to our territory."

The army commander waved his hand, his expression turning towards where Xiong Zhou was sitting, already showing some surprise and doubt.

He seemed to have discovered something.

Reaching out and gently touching the ground, wiping away the accumulated ash, a perfectly square, oddly shaped clod of earth appeared before my eyes.

The moment this clod of earth appeared, sharp, angular, emerald-green branches rapidly grew from this square clod of earth.

They blossomed, bore fruit, and hung down golden ears of wheat.