Ming Qi hadn't anticipated Wei Chen possessing a precious talisman, and he was ultimately counterattacked. Fortunately, his wounds were minor, and while he looked battered, they weren't seriously injured.
However, Ming Qi had no chance to catch his breath, as some of his private soldiers were still lingering nearby. He had previously secretly released the poisonous gas of the Soul-Loss Cauldron, and some had already inhaled it and collapsed. Others, seeing the situation was dire, fled for their lives.
Of course, all of these private soldiers had to be killed to ensure complete safety, but Ming Qi couldn't catch up with them all, so he simply let them go.
After catching his breath on the ground for a minute, he stood up and walked towards Wei Chen's body.
As he approached, he spotted something conspicuous on the ground and bent down to pick it up.
Only then did he realize they were several specially processed purple iris feathers, woven together with a brown ribbon and studded with sparkling pearls. A faint aura of spiritual energy seemed to emanate from them.
The purple iris, illuminated by the firelight, looked mysterious and beautiful.
"This... must belong to that girl from earlier."
Holding the purple iris feather, Ming Qi immediately guessed its origin.
It was clearly dropped by the masked, black-clad girl during her battle with Yue Zihe. With nothing else to do, Ming Qi collected the feather and approached Wei Chen's corpse.
"That's a nice spear."
Picking up the spear from the ground, Ming Qi weighed it; it was indeed substantial.
A quick glance revealed a pure white ring on Wei Chen's right hand, from which he could sense a faint aura of spiritual energy.
"Hmm? A magical weapon with spatial storage?"
Ming Qi snatched the ring without a word, and a trace of spiritual energy, along with his will, merged into it.
"Wow! What a vast space! At least ten cubic meters!"
After erasing Wei Chen's will from the ring, Ming Qi immediately became its new owner.
The only spiritual energy-infused equipment that a post-natal cultivator could control was at the Xuan level. A Xuan weapon could be fully controlled simply by infusing it with a trace of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy fused with will.
This wasn't to say that post-natal cultivators couldn't use spiritual weapon-level magical equipment; it was simply because their methods of controlling magical equipment were too simplistic. Any cultivator of the same level could easily erase the imprint on a magical weapon and seize it. This was a key reason why post-natal cultivators didn't equip spiritual weapon-level magical equipment: it was too easy for someone to steal it.
"Not bad, not bad."
Ming Qi put the ring on his finger with satisfaction, then tossed his spear, sword, and Qi Wenyue's flying hammer into it.
What he lacked most right now was weapons and equipment. If he didn't prepare, would he have to go on a killing spree with his boning knife in hand?
At that moment, the entire campsite was empty except for corpses scattered across the ground.
Ming Qi looked around and arrived in front of the three large carriages.
"Hmm?"
He then noticed that one of the carriages had its door open, leaving nothing inside except a tangle of rope.
"Yes, that girl must have come to rescue someone."
Ming Qi ignored the rest and immediately opened the other two carriages.
Seeing the contents of the carriages, Ming Qi gasped.
The carriages were filled with gold, rare animal skins, uncommon medicinal herbs and minerals, and even some Yuan Crystals. These Yuan Crystals were the same low-quality Yuan Crystals he had given to the fat man, with low purity and high impurities. However, even these low-grade Yuan Crystals with high impurities could fetch a good price.
The contents of these two large carriages made Ming Qi instantly wealthy.
Without a word, Ming Qi threw himself into the work, and in a moment, the two carriages were empty, not a hair left.
"Snap!"
Ming Qi snapped his fingers loudly, feeling incredibly satisfied.
Now with the ring as a suitcase, Ming Qi no longer worried about having too much storage.
"Lihuo Sect, should I thank you? Or should I thank you very much?"
Ming Qi pondered this as he lit a huge fire in the camp, called Dabai, and departed in a daze.
Just as Ming Qi was returning triumphantly to the capital, a few dozen miles from the camp, in a wilderness by a small river, a stunningly beautiful girl in black gazed at the rushing water, her brows lowered in thought.
Her hair was as hazy as the moon shrouded in mist. Her eyebrows, like distant mountains, were woven together with a captivating cinnabar beauty mark at their center. Her face was as white as the moon, and her nose and small mouth were exquisitely beautiful.
But at this moment, the black-clad girl's dark eyebrows expressed a solemnity.
Beside the girl, a little boy of seven or eight sat cross-legged. His eyes were closed, his hands formed into a strange seal on his knees.
After a moment, the boy opened his eyes.
"Sister Ziyuan, I saw where the Ziyuan Feather is."
The girl named Ziyuan's face lit up with joy. "Zhengyao, tell me where the Ziyuan Feather is!"
The boy named Zhengyao blinked, seemingly hesitant, but unable to resist Ziyuan's urging, he said, "Someone picked it up."
"Ah!"
Hearing this, Ziyuan's pretty face paled, as if something terrible had happened.
She bit her lip lightly, and her expression began to falter.
"Is he from the Lihuo Sect?"
Zhengyao immediately shook his head and said, "No, it's a very handsome older brother."
After saying that, the little boy Zhengyao looked at Ziyuan with expectant eyes, as if eager to know what she was thinking at that moment.
"A very handsome older brother?"
Ziyuan pursed her lips, a face tinged with sinister intent appearing in her mind.
She stopped talking and turned her gaze to the flowing river.
That man had killed Yue Zihe, a third-level post-natal cultivator, with a single blow. Ziyuan remembered the scene vividly. If it weren't for that sudden blow, she probably wouldn't have escaped unscathed. As for rescuing her brother Zhengyao, that was simply wishful thinking.
Ziyuan knew there were three Lihuo Sect disciples there. With Yue Zihe's death, the other two would surely appear, yet the man had still managed to escape alive.
"You took my Purple Kite Feather? Who are you?"
…
"Ah, ah-choo!"
Ming Qi, strolling leisurely through the mountains with Da Bai, suddenly sneezed loudly, so loud that even Da Bai was startled.
"Someone must be scolding me."
Rubbing his nose, Ming Qi crouched down and continued his wandering through the mountains.
He hadn't been able to kill all the private soldiers, so to be on the safe side, he decided to stay deep in the mountains for a few days. Even if any unwilling private soldiers secretly tracked him, he would completely outmaneuver them.
Three days later, Ming Qi returned to Yanzhuang.
Back home, Ming Qi locked himself in his room and refused to come out.
Ever since leaving the camp, Ming Qi had been pondering a question: what to do with all the gold and valuables? Should he keep them all for himself?
What a joke! This was the blood and sweat of the villagers in the nearby villages, looted by that insatiable, round fellow. If he were to pocket it, it would be unjustifiable, both morally and morally.
After returning home and pondering for a long time, Ming Qi still couldn't come up with a suitable solution.
However, at this moment, Ming Qi was also worried. He had slain most of the private soldiers in Xiandu City. The remaining private soldiers would surely report back. Then, the lord of Xiandu City might unleash his wrath on the villages in this area. If that happened, the consequences would be dire.
"There are no innate masters in Xiandu City, so I don't care."
Ming Qi didn't care much about Xiandu City. He had offended the Lihuo Sect this time, but he had killed all three of the Lihuo Sect members, leaving no one alive. He didn't think the Lihuo Sect would be able to track him down for a while, and besides, cultivators wouldn't massacre mortals en masse.
"Improve my strength first."
Ming Qi made up his mind and began to practice tirelessly.
While practicing, he repeatedly deduced the Supreme Mountain and Sea Map.
After three days, Ming Qi, by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cleanse his body, expelled impurities from his body for the first time.
This was the sign of entering the fourth level of the Acquired Heaven Realm, the Dust-Removing Realm.
The Dust-Removing Realm is also a process of purifying the body. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth possesses infinite mysteries. While this realm cannot manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to transform it into combat methods, it can be used to refine and purify the body, cleansing it of impurities. This process also prepares for the fifth level, the Light Body Realm.
Swish, swish, swish!
Half a month later, on the hills behind Yanzhuang, Ming Qi galloped under the bright moonlight, as swift as a wild goose.
In less than twenty days, Ming Qi, without sleep or rest, leaped through two realms and entered the fifth level of the Acquired Heaven Realm, the Light Body Realm. This was truly a miracle.
By now, Ming Qi's speed and strength had doubled.
The force of his strike reached nearly four thousand kilograms, and his speed was even greater. Even at the second level of the Acquired Realm, he had already completely surpassed Dabai's speed. Now, his speed could only be described as infinitely terrifying.
"That Lihuo Sect disciple is also at the fifth level of the Acquired Realm, but at my current speed, catching up to him would be effortless!"
Ming Qi was brimming with confidence.
However, Ming Qi was extremely exhausted from his sleepless training these past few days. As soon as he relaxed, he immediately felt drowsy.
Dabai had already hunted many prey. Ming Qi built a bonfire on the mountain, washed and skinned the prey using the mountain stream, and grilled them directly over the fire.
The aroma of meat soon wafted in the air. After the man and the tiger had feasted heartily, Ming Qi lay flat on the grass and slept soundly.
Dabai remained on guard, his majestic figure sitting beside Ming Qi, like a guardian deity.
At this moment, Dabai looked even more majestic and ferocious, and its eyes began to gleam with wisdom.
This was the sign of a wild beast transitioning into a demonic beast. Dabai had subtly undergone a fundamental transformation. At this point, Dabai could even face a cultivator at the third level of the Acquired Realm. According to the demonic beast rank system, it was a first-level demonic beast.
The demonic beast rank system ranges from one to ten. At its peak, a first-level demonic beast was equivalent to a warrior at the third level of the Acquired Realm, while a third-level demonic beast was equivalent to a warrior at the ninth level of the Acquired Realm.
A fourth-level demonic beast could rival the might of an innate cultivator, ruling a region and claiming supremacy.