One might have thought, "Ha, stupid Xie Qing. He managed to get lost even though no one was chasing him."


    But the problem was…


    "I definitely followed a clear route!" Xie Qing thought, his eyes gleaming as he scanned his surroundings with his spiritual sense. "Strange. I don''t sense any illusion formations. Could I have really been careless?"


    He pulled out a map that looked tattered and worn. The rough markings on it resembled scribbles more than an actual map. However, every line and path on it was made at the cost of the blood and sweat of many cultivators.


    Despite this, the map was only a rough sketch of a certain part of the forest, and there was no urate information beyond its borders. Studying this ce was expensive, and few enthusiasts were willing to take on the task. Those who did… well, candles had long been lit in their honor.


    Nevertheless, Xie Qing needed to find a way out of there. He walked around for a bit and discovered something.


    "Look!" He called out to Lyu Lyu, who quickly ran over.


    "What is it?" She asked, puzzled.


    "The Brown Fantasy Flower. It''s highly poisonous and is mainly used for poisons and, moremonly, for aromatic candles," Xie Qing exined. "It''s popr among the wealthy, who use the candles to fragrance their homes and clothing.


    However, if the flower is not properly processed, or if the person using the candles has a weak constitution, there is a chance they could lose their mind to hallucinations."


    "What a terrible flower. Is that why we were wandering around?" Lyu Lyu asked.


    "Yes," Xie Qing said, looking thoughtful. He had read a lot about different nts and flowers, so he was familiar with most of them.


    This flower had high hallucinogenic properties, but it could only confuse cultivators at most. And he was confused but for different reasons.


    "It''s strange that this flower has no effect on cultivators of our level! But I can''t think of any other reason why we would have gotten lost…" Xie Qing muttered to himself.


    Lyu Lyu was also puzzled. Their bodies'' resistance was hundreds of times higher than that of an ordinary person, so it was incredible that they had been affected by this flower.


    However, after Xie Qing wandered around the area, he noticed a pattern.


    "Wherever there is a Brown Fantasy Flower, there is also a Passion Grass nearby… could it be?"


    Xie Qing''s face stretched in surprise. It seemed that he had figured out the reason.


    "Seriously… is the flora in this ce that terrible?"


    The Brown Fantasy Flower and the Passion Grass, whenbined, could create an enhanced version that could affect even cultivators of his level!


    The Passion Grass was used for tonics among cultivators, but Xie Qing had never considered that it could enhance the properties of its neighbors.


    "However, it seems that this protection is noting from the flora…" Xie Qing thought, his expression serious. "It''s more likely that someone deliberately nted them like this. But then the question is… who is it?"


    Despite his interest in this matter, Xie Qing needed to find the treasures as soon as possible!


    Removing this illusion was easy; the only difficulty was that it was hard to detect. However, with the proper use of spiritual energy, one could easily dispel the annoying effects.


    "Set up a barrier of spiritual energy around you," Xie Qing said.


    "Got it!"


    Lyu Lyu followed his advice, and a semi-transparent, light-blue barrier appeared around her in a second.


    She could then detect that the effect of the confusion had disappeared. A few minutester, they were back on the path.


    Xie Qing sighed in relief. Although he was excited that all of this reminded him of stories from books, he was eager to find what was calling him. ording to Xu Mei, a cultivator usually finds countless treasures after such a call!


    And what could be considered a treasure for a cultivator? Natural resources!


    ***


    The forest Xie Qing was in was called the "Steel Forest."


    As they approached the exit, the young man sensed a dangerous and powerful aura in front of them.


    "Hmm? A creature at the level of the Nascent Soul, presumably at its peak. Could it be that guardian that the rumors were about?" Xie Qing thought, narrowing his eyes.


    With a light movement of his hand, he unsheathed his sword and signaled for Lyu Lyu to be on guard.


    As they got closer, Xie Qing was able to see the creature that was emitting this energy fluctuation.


    "Mountain King!" Xie Qing and Lyu Lyu eximed in surprise.


    A giant bear, ten meters tall, was quietly snoring as it ate someone''s meat. It looked like a grizzly bear. The bear had dark-ck fur, and a dark red liquid was dripping from the corners of its mouth.


    "What a surprise!"


    Xie Qing was both surprised and delighted. The Mountain King was not a specific race but a general term for monsters that lived in mountainous areas and had great strength, thereby controlling other animals.


    It was said that any monster recognized as a Mountain King could, with a certain probability, leave behind a precious resource after its death – a monster core!


    The monster core, in its ordinary form, was a material dan tian, where the monster''s qi, umted over its lifetime, was stored.


    If one killed the monster and obtained this core, one could forget about the problems of breaking through to the Soul Nascent stage!


    "Such a core can nourish me with qi during the breakthrough! Of course, it needs to be purified first, but… even so, I can break through without any problems!" Xie Qing was overjoyed.


    It seemed that the Goddess of Luck was smiling at him seductively, inviting him to taste her "luck."


    "Lyu Lyu, get ready," Xie Qing whispered, then got into a stance.


    "Got it!"


    The girl nodded seriously, and when Xie Qing gave the signal, she pulled the string.


    A soft sound was heard, and then the monster let out a terrible roar.


    "GRAARRR!"


    Xie Qing did not waste any time, and in less than a second after Lyu Lyu''s attack, he appeared in front of the bear.


    Whoosh!


    The sound of the wind was heard, and the poor bear cub did not have time to react before its head was chopped off.


    Pfft-ssss…


    The sound of blood gushing out like a fountain… Xie Qing looked at his hands in amazement.


    "What the fuck?!" He couldn''t help but swear. After a moment of silence, he turned to look at Lyu Lyu and asked, "Hey, did you put something in my food?"


    "No!"


    Lyu Lyu shouted with a red face, realizing what Xie Qing was implying. The young man chuckled and shook his head.


    "Nevertheless, I didn''t expect it to die so easily…" Xie Qing said nonchntly, then shouted over his shoulder, "By the way, I''d advise you to turn away…"


    "Eh? Ugh!"


    Lyu Lyu was a little slow to react, so she had to see the blood stter in the air as Xie Qing made a deep and rough cut into the bear''s belly.


    She restrained her urge to make a short presentation of today''s dinner and turned away.


    And Xie Qing… well, he was already used to bloody scenes.


    When he made the incision and reached the spot where the core was…


    "Found it!"


    He happily shouted and pulled out the bloody, golden core that glowed in the light.


    "Could it be that this trip will bring me such a cool reward?!" Xie Qing thought with a smile.


    Then he raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked ahead and his face darkened.


    "Holy shit."


    In front of him were… more than a hundred monsters. And the weakest one was at the peak of the Core Formation stage!


    "Well, thank you, fuck."


    ***


    Xie Qing was breathing heavily. His clothes were bloodstained, and there wererge beads of sweat on his face.


    He sat, as was proper, on a small hill of monster corpses of various kinds.


    And although he looked tired and irritated, he had a satisfied smile on his face.


    "I managed to get 10 cores! That''s even more than I need!" The young man thought happily. He looked at Lyu Lyu, who was sitting tiredly on the grass, and shouted at her, "How''s your qi?"


    "Half exhausted!" Lyu Lyu replied, grimacing. "You''ve really brought adventure upon our heads."


    "Well, I didn''t expect that," Xie Qing sighed, but then a smile appeared on his face as he pulled out a few golden balls the size of a billiard ball. "If you sell them, you can get a lot of money! Although, it''s better to use them for cultivation."


    Lyu Lyu smiled. She was tired, but she and Xie Qing had managed to gather so many cores!


    These cores could be used not only for breaking through to the Soul Nascent stage but could also provide quick practice in daily cultivation.


    After resting for a bit, the two of them continued on their way. Fortunately, the Heavens were no longer ying with them, so their path was simple.


    Xie Qing did not have an urate map, but he could sense approximately where the treasure was.


    "Presumably… near the highest mountain!" Xie Qing said after some thought and calction.


    "The highest mountain? You mean that one?" Lyu Lyu asked in surprise, pointing to a mountain whose peak was hidden behind the clouds. "It looks like a dangerous ce."


    "True. But I feel like everything will be fine," Xie Qing nodded.


    Climbing the mountain was easy for cultivators. And it was especially easy for Xie Qing, who preferred to simply fly up.


    And when they were at a high altitude…


    "Wow!"


    Lyu Lyu''s eyes shone brightly as she looked at the earth with indescribable admiration. The mountains and forests seemed so small to her as if they could be picked up with one hand.


    Xie Qing was also amazed by this sight. The cultivation world was beautiful, no matter how much one criticized it!


    "Immortality! Only a long-liver can enjoy the beauties of the world!" Xie Qing thought, clenching his fists. His eyes were filled with determination: "I will reach the top! And only then will I be able to lower my head!"