Xie Qing left the city in proud solitude, squinting as he gazed towards the horizon.


    Well, although he could sense Lian Qingyi''s aura, this woman was very skilled at concealing her presence. She disappeared after two or three drinks.


    The young man could clearly feel her thirst for murder, which was barely restrained. Therefore, he decided to leave the city. Although he could indirectly influence her, it was extremely difficult topletely ensure his safety.


    It was important not to forget that, due to the circumstances, the opponent was at the peak of cultivation in this world. Therefore, the young man decided not to get involved with her and to leave this ce as quickly as possible.


    At the very least, they parted on a rtively... peaceful note. Although the fox showed a desperate desire to kill him, she restrained herself due to the restrictions of the contract.


    Entering the path, the young man smiled and shook his head. In any case, he needed to continue his journey to the central area. As soon as he thought about it, his expression immediately became serious, and the carefree smile vanished from his face.


    "The central area... the ce where these guys live..."


    Devilish sects!


    ***


    As expected, after so many years, the devilish cultivators had managed to seizends for themselves and even ensure maximumfortable living. They had multiplied and spread throughout the perimeter of the barrier.


    The total number of devilish cultivators or their descendants reached twenty million, of which only ten million were cultivators.


    Nevertheless, the numbers were frightening. This was abnormal even by the standards of the outside world, where there were also many cultivators, with the distinctive difference – most of them were not so united!


    As they say, in times of trouble, peoplee together, creating trust among each other. Here, a simr philosophy was at work, for under the pressure of the "light," the "darkness" had gathered in one ce.


    And the denser the darkness, the harder it was for the light to ovee it. Xie Qing snorted.


    He sat near a stream... or what was left of it. The dried-up shallow channel led far into the mountains, and its source was from the ins, beyond which one could see a high mountain range.


    ording to the map, he was in a dead zone where no one lived. This ce was called the ''Jueming Mountain Range.'' And the name perfectly reflected the entire situation in this area.


    Even with his sharp spiritual sense, Xie Qing did not feel a drop of life energy in the vicinity. Everything here was dead, from thend to the nts.


    "Judging by the fallen trees and roots in the ground, there used to be a forest here... but even more curious is that there is Qi in the ground! Moreover, it''s devilish Qi and... Superior Qi!"


    A battle. The first thing the young man could think of was that a battle had taken ce here, and on a terrible scale.


    Even for a cultivator of his level, it was unsettling to focus on the residual Qi in the ground.


    "Oh... the cultivator with Superior Qi was likely a step away from achieving Transcendence, and the other was already at that level. Nevertheless, the devilish Qi ultimately lost... which is very surprising."


    At the level of Spiritual Ascension, it was not difficult for the young man to analyze the residual Qi and draw his own conclusions. In any case, this ce was indeed very interesting.


    The destruction had urred so long ago that few remembered it. Even the annals contained no information. The young man could only guess when this great battle had taken ce.


    But, of course, the main reason he was here was not because of some battle. He was more interested in the rumors.


    "They say someone left their legacy here. Although these are just ordinary rumors, there were many traces of other beings here... which already gives one pause for thought," the young man mused.


    He still had four years of time. Therefore, Xie Qing was currently trying to maximize his study of the surrounding environment, which had changed significantly. And perhaps he might even find useful artifacts for himself?


    Jumping over a small depression in the ground that was once a river, the young man began to leap from tree to tree, carefully examining everything.


    Although at his level of cultivation, flying was no problem... the young man still preferred to walk on his own feet, especially if he needed to explore everything around him.


    "Damn..."


    But to his great disappointment, there was nothing useful here – just dried-upnd and fallen dry trees that would turn to ash at the slightest touch.


    The young man activated his spiritual sense and decided to gradually examine everything around him. To his surprise, there was still a drop of Superior Qi in the ground, which perhaps protected this area from copse.


    The second discovery for him was that there were some strange currents under the ground – neither Qi nor devilish Qi, but something more alien.


    "What... strange energy!" Xie Qing was surprised.


    His body trembled for some unknown reason – whether from excitement or fear, the young man could not tell. This happened when he touched his spiritual sense to the inexplicable flow under the ground.


    And...


    "My level of cultivation... oh! It started to increase? Just from a slight touch?" This time, the young man was shocked, not expecting this at all.


    What kind of energy could do this? He tried to remember everything that was even remotely simr, but it was all useless.


    "Interesting! Unknown energy! Although I cannot consider myself omniscient, I have read a lot. And I have never seen anything like this..." Xie Qingmented to himself with curiosity.


    He narrowed his eyes, and a stream ofpressed Qi shot out from his index finger, making a round, neat hole in the ground.


    The peculiar bullet of Qi collided with this unfamiliar energy at a depth of ten meters. What happened next... the bullet simply disappeared without a trace!


    "Hm? Dissolved? Surprising. Superior Qi is not something simple, ordinary energy cannot dissolve it..." The young man was surprised and at the same time pleased: "If I can obtain this energy...!"


    He was interrupted in his thoughts as he felt a slight tremor under his feet. The young man frowned and jumped up,nding gently on the top of a tree without damaging the branch.


    His piercing gaze, filled with coldness, was fixed on a creature that looked angry.


    "What the hell? A scorpion?" the young man could not help but be surprised: "Around it, there is such dense devilish Qi. The level of cultivation of this scorpion reaches Soul Integration, somewhere around the third stage... how surprising."


    Xie Qing raised an eyebrow. Such a monster in the outside world would cause a lot of trouble, but here it was – casually walking around, even attacking people.


    The young man did not dy and entered the battle. One wave of his hand made the scorpion''s body contract, and then a terrifying gust ofpressed wind shattered the poor creature''s body into a mess.


    Spiritual Enlightenment – the true line and entry into the category of the strongest in the mortal world. Any levels of cultivation below this could only be considered weaklings, unworthy of attention.


    It was all because of Superior Qi! Surpassing ordinary Qi, it was much more terrifying, more oppressive, and stronger!


    The young man smiled contentedly and jumped down from the tree. He even felt a bit embarrassed about his exaggerated reaction, but there was nothing else he could do. Being in the enemy''sir, every suspicious movement made the young man wary.


    Soon, the remnants of the scorpion were swept away by the wind, and the young man continued his study of this mysterious energy.


    ***


    Ordinary sight could not perceive the energy. The same was true for what Xie Qing had found. Only spiritual sense gave a slight impression of what this new energy was like.


    "Dense, even denser than Qi, possessing pressure and... hmm... having a golden hue?"


    This was very unusual. Normally, any energy was colorless, including Qi (referring to the ordinary kind that permeates the air and the ground), so the golden hue was something extremely unusual.


    Moreover, for some reason, the young man''s blood trembled as if in excitement. He squinted.


    "My bloodline belongs to the Golden Dragon, but my blood contains only a small part of it. And it is this part that reacts to this energy!" Xie Qing was surprised by his own discovery: "This energy... is it rted to dragons? Seriously?"


    Any mention of dragons, no matter how small, always caused chaos. If someone found out that such unusual energy was flowing in this ce… I fear disorder would be inevitable.


    What was even more shocking was that the young man could absorb this energy. And the result was evident!


    Whoosh…


    A whirlwind of Qi appeared around Xie Qing. Initially, his brows were furrowed, and his expression was extremely serious. But as soon as the wind stopped, his brows rxed, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.


    ''Yes! Third stage of Spiritual Ascension!'' he said with a hint of excitement.


    Da fuck? He really broke through! What the hell!


    At the moment the young man absorbed this mysterious energy, his dragon blood trembled and then began to grow rapidly!


    Beep!


    [Golden Dragon Bloodline: 3%]