Chapter 163: Foundation Establishment Great Beast and the First Formation of the Spiritual Body

The massive body of the Blackwater Crocodile slowly crawled out of the cave.

It looked up at the thunderclouds above, then toward Qin Ming's direction, its gaze more resolute than ever before.

Boom! After long preparation, the first violet lightning of the tribulation crashed down.

The next instant.

Electric sparks flared across the Blackwater Crocodile's scaled back, then violet arcs leapt all around its body.

This was its bloodline talent awakened after ascending to the second rank.

"It's a rare Lightning-affinity talent!" Qin Ming exclaimed, then felt a surge of joy.

The violet tribulation lightning vanished in an instant, striking the Blackwater Crocodile—but was absorbed by its own arcs, barely repelling the blow.

Next came the second violet tribulation, stronger than the first.

Boom! Crack! This time, the Blackwater Crocodile directly used its tough hide and armored scales to endure the strike head-on.

Yet it was clearly in pain, letting out a low, pained roar.

The third tribulation. The fourth. The fifth. …

Qin Ming, watching from the side, was deeply alarmed.

Fortunately, the Blackwater Crocodile possessed formidable armor and thick skin; otherwise, such a continuous barrage of tribulation strikes would have crushed most ordinary beasts.

The ninth tribulation gathered in the sky, then crashed down.

Boom-crack! This tribulation's power was clearly the greatest of all—the lightning itself turned purple-gold, radiating terrifying heavenly might!

Seeing this, Qin Ming couldn't help but hold his breath for the Blackwater Crocodile.

The golden tribulation suddenly slammed toward the Blackwater Crocodile—just then.

The electric sparks on the Blackwater Crocodile's back merged into a single radiant field; it lifted its massive head, opened its gaping maw, and a blinding violet lightning ball gathered within. Boom! The Blackwater Crocodile unleashed its bloodline talent, spewing a thick bolt of lightning to meet the golden tribulation.

Boom! Crackling!

Instantly, above Moonwatch Island, the two lightning bolts collided, exploding into a blinding light cluster.

Countless fine arcs swept across the sky above Moonwatch Island.

All beasts within a ten-li radius of Moonwatch Lake trembled in fear, staring at the colliding thunder with wide, terrified eyes.

The Wu family's spirit farmers below the island also wore expressions of utter shock.

Wu Jiang had only heard tales from elders—he'd never seen it himself—and this was his first time witnessing a beast crossing the tribulation.

He never imagined the spectacle would be so immense!

A few seconds later.

The ninth tribulation was weathered—the storm clouds above dispersed.

The Blackwater Crocodile had successfully crossed the tribulation, officially ascending to a second-rank Foundation Establishment beast.

Its aura became ferociously potent, its body swelling to over ten zhang in size.

Qin Ming couldn't help but marvel—truly, a Grade Earth bloodline talent! Already so powerful upon breakthrough! From now on, with such a Foundation Establishment beast guarding Moonwatch Island, Qin Ming felt considerably more at ease.

After completing its breakthrough, the Blackwater Crocodile wore an ecstatic expression; it shrank slightly in size, swaying its head as it approached Qin Ming, proudly showing off.

"Good, good! You haven't wasted all my hard work raising you," Qin Ming said, patting its massive head.

Then.

Qin Ming tossed it another Nieling Pill to help stabilize its new realm.

Having done that.

Qin Ming walked over to the Evergreen Vine, gazing at the frost-bee hive, and found the six-winged Frost Bee Queen had failed her breakthrough.

Yet her aura had grown significantly.

She still lacked the necessary trigger to ascend to a second-rank great beast.

This was normal—after all, frost bees' bloodline talent was far inferior to the Blackwater Crocodile's; they had evolved from lowly, unranked bees, inching forward thanks to this Evergreen Vine.

To have achieved such progress was already remarkable.

Qin Ming pondered, guessing further Nieling Pills would do little good.

He could only wait and see if another opportunity arose for her breakthrough.

Then.

Qin Ming pulled out the four blood pearls formed by Foundation Establishment cultivators from his storage bag.

Two from mid-Foundation Establishment, two from early-Foundation Establishment.

The moment he took them out.

His lifeblood plant, the Evergreen Vine, stirred violently—as if a shark had smelled blood, thrumming with excitement.

Qin Ming smiled faintly and tossed all the blood pearls toward the Evergreen Vine.

Countless black vines surged upward, wrapping the pearls and frantically absorbing their blood essence and soul cores.

Whirring—purple runes drifted around the Evergreen Vine, releasing an endless, vibrant life force.

Even the newly ascended second-rank Foundation Establishment Blackwater Crocodile crept quietly back to Qin Ming's side.

After absorbing the four blood pearls, the Evergreen Vine began growing again, sprouting dozens of skull-shaped flower buds along its vines.

Qin Ming's vision immediately flickered with three golden terms:

【Name】: Evergreen Vine 【Term】: Weak Lifespan ×5 (Maturity 1%)

【Name】: Evergreen Vine 【Term】: Space-Time Leaf ×5 (Maturity 1%)

【Name】: Evergreen Vine 【Term】: Potent Purity ×5 (Maturity 1%)

【Potent Purity】: Further purifies a cultivator's magic power, making it more refined and accelerating the efficiency of magic power liquefaction.

Qin Ming stared at the terms, his eyes gleaming!

It was a term that purified Foundation Establishment magic power and accelerated liquefaction!

After all, among cultivators, the more refined one's magic power, the greater the power of their spells—and the greater the aid to realm breakthroughs.

Clearly, the Evergreen Vine understood him. Immediately,

The Evergreen Vine emitted an even denser essence of plant energy and temporal force, flooding into Qin Ming's body.

Qin Ming immediately activated the Ancient Wood Eternal Life Technique, cultivating the Ancient Wood Evergreen Body as prescribed.

The green rune on his forehead flew out, forming a green spectral shadow behind him.

As the technique flowed, the spectral form of the Supreme Wood Body changed again.

Slowly, it transformed from Qin Ming's likeness into the shape of the Evergreen Vine, its color shifting from green to silver.

A miniature silver Evergreen Vine replaced the Supreme Wood Body, appearing behind Qin Ming.

Qin Ming's spiritual body had advanced from the Supreme Wood Body to the Ancient Wood Evergreen Body.

In an instant,

Qin Ming himself seemed to become an eternal ancient tree, standing tall and unyielding through ages and seas.

The silver Evergreen Vine shadow suddenly erupted in silver light, forming a silver rune that flew into Qin Ming's forehead.

Two hours later.

Qin Ming finally emerged from his cultivation state.

Thus, his Ancient Wood Evergreen Body had reached the entry stage.

Currently, the silver rune was still incomplete—only a prototype had formed.

When the silver rune was fully drawn in the future,

That would be the day Qin Ming perfected the Ancient Wood Evergreen Body.

Now, the Ancient Wood Evergreen Body was only at the entry stage.

Deep within, Qin Ming could sense his understanding of wood-element spells and the efficiency of spiritual energy transforming into magic power had noticeably improved beyond the Supreme Wood Body.

"So these Foundation Establishment blood pearls truly are excellent nourishment for this Evergreen Vine!" Qin Ming mused, stroking his chin.

The initial attainment of the Ancient Wood Evergreen Body marked another step forward on Qin Ming's path toward the Golden Core.

…

In the days that followed,

Qin Ming continued primarily cultivating the Ancient Wood Eternal Life Technique; his refined magic power steadily liquefied and accumulated, gradually expanding from a small pool into a pond.

In his spare time, he revived the Dragon Blood Divine Wood using the 【Regenerative Spirit Seed】 term.

He planted it near his cave.

But this spirit plant was overly delicate, requiring an extremely favorable spiritual vein environment—its current second-rank middle-grade spiritual vein was far from sufficient.

He could barely keep it alive.

Spring passed, autumn came, time turned.

A year slipped away in an instant.

Qin Ming resumed his farming life, and besides that, studied elixir formulas and learned to brew new pills.

He could now skillfully brew the Bi Ning Pill, Huang Long Pill, and Gu Yuan Pill—all used to enhance early-Foundation Establishment cultivation.

During this time, one event occurred.

And it surprised Qin Ming greatly.

That was, the Qingxia Immortal, Mo Lingwei from Qingxiadao, had come to visit him.

He didn't know how she'd obtained the information, but within just two years, Mo Lingwei had gathered all the spirit materials needed to brew a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Even the Jade Marrow Fungus, monopolized by major sects and powers, she'd acquired two portions.

And they were three-hundred-year-old Jade Marrow Fungus.

Qin Ming recalled how he'd strained his wits just to obtain one inferior specimen from Shen Yuanxiong.

It seems this woman truly possesses immense fortune.

She had heard Qin Ming's words and, along with several other cultivators, pooled resources to collectively fund the refining of an elixir.

When Qin Ming originally exchanged the Mist Illusion Mushroom spirit seed and the third-rank Spirit Herbalist inheritance with her, he had promised her one condition: to freely refine a single Foundation Establishment elixir for her.

She had come now to claim that promise.

Since Qin Ming had made the promise, he naturally kept his word and would not break it.

In front of Mo Lingwei and the others, he refined several batches of Foundation Establishment elixirs using the spirit materials they had gathered.

For Qin Ming, refining Foundation Establishment elixirs now was effortless—almost no difficulty at all.

Qin Ming made no effort to hide his methods, for even if they witnessed his unique refining technique, they could never learn it.

Thus, Mo Lingwei and the others were fortunate enough to witness Qin Ming's miraculous refining artistry.

In the end, under Qin Ming's "deliberate" flame control, three elixirs were produced—all of ordinary quality.

He had originally planned to refine only two, but after the Soul-Devouring Poison Flame devoured the Asura Demon Flame from the black-robed cultivator, it underwent a tremendous transformation and ascended to second-rank middle-grade spiritual flame.

Qin Ming had not yet adjusted to its new state, and his flame control still followed his old habits.

This resulted in three Foundation Establishment elixirs being refined outright.

Mo Lingwei and the others were ecstatic on the spot, nearly bowing to Qin Ming in gratitude.

The anxiety they had been carrying dissolved at once.

Mo Lingwei's original expectations had not been nearly so high.

Qin Ming had thus fulfilled his earlier promise, and from now on, he owed Mo Lingwei nothing, and she owed him nothing.

As for how to divide the three Foundation Establishment elixirs, that was their own matter.

After receiving the Foundation Establishment elixirs, Mo Lingwei and the others hastily took their leave of Qin Ming.

……

(End of Chapter)