Chapter 213: Caught Red-Handed

Thieves had struck the Lingdao, yet Qin Ming found himself utterly helpless against this scoundrel, a fact that filled him with deep frustration.

He carefully inspected the third-tier Profound Turtle Overturning Sea Great Formation, finding no flaws or abnormalities whatsoever.

"This is truly strange."

Next.

Qin Ming accelerated the ripening process, causing all remaining spiritual peaches on the five Five-Elements Primordial Peach Trees to mature, and swiftly harvested them.

Immediately afterward, two blue trait leaves appeared instantly within Qin Ming's sea of consciousness.

"Originally, I could have harvested over twenty spiritual peaches; alas, ten were stolen and eaten by the peach thief, truly detestable." Qin Ming stored the spiritual peaches in hand, then tossed one to the Profound Water Crocodile to extend its lifespan as well.

With such a calamity plaguing the Lingdao, how could Qin Ming sleep? He immediately resolved to exhaust every possible method to root out the peach-stealing thief.

Otherwise, his spiritual plants would inevitably suffer devastation.

"Since it managed to evade my divine sense, which rivals that of the Jin Dan realm, it certainly cannot be an ordinary beast."

"However, before that, I must first boost my strength."

Qin Ming ordered the Profound Water Crocodile to guard outside the cave dwelling, then moved his mind and consumed five 【Abundant Lifespan】 traits.

In the depths of fate.

A vast power of years suddenly descended upon Qin Ming.

Consequently, his lifespan increased by a full two hundred and fifty years in one breath, bringing his total life expectancy to eight hundred and sixty years.

It could be said to be extremely long, far exceeding the lifespan of a Jin Dan old ancestor.

Qin Ming grinned broadly, feeling the joy brought by the great increase in his life expectancy.

A moment later.

He then consumed the 【Source of Qi and Blood】 trait.

An unprecedentedly surging force of qi and blood erupted from within his body, flowing endlessly and scouring through his meridians and celestial cycle.

Qin Ming immediately struck while the iron was hot, beginning to cultivate the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra."

Two days later.

Behind Qin Ming, a brilliant blood light suddenly erupted! The blood-colored illusory figure of the Four-Armed Demon Ape appeared automatically; the mighty qi and blood true essence continuously condensed, the figure of the blood demon ape becoming increasingly clear, until gradually, a set of imposing precious armor appeared upon the demon ape, radiating domineering energy!

"The conditions for the third transformation of True Essence Manifestation have finally been met!"

At this moment, his physical body was strengthened once again, his power soaring violently, making him resemble a human-shaped primordial behemoth, invincible against all foes.

Next, Qin Ming took out that beast hide once more and injected his qi and blood true essence into it.

A moment later.

After reaching the cultivation conditions, the beast hide map lit up again with the Hundred Beasts Contemplation Diagrams of various demonic beasts.

Qin Ming immersed his mind and began selecting a demonic beast illusory figure.

Several breaths later.

He exited the Hundred Beasts Contemplation Diagram, but his expression turned somewhat ugly.

"To fully cultivate the third transformation of True Essence Manifestation, it actually requires refining the essence blood of three second-tier peak demonic beasts?"

"Isn't this difficulty far too great?"

Qin Ming immediately fell into worry; obtaining the essence blood of second-tier peak demonic beasts was no easy task.

Last time, he had barely managed to slay a second-tier peak Earth-Shaking Bear Demon, but he had already fed it to his innate spiritual plant to facilitate its advancement.

However, Qin Ming also learned from the Hundred Beasts Contemplation Diagram.

There was a reason why the third transformation of True Essence Manifestation was so difficult.

Because once the third transformation was completed, his body-refining technique would reach a realm comparable to the Jin Dan stage.

"It seems I can only plan slowly regarding the matter of demonic beast essence blood."

Cultivation ended.

Qin Ming was just preparing to go out for some fresh air.

Suddenly!

A commotion arose outside the cave dwelling, and he simultaneously received an urgent call from the Profound Water Crocodile in his mind.

Qin Ming's face changed! 'Could it be that the peach thief has come out again to commit crimes despite the danger?'

His figure instantly blurred, vanishing from his original spot.

When he reappeared, he had already followed the signal sent by the Profound Water Crocodile to arrive beneath his innate spiritual plant, the Yin-Yang Profound Vine.

But when Qin Ming saw the scene before him, he could not help but be greatly shocked.

"What a huge rat!"

On one of the black vines of the Yin-Yang Profound Vine hung a large gray-furred rat demon.

At this moment, it was firmly entangled by the Profound Vine; no matter how it struggled, it was to no avail, swinging like a pendulum beneath the tree, looking quite comical.

"Excellent! Finally caught!" Qin Ming's gaze was sharp; his divine sense swept over the rat demon, confirming that this beast was indeed the black shadow that had stolen the spiritual peach right under his nose that day.

It seemed this scoundrel had not reformed its thieving heart; after stealing the spiritual peaches, it now wanted to steal and eat the third-tier Spirit-Transforming Demon Fruit beneath the innate spiritual plant, only to be caught red-handed by the Yin-Yang Profound Vine.

However, the more Qin Ming looked at this rat demon, the more familiar it seemed.

As if he had seen it somewhere before... Suddenly, a flash of insight struck his mind! "This... this!"

"How can it look so similar to the third-tier Heaven-Devouring Rat Demon King that attacked Canghai Immortal City?!"

It was just that the gray rat demon before him now possessed only a first-tier late-stage cultivation base, equivalent to the Qi Condensation stage of the human race.

Even so, Qin Ming was still frightened into breaking out in a cold sweat; he dared not be careless and immediately took out the Green Phoenix Spiritual Sword.

Prepared to strike while it was weakened and take its life!

Regardless of whether it was a demon king, daring to swagger onto his Lingdao to steal and eat spiritual fruits was a heinous crime.

Qin Ming formed the Green Nether Sword Seal with his fingers and poured magic power into the Green Phoenix Sword without any reservation.

A streak of cyan sword Qi shot straight up into the sky!

It was about to slash down at that gray mouse demon.

But in this moment of life and death peril, that gray mouse demon actually spoke human words, hurriedly crying out in surrender: "Wait! Wait!"

"Stop! Stop quickly!"

"Fellow Daoist, this absolutely cannot be done! Show mercy!"

This was Qin Ming's first time hearing a beast speak; he couldn't help but pause for a moment, becoming even more certain that this creature was definitely that third-rank Demon King, and he solidified his resolve to kill it.

He paid no heed to the opponent's pleas for mercy; his gaze turned cold and fierce as he prepared to send it to its death with one sword strike.

'I just happen to lack demon beast essence blood for cultivation; who would have thought it would deliver itself right to my door.'

The cyan sword light in mid-air flared brilliantly, about to chop down squarely onto the mouse demon's head.

Seeing this, the gray mouse demon hanging upside down from the vines was instantly terrified out of its wits; it strained its voice and shouted loudly:

"Ah! I'm going to die!"

"Hold on, Big Brother, hold on!"

"Don't you want the subsequent cultivation method of the 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy'?"

Hearing this, Qin Ming furrowed his brows, withdrew the sword technique in his hand, and asked coldly: "What 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy'? What does that have to do with me?"

Seeing that Qin Ming had stopped, the mouse demon couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Just now, it had truly been scared until it peed itself.

That human youth opposite was truly the type to kill without a moment's hesitation.

It immediately asked in puzzlement: "Huh? It's the body-refining technique you were cultivating just now!"

"It is precisely our demon race's renowned 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy'; you've already cultivated it to the second realm, so how could you not know?"

"Speaking of which, you really are a freak!"

"Relying solely on a human body of flesh and blood, you could cultivate to such a state; it seems you are only one step away from breaking through to the third realm—the True Extreme Body."

Hearing the mouse demon say this, Qin Ming combined it with his various sensations from cultivating the 'Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra', as well as the fact that the seal script on the beast hide was not written in human characters, and concluded it was very likely exactly as the other party said.

Thinking to this point, Qin Ming's expression became extremely ugly; he hadn't expected that the body-refining technique he primarily cultivated was actually a demon race method, and he didn't know if something would go wrong.

After all, the physical body and meridian structure of demon beasts still differ from those of humans.

The gray mouse demon seemed to perceive Qin Ming's worry and immediately spoke: "Fellow Daoist, just put your mind completely at ease; since you have cultivated this 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy' and are still alive and kicking, that proves everything is fine."

Hearing this, Qin Ming felt both angry and amused.

"Who is your fellow Daoist?"

"You keep calling me 'Fellow Daoist'; speak, what is your background exactly?"

"If my deduction is correct, you should be that Shi Tian Shu Demon King who was severely injured by the joint attack of four Jin Dan experts, yes?"

"Qin Mou cultivates the human race method 'Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra', not the 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy' you speak of."

Exposed by Qin Ming in one stroke, the gray mouse demon was suddenly choked up.

Only then did it awkwardly chuckle "hehe," and without any attempt to hide, confessed: "Fellow Daoist is a brilliant strategist! This humble one, er, yes, it is indeed me, ai hehe!"

"That 'Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra' is simply the 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy'; the name is merely a disguise, otherwise how could I see your cultivation progress at a glance?"

"Oh~ so it truly is like that; however, Qin Mou has no intention of bargaining with a tiger for its skin; I might as well search your soul, perhaps there will be something I want there too." Qin Ming sneered, then prepared to act and perform a soul search on it.

He had been observing secretly for a while; it seemed this Shi Tian Shu Demon King, for some unknown reason, had suffered a plummet in cultivation, actually dropping to the level of the Qi Refining stage. Upon hearing this, the Shi Tian Shu Demon King instantly bristled with fury, wailing: "You kid have no martial ethics!"

"I'll tell you the truth! The 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy' is a top-tier demon race technique; even I haven't practiced it; only those of Wang Zu bloodline are qualified to cultivate it."

"However, I know how to obtain it."

"If you continue like this, this Grandpa is going to commit suicide, mind you, letting you never get it!"

(End of Chapter)