Chapter 222: Profound Yin Nether Stone

A massive blood-colored fist shadow instantly locked onto all of Chu Tianhe's vital energy.

It radiated a pressure that made his heart tremble with fear.

Even his most proud Shock of Awakening sword intent could not withstand a single strike from the blood-colored demonic ape, disintegrating in an instant within its grasp.

What sort of terrifying body-refining technique is this?

The cultivating onlookers were also left dumbfounded by Qin Ming's strike.

They scrambled to dodge and flee; anyone caught in the aftermath would either die or lose half their life.

Before the blood-colored fist shadow the size of a mountain range, Chu Tianhe was no bigger than an ant.

Boom! As the fist shadow fell, a violent collision erupted atop the mountain peak.

A ring of powerful shockwaves spread outward in all directions.

The dust settled, and when everyone came to their senses.

They discovered that the earth-shaking punch launched by the bearded giant, Daoist Long, had been easily blocked by True Person Nalan Xi using a golden pagoda.

"Junior Friend Long, victory and defeat are decided; let us stop here."

Nalan Xi was also greatly surprised; she had not expected Daoist Long's strength to be so formidable that even Chu Tianhe was no match for him.

Originally, she had intended to rescue 'Daoist Long,' but unexpectedly the situation took a sharp turn, becoming a rescue of Chu Tianhe instead. Just as he himself had said, he acted without knowing his own strength; he truly was a reckless brute. If that fist had landed on Chu Tianhe, he would likely have been crippled if not killed.

Qin Ming withdrew the blood and qi true armor from his body, leaped down, and cupped his fists toward Chu Tianhe opposite him, saying, "I stand corrected!"

Chu Tianhe's face flushed red then turned pale; he knew clearly that without True Person Nalan Xi helping him neutralize the attack, he absolutely could not have withstood that domineering fist.

He had originally thought that with his great advancement in sword path divine abilities, he could uphold the sect's face and, incidentally, gain a second-stage perfect demon core for free.

But who could have expected Daoist Long's body-refining technique to be so terrifying, actually capable of crushing his sword techniques with bare hands?

Is this damn thing even human? "Cough! Daoist Long, your divine abilities are truly formidable; this old man admits defeat!"

Anyone with eyes could see who was stronger and who was weaker; Chu Tianhe straightforwardly admitted defeat without stubbornly insisting otherwise.

The other four Jin Dan Laozu also looked at 'Daoist Long' with expressions of great surprise.

Furthermore.

Qin Ming had just exchanged a move with True Person Nalan Xi of the Canghai Sect, yet he found the gap between himself and a Jin Dan stage Laozu was still quite large.

Between the Jin Dan stage and the Foundation Establishment stage lies a chasm; they are two different kinds of power. No matter how strong a Foundation Establishment cultivator is, they amount to nothing before a Jin Dan Laozu.

Although a False Dan Laozu can unleash a fraction of a Jin Dan's power, they are still far from being on the same level.

Unless Qin Ming can completely master the third transformation of True Armor Manifestation and achieve a qualitative breakthrough in his physical body, he will still not be a match for a Jin Dan Laozu.

At this moment.

Whoa! The surrounding cultivators also burst into exclamations of shock.

"Unbelievable! Daoist Long actually defeated the False Dan Laozu of Spirit Sword Mountain!"

"Too strong! Catching a spiritual artifact with bare hands—is this what a body cultivator is??"

"After this battle, Daoist Long will surely change the Foundation Establishment rankings of the State of Wei."

"Correct, Ancestor Chu is no ordinary False Dan; being able to defeat him means Daoist Long can certainly surpass Gu Tongshan, ranked second, as well as Xiang Zehao of the Shennong Sect, ranked first."

"Who would have thought! Victory decided in a single move; Daoist Long's strength is evident."

"This is the first time I've seen such monstrous blood and qi power from a cultivator!"

"The name of Daoist Long will likely resound throughout the Immortal Realm of the State of Wei again; no, perhaps the other three states will also learn of his great name, hahaha!"

The surrounding cultivators discussed excitedly, but under True Person Canghai's order, they dared not linger and quickly dispersed.

Chu Tianhe wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, swallowed a pill, and his complexion recovered considerably.

Then, with a rather awkward expression on his face, he said to Qin Ming, "Daoist Long, could you return the Rainbow Sword to this old man?"

"Oh? Does this not count as my spoils of war?" Qin Ming, disguised as Daoist Long, asked back in a muffled voice.

"Before the duel began, wasn't it agreed that some extra stakes would be added?"

Chu Tianhe paused for a moment, then hurriedly said, "This sword is one of the twelve famous swords of our sect; this old man cannot use it as a wager!" Qin Ming pondered for a moment and asked, "Then what will Senior Chu use to exchange for the spiritual sword?"

Hearing this, Chu Tianhe gave a bitter smile, took several items out of his storage bag, and displayed them before Qin Ming, saying:

"Daoist Long may choose any one of these items; none are inferior to that second-stage perfect demon core. See if any catch your fancy."

Qin Ming immediately fixed his gaze upon them; every item Chu Tianhe listed was a rare treasure hard to come by in the Immortal Realm.

There were second-stage high-grade spiritual pills, top-tier cultivation techniques, and second-stage supreme-grade spiritual materials.

Looking at these items, Qin Ming momentarily found himself unable to decide.

"Choose that black ore."

Just then, the Shi Tian Shu inside the spirit beast bag transmitted a voice to Qin Ming.

Hearing this, Qin Ming hesitated no longer; he reached out and grabbed, pulling a piece of black ore from among the many items into his hand.

"Uh, he actually chose that second-stage Profound Yin Nether Stone." Chu Tianhe had originally prepared to bleed heavily, but unexpectedly, another scene unfolded that surpassed his expectations.

This made his originally low spirits improve slightly.

Subsequently, Qin Ming took out that supreme-grade spiritual artifact, the 'Rainbow Sword,' from his storage bag, gently stroked the sword body to examine it carefully, and said with slight reluctance, "Truly a fine sword!"

However, he could not possibly covet Spirit Sword Mountain's sect-treasure under the watchful eyes of everyone; thus, he tossed the Rainbow Sword back to Chu Tianhe.

Immediately after, he secretly transmitted a voice to ask the Shi Tian Shu, "Why did you have me choose that black stone? It looks quite ordinary."

The Shi Tian Shu chuckled and said, "That black stone is naturally just an ordinary object, but it hides a mystery within; it is inconvenient to examine it here. Once Master finds a place to investigate, you will know."

"I sensed something good hidden inside the ore, but as to exactly what it is, I cannot see clearly myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Mm-hmm! Absolutely certain!"

Hearing the Shi Tian Shu speak so, Qin Ming set his mind at ease; with its innate treasure-finding divine ability, it surely would not make a misjudgment.

Next.

With this, the turmoil came to an end; after bidding farewell to True Person Nalan Xi, Daoist Long departed from Canghai Peak.

This time, Lingjian Mountain of the Jin Kingdom not only failed to save face but suffered a complete loss of dignity.

Only one day after this incident, Guan Mo, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from Lingjian Mountain, brought his disciples to the inn where Qin Ming was staying to offer apologies.

"Fellow Daoist Long, I was in the wrong before; I hope your lordship will not hold my petty faults against me!"

After returning, Guan Mo was severely reprimanded by his own sect's Elder Yunxi, who vented all his anger over losing to Qin Ming upon him.

At this moment, he deeply regretted his actions. 'It's just a fragment of a magical treasure, not an actual magical treasure!'

Qin Ming did not make things difficult for Guan Mo and casually dismissed him.

Inside a room at the inn.

Qin Ming raised his hand to set up an isolation array, then took out that piece of Profound Yin Nether Stone.

It was only after consulting various records that Qin Ming learned this ore was a grade-two upper-tier Profound Yin Nether Stone spiritual mineral.

It could be used to refine upper-tier spiritual artifacts of the Yin attribute, though this piece was clearly insufficient in quantity.

He released his divine sense to probe the interior of the ore, only to discover that this spiritual mineral possessed a Profound Yin power capable of absorbing his released divine sense, making it impossible to see the specific conditions inside.

"Eh?!"

"If there's nothing inside, I'll punish you by making you farm the land for ten years."

Thus, Qin Ming's gaze hardened; he suddenly exerted force with a grip of his hand, instantly turning the entire Profound Yin Nether Stone into a pile of black powder.

In an instant! A beam of black light dropped out from within it.

With eyes sharp as torches, Qin Ming quickly raised his hand and beckoned, drawing that black light almost immediately into his palm.

Focusing his sight, he saw a pitch-black fruit pit lying in his palm, emitting a chill of extreme Yin power.

(End of Chapter)