Chapter 567: The News of Elder Cold Crow and an Encounter on the Road

Time passed, and three years slipped away quietly.

Within the Small Spirit Realm, Qin Ming sat cross-legged beneath his life-spirit plant, the Yin-Yang Mystic Vine, in seclusion for cultivation.

No matter how chaotic the wars raged outside, he remained as steady as an old dog, untouched by any external disturbance.

The cultivation of the Green Emperor Scripture proceeded steadily, nearing its tenth level.

Though the cultivation of the Green Emperor Wood Sovereign Body advanced at an excruciatingly slow pace, it was still progressing.

Qin Ming resembled an evergreen ancient tree, enduring eons, with a continuous flow of verdant plant essence pouring from his life-spirit plant into his body.

The power of his flawless Golden Core had grown even purer and clearer, and the core itself had expanded another full circle in size.

"The Golden Core's perfection is near."

Qin Ming was satisfied with this pace of cultivation; for an ordinary cultivator, this stage brimmed with bottlenecks, and every tiny increase in Golden Core power was excruciatingly difficult.

It required years of grinding, mere water-dripping patience.

Yet through his relentless effort, aided slightly by entries and elixirs,

he was finally reaching the final step of the Golden Core realm.

After cultivation ended, Qin Ming slowly opened his ink-black eyes, his body enveloped in an aura of ancient plant energy.

He then gazed at his life-spirit plant, the Yin-Yang Mystic Vine, whose entries were now ready for harvest.

【Name】: Yin-Yang Mystic Vine 【Entries】: Abundant Lifespan ×5 (Maturity 100%, Harvestable) 【Name】: Yin-Yang Mystic Vine 【Entries】: Space-Time Leaf ×5 (Maturity 100%, Harvestable) 【Name】: Yin-Yang Mystic Vine 【Entries】: Potent Purity ×5 (Maturity 100%, Harvestable) Instantly, he gestured, harvesting dozens of demonic fruits from the tree.

In an instant,

Three blue entries leaves appeared within his spiritual sense.

Qin Ming immediately consumed the 【Abundant Lifespan】 and 【Potent Purity】 entries.

Somewhere beyond, a vast force of temporal energy descended upon him.

His original lifespan of two thousand six hundred years surged instantly to two thousand eight hundred and fifty years.

Such an extraordinarily long lifespan even surpassed that of some Nascent Soul late-stage elders.

The Golden Core power within Qin Ming also became even purer and more seamless, his spellcasting smoother and more fluid.

Not only was his quantity immense, but his quality now dominated utterly.

His current magical power strength had already surpassed that of ordinary Golden Core perfection cultivators.

Meanwhile,

Over the past three years, Qin Ming had planted every cultivable alchemical herb he collected into the Small Spirit Realm's herb fields.

Once the remaining ingredients were gathered, he could begin preparing for elixir refining.

The herbs required for refining Nascent Soul Elixir and Ice-Heart Jade Soul Elixir demanded extremely high maturity years, but fortunately, Qin Ming now stored many 【Space-Time Leaf】 entries in his spiritual sense.

These would be sufficient to accelerate the growth of these herbs.

He also used his spiritual sense to check the "Demon Flame Wine" stored beneath the Yin-Yang Mystic Vine—the spiritual energy had grown denser.

Another six years, and he could uncork it to drink—just as he broke through to Golden Core perfection.

Afterwards,

Qin Ming exited the Small Spirit Realm and stepped into the outer herb fields.

He glanced at the ten acres of premium herb fields outside, lush and verdant.

Three golden entries shimmered into view.

【Name】: Heaven-Ro Fruit 【Entries】: Magic Power Source ×5 (Maturity 60%) 【Name】: Heaven-Ro Fruit 【Entries】: Blood Qi Source ×5 (Maturity 62%) 【Name】: Heaven-Ro Fruit 【Entries】: Regenerative Spirit Seed ×5 (Maturity 64%) The third-rank superior herb, Heaven-Ro Fruit, was estimated to mature and be harvestable in another two years.

Once processed into Heaven-Ro Powder, it could be sold for a massive profit.

For the past three years, as the war dragged on, demand for healing herbs in the outside world had steadily increased.

Especially rare life-saving medicines—supply could never meet demand, often fetching prices with no available stock.

Qin Ming cast the Great Five Elements Spell over the ten-acre field, summoning spiritual rain; the Heaven-Ro Fruit's growth became even more vigorous.

He closed his eyes and sensed their growth through his plant affinity, confirming every herb had reached optimal condition.

Qin Ming nodded in satisfaction at the herbs, then walked outward.

Passing the herb field overseen by Li Lan, he saw over a hundred acres of third-rank Jade Emperor Spirit Rice, now three feet tall.

These emerald-green plants grew like bamboo shoots after rain, relentlessly upward.

At a glance, they resembled a vast field of fresh green bamboo sprouts just breaking through soil.

Li Lan, under the blazing sun, moved like an old farmer, carefully clearing weeds from the spirit rice field.

Fortunately, he was at Foundation Establishment late-stage; otherwise, tending a hundred acres of third-rank spirit rice would have been overwhelming.

After all, daily spiritual rain spells were indispensable.

Since Li Lan was planting third-rank Jade Emperor Spirit Rice for the first time, and its upkeep was notoriously difficult,

Qin Ming had assumed that even if Li Lan succeeded, the yield would be modest.

Yet who could have guessed—Li Lan's talent for plant cultivation had surpassed Qin Ming's expectations, compounded by the cultivation knowledge Qin Ming had imparted.

Now, over a hundred acres of spirit rice were meticulously tended, and the harvest yield would not be low.

It might well deliver a pleasant surprise.

"Master Lu, you've arrived."

Seeing Qin Ming approach, Li Lan immediately set down his tools and bowed in greeting.

"Hmm, you're doing quite well. I didn't expect the survival rate to be this high."

"Looks like I underestimated you," Qin Ming said, adopting an air of serene wisdom.

Li Lan hurried to reply: "It's all thanks to Master Lu's guidance—without you, I would never have achieved this."

"I will never let you down."

"Hmm, as long as you have this heart, that's enough," Qin Ming patted his shoulder. "Alright, I'm just taking a casual look—carry on."

"By the way, those dozen or so Jade Emperor Spirit Rice plants in the right corner of the field—they've developed mutated insect disease. How to treat them? I don't need to teach you, do I?"

Li Lan froze, then bowed deeply. "Ah? Thank you, Master Lu, for the reminder!"

"I'll attend to them at once."

After Qin Ming left, Li Lan walked to the spot Qin Ming had indicated and carefully examined those few plants.

Yet after hours of close inspection, he saw no trace of mutated insect disease.

Only when he recalled Qin Ming's plant cultivation notes and flipped through them did he finally spot, on the undersides of a few leaves, faint green threads as thin as spider silk.

These threads blended perfectly with the plant's natural veins—unless observed with extreme care, they were invisible.

"To identify a diseased plant among tens of thousands, in mere moments…"

"Just this skill alone—Master Lu's expertise in plant cultivation must have reached an extraordinary level."

Li Lan was utterly humbled; he knew he could never achieve this, even after decades of study.

This was no longer mere plant cultivation—it was the legendary ability to commune with plants, achieving astonishing plant-spirit resonance.

…

Qin Ming left the herb fields and returned to the Five Elements Mountain Bazaar to gather news.

Though he now had Hua Tianxiong collecting herbs and intelligence for him, he still occasionally visited the bazaar himself during breaks from cultivation.

The Five Elements Mountain Bazaar still carried abundant information.

Due to its strategic location and the presence of countless intelligence networks, any ripple in the cultivation world quickly surfaced here.

Moreover, Qin Ming vaguely suspected the current situation was intricately tied to the secret realm discovered at Divine Dao Mountain.

Though this news had not leaked out yet, over the past few years, the number of cultivators arriving at Five Elements Mountain had clearly increased.

Many unfamiliar faces had appeared.

Qin Ming even suspected that the Blood Refining Demon Sect cultivators who had descended from the Blood Realm might have already infiltrated and hidden here.

After all, over three years, the Zhou Dynasty's cultivation world had collapsed like a mountain falling, utterly conquered by the Li Dynasty's demonic sects.

And the Nascent Soul True Person of the Xuanqing Temple, Elder Cold Crow, had fled without a fight—despised by all, forever branded on the pillar of historical shame, reviled by countless others. A Nascent Soul cultivator, his reputation ruined to such an extent—unprecedented.

On this day, Qin Ming met Han Yuan and the other two at the Wind Riding Pavilion for a small gathering, to gather information.

The group ascended to a private room on the third floor, drinking and eating.

"Master Lu, you're truly a busy man—only now do you remember us three after so long."

Liu Ye smiled as she poured wine for Qin Ming.

"Just busy, just busy," Qin Ming replied modestly.

"Look at you, Master Lu, being humble again."

"Who doesn't know that Master Lu's Mirror Snow Pavilion is now renowned throughout the Ten Thousand Dao Alliance?"

"I still recall vividly the scene when Master Lu and we all sailed together from the Southern Wastes to Da Jin."

"Yet in just a few years, Master Lu transformed Mirror Snow Pavilion from an obscure small shop in the Southern Frontier into a household name."

"Such vision and audacity truly leaves us ashamed!"

Han Yuan sighed in admiration.

After three rounds of wine,

the conversation turned to the current state of the cultivation world.

Han Yuan first cast a soundproofing barrier around the room, his expression grave.

"Master Lu, do you know why the Zhou Dynasty collapsed so swiftly?"

"Isn't it because of the Blood Refining Demon Sect from the Blood Realm, and Elder Cold Crow's cowardly flight?" Qin Ming asked, slightly puzzled.

"Alas! Master Lu, you know only half the story."

"New intelligence has just reached us from Elder Jin Han of the Alliance's upper echelons."

The true situation inside was not as the outside rumors claimed.

It is said that at the time, the Cold Crow Elder of Xuanqing Monastery did not flee without a fight, but first engaged in a fierce battle with the Blood Refining Devil Sect.

Only a handful of cultivators had witnessed that battle firsthand.

Elder Jin Han said that during that battle, the Cold Crow Elder was defeated and fled, which led to the entire Xuanqing Monastery abandoning its sect.

Hearing this, Qin Ming asked with slight surprise: "What? Such a thing happened? Even the Nascent Soul-level Cold Crow Elder was no match for them?"

"Then does that mean the Blood Refining Devil Sect's methods are truly terrifying?"

"Precisely. Rumors say that among the Blood Refining Devil Sect's forces that descended, there are two powerful Devil Sect Holy Sons and Holy Daughters, whose cultivation techniques and divine powers are bizarre and unfathomable—possibly even surpassing those of Nascent Soul experts."

"The Cold Crow Elder likely lost to these two."

"Fortunately, though badly wounded, the Cold Crow Elder took with him all of Xuanqing Monastery's ancestral treasures before fleeing, leaving the devil cultivators empty-handed."

"I heard Elder Jin Han say that right now, the Blood Refining Devil Sect's devils are searching everywhere for the Cold Crow Elder's whereabouts."

"Yet he has vanished as if he never existed, leaving the devil path with no recourse."

"If you ask me, the Cold Crow Elder is truly a man of great wisdom disguised as foolishness!"

"If he had truly fought the devil path head-on, the end result would likely have been his death and the destruction of his Dao—while also handing over Xuanqing Monastery's accumulated ancestral treasures as a gift to others."

After listening to Han Yuan's words, Qin Ming nodded, his mind deep in thought.

"If you speak of true suffering, it's the low-level cultivators of the Great Zhou. Over the past three years, numerous clans and immortal cities have fallen completely, countless cultivators sacrificed as blood offerings to become the souls of the devil sect's demonic weapons."

"Had the Dao-Defending Alliance not begun sending reinforcements, the Great Zhou would likely no longer exist today."

Gao Feng added from beside them.

"Yet this invasion of the Great Zhou by the devil path has also produced several infamous and ruthless figures."

"For example, Li Haoran, patriarch of the Li family of Immortal Tomb Mountain. With his late-stage Golden Core cultivation, his Confucian-secret techniques are especially effective against devils—he once single-handedly slaughtered a late-stage Golden Core elder from the Yin Devil Sect."

"This incident greatly boosted the morale of the Great Zhou's cultivators."

"The Li family was subsequently invited to join the Dao-Defending Alliance, and Li Haoran is said to have been personally summoned and instructed by Li Huo Shangren, who bestowed upon him a great treasure on the spot—truly envious to behold."

Qin Ming silently absorbed this information—he had not expected so much to have occurred during his brief seclusion.

Having gathered enough information, he bid farewell to the three, then wandered through the marketplace once more, purchasing some spirit materials.

After leaving the Five Elements Mountain marketplace, he made no further stops, preparing to return to his spirit fields.

But halfway there, he saw a dark golden dragon-patterned carriage flying toward him—its body was half-open, with only a canopy for shade.

Inside sat three young cultivators clad in black dark robes, radiating the spiritual power aura of mid- to late-stage Foundation Establishment.

Yet Qin Ming merely glanced from afar—and immediately his heart tightened! His spiritual sense, comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, far surpassed ordinary cultivators.

Such concealment techniques were utterly useless before him.

Qin Ming took one look and realized all three were hiding their true cultivation levels.

He then secretly activated his Breakthrough Repeating Eyes—and the conclusion he reached left him deeply unsettled.

'Three Golden Core devil cultivators!'

'Didn't expect them to have reached this far.'

Qin Ming was currently using the True Devil Illusion to disguise himself as Master Lu, suppressing his cultivation to late-stage Foundation Establishment.

Thus, he feigned ignorance and prepared to pass by them.

Suddenly—

The dark-gold carriage halted abruptly, blocking Qin Ming's path.

"Greetings, fellow cultivator."

"Could you tell me if the Five Elements Mountain marketplace is nearby?"

The slender youth seated on the far left suddenly bowed to Qin Ming and asked.

His face bore a smile, utterly harmless in appearance.

Qin Ming returned the bow, pointing northwest, his expression calm as he replied: "Travel another thousand li in that direction, and you'll reach it."

"Thank you!" the slender dark-robed cultivator smiled, then turned to the middle, burly cultivator. "Brother Chou, after such a long journey, we're finally here."

Qin Ming had no desire to get involved. He bowed again. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

"Hmm." The burly man's gaze was cold; he merely gave a lukewarm nod.

Qin Ming immediately transformed into a streak of green light and departed without looking back, vanishing instantly into the horizon.

Moments after Qin Ming left—

The slender cultivator's face suddenly twisted into a sinister grin. "Brother Chou, why didn't you kill that kid just now?"

"We could have used soul-searching on him—might have gleaned some useful information."

"We're close to the marketplace now, and there are too many eyes around. Be more discreet. Don't forget our primary mission," Brother Chou replied with unshakable authority.

"Hehe! Brother Chou, your foresight is impeccable. Congratulations on obtaining the 'Ten-Thousand-Year Green Spirit Sap'—such a divine substance!"

"Who would have thought a minor family in the Great Zhou would harbor a fourth-rank spirit item?"

"By the way, Brother Chou—is the rumor true? Could the Cold Crow Elder have truly fled to the Great Jin?"

The slender cultivator first paid homage, then seemed to recall something.

"Brother Meng, this rumor came from several of our fellow disciples—how could it be false?"

"Hehehe! It's said that Sister Lan Bing was the one who struck him."

"Her 'Ice Soul Devil Light' technique has reached peak mastery—she nearly took half of the Cold Crow Elder's life."

"Had it not been for this, we'd still have been in the dark. Who knew that after years of seclusion, Sister Lan had mastered such an earth-shattering technique?"

"She'll likely surpass Master Jiang Yuan from now on."

The square-faced cultivator on the far right spoke with a hint of envy.

Thank you, Master Wang Xiu, for your 5000-coin donation! You've gone too far.

Thank you, all fellow cultivators, for your votes! (End of Chapter)