Chapter 617: Tremble, Earthlings!

"Awooo..."

A familiar, miserable howl once again echoed throughout the entire Underground Palace.

The moment the Dao Body triggered the collar, even though Er Gouzi had transformed into the Qilin Ancestor, he immediately fell flat on the ground.

However, Xu Que also realized that this fellow had only changed his appearance and increased his strength; his personality hadn't changed a bit—he was still the original Er Gouzi, all bark and no bite, acting tough with his mouth but cowardly as a dog in his heart.

"Awooo, it hurts, hurts, hurts! Brother Que, Brother Que, let go quickly!" Er Gouzi yielded, slapping the floor and screaming.

"Eh? Why did you change back? Still showing off? Still acting cool?" Xu Que asked with a beaming smile.

Er Gouzi made a tearful face, shook his head, and said, "I won't act cool anymore, I won't! Damn it, I drank a drop of Essence Blood, yet I still couldn't beat you."

As he finished speaking, a flash of spiritual light erupted from his body, followed by a wisp of red glow; immediately after, his figure rapidly shrank, suddenly reverting to his original glossy black-and-white fur, with a stupidly cute dog head, looking exactly like an enlarged version of a Husky.

"Essence Blood? What's going on?" Xu Que was stunned upon hearing this and asked curiously.

Er Gouzi wore a proud expression, grinned mischievously, and said, "When this Divine Venerable entered, I discovered an Altar placed here containing ten drops of Qilin Blood; I felt a connection through our bloodlines, so this Divine Venerable swallowed them all in one breath. Unexpectedly, they all settled intact within my dantian, so this Divine Venerable detonated one drop of Essence Blood, and surprisingly, I transformed."

Speaking of this, Er Gouzi laughed with great satisfaction, "Hahaha, the most amusing part was that old fellow Duan Jiude happened to run down just then; upon seeing this Divine Venerable's majestic and domineering divine demeanor, he was so frightened he collapsed onto the ground."

"So you mean, only by triggering the Essence Blood could you revert to your ancestral form?" Xu Que asked curiously.

Er Gouzi shook his head in confusion: "This Divine Venerable isn't clear either; anyway, detonating one drop of Essence Blood allows me to gain the power and appearance of my fifth life, pity the duration is a bit short! Eh, wait, no, it seems some power still remains!"

Xu Que nodded; he had basically figured out the situation.

And now the only thing that could be confirmed was that during Er Gouzi's fifth life, he was indeed the Qilin Ancestor, who founded a sect and established the Wei Wu Sect.

"Eh, so that means this Divine Venerable really is the Qilin Ancestor? Holy crap!" At this moment, Er Gouzi suddenly shrieked, finally reacting belatedly.

Xu Que immediately rolled his eyes and shook his head speechlessly; after all, he had witnessed Er Gouzi's stupidity many times before.

Liu Jingning was momentarily stunned, then amused by Er Gouzi's intelligence, shaking her head with a smile.

"Er Gouzi, besides this, have you recalled anything useful?" Xu Que turned to the main matter; Er Gouzi's memories were like an untapped treasure trove, and recalling even a slight detail might constitute a Great Fortune.

However, Er Gouzi shook his head: "I didn't recall anything, but this Divine Venerable discovered one thing: the Spiritual Energy underground is very dense, suitable for your Closed-door Cultivation, but it seems excessively dense; you might explode and die!"

"Spiritual Energy..." Only then did Xu Que realize.

After entering the Underground Palace, the Spiritual Energy had indeed become much more vast, almost comparable to that Medicine Garden belonging to Zixia Fairy Shi Qingxuan, truly very suitable for Closed-door Cultivation.

As for the talk of exploding and dying, Xu Que paid it no heed at all; with his current constitution, even if more Spiritual Energy came, he could withstand it!

"I've decided, I will undergo Closed-door Cultivation right here for two years! I strive to break through to the Void Refining Stage before the Secret Realm closes!" Xu Que said with full confidence; given the extremely dense Spiritual Energy in this place, plus absorbing Spirit Stones, he was absolutely certain he could break through to the Void Refining Stage within two years.

But upon hearing this, Liu Jingning and Er Gouzi were instantly stunned.

Two years? Void Refining Stage?

Are you kidding me?

"Little Que Que, don't act rashly; cultivation cannot be rushed!" Liu Jingning immediately said, her expression very grave.

Even though Xu Que was cultivating anew, it was impossible for him to break through to the Void Refining Stage within just two years.

On the contrary, she felt Xu Que could seize this opportunity to consolidate his foundation once again, advance steadily, smoothly overcome all Bottlenecks, and thus achieve greater accomplishments in the future.

"Kid, although your cultivation speed these past few years has been terrifying, when you abandoned your cultivation you were only at the Infant Transformation Stage; how could you possibly break through to the Void Refining Stage in two years? Stop messing around! Even this Divine Venerable, so powerful, cannot cultivate that fast!" Er Gouzi also shook his head.

Xu Que merely smiled solemnly: "Clearly, you know nothing about my Heavenly Talent! For a peerless genius like me, if I weren't aiming to advance steadily, I could reach the Void Refining Stage in half a year, but I didn't do that precisely because I am a steady person, handsome with a touch of stability!"

What he said was indeed the truth; with his Five Elements Heavenly Spirit Root constitution, plus the terrifying cultivation speed of the Ancient Five Elements Art, if he relied solely on absorbing Spirit Stones to break through realms, half a year would be sufficient.

But he knew clearly that if there weren't so many powerful experts for him to kill in the future to Level Up, he would have to rely on his own strength to cultivate, so he must consolidate his foundation and ensure it did not collapse.

Therefore, two years was already quite long for Xu Que.

Liu Jingning finally spoke up to persuade him a few more times, but to no avail; she helplessly shook her head.

Xu Que wasted no more time; he took out several million Top-grade Spirit Stones, spread them across the entire Underground Palace, arranged a Juling Array, and gathered all the Spiritual Energy from hundreds of miles around the Underground Palace.

Then he flicked his fingertip, shot out a Golden Beam, stored a wisp of Divine Soul Power within the Dao Body, and directly sat cross-legged on the ground, entering a state of cultivation!

Liu Jingning, however, was terrified in her heart, greatly shocked that Xu Que had laid out such a massive Juling Array with a mere wave of his hand, and moreover, it was entirely arranged using Top-grade Spirit Stones, making the Spiritual Energy density in the entire Underground Palace exceed imagination.

She pondered for a moment, then also sat cross-legged beside Xu Que, cultivating while guarding him, lest he encounter any accident while striving to break through realms.

"Holy crap, are you two going to practice Dual Cultivation? Then this Divine Venerable won't disturb you; it's a bit hard on the eyes!" Seeing both of them cultivating, Er Gouzi immediately could not sit still.

After all, he was not someone who could stay idle—oh no, he was a dog!

With a 'Whoosh', Er Gouzi darted out of the Underground Palace like a streak of smoke, and faintly, his shouting voice could still be heard.

"Little De, what are you standing there in a daze for? Hurry over and kneel to pay respects to this Ancestor! Damn it, don't run! Go fetch a basin of foot-washing water for this Ancestor!"

At the same time, Xu Que had already completely immersed himself in the state of cultivation.

This was his cultivation in the truest sense, and having previously clarified his own Dao Rhyme, it was a true instance of cultivating immortality!

When he began circulating the Ancient Five Elements Art within his body, with every mouthful of Spiritual Energy absorbed, scenes from the past materialized in his mind, like a Dream, as if he were reliving a lifetime.

In his mind, his memories from his previous life on Earth unfolded scene by scene like slides!

When his parents passed away, he was only ten years old; he and his younger sister depended on each other, endured all kinds of hardships, and suffered countless disdainful looks, yet ultimately, relying on occasional assistance from relatives and donations from kind-hearted people, he successfully attended school.

From childhood to adulthood, Xu Que was always the top student in school; at the age of twenty, with the excellent result of being the provincial top scorer, he was admitted to Yan Jing First University and successfully wooed the school beauty.

Unfortunately, they had been dating for less than half a year when the school beauty inexplicably broke up with him; moreover, just one week after the breakup, while Xu Que was returning to school after finishing his night shift part-time job, he was hit and sent flying by a speeding sports car, which also knocked him into this world!

From the moment he woke up in the Cultivation World, Xu Que had no lingering attachments!

His younger sister was his pride; when she had just entered her first year of high school, she and her friends started an online Shop business, earning considerable income, and her grades were never affected, showing that his sister's IQ and EQ were far superior to Xu Que's.

In the end, even Xu Que's university tuition and living expenses were provided by his sister.

Initially, Xu Que refused, but his sister left him with this one sentence!

"Brother, you took care of me for so long; finally, it's my turn to take care of you. You cannot refuse my tuition and living expenses; this is my birthday wish!"

Recalling to this point, Xu Que suddenly opened his eyes, and his cultivation abruptly stopped!

"Feifei!"

Xu Que, as if just awakening from a nightmare, shouted out his younger sister's name!

Originally, he had thought he was free of all attachments, detached from everything on Earth, and could peacefully enjoy himself and life in this Cultivation World.

But during this cultivation session, he suddenly jolted awake and discovered many problems.

Why had the school beauty suddenly broken up with him?

At that time, their relationship had clearly been inseparable, yet the next day the school beauty had turned cold, dropped a single phrase—"Break up"—and resolutely turned away.

Back then, Xu Que had been completely baffled, thinking he had done something wrong, but no matter how many calls he made or messages he sent, the school beauty simply ignored him.

Then, a week later, when he finally managed to find an opportunity to ask for clarification, he was involved in a car accident on his way back from a part-time job.

Before, Xu Que had merely been the person involved; being too close to the situation, he was somewhat confused and unaware, feeling the matter wasn't serious, perhaps just something he did wrong that could be fixed with some coaxing to win the school beauty back.

But now, viewing all his memories from the perspective of an bystander and surveying the entire situation, he suddenly keenly perceived various issues.

Why had the school beauty's attitude suddenly changed?

And why had he, walking perfectly fine on the side of a wide, empty road, been struck and killed instantly by a car charging straight at him?

And among these, the most crucial point was his younger sister.

Xu Que remembered that during the week he broke up with the school beauty, his sister had never contacted him; even when he called her, no one answered, which was highly unusual.

Normally, his sister would call him at least three or four times a week, almost becoming a habit, but at that time, Xu Que, having just gone through a breakup and busy with part-time work, had overlooked this.

Now, combining this with the car accident incident, Xu Que broke out in a cold sweat all over, his expression turning even more gloomy.

Vaguely, he felt as though his death had likely been deliberately arranged by someone, and they might even have made a move against his sister!

"Who is it? Who could it possibly be?"

Several blurred faces flashed directly through Xu Que's mind.

There was the dissolute wealthy young master who had harbored ill intentions toward his sister and whom he had beaten away!

There were also the love rivals who had always wanted to pursue the school beauty, among whom were no lack of noble scions!

With the background, strength, and methods of those people, arranging an accident to cause his death would absolutely be a trivial matter!

But now, Xu Que could only sense that something was amiss; he could not determine exactly who had made a move against him!

"Little Que Que, what's wrong?" At this moment, Liu Jingning, who was sitting cross-legged beside him, opened her beautiful eyes and looked over with concern.

Xu Que exhaled a long breath and shook his head slightly: "Nothing, I just recalled some past events!"

He knew very well that this cultivation session had been augmented with Dao Rhyme!

Others would only cultivate accompanied by Dao Rhyme during the Infant Transformation Stage and Void Refining Stage, but he was different; he was starting from zero, cultivating anew.

The path he walked was one of following his heart's desire, the path of pursuing Acting Cool!

Recalling past events was merely the first step of the Dao Rhyme; once there were any past events that did not allow his heart to be at ease, they would interrupt his cultivation.

However, Xu Que's ability for self-regulation was now extremely powerful!

After taking a deep breath, he calmed all matters from his previous life.

Because he was very clear and rational: no matter how anxious he was now, he could do nothing; thinking too much about it was all useless!

Only by cultivating himself to become powerful and obtaining the Sky-Breaking Talisman would he have a chance to return to Earth, uncover the truth, and ruthlessly slay those people.

"Are you really okay?" Liu Jingning asked again, her gaze very gentle, revealing a hint of worry.

"I'm fine, look, I've already reached the peak of the Golden Core Stage!" Xu Que grinned and laughed.

"Mm, two months have already passed; your cultivation speed is too astonishing. Are you sure you won't leave behind any hidden dangers?" Liu Jingning nodded, still speaking with concern.

"I dare say that in this world, no one's foundation is as solid as mine! This time, my Dao, including my cultivation base, is perfect!"

The corner of Xu Que's mouth lifted, his eyes revealing thick confidence.

He could clearly feel that his current strength had far exceeded imagination!

In the past, he had been able to suppress and kill those at the Nascent Soul Stage while at the Golden Core Stage, relying entirely on those powerful Dharma Spells and the power amplification of the Killing Book and Killing Sword!

But at this moment, he felt that with his current Golden Core Stage cultivation base, he could crush someone at the Nascent Soul Stage with just one punch, killing across realms and looking down on everything!

If he added the Killing Book and Killing Sword, he might even be able to fight someone at the Early Stage of Infant Transformation; such strength was probably unprecedented in the Cultivation World!

"Rest assured, I'm really fine; I'm going to continue cultivating!"

At this moment, Xu Que smiled with solemnity once more.

Immediately, he closed his eyes again and entered the state of cultivation!

This time, he had completely calmed down and also made a decision.

After his Closed-door Cultivation ended, he would go save Jiang Hongyan, and then it would be time to plan how to return to Earth.

After all, the Sky-Breaking Talisman and its refinement method were not exclusive to the system.

Since Duan Jiude knew about the Sky-Breaking Talisman, it meant that Sky-Breaking Talismans also existed in this world; if he could find the refinement method earlier, he wouldn't have to wait until the system was upgraded to Version 10.0, which would save an immense amount of time and Acting Cool Points!

"Tremble, people of Earth! I, Xu Que of the Pretentious Heaven Sect, will return soon!"

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