Yuanqi Essence

"What are you planning to do with this woman? Kill her?" After lifting Li Yi up, The Serpent Venerable casually pointed towards Gong Wushuang. Li Yi bit his lip, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said, "Not killing her for now, keep her... This woman has caused me so much suffering, I'll kill her when I need to, and refine her Dou Qi seed for my use!"

"Is that so?" The Serpent Venerable looked at Li Yi with a half-smiling gaze, then casually waved his hand, and a streak of red Dou Qi also lifted Gong Wushuang, before slowly flying towards the west. In a dense thicket, there was a spacious and dry cave. The Serpent Venerable casually threw both Li Yi and Gong Wushuang inside, his figure still floating leisurely in mid-air.

Ignoring the unconscious Gong Wushuang, Li Yi simply sat cross-legged, already forming the cultivation seals with his hands. However, he was still cautious, glancing at The Serpent Venerable and asking, "Is this place really safe?" The Serpent Venerable replied indifferently, "Rest assured, with me here to protect you, what are you afraid of? You better seize this opportunity, such a chance shouldn't be missed... If lost, you might not see any progress for a year or half a year. Haven't you forgotten about the turmoil within your body?"

Li Yi smiled wryly, looked at the conspicuous tattoo-like object under his torn clothes, shook his head slightly, then took a deep breath, entering the state of cultivation.

"Hu—" With this sound, Li Yi felt the slowly rotating Dou Qi whirlpool in his body, which, upon sensing a trace of Yuanqi, began to rotate rapidly, like going mad. The Yuanqi around him seemed to sense something too, slowly rotating around Li Yi as the center. With each rotation of this Yuanqi, the thickness of the surrounding Yuanqi increased, and Li Yi found that with a slight inhalation, he could obtain several times the usual amount.

This feeling invigorated him, his hand seals continually changing. With his movements, the Dou Qi slowly generated within his body was circulating, promoting the absorption of the dense Yuanqi by his body's pores. Faintly, the Dou Qi whirlpool seemed to expand slightly.

If it were someone else, they might think they were cultivating recklessly, but Li Yi knew that this moment was his best opportunity for a breakthrough!

"Ha!" With a light shout, Li Yi took a deep breath, like a giant whale, lightly inhaling all the surrounding Yuanqi into his body, pouring it into the Dou Qi whirlpool in his dantian. The Dou Qi whirlpool jumped fiercely, expanding and contracting instantly, but then returning to its original state, with a strand of blood-red Dou Qi emerging from the center, merging into the perimeter of the whirlpool.

At this moment, Li Yi clearly understood that his cultivation of the Heavenly Devil Nine Transformations was quite peculiar. The blood-red Dou Qi cultivated from the black Dou Qi seemed to be the essence of his Dou Qi. Each additional strand of this blood-red Dou Qi signified an increase in his strength.

Internally viewing, seeing the four strands of blood-red Dou Qi flowing continuously above his Dou Qi whirlpool, Li Yi clearly felt that he had seized this rare opportunity and had once again made a breakthrough! Although the difficulty of breaking through the Fighter ranks was not great, such seamless and effortless breakthroughs were not common! Remember, Li Yi's previous two crystal breakthroughs were due to refining the blood lightning during the cultivation of the Blood Moon Fury. That kind of breakthrough, although fast, had tormented Li Yi greatly, nowhere near as effortless as this current breakthrough.

Just as he was about to end his cultivation stance with a change of hand seals, Li Yi's eyes twitched slightly, feeling an incredibly pure Yuanqi circulating within his meridians, resonating with the external Yuanqi as if calling for more Yuanqi to come. This feeling made Li Yi quite curious. Just as he was about to inquire, The Serpent Venerable already uttered a light "Eh," and said slowly, "Kid, you seem to have encountered an incredible opportunity. Quickly refine that strand of Yuanqi within you, unless you want to burst and die!"

Hearing this, Li Yi didn't dare to delay or ask further, and quickly drew Dou Qi from the whirlpool, directing it towards that strand of Yuanqi. However, this Yuanqi seemed incredibly pure, and no matter how Li Yi manipulated his Dou Qi, he couldn't stir it even a bit; it just kept rotating on its own. As more Yuanqi was about to be attracted, The Serpent Venerable suddenly shouted, "Concentrate, I'll help you!"

Then, Li Yi felt a tingling sensation all over his body, as a streak of red Dou Qi broke into him. This Dou Qi was immensely powerful, instantly breaking through Li Yi's own Dou Qi and reaching near the strand of Yuanqi. The strand of Yuanqi, still moving on its own, was hit by this red Dou Qi, and immediately started to dart around Li Yi's body crazily.

Li Yi felt an extreme discomfort surging through his meridians, much more unbearable than during marrow cleansing, as if he was about to burst open. Just as he was about to let out a scream, The Serpent Venerable's voice rang out again, "Pay attention! Wrap it in your Dou Qi whirlpool. When you crush it, then you can end your cultivation."

With a grunt, the strand of Yuanqi, as if being herded, moved towards Li Yi's dantian. Li Yi focused his mind, and the Dou Qi whirlpool instantly expanded, enveloping the strand of Yuanqi within it, and then began rotating rapidly.

Under such conditions, akin to grinding stones, the immensely pure Yuanqi gradually dissipated and merged into the Dou Qi whirlpool... Time swiftly passed, and it was unknown how long it had been in the cave. Li Yi's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened wide, a flash of brilliance crossing his eyes. Then, his hand seals rapidly changed, and at the moment of concluding the cultivation, his aura burst forth violently, then slowly retracted. Li Yi took a deep breath, stretched out his right hand, and seeing the boiling Dou Qi at his fingertips, he shook his head, "I can't believe that after refining such a large cluster of Yuanqi, I still haven't broken through again."

The Serpent Venerable, floating in mid-air, sighed helplessly, "Kid, what do you think that was? That was a special product of the Naga Mountains, known as Yuanqi Essence... This kind of celestial object, even a small cluster, is incredibly rare. Its purpose is not for breakthroughs, but to make your Dou Qi more abundant and pure... And such things are rarely seen elsewhere, because as soon as they appear, they are usually devoured by the waiting magical beasts... This place having it, I guess, is because it was once the den of some magical beast... But kid, be content. You may not see any benefits now from refining this cluster, but when you fight, you'll find that your Dou Qi is much more abundant... I estimate if you use the Blood Moon Fury now, there shouldn't be any problem."

Hearing this, Li Yi closed his eyes and introspected for a moment. Indeed, the blood-colored Dou Qi in his body hadn't increased, but the Dou Qi whirlpool had grown larger, and the black Dou Qi even darker... This scene made Li Yi quite frustrated. Others' Dou Qi is either red or blue, how good-looking they are... His cluster of Dou Qi is both black and red, seeming a bit unsightly!

"Alright Old Coot, how many days have I spent in cultivation this time?" asked Li Yi. The Serpent Venerable replied indifferently, "Don't worry, you've only cultivated for one day and one night. Although a day was wasted, it doesn't have much impact on your journey... However, to protect you, I've expended a lot, and I need to recuperate in the Yunhuang Ring for a few days. My advice to you is to use these days to consolidate your current realm. As for what's next, rushing won't help... If you're not careful and run into the territory of some magical beast, even ten lives won't be enough... Also, that girl, whether she's dead or alive, you need to take care of her!" Saying this, The Serpent Venerable's figure slightly floated and darted into the Yunhuang Ring in Li Yi's hand.

Li Yi nodded slightly. He could also feel that although he had broken through to the rank of four-crystal Fighter, perhaps due to the rapid pace of cultivation all this time, his realm seemed somewhat unstable and indeed needed a few days to properly consolidate... First, he channeled some Dou Qi into the Yunhuang Ring, then his gaze slightly shifted, falling on Gong Wushuang, who was still in an unconscious state. At this moment, Gong Wushuang, despite lying there somewhat disheveled, still caused Li Yi's heart to skip a beat. A faint fragrance in the air made Li Yi's nose itch slightly. He snorted and cursed under his breath, "I can't believe this ugly-looking woman uses perfume. What a waste..."

Li Yi's hand formed a wisp of Dou Qi, striking down towards Gong Wushuang, but his figure suddenly halted as he reached her side. If Gong Wushuang was pretending to be asleep, this would have surely exposed her, but she remained motionless, clearly still suffering from the injuries from that day...

"No wonder she's a King level fighter. I struck so fiercely, and she only fainted from taking it head-on. She got off easy," Li Yi muttered as he crouched down, his fingertips gathering a tiny cluster of Dou Qi, slowly probing into Gong Wushuang's body. Just this gentle probe made Li Yi clearly feel that only a weak stream of Dou Qi was flowing inside Gong Wushuang, but her meridians were not damaged. Her unconsciousness, mostly due to excessive Dou Qi consumption and shock. Looking at her exposed fair skin under the tattered clothes, he hadn't felt much when he touched her, but now recalling the scent from before, Li Yi suddenly thought that this ordinary-looking girl could well be described as having skin as smooth as jade.

"Damn it, how can someone so ugly have such good skin? What a waste..." Li Yi sneered repeatedly. Although Gong Wushuang's skin was attractive, he had no great interest in dishonoring a woman of such ordinary appearance. She was wishful thinking! However, he couldn't just leave her here like this. Although Li Yi had previously said he would kill her and refine her Dou Qi seed, in a place like the Naga Mountains, facing the only other human being beside him, Li Yi somehow couldn't bring himself to do it.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally snorted, "Forget it, I'll think of a way to deceive her. If I can control her, good; if not, then I'll see what to do..." Saying this, Li Yi chuckled cunningly, picked up a handful of mud and moss from the ground, kneaded it for a moment into a pill the size of a thumb, then coldly lifted the hair covering Gong Wushuang's face.

"Snap—" With just this action, Li Yi's expression suddenly stiffened, the mud pill falling to the ground, rolling a few times, and disappearing into the unknown...