I tamed beasts and achieved immortality in the world of cultivation.

Five days later.

A gentle breeze blows by the Half Moon Lake.

Chen Qing stood by the lake, a three-inch-long ice spike gathering in front of his right index finger. It was crystal clear, surrounded by a chilling aura, and reflected a faint blue light in the sunlight.

His gaze locked onto the lake, and he flicked his finger—

"call out!"

The ice spike shot out like a swift arrow, disappearing into the lake in the blink of an eye, creating a splash the size of a washbasin with a loud "bang," and several blue carp scattered in panic.

Chen Qing nodded slightly, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"The accuracy is alright, and the power is barely acceptable, but the condensation speed is a bit slow..."

As he pondered this, his expression suddenly changed. He looked up towards the outside of the array, then took out the array token, revealing a passage within the "Azure Water Ring Spirit Array"—

A talisman flew in from outside the passage. It was completely transparent and shimmered with spiritual light, heading straight for Chen Qing.

Chen Qing reached out and took it, probing it with his spiritual sense—

Xiao Chunan's voice echoed in my mind, her tone more urgent than usual:

"Chen Qing, Senior Brother Meng and I investigated in Zhenyuan County for several days, and it turned out to be the work of the Qian Kingdom cultivators. There were five of them in total. After we found them, we took action and killed four of them."

He paused, his tone shifting to one of seriousness:

"However... there's bad news."

"The leader of that group, who is suspected to be a disciple of the Blood Soul Sect, ran away. Senior Brother Meng and I chased after him for two days, and in the end we only confirmed that he did not go towards the Blood Spirit Abyss. We don't know exactly where he ran off to yet. Be very careful over there recently, and contact us anytime if anything happens."

The voice within the talisman ceased, the spiritual light dissipated, and the talisman turned to ashes.

Chen Qing stood there, his brows slightly furrowed.

"A disciple of the Blood Soul Sect... escaped from Meng Xingzhou?"

He pondered for a moment, secretly making plans in his mind.

Meng Xingzhou was a master at the tenth level of Qi Refining, just one step away from Foundation Establishment. The person who escaped from him must be quite strong, at least at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and might even have some trump card to save his life.

"If they didn't go to Blood Spirit Abyss... then they ran in another direction."

Chen Qing's gaze narrowed slightly.

Yunzhou City, Zhenyuan County, and Linyuan County form a line running east to west, and five hundred miles to the north, all bordering the Blood Spirit Abyss. If that person doesn't go north, then they can only go south, west, or east—

To the south lies the heartland of the Lingyun Sect.

To the west lies Yunzhou City, where Zhang Yanshu, a cultivator in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, is stationed.

To the east lies Linyuan County, where Chen Qing, a powerful cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining, is stationed.

Chen Qing: "..."

Chen Qing stood by the lake, gazing at the rippling blue water, and remained silent for a long while.

He had planned to inspect Lin Yuan County in a few days and take the opportunity to visit Qingxi Valley and Chiyan Mountain to check on the situation of the Lin and Yang families, which would also be considered as fulfilling his duty as a disciple guarding the area.

But now that this has happened...

Chen Qing shook his head, turned around and walked back to the lakeside, where he sat down cross-legged.

"Forget it, I'm not going. My life is more important."

He made up his mind to stay obediently at Half Moon Lake for the time being and not go anywhere else. Although the "Azure Water Ringing Spirit Array" was not a very powerful array, it was connected to the spiritual vein and was more than enough to block a few Qi Refining stage cultivators.

As for the inspection, we'll talk about it after things calm down.

Chen Qing closed his eyes, his spiritual energy slowly circulating within his body, and he immersed himself in cultivation once again.

……

night.

The bright moon hangs high in the sky.

Five miles from Half Moon Lake, atop a high mountain.

A pale-faced young man stood with his hands behind his back, his black Taoist robe fluttering in the wind. A blood-red ghost pattern was embroidered on the lapel, and a blood-red ghost token hung at his waist, which was the symbol of the Blood Soul Sect, one of the six sects of the Demonic Path.

The three people behind him stood with their hands at their sides, not daring to breathe.

One of them was none other than the scarred man who had been defeated by Chen Qing and his two companions last year.

The hideous scar on his face was particularly striking in the moonlight, but at this moment his face was full of flattery, and there was not a trace of the ferocity of a tribulation cultivator.

The scarred man glanced cautiously at the pale man's retreating figure, gritted his teeth, and whispered:

"Senior Brother Qi, that is Half Moon Lake."

"According to that person, there is only one Lingyun Sect disciple guarding the lake. He is at the fifth level of Qi Refining and is accompanied by two mid-grade first-tier spirit beasts, a monkey and a crane."

"Moreover, there seem to be quite a few spirit fish in that lake, so that disciple must have accumulated quite a few spirit stones."

The scarred man licked his lips, a glint of hatred and greed flashing in his eyes: "Since we're going to retreat through the secret passage in Lin Yuan County anyway, why don't we use the array-breaking talisman to take down this Crescent Moon Lake while we're at it? Destroying the spiritual vein will also fulfill the mission assigned to us by our superiors..."

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a cold gaze fall upon him.

Qi Xuan slowly turned his head and looked coldly at the scarred man. The scarred man was startled and quickly lowered his head, not daring to say anything more.

Qi Xuan ignored him and looked back at the Crescent Lake in the distance.

He secretly made his own plans.

Three days ago, he sneaked into the territory of Lingyun Sect through a secret passage to meet up with his junior brother, only to find out that these idiots had actually slaughtered a Qi Refining family and destroyed their spiritual veins.

He immediately sensed something was wrong.

Sure enough, before he had gone far, a Lingyun Sect disciple at the peak of Qi Refining caught up with him and almost blocked him in Zhenyuan County.

Fortunately, he specialized in escape techniques and was fast. He also used two life-saving escape talismans, which allowed him to escape. However, he was hit in the back by a sword, and it still hurts slightly.

"Half-Moon Lake..."

Qi Xuan gazed at the lake surface shrouded in spiritual light, his brows furrowing slightly.

This place is indeed quite nice. It's a spiritual land under the Lingyun Sect, and the garrisoning disciple is from the Beast Taming Peak. Although the Beast Taming Peak has declined, it is still one of the ten peaks of Lingyun. If they really destroy this place, they can easily report back.

The scarred man wasn't wrong. There's not much difference between the righteous path and the demonic path. There are also worms within them. A disciple at the fifth level of Qi Refining and two mid-grade first-tier spirit beasts are indeed not much of a tough nut to crack.

But with only a dozen or so spirit stones a month, what's the point of risking your life?

Do they really think they're part of the Blood Soul Sect?

Although he brought a formation-breaking talisman, he didn't know if the Lingyun Sect disciple who had reached the peak of Qi Refining was still nearby. If a fight broke out and the commotion attracted attention, he would lose his life.

As for the mission...

Just go back and make up some excuse to get by.

"The old man said there were still a few years left, but the Blood Soul Sect just made a few promises and they don't care about their lives anymore. They even dared to touch the spiritual veins of the Lingyun Sect. It's one thing if they can't cultivate, but they're not smart either."

"They're all useless!"

Qi Xuan cursed inwardly, withdrew his gaze, and turned to leave.

The scarred man was taken aback, then instinctively took two steps to catch up: "Senior Brother Qi, what about Half-Moon Lake—"

Before he could finish speaking, a terrifying spiritual pressure suddenly descended.

The scarred man's face turned deathly pale instantly. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to his knees. Veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat poured down his face. The two men behind him staggered back several steps, their faces filled with horror.

"Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Qi Xuan's eyes were icy cold, and although his voice was calm, it made the scarred man tremble like a leaf.

"I...I dare not..."

He withdrew his spiritual pressure.

Senior Brother Qi walked down the mountain without looking back, his voice drifting back, indifferent as frost: "A mere ant at the fifth level of Qi Refining, is he even worth my time?"

"Let him recuperate for another two years."

"Let it fatten up."

"It's more interesting when they start killing each other."

The three people behind him looked at each other in bewilderment, then quickly got up and followed, not daring to utter another word.

The night wind blew across the mountaintop, and the moonlight remained cold and clear.

Within Half Moon Lake, Chen Qing was completely unaware of what was happening five miles away.

At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged in the quiet room on the second floor, his silver scale armor gleaming with a faint spiritual light, focused on cultivating the "Soul Nourishing Technique," hoping to contract his third spirit beast as soon as possible.