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

Chen Qing spurred his horse and galloped at full speed, without stopping for a moment.

The dragon-scaled horse galloped along the mountain path, its hooves thundering like drums. Only when the outline of Half Moon Lake came into view did Chen Qing finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He dismounted, took out his token, and the spiritual light of the Azure Water Ring Spirit Array parted to both sides. Chen Qing stepped in quickly, and the array behind him slowly closed, isolating everything from the outside world.

He stood by the lake, feeling the familiar fluctuations emanating from the array, and exhaled a long breath. Only at this moment did he truly feel safe.

Chen Qing glanced back at the way he had come, a lingering fear welling up inside him.

If he hadn't taken that extra look today, he would probably be the one lying in the valley right now.

A cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining from the Dharma Aspect Peak, accompanied by a first-grade high-quality spirit beast, meticulously set up a trap to kill him, a beast tamer at the sixth level of Qi Refining. By all accounts, it seemed like he was doomed.

"I was careless..."

Chen Qing muttered to himself and shook his head.

Having stayed in the sect for so long, I actually thought the cultivation world was a place where rules were followed. This time, I learned my lesson by risking my life.

Chen Qing composed himself, patted the spirit beast pouch, and Qingtian and Danyu appeared beside him.

Qingtian was still asleep, his small body curled up in a ball, occasionally letting out a soft whimper, his brows furrowed. Danyu was awake, but listless; although the wound at the base of his wing had been bandaged, bloodstains still stained his white feathers, making him look quite disheveled.

Chen Qing felt a pang of pain in his heart and quickly took out healing pills from his storage bag.

"Niwa, open your mouth."

Dan Yu glanced at him, and although she turned her head away with a haughty expression, she still obediently opened her long beak.

Chen Qing inserted a Rejuvenation Pill, then took out the external ointment, carefully unwrapped the bandage, and reapplied the medicine and bandaged her. Dan Yu's wings trembled slightly from the pain, but she didn't utter a sound.

After treating Dan Yu, Chen Qing went to Qing Tian's side, gently pried open Qing Tian's mouth, put a Rejuvenation Pill in it, and used his spiritual power to help him neutralize the medicinal effects. Only after confirming that the injury had stabilized did he feel a little relieved.

"Let's go in first."

Chen Qing carefully held Qingtian in his arms and led Danyu into the small building.

On the second floor, Chen Qing skillfully carried Qingtian into the small nest made of spirit beast fur. Qingtian turned over, made two indistinct squeaks, and then fell into a deep sleep again.

Chen Qing was both amused and exasperated, and covered Qingtian with a soft cloth.

He and Qingtian understood each other perfectly; Qingtian had just meant "Do not harm my lord"...

Dan Yu went to a corner and began to silently circulate her spiritual energy to heal her injuries. Although she was proud and arrogant, she never caused anyone any trouble.

Chen Qing glanced at her but didn't disturb her. He took out a calming incense stick from his storage bag, lit it with his spiritual power, and wisps of green smoke rose up. The delicate fragrance filled the quiet room, bringing peace to the mind.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged, closed his eyes and regulated his breathing for a moment. Only after his emotions had completely calmed did he open his eyes, and a screen of light appeared before him—

[Highlights: 0]

Chen Qing shook his head with a wry smile.

All 7,116 points of essence were used up in one go.

He turned to look in the direction where Qingtian was sleeping, then looked at Danyu who was silently healing in the corner, and felt a pang of heartache.

From the moment he saw the Blood Moon Wolf's realm today, he knew he couldn't escape.

As he expected, Yang Ming was actually at the eighth level of Qi Refining. Under these circumstances, his only chance of survival was to use his essence to forcefully break through Qingtian and Danyu to the upper level.

Chen Qing's original plan was to wait for Qingtian and Danyu to reach the bottleneck of the first-level mid-grade cultivation before using the essence to help them push the final step, so that their foundation would be solid and their future achievements would not be limited.

But today's battle has completely disrupted his plans.

It has been less than two years since Qingtian broke through to the middle grade of the first rank, and less than three years since Danyu broke through. Neither of them is at the time to break through. He forcibly used the essence to help the seedlings grow faster. Although his strength increased dramatically in the short term, his foundation was inevitably unstable.

After this battle, Qingtian and Danyu will need at least one or two years, or even longer, to stabilize their realms and mend their foundations.

"Fortunately... I survived."

Chen Qing sighed, his gaze falling on Qingtian, and a light screen appeared—

【Lingming Monkey - Sky-Supporting】

[Realm Level: First Tier, High Grade]

[Potential: Tier 2, High Grade]

[Bloodline: Contains a trace of the ancient true spirit Xuanhuang Ancient Ape bloodline (not yet activated)]

[Skill: Ancient Ape True Form]

[Status: Weak, Severely Injured, Sleeping]

The true form of an ancient ape!

Chen Qing looked at the skill bar and secretly felt fortunate.

After Qingtian broke through to the first-tier high-grade, this column of information appeared. At that time, the situation was urgent, and he almost did not hesitate to add all the remaining two thousand-plus points of essence after Qingtian and Danyu's breakthrough to Qingtian.

After the Ancient Ape True Form is activated, Qingtian's strength will increase dramatically, but the effect will not last long, and he will be extremely weak afterward.

The fact that Qingtian is now in such a half-dead state is due to three factors: being injured by Yang Ming, the aftereffects of his forced breakthrough, and the side effects of his bloodline berserk state. The combination of these three factors is heartbreaking to see.

"Fortunately... it was worth it."

Chen Qing withdrew his gaze, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Yang Ming is dead, and the storage bag has fallen into his hands. A cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining killed four guarding disciples. He must have accumulated quite a fortune over the years.

What Chen Qing cared about most was Yang Ming's method of concealing his aura. It not only suppressed him from the eighth level of Qi Refining to the sixth level, but also allowed him to disguise the Blood Moon Wolf from a first-grade high-quality to a first-grade mid-quality.

Such methods are simply the ultimate weapon for cultivators.

Chen Qing took out Yang Ming's storage bag from his bosom and dumped its contents out, spreading them all over the ground.

One mid-grade spirit stone, over 140 low-grade spirit stones, two bottles of first-tier high-grade pills for body cultivators called "Qi and Blood Pills", three talismans, a short sword magic weapon gleaming with cold light, and several miscellaneous cultivation manuals.

Chen Qing flipped through the pages, his brows furrowing slightly.

These items, though of considerable value, seem rather meager to a Qi Refining Level 8 cultivator who killed four guarding disciples, not to mention that Yang Ming had been in Jueyuan County for ten years and must have amassed a considerable fortune.

Moreover, in the later stages of Qi Refining, one has sufficient spiritual power to activate a flying artifact. It takes three days to travel from Jueyuan County to Half Moon Lake, but if Yang Ming had a flying artifact, it wouldn't take a single day.

But Chen Qing searched around and found nothing.

"Either they're afraid of revealing their cultivation level and dare not use it," Chen Qing muttered to himself, "or... they simply can't afford it."

He prefers the latter.

To be able to cultivate to the eighth level of Qi Refining at the age of thirty-five with four spiritual roots requires an astronomical amount of resources.

Most of Yang Ming's accumulated wealth over the years has probably been converted into pills and spirit beast meat, filling that bottomless pit.

Chen Qing continued searching, and his fingertips touched a rough piece of animal hide. He was overjoyed and quickly took it out.

The animal hide was about a foot square, soft in texture, and covered with tiny, neat characters.

"The Hidden Spirit Manual..."

Chen Qing read out the first three characters of "animal skin," a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and quickly began to carefully read through the book.

A moment later, he exhaled a long breath, his eyes filled with amazement.

This "Hidden Spirit Technique" was actually created by a Nascent Soul ancestor!

That ancestor was detached by nature, loved to roam the mortal world, and did not want to become estranged from his relatives and friends, so he created this set of techniques. It can not only hide one's own cultivation level, but also help others conceal their aura. It is truly mysterious.

According to the inscription on the animal hide, when that Nascent Soul Ancestor used this technique, even fellow Nascent Soul cultivators would find it difficult to see through.

Chen Qing licked his lips and continued reading.

The Hidden Spirit Manual is divided into three levels.

The first level involves concealing one's aura, which can at most deceive cultivators who are a whole realm higher than oneself.

The second level allows one to conceal their aura, potentially even fooling cultivators two major realms above oneself.

The third level is where the aura is completely concealed, like that of an ordinary person. Unless one is three major realms higher, it is extremely difficult to see through.

Chen Qing estimated that if he could cultivate to the second level, at least Golden Core cultivators wouldn't be able to see through his true strength, and as for the Nascent Soul stage...

Although the "Hidden Spirit Technique" is theoretical, Chen Qing had only seen the Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Lingyun Sect from afar at the sect's grand ceremony. The methods of such an existence were beyond his comprehension.

However, those kinds of beings probably wouldn't care about a nobody like him.

"Great stuff, really great stuff."

Chen Qing stroked the animal hide with obvious affection, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Although today was extremely dangerous, the gains were substantial. This set of "Hidden Spirit Techniques" alone is worth the price of admission.

Chen Qing carefully sorted through Yang Ming's belongings, putting the useful items into his own storage bag and destroying the useless or potentially dangerous ones. After doing all this, Chen Qing carefully reviewed the events of the day to make sure he hadn't left any clues.

Today's hunt was likely carried out by Yang Ming alone.

He secretly traveled from Jueyuan County, using the pretext of buying fish to approach me. On the way, he used the excuse of resting to lead me to the valley that he had scouted out beforehand.

Throughout the entire process, Yang Ming had no one else to help him.

In other words, no one knew that Yang Ming had come to Linyuan County, and no one knew that he was the one who killed him.

"Even if the sect discovers Yang Ming is dead in the future, they won't be able to trace it back to me."

Chen Qing muttered to himself, feeling somewhat relieved.

He looked down at the surging spiritual energy within his body and couldn't help but frown.

Today, at this critical juncture of life and death, when he forcibly activated his essence, his cultivation level was also impacted, and he is now not far from the seventh level of Qi Refining.

That's incredibly fast.

He broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refining a year and nine months ago, and then to the sixth level three months ago, which was already quite conspicuous. If he were to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining a few months later, anyone who saw him would become suspicious.

"Fortunately... we have this."

Chen Qing shook the animal hide in his hand and smiled slightly.

Starting today, I will cultivate this "Hidden Spirit Technique," suppressing my cultivation at the fifth level of Qi Refining. After a year or two, I will "naturally" break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining.

As for Qingtian and Danyu...

Chen Qing looked up at Qingtian, then at Danyu in the corner, and sighed inwardly.

They won't be able to see anyone for a while.

It only took two or three years to go from the middle grade of the first rank to the upper grade of the first rank. This speed was too terrifying. Before they had cultivated the "Hidden Spirit Technique" to the second level, they were allowed to recuperate and consolidate their foundation in Half Moon Lake. They only told the outside world that they were injured and recuperating.

After figuring everything out, Chen Qing let out a long sigh of relief, spread the animal hide on his lap, and began to study the first level of the "Hidden Spirit Technique".

The wisps of smoke from the calming incense rose gently, lingering in the moonlight.

After a while.

Chen Qing closed his eyes, and his spiritual power slowly circulated according to the route of the "Hidden Spirit Technique," his aura gradually receding and settling.

A night breeze swept across the lake, carrying wisps of water vapor. The lights of the small building swayed gently in the wind, casting the shadows of the seated figure on and off.

[New book recommendation period, please vote, fellow readers!]