Chapter 976: The Human Seed Pouch

"The stomach's capacity is limited. It probably can't hold that many people. Moreover, the Giant Spirit Race and the Barbarian Bull Clan are both enormous. A single stomach might not be enough to protect them all."

Li Qing's eyes flickered as a bold idea struck him.

"Why not start artifact refinement right here inside the man-eating flower? I'll refine this stomach into a treasure that follows the Mustard Seed Contains Mount Sumeru principle."

"The treasure doesn't need to be overly powerful, just have a vast storage capacity. After all, I can always refine it further later."

"Then I'll charge Earth Spirit Grass Fruits as admission tickets to the stomach. The bull-headed men of the Barbarian Bull Clan don't need tickets, but those feathered beasts... they'll pay double!"

The moment this thought struck him, Li Qing's eyes lit up. The more he considered it, the more feasible the method seemed.

However, he didn't rush into action. Instead, he concealed himself within the Spirit Devouring Beast's stomach and retrieved a large quantity of spirit stones from his storage bag.

These were all plundered from the two Griffin Clan members. Li Qing didn't hesitate to crush them, using them to restore the mana he had just expended.

"Anyone who can enter the Heavenlight Secret Realm is no ordinary person," he thought. "Even those weaklings in the nascent soul realm would likely hold out for a considerable time if swallowed. There's no need to hurry."

"Even in the direst circumstances, they could use the spirit stones on their bodies to absorb spiritual energy and replenish their reserves."

With this in mind, Li Qing calmly began restoring his mana.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the earth, a colossal man-eating flower swayed, its massive gullet having just swallowed so many divine transformation experts. It would take an immeasurably long time for it to fully digest them.

The other opportunities within the Heavenlight Secret Realm held no significance for the flower now. If it could successfully digest these divine transformation experts, it would naturally cross the threshold into the void refinement realm.

Its task now was to remain quietly here and await the guide's departure.

On the grassland surface, tender green bamboo shoots emerged from the ground.

"It seems there are no more large prey nearby. You wait here while I go to Life-Severing Cliff to check on bitter vine and the others."

"That Little Bull King from Wild Bull Ridge is no easy opponent. Don't let anything unexpected happen."

As the words fell, the bamboo shoots on the surface burrowed back into the earth one by one, then burrowed rapidly through the great earth.

Pfft! Pfft!

The man-eating flower opened and closed its massive mouth briefly, letting out a gurgling sound that indicated it understood.

After a long while, two eyes larger than lanterns suddenly opened at the top of the man-eating flower.

"Hmm?"

It detected an indigestible foreign object within its stomach. Digestive fluids had accumulated around the object, and no spiritual power feedback was emanating from it.

However, it wasn't worried. Confirming that the object was merely difficult to digest, it closed its eyes again.

Since its birth, it had consumed all manner of things, the most indigestible of which were treasures refined by the human race.

If all else fails, he could wait until they leave the Heavenlight Secret Realm and ask a clan elder to retrieve the foreign object.

After all, since it was inside the creature's belly, breaking it down from the inside would be an extremely difficult task, unless everyone inside could unite and attack together.

But that was impossible. Once they were swallowed, they could only become nourishment to strengthen it.

This was the Spirit Devouring Flower Clan's cultivation method: simply devour the target and slowly refine it with digestive fluids.

No matter how the swallowed victims struggled or cast divine abilities and spells inside, it only made the creature stronger!

Of course, the only prerequisite was not to swallow anything too powerful.

Now, the Giant Spirit Race, Flying Spirit Clan, Barbarian Bull Clan, and others it had swallowed were all nourishing it. It could digest all their foreign spiritual power for its own use.

After an unknown amount of time in the stomach, Li Qing, having fully restored his spiritual power, reopened his eyes.

"Time is of the essence. I can't delay any longer. If others also collapse, we might lose our chance to escape."

As he spoke, a brilliant ball of spirit fire erupted in his palm.

Boom!

The Profound Yellow True Flame surged wildly, completely burning through the entire stomach from the inside out.

As the baleful qi within was purged, Li Qing then used his own magical power to spirit temper the entire stomach.

"I've never refined a treasure in such harsh conditions before. This is quite novel."

As he spoke, Li Qing pondered the design of the spirit patterns.

Considering he would later use this treasure to restrain the Flying Spirit Clan, Li Qing felt he couldn't make the treasure too useless. At the very least, it needed to give him the initiative.

After a long while, Li Qing had mostly finished his deliberations.

"Hmm, let's call this treasure the 'Human Seed Pouch'!"

He was no stranger to inscribing space-type dao patterns. Back in the lower realm, he had studied numerous secret manuals of artifact refinement, many of which contained such traditions.

Especially the Void Shell he had previously purchased from the Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild. After Li Qing grew powerful, he learned the method of refining the Void Shell from the guild.

The ingenious concepts within had greatly inspired him, and now he could finally put them to use.

"Beyond mere storage, we must also fully exploit the Spirit Devouring Beast's stomach's suppressive capabilities."

Li Qing would never forget the grueling ordeal he endured trapped inside the Spirit Devouring Beast. Within its belly, his mana flowed sluggishly, and his fleshly body's qi and blood were severely suppressed.

If not for the immense power of his Kunpeng divine power, he would likely still be hiding in the World of Eternal Night.

As flames rose around him, Li Qing's fingertips landed on the dark, gooey stomach lining.

Numerous tears marred its surface—the result of his violent escape. Now, he would need to carefully repair these wounds.

Fortunately, the peculiar crystal silk he had obtained from the stone chamber at the bottom of the lake proved to be the perfect material. There was no need for him to refine it himself.

One by one, the crystal threads mended the tears in the stomach lining. These threads were remarkably fine, yet their toughness far surpassed his expectations.

Before long, the basic form of the Human Seed Pouch began to take shape.

Li Qing inscribed dao patterns within the pouch using his fingertips, combining spatial dao patterns with a secret technique to fully harness the properties of the Spirit Devouring Beast's stomach.

Failures were inevitable, given the peculiar environment. The sticky mucus occasionally disrupted the spiritual power flowing from his fingertips, damaging the dao patterns.

However, these setbacks were minor. Through Li Qing's patient efforts, the Human Seed Pouch gradually took its final form.