60

Qing Chen breathed a sigh of relief, not daring to delay.

He had just killed a demonic beast, and the smell of blood hadn't dissipated yet; attracting anything else would be troublesome.

He swiftly activated his spirit sword, slicing the corpse into several pieces. Then, he took out two storage bags, held the openings shut, and emptied them. A pale white light enveloped the body parts, and they were instantly stored inside.

He weighed them in his hand, calculating the value perfectly: a first-tier early-stage demonic beast—its flesh could be used to refine qi and blood, and its scales could be used as materials, making it quite valuable.

The corpse was worth at least thirty spirit stones.

"A rogue cultivator at the third or fourth level of Qi Refining is lucky to hunt two or three a year."

Qing Chen remembered Deng Zhiping, whom the old town mayor had mentioned before.

That guy almost lost his life for a rock-armored crab, and was ultimately tricked and killed by Mayor Chen in a secret room.

His ease in killing was entirely due to the *Brahma Refining Demon Art*'s ability to refine and condense martial artists' blood essence as bait.

For anyone else, let alone catching a demon, survival under the claws of a demon beast would be questionable. Arrays and talismans were Qingchen's greatest weapons.

Turning to dismantle the 'Mysterious Warning Array,' Qingchen's fingertip pressed against the bronze array plate, only to discover that more than half of the three low-grade spirit stones inside were already consumed.

The blue-scaled fish's collision with the array had consumed more than he had anticipated.

"One more demon beast, and these spirit stones will be exhausted."

He pulled off the array flag, brushed off the sand, and stuffed it into his storage bag.

The black-skinned crab and eel carcasses piled nearby still emitted a fishy smell. He frowned, flicked his finger, and a small fireball flew over, landing on the corpses.

The fireball crackled and popped, the carcasses quickly charred black, and soon turned to ash.

“I already have enough martial artist blood as bait. These are too many and inconvenient to carry, what a waste.” Qingchen jumped onto the small wooden boat, the oars parting the water, heading towards Huangzhu Island.

Back at his cave on Huangzhu Island, Qingchen didn't rest. He immediately set up a defensive array, the light shield completely enveloping the cave.

Then, he emptied the body of a blue-scaled fish from his storage bag; the fish still exuded a chilling aura.

He then placed the blue-scaled fish's corpse on a cauldron, his fingertips forming the 'Brahma Aperture Blood Refining' hand seal, chanting an incantation.

As the hand seal turned, pale red flames rose from the bottom of the cauldron, and the blue-scaled fish's corpse slowly melted, transforming into streams of pale red blood and energy.

Qingchen inhaled, the blood and energy entering his body, then circulating between his 'Brahma Aperture' and 'Sea of ​​Qi,' forming a furnace-like cycle.

Most of the blood and energy burned and swirled within this cycle.

During this process, a large amount of external spiritual energy was drawn in, flowing into Qingchen's limbs and bones.

Nourishment was applied to every inch of his body, causing his cultivation to steadily improve.

Qingchen could feel his magical power and physical body subtly changing under the nourishment of this energy; his strength and resilience were steadily increasing.

"Long-lost power, superior blood and qi cultivation." He closed his eyes, a slight smile involuntarily playing on his lips.

Previously, relying on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate, he only gained a little progress each month. Now, refining the flesh and blood of demonic beasts, one day's progress was equivalent to several days' worth before.

......

It took Qingchen over a month to refine the flesh and blood of the Blue-Scaled Fish.

For the next year, he went out to sea every two months.

Sometimes he fished for early-stage Tier 1 'Inkscaled Sharks,' sometimes for 'Crimson-Striped Shrimp.'

His cultivation also surged. By the end of the year, the spiritual energy in his Qi Sea was nearly full, and he was about to break through.

But who would have thought that his last voyage of the year would go awry?

That day, he set up an array on Hundred-Foot Island, only using one-tenth of the essence blood in the jade bottle.

Previously, this amount would only attract one demonic beast at most, but this time it attracted two early-stage Tier 1 Rock-Armored Crabs.

When the two creatures crawled ashore, Qingchen felt a chill run down his spine.

The Rock-Armored Crabs' shells were larger than millstones, their dark gray shells covered in protrusions.

"Hiss, how did they end up together?" Qingchen's heart skipped a beat.

He remembered Deng Zhiping.

Back then, this man, in order to hunt a Rock-Armored Crab, was severely injured, his vital energy greatly depleted, and he had to burn most of his essence blood to escape for his life.

In the end, he was caught in a trap set by Mayor Chen and ambushed in the secret chamber.

Two of them had come at once; if they escaped, the [Warning and Concealment Array] would definitely be destroyed—one of his biggest trump cards.

Before he could think further, the rock-armored crab on the left had already crawled into the array, its pincers snapping as it knocked away an array flag.

The pale white mist swayed, and Qing Chen quickly took out three spirit stones and placed them into the array plate, causing the mist to thicken slightly.

But the rock-armored crab on the right also followed, the two crabs circling the center of the array, their pincers constantly striking at the mist.

The spirit stones in the array plate turned gray at a visible speed.

"I can't afford to waste any more time!"

Qing Chen gritted his teeth, his fingertips forming hand seals, pouring all the essence blood stored in his Brahma Aperture into the 'low-grade magic sword'.

The spirit sword hummed, its red light wrapped in silver light.

He targeted the weakest rock-armored crab on the left and swung his sword fiercely!

The sword flashed, striking a crevice in the crab's shell, and pale green blood spurted out with a "pfft."

He then used two low-grade first-tier golden sword talismans, causing the rock-armored crab to sway violently, its shell shattering considerably.

Qing Chen didn't stop; his magic sword thrust three more times, finally shredding its brains to pieces.

But before he could catch his breath, the remaining rock-armored crab suddenly went berserk.

It crawled over, touched its companion's corpse with its pincers, then abruptly turned, its pincers slamming so hard the ground trembled.

Worse still, the spirit stones in the array plate completely turned gray, and the pale white mist dissipated.

Without the array's protection, he was directly exposed to the rock-armored crabs.

The crab claw swung down again, and Qingchen quickly urged his sword to block. With a clang, the magic sword was sent flying half a foot away, and his tiger's mouth split open, bleeding.

"I'll risk it all!"

Qingchen touched his chest, where a few drops of his life essence blood were stored. This was the first time he had used his own life essence blood since practicing the *Brahma Demon Refining Technique*.

He fiercely burned his life essence blood, a surge of immense power flowing through his meridians into his dantian, then down his arm and into the magic sword.

The magic sword's aura surged dramatically, its tip piercing the crack in the rock-armored crab's shell—the spot he had previously struck, now bearing a small gash.

"Pfft!"

The sword light pierced the crab's shell, and the rock-armored crab let out a miserable cry, twitching a few times before going still.

Qingchen gasped for breath, his arm aching and numb, blood still flowing from his tiger's mouth, and his heart aching faintly.

"This is a huge loss; it'll take a long time to replenish my life essence."

After dealing with the rock-armored crab, Qingchen didn't go out to sea again, returning directly to his cave on Huangzhu Island.

He activated the cave's defensive array to its maximum, then poured out the demonic beast essence he had accumulated over the past year from his storage bag;

—There was blue-scaled fish essence, red-striped shrimp essence, and rock-armored crab essence.

Qingchen once again activated the *Brahma Refining Demon Art*, and the torrent of demonic beast essence surged into his body, entering his Brahma Aperture…