Chapter 191: The Flower in the Cave

Lin Zhiqing was still struggling to understand.

"An accomplished master of cultivation?"

She thought "accomplished in cultivation" meant having superb medical skills.

Chen Erbao smiled. "I'm not talking about medical skills. I mean real cultivation."

With a flick of his finger, Chen Erbao shot out a ball of invisible Spiritual Qi, instantly blowing apart a nearby rock.

This incredible scene left Lin Zhiqing dumbfounded.

It took her a moment to recover. Then, she stared at Chen Erbao's hand in astonishment, as if trying to figure out its secret.

Chen Erbao felt that saying too much might be more than she could handle. He hesitated for a moment, then decided to try a different approach.

"Have you ever read any martial arts novels?"

Lin Zhiqing nodded.

Chen Erbao grinned. "It's a lot like that. You could say I'm now a master with considerable Inner Strength. I might not be on the level of a top-tier expert like Qiao Feng, but my Inner Strength cultivation is already comparable to a first-rate master like Duan Zhengchun. Leaping over roofs and crushing stones with my bare hands is no problem at all!"

Lin Zhiqing felt like she was in a dream. But after a moment's pause, she said, "Duan Zhengchun had quite a few female confidantes, you know. Are you...?"

"..."

Chen Erbao was speechless. He'd just picked a random example and never thought Lin Zhiqing would make that connection.

"It was just an example... Anyway, the point is, I'm very powerful now. I won't get into trouble easily. Besides, when we get back, I'll teach you all some Martial Arts. Not only will it keep you fit, but at the very least, it can extend your life and preserve your youth!"

The first part of his speech held little appeal for Lin Zhiqing, but that last sentence was the real kicker.

Lin Zhiqing's eyes lit up. "It can preserve my youth?"

For any woman, the cruelest enemy is time. No matter how divinely beautiful you are, age will eventually fade your looks.

Chen Erbao said, "Of course. Haven't you seen the Celestial Mountain Child Lady? She was over a hundred years old but still looked like a girl of fourteen or fifteen."

"Get outta here! I have no desire to be the Celestial Mountain Child Lady!"

Lin Zhiqing scolded him with a laugh.

The two of them chatted and laughed, and Chen Erbao finally managed to put Lin Zhiqing's mind at ease.

He tied one end of a sturdy climbing rope to a large rock and the other around his waist. Then, under Lin Zhiqing's worried gaze, Chen Erbao began his descent into the mouth of the volcano.

The deeper he went, the dimmer the light became. At first, he could clearly see the uneven pits and hollows in the walls, but as he descended further, Chen Erbao had to circulate his Spiritual Power just to see his surroundings.

After rappelling down a few dozen meters, Chen Erbao's ears twitched. He heard a faint sound.

He switched on his headlamp and looked around, only to see the walls covered with a dense swarm of clinging bats.

As the light swept over them, the bats flapped their wings with a flurry of RUSTLES and flew off to other places.

Chen Erbao covered his entire body with Spiritual Power to prevent any bat bites.

A few of them, not knowing what was good for them, actually flew straight at Chen Erbao. But before they could even get close, he killed them with blasts of Finger Wind.

'I should learn a Cultivation Technique similar to the Six Meridian Divine Sword,' he thought. 'A walking, talking machine gun. Who wouldn't be scared of that!'

After the bats flew away, Chen Erbao's eyes lit up. He spotted a wildflower with black and red petals growing on a protruding stone ledge below.

He didn't know its name, but Chen Erbao could sense that the flower contained an incredibly dense Spiritual Power.

"A real treasure!"

Chen Erbao kicked hard off the rock wall, swinging himself out over the chasm. Then, with a great leap, he landed steadily on the stone ledge.

Chen Erbao crouched down and carefully observed the flower's shape.

It had six jet-black petals, each with a crimson vein running down the middle, making them look strangely like blood vessels.

In the center of the six petals sat a flower as black as ink, emitting a faint, exotic fragrance that made Chen Erbao swallow instinctively.

Without hesitation, he pulled the flower up, root and all, and temporarily stashed it in the backpack on his back.

Standing on the ledge, he looked down into the pitch-black, deep abyss. Even when he pushed his vision to its limits, he couldn't see the bottom. After checking the length of his rope, Chen Erbao began to climb back up.

An ordinary person would have likely collapsed from exhaustion by now, but with a circulation of Spiritual Power, Chen Erbao's body became as light as a wild goose. A light tap of his toes on the rock wall sent him soaring upwards. After repeating this a few times, he flew out of the cavern and landed on the ground.

Seeing Chen Erbao emerge, Lin Zhiqing finally let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Er Bao, are you okay?"

Chen Erbao untied the rope and placed his backpack on the ground.

"Not only am I okay, I found something incredible!"

He took out the jet-black flower and began to examine it under the sunlight.

Lin Zhiqing came closer to see, her wide eyes full of curiosity.

"Er Bao, what kind of flower is this? It looks so strange!"

Lin Zhiqing twitched her nose, having clearly caught the exotic scent.

Chen Erbao shook his head. He had carefully searched through the knowledge of the Joyful Technique in his mind several times but couldn't find any information about this flower.

"I don't know, but the Spiritual Qi in this flower is exceptionally dense. And based on past experience, flowers that grow on cliffs like this usually grant a huge boost in power when you eat them."

"It's not poisonous, is it?"

Lin Zhiqing thought the flower looked deceptively beautiful.

"Only one way to find out."

Chen Erbao raised the flower to his mouth.

"Hey! Why don't we take it back and have someone analyze it? What if it's poisonous?"

Lin Zhiqing was startled and quickly stopped him.

Chen Erbao chuckled. "Even if it's poisonous, I'm not afraid. You forgot I have Inner Strength. I can just spit out any poison. Don't worry."

The Spiritual Qi in the flower was very dense, and Chen Erbao couldn't detect a single trace of poison.

Ignoring her protests, he swallowed the blooming flower in one gulp, then immediately sat down, crossed his legs, and began to circulate his energy.

As Chen Erbao chewed, the jet-black flower dissolved into a stream of pure, scorching energy that began to wreak havoc, surging wildly through his internal organs.

Chen Erbao's brow furrowed slightly. He felt a burning sensation in his meridians, and his pale face instantly flushed red.

Fortunately, though the energy was violent, it was still within his control.

He controlled his Spiritual Qi, wrapping it around the energy that was rampaging through his meridians and guiding it to his Dantian, where he began to refine it with all his might.

The once-calm ocean of Spiritual Qi in his Dantian was thrown into turmoil. His pink Spiritual Power merged with the scorching energy from the flower, causing his whole body to feel like it was on fire.

Lin Zhiqing saw that Chen Erbao's skin had turned completely red and instantly grew anxious.

"Er Bao... maybe you should spit it out! You've turned into a little lobster!"

"It's not a big problem!"

Chen Erbao actually had the presence of mind to reply before sinking his consciousness back into his Dantian and focusing all his effort on devouring the crimson Spiritual Power.

The entire process lasted for more than half an hour. Finally, under Chen Erbao's suppression, the flower's energy was completely dissipated within his body.

Chen Erbao sat with his eyes closed, circulating his energy. After a long while, he exhaled a breath of scorching air and opened his eyes.

His eyes shone with a look of delighted surprise.

Peak of Qi Refining Fourth Layer!