As the needle began to form, Lucian’s body started to emit a bloody aura.
The blood needle in his heart continued to grow, becoming sharper and more defined. It emitted sharp Qi, resonating with the bloody aura surrounding Lucian.
Suddenly, the needle vanished from his heart!
Lucian’s eyes snapped open in surprise. Then he quickly focused his Qi Sense, searching for the missing needle.
To his astonishment, he found it on his Foundation Platform!
The blood needle hovered above the Dao Platform for a moment, then silently descended. It began to rotate around the Dao Lotus like a protective shield, mysterious and silent.
The Dao Platform was also rotating slowly, but the blood needle was moving slightly faster.
Lucian observed this with curiosity, but did not immediately test the needle’s usefulness.
Instead, he reached into his space ring and pulled out more beast meats. He arranged them over his crimson Halberd, which still burned with Crimson Flames.
The cave filled once again with the sizzling sounds and savory aromas of roasting meat.
Lucian sat cross-legged, his eyes closed in meditation as he cooked and absorbed the Spiritual Energy and Vitality from his meal.
…
Days passed in this manner. Nearly 10 days passed in a blink of an eye.
At this moment, in the cave, Lucian opened his crimson eyes and exhaled a long breath.
Noticing his 20 droplets of Essence Blood, he nodded in satisfaction.
Not only that, his Cultivation also increased and had reached the peak of 1st Layer of Foundation Establishment.
“It seems these Qi Gathering stage beasts isn’t enough for me anymore. If I want to quickly increase my cultivation, I need to find more Foundation Establishment stage beasts,” He muttered to himself silently.
At the next moment, Lucian opened his mouth and spat.
Instead of saliva or air, a blood-red streak of light flew out. It hit the rocky wall of the cave, creating a thin hole. The hole was so thin that without focus, one would not even notice it.
Lucian had to extend his Qi Sense to examine the hole. To his astonishment, it was nearly ten meters deep!
The blood needle had easily bored through solid rock with ease.
“Incredible,” Lucian nodded in surprise, his eyes gleaming with interest.
Then, with a thought, it returned and resumed its rotation around the Dao Lotus.
He then stood up, stretching his limbs after days of closed door meditation.
His body felt lighter, stronger. The constant absorption of spiritual energy from the beast meats and spirit stones had greatly benefited his cultivation. He had also used the Spirit Herb that he found before.
Lucian walked to the cave entrance, flew towards a mountaintop.
He peered out at the eerie landscape beyond.
“Let’s see what secrets this forbidden area have.”
There were many forbidden places within the Secret Realm’s inner area.
Unlike the outer regions, where only a few such zones existed, the inner area was riddled with these dangerous territories. Each one had one or more peak Foundation Establishment Spiritual Beasts occupying it.
And because of the limitations imposed by the Secret Realm, they could not break through.
However, while they were still at the Foundation Establishment, their strength had already surpassed that of ordinary peak Foundation Establishment Spiritual Beasts outside.
…
Nearly a hundred peaks rose into the sky, their snow-capped summits piercing the clouds.
Among them, three stood majestically taller than the rest, their peaks completely hidden in the Yin Element Spiritual Energy mists above.
This forbidden zone was hidden by a natural array formation. Only upon entering did one notice it was actually a vast mountain range, concealed from outside view.
At this moment, in a small cave on one of the small peaks, a young woman with violet hair sat in meditation.
Her long, silky hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall of amethyst.
But her face was pale, with fresh blood at the corner of her mouth. Her aura was disorderly, fluctuating wildly between strong and weak. She cultivated silently to stabilize her Spiritual Energy.
“Princess, are you alright?” A handsome young man wearing a golden robe slowly entered the cave and looked at her with concern.
The woman didn’t open her eyes, but replied weakly, “I’m fine. But do you really think it’ll work?”
The young man’s dark eyes roamed over the violet-haired woman’s curveceous body.
Her pale, weak face only seemed to excite him more. He licked his lips, then quickly composed himself.
“Of course, Princess,” he said smoothly, “We can use these lesser cultivators as bait to lure that while you take the Spirit Fruit. They won’t dare disobey the Royal Family.”
The young woman nodded slowly, her violet hair shimmering in the dim light.
“Alright,” she said softly. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”
The young man in golden robe examined her body for another second.
His eyes lingered on her curves, a hint of desire flashing across his face. Then he turned and strode out.
Once outside, he directly went to the side of the mountain where a relatively big cave was dug out.
The cave mouth gaped wide, like a yawning beast. A small array formation was placed to resist cold wind.
Inside, around 20 cultivators were silently meditating. Most were at Qi Gathering peak, their auras steady but unremarkable.
Among them, only one was at early Foundation Establishment cultivator. He was a young man with one eye who exuded a murderous aura.
As the man in golden robe entered the cave, the cultivators stirred. Some opened their eyes, others shifted uneasily. The air grew tense.
“Greetings, Prince,” the Foundation stage cultivator immediately bowed.
Seeing this, others quickly stood up and bowed respectfully. Their faces were filled with a mix of fear and reverence as they gazed upon the man in the golden robe.
The man nodded casually, an air of arrogance between his brows.
He then said coolly, “Make teams of two and search the entrance area. If you find anyone, bring them here. If they refuse, show them my token.”
He pulled out two golden medallions embossed with a royal crest, holding it up for all to see.
“But even after that, if they still refuse,” the prince continued, his voice turning cold, “kill them without mercy. Their corpses will serve as a warning to others.”
The one-eyed man nodded respectfully.
As for other cultivators, their faces were pale. Some swallowed hard, while others clenched their fists nervously.
…
As the snow fell, the air grew heavy with coldness. Lucian walked silently. A layer of spiritual energy shield surrounded his body, protecting him from the cold.
He held a compass in one hand, its needle quivering as it pointed the way.
This was the first time in either of his lives that Lucian had walked a snow-covered mountain path. So he moved cautiously, his Qi Sense spreading as much as possible as he moved.
The snow crunched softly under his feet. Icicles hung from bare tree branches like crystal daggers.
Suddenly, Lucian stopped. His eyes narrowed as he turned left and spat.
Whoosh!!
A streak of red light flashed through the air.
Even before the attacker could understand what happened, its brain was directly penetrated. The creature’s eyes dimmed and it slowly fell to the snow with a soft “thud”.
Only now could its real body be seen. It was a snow leopard at the peak of Qi Gathering stage.
Blood pooled beneath the leopard’s head, staining the pure white snow crimson.
Lucian sighed in disappointment.
“Still no Foundation Establishment. Maybe only those mountain peaks would have such strong beasts,” He said, looking up to see the three mountain peaks.
He waved his hand, and the corpse was stored in his storage bag.
…
After walking nearly a kilometre, his Qi Sense suddenly picked up a group of Cultivators moving through the snowy area.
There were ten of them, all at the Qi Gathering realm.
In his Qi Sense, their auras were weak, flickering like candles in the wind.
And from their robes, he could predict that they were normal Cultivators sent by those small cultivation families.
They hadn’t noticed Lucian yet, as their Qi Sense couldn’t reach him from such a distance.
As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his Qi Sense had a range of two kilometres, double that of a peak Qi Gathering realm cultivator. This advantage allowed him to observe the group undetected.
Lucian observed them silently from afar. He saw two young men leading the group, both at the peak of Qi Gathering.
One of them held jade tokens in his hands. Stay connected through empire
Behind them, eight were moving in a small formation.
Seeing that none of them could actually threaten him, he intentionally moved within the scaning range.
The moment Lucian stepped into their scanning range, the two leading cultivators froze, their faces paling as they sensed a powerful presence approaching.
Lucian didn’t have any technique to disguise himself as a low-level cultivator. So as soon as their Qi Sense couldn’t see through him, they immediately understood they were not his match.