Yuantian Pidao

Chapter 173 Blood Refining Sacrifice

Above the fiery hill, the swirling mist slowly subsided into calm.

"Both of you have reached the pinnacle of Qi cultivation. Is Huang Feng your teacher?"

Amidst the mist, a ghostly light flickered in the dragon's eyes as it watched the direction Black King Kong and Flower Lady had left. Jiang Chen seemed lost in thought. Although Black King Kong and Flower Lady had tried to conceal themselves, they still hadn't escaped his perception.

"What are they doing in Yanqiu? Are they here for me or for Zhuang Tianxing?"

"If it's the former, then it means that the Yellow Wind Sect has its eyes on me. If it's the latter, then it means that the Zhuang family has really been heavily infiltrated by the Yellow Wind Sect. Zhuang Tianxing acted alone this time, and very few people should know about it. Even so, the Yellow Wind Sect still noticed that something was wrong."

"But why are there only two Qi Refining Stage 1 cultivators present? Their strength is probably insufficient to deal with Zhuang Tianxing. Logically, it should be Huangfeng Sanren who should personally take action..."

Thoughts collided, and Jiang Chen pondered many things at that moment.

However, at this moment, he had no intention of investigating further, nor did he have any thought of pursuing the enemy. Although he had won the final victory in the life-or-death battle with Zhuang Tianxing, he had also suffered considerable injuries.

"With the Qi Refining Perfection completed and the 108 Acupoints opened, and the Qi circulated throughout the body, both the speed of Qi recovery and circulation are much faster than what I am now. In addition, with that fire pill, if I hadn't been able to continuously convert my own Qi into Cloud Ascension Qi, he might have actually escaped in the end."

Lowering his gaze to look at Zhuang Tianxing, who was already completely dead in the dragon's claws, Jiang Chen shook his head.

"With my current strength, I should be able to fight most Qi Refining Perfection cultivators for a while and retreat safely, but defeating them head-on will still be difficult."

"As for killing him, it is necessary to seize the right time, place, and people."

Despite the constant stinging sensations throughout his body, Jiang Chen remained remarkably clear-headed.

After fighting Zhuang Tianxing, he gained a relatively clear understanding of his own strength.

With the Black Gold Blade in hand, Zhuang Tianxing's combat strength should be considered quite good among those at the peak of Qi Refining. However, without the Black Gold Blade, his combat strength would be at the bottom among those at the peak of Qi Refining. Even so, killing him would still not be easy. Compared to other Qi Refining cultivators, those at the peak of Qi Refining who have completed the Qi cycle have a great advantage in combat.

"I'm rather curious why the Zhuang family suddenly set their sights on me, and why Zhuang Tianxing would come to Yanqiu alone during this chaotic time."

With a sudden thought, Jiang Chen returned to his cultivation secret place, carrying Zhuang Tianxing's corpse.

After Jiang Chen left, Rat Tianjiao immediately directed the rat swarm to clean up the battlefield and clear away the mess. Just now, when Jiang Chen and Zhuang Tianxing were fighting to the death, it and Du Zhong had both helped, but their strength was still a bit weak, and they could only interfere from a distance and could not play a significant role.

Even so, both the rat and the eucommia were affected and injured. Fortunately, both the rat and the human were relatively tough and their lives were not in danger.

"The person who was killed was Zhuang Tianxing, the patriarch of the Zhuang family, a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining..."

"The Dragon King killed him."

Standing amidst the ruins, looking utterly disheveled, Du Zhong felt a surge of emotions as he watched Jiang Chen's departing figure.

As a scion of a prominent family in Changfeng County, he had heard of Zhuang Tianxing's formidable reputation since childhood, never imagining that he would witness his demise firsthand. "To kill a Qi Refining Perfection cultivator with the aid of a Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator—the Flood Dragon King's talent is truly terrifying. Following him, I might truly learn a great deal, and one day I might even be able to avenge myself..."

Knowing that Jiang Chen was even stronger than he had originally expected, Du Zhong felt a surge of hope. At that moment, his hands clenched involuntarily, with scorching lava faintly visible in them.

Just then, a rat's tail dangled in front of him and swayed, instantly bringing him back to his senses.

Coming to his senses, Du Zhong looked at Shu Tianjiao, who was staring at him, and gave an awkward smile before immediately joining the reconstruction work.

Looking at Du Zhong like this, Shu Tianjiao tilted its head, feeling that Du Zhong was just thinking about something wonderful.

Meanwhile, upon returning to his cultivation grounds, Jiang Chen immediately used Soul Illumination on Zhuang Tianxing's remnant soul.

Compared to the previous soul-searching, this time it was much slower, but as time passed, scene after scene was still reflected in his mind.

"Qi Refining cultivators refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to nourish their essence and spirit. Although it is not very obvious, under the constant nourishment and feedback of true energy, the soul essence of a Qi Refining cultivator at the peak is already much higher than that of an ordinary person. As a weapon refiner, Zhuang Tianxing's soul talent is even more outstanding."

After finishing the soul search, Jiang Chen felt the difference between Qi Refining Perfection and other Qi Refining cultivators. When Qi is full, it overflows, which greatly benefits both the physical body and the soul.

"Blood Refining Spirit Sacrifice, I never thought the Zhuang family would have such a secret technique. No wonder Zhuang Tianxing attacked me."

After sorting through the results of the soul search, Jiang Chen's doubts were resolved.

After arriving in Changfeng County, he deliberately avoided the Zhuang family and the Yellow Wind Sect. The reason they targeted him was not for any noble cause, but because they coveted his flesh and blood.

Within the Zhuang family, there is a special weapon-refining tradition called Blood Refining Spirit Sacrifice. This tradition allows one to increase the power of magical artifacts by sacrificing powerful demonic creatures, thus creating so-called minor spiritual artifacts.

"The essence of a minor magical artifact is still a top-grade magic weapon. It has only extracted a bit of spirituality from the bloodline of a powerful demon, giving it a few characteristics of a magical artifact. However, this one characteristic is enough to allow the top-grade magic weapon to generate even more powerful energy."

Jiang Chen pondered the Blood Refining Spirit Sacrifice Secret Technique carefully.

The Blood Refining Spirit Sacrifice technique, while seemingly good, is actually quite impractical. Firstly, powerful demonic creatures are not easy to find. Secondly, even if one manages to obtain one, there might be better ways to use it, making its cost-effectiveness in refining a small spiritual artifact not very high.

The power of a minor magical artifact is indeed impressive, but it is only impressive. In the end, it is just a top-grade magic weapon and cannot compare to a true magical artifact. Moreover, after being refined into a minor magical artifact, unless the sacrificial demon has an extremely powerful bloodline, this magic weapon will never have the possibility of truly being upgraded to a magical artifact. It can be said that it has cut off its own path.

"In a golden age of cultivation, secret techniques like minor spiritual artifacts would not be valued, and truly powerful forces would never do such a thing. However, in the current period of time, this kind of secret technique still has some value."

"At the very least, once a minor spiritual artifact is refined, the Zhuang family's situation will immediately change. With a minor spiritual artifact in hand, Zhuang Tianxing will be among the top in the Qi Refining Perfection realm. Looking at the entire Southern Four Counties, apart from the Qingmu family, no other family should be able to underestimate him."

Understanding Zhuang Tianxing's thoughts, Jiang Chen fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)