Old Refining Spirit

The young men and women at the front of the line stepped forward with trepidation. Most of them only managed to make the stone emit a faint yellow light before retreating in disappointment; a few who occasionally emitted a Xuan-level light were greeted with smiles by the Xuan Tian Sect disciples and ushered to the back.

Half an hour later, it was finally Wang Teng's turn, after his broken sword was pulled out and his wound was simply bandaged. Supported by two servants, he glared venomously at Li Xuangeng before limping to the boulder.

Wang Teng took a deep breath and placed his hand on the black boulder.

"Buzz!"

In an instant, the boulder burst forth with a burst of intense blue light, which shot straight into the sky, reaching a height of seven feet!

"Earth Rank! It's actually an Earth Rank Water Spirit Root!"

"A genius that comes along only once in a century!"

A greedy green light flashed in Elder Qingxu's (the centipede demon's) murky fake eyes; in Li Xuangeng's eyes, it was the drooling of a centipede eyeing its prey. Qingxu laughed loudly, "Good! Good! Good! Wang Teng, you have indeed lived up to your Wang family bloodline. Join my sect, and I will grant you the status of an inner disciple!"

Wang Teng laughed triumphantly, then turned and pointed at Li Xuangeng in the crowd, roaring viciously, "Elder! That blind, wicked Taoist priest openly committed violence at your sect's Dharma assembly, injuring me. I beg you, Elder, to avenge me and have him reduced to ashes!"

Whoosh! All eyes were once again focused on Li Xuangeng.

Elder Qingxu looked down at Li Xuangeng and said coldly, "A mere mortal cultivator dares to be so insolent in my Xuantian Sect. If I cannot detect your spiritual root, I will tear your tendons and bones out and burn you to the ground!"

"Crush their bones to ashes? Burn them like lanterns?"

Li Xuangeng gently asked in return. Far from being afraid, he walked out of the crowd with extremely elegant and steady steps, and went straight to the "Spirit Testing Stone" that was three zhang tall.

Standing before this ancient, black boulder, Li Xuangeng made no move.

To mortals, this was a celestial treasure capable of testing talent. But with his [Aura Observation] fully activated, Li Xuangeng nearly vomited after just one glance.

What kind of spirit-testing stone is this?

This is clearly a massive, malevolent core, its interior engraved with a "bloodthirsty spirit-stealing array"! Every mortal who places their hand on it, supposedly to "test their spiritual roots," is actually having their purest innate essence extracted by this stone!

The brighter the light, the richer the person's essence; to the hidden monster in the back mountains of the Xuan Tian Sect, this means a higher-grade "food." They are using this method to openly select the finest ingredients!

"To treat this filthy thing, full of bacteria and other people's impurities, as a treasure to be worshipped... Your Xuantian Sect's taste is even worse than that of rats in the sewers."

Li Xuangeng shook his head in disgust, but in order to blend in, he still slowly extended his pale, slender right hand.

"A blind charlatan pretending to be a sage! I doubt he can even produce a yellow-tier glow!" Wang Teng mocked wildly from behind.

Li Xuangeng ignored him and gently placed his right hand on the cold, black stone surface.

"boom!"

The moment they made contact, the "Bloodthirsty Spirit-Stealing Array" inside the Spirit-Testing Stone was instantly activated! An extremely terrifying and greedy suction force, like a leech, frantically followed Li Xuangeng's palm, attempting to drain the essence and true energy from his body!

If an ordinary cultivator were present, even a Golden Core stage expert, they would be instantly drained into a dried-up corpse without any warning!

But what it absorbed today was Li Xuangeng, who possessed the [Creation Furnace] and [Absolute Rationality]!

"You want to eat me? Are your teeth tougher than the furnace of creation?"

A chillingly mocking smile curled at the corner of Li Xuangeng's lips.

Faced with this evil suction force, he not only did not resist, but also took the initiative to release all the meridians in his body!

"The Great Creation Technique, Feedback!"

Li Xuangeng let out a low roar in his heart.

The illusory image of the [Creation Furnace] hidden deep within his dantian sensed the invasion of evil energy from the outside world. Like an ancient ferocious beast awakened by noise, it instantly unleashed a terrifying devouring power that was ten thousand or even a hundred thousand times stronger than the Spirit Testing Stone!

Originally, it was the Spirit Testing Stone that was absorbing Li Xuangeng, but in just 0.01 seconds, the situation was instantly reversed!

【Creation Furnace】Following the point of contact, it reversed the process and treated this evil sect's spirit-testing stone, which had existed for hundreds of years and absorbed the essence of countless mortals, as a huge "super pill," and began to frantically extract it from within!

"Buzz—Buzz—Buzz!!!"

The enormous black spirit-testing stone began to tremble violently.

To everyone's utter astonishment, the spirit-testing stone didn't emit any Yellow, Profound, or Earth-grade light. Instead, it emitted a series of piercing, teeth-grinding screams, as if some living thing was being torn apart!

"What's going on? Why is the spirit-testing stone shaking?"

"My God, look at those rocks!"

Suddenly, glaring dark golden cracks appeared on the surface of that indestructible black boulder! These cracks spread rapidly like a spider web, and from within them, extremely thick and foul-smelling black blood gushed out!

This stone was so powerfully "absorbed" by Li Xuangeng that its genes collapsed!

Elder Qingxu on the high platform had a drastic change in expression. He could feel that the array inside the spirit-testing stone was being frantically destroyed by a domineering force of extremely high dimensionality.

"Stop! What are you doing, you evil Taoist?! Let go!" Elder Qingxu roared, trying to rush down and stop him.

"Too late."

Li Xuangeng's gentle voice resounded throughout the square. His right hand, which was resting on the stone, clenched suddenly!

"Crack—Boom!!!"

A deafening roar!

The Spirit Testing Stone, which stood three zhang tall and was regarded as one of the sect's most treasured artifacts by the Xuantian Sect, exploded from the inside into a cloud of black powder flying everywhere, under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of people who had seen a ghost!

A violent, dark golden shockwave swept around, sending countless young masters from the front row flying.

Amidst the swirling dust, only Li Xuangeng, clad in white, stood proudly upright. His body was covered by a faint layer of [Creation True Qi], preventing the filthy dust from getting within three feet of him.

The system's cold, impersonal notification sounds flooded Li Xuangeng's mind:

"Ding! Devoured a low-quality, large-scale bloodthirsty magical artifact, containing the mixed essence and blood of 100,000 mortals!"

"Activate the Creation Furnace for deep purification and filtration..."

"Purification complete!"

"Obtained 3 [Primordial Qi and Blood Golden Pills]!"

"Special Formation Analysis Obtained: [Ten Thousand Demon Blood Sacrifice Formation, Incomplete Version]!"

Li Xuangeng took a deep breath, quietly put the three golden pills into his sleeve, and sighed contentedly as he felt the surge of powerful true energy within his body.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

You could hear a pin drop.

Everyone, including Wang Teng who had been shouting just moments before, now looked like ducks with their necks being choked, mouths agape, staring blankly at the pile of powder on the ground.

The spirit-testing stone... it got shattered from being touched so much?!

What kind of talent does this guy need to have to explode a spirit-testing stone?! Heavenly Rank? No, this is definitely beyond the Heavenly Rank!

On the high platform, Elder Qingxu's centipede-like body beneath his human skin was trembling violently. He was furious, but even more so, he was consumed by an uncontrollable frenzy and greed!

"Such a physique... such a ferocious bloodline! If we throw him into the 'Myriad Demon Secret Realm' in the back mountain as a sacrifice to the Sect Master, the Sect Master will surely achieve his final ascension! I will also receive unimaginable rewards!"

Elder Qingxu forcibly suppressed his inner excitement, adopting an unprecedentedly kind expression, his voice even trembling slightly with emotion:

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Heaven blesses our Xuantian Sect! To have produced such an unparalleled genius! Surpassing the Heavenly Rank, this is truly a 'Celestial Spirit Body' unlike any other in history!"

Elder Qingxu strode down from the high platform and came before Li Xuangeng. His attitude underwent a complete 180-degree turn. Not only did he not pursue the matter of the broken spirit-testing stone and Wang Teng's injury, but he also smiled broadly and said:

"Young friend, though you are blind, your talent is extraordinary! On behalf of the Xuan Tian Sect, I hereby make an exception and accept you as a core inner disciple! In ten days, you will join us in entering the sect's highest forbidden area—the 'Myriad Demon Secret Realm'—to receive the Sect Master's personal baptism! What do you say, young friend?"

"Enter the Myriad Demon Realm? Receive baptism?"

Li Xuangeng faced Elder Qingxu, his eyes beneath the white silk having already seen through the other's disgusting scheme using the [Qi Observation Technique].

In Elder Qingxu's eyes, Li Xuangeng was a top-quality feast that could allow their sect leader to ascend directly.

But in Li Xuangeng's eyes, the entire Xuantian Sect, including the sect leader in the Myriad Demon Secret Realm, was nothing more than a lavish Manchu-Han Imperial Feast that he was about to cook in his [Creation Furnace]!

"Using magic to defeat magic, using even more insane methods to suppress the supernatural... I've finally got the ticket to this buffet."

Li Xuangeng bowed slightly, performing an impeccable Daoist salute. The gentle smile on his lips gradually widened, becoming both sickly and captivating.

"Thank you for your kind words, Elder. I have long coveted your sect's 'secret realm'."

A breeze stirred, ruffling Li Xuangeng's faded Taoist robe. In the shadow of the sunlight, his long, pale fingers seemed to have cracked uncontrollably again, revealing a row of sharp, white teeth...

The true slaughter feast belonging to the Great Abyss Demon Path is finally about to begin.