Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

"Brother!" The thin cultivator's eyes were bloodshot, his gaze fixed on Zhang Li as he slowly emerged from the dense forest, and he roared, "I'll kill you!"

He recklessly activated the gourd in his hand, causing the dark blue cold energy to surge wildly, and countless sharp ice spikes to pierce the air and bombard Zhang Li.

Faced with this attack, Zhang Li remained calm, raised his hand to recall the Burning Cloud Sword, and then made a hand seal, causing a large amount of azure flames to rise. With his continuous input of azure wood cores, he had cultivated the second level of the Azure Flame Technique to its limit.

Once the foundation is established and the Xuan Yan Qi Wu Mu (a type of tree) is found, the Qing Yan (Azure Flame) will be able to transform into its ultimate form, unleashing the true power of the True Fire.

However, it's not bad right now; it already possesses the power of three-tenths of the true fire.

Azure flames soared into the sky, transforming into a rolling tide of flames that roared towards the countless ice spikes.

The ice spikes melted rapidly upon contact with the blue flames, unable to stop the flame tide from advancing even slightly.

The flames broke through the ice spikes, their momentum undiminished, and swept straight towards the thin cultivator behind them.

The thin cultivator's face turned ashen. He hurriedly threw out a long-necked jade bottle, made a hand seal, and a powerful suction force emanated from the bottle, actually drawing the surging flames into it.

Then, the thin cultivator changed his hand seals, and the billowing azure flames that had just been swallowed into the bottle were instantly spewed out, transforming into a violent stream of flames that changed direction and swept towards Zhang Lixi.

"This magical artifact is quite interesting!"

A hint of surprise flashed across Zhang Li's eyes, but his face remained calm and composed. The azure flames in his palm surged again, transforming into a wall of fire in front of him. Then, his hand seals changed, and the Burning Cloud Sword roared out, heading straight for the thin cultivator's face.

Can a jade bottle contain magic spells and magical artifacts?

The answer was obviously no, so the thin cultivator had no choice but to activate the gourd magic artifact again, condensing several large and thick ice spikes in an attempt to block it.

"It seems they've really run out of ideas; they're just using the same few tricks over and over again."

Zhang Li chuckled softly, his hand seals shifting, and the Burning Cloud Sword Wound surged with layers of raging flames, easily shattering the ice spikes into dust.

The Burning Cloud Sword moved with unstoppable force, its speed undiminished, and carrying raging flames, it reached the thin cultivator in front of him.

"Fellow Taoist Rao..."

The thin cultivator's soul was in great turmoil, and before he could finish speaking, a streak of blood bloomed from his heart.

The next instant, the sword pierced through his body, leaving specks of blood, and the thin cultivator collapsed with a thud, completely lifeless.

The Burning Cloud Sword returned to his hand, and Zhang Li slowly turned around, asking, "Where are you headed, fellow Daoist?"

Huang Yan had intended to take advantage of the chaos while the thin cultivator was fighting Zhang Li, but as soon as he made a move, the thin cultivator died under Zhang Li's sword, in just a few breaths.

Huang Yan stiffly turned his head to look at Zhang Li not far away. The other party's expression was calm, as if killing two people just now was nothing more than a piece of cake. He no longer dared to resist in the slightest. His body trembled slightly, and he cupped his hands with difficulty: "Fellow Daoist! We have no grudges against each other. I am willing to offer up all the gains from this trip to the secret realm. I hope you will spare my life."

Upon hearing this, a hint of amusement flashed in Zhang Li's eyes.

"Oh? Hand over all your spoils?" He raised an eyebrow with a half-smile. "Fellow Daoist, you seem to know what's good for you."

Seeing that Zhang Li didn't act immediately, Huang Yan's eyes flashed with a glimmer of hope. He quickly untied his storage bag and said, "All my savings, spirit stones, pills, magic weapons, and all my gains from the secret realm are in here! I only beg you, fellow Daoist, to show mercy and spare my life!"

Zhang Li glanced at the storage bag, but did not reach out to take it.

He slowly raised his hand, and a small blue flame quietly appeared in his palm, the eerie light illuminating his young yet indifferent face.

"Fellow Daoist, when you ruthlessly slaughtered the Ma brothers just now, did you ever consider leaving them a way out?"

Huang Yan's expression changed drastically, his pupils reflecting the deadly blue light, and despair surged into his heart like a tide.

"People die for wealth, birds die for food." Zhang Li said calmly, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary. "Since you understand this principle, you should know that you have no one to blame but yourself for falling into my hands today."

"Since you won't let me go, then die!"

Huang Yan's eyes widened in fury, and with a sudden flick of his sleeve, a dark, round bead with fine, flowing lightning patterns flew out of his hand.

"Exploding Thunder Bead!"

Zhang Li was very familiar with this bead; he had used it more than once.

Without the slightest hesitation, he quickly activated the Ink Cloud Pendant, and almost at the same time that the protective magic shield was formed, the Thunder Explosion Pearl exploded.

The surging black lightning instantly spread out, completely engulfing Zhang Li.

After a few breaths, the raging black lightning finally dissipated and disappeared.

"How is that possible!"

Huang Yan stared intently at the scorched earth ravaged by the black lightning, his pupils contracting sharply, his voice becoming somewhat shrill with extreme shock.

He knew all too well the power of the Thunderclap Pearl; it was a weapon powerful enough to instantly injure a Qi Refining cultivator! But the scene before him completely shattered his understanding.

In the center of the scorched earth, the smoke and dust slowly dissipated.

Zhang Li remained in the same spot, his clothes tattered, his entire body bearing the marks of the black lightning's ravages, but only some minor external injuries, and his aura remained almost unchanged.

"You're also a body-refining cultivator."

Since they both practiced both physical and magical cultivation, Huang Yan immediately guessed it.

"You guessed right, but there's no prize!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Li suddenly flashed out, and his Vajra Palm crashed down.

A muffled explosion suddenly rang out.

Huang Yan, already severely injured, had no power to resist and died on the spot.

"cough!"

After dealing with Huang Yan, Zhang Li couldn't help but cough softly, a trace of dark red blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

After all, it was a Thunderclap Pearl. Even after tearing apart the protective magic shield, its remaining power was still not to be underestimated. Even though he had already perfected the first level of body refinement, the domineering power of the thunderous explosion still caused his blood and qi to surge, inevitably resulting in some internal injuries.

However, there are no major problems overall.

Zhang Li calmly waved his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, quickly stepped forward to collect the three people's storage bags and the magical artifacts that had fallen to the side, and then threw out a blue flame to dispose of the three people's corpses.

After doing all this, he turned his attention to the culprit that caused all these events—the Dragon Blood Fruit Tree.

After several rounds of fighting, the Dragon Blood Fruit Tree was inevitably affected. The tree itself was not seriously damaged, but only seven Dragon Blood Fruits remained on the tree. The rest were shaken off and destroyed in the clash of spells and the raging thunderstorm, wasted in the melee.

Zhang Li walked slowly to the fruit tree, picked the remaining dragon blood fruit, and put them into his storage bag.

He originally intended to uproot the entire fruit tree and take it with him, but after thinking it over carefully, he finally decided to take a section of the main root of the fruit tree.

Since it possesses the [Cave Heaven], even if it only has a section of the main root, it can still grow into a complete Dragon Blood Fruit Tree.

Since that's the case, let the original plant stay here; it can be considered as him leaving an opportunity for future cultivators.

Once everything was settled, Zhang Li quickly arrived at the location.