https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-209-The-Earth-Spirit-Pearl-a-Cruel-Blow-to-the-Flower-/12619300/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-211-Breaking-Limits-the-World-Trembles/12619302/
Chapter 210: Refining the Earth Spirit Pearl
As Lu Qing gazed at the middle-aged beauty's life force gradually fading away, his expression remained unchanged.
From the moment he first saw the woman's information, he never intended to let her go.
The only reason he didn't kill her immediately was that she still had some use to him.
Even the poison he gave her was real.
It was a virulent poison Lu Qing had obtained from a Seven Kills Tower assassin.
Without the antidote within the time limit, the woman would have indeed died a painful death.
However, out of gratitude for her guidance, Lu Qing ultimately chose to let her die without suffering.
After confirming her death with his abilities and taking one last look at her corpse, Lu Qing left the secret chamber and departed from Zheng Manor.
But before leaving, he took care of some other business.
"The water pipes burst! The water pipes burst!"
A quarter of an hour later, as Lu Qing stood atop a tall tower, chaos had engulfed the Zheng Manor.
Several columns of fire rose into the sky, raging fiercely.
The fire originated from the warehouse Lu Qing had raided, the courtyard where the old lady of the Zheng family resided, and two other unoccupied small courtyards.
Lu Qing did this to divert attention and conceal his tracks.
With this fire, by the time it was extinguished, the warehouse and the old lady's courtyard would likely be reduced to ruins.
No one would know how much of the contents were burned and how much was stolen.
Lu Qing watched for a while from the tower, seeing that the fire would not be put out anytime soon, he left satisfied.
The most precious items had already been taken by him, and even if the entire Zheng Manor burned down, he wouldn't feel any heartache.
Moreover, the mansions on the west side of the city were all occupied by wealthy families.
Each mansion was independent and spaced far apart.
No matter how large the fire in Zheng Manor raged, it wouldn't spread to the other residences.
Thus, he departed from the capital city without any worries.
As he left, Lu Qing also spotted the elegant old man and a large group with him, rushing back from outside the city.
However, not a single one of them noticed Lu Qing's presence.
Seeing their hurried strides toward the Zheng Manor, Lu Qing felt a sense of strangeness in his heart.
He wondered what their expressions would be like when they discovered the treasury of the Zheng family had been burned.
With a delightful mood, Lu Qing left the capital city and entered the mountains. He immediately activated the Earth Travel Talisman and made his way toward Nine Miles Village.
With stops along the way, it took him half a day to safely return to the village.
However, he didn't go home but instead headed directly into the mountains and arrived at the Jade Transformation Cave.
Everything in the cave remained unchanged. Lu Qing sat on the jade bed in the hidden chamber and took out the Earth Spirit Pearl from the Universe Bag.
The reason he passed by his home without entering was because of this Earth-attribute treasure pearl.
Even during the cultivation era, the Earth Spirit Pearl was considered a supreme treasure, its value no less than that of powerful high-grade spiritual artifacts.
Being nurtured from the Earth element's origin, this treasure contained the purest Earth elemental power and held countless miraculous uses.
Once refined, cultivators would gain unimaginable benefits.
"One of which is that my already peak innate talent can be further elevated," Lu Qing's eyes glinted with a sharp light.
According to the Li Huo Sect's heritage, the five elemental spirit pearls possessed various miraculous effects.
If one could refine and assimilate one of them, they could use the power of the spirit pearl to cleanse their mortal body and enhance their innate talent.
Lu Qing's cultivation talent had already been enhanced to its limit thanks to his previous consumption of the Earth Vein Spirit Liquid.
Unless he could find an even more miraculous spiritual object, it would be almost impossible to further enhance his talent.
As luck would have it, this Earth Spirit Pearl was an even more precious and extraordinary cultivation treasure.
"That old woman, Zheng, had a weak soul force and no inheritance. Thus, despite possessing the treasure pearl, she couldn't fathom its mysteries, nor did she know how to refine it. All she could do was store it away in her secret treasury as a collection."
"But I'm different. The Li Huo Sect is adept in both pill and treasure refining, and their heritage includes numerous methods for refining spiritual objects. Among them are several divine refining techniques that I can now utilize."
After a moment of excitement, Lu Qing calmed his mind and settled his thoughts.
He sat cross-legged, holding the Earth Spirit Pearl in both hands before him, ready to begin the refinement process.
Fortunately, the jade bed in the chamber had been nourished by the array's earth energy for countless years, making it extremely sturdy and able to bear the weight of the pearl.
When his thoughts were completely calm, the spirit talisman in his soul trembled, and Lu Qing extended a wisp of his soul force from his glabella cavity, wrapping it around the Earth Spirit Pearl.
The first sensation Lu Qing felt when his soul force made contact with the pearl's surface was its weight—an immense, overwhelming weight.
When he had collected the pearl before, he had relied on the power of the Cosmos Bag, a spiritual artifact, and hadn't felt much.
But now, using his own soul force to touch and sense the pearl, he truly felt the might of this earth-attribute treasure.
His soul force, in the face of the Earth Spirit Pearl, was like an ant trying to shake a mountain—utterly incapable of moving it, a true case of a minnow trying to shake a tree.
However, Lu Qing wasn't trying to move the pearl with his soul force; he was attempting to refine it.
As his thoughts turned, Lu Qing's mind flowed with the Li Huo Sect's heritage of refining spiritual objects with soul techniques.
The strand of soul force wrapped around the pearl suddenly became incredibly gentle, like flowing water or mist, gently permeating the interior of the pearl, aiming to leave his soul imprint within it.
Of course, as a supreme earth-attribute treasure, the Earth Spirit Pearl's interior was not easily penetrable.
This marked the beginning of a test of patience and willpower.
Fortunately, Lu Qing had both in abundance.
Time passed slowly as the white light shone perpetually on the walls of the Jade Transformation Cave, oblivious to the cycle of day and night.
Lu Qing remained cross-legged on the jade bed, unmoving.
Only his slightly pale face betrayed the fact that this was no easy task.
After an unknown duration, Lu Qing suddenly relaxed, his eyes opening with a smile.
"I've finally succeeded in the initial refinement."
"Although it's only preliminary, I can now barely control this Earth Spirit Pearl."
"Fortunately, spiritual energy has not yet recovered. This Earth Spirit Pearl has endured tens of thousands of years of spiritual depletion, exhausting its spirituality and greatly reducing its power. Otherwise, with my current cultivation, wanting to refine it for my own use would be a pipe dream."
"Now, let me experience the wonders of this legendary Earth Spirit Pearl."
With a thought, Lu Qing activated the soul imprint he had painstakingly left within the pearl.
The pearl suddenly shrank and transformed into a ray of light that entered his glabella cavity.
(End of Chapter)
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