Qi Cultivation Starting from the Repair Panel

Inside the giant tree hollow, tender green spirit grass grew, encircling Chu Zheng, growing in rings.

The damp, decaying aura was replaced by rich spiritual energy.

Nourished continuously by the majestic essence blood of the Cloud Wing Tiger, the exhausted origins of Chu Zheng and Xue Qing, depleted due to significant essence blood loss, were finally effectively replenished, like drought-stricken land meeting sweet rain.

The depleted energy and blood gradually filled, the pallor returned to a healthy complexion, and the persistent feeling of weakness within slowly receded like a retreating tide.

This recovery speed, to an average cultivator, already seemed astonishing, comparable to consuming a top-tier holy medicine.

However, Chu Zheng was dissatisfied with it. At the moment of complete replenishment, a subtle impatience flickered across his brow.

Too slow.

This long-term, cautious nurturing of injuries was unfamiliar to him, almost absurd.

In his fragmented and chaotic memories, instant recuperation from injuries seemed a natural occurrence.

The orderly process of healing now inevitably made him feel a sense of confinement.

Xue Qing, on the other hand, was entirely different. As her energy and blood replenished, her aura became sharper and more solid. At the moment her injuries fully healed, a stronger wave of gang qi exploded, causing dust to fall from the cave walls!

She broke through again, stepping into the mid-stage of the Yuan Aura Realm.

She opened her eyes, her gaze flickering with a flash of brilliance, but her face showing little joy.

After getting up and stretching her limbs, she tilted her head towards Chu Zheng: "Ah Zheng, should we change locations?"

The martial path requires one to sharpen their edge through life and death battles, to hone the great momentum of martial arts amid blood and fire.

Long-term seclusion, tranquility, and safety are certainly beneficial for healing and accumulation but provide little benefit for progress in the martial path and could dampen her desire for advancement.

Chu Zheng slowly opened his eyes, his body having just formed Jade Bone, naturally stepping into the mid-stage of the Jade Bone Realm.

After stabilizing his breathing, Chu Zheng looked towards Xue Qing, quickly noticing an anomaly, as her surrounding aura was somewhat restless.

The protection of the tree hollow was a place for quiet cultivation for Chu Zheng, but for Xue Qing, it became an invisible cage.

The martial will needs to gallop between heaven and earth, honing the edge during battles. The silence of this limited space was like warm water, slowly eroding the sharpness in her bones, making her feel a sense of suppression originating from her instincts.

Chu Zheng understood immediately, rising to his feet:

"This place is no longer suitable for a long stay."

Without further words, the two quickly packed and left the tree hollow.

The air still carried the intertwined scent of decay and vitality, with towering ancient trees casting great shadows.

The two concealed their aura, cautiously traversing the forest, while Chu Zheng's divine sense slowly expanded, searching for a more ideal resting spot.

Days later, in a secluded area embraced by three solitary peaks, Chu Zheng's divine sense caught a trace of weak but exceptionally pure spiritual energy.

Following the trail, they parted layers of entwined ancient vines, revealing a hidden valley entrance.

The valley entrance was narrow, barely accommodating two or three people side by side. Looking inside, the light was dim, with mist swirling.

As soon as they stepped within, a more refined spiritual energy rushed at them, carrying the refreshing scent of moist vegetation.

"A spirit vein!"

A glint of brilliance flashed in Chu Zheng's eyes. Although it was just a small spirit vein, the spiritual energy concentration was sufficient to support their current cultivation.

Woo——

A fierce roar accompanied by a foul wind came from the depths of the valley, shaking the ground. A massive black shadow burst out like a runaway war chariot.

It was a fierce beast resembling a wild wolf, with three pairs of blood-red compound eyes, covered with obsidian-like menacing bone armor, a third-order beast.

This place was evidently its territory.

Discovering the intruders, its blood-red eyes glistened with intense hostility, its massive maw opening with a sharp roar, ready to bite down.

Xue Qing's eyes narrowed slightly, advancing instead of retreating, her gaze igniting with scorching killing intent, as the long-repressed agitation since leaving the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower seemed to find an outlet!

Boom!

Xue Qing's toes touched the ground, and a formidable force roared through the accumulated decaying soil beneath her.

A thunderous muffled explosion burst forth, using the wild recoil force, her figure shot upward like a reversing shooting star, rising above the menacing beast, with layers of earthen waves carrying decayed leaves and broken branches spiraling skyward, leaving a trail of turbid dust in her wake.

Below, the wolf-like beast suddenly lifted its head, three pairs of blood-red compound eyes shrank tightly, locking onto the figure soaring into the sky, its obsidian bone armor shimmering, slowly exuding a layer of blood mist.

Xue Qing's gaze turned slightly cold, her waist twisting, her long right leg slicing through the air in a powerful arc, carrying the shriek of tearing air, fiercely striking down.

Crack—

A muffled sound of bone and flesh collision, like a heavy hammer striking a mountain, followed by a hair-raising crunch of cracking bones.

The seemingly indestructible dark bone armor of the beast, under Xue Qing's strike, condensed with terrifying force, instantly filled with countless fine cracks like glazed tiles struck by a sledgehammer!

The cracks spread rapidly in an instant, emitting a piercing wail, the blood and flesh beneath the bone armor unable to withstand the immense force accompanied by the strike, exploding in a restrained muffled burst.

Plop—

The foul, hot blood mixed with pale bone fragments splattered everywhere.

Grey-white brain matter spurted violently from the shattered skull, splashing like a fountain among the decayed leaves and soil.

The beast couldn't even manage a howl of pain, its massive body collapsing like a puppet with all its strings cut, the six blood-red compound eyes dimming to emptiness, devoid of any vicious glow.

Xue Qing slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, the previous restlessness around her dispersing, leaving a sense of lightness.

Chu Zheng was not surprised by this result, as martial cultivators of the same realm were already exceptional in combat power, especially in the initial stages of cultivation, those with extraordinary talent could battle across levels as easily as drinking water.

The beast had reached the third order perfection, yet didn't even have the qualification to make Xue Qing exert her gang qi.

Chu Zheng no longer delayed, heading deeper into the valley to survey the terrain.

The interior of the valley was relatively spacious, with a crystal-clear cold pond at the center, the misty water being one of the manifestation nodes of the spirit vein, surrounded by steep rock walls and ancient, vigorous trees, providing a serene environment.

"This place is decent."

Chu Zheng looked around, immediately beginning to set up an array, moving like the wind across crucial nodes in the valley, Yuan Qi flowing at his fingertips, embedding stone blocks engraved with talismanic patterns accurately into the ground or rock walls.

After some time, a transparent light curtain like rippling water arose slowly from the valley's edge, closing at the top and enveloping the entire valley.

Countless fine formation patterns flickered on the light curtain before quickly disappearing, merging perfectly with the surrounding rocks and vegetation aura.

From the outside, the valley entrance was still obscured by ancient vines, with the interior shrouded in a veil as if covered in naturally generated mist, with no trace of spiritual energy or life aura leaking out.

This array had the effect of isolating qi and gathering spirit, sufficient for their current needs.

The Spirit Gathering Array slowly activated, and the already rich spiritual energy within the valley, as if guided by an invisible force, began to converge around the cold pond, with concentration gradually increasing, forming a mist of spiritual energy.

Chu Zheng, having completed these tasks, settled down cross-legged on a flat green stone by the cold pond, preparing to begin closed-door cultivation.

"I'll take a look around."

Xue Qing said, her qi and blood still unsettled, urgently needing to find new prey.

Chu Zheng watched Xue Qing's departing figure, his eyes flickering slightly.

Xue Qing possessed an almost primitive wild instinct, highly combative in nature.

This kind of character could not remain in one place for long.

He hoped to retreat from the world for a hundred years and then enter the Upper Realm directly, but he feared that Xue Qing might not be able to wait that long.