Chapter 133: The Unlucky Runner-Up of the New Star Rankings

After departing from the Red Flame Mountain Range, Qing Xi utilized his unique skill, "Heaven and Earth Infinite, Ten Thousand Li Tracking," and sped off in a specific direction. Rather than wasting time bickering with other geniuses in the mountain range, he felt it was far better to immediately hunt down the fleeing Xiantian-realm demons.

Having pursued them for less than twenty miles, Qing Xi used the "Earth Escape" technique to enter an underground cavern, where he discovered several wounded demons.

"Bang..."

After a few dull thuds, Qing Xi collected the demons—who had been crushed to death by the Boundless Heavenly Book—into his system space and continued toward his next destination. Along the way, he discovered quite a few treasures hidden underground. Although these items were of little value to someone at the peak of the late Xiantian stage like himself, he gathered them all up anyway since he had stumbled upon them.

"Two mid-stage Xiantian demons."

"One late-stage Xiantian demon."

"One fifty-year-old spirit herb... forget it, the age is too low; I'm not interested."

Qing Xi shook his head, left behind the spirit herbs that lacked sufficient age, and headed to the next location.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed. He had scoured the hundreds of miles surrounding the Red Flame Sect, slaying seventy Xiantian-realm demons and harvesting thirty-five century-old spirit herbs. He also encountered three micro-scale spirit veins located beneath various mountains and lakes, yielding a total amount of spirit stones equivalent to five hundred low-grade spirit stones. Additionally, he found three thumb-sized spirit jades containing ten-thousand-year-old spirit milk, which were of decent value.

Finding a secluded spot, Qing Xi cast a protective barrier condensed from spatial energy around his body and began his breakthrough with peace of mind. As the ten-thousand-year-old spirit milk and several three-hundred-year-old spirit herbs were consumed, the immense spiritual energy rapidly dissolved, forming a vortex within his body. Qing Xi operated the "Qi Condensation Technique" at full capacity. Before long, with the help of three Profound-grade breakthrough pills, he shattered his bottleneck and advanced to the Great Perfection of the Xiantian realm.

Feeling his sea of Qi, which had doubled in size compared to the late Xiantian stage, Qing Xi took a deep breath and remarked, "The speed is still too slow." He had initially felt his cultivation speed was fast enough, but ever since seeing Zhou Shitong and Ye Wuyou, he had been under significant pressure. Seizing the opportunity of having sufficient cultivation resources, Qing Xi chose to advance his realm without hesitation.

"Next, it should be the Half-Step Spirit Gang stage, but as I am now, I cannot complete the transformation of true Qi into Spirit Gang Qi."

Qing Xi carefully checked his system space. Although it was piled high with extraterrestrial demons, spirit herbs, and ores, it lacked the one thing he needed: Gang Stone.

Gang Stone is a rare ore containing the essence of heaven and earth Gang Qi. The transformation of vital energy into true Qi requires no external force—provided one possesses the Xiantian-stage cultivation manual, the transformation can be completed. Spirit Gang, Yuan Gang, and Golden Gang are collectively referred to as Gang Qi. To transform true Qi into Gang Qi, one must absorb heaven and earth Gang Qi into the body, either through Gang Stones or other means, to construct a Heavenly Gang Imprint. Only with this imprint can true Qi be converted into Gang Qi. Because he lacked Gang Stone, even if Qing Xi could acquire the "Spirit Gang Chapter" of the "Qi Condensation Technique," he would have no way to break through.

"Pipi, can the system directly construct a Heavenly Gang Imprint for me?"

"No. The cultivation system of the world was fixed millions of years ago. Even the system cannot create a new cultivation system that does not require a Heavenly Gang Imprint. Therefore, if the host wishes to break through to the Spirit Gang realm, you must find Gang Stone."

The feedback from the system assistant left Qing Xi feeling regretful. Had he known, he would have borrowed some Gang Stone from Sect Leader Qiu Mingzi; once he memorized its scent, he could have used his "Heaven and Earth Infinite, Ten Thousand Li Tracking" to locate it.

"Wait, Gang Stone counts as a heavenly treasure, right?" Qing Xi had a bold idea.

"It does. The host can use the 'Dog Nose' divine ability to search for it, but the Yunchuan Prefecture is vast, and the probability of finding Gang Stone is extremely low."

"With a cheat code on my side, I'm not worried at all!"

Qing Xi left his seclusion site and continued tracking the extraterrestrial demons. Before long, he arrived at a lake near the Xisha River. Following the scent, he dived to the bottom of the lake, discovered an underground river, and after venturing deep inside, finally arrived at a cavern several kilometers underground.

Inside, Qing Xi witnessed a scene that left him stunned. In the damp, dark cavern, several figures were locked in a stalemate. One was a black-clad youth with disheveled hair, holding a giant axe in both hands, frozen in a downward-swinging motion. In front of him was a unique-looking extraterrestrial demon; although it possessed a human form, its two arms were like the claws of a crab, currently clamped onto the axe.

However, both figures were trapped by a third party. This third party was a strange cavern demon—a pitch-black, slimy creature resembling an octopus, but with only four tentacles devoid of suction cups. From a distance, it looked like a ball of cotton that had suddenly extended four tentacles to entangle the black-clad youth and the crab-clawed demon. Two thin straws were embedded into the skin of the youth and the demon, continuously draining the energy from their bodies.

"What in the world is that!"

Even as thick-skinned as Qing Xi was, he was so startled by this horrific sight that he jumped.

"Snap!"

A tentacle suddenly lashed out, attempting to ensnare Qing Xi, but he decisively condensed a layer of spatial interference around his body, letting the tentacle strike at will. Unless one encountered a master who specialized in breaking defenses or was adept at fire-based techniques, it was difficult to pose a threat to Qing Xi within his barrier. The tentacle monster was unwilling to give up and struck the barrier a few more times with dull thuds, but it remained unable to crack the spatial shield.

"You're so weak!" Qing Xi extended a middle finger at the tentacle monster.

Although it did not understand the meaning of the gesture, the tentacle monster was extremely annoyed and struck the shield even harder, yet it still failed to break through.

"Brother, help... save me!" The black-clad youth, unable to move while restrained, noticed Qing Xi out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that he could withstand the monster's attacks, a glimmer of hope sparked within him.

Qing Xi glanced at the youth and paused in surprise.

The black-clad youth quickly introduced himself: "I am Xia Dang, the second true disciple of the Zixiao Sect. I was tracking this crab-clawed demon in the Eastern Region. I never expected that while we were evenly matched, I would be ambushed by this despicable cavern beast... Please, save my life!"

"You are Xia Dang, the second on the New Star Ranking, nicknamed the 'Little Axe King'?" Qing Xi expressed his surprise. It was rumored that the top two on the New Star Ranking were mysterious, powerful, and elusive. He hadn't expected that after seeing the top-ranked "Little Spear King" Zhou Shitong just a few days ago, he would encounter the second-ranked "Little Axe King" Xia Dang today.

By reading the system info, he knew the tentacle monster's true name was the "Blood-Thirsty Black Demon." It usually only grew in the depths of caverns, favoring the use of its tentacles to entangle other creatures and then using its straws to extract their blood and Qi. It would only kill its prey after seven days and seven nights of this process—a truly brutal ordeal.

Looking at Xia Dang, who had lost a great deal of blood and Qi, his body reduced to skin and bones, and his limbs trembling uncontrollably, Qing Xi couldn't help but feel that the fellow was truly unlucky.