Chapter 45: Disaster at the Spiritual Pond

This was an ambush by a cultivator who had undergone the ninefold spirit-炼灵. Qin Liang had limited cultivation and was completely unable to dodge; it was already a marvel that he had managed to unleash a single punch.

To his astonishment, even his most formidable punch proved incapable of blocking the attacker's momentum.

When the leader in black executed his martial technique, Jiang Yulong and the others were struck with profound shock, their expressions turning as dark as night.

"The Wind-Fire Fist... Are you a member of the Feng family?"

Jiang Yulong's face was grim. Just as he was about to overtake the black-clad leader, the latter suddenly swept backward with a blade strike.

Hasting to parry, Jiang Yulong thrust his iron staff forward with all his might, but the immense force still drove him back several meters.

As a fellow cultivator of the ninefold spirit-煉灵, the leader in black had already burned his vital essence, clearly determined to fight to the death. He intended to trade his own life to eliminate the young prodigy of the Jiang family, thereby shattering the family's future prospects.

The momentum of the Wind-Fire Fist tore through everything in its path, instantly closing in on Qin Liang.

Having only enough time to raise his nascent primordial weapon sword-embryo to shield his chest, Qin Liang was violently struck and hurled backward, crashing heavily against the distant cavern wall.

"Puff!"

He coughed up a mouthful of dark blood, his complexion turning deathly pale.

Fortunately, he was in the state of the Berserk Battle Beast Physique, granting his physical body extraordinary resilience; otherwise, that single collision would have been enough to claim his life.

"You cannot be left alive!"

Seeing that the youth had only suffered severe injuries rather than instant death, the leader in black grew even more resolute in his determination to slay him. For a cultivator of the fivefold spirit-炼灵 to withstand a full-force blow from a ninefold spirit cultivator was simply too incredible.

Since his identity as a Feng family member had already been exposed, he might as well go all out and trade life for life.

Raising his blade, he brought it down with ferocious force. The spirit radiance surged like rosy clouds, instantly banishing the night from the valley and unleashing boundless killing intent.

Everyone's expression changed dramatically. Could this be considered the full-strength strike of a ninefold spirit-炼灵 cultivator?

"Daring to hurt my brother, you're courting death!"

Jiang Yulong was too far away to rush over in time, so he swiftly retrieved a hardwood bow. Drawing the bowstring and releasing it in one fluid motion, a solid iron-cast arrow pierced the air like a streak of lightning.

Midway through the downward slash of the blade, the arrow tore through the void and pierced straight through the head of the leader in black with a sharp whistle.

Boom!

His head burst apart, scattering crimson and white matter in all directions.

Simultaneously, the momentum of the blade was instantly halved, though the remaining force still descended toward Qin Liang.

With his nascent weapon sword-embryo held horizontally before him, Qin Liang met the blade head-on. The shockwave transmitted throughout his entire body, causing him to vomit another mouthful of blood before fainting outright. Enduring two successive strikes from a ninefold spirit cultivator had pushed him to his absolute limit.

"Little Liang..."

Panic etched across Jiang Yulong's face. He rushed through the billowing dust toward the cliff wall and pulled Qin Liang out.

His entire body was stained with blood, and his aura fluctuated erratically, as though his life were about to slip away at any moment.

"The Feng family..."

Jiang Yulong and his companions gnashed their teeth, their rage burning fiercely as they cast cold, fixed glares upon the remaining men in black.

"Xiao Yi, take Little Liang to the spirit pool for healing."

Qin Liang's injuries were grave and admitted no delay. Jiang Yulong issued swift instructions before turning with his remaining brothers to encircle the surviving assassins, his expression so grim it seemed water could be wrung from it.

Across the valley, corpses lay scattered everywhere. The Jiang family had also suffered casualties, filling the ravine with a palpable intent to kill.

"Who leaked the location of our mine to you?" Jiang Yulong demanded coldly.

Information regarding this Jiang family mine was known only to a select few within the clan. These Feng family members could not have stumbled upon it by mere coincidence; someone must have leaked the intelligence. The traitor was within the Jiang family.

"Hmph, if you want to fight, then fight. Why waste words?"

An elderly cultivator of the eightfold spirit-煉灵 spoke coldly, gripping his hilt tightly, fully resigned to dying in battle.

"Eldest brother, these men are likely death-sworn retainers of the Feng family. We probably won't extract anything useful from them," a brother warned from the side, eager to avenge their fallen comrades.

"In that case, kill them all!"

With an icy finality, Jiang Yulong led the remaining brothers into a brutal massacre.

Without their leader, even the eightfold spirit cultivators among this group were powerless to stem Jiang Yulong's onslaught.

Before long, nearly a hundred black-clad assassins lay dead in pools of blood.

Yet Jiang Yulong and his men found no solace. Without uncovering the traitor, their resentment refused to dissipate.

On the ground lay brothers who, only a short while ago, had been drinking and sharing meat with them, now transformed into gradually chilling corpses. As the young prodigies of the Jiang family, they swore to repay this debt in full one day.

"Give our brothers a proper burial. As for the bodies of the Feng family... we'll decide what to do once Little Liang wakes up."

Arranging matters accordingly, Jiang Yulong recalled hearing about the Black Tiger Gang and guessed that the corpses might prove useful to Qin Liang, which was why he spared them.

He turned and walked deeper into the mining area.

Aside from refined iron ore, the valley also housed a small pool of spirit liquid—another reason the Jiang family had chosen this location for mining.

The spirit pool contained concentrated spiritual essence; bathing in it regularly enhanced the cultivation of the Jiang family's talented youth.

Jiang Yulong and his peers had spent plenty of time soaking here over the years, making their strength far superior to that of peers at the same realm, elevating them to true elites among the younger generation of the Jiang family.

Deep within a spacious mining tunnel, the heavily injured Qin Liang was brought by Feng Yi and gently lowered into the spirit pool, while Feng Yi worriedly remarked, "If you keep sleeping like this, lad, there won't be any meat or wine left for you."

The pool was compact, barely a few feet wide, yet its liquid shimmered with a brilliant luster, and spiritual vapor billowed throughout the cavern.

Upon entering the pool, Qin Liang's breathing immediately grew much steadier as he began to regulate his breathing and absorb the spiritual energy.

The wounds on his chest came into contact with the spirit liquid and healed at a visible rate, quickly forming scabs that soon fell away without leaving a trace.

Massive amounts of spiritual essence rushed frantically into Qin Liang's pores, coursing through his body and pouring into the Heaven-Desolation Cauldron. The cauldron refined the energy at high speed before pouring it back out to nourish Qin Liang's extraordinary meridians and vital organs.

During this process, Feng Yi noticed that the radiance within the spirit pool was dimming fraction by fraction.

"This..."

Arriving just then, Jiang Yulong watched in astonishment. Could Qin Liang possibly require such a massive volume of spiritual essence?

"Let the other injured brothers soak here as well!" Jiang Yulong quickly ordered.

Fortunately, the spirit pool contained a substantial amount of spiritual essence, allowing the rest of the wounded to share in its benefits. Within a day, their injuries had largely healed. Yet Qin Liang remained flat on his back, showing no sign of waking.

"Little Liang, if you don't wake up soon, all your corpses are going to go stale and rot."

Holding a plate of meat, Feng Yi stood guard by the pool, utterly bored.

In truth, the corpses of cultivators contained spiritual essence and would not rot or putrefy even if left out for a year.

"Xiao Yi, you're slacking off here again. Go back to mining! It'll be dark soon, and today's quota still isn't finished." Carrying his iron staff, Jiang Yulong strode in with the strict demeanor of a stern patriarch.

"Eldest brother, I... oh?"

Just as Feng Yi was about to offer an excuse, he spotted a glow rising from the spirit pool and could not conceal his shock.

"Eldest brother, is Little Liang about to undergo his sixth spirit-炼灵?" he asked, disbelief written all over his face.

Jiang Yulong wore a similarly complex expression. "Logically speaking, one cannot undergo spirit refinement more than five times within half a year, but Little Liang seems entirely unique. I'm beginning to wonder whether he truly possesses a first-grade Dao root talent."

"Hehe, looks like Li Hongcai is about to be in for some bad luck," Feng Yi gloated.

Inside Qin Liang's body, as those strands of spiritual essence gradually integrated into every cell, each cell began to emit a dark-cyan spirit radiance that grew increasingly blazing, resembling countless shimmering stars in a boundless cosmos.

Gradually, a river of stars seemed to flow within him, shining with dazzling brilliance.

The entire mining tunnel was illuminated by the dark-cyan spirit radiance, making it look as though a brilliant star had been sealed within.

"Eldest brother, why do I feel like Little Liang's spirit radiance is even brighter than yours?" Feng Yi muttered involuntarily.

"It means his talent is extraordinary, likely no less than those prodigies in the commandery capital." Jiang Yulong was equally shaken. Though he was reluctant to believe a first-grade Dao root could defy convention to this degree, he had no other explanation.

Yet even as Qin Liang manifested his spirit radiance, the essence within the spirit pool vanished at an accelerated rate, its luster rapidly fading.