Now that Li Jing had a bloodline that allowed him to gain the skills of his victims, he absolutely wanted to test it.
Coincidentally, the treasure he planned to obtain was in a bandit hideout. It was located in the Relentless Mountain. Inside this mountain was hidden a powerful bandit group known as the Black Tiger.
The treasure coveted by Li Jing was buried under the hideout of these bandits but they actually had no idea about it!
This treasure was left behind by a cultivator who failed to ascend to the Immortal World a few thousand years ago, before even the foundation of the Sky Jade Kingdom.
To ascend to the Immortal World, it was necessary to survive a Heavenly Tribulation which took the form of a lightning storm, with twelve extremely powerful bolts of lightning raining down from the Heavens to strike at the cultivator.
A Heavenly tribulation was not easy to overcome and unfortunately for him, the cultivator failed to overcome it and was severely injured. He took refuge in the Relentless Mountain and hid his most valuable treasure there. Then, he spent the rest of his lifespan searching for a way to try to ascend once again but died before finding it.
In the web novel, a few days after Teng Fen saved the princess, he went to venture outside the city for a month to temper his body. During that time, he met a man who claimed to be a descendant of this cultivator. This man and his sister were searching for the treasure left by their ancestor in the Relentless Mountain. However, the man's sister was kidnapped by the Black Tiger bandits during the search and he had to ask Teng Fen for help because he was not strong enough to save her.
Now, Li Jing will go to the Relentless Mountain before all of them, eradicate the Black Tiger bandits, and take the treasure for him.
This treasure will greatly strengthen Li Jing so he decided that after he would obtain it and upgrade his dragon bloodline, he would consider leaving the kingdom.
He didn't want to always follow the plot of the web novel and wanted to find his own opportunities. He estimated that after his bloodline upgrade, he would be strong enough to venture the world.
Li Jing started to make a plan in his mind and once he was satisfied, he decided that before going to the Relentless Mountain, he will first consume the pills he had. Currently, he had around 3200 Qi Gathering Pills and 20 Qi Condensing Pills. One Qi Gathering Pill gave him 30 XP and one Qi Condensing Pill gave him 150 XP.
Li Jing took out the pills from his blood ring and started to consume them one after the other.
…
A day later.
It was a little past noon when Li Jing had finally consumed the last pill. After that, he displayed his status screen to see his progress.
[----------STATUS---------
Experience Points (XP): 110066
XP / hour: 42
Strength: 16210 Jin
Qi cultivation realm: Qi Gathering V (XP: 0/18000)
Body cultivation realm: Skin Refining V (XP: 0/30000)
Talent: B-grade
Bloodlines: [Soul Devourer Evil Metallic Boar], [Lesser Thunder Dragon]
Perks: [Appraisal], [Full Recovery], [Exchange]
Elemental affinities: [Lightning], [Dark]
Cultivation methods: [Li clan's method], [Unholy Dark Art]
Martial techniques: [Elusive Smoke Steps], [Instant Flash Step], [Hammer Fist], [Dark Command]
Bloodline skills: [Heavenly Thunder Breath]
--------------------------]
This time, he will keep his Experience Points to increase his Qi cultivation realm. His goal was to reach the Foundation Establishment realm as soon as possible.
Once he reached that realm, he would unlock his Divine Sense and would be able to scan his surrounding. This ability will greatly increase his survivability.
Li Jing stood up and left his bedroom. Early this morning, Wang Qing Yue should have fallen into a coma so his father should be with the king right now…
Outside, Li Hua was waiting for her Young Master to come out of his bedroom. She had an important message for him but didn't dare to disrupt him because he asked that no one disturb him a few days ago.
A moment later, she saw that Li Jing left his bedroom and immediately called out to him.
"Young Master, something happened in the Royal Palace and the king summoned your father a few hours ago." She said, anxious.
"Do you know what happened?" Asked Li Jing, although he knew the reason.
"No, but it seemed urgent." She answered, shaking her head.
"Alright, we will wait for his return then. By the way, I need a detailed map of the kingdom and a map of the Southern Border Continent. Do you think you can get them for me?" He asked.
"Ah? Hmm… Yes, I think I know where I can get them. But why do you need a map?" She said, surprised
"Because I need to find a place, of course. Please get them now, I need to see my grandfather in the meantime." He said, smiling.
Li Hua nodded and went away while Li Jing walked towards the patriarch's courtyard…
Li Zhang was already very old and knew that he wouldn't be able to breakthrough the Nascent Soul realm before his death since he was stuck in the third level of the Golden Core realm for more than fifty years. Therefore, most of his time was spent helping his son managing the affairs of the clan rather than cultivating.
He was peacefully sitting at a table reading a book in his studying room when a servant told him that his grandson wished to see him.
Li Zhang smiled and told the servant to let his grandson enter his study room.
"Jing'er, you wanted to see me?" He asked.
"Yes, grandfather. The Mysterious Alchemist came to see me and wanted to make a deal with our clan."
Li Jing took out four Earth-grade spiritual weapons, two swords, a saber, and a spear from his spatial ring and placed them in the table in front of Li Zhang. These were obviously the weapons he obtained from the inheritance of the Devil Monarch Zhang Mo.
"He wants to exchange these four Earth-grade weapons for 50,000 Spirit Stones, 1500 tier-2 Demonic Cores, and as much Qi Condensing Pills and Qi Gathering Pills as we can get." Said Li Jing.
Li Zhang's eyes shone when he saw the four weapons. These were real Earth-grade spiritual weapons! The clan only had one of them and it was considered as one of its most valuable treasures.
Of course, Li Zhang was an experienced man so he immediately regained his composure. He wondered for a moment the reason why this Mysterious Alchemist wanted to exchange these invaluable weapons for some common items but he couldn't find any logical reason…
"What he asked is not a small sum, we should wait for your father's return before deciding." He said.
"But grandfather, the Mysterious Alchemist said that it was urgent and will come back in an hour to either get the weapons back or the items he asked." Said Li Jing.
Hearing this, Li Zhang stroked his long grey beard and thought about it for a moment… He was sure that his son would accept this deal, it was, after all, a unique occasion to make the clan stronger.
"Alright, follow me to the Storage Hall." He said.