"I'm merely a Qi Refining Cultivist; the Crying Soul you speak of must be a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. How could I possibly kill him?" Lu Qingshan very much knew his limitations.
His current achievements weren't sufficient; the gap in rank between Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement was a barrier he was unable to cross.
Wu Yi naturally understood this as well, but at this moment, she was like a person drowning, desperately clutching at any strand of hope within reach.
Now, with Lu Qingshan directly bursting the bubble of hope she had held, the faint glimmer in Wu Yi's eyes slowly dissipated, gradually turning into a desolate void.
There is nothing more sorrowful than a heart that has given up hope.
Looking at Wu Yi, whose life seemed to have been drained from her, Lu Qingshan inwardly sighed.
Shaking his head, Lu Qingshan prepared to turn around and leave.
"The Crying Soul is a Sword Cultivator, infamous for his Life-bound Sword: the Crying Soul Sword," Wu Yi suddenly spoke up. "If you ever face the Crying Soul, remember to protect your Divine Soul. The Crying Soul Sword possesses the ability to shock the soul - one wrong move, and a Sword Cultivator's blow can kill in an instant."
Lu Qingshan looked at Wu Yi calmly, "The Crying Soul excels in the Flying Sword Technique?"
Wu Yi nodded her head.
"Why tell me this all of a sudden?"
Wu Yi smiled bleakly, "Though I don't know what you're planning, your demeanor suggests that you don't get along with the Crying Soul. Even if this information can't help you defeat him, what if it could?"
"A few days ago, the Blood Corpse had me come to stay in the Bitter Residence, claiming that its master, the Crying Soul, was an old friend of his. But when I arrived, I discovered that the Blood Corpse had actually handed me over to the Crying Soul, to be used as a Cultivator Furnace for his Technique of Harvesting Qi."
"I've served him for years, even if I was confined to the gloomy and terrifying Corpse Refining Cave, without any complaints. Yet, to him, I was merely an object to be given away without a second thought," Wu Yi sneered at herself, "Men truly are the most unreliable creatures in the world."
Lu Qingshan had no response.
The only thing you can truly rely on in this world is yourself.
Wu Yi, gritting her teeth with venom in her voice, said, "If we're talking about hate, my hatred for the Blood Corpse exceeds that for the Crying Soul by hundreds, thousands of times. I wish for him to be hacked to pieces and suffer a terrible death."
"You might be disappointed then; the Blood Corpse is already dead, he died quite swiftly," Lu Qingshan said gravely.
"How is that possible? Who killed him?" Wu Yi asked incredulously.
It had only been two days, and the Blood Corpse was dead?
"I killed him," Lu Qingshan said undisturbed.
Wu Yi was startled.
Then, as if possessed, she burst into hysterical laughter, "Ridiculous, ridiculous! A Qi Refining Cultivator slays a Foundation Establishment - haha, the Blood Corpse, ever so cautious and valuing his life, to die at the hands of a Qi Refining Cultivator... ha ha ha."
Despite her disbelief, Wu Yi thoroughly trusted Lu Qingshan's claim that he had killed the Blood Corpse.
No particular reason - just an instinct.
An instinct that told her the young man before her was not deceiving her.
Wu Yi laughed and laughed until her laughter no longer made a sound, until her laughter turned into tears.
Eventually, she slowly closed her eyes, her breath faded away, and she lay down on the bed.
Perhaps the death of the Blood Corpse was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Wu Yi died by severing her own heart meridian.
Lu Qingshan took out a piece of clothing from his storage bag and draped it over Wu Yi's naked corpse.
The silent West Mouse King, looking at the serene-faced Lu Qingshan, suddenly asked, "Why didn't you stop her just now?"
The flux of Spiritual Power emitted from Wu Yi severing her heart meridian was quite evident; Lu Qingshan could have stopped her if he wanted to.
"She had long harbored the will to die, what purpose would stopping her serve?" Pausing, Lu Qingshan muttered, "Besides, at this point, it was her choice to make, and the consequences are naturally hers to bear. That is simply the natural order of things."
No more was said.
Lu Qingshan quickly left the small building, heading straight for the Blood Pool mentioned by the West Mouse King.
The basement.
Lu Qingshan looked at the Blood Pool that was close at hand but protected by a transparent thin barrier.
The Silver Frost Formation!
A Second Grade defensive formation.
Normally, as a Qi Refining Cultivator, even a Sword Cultivator known for their offensive capabilities would be unable to break a Second Grade defensive formation in a short amount of time.
However, the Crying Soul was also a Sword Cultivator.
Sword Cultivators generally lack the time to study formations.
The Crying Soul was no exception.
He knew nothing about formations.
This formation was merely set up by the Crying Soul using a set of formation flags he had purchased.
Without someone to control the formation, destroying the formation flags would collapse the formation itself.
Of course, since formation flags are so crucial, the Cultivators who make them also consider protecting the flags.
Looking with the naked eye, Lu Qingshan could not see the so-called formation flags.
The formation flags come with an Illusion Technique that hides them within the formation, making them hard to trace and continually changing positions.
But such ready-made formation flags, when compared to those personally arranged by an Array Master, have a substantial weakness, besides reduced power.
They are inflexible.
The formation flags are tidily placed in the most standard manner.
The positions of the changing formation flags also follow a pattern.
The Silver Frost Formation, within the Nine Heavens, is one of the very common Second Grade formations.
As a top player who stood out among billions of players...
Lu Qingshan had mastery over the placement of most of the formation flags within the game.
——The gap between a top-tier player and an average player is much larger than most players imagine.
These disparities are not only evident in skills, levels, and operations, but the gap in the knowledge they possess is even more pronounced.
Anything that becomes professional will be far more complex than ordinary people think, even with games, this is true.
Lu Qingshan's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked around at the surrounding environment.
This is it!
Lu Qingshan had found one of the many formation points of the Silver Frost Formation.
A formation point is where a formation flag will appear.
Holding the Peach Wood Sword, Lu Qingshan slashed at the light shield before him.
A huge ripple surged upon the shield.
Aside from that, there were no other anomalies.
The formation flag was not in that position.
——Brute force was not such a simple way to break a formation.
Unperturbed, Lu Qingshan changed positions and slashed with his sword once more.
Similarly, the spot where Lu Qingshan attacked with his sword only produced a large ripple.
Lu Qingshan tirelessly switched positions, attacking all possible formation points of the Silver Frost Formation with slash after slash.
Finally.
After dozens of sword strikes.
A formation flag emitting silver light emerged within the light shield, then quickly vanished.
Found it, so it was here.
Having located the position of the formation flag, Lu Qingshan did not hold back any longer.
After dozens more sword strikes.
Ka-cha——
Just like the shattering of glass.
The light shield collapsed and disintegrated.
The glow from the formation flag had already dissipated completely, falling to the ground.
Without the protection of the Silver Frost Formation.
A strange fragrance wafted towards him.
The blood pool, scarlet and viscous, looking extremely terrifying, emitted an enticing aroma.
Exceedingly eerie.
Lu Qingshan stepped closer to take a look.
Within the blood pool, there were dozens of red spiritual pearls rolling around.
The blood pool was not large; it was just a Second Grade blood pool, probably built specifically as a temporary habitat for war beasts.
As pure-blooded creatures of the Demon Race, war beasts had a distinguished status.
At least definitely higher than that of the Crying Soul Sage.
Lu Qingshan picked up a spiritual pearl from the blood pool.
A data prompt appeared before his eyes.
——————
[Blood Spirit Bead]
Level: Second Grade
Description: Formed by concentrating the power of essence blood gathered by the blood pool.
Effect: Consuming it can enhance physical constitution, with a slight chance to strengthen the bloodline power within the body.
——————
The combat power of members of the Demon Race largely depends on the bloodline within their bodies.
Blood Spirit Beads have a chance to enhance the bloodlines of the Demon Race, making them precious to the race.
For demon beasts, consuming Blood Spirit Beads has a chance to awaken the bloodline within them; the higher the rank, the better the effect. If Lu Qingshan wasn't mistaken, the Blood Spirit Bead that the Rat King had consumed last time should be a Third Grade Blood Spirit Bead.
Because of its unique effect of enhancing the quality of demon beasts, several versions later, Blood Spirit Beads would become a highly coveted treasure for Beast Cultivator players.
However, only the Demon Race knew how to create blood pools, so before the forces of the Netherworld revealed their fangs officially, Blood Spirit Beads were extremely rare.
Lu Qingshan was not shy.
He collected all the Second Grade Blood Spirit Beads from the blood pool.
A total of fifty Second Grade Blood Spirit Beads.
A significant haul.
The Rat King watched Lu Qingshan wistfully, looking pitiable.
"The blood pool was your discovery, but I broke the formation. We'll split these Blood Spirit Beads seventy-thirty; I take seventy and you take thirty percent," Lu Qingshan said.
The Rat King was very satisfied with Lu Qingshan's distribution and did not object.
——He didn't dare to object.