After a long while, Olina met with Lu Zheng on the deck to inquire about his sudden appearance on their ship.
She also explained her being on the sea.
It turned out that Yin Yang Province, the force Blazing Flame Palace was affiliated to, had commanded every Palace under their control to bring five martial warriors at the Void Passage realm to explore a secret realm.
Olina, Launi and three others all at the Void Passage realm were the martial warriors representing Blazing Flame Palace.
The three others were in their respective cabins cultivating.
Lu Zheng and Olina chatted for a long while and it was only when it was noon that they bid each other goodbye.
On his way to his cabin, Lu Zheng was confronted by Launi.
"You, what is your relationship with Olina?" Launi asked with a tone of arrogance.
"Oh her? We're just acquaintances" Lu Zheng said with a soft smile. "We aren't even close to each other at all"
"That had better be the case" Launi said as he began to walk towards Lu Zheng.
"And if it isn't?" Lu Zheng asked as his face turned dark.
Stopping in his tracks right beside Lu Zheng, Launi released his aura as he spoke: "Then you'd probably end up dead"
Lu Zheng's blood began to boil as he urged his bloodline power. At the same time, he activated Ignition.
A fiery hot presence was exuded from Lu Zheng along with an aura that gave off the feeling of omnipotence.
When Launi stared at Lu Zheng, he felt like he was peering at a god of fire.
"How?" Launi was stunned.
He was at the Void Passage realm and Lu Zheng was at the Domain Formation realm.
The disparity between their strengths was larger than the void between heaven and earth.
Even still, Lu Zheng's aura was dominating his own.
"What is your name?" Lu Zheng asked as he cancelled Ignition and stopped urging his bloodline power.
"Launi, Launi Bradford"
"Listen well Launi, I won't forget this day" Lu Zheng said as he walked away.
"Hmph!"
After the confrontation, Lu Zheng decided against returning to his cabin and walked out to the open deck.
The noon sky was a dim orange as the sun slowly set beneath the horizon. The sea breeze was particularly cold as it blew past Lu Zheng causing his black hair to dance wildly in the wind.
"What are you doing?" Themur asked as he slowly walked onto the deck.
Lu Zheng smiled and did not reply. Instead, he willed out a rank five beast core from his spatial ring.
The fire Qi within the rank five beast core had already been absorbed by Lu Zheng many times and less than a fragment of the original was left.
Even so, this remaining fire Qi would require hours to be completely absorbed by Lu Zheng.
It was important to note that Lu Zheng had high soul foundation compared to his peers and had tempered his meridians many times.
His rate of absorbing ambient Qi was far greater than that of most martial practitioners.
This showed how much Qi the beast core of a high rank beast contained.
Lu Zheng's eyes were closed as he absorbed the fire Qi within the beast core, sending it into the Qi tree in his aperture.
The Qi tree that stood grandly in his aperture had seventeen verdant Qi leaves.
The seventeen Qi leaves were as large as an adult's palm spread open and they all had the lushest tinge of green.
This showed that they were already filled to the brim.
Yet, as more Qi was sent into the Qi tree, the Qi leaves were forced to grow larger than they already were.
Soon, they grew to the size of an adult's head and only then did they stop enlarging.
However, the influx of Qi by Lu Zheng did not recede in the slightest. More Qi was flowing into his aperture from the rank five beast core.
The Qi had no more space for it within the Qi tree.
At this rate, the aperture would only crack and collapse on itself.
Not only would Lu Zheng's cultivation cripple, he would also suffer ghastly injuries.
Even with the Vermillion Bird Race's bloodline, chances of death were extremely high.
Still, Lu Zheng continued to absorb the fire Qi within the rank five beast core because he knew, this was the only way to breakthrough to the Sky realm.