Chapter 15: Nether Fighting Qi

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Lei Qing was greatly shocked. He pinched the bronze-colored Spatial Ring in his hand, looking at it, then looking at Zuo Qianqian. To say that he had no desire for the Spatial Ring would be an absolute lie. Especially during those months of escape, the more dangerous and miserable the situation, the more he would unconsciously think: if he had a Spatial Ring in his hand, he would not have been in such a wretched and painful state.

Even the worst Spatial Ring could hold many things, especially precious healing medicines, bandages, food, weapon s, and so on. It would allow one to adapt and survive in all sorts of places.

However, Lei Qing was not an unjust man. This Spatial Ring was clearly the inheritance left by the late Old Man Zuo to Zuo Qianqian. How could he covet this item? Moreover, Zuo Qianqian was his life-saver.

Immediately, Lei Qing suppressed the reluctance in his heart, stuffed the Spatial Ring back into Zuo Qianqian’s hand, and said solemnly: “Qianqian, you don’t need to say anymore. This Spatial Ring is too precious, and it is your grandfather’s keepsake. If I were to accept it, I would be a terrible person.”

“Brother Lei…” Zuo Qianqian looked anxious and was about to say something when Lei Qing stopped her. He said with a serious face: “Qianqian, shut up and put on your ring. Also, never reveal your Spatial Ring in front of others in the future. Otherwise, it will easily bring about a fatal disaster.”

Perhaps influenced by Lei Qing’s unusually serious gaze, Zuo Qianqian did not dare to disobey again. She honestly put it on her hand and said with a giggle: “Brother Lei, does it look good? Since you insist on not taking it, I’ll treat it as a gift from you, Brother Lei.”

Lei Qing felt dizzy, thinking to himself that he did not have the ability to give her such a precious gift. But to be honest, the appearance of this ring was very ordinary; it was obviously a disguised Spatial Ring. In fact, the vast majority of Spatial Rings in this world were disguised in various ways. Otherwise, casually wearing it on one’s hand and bragging that it was a Spatial Ring was a path to certain death. Unless one was a Gold-rank Fighter with strength as formidable as a War God.

“It looks quite nice, but don’t waste time. First, check if there is anything inside the Spatial Ring? I heard that you just need to inject a little Fighting Qi.” Lei Qing actually had the urge to strangle this show-off little girl. In fact, this was Zuo Qianqian’s Spatial Ring. If it were a stranger wearing a Spatial Ring and letting him know about it, he might not have been able to suppress his greed and would have done something wicked.

Zuo Qianqian followed his words and injected a trace of Fighting Qi into the Spatial Ring. Sure enough, the Spatial Ring was activated by her. On the surface of the ring, a profound and difficult-to-understand spatial vortex formed. Of course, this spatial vortex was automatically activated by the ring, not driven by Zuo Qianqian’s Fighting Qi. Her injection of Fighting Qi was merely a trigger, a primer. Otherwise, even if her Fighting Qi were ten times stronger, she would never be able to trigger such a spatial vortex.

Of course, the use of a Spatial Ring also required some Fighting Qi to activate it. Fortunately, on the continent, cultivating Fighting Qi was a relatively common matter. Even commoners and ordinary soldiers in the army could access methods to cultivate Fighting Qi. It was just that those methods were relatively shallow and simple, far less powerful than the Fighting Qi passed down within the great aristocratic families.

Many commoners, using shallow Fighting Qi cultivation techniques, worked hard their whole lives without necessarily breaking through to the Black Iron-rank.

Of course, correspondingly, in this world, there were also many experts who were commoners or came from small soldiers in the army. They either had talent or encountered various adventures. Subsequently, they rose to prominence, becoming significant figures who even influenced the direction of situations. Lei Qing had heard that the current Grand Preceptor of the Tianlan Empire, Yu Tianji, seemed to be of commoner origin.

Although the current Lei Qing felt extremely bad about Yu Tianji, he had to admit that Yu Tianji seemed to be an incredible person. No matter who it was, being able to walk all the way from a commoner to today’s status would be respected and worshipped by others.

Zuo Qianqian quickly took out the items. There were not many things, just a few pitch-black Crystal Cores. One of them was dark and lustrous, emitting a rich and deep, gloomy, cold aura. The other three seemed slightly inferior.

“Eh? A Nether System Demonic Beast Crystal Core?” Lei Qing exclaimed in surprise, pointing at the most conspicuous one: “This one is probably a mid-grade Nether System Crystal Core.” It was no wonder Lei Qing was so surprised; a mid-grade Crystal Core at least represented that the Nether System Demonic Beast had reached the Silver-rank.

And Lei Qing, until now, was only a High-stage Bronze Fighter. The Scar-Head Wolf he killed a few days ago was merely an Entry-rank Bronze. Many people thought that humans killing Demonic Beasts of the same rank seemed easy, but the fact was quite the opposite. Demonic Beasts were beasts that already possessed wisdom. Driven by their survival instincts, each of them seemed to have become spirits. They were cunning, fierce, and cruel.

Moreover, Demonic Beasts would rarely leave their territory to wander around. Therefore, to hunt Demonic Beasts, one had to enter their territory. In this way, Demonic Beasts often occupied the advantage of the terrain. An encounter battle was usually not humans ambushing Demonic Beasts, but Demonic Beasts ambushing humans.

Therefore, even if one knew where a Demonic Beast was, unless one’s own strength was very formidable, usually, a team with balanced strength would go to hunt Demonic Beasts of the same level. One only had one life; no one would be foolish enough to risk their life to fight a Demonic Beast. Even if there was a fifty-fifty chance of winning, few people would do it.

Under normal circumstances, Demonic Beasts were not seen everywhere, and one could not just carry a knife and go get some Crystal Cores. Every Demonic Beast was cunning and fierce, extremely difficult to deal with. Of course, there were also abnormal circumstances, places where Demonic Beasts could be seen everywhere.

However, for humans to go to a place where Demonic Beasts were everywhere was purely seeking their own death. Demonic Beasts that were proficient in various wilderness survival, ambush, siege, and even driving prey to hunt were much harder to deal with than imagined.

A Silver-rank Demonic Beast was even more of an existence that Lei Qing could not deal with; its wisdom and strength were both very powerful. They were scarce and rare. When most people encountered them, it was not a surprise, but a fright.

Therefore, Lei Qing was extremely shocked that Old Man Zuo actually left a mid-grade Demonic Beast Crystal Core for Zuo Qianqian. Because the function of a Demonic Beast Crystal Core was very extensive; it could be used for cultivation, replenishing Fighting Qi, driving some mechanisms, acting as a formation core, forging weapons, armor, equipment, and even used as medicine.

The Tianlan Empire also stockpiled Demonic Beast Crystal Cores as a war reserve resource. The major noble families and organizations also chased after Demonic Beast Crystal Cores. In his cultivation career, Lei Qing had also once used a Heavenly Thunder attribute Crystal Core to build his foundation, which was how he obtained his powerful Heavenly Thunder attribute Fighting Qi.

Looking at it and inferring from this, the “Assassin’s Heart Sutra” left by Old Man Zuo for Zuo Qianqian was probably a Nether System Fighting Qi method. As everyone knew, people who cultivated Nether System Fighting Qi appeared and disappeared like ghosts and were extremely good at stealth and concealment; they were the best candidates for scouts and assassins. The Ghost Wolf Scott, who was killed by Lei Qing, had cultivated a body of Nether Fighting Qi.

Sure enough, when Lei Qing flipped through the Assassin’s Heart Sutra, the beginning was a cultivation method for Nether Fighting Qi. Lei Qing did not know its grade, but he believed that with Old Man Zuo’s ability, this Nether Fighting Qi method should be decent.

“Qianqian, I will ask you once more on behalf of your grandfather, are you willing to inherit your grandfather’s mantle and become an assassin lurking in the darkness?” Lei Qing asked, holding the Assassin’s Heart Sutra solemnly: “You also need to understand the consequences. Perhaps, from the moment you inherit it, your life will be filled with bloodshed and slaughter, and one day, you may die in some corner.”

“I am willing.” Zuo Qianqian also had a serious face and said very earnestly: “I am willing to cultivate Nether Fighting Qi and become a qualified assassin to avenge Grandfather. Also, whoever dares to bully Brother Lei, I will definitely kill him.”

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