"I'm sorry to trouble you, Junior Nephew Jianxing. Junior Nephew Yunzhao just overdid it while cultivating and ran into a minor mishap. I'll take her back to heal her injuries now."
The elders who came to pick up Liu Yunzhao were those who had attended the auction at Qingquan Pavilion.
However, it was obvious that he had spoken with Cheng Yunyun. Without saying a word, he knocked Liu Yunzhao unconscious, then said goodbye and left with his men.
Liu Yunqing watched the two leave in a hurry, but there was something meaningful in her eyes.
"Junior Sister Zhenru, are you alright?"
When Master Jianxing returned after seeing the people off, he saw Liu Yunqing looking in the direction the two had left and asked her with concern.
Liu Yunqing shook his head and thanked Master Jianxing:
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Jianxing. She can't hurt me right now."
Jianxing Zhenren was surprised by Liu Yunqing's confidence, but upon reflection, it made sense.
After all, when the difference in cultivation between Liu and Liu Yunzhao was greater, Liu Yunzhao couldn't gain any advantage, let alone now that they are both at the early stage of Golden Core.
Thinking about it this way, Jian Xing felt that Liu Yunqing's cultivation speed was truly astonishing, and the solidity of his cultivation foundation was even more extraordinary.
When Jianxing Zhenren looked at Liu Yunqing, there was a hint of surprise and confusion in his eyes.
Surprisingly, although everyone already knew that this red-robed rogue cultivator was very powerful, it seemed that no one had a direct understanding of just how powerful she was, and no one was wary of her.
The perplexing question is: why would someone like this become a rogue cultivator?
Even though it seems that the ancestors gave her the title of captain, they didn't seem to take it seriously.
Such treatment is impossible for a super genius.
It's more like something that should appear on someone who's unlucky and needs to be shielded.
Jian Xing felt that his mind was too clever, and he always felt that he might have glimpsed some truth. He dared not think too deeply about it at the moment, and his eyes unconsciously turned to pity when he looked at Liu Yunqing.
"Then Junior Sister Zhenru, please rest well. If you need any help, just send someone to let me know."
Liu Yunqing assumed that the other party was concerned about her and did not think too deeply about the origin of Jian Xing's thoughts. After watching the other party leave the cave, she activated the cave's inner formation and flashed into the Golden Crow Space.
Liu Yunqing certainly didn't have time to think about others, because she had more important things to do.
Upon entering the Golden Crow Space, Liu Yunqing headed straight for the top of the volcano, under the bright red sun.
Liu Yunqing sat in mid-air, and in the next instant, the fire spiritual energy from all directions condensed into red clouds, automatically spreading beneath her body.
After regulating his breathing, Liu Yunqing flipped his wrist and took out the jade bottle given to him by Venerable Xian'en.
With a wave of his hand, he opened the bottle stopper, and a drop of golden crow essence blood, shimmering with brilliant golden light, automatically floated out from the bottom of the bottle and flew towards the space between Liu Yunqing's eyebrows.
This wasn't the first time Liu Yunqing had refined the essence of the Golden Crow, but the first time was the most painful.
Now, on this third time, Liu Yunqing not only doesn't feel pain, but rather feels more comfortable, a substantial increase in strength that she can perceive.
Moreover, the refining speed has become faster and smoother.
Liu Yunqing closed his eyes and sat in meditation, quietly absorbing the power of the Golden Crow's essence blood.
After she had refined the entire drop of essence blood, she then used her spiritual power to drive the refined essence blood to quickly collide and merge with the blood in her body.
After completing two cycles of spiritual energy circulation within his body, Liu Yunqing used his divine sense to examine his inner self and discovered that his blood, a vibrant red, shimmered with specks of golden light.
Like gold dust in a river, it cannot be retrieved by hand, yet it shines brilliantly.
The red sun overhead was even redder and more intensely golden; when the two met, one could feel that their heat could burn everything away.
Liu Yunqing let out a long breath, opened his eyes to see the thin layer of impurities that had appeared on the outside of his body, and without using the Cleansing Dust Technique, he simply swung his sleeves to the sides and floated lightly into the lava lake.
A wisp of smoke rose and then dissipated, and Liu Yunqing emerged from the bottom of the lake, the thin layer of impurities on her body long gone.
The lava, as docile as hot spring water, slid down Liu Yunqing's bare skin, making her black hair and jade-like skin stand out even more, giving her a somewhat demonic appearance.
Well, Liu Yunqing herself couldn't see this scene; it was actually the spirit Xiao Jin who was thinking this.
Actually, Xiao Jin wasn't thinking about these far-fetched things. It just felt that something about its owner had changed, but it wasn't sure, so it didn't say anything.
Liu Yunqing was oblivious to the emotions conveyed by the "light veil," as she was currently testing her physical strength and resilience.
Liu Yunqing casually pulled out a spirit dagger, completely releasing the spiritual energy protection on his hands, and slashed the spirit dagger across his palm—it was painless, itchless, and left no trace.
Liu Yunqing thought for a moment, then infused the spirit dagger with the spiritual power of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, and slashed it across his palm again, still without a scratch.
Finally, Liu Yunqing used all her strength and switched to a higher-grade spirit dagger, barely managing to draw a white line on her palm without even breaking the skin.
Putting away the spirit dagger, Liu Yunqing looked up into the distance, clenched his fist, and struck a small mountain that had appeared out of nowhere. With a loud "bang," the mountain exploded in the middle, its rocks shattering into pieces.
Liu Yunqing stopped with satisfaction, feeling both excited and moved.
If her physical strength had been that high back then, she wouldn't have been seriously injured by Cheng Yunyun.
However, this thought only flashed through her mind. If Cheng Yunyun hadn't pressed her so hard back then, and she had rolled into the crevice in her desperate struggle for survival, she wouldn't have had the chance to enter the Flowing Abyss Secret Realm.
Thinking of the Flowing Abyss Secret Realm, Liu Yunqing finally realized that he seemed to have overlooked something recently.
She's been in this space for so long, and Xiao Jiao hasn't even come out to acknowledge her.
Relying on his spatial senses, Liu Yunqing did not call out to Xiao Jiao, but instead appeared in a flash near a mound.
"Xiao Jiao, why are you burying yourself?"
As Liu Yunqing spoke, he raised his hand and turned over the small mound of earth. Inside, coiled end to end, was none other than Xiao Jiao.
Hearing Liu Yunqing's voice, Xiao Jiao wasn't very energetic. She lazily flicked her tail at Liu Yunqing and said in a dazed voice:
"Zhenru, play by yourself for a while, I'm so sleepy!"
Liu Yunqing raised an eyebrow. Dragons advance in rank by sleeping, and they can sleep for who knows how many years.
While Xiao Jiao was still somewhat conscious, Liu Yunqing hurriedly asked what they, as dragons, needed to prepare for their advancement.
"Are you sure you're okay with advancing your cultivation level in my space?"
The Golden Crow Space is indeed rich in spiritual energy, and its attributes are very compatible with Xiao Jiao's. However, the space lacks the five elements and the rules of the Heavenly Dao, so it probably won't be able to advance much.
"I'm not advancing, I'm just stuck..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Jiao fell into a deep sleep.
Only then did Liu Yunqing notice that the red on Xiao Jiao's body seemed unusually brighter than usual.
"Master, Xiao Jiao is about to shed her skin; she has a fever!"
The hibiscus tree transformed into a green ball, rolled to Liu Yunqing's feet, and pointed at Xiao Jiao to explain.
"What can it do to make it more comfortable?"
Fusangmu pondered for a moment and said:
"Water, please. Dragons generate heat when they molt and need to cool down in water."
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