Chapter Thirty-Three: Rapid Progress

On the river's surface, a strange fish leapt out, splashing water as it landed. Qin Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Whether it’s a giant python or the octopus monster, both are massive creatures. In such a subterranean river, having two appear at once is already exceedingly rare. If a third were to show up, that would be unnatural!” With these thoughts in mind, he quickly picked up the willow heart.

The moment he held it, Qin Ming felt every cell in his body—from the tiniest mitochondria to each organ—cry out in greedy longing, yearning to absorb and digest the tree’s core. It was pure instinct.

“A spirit of grass and wood, the purest force of life!” he sighed, his eyes flickering with emotion. Yet in the end, he refrained from consuming it, instead storing it in the space within his mind. That one-meter-square area was more than sufficient.

He glanced at the two corpses and, without further hesitation, began dissecting them. Both the octopus monster and the python were high-level warlord-class beasts; if brought back, either would be worth hundreds of millions. Now that the danger had passed, he certainly wouldn’t let them go to waste.

In no time, Qin Ming had extracted the main materials, cleaned them briefly, and stowed them in his pack. In the python’s belly, he also found the undigested corpse of the rat king and dissected it as well. Unfortunately, the other gray-furred rats had sunk to the riverbed, consumed by the strange fish, and were no longer worth retrieving.

A soft splash sounded above. Qin Ming looked up to see a droplet of water fall; catching it in his palm, he saw that the liquid was milky white, rolling like a pearl in his hand. At that moment, he felt his entire palm ache with hunger.

“Essence of stalactite?”

He recalled how, at a critical moment, the willow had absorbed some liquid from beside its roots and unleashed a final burst of power, nearly turning the tide of battle.

“Could it be that the birth of the grass and wood spirit here is because of this?” While pondering, he stuck out his tongue and tasted it. A sweet, rich flavor spread instantly from his tongue to his chest and belly, then throughout his body, making every cell boil with excitement.

“A rare treasure indeed!” Without hesitation, he swallowed the entire drop.

In a flash, it felt as if every cell in his body had opened tiny mouths, devouring this gift of fortune. His blood surged; his muscles trembled.

Seizing the opportunity, Qin Ming settled into a stance and began cultivating the Xuan Dao Diagram.

A quarter of an hour later, he finished his practice, a smile spreading across his face.

“Before leaving home, I had reached the twenty-fourth diagram. These past days of fighting, with focus only on honing my footwork and blade skills, my cultivation had naturally slowed!”

“But just now, with a single drop, I easily mastered the twenty-fifth diagram!”

“This is a treasure of heaven and earth!”

Excited, Qin Ming searched around the half-buried tree stump, but found nothing. Unwilling to give up, he dug up the roots and, at their center, found another lingering clump—not yet fully absorbed by the willow.

“Fortune smiles on me!” Overjoyed, he quickly put it away.

He glanced at the two halves of the willow stump and shook his head, uninterested in collecting them. Such things could not be exposed to the light of day, or he would never have peace.

“This willow was probably only at the early stage of the War God level. Otherwise, the rat king could never have torn its trunk apart!”

With a sigh, he looked up at the stalactites hanging above. After careful inspection, he found nothing else of use.

“Should I try it?” Tempted, Qin Ming ultimately refrained from action.

“The essence of stalactite, also known as earth’s milk, is formed when the unique structure of a great mountain concentrates its essence in one place.” He vaguely remembered reading about it online, though only in passing.

He circled the area once.

“It should be safe here for now. In that case...”

Qin Ming looked at the cup of stalactite essence in his hand and swallowed it in one gulp.

Boom!

In an instant, a torrential current seemed to explode within his body. His marrow vibrated, his cells quaked, and even the tiniest mitochondria greedily drank in the essence.

Qin Ming quickly assumed his stance and resumed cultivating the Xuan Dao Diagram.

Even without cultivation, his body would absorb the stalactite essence and improve in quality. But practicing the diagram would accelerate absorption and strengthen his bones and skin. Otherwise, only his general constitution would be enhanced, without these particular benefits.

In a flash, the twenty-sixth diagram was mastered.

A quarter of an hour later, the twenty-seventh was complete.

By midday, Qin Ming had perfected the thirtieth diagram of the Xuan Dao.

The surging heat within him finally faded away.

“The thirtieth diagram is equivalent to the very limit of a mid-tier warrior!”

“With my current physical strength, I’m no weaker than a newly advanced high-level warlord!”

“If I unleash the fourth-layer power of the Punching Fist technique...!”

“I’m confident I could slay a high-level warlord in a single stroke!”

Qin Ming’s confidence soared.

After a brief rest and tidying up, he slung his pack over his shoulder, shield in his left hand, war blade in his right, and jumped into the river without hesitation.

As for heading back upstream?

He hadn’t even considered it.

He intended to return to the valley through the original passage.

However, the corpses of the gray-furred rats had attracted large numbers of strange fish to the river. Qin Ming dodged left and right, parting the flood of corpses, and only after much effort did he burst out of the pool back in the valley.

His appearance shattered the silence of the place.

Two or three dozen gray-furred rats still remained nearby; hearing the disturbance, they lunged at him.

“There are still more?” Qin Ming gritted his teeth, his expression turning grim.

Shield in one hand, blade in the other, he plunged into the swarm, wielding death with every swing.

In moments, he had slaughtered them all.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Qin Ming swiftly exited the valley.

By now, a streak of red had appeared on the eastern horizon. It wouldn’t be long before the sun leapt above the sea, shining upon the earth and warming all beneath it, just as it had since time immemorial.

Qin Ming sped toward the Ruined City.

With each stride, he covered fifty or sixty meters, running a kilometer in just four or five seconds—truly a pace as swift as the wind.

Meanwhile, he switched on his smart wristwatch, which instantly began to chime with alerts.

When escaping from the Ruined City, he had turned off all notifications to avoid attracting dangerous beasts. In the underground caverns, every nerve was taut—how could he have checked anything then?

“Qin, are you there?”

“Qin Ming, answer, please answer!”

“You’re not dead too, are you?”

“Qin Ming, if you’re alive, please say something!”

“Your smart watch is still connected; you can’t be dead, right?”

“Qin Ming, don’t tell me you... you too...!”

A string of voices came through, moving from anxiety to worry, and finally to sobs.

“Sister Niu, I’m here. Are you all right?”

No sooner had Qin Ming dialed out than the call was connected.

“Qin Ming, you’re... you’re alive? Thank goodness, thank goodness!” Niu Piaopiao breathed a sigh of relief. “Where are you? I’ll come find you!”

“Sister Niu, what about Brother Ma and Brother Yang?”

“Their watches aren’t connecting. They must be...!” Niu Piaopiao took a deep breath before continuing, “They must be dead.”

“Dead?” Qin Ming’s heart trembled.

“They must be. Otherwise, their watches wouldn’t be destroyed,” Niu Piaopiao said with a sigh. “The gray-furred rats rioted throughout the city. I’d guess sixty or seventy percent of the hunters inside were killed. Thankfully, for some unknown reason, the rats left the city entirely in the end, or I wouldn’t have escaped.”

Qin Ming already knew the reason, though he could not reveal it.

Following her directions, he changed course and headed for the southern side of the ruined city.

As the sun rose, he found Niu Piaopiao some twenty miles outside the city.

“Alive—that’s all that matters!” The moment she saw Qin Ming, this resolute woman’s eyes reddened.

“Sister Niu, it’s all because of me,” Qin Ming said bitterly.

“In wilderness hunting, survival is always uncertain. I was prepared for that; I just didn’t expect it to happen so fast, so suddenly.” Niu Piaopiao shook her head. “Qin, even without you, we would have gone out. You mustn’t blame yourself. Out here, life and death are commonplace.”

“We came with six, and now only the two of us remain,” Qin Ming said, voice tinged with bitterness. “Sister Niu, I’ll take care of the families of Brother Ma, Brother Yang, and Brother Xiong from now on.”

“I’ll see to it,” Niu Piaopiao replied. “After returning to the base, I’m not going out again. I’ll find a job at the martial arts school and settle down. With my savings, I can make sure their families live safely. Qin, your future isn’t here, but in greater heights. Don’t let these things distract you.”

“It’s good to entrust it to you.” Qin Ming nodded, then took off his pack and handed it to her. “Sister Niu, inside are the main materials from three high-level beast generals. They should fetch over a billion. You can divide the proceeds.”

“Three high-level beast generals?” Niu Piaopiao was stunned.

Qin Ming nodded. “Please don’t refuse, and if you ever have trouble in the future, tell me at once! You know that after this, I’ll soon be going to headquarters for training. By the time I return, I’m confident I’ll reach the War God level.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Niu Piaopiao was moved to tears. “If I ever run into problems I can’t solve, I’ll come to you. If you refuse to help, I’ll go to Old Qin!”

“I fear nothing but my old man!” Qin Ming laughed. “Sister Niu, do you know what happened with Hou Chong and his group?”

“Hou Chong?” A cold gleam flashed in Niu Piaopiao’s eyes. “Just before dawn, I saw him and a teammate fleeing south—probably heading back to the military zone.”

“South? Only one teammate left?”

“Yes. The rest of his team, I’d wager, are dead.”

“Good riddance! As for Hou Chong, it’s time to settle accounts with him too!”