145: Chapter 145 Harvest and Inventory

"You exhausted all your Qi and vital blood to battle the Red-Armored Fire Lizard, yet you neglected to guard against the movements around you. This is shallow thinking and a lack of mental acuity. Since you cannot hold onto the Opportunity within your grasp, it proves that this qingxuan jade dew grass was never meant for you."

These few words were heart-piercing.

The Chi Ling Valley Cultivator stiffened suddenly, his face turning as pale as paper. His lips trembled violently, but he could not utter a single word of rebuttal.

In the Secret Realm trials, danger and Opportunity coexist; there is never any such thing as a guaranteed trophy.

He focused entirely on fighting the Yao Beast to the death and obsessing over the Spiritual Plant, yet he ignored the most lethal calculation in the Cultivation World: the human heart.

His defeat today was not someone else's fault; ultimately, it was due to his own limited cultivation and lack of mental acuity.

His towering unwillingness finally transformed into a bone-chilling powerlessness, completely crushing his viciousness and stubbornness.

Li Changqing's gaze swept indifferently over the body of the other, who was collapsed on the ground, his Qi exhausted. There was not a shred of pity in his eyes.

The Cultivation World has always been a ruthless shura field where the strong prey on the weak.

If he had exposed his tracks or fallen into a weak position just now, it would have been he who perished.

With a thought, the Flying Sword hovering in the Void Realm suddenly accelerated, turning into a biting cold gleam that tore through the sky.

Puchi!

The sword light was crisp and decisive, a lethal strike without a hint of hesitation.

The Chi Ling Valley Cultivator's body shuddered, the life in his eyes instantly fading away. His body crashed heavily onto the barren black stone ground, completely devoid of breath.

The hidden danger was fully cleared. The vast Gobi wilderness returned to dead silence, with only the evening wind rolling up fine sand and dust, slowly sweeping across the empty world.

Li Changqing raised his hand to retract the Flying Sword and defensive shield. With a slight thought, he signaled the Black Armor Turtle and the Flying Purple Nether Scorpion, which were guarding the perimeter of the battlefield, to return and lie in wait.

He walked slowly toward the corpses of the Red-Armored Fire Lizard and the Cultivator, scanning them calmly.

The Late Stage Second-Rank Red-Armored Fire Lizard was a treasure trove; its hard fire scales could be forged into Medium or High Grade Second-Rank defensive Spiritual Artifacts, its flesh contained rich fire-attribute Qi, and its Yao Beast core was a priceless treasure for cultivation.

And the Storage Pouch of this Chi Ling Valley Core Disciple was richly stocked; his foundation was far beyond that of an ordinary Loose Cultivator.

Opportunities in the Secret Realm are hard to come by; not a single bit is worth wasting.

Li Changqing leaned down, his movements crisp and efficient. He first extracted the warm, plump innate Yao Beast core of the fire lizard, then carefully peeled off its hard scales, placing them one by one into special jade boxes for safekeeping.

Afterward, he took the spirit sword and Storage Pouch left behind by the Cultivator, and finally, he stowed the two fierce Seven-Colored Spirit Pythons into the storage ring hidden inside his dharma robe.

After gathering the spoils of the entire battle, he looked up at the vast, silent Gobi of the Secret Realm, the light in his eyes calm and profound.

The Taixu Secret Realm is filled with murderous intent at every step, but also with Opportunities everywhere. Only by staying calm and lying in wait, assessing the situation, and knowing when to advance or retreat, can one seize the Dao Opportunities step by step amidst endless danger and steadily advance along one's own Dao path.

After tidying his appearance and completely concealing his aura, Li Changqing flickered, turning into a faint streak of light that sped toward a hidden hill in the distance.

Finding a hidden natural cave, he casually set up a layer of simple concealment Restriction to block external probing and noise.

He gently probed the large, plain leather Storage Pouch with his Qi. His Divine Sense spread out for an instant, and he took in everything inside.

As expected of a Core Disciple carefully cultivated by Chi Ling Valley, the resources in the Storage Pouch were rich and refined. Everything perfectly aligned with the Sect's cultivation path of beast taming, poison training, and grappling. There were no redundant items; every single one had great practical and cultivation value.

The stash of Spirit Stones in the Storage Pouch was quite considerable, with 2,716 Low Grade Spirit Stones and 13 accumulated Medium Grade Spirit Stones. It was likely that the Medium Grade Spirit Stones were specially saved by him to break through Bottlenecks and recover Qi.

There were also plenty of Medicinal Pill supplies, including 17 Clarity Healing Pills, which could quickly repair internal and external injuries and calm agitated blood and Qi after a battle; they were excellent healing Medicinal Pills for wild battles.

There were also three even more precious Heart-Clearing Spirit-Stabilizing Pills, which could suppress murderous intent and viciousness, stabilize the Divine Sense and spiritual platform, and resist the confusion of illusions. They were indispensable life-saving Medicinal Pills for Secret Realm exploration.

Besides the Medicinal Pills for the Cultivator's own use, the pouch contained a large number of Chi Ling Valley's exclusive secret beast-taming pills.

There were exactly 20 Colorful Scale Beast Origin Pills, specifically for nourishing scales and poison-type Spirit Beasts. Long-term feeding could thicken spirit scales and purify poison power, which was the fundamental reason why those two Seven-Colored Spirit Pythons had combat power far exceeding their peers.

There were also eight Rapid Barrier-Breaking Pills, which could provide a short burst during battle, increasing the speed and explosive power of Spirit Beasts, suitable for surprise attacks and breaking through desperate situations.

The reason this person could hold off the Late Stage Second-Rank Red-Armored Fire Lizard head-on was precisely because of these secret Sect items hidden in the pouch.

A jar of Green Mist Spirit-Eroding Powder, with 70% remaining, was a secret of Chi Ling Valley. Its medicinal properties were insidious and hidden, odorless and soundless. Mixed in wind and sand, it was extremely hard to detect. It was specifically designed to counter Yao Beasts below the Third Rank, capable of slowly eroding the spirit core, sealing the beast's Meridians, and dissolving the ferocity of Yao Beasts.

The Storage Pouch also contained several scrolls of precious Cultivation Technique secret arts.

The complete Jade Slip, "Seven-Colored Python Binding Technique," was a peak Second-Rank beast combat Cultivation Technique of Chi Ling Valley, specializing in taming Seven-Colored Spirit Pythons. It included exclusive techniques such as Poison Mist Confinement, Spirit Python Binding Kill, and Group Python Combined Attack. It was both offensive and defensive, with extremely wide applicability.

A scroll of the "Myriad Beast Spirit-Binding Technique" remnant, although incomplete and unable to confine Yao Beasts above the Third Rank, could still effectively slow down and suppress the movements of beasts. It was a rare crowd-control secret art.

The most practically valuable item was a handwritten ancient sheepskin book, "Taixu Secret Realm Beast Compendium." It was a compilation of the habits, talents, fatal weaknesses, and territorial distributions of Yao Beasts, recorded in detail by all the Chi Ling Valley Cultivators who had entered the Taixu Secret Realm over the generations.

This ancient book even marked the berserk cycles and foraging patterns of high-level Yao Beasts. This was the biggest reason why this person dared to hunt the Red-Armored Fire Lizard alone, and it would be of great benefit to Li Changqing's subsequent exploration deep into the Secret Realm.

The defensive accessories were also excellent and practical. A Black Water Glazed Jade Pendant, nourished close to the body, was a Medium Grade defensive Spiritual Artifact that could automatically resist fire and poison attacks, weakening fire-type damage by 30%. It was the core reliance for this person to withstand the flames of the Red-Armored Fire Lizard and fight for a long time without being defeated.

A Spirit Beast bag exclusive to Chi Ling Valley, engraved with precise runes, could slightly increase the Spirit Beast's Qi and stabilize the human-beast contract, preventing the Spirit Beast from losing its mind or rebelling during intense battles. Inside the Spirit Beast bag were several corpses of First-Rank Spirit Beasts that had lost their breath.

The remaining miscellaneous resources were also a bountiful harvest.

The 11 First and Second-Rank Yao Beast cores could be used for refining Medicinal Pills, preparing secret powders, and tempering beast-taming Materials. A small amount of Spiritual Plant seeds could be used for daily feeding of Spirit Beasts.

Hidden at the very bottom of the Storage Pouch was a scroll containing the task summary and map of Chi Ling Valley for the Taixu Secret Realm.

It clearly stated that the core task for all Chi Ling Valley Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators entering the Taixu Secret Realm was to head to the Strange Beast Forest to rendezvous within three years.

The map recorded the local terrain of the Strange Beast Forest. Although the handwriting was blurry and intermittent, it vaguely outlined the approximate location of a rare beast nest ruin.

The information did not specify what kind of rare Yao Beast it was, only stating that it was a gathering place for many Yao Beasts with Earth Rank Bloodlines.

After counting all the spoils, Li Changqing put the map into his storage ring. His eyes were calm and waveless, and in his heart, he had already used the clues remaining in the map information to finalize his exploration direction for venturing deeper into the Taixu Secret Realm.