75: Zhang Xing's nuclear remnants and "snagging a bargain"

The deeper he ventured into the core area of the Ancient Battlefield, the stronger the oppressive feeling became—desolate and silent, yet secretly harboring immense energy.

The fragmented star debris was larger, and the residual battle marks on them were even more shocking.

On some massive bones, an inextinguishable Martial Dao Will still lingered; ordinary Cultivators who approached might have their minds torn apart.

Liu Qingtian operated the Primordial Ancient Wood Visualization Diagram, using the Illusory Figure of the Chaos Ancient Wood to stabilize his tree soul, allowing him to withstand this invisible impact.

The Dao rhythm of Life and Death Rotation gave him an extraordinary adaptability to this deadly environment, allowing him even to draw out faint traces of pure Power of Annihilation from it.

He avoided several areas where energy fluctuations were violently abnormal, clearly indicating the presence of powerful beings or fierce ongoing battles, moving through the ruins like a patient hunter searching for his goal.

Suddenly, he stopped on a relatively intact, dark-red star fragment approximately a hundred miles in diameter. This fragment was different from others; its surface was relatively smooth, and there was a massive depression in the center, as if a piece had been forcibly gouged out by a Sharp Weapon.

Along the edges of that depression lingered the aura of extremely pure and volatile star fire, as well as... a faint, yet fundamentally high-level, energy core fluctuation.

"This is... the remnant site of a shattered Star Core?" Liu Qingtian's tree eyes brightened.

A Star Core is the source of a star's life and power. Even when shattered, its remnants contain unimaginable Star Origin, making it a great supplement for him, who needs the Power of the Stars to Cultivate, or for the star key!

He cautiously approached the depressed area. The closer he got, the more he felt the scorching and volatile residual energy; the air was filled with faint starlight, the ground was cracked, and dark red flames subtly flowed within the fissures.

Clearly, most of the energy from the Star Core Remains that once existed here had dissipated or been taken away, but some essence still remained, either precipitated or hidden deep underground.

Liu Qingtian released his perception and carefully probed. Soon, he discovered that deep within the center of the depression, beneath several massive rocks that had been melted and then solidified, there was a rhythmic, heartbeat-like faint energy pulsation.

"There are still remnants!" He felt a slight joy in his heart. Just as he was about to start digging, he reconsidered: Would those experts not know about the good things here? Even if they didn't know, it could be a trap set by others, so he should find a "Cannon Fodder" to help him scout it out.

Just then, a rush of air breaking sounded from the sky!

Three streaks of escape light fell toward his direction in a sorry state, appearing to have endured a brutal battle; their aura was weak, and they carried injuries. As the escape light dissipated, it revealed three Cultivators—two men and one woman. Judging by their attire, they did not belong to the same School, but seemed to have formed a temporary alliance. Their cultivation levels were all around the Late-stage Kai Shan Realm, but their condition was extremely poor at the moment.

"Quick! Find a place to heal! That 'bone-eroding demon flower' is terrifying!" said one tall, thin male Cultivator with lingering fear. One of his arms was unnaturally twisted, clearly indicating a severe injury.

"Damn it, we almost got wiped out! We barely managed to snatch these few petals..." The other short, stout male Cultivator spat out a mouthful of blood, tightly clutching a jade box in his hand. Eerie purplish-black light seeped out from the seams of the box.

The female Cultivator was pale and silent, merely scanning the surroundings warily. Her gaze then fell upon the depressed area where Liu Qingtian was located. Especially after sensing the residual Power of the Stars there, a glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes.

"The Power of the Stars is rich here; perhaps it can help us suppress the demon flower's toxicity and recover quickly!" the female Cultivator said.

The other two also noticed the anomaly of the location and nodded in agreement. They clearly had not discovered Liu Qingtian, who had concealed himself beforehand, and headed straight toward the center of the depression, where Liu Qingtian had detected the Star Core's residual pulsation.

Liu Qingtian remained hidden in the dark, watching coldly. He could have intervened to drive away or even kill these three severely injured people, but doing so would inevitably expose himself and consume strength. In this core area fraught with danger, maintaining concealment and strength was the best policy.

He decided to wait and see how things unfolded.

The three Cultivators landed in the center of the depression, immediately sat cross-legged, took out Medicinal Pills and consumed them, and began circulating their Cultivation Techniques to heal their injuries. The short, stout male Cultivator placed the jade box in front of him and cautiously opened a slit. A denser purplish-black light mixed with a corrosive, strange fragrance permeated the air. Inside the jade box were three petals, thin as cicada wings but flickering with eerie runes—the very "bone-eroding demon flower" they had spoken of.

However, they seemed to have underestimated the volatility of the residual Power of the Stars here, and overestimated their current condition.

The moment they circulated their Cultivation Techniques and drew the surrounding Power of the Stars into their bodies—

An unexpected change suddenly occurred!

The faint, heartbeat-like energy pulsation deep underground suddenly intensified! It seemed to have been awakened by the stimulation of external energy!

Boom!

The ground beneath them violently split open, and Star Core Embers, mixed with pure star fire that had been dormant for untold ages, shot into the sky like a volcanic eruption! The dark red flames carried destructive high temperatures, instantly engulfing the three people!

"Ah!"

"No—!"

"Watch out!"

The desperate screams abruptly ceased!

How could those three Late-stage Kai Shan Realm Cultivators, already severely injured, withstand this sudden burst of star fire? Their protective spiritual light shattered like paper, their Physical Bodies were instantly vaporized, and even their Divine Souls failed to escape, being burned into nothingness by the volatile star fire!

Only the jade box containing the bone-eroding demon flower petals, due to its special material, survived the flames and clattered onto the ground. Furthermore, the three eerie petals were not damaged by the scorching star fire; instead, their purplish-black light intensified, seemingly absorbing some kind of power from the flames!

Liu Qingtian watched clearly from afar, his heart filled with awe. This Ancient Battlefield was fraught with danger everywhere; even seemingly safe places might conceal deadly traps. This Star Core Remains site was clearly not easy to approach.

The erupted star fire gradually subsided after lasting for several breaths, leaving a scorched deep pit in the ground. At the bottom of the pit, some dark red, glaze-like crystals were faintly visible—the essence precipitated from the Star Core Remains: star fire glaze crystal! At the same time, a pure aura of Star Origin permeated the pit.

As for the three bone-eroding demon flower petals, after absorbing a trace of star fire, their color became deeper, and they floated at the bottom of the pit, rotating slowly.

After Liu Qingtian confirmed there were no other dangers, his figure flashed, and he arrived at the edge of the deep pit.

Looking at the three eerie petals and the star fire glaze crystal at the bottom of the pit, he felt little joy, only increased vigilance. This was a classic case of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," and he had become the "oriole" who picked up the leaks. But who could guarantee that an even more formidable "hunter" wasn't secretly watching him?

He moved quickly. With a sweep of his willow branches, he first collected the jade box and the three bone-eroding demon flower petals; this item seemed sinister and required careful study. Afterward, he meticulously gathered all the star fire glaze crystal at the bottom of the pit, totaling about a dozen pieces, each containing pure fiery Power of the Stars.

Finally, he took a deep breath and completely absorbed the pure Star Origin aura lingering at the bottom of the pit. The star key located in his tree heart emitted a joyful hum, clearly very satisfied with this "feast."

Having finished all this, Liu Qingtian dared not linger for a moment and immediately used an Escape Technique to flee this troubled area.

This "picking up leaks" yielded rich rewards; he not only obtained the essence of the Star Core Remains but also acquired the bone-eroding demon flower petals, which seemed to be a treasure. However, it also sounded a warning bell: the dangers in the core area of the Secret Realm far exceeded his imagination.

He needed to quickly find an absolutely safe place to digest these gains and deal with those eerie demon flower petals.

Not long after he left, a blurry figure, wrapped in wisps of black Qi, quietly appeared at the edge of the deep pit. The figure looked at the empty pit, then glanced in the direction Liu Qingtian had departed, letting out a faint, almost imperceptible cold snort.

"Quite vigilant... but good things aren't so easily taken away."