Chapter 128: True Essence Manifestation, The Evolution of the Profound Water Crocodile

Moon-Watching Island.

Wu Jiang was currently directing a group of spirit farmers in tending to the spirit fields. Nearby, beside a wooden cabin, Mu Ruyin was playing with two young children. Ever since Wu Jiang had begun leading his clansmen in farming the island, the once-desolate Moon-Watching Island had gradually taken on an air of liveliness.

*Whoosh!*

A streak of azure light cut across the horizon, flying toward the island.

Wu Jiang looked up, his face brightening. "Fellow Daoist Qin has returned."

He immediately walked over as he usually did, preparing to greet Qin Ming.

Qin Ming glanced at the situation on the island and landed before Wu Jiang. As Wu Jiang approached, he suddenly felt that Qin Ming was enveloped in a chilling, murderous aura, as if he had not been attending an auction, but had instead returned from a place of slaughter. A surging, bloody malice washed over him, leaving him trembling and unsure of how to speak.

Qin Ming noticed this detail. He secretly activated the "Ancient Wood Longevity Art," suppressing his aura and returning to his usual, tranquil state.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, I trust everything has been well on the island these past few days?"

Sensing that the thick, murderous aura had vanished from Qin Ming, Wu Jiang felt an immediate wave of relief. "Fellow Daoist Qin, everything on the island is as normal; you may rest assured."

Qin Ming nodded, exchanged a few more words with Wu Jiang, and then returned to his cave dwelling beneath the main peak. Passing the burrow dug by the Blackwater Crocodile, Qin Ming sent out his divine sense to scan it, discovering that the creature’s aura had grown significantly. He then checked on the Longevity Vine; the Six-Winged Frost Bee was still in its deep slumber.

Back inside his dwelling, Qin Ming began to inspect the four storage bags. He scanned them carefully and repeatedly with his divine sense, confirming that there were no special tracking marks or unique auras left behind. The wealth contained within the storage bags of four Foundation Establishment cultivators was substantial. In particular, the bags belonging to the two black-robed demonic cultivators were veritable troves of loot; presumably accustomed to being rogue cultivators, they had plundered many fine items from across the Wei Kingdom’s cultivation world. Everything a treasure hunter could want was there, and now, it all belonged to Qin Ming.

As a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and a scion of the Mu family of Qilian Mountain, Mu Yuanshan also possessed many fine goods. That piece of Dragon-Blood Divine Wood had traveled a full circle, only to land in his hands after all. Additionally, Qin Ming discovered a high-level puppet cultivation technique in Miao Renke’s storage bag—an unexpected windfall.

Looking ahead, it was clear from the conspiracies of Mu Yuanshan and Gu Huai that a major upheaval was coming to the Lingqi Archipelago. Furthermore, the appearance of Lin Zixiao’s group instilled in Qin Ming a pressing need to improve his strength. Natural disasters and human conflicts could not be avoided by mere hiding.

Qin Ming approached his natal spirit plant, the Longevity Vine.

He immediately took out the bottle of White-Armed Ape essence blood. Breaking the seal, he did not hesitate to swallow the entire bottle of beast essence. He then began to refine the blood according to the Foundation Establishment chapter of the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra" and the cultivation method for the first transformation of "True Gang Shape-Shifting."

In truth, for a cultivator to swallow beast essence directly was an extremely dangerous act. The violent energy of the beast’s blood often clashed with a human’s internal energy; at best, it caused blood to churn in reverse, and at worst, it led to demonic obsession or even fatal rupture. However, Qin Ming possessed a formidable physical body, coupled with the terrifying blood-energy of his "True Gang" reaching the stage of external manifestation. Naturally, this posed little problem for him.

*Boom!*

The moment the White-Armed Ape essence blood entered his body, a violent energy exploded within him. Qin Ming hurriedly followed the "Hundred Beasts Visualization Diagram," visualizing the Heaven-Piercing Mountain Ape. He then began to refine the blood according to the technique.

*Roar!*

In an instant, the image of the mountain-sized, dozens-of-feet-tall ape appeared clearly in his mind. The essence of the White-Armed Ape, which had been thrashing wildly in his body, now seemed to encounter something unfathomable and instantly submitted.

Gradually, the total amount of blood-energy True Gang within Qin Ming began to surge wildly, overflowing and shifting unpredictably. Two hours passed.

Suddenly!

The blood-energy True Gang on Qin Ming’s body soared into the sky, forming a massive, crimson phantom that began to take solid shape.

*Roar!*

At last, the phantom of a crimson giant ape, condensed from True Gang, appeared over Qin Ming. It stood over ten feet tall, resembling a god of beasts.

"True Gang Shape-Shifting, First Transformation: Giant Ape Transformation!"

Qin Ming rose and opened his eyes. He could feel an unprecedented power filling his body, as if he could move mountains and drain seas with a flick of his hand. He flew off, disappearing from the spot. After flying through the air for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he found a desolate, lifeless island.

Qin Ming immediately unleashed the first transformation. The massive figure of the crimson mountain ape emerged, mimicking his every movement. He clenched his fist and slammed it down toward a mountain peak!

*Bang!*

*Rumble!*

The crimson giant ape phantom threw a punch, instantly leveling the entire mountain peak!

Qin Ming was incredibly exhilarated, clenching his fist. What terrifying power! With this technique, he now had the strength to defend himself even against late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, after throwing that punch, he felt a sudden sense of emptiness; his blood-energy seemed to have been completely drained.

"I didn't expect that just the first transformation of True Gang Shape-Shifting would consume such massive amounts of blood-energy," Qin Ming muttered, feeling drained.

However, he had his trait system. When the time came, he could store a few more [Blood-Energy Crystal] traits to instantly restore his state. This way, he would be able to use it multiple times.

After familiarizing himself with the True Gang Shape-Shifting state, Qin Ming returned to Moon-Watching Island. With his strength having made another great leap, he was in high spirits. He had Mu Ruyin prepare several fine dishes and took out two pounds of Lingqi Rice for her to cook.

When Wu Jiang and Mu Ruyin heard that they would be eating Lingqi Rice—a luxury even high-level Foundation Establishment cultivators rarely enjoyed—they were even more excited than their two children. Mu Ruyin meticulously prepared a table full of delicacies, and Qin Ming ate with great relish. Wu Jiang and his wife barely touched the other dishes; after eating the Lingqi Rice, their faces flushed, and they both retreated to their room to refine the spiritual energy.

...

The next day.

Qin Ming went to observe the state of his two beast pets as usual.

*Rumble!*

At that moment, a massive vortex of spiritual energy rapidly formed above Moon-Watching Island. Such an anomaly caused the Wu clansmen working on the island to look up in astonishment, assuming their island master was practicing some powerful new technique. Only Wu Jiang looked on in shock, murmuring, "This... this is the spiritual energy anomaly of a beast breaking through to the second-tier Foundation Establishment level!"

"Could it be... Fellow Daoist Qin’s Blackwater Crocodile..."

Likewise, a look of joy appeared on Qin Ming’s face. He flew toward the Blackwater Crocodile, watching its breakthrough with anticipation.

*Roar!*

As waves of spiritual energy poured into its body, the aura of the Blackwater Crocodile began to surge! Over an hour passed before the aura of the Blackwater Crocodile, which had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, finally stabilized.

But it was not over yet.

The spiritual energy vortex above Moon-Watching Island began to dissipate, replaced by a mass of black thunderclouds that gathered over the area where the Blackwater Crocodile was. This was the lightning tribulation that a first-tier beast must face when breaking through to become a second-tier Foundation Establishment great beast.

Unlike humans, the promotion of a beast was far more difficult. From the second tier onwards, they had to endure the trial of a lightning tribulation, and the power of this tribulation was not to be underestimated. Whether it could shed its mortal coil to become a great beast—life or death—depended entirely on this critical step.