The belly, no bigger than a palm, seemed like a bottomless abyss. The blood flowed in continuously, quickly draining the entire blood pool.
The little blood figure let out a burp.
Its facial features became more defined, especially its eyes, which darted around, appearing both adorably naive and somewhat mischievous.
Mo Qi put it into a small box and continued forward.
The bloody smell greatly diminished, but the cold, murderous atmosphere remained undiminished.
After exiting this cave dwelling and passing through a section of the passage, he entered another cave dwelling.
Inside this cave dwelling were many beast skeletons, surrounded by black mist. When viewed with divine abilities, they were revealed to be the beast souls of various demonic beasts.
"This is too good to waste!"
So, he sat down on the spot and began refining Beast Soul Pills.
The beast souls, upon smelling the fragrance, continuously poured into the pill furnace.
These demonic beasts were likely handpicked by the Dinghai Sect to cultivate their evil arts.
Mo Qi guessed that there might even be beast souls of ancient demonic beasts among them!
Therefore, the Beast Soul Pills refined using these beast souls would surely surpass the quality of any pills he had refined before.
With the help of these pills, he could attempt to improve his cultivation.
After several hours, he successfully refined a batch of Beast Soul Pills. He then took a few and began meditating to cultivate.
Meanwhile, Linghu Xiaoxian, who had been waiting outside for a long time, grew impatient as he remained inside. Worried that he might encounter danger, she bravely ventured in.
Fortunately, the bloody smell inside was not as strong anymore.
She walked all the way to Mo Qi.
Just as Mo Qi was about to enter a state of deep meditation, he saw her enter and casually handed her a few Beast Soul Pills. "These pills can help you improve your cultivation. Ten million spirit stones each."
Linghu Xiaoxian snatched them away. "Do you take me for a fool? Ten million spirit stones! Why don't you just rob me?"
Then, with a look of suspicion, she added, "If your pills can improve cultivation in such a short time, then if you keep refining and improving, won't you become unstoppable?"
Mo Qi remained calm. "Theoretically, yes. But where would we find so many Beast Soul Pills? Besides, don't we have to share some? It's more enjoyable to share happiness."
Suddenly, he reached out and said indignantly, "If you don't like them, then give them back. You have no idea what a treasure this is, yet you treat it like dirt!"
Seeing his apparent concern, Linghu Xiaoxian, half-believing, took one pill.
After swallowing it, she felt a warm current coursing through her body, rapidly transforming into a mighty river. It surged and ebbed, powerful and overwhelming, making her feel as if her entire body was about to take flight.
She immediately sat down cross-legged, guiding the spiritual energy to circulate through her meridians.
As she tried to break through the vital point of the Xuan Guan, she felt as if something was still missing. Repeated attempts yielded the same result.
So, she took another Beast Soul Pill. After circulating the energy forty-nine times, she broke through the vital point of the Xuan Guan, her cultivation improving to the second level of Human Immortal.
At this moment, her shock and gratitude were beyond words.
She had been stuck at the first level of Human Immortal for a long time, unable to break through despite trying various methods. She never expected that two pills would change her predicament today.
She still had a few more pills and was preparing to continue her advancement when Mo Qi had already reached the middle stage of Tribulation Transcendence. He finished his cultivation, stood up, and said, "You continue cultivating here. I'm going further inside."
Linghu Xiaoxian felt that this place was not a good spot for cultivation. If Mo Qi were with her, she could tolerate it, but alone, she couldn't stay for a moment.
So, she immediately stood up and followed Mo Qi further inside. "I'll go with you to see."
The two continued to advance.
There was another cave dwelling inside, and the black mist grew denser.
She truly wondered how many demonic beasts the Dinghai Sect had captured and brought here.
Mo Qi suddenly thought that these beast souls could also be used to enhance the power of his mechanical beasts.
So, he released a mechanical beast. The vortexes within the mechanical beast's glowing red eye sockets spun, and streams of black mist flowed into them like water.
The entire mechanical beast emitted a humming sound, as if its steel bones and iron muscles were constantly being forged.
A powerful force was quietly growing.
The effect was indeed noticeable.
Mo Qi immediately released all his mechanical beasts.
The mechanical beasts, like tigers descending from a mountain, plunged into the black mist, as if in their element, madly absorbing the black mist.
Many mechanical beasts even fought amongst themselves, tearing at each other.
Without Mo Qi's control through his incantations, these were merely instinctual clashes between beast souls, not overly fierce battles.
Moreover, as their beast souls gradually strengthened, their skin's resistance to damage would also increase from the inside out.
Therefore, these bites would not even harm their bodies.
So, Mo Qi paid them no mind, letting them go wild within the mist.
Like scavengers, they cleaned the black mist inside!
The black mist gradually thinned until, at a certain moment, it felt as if the sky was clear and the air was pure.
Mo Qi then recalled his mechanical beasts, and the stone cave also reached its end.
Mo Qi and Linghu Xiaoxian turned to leave.
Linghu Xiaoxian said with some dissatisfaction, "I came in and watched you perform, but I didn't get any benefits."
"We're on the same side, no need for formalities," Mo Qi said casually.
Such flirtatious words came easily to him, and he didn't think much of them. However, Linghu Xiaoxian took it seriously, her face flushing as she asked, "Really?"
Mo Qi had already forgotten what he had just said. "What's not real?"
Linghu Xiaoxian, angered, widened her almond-shaped eyes and stomped on him again, making him grimace. "What's wrong?"
Linghu Xiaoxian snorted and strode out.
Just then, a commotion erupted from outside. Mo Qi, unsure of what was happening and worried about new enemies arriving, quickened his pace outwards.
Then, large groups of people began entering the Dinghai Sect.
Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be disciples of the Sun Moon Sect.
After inquiring, they learned that Linghu Zhong, upon hearing that the Divine Turtle Island had been repelled and Golden Lion Island was now ownerless, had immediately led his troops, ostensibly to help defend Golden Lion Island.
Their reaction speed was truly astonishing!
When Mo Qi and Linghu Xiaoxian returned to the main hall of the Clear Profound Sect, Hong Jianxin was already there, trying to claim credit from Linghu Zhong.
He claimed that he had led the disciples in a desperate resistance against the Divine Turtle Island's onslaught, charging in and out, fighting valiantly to repel the enemy.
And at that time, no one knew where Mo Qi was!
He had completely failed to fulfill his duties as a commander!
He should have been court-martialed!
And he himself deserved the highest honor!
Linghu Zhong looked at Mo Qi, unsure of what to say!
Disappointment, along with unconcealed anger!
Mo Qi, however, did not care about any of these merits or demerits.
Instead, he was preoccupied with Linghu Zhong's slyness.
"When I was fighting for my life here, where were you?"
"After I finished, you came to reap the rewards and then wanted to judge my merits and demerits?"
"Do you have the right?"
So, he simply stared back at Linghu Zhong.
They glared at each other, neither speaking.
Linghu Xiaoxian, however, could not hold back and blurted out, "I was captured by Chen Xuemu before. I didn't know anything that happened then, but I can be sure that to save me, he faced unimaginable dangers alone. From what I saw later, without the timely support of the Dragon Army, our numbers alone would not have been enough to deal with those turtles. Think about who the Dragon Army came for!"
As she said this, she looked at Mo Qi with a hint of sadness, then glared at Hong Jianxin. "Did they come for you?"
Hong Jianxin stammered, "Perhaps they really came for me? Who knows?"
This was shameless to the extreme!
Mo Qi felt a surge of nausea.
But then he thought that it was his own business if he wanted to be self-important and deluded; he couldn't control that.
However, Linghu Xiaoxian was indignant at his "weakness" and his lack of assertiveness. She stomped on him again. "Say something!"
Mo Qi gritted his teeth and asked Hong Jianxin, "Who was your biggest enemy during the battle?"
Hong Jianxin replied without hesitation, "Gui San."
"And who killed Gui San?" Mo Qi asked calmly.
"A female demon, Hua Xianfu, killed him," Hong Jianxin said.
He had originally wanted to say he killed him, but so many people had seen it, and he dared not lie.
"Why do you think Hua Xianfu killed Gui San? Was she also attracted to you?" Mo Qi asked playfully.
"I don't know why, but she indeed killed him," Hong Jianxin stated assertively.
Mo Qi smiled slightly. "I'll tell you why."
As he spoke, he took out a mask and put it on.
He transformed into Hua Xianfu's appearance.
Hong Jianxin was so astonished that his tongue was tied. "You... you..."
"What 'you'?" Mo Qi removed the mask. "Is it that hard to admit that I killed him?"
Although he was unwilling to admit it, it was the truth. Hong Jianxin had to lower his head.
But then he immediately raised his head. "So what? Killing one person can't decide the overall outcome!"
"I defeated Hua Xianfu," Mo Qi said.
"Yes, I can attest to that," Linghu Xiaoxian immediately said.
"There were also several crucial figures who decided the outcome of this battle, such as the Darkness of the Dinghai Sect and several elders, as well as Gui Ba Wan, all of whom I killed," Mo Qi said.
"That's right," Linghu Xiaoxian quickly added. "I can also prove this."
Actually, she couldn't prove the death of Darkness, but she believed Mo Qi wouldn't lie.
"Moreover, the most powerful enemy was Gui Ba Wan. Gui Ba Wan was defeated under the combined attack of him and Little White, which directly decided the outcome of this life-or-death battle," Linghu Xiaoxian continued.
She then turned to Hong Jianxin. "How many enemy commanders did you kill?"
Hong Jianxin was stunned for a moment. After careful thought, he realized he hadn't killed any!
"Can killing a few small fries decide the victory?" Linghu Xiaoxian pressed on. "Those small fries were dealt with by someone throwing a pill furnace, why did you have to exert so much effort?"
"Furthermore, the pills refined by Mo Qi played a very important role in this battle. If it weren't for the destructive power of those pills, we wouldn't have been able to withstand the turtle-like tide. Look at the Clear Profound Sect; it's a living example."
Hong Jianxin was rendered speechless and stood there stunned!
He suddenly felt that Linghu Xiaoxian had become very unfamiliar!
She never cared about other people's affairs!