CHAPTER 355: CHAPTER 350: AO QING BREAKS THROUGH

"Ribbit! Ribbit!"

On the embankment of the fish pond, the loud croaking of frogs resonated all around, filled with an indescribable joy. The sound waves spread, creating small ripples in the pond water.

Li Quanqing also sat cross-legged here, with a mountain of gifts piled up beside him, resembling several small hills that occupied the land along the pond’s edge. The treasure light was rich and dazzling.

These were gifts from small factions and sects given for his centennial birthday, some were even prepared with care by Golden Core True Masters, not lacking in value.

Although the overall value wasn’t high, not even comparable to a Nascent Soul Spiritual Treasure, there were enough diverse treasures, some of which he had never even seen.

Faced with such a massive hoard, the happiest was naturally the Treasure Light Toad, its belly constantly swelling, making continuous croaking sounds from its mouth.

In its eyes, those colorful treasure auras interwove like the most delicious food in the world, making one drool, almost causing it to faint from happiness.

"With so many treasures for you to devour, if you fail to achieve a breakthrough to Golden Core, I’ll send you to the kitchen to make a pot of spiritual cuisine for nourishment!"

Li Quanqing spoke with a hint of threat, as his Divine Sense spread like a spider web, continually examining these tributes.

For every item he examined, he tossed one to the golden Spiritual Frog, allowing it to absorb the treasure energy at will, gathering a body of myriad treasures, and condensing a Demon Core.

The Treasure Light Toad could be seen glowing with beaded treasure light, especially the coin-like bumps on its back, vividly emanating the crisp sound of gold coins clashing.

"Alas, truly a bunch of poor folks."

After spending a day lightly counting through these tributes, Li Quanqing couldn’t help but shake his head. Most would be sent to the family treasury to be consumed.

The treasures that truly caught his eye were only a few, enough to supplement the Spiritual Beasts and enhance their cultivation.

The sun set and the moon rose, the night fell, and countless stars blossomed, with a hint of coolness emanating from the moisture in the air.

Watching the golden toad immersed in a sea of treasure aura, Li Quanqing withdrew his gaze, slightly stretching his muscles, creating crackling sounds.

If his predictions were correct, it wouldn’t be long before the Treasure Light Toad broke through to the third rank, becoming his mighty... useless Demon King subordinate.

He had no hopes for this toad’s combat power, truly the epitome of mediocrity, better kept as a pet.

"Moo moo!"

The moonlight was cool as water, threads of silver light spread, transforming into the purest Taiyin Spirit Energy, as the bright moon reflected on the water, complementing each other.

Like routine over the decades, countless Green Jade Carps appeared in the fish pond.

They opened their mouths to swallow and exhale the Moonlight, cultivating in worship of the moon, their cyan scales reflecting the bright light, glistening like a land in the water.

Ao Qing emerged from the depths of the pond, its body winding and its scales shimmering, with the Taiyin Spirit Banner fluttering around it.

Beneath its body were over a dozen Green Horned Fish Dragons, together receiving the descending moonlight, like silver pillars shooting into the sky, illuminating the entire fish pond as bright as day.

Li Quanqing watched this scene, and although he was very familiar with it, having seen it countless times, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.

Now over a hundred years old, Ao Qing had lived for nearly ninety years, such long-lastingness, but never slacking in its cultivation.

Since embarking on the path of Dragon Transformation, every single night Ao Qing cultivated diligently, no matter the wind or rain, its determination was moving.

Even at this moment, when Li Quanqing used the Golden Finger to inspect Ao Qing’s heart, he saw the same four words, "I Want to Be a Dragon," staying true to its original aspiration.

This is truly a prodigy of the Demon Clan, possessing great determination, destined to leave a mark in history and become a True Spirit Demon Emperor in the future.

In comparison, Li Quanqing seemed much more ordinary, merely an unremarkable expert with a cheat.

Feeble!

Li Quanqing withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, and took out a five-colored spiritual umbrella from the Hanhai Bowl, none other than the Tribulation Crossing Spirit Treasure "Five Thunder Milo Umbrella."

Just as before with the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment stages, after breaking through to the late-stage Golden Core, there were no longer bottlenecks in the cultivation process following this major realm.

He only needed to follow the steps, swallowing and exhaling the essence of Heaven and Earth day and night, naturally reaching the Golden Core Perfect Realm with no further progress possible.

The time for this was uncertain, potentially taking ten, twenty, thirty, or even forty years, as each Golden Core Cultivator was different.

At this level of cultivation, Li Quanqing naturally began to consider how to break the core and form the nascent soul, truly stepping into the ranks of the supreme cultivators.

As for how to transcend the Nascent Soul stage and break the shackles of this shattered world, transforming into a god, that wasn’t something he could consider now.

Li Quanqing caressed the Milo Umbrella, infusing it with his power, causing it to continuously expand, eventually becoming the size of a normal paper umbrella.

On the umbrella surface, streaks of thunder patterns bloomed, flowing with five-colored rays, inscribed with ancient Dao Trace runes, fully expounding the true meaning of the Thunder Dao.

Li Quanqing held it with both hands as Heavenly River Power intertwined, imprinting his mark upon it, staining it with his breath and bloodline.

As it was a Nascent Soul Spiritual Treasure, fully activating it was quite difficult, requiring strengthening of the imprint runes after each cultivation breakthrough.

After refining it for decades, he could finally manipulate it as if it were his own Lifebound Magical Treasure, aiding him in crossing the Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation.

The consumption of the Nascent Soul Spiritual Treasure was vast, but fortunately, Li Quanqing’s Heavenly River Power was renowned for being vast, with an extremely fast recovery rate, almost limitless.

After an unknown amount of time, the entire surface of the Milo Umbrella shone brightly, emitting continuous clashing thunder sounds as the refinement level deepened, with the Artifact Spirit expressing satisfaction from its full state.

Li Quanqing exhaled a turbid breath, opening his eyes with satisfaction, yet showing a trace of fatigue on his face.

He formed seal techniques with his hands, and in an instant, the Five Thunder Milo Umbrella gently rotated, transforming into a five-colored stream of light, which he then swallowed into his abdomen to guard over the Golden Core.

"How many hours have I actually cultivated?"

Li Quanqing slightly tilted his head, looking at the bright moonlight still dazzling above, then felt somewhat stunned.

But he quickly realized it was already daylight, with a red sun suspended high in the sky, yet above was still the Taiyin Bright Moon shining, suffused with cool spirit energy.

"This is..."

Just as Li Quanqing was slightly stunned, Ao Qing suddenly let out a resonant dragon roar, as cyan demon clouds engulfed the entire Jade Dragon Pond, blocking the sunlight above.

Countless Essence Qi wafted in, droplets of pond water leaped, extracting rich Water Element Essence Qi, accompanied by the roars of the Spirit Vein, swallowed by the Green Jade Carp in a gulp.

Clearly, it was attempting to break through, rushing towards the Golden Core Middle Stage, its entire cyan dragon scales opening, spewing forth substantial demon energy.

Ao Qing spiraled and entwined, evolving the vision of the Sea Moon, with even the azure sky and daylight covered by demon clouds, dimming the light.

It almost transformed into a cyan bright moon, with surging demon energy, causing all the Green Jade Carps in the fish pond to boil, shooting countless Water Arrows from their mouths, with tremendous excitement.

The Green Horned Fish Dragons in the Foundation Establishment Realm did the same, circling above the water’s surface, not daring to behave arrogantly, striving to gather the water’s Essence Qi, replenishing Ao Qing’s consumption.

"Is this the king of the Demon Beasts?"

Li Quanqing watched thoughtfully.

Ao Qing’s breakthrough took a full ten days, finally accompanying a booming sound, with demon energy soaring like a column of clouds, completely breaking through the bottleneck.

"Acquired a mid-Golden Core azure moon dragon, rewarded with a ’Nascent Soul Handbook’ from an ancient Heavenly River Dao practitioner!"