Chapter 70: Blood Dao Song Que

"Eight stages of innate cultivation?" Elder Miao frowned deeply.

Another black-clothed man said, "Regardless, the key is to find Ding Hao."

At this moment, a fire-red spirit fox ran over, followed by Dugu, the guard of the young prince.

Elder Miao, upon seeing Dugu, immediately said, "Ding Hao left with someone named Shang Hai. Do you know this Shang Hai?"

Dugu replied, "Yes, the young prince has investigated all these people."

Elder Miao said, "Good, go and find them quickly. They shouldn't have gone far."

At this moment, Mao Changhai shouted, "Shang Hai stripped off my mid-grade vine armor, we can track him by the scent!"

"Very well." Dugu made his fire-red little fox sniff Mao Changhai, and then the little fox ran off, with Dugu following closely behind.

After a while, Dugu returned and reported, "Reporting to the seniors, Shang Hai has returned to the mountaintop, completed the task, and left the hunt."

"Then what about Ding Hao?" Elder Miao asked immediately.

Dugu replied, "His whereabouts are unknown."

"Damn it!" Elder Miao and the others were extremely angry but had no outlet for their frustration.

Dugu said, "Seniors, you can't even find that little waste of space with your mental power. Clearly, he has some secret treasure! He might be hiding somewhere in the forest."

Elder Miao said, "What you say is very likely, but who knows where he is hiding?" The frustration of several immortals at not being able to find a mere innate cultivator was evident.

Another immortal said, "We should split up and search. We might find some clues."

"Agreed." Elder Miao nodded.

As they left, they did not leave any witnesses. One of the immortals tapped his storage bag, released a flying sword to kill Mao Changhai, and then threw a spirit fire talisman to burn Mao Changhai's body beyond recognition.

Soon, the scene returned to silence.

Ding Hao observed everything from outside. He thought to himself, it was fortunate that Shang Hai left the Lianyun Mountains in time, otherwise, if he were caught by these immortal cultivators, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Inside the Star Absorption Stone, Ding Hao removed the essence stone from the Blood Refinement and Soul Refinement Lamp, put the lamp away, and his face turned grim.

"These immortal cultivators are watching me, how can I continue hunting? Do they want to force me to leave the hunt?" Ding Hao considered leaving, but he would have to wait until the next day. Nighttime was the most dangerous.

Ding Hao continued to sort through Mao Changhai's possessions.

In Mao Changhai's storage bag, the remaining items were essence stones. This guy was a ruthless killer, and his essence stones were plentiful.

Ding Hao counted and found that there were as many as 5,000 essence stones, which was equivalent to 50 million silver notes!

"Quite a good haul."

After putting away the possessions, Ding Hao sat cross-legged and focused his mind on the dantian.

He was now at the eighth stage of innate cultivation, and his dantian was like a small lake. The lake was calm, and above the lake, the original core had one more layer. If he could break through this last layer, he would reach the ninth stage of innate cultivation.

At that time, the core would be exposed.

The core is the center of the original core, and it is the most difficult to refine compared to the previous layers!

In other words, breaking through from the ninth stage of innate cultivation to the great completion of innate cultivation is extremely difficult! This core has trapped many people, and if it cannot be refined, it means they cannot enter the great completion of innate cultivation.

It has been studied that only those with a fourth-grade immortal root can refine the core; those below the fourth grade have no hope, and the ninth stage of innate cultivation is their peak!

This was not a problem for Ding Hao.

His current problem was where to absorb spiritual energy!

The arrow bamboo demon was good, but there were no more to be found. These immortal cultivators were not to be underestimated; as soon as Ding Hao showed himself, he would be killed!

"Where to find mid-grade spiritual wood? This is a real problem."

Ding Hao suddenly realized that having the Star Absorption Magic Technique was not entirely a good thing.

For example, others could cultivate by absorbing spiritual energy from the air in any place, but he had to absorb spiritual energy from objects! If he couldn't find suitable objects, he might not improve for a long time!

Thinking about this, Ding Hao's eyes brightened, and he shook off all distractions, muttering to himself, "There's only this path now, and I've already taken it without any regrets. Since I've started, I must go all the way!"

The night was quiet, and the forest was deep. Occasionally, someone passed by, being very cautious.

However, in the darkness, a fire-red shadow flashed by.

"That's Dugu's human-eared fox!" Ding Hao's heart stirred.

The human-eared fox is a low-grade spirit beast with reconnaissance capabilities. With a human ear, it can see and hear in all directions, making it very alert. It received orders from its master to find Ding Hao and could recognize his scent, but it couldn't find him!

So it wandered around and came back here.

Although it didn't speak, it sensed that Ding Hao's last scent disappeared nearby!

"Damn, its nose is sharp." Da Huang said.

Ding Hao said, "I have an idea."

Da Huang put down the book in his hand and said, "I can tell, you're going to use me for something bad."

Every time Ding Hao asked Da Huang to do something, it was never good.

"This time is simple." Ding Hao smiled, "Let you out, do you have the confidence to catch it and bring it back?"

Da Huang said, "What's the difficulty in that?"

Ding Hao was delighted and said, "I'll let you out, remember, dead or alive! But you must get its human ear!"

As he said this, a cold smile appeared on Ding Hao's face.

He was not a kind person, and Dugu, the young prince's subordinate, had no good intentions toward him! He had tried to kill him several times!

Of course, he wanted to kill Dugu too, but the gap between them was too large. He was at the eighth stage of innate cultivation, while Dugu was already at the second level of Qi Refinement!

Under normal circumstances, it would be almost impossible for Ding Hao to kill Dugu! No, not almost, it was absolutely impossible!

However, Ding Hao suddenly remembered that he had a powerful tool in his hands!

With a thought, he let Da Huang out.

The fire-red human-eared fox saw Da Huang and was immediately startled. It didn't recognize Da Huang, but it was familiar with his scent, knowing that it was closely related to Ding Hao! However, it didn't retreat or run away when it saw Da Huang!

It looked at Da Huang with its sharp little eyes, its eyes shining, warning him, "Grass dog! Don't mess with me, or I'll kill you!"

This was very normal. Not just between humans, but also between animals. In a lion pride, when the lion king approaches a female lion, other male lions have to actively avoid.

This is the concept of hierarchy, a natural instinct of humans and animals. The human-eared fox is a low-grade spirit beast, while Da Huang is just a common grass dog, the lowest of the low! The human-eared fox wouldn't take it seriously and issued a sharp warning.

However, Da Huang was not an ordinary grass dog.

He cursed, "Damn, behave!" Then, like a golden lightning bolt, he pounced, his mouth opening wide to bite.

The human-eared fox was terrified, realizing that even the lowest can rise up!

It turned and ran, but Da Huang barked and pounced, emitting a dominant aura, and with one claw, he knocked it over.

Inside the Star Absorption Stone, Ding Hao took out the Blood Refinement and Soul Refinement Lamp again and asked, "Song Que, I ask you, is the lamp's blood refinement function effective on a second-level Qi Refinement cultivator?"

"Um..." Song Que's eyes darted around.

Ding Hao knew this guy was a liar. Two scoops of blood oil poured on him, and he screamed and became obedient. Song Que thought, "This little master is really ruthless," and quickly said, "Young master, this is a mundane treasure, and it is effective on Qi Refinement cultivators, but there is a key point: the cultivator's level cannot be too high, and they must not have any protective treasures against evil!"

Ding Hao asked, "Just tell me, can it work on a second-level Qi Refinement cultivator?"

Song Que said, "Yes! But more flesh and blood are needed, so the evil thing can be larger! If it's just a drop of blood, it won't work!"

Ding Hao asked, "What about an ear?"

"Sure!"

As they were talking, Da Huang returned with the human-eared fox, which he had already bitten to death.

Ding Hao, with a thought, put Da Huang back into the space, took out Mao Changhai's knife, and cut off the human ear.

Song Que, who had seen many things, said, "This is a beast sacrifice technique, which can also be considered a demonic spell from a certain perspective. After the beast is refined, it grows a human ear, merging human and beast, which goes against the will of heaven and cannot enter the realm of heaven."

Ding Hao threw the human ear into the oil pool of the lamp and asked, "How long will it take to refine?"

Song Que asked, "How fast do you want it?"

"The faster, the better!"

"Then, young master, grind an essence stone into powder and sprinkle it in the oil pool."

The human ear was soaking in a blood-red liquid. As the essence stone powder was sprinkled in, it was clearly visible that the human ear began to turn black and rot...

While Ding Hao was doing this, Dugu was becoming increasingly anxious.

"Bad, where did Little Fox go? Little Fox!"

The human-eared fox is a demonic creature. Those who raise demons not only have to feed and care for them but also build a deep emotional bond! The deeper the emotional investment, the more willing the demon is to help. Otherwise, in a battle, the demon would run away before the fight even started, leaving the owner to die.

Each owner has a deep emotional bond with their demon. For those who raise demons, even their parents, spouses, or partners cannot compare to the bond with their demon. Others may betray, but the demon will not!

As Dugu was extremely anxious, a golden shadow suddenly walked past him nonchalantly. It was a grass dog, the lowest of the low, but Dugu's eyes lit up.

"Isn't this Ding Hao's dog?"

Dugu had seen it at the Ding family and heard about it from Ding Juncai, so he recognized it immediately!

"Follow it!" Dugu temporarily put aside the idea of finding the human-eared fox and chased after Da Huang.

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(End of the chapter)