Chapter 104: Living on a Shoestring

Although he had not yet fully refined the life force of the seventy demons, Qingxi’s current power was already astonishing. He hoisted the dragon horse onto his shoulders, and with a single stride, he could cover a distance of over ten meters.

Upon reaching his destination, Qingxi found himself in a desolate valley—so barren that not a single plant imbued with spiritual energy grew there. It was, in fact, more desolate than the era of the decline of magic.

Yet, at the valley’s concealed center, he discovered an entrance to an underground cave, from which emanated a powerful aura—one comparable to that of a mid-stage innate cultivator.

Following the guidance of the ultimate technique "Boundless Heaven and Earth, Ten Thousand Miles Pursuit," Qingxi knew that a solitary demon was lurking below.

To be cautious, he summoned the Wordless Heavenly Book and enveloped the sleeping dragon horse and the little golden ape in several layers of protective shields before leaping into the cave.

Inside the passage, the air was intensely hot and heavy with moisture, as if he were immersed in a steam bath. After turning this way and that, he finally neared the bottom and faintly heard the clinking sounds of digging, as though someone were excavating earth and stone.

Qingxi kept the scanning function active and, after a few more steps, detected a demon within the scanning radius.

It resembled the demon Ibushita, with its left hand transformed into a shovel-like shape and its right hand a spade, busily digging while shoveling earth into its mouth with evident delight.

“This passage looks quite new—could it be that he dug it himself?” Qingxi was stunned.

Back in Wufu City, had he not possessed the ultimate technique "Earth Escape," he too would have had to dig through the surface, following the demon’s method, to reach the terrestrial vein’s location.

Reflecting on this, Qingxi suspected the demon must have discovered something important. However, within a fifty-meter radius, he found no treasures.

He sat down quietly, waiting patiently for the demon to continue digging, intending to ambush it unawares.

Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, chiding himself for having the "Earth Escape" technique yet merely waiting idly.

He swiftly activated his skill; a strange energy enveloped his entire body, also wrapping the little golden ape and dragon horse. With a whoosh, they merged into the earth.

The demon, busy digging and eating earth, suddenly paused, looked around in confusion, and, finding no one, resumed its enthusiastic excavation.

Qingxi continued sinking deeper—ten meters, twenty meters... until at one hundred and fifty meters, the temperature soared so high it could cook an egg.

He stopped, noticing beneath his feet a layer of dark red soil. The "Earth Escape" technique suddenly failed; he could no longer pass through. He then accessed its information.

[Type: Celestial-Terrestrial Treasure]

[Name: Fire Spirit Earth (Low Grade)]

[Note: This soil contains abundant fire spirits, useful for cultivating fire-elemental elixirs, forging or repairing spiritual artifacts. Tests indicate that extraterrestrial demons can strengthen themselves by consuming Fire Spirit Earth, facilitating their cultivation advancement.]

“Eating earth can make one stronger?” Qingxi was astonished.

Recalling the demon’s eager digging and eating, he chuckled softly.

Could it be that the demon sensed this underground region was rich with Fire Spirit Earth and thus was so desperate to dig?

Considering this, Qingxi felt fortunate to have encountered such a treasure.

After a brief scan, he found the layer of Fire Spirit Earth below was two meters thick, spreading like a carpet in all directions, with a substantial total volume.

“Pipi Zhu, do you think it’s better to keep the Fire Spirit Earth or convert it into its source essence?” With so much Fire Spirit Earth, extracting its essence might yield a hundred thousand units of fire-elemental source.

But since Fire Spirit Earth was a rare natural treasure, he felt it might be wasteful to do so.

“Ding! System analysis indicates a total volume of 135 cubic meters. If the host absorbs 100 cubic meters completely, they can condense the Fire Spirit Body. The remainder should be kept for emergencies.”

“Fire Spirit Body? What is that?” Qingxi was puzzled but immediately received the assistant’s reply.

“The Fire Spirit Body is a common spiritual body type. Cultivators with this spiritual body will have their fire-element techniques and martial skills amplified by 30%.”

“A 30% boost!” Qingxi had initially felt it insufficient, but reconsidering, he found it quite impressive.

His ultimate technique "Blazing Sun Arrow" was primarily fire-elemental; with this enhancement, its power would increase by thirty percent.

Though seemingly modest, combined with his inherent sevenfold true energy amplification plus an additional thirty percent, the total power enhancement would reach a staggering nine times.

This was equivalent to wielding a master-level ultimate technique.

“Excellent—I will condense the Fire Spirit Body!” Qingxi’s eyes gleamed with excitement. He first absorbed thirty-five cubic meters of Fire Spirit Earth into his system storage, freeing a large space below.

He placed the little golden ape and the dragon horse beside him, shielding them with the Wordless Heavenly Book, then began absorbing the power within the Fire Spirit Earth with the system’s aid.

After his spiritual root ascended to the profound grade, his absorption speed accelerated greatly.

Around him, strands of fire elemental essence swirled like eddies, converging toward his body.

This essence not only contained fire-elemental source but also trace elements integral to forming the Fire Spirit Body.

Though he felt unbearably scorching, after a while, Qingxi found a comforting vitality coursing through him, an inexhaustible strength.

The little golden ape blinked its big eyes, curiously flipping open the Wordless Heavenly Book, studying the fiery totem on the first page with a hunger to devour it.

Meanwhile, the dragon horse snored loudly in a deep sleep.

The little golden ape pinched the dragon horse’s nose disdainfully, causing it to open its mouth wide and breathe through it, producing even louder snoring.

Qingxi had no time to entertain these two lively companions; he focused on absorbing the surrounding fire elemental essence.

The demon above, busily eating earth, suddenly sensed the Fire Spirit Earth’s aura below had diminished significantly and was alarmed, hastening its excavation.

Soon, the demon broke through the surface and beheld a sight it had not anticipated.

There sat a youth, cross-legged within the Fire Spirit Earth, absorbing the surrounding power frantically. The once dark red glowing soil had turned black-grey, utterly devoid of spiritual energy.

“No!” the demon shouted, clutching its head in rage.

It had spent great effort locating this place and had laboriously eaten the earth for half a day, only to discover its long-anticipated treasure had been snatched first.

“Return my earth!” the demon roared, swinging its arms to strike at Qingxi.

The little golden ape was startled and prepared to counterattack, but Qingxi suddenly opened his eyes, which instantly turned a fiery red as if ablaze with golden flames.

“Oh, isn’t this the earth-eating demon?” Qingxi smiled calmly as the demon lunged toward him. With a wave of his hand, the Wordless Heavenly Book appeared instantly.

Bang!

The demon’s strength was considerable but no match for the hardened Wordless Heavenly Book, which shattered upon impact.

A soil-colored light burst forth from the demon’s body, merging into the second page of the book, forming a dog-nose pattern.

“This is simply... wasting one of my pages!” Qingxi mused, longing to tear the page out, but suddenly received a system notification that left him utterly stunned.