You don’t know until you look, but upon inspection, all of Ye Qiu’s excitement instantly vanished.
At his dantian, besides the original six strands of innate true qi, there were now two additional strands.
These two strands were merely faint shadows. Ye Qiu still needed to overcome the heavenly tribulation for them to fully form.
“How could this be?”
“Didn’t they say that eating the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus would make you a cultivator?”
“Why did I only gain two extra strands of innate true qi?”
Ye Qiu was bewildered.
He had been full of anticipation, but who would have thought this would be the result?
What a scam!
“Little brat, how’s it going?” Longbrow True Man leaned in, asking enviously, “Have you become a cultivator?”
Ye Qiu shook his head, “This Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus only gave me two more strands of innate true qi.”
What?
Longbrow True Man was furious, pointing at Ye Qiu and scolding, “You little bastard, what a waste of treasure.”
“The Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus is rare, seen once in a millennium, with astonishing effects. If I had taken it, I’d definitely have become a cultivator.”
“It’s all your fault!”
Ye Qiu said, “Old man, maybe you overestimated the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus. It’s not as powerful as you think.”
“Nonsense!” Longbrow True Man retorted, “Anyone who has cultivated nine strands of acquired true qi and takes the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus will definitely become a cultivator.”
“As for you, the reason you didn’t become a cultivator probably has to do with your constitution.”
“Since ancient times, only those with a special constitution could cultivate innate true qi.”
“The greatest effect of the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus is to make up for deficiencies in constitution, allowing it to transform.”
“Damn it, a millennium-rare Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus, wasted like this. I really want to kill you.”
Ye Qiu felt that Longbrow True Man’s words made some sense.
When he was refining the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus, he clearly felt his flesh and bones undergoing a transformation.
According to Longbrow True Man, the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus has a greater effect on those who cultivate acquired true qi. For someone with a special constitution like Ye Qiu, its effect was minimal, which is why he didn’t become a cultivator.
“I finally found a Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus, and you wasted it like this. It’s infuriating!” Longbrow True Man cursed angrily.
“Old man, you say my constitution is special. So tell me, what kind of constitution do I have?”
Ye Qiu also felt that after cultivating the Nine-Turn Dragon Art, his constitution seemed different from others.
Firstly, others cultivated acquired true qi, while he cultivated innate true qi.
Secondly, others’ blood was red, but his was golden.
Moreover, after consuming the Nine-Leaf Golden Lotus, even his bones had turned a faint gold.
Lastly, his luck seemed pretty good; every time he faced danger, he managed to turn peril into safety.
“Want to know? I can tell you, but you’ve got to give me something in return,” Longbrow True Man said with a sly grin.
“For something like this, you still want to extort me? Shameless, hmph,” Ye Qiu snorted coldly.
Longbrow True Man laughed heartily, “Little brat, don’t get mad. Actually, you’re a child of fortune.”
“Utter nonsense,” Ye Qiu didn’t believe it at all and stood up from the ground.
“Boss, are we heading back?” Xiao Zhan asked.
“Yeah,” Ye Qiu nodded slightly, asking Longbrow True Man, “If you still want to kill that monster, I can wait for you.”
“Forget it,” Longbrow True Man said, “All creatures in the world have their own fate. Killing them all goes against the harmony of heaven. Let it be.”
With that, the three prepared to leave the cave.
Just as they turned, a loud “boom” echoed, and a massive wave surged from the pool.
Immediately after, the monster rushed out of the water, lunging at Longbrow True Man.
“I was going to let you go, yet you dare trouble me. It seems your fate is sealed.”
Longbrow True Man was about to charge forward to kill the monster when Ye Qiu flashed in front of him.
“I’ll handle it!”
With that, Ye Qiu threw a punch at the monster’s head.
Splat!
Blood sprayed everywhere.
The monster’s head was smashed by Ye Qiu’s punch, its brains splattering. It didn’t even have time to scream before it was completely dead.
“Holy crap!”
Longbrow True Man was stunned.
He had fought this monster for a long time and knew its strength well, especially its body, which was impervious to blades and spears, incredibly tough.
It had taken him great effort to even injure the monster.
But he never expected Ye Qiu to kill it with a single punch.
“Little brat, are you sure you’re not a cultivator?” Longbrow True Man was skeptical.
He had a strong feeling that if Ye Qiu’s punch had landed on him, he’d be dead too.
“If I were a cultivator, I could’ve killed it with one finger.”
Ye Qiu was also a bit surprised, as he hadn’t used his full strength in that punch.
“I wonder what level my combat power has reached now. Can I kill a cultivator across realms?”
Ye Qiu really wanted to find a cultivator to test his strength.
Unfortunately, since Ye Wushuang left, he hadn’t encountered another cultivator.
His gaze fell on the monster’s corpse, and he said, “This monster’s body is so tough, its skin is valuable.”
With that, Ye Qiu drew his Emperor Sword and began skinning the monster.
It took him over ten minutes to peel off the monster’s skin and store it in his Qiankun bag.
Then his eyes landed on the monster’s four claws.
These claws were extremely sharp.
“They’re not bad either. They can be made into hidden weapons,” Ye Qiu said, using the Emperor Sword to cut off the four claws.
Afterward, Ye Qiu stared at the monster’s corpse and said, “Old man, are you hungry?”
Longbrow True Man immediately understood what Ye Qiu meant and nodded, “Hungry.”
Ye Qiu sighed, “It’s a pity we have the meat but no firewood to grill it.”
Longbrow True Man grinned, “That’s no problem. I have fire talismans.”
With that, he pulled out a large stack of fire talismans from his robe sleeve, at least a hundred of them.
Ye Qiu sliced open the monster’s abdomen with his sword.
Generally, the meat from an animal’s abdomen is the tenderest and tastes the best.
Suddenly, an inner core appeared.
This core was green and shiny, like an emerald, about the size of a goose egg.
“A treasure!”
Longbrow True Man’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, “Little brat, I want this core. Don’t fight me for it.”
Whoosh—
Longbrow True Man rushed forward, grabbed the core, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it in a few bites.
“Old man, aren’t you afraid it’s poisonous?” Ye Qiu asked.
“Little brat, do you want a bite? Should I spit it out for you?”
Disgusting!
Ye Qiu looked repulsed.
“Senior, how does it taste?” Xiao Zhan asked curiously.
“It tastes pretty good…” Before Longbrow True Man could finish, he collapsed with a “thud,” foaming at the mouth.
