Free Web NovelChapter 421: Chapter 408: A Transcendent Aura After Qi Refining
Everyone watched intently. The Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon’s movements were restricted, but it was far from exhausted.
The Purple Crystal on its forehead flickered erratically. Each breath stirred the air around it into a swirling vortex.
Wisps of hazy purple Qi surged from the crystal. It wasn’t used for a direct assault, but instead coiled around the flood dragon’s body like a living creature.
With Elder Huo providing live commentary, the students who had missed the details now noticed what the Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon was doing and understood its purpose.
It was continuously neutralizing and adapting to the pressure from the surrounding Array.
"It’s using its Innate Qi to ’dissipate’ the pressure, not ’brute-force’ it."
Gu Ming didn’t even need the system’s commentary to see what was happening.
’This Innate Qi possesses a natural Spiritual quality,’ Gu Ming thought. ’It’s using the Innate Qi to perceive the Array’s nodes and find a way to break it.’
With his understanding of Arrays, Gu Ming could already put himself in the creature’s shoes, imagining how he would break Elder Huo’s Array Combat Techniques.
Sure enough, as the purple Qi flowed, the Starlight Array laid down by the Star Compass Beast was faintly outlined.
The Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon adjusted its body accordingly, each twist bringing it closer to the gaps in the Array’s flow.
Although it couldn’t break free just yet, it displayed an agility that was in harmony with the Power of Heaven and Earth.
Elder Huo nodded. With a slight twitch of his finger, the Array shifted, and the pressure increased slightly.
The Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon let out an even more resounding roar.
The Purple Crystal on its forehead blazed with light. More Innate Qi surged out, forming a thin layer of purple mist around its body.
The mist and the Starlight Array ground against each other, corroding one another and emitting a faint SIZZLING sound. For a moment, they were locked in a stalemate.
At the same time, waves of air appeared around it.
These waves of cloud spun rapidly, resembling the inverted rose-like clouds overhead. They expanded continuously, violently pressing against the Small Circulation Trapping Array and causing its lines of light and shadow to flicker wildly.
The Array’s lines had been forced into view. Even with his limited knowledge, Gu Ming could now spot where some of the Array nodes were hidden.
"Using Five-star Talent to wield Innate Qi against Elder Huo’s Array... it almost found the core nodes..." a senior student muttered, his eyes filled with excitement.
"So this is the wonder of using Innate Qi?"
Seeing this, Elder Huo knew his goal had been achieved. He gave a soft command:
"Retract!"
The Star Compass Beast responded, and the Array dissipated in an instant.
The Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon broke free, but its strength was completely drained. It couldn’t even move.
The purple Qi around it had dimmed, and it had no fight left in it.
Furthermore, Elder Huo’s Star Compass Beast wasn’t hiding its Star Level, directly suppressing the other beast with its sheer presence.
It didn’t even dare to glare at them. It could only whimper, not daring to linger, and turned to head for the woods behind it.
It limped away, retreating at an extremely slow pace.
「A quarter of an hour later.」
It was enveloped by the thick fog and vanished from sight.
Above the valley, the torrential rain continued to roar.
Everyone felt a sense of regret.
They had finally encountered a Pet Beast that could control the weather, only for it to be driven away.
Some wanted to give chase, but since Elder Huo didn’t move, they couldn’t act on their own. They all turned to look at Gu Ming.
Gu Ming was the research group’s leader. The project had started because of him, so it was his decision whether to stay or go.
At that moment, however, Gu Ming was fully engrossed in reviewing the Breathing Technique with Cyan Treasure.
The scene they had just witnessed had given Cyan Treasure a huge leap in its understanding of how the Breathing Technique absorbs Innate Qi.
From Gu Ming’s system’s perspective, the simulation of the battle was far more intense than reality.
An Eight-star versus a Six-star. The Six-star Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon, holding the home-field advantage, unleashed a single drop of Innate Qi and instantly transformed into a giant storm cloud.
In reality, the Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon had been firmly bound by Elder Huo’s Small Circulation Trapping Array, unable to fight back.
But from the system’s perspective, it had used its Six-star body to mobilize a ball of Innate Qi, fully manifesting the weather storm from above inside the Array!
In almost an instant, a rapidly expanding storm cloud erupted within the trapping Array.
The highly concentrated rain cloud expanded violently within the tiny Space, generating a terrifying impact force.
The Small Circulation Trapping Array wasn’t completely sealed; it trapped enemies using a pressure field of Array Dao constructed from Array Patterns.
The torrential storm cloud found a gap and drilled through, forcefully tearing open a fissure from the inside.
The Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon used this opportunity to make a lucky Escape, fleeing into the distance.
Elder Huo didn’t pursue it. His intention was to let the students observe how a local High Tier Pet Beast uses Innate Qi in battle.
Secondly, he also wanted Gu Ming to experience the huge advantage of fighting on one’s home turf.
It was familiar with the environment here, allowing it to summon its strongest combat abilities at the lowest cost—abilities that could even transcend its Star Level.
The Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon possessed such abilities. It was no ordinary Spirit Beast, but one that had gained sentience and had extremely strong Cultivation Talent.
The huge gap between reality and the system’s simulation formed a stark contrast in Gu Ming’s mind.
As he carefully savored the differences between the two, he had a sudden realization.
This rare experience of "failure" could actually help Cyan Treasure gain a deeper understanding of how to use Innate Qi.
Failure is the mother of success, after all. With the system’s memory remaining in his mind, Gu Ming made a mental note to distinguish between the two versions and savor the details.
Meanwhile, the image of the purple Qi coiling around the flood dragon, using softness to overcome hardness, was deeply etched into everyone’s minds.
If they could subdue it, it would surely be a huge help.
But on the other hand, it had already grown to such a high Star Level.
Trying to tame it, or even befriend it and become partners, was a near-impossible task.
Only a Child of Fortune, or a Beastmaster skilled in communicating with wild Spirit Beasts, would have a chance of making it their Pet Beast.
Generally speaking, such encounters began with a battle and ended with a battle.
"Group Leader Gu Ming, should we go after it?"
"No need."
"My Cyan Treasure has already grasped the breathing rhythm for Innate Qi. If any of you don’t understand something, you can discuss it with me. We can all progress together."
"We came here to discuss the Dao."
Gu Ming said with a wave of his hand, leading everyone forward to the small pool where the Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon had just been.
Gu Ming’s words were so full of confidence that the students still struggling with the Entry Level methods, unable to find a shred of inspiration, were left dumbfounded.
Behind him, however, Lu You wasn’t surprised.
After all, every night, she held Gu Ming’s hand as they entered Dream Realm Cultivation together.
She knew better than anyone about the Cultivation progress of Cyan Treasure and the others.
In fact, it wasn’t just Cyan Treasure who had reached that threshold.
Her Mouse Treasure and Mianmian could also draw the free-floating Innate Qi from the air into their bodies.
It was just that their Refinement techniques and Skill Level were far from being as natural and practiced as Cyan Treasure’s.
On second thought, it was simple. Cyan Treasure’s Breathing Technique had already reached the Perfection Realm, so it was only normal for it to master this method a step ahead of everyone else.
Gu Ming sat by the pool and had Cyan Treasure stand on the green stone where the Thunder Marsh Flood Dragon had been coiled. It mimicked the flood dragon’s breathing posture, tilting its head toward the sky.
In an instant, the wind surged and clouds gathered, as if stirring up monstrous waves.
Its seemingly small, delicate mouth opened and, like a heaven-devouring behemoth, sucked all the clouds from the sky into its maw.
Then, with a gentle exhale, an endless fog rushed out from between its fangs, transforming into a vast sea of clouds that shrouded the small pool in mist and filled the area with a mysterious aura.
In that single inhale and exhale, Innate Qi had already flowed into its body, coiling around its two Pet Beast Inner Cores. Its aura was thick and powerful, yet pure and natural.
Cyan Treasure’s entire disposition changed along with it.
In the eyes of the senior students, although it was still a Little Cyan Snake, it was clearly no ordinary creature.
They believed that even a hurried glance from a kilometer away would be enough to brand a clear and profound impression in their minds.
This kind of intense "presence" was something they had only ever seen from the Pet Beasts of genius students.
This... was just ridiculous.
