In the end times, many children bring more blessings. I pick up a goddess every day.

Deep in the mountains outside Qingyang City, towering ancient trees blocked out the sun, and a faint spiritual energy of vegetation permeated the air. Although far less refined than that of the Yin-Yang Secret Realm, it was naturally gentle, making it ideal for stabilizing cultivation... Liu Yang found a sheltered cave, condensed a wisp of Yin-Yang spiritual energy at his fingertips, and with a wave of his hand, cleared away the vines and pebbles at the cave entrance. He then set up a simple concealment barrier on the cave wall—this barrier, while unable to withstand Golden Core cultivators, could prevent outside prying eyes, enough for Su Qingyao to break through with peace of mind...

............

"It's safe here. You can cultivate in seclusion here for now. I'll go explore the surrounding area and collect some spiritual herbs to refine pills to aid your breakthrough..." Liu Yang handed a communication jade talisman to Su Qingyao. "If anything unusual happens, crush the talisman immediately, and I'll rush back..."

Su Qingyao took the jade talisman, carefully tied it to her wrist, and nodded, saying, "Don't worry, Master, I will focus on my breakthrough and won't leave without permission..." With that, she sat cross-legged in the center of the cave, took out the Heart-Protecting Pill and a high-grade spirit stone that Liu Yang had given her earlier, and began to adjust her breathing, preparing to break through to the late Foundation Establishment stage...

Seeing this, Liu Yang turned and walked out of the cave, his figure quickly disappearing into the dense forest... He didn't go far, but instead enveloped himself in Yin-Yang spiritual energy, searching within a ten-mile radius of the cave—although this forest seemed peaceful, the cultivation world was never short of those who coveted others' opportunities, especially since he had just broken through to the Golden Core stage, and Su Qingyao was at a crucial stage of her breakthrough; he had to ensure everything went smoothly...

During his exploration, Liu Yang's gaze suddenly fell upon a patch of damp bushes ahead—where several spiritual herbs with bluish-green leaves, their edges shimmering with a faint spiritual light, grew. These were the "Azure Leaf Grass," the main ingredient for refining the "Azure Essence Pill"... The Azure Essence Pill could stabilize the spiritual energy fluctuations during a breakthrough, greatly benefiting Su Qingyao's attempt to reach the late Foundation Establishment stage... He quickly stepped forward, his fingertips lightly swirling with spiritual energy, carefully digging up the Azure Leaf Grass by the roots and storing it in his specially made spiritual herb storage bag...

Just as they finished collecting the Green Leaf Grass, a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy suddenly came from afar, accompanied by the voices of two cultivators talking, vaguely approaching the direction of the cave...

"Are you sure that ice-type spiritual energy is around here? The fluctuations we detected earlier were very clear, why did they suddenly weaken?" A rough, hoarse male voice rang out, tinged with impatience...

"Brother, don't rush. That ice-type spiritual energy is pure and gentle, unlike the aura of a wild demon beast. It seems more like the cultivation of a Foundation Establishment cultivator... Let's search further ahead. Perhaps the other party is in seclusion in these mountains. If we can intercept his storage bag, we might have an unexpected reward..." another shrill voice chimed in, its tone full of greed...

Liu Yang's eyes instantly turned cold... Both of them were at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and although they were no match for him, Su Qingyao was currently in a critical period of breakthrough and absolutely could not be disturbed... He did not rashly reveal himself, but instead circulated his Yin-Yang spiritual power to completely conceal his aura, silently circling around to the large tree behind them, waiting to observe the situation...

Soon, two figures appeared on the forest path—on the left was a burly man, wielding a broadsword and with a bulging storage bag hanging from his waist; on the right was a tall, thin man with a cunning smile on his face, holding a "spirit-finding disc" used to detect spiritual energy. The pointer on the disc was swaying slightly, deflecting towards the cave...

"Look, the Spirit-Seeking Compass is reacting! It's not far ahead!" The tall, thin man's eyes lit up, and he quickened his pace. "Let's hurry, before that cultivator notices. Once he reacts, we'll trap him with the Spirit-Binding Net. Then what's his will be ours!"

The burly man grinned, rubbing his hands together, and said, "Good! If the other party were a female cultivator, we could still..." Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck, and an indescribable pressure instantly enveloped his entire body, rendering him unable to move even a finger...

The tall, thin man also sensed something amiss. Just as he was about to turn around, he saw a pale golden spiritual energy descend from above, binding his limbs like invisible chains... He looked up and saw a young man in a blue robe standing on a tree branch, his eyes coldly fixed on them. Although the spiritual energy surrounding him wasn't outwardly released, it instilled a deep-seated fear in the young man...

"A...a Golden Core cultivator?!" The tall, thin man's voice trembled. He could clearly sense that the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the young man far surpassed those of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Only a legendary Golden Core cultivator could possess such terrifying pressure...

Liu Yang leaped down from the tree and slowly walked up to the two men. His gaze fell on the spirit-finding disc in the tall, thin man's hand, and he said coldly, "What are you looking for?"

The tall, thin man dared not hide anything any longer and hurriedly cried out, "Senior...Senior, spare our lives! We were just passing by and saw some spiritual energy fluctuations, so we wanted to take a look. We had no other intentions! Please, Senior, have mercy and spare our lives!"

The burly man was terrified and immediately kowtowed, saying, "Senior, spare our lives! We'll never dare to do it again! We'll never wander around these mountains again!"

Liu Yang looked at the two men's terrified expressions, his eyes remaining completely unmoved... He hadn't wanted to commit further killings, but these two harbored malicious intentions. If he let them go today, they might harass other cultivators in the future... More importantly, they had already detected Su Qingyao's spiritual energy fluctuations; if he didn't eliminate them completely, they would always be a hidden danger...

"Considering you haven't harmed anyone else, I won't kill you..." Liu Yang's voice remained icy. Two pale golden streams of spiritual energy condensed at his fingertips, piercing into the dantian of each of them. "But your cultivation levels are only a threat if left unchecked. Today, I'll destroy your dantian and make you ordinary people from now on..."

Two screams instantly echoed through the forest... The burly man and the tall, thin man felt a sharp pain in their dantian, their spiritual energy dissipating like a flood, their cultivation instantly plummeting from the mid-Foundation Establishment stage to the mortal realm... They collapsed to the ground, their faces filled with despair, yet they didn't even have the courage to harbor resentment—facing a Golden Core cultivator, they didn't even have the right to resist...

Liu Yang didn't glance at them again, turning and walking towards the cave... After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned back to look at the two slumped on the ground, and said coldly, "Get out of this forest. If I see you here again, or if you reveal what happened today, you'll face the consequences..."

As if granted a pardon, the two scrambled and stumbled towards the edge of the forest, forgetting even to take their storage bags...

When Liu Yang returned to the cave, the restrictions at the entrance were still intact, and a steady flow of spiritual energy emanated from within—Su Qingyao's breakthrough had reached a crucial moment... He didn't disturb her, but instead sat cross-legged not far from the cave entrance, took out the green leaf grass he had collected earlier, and then took out several auxiliary medicinal herbs from his storage bag, beginning to refine the Azure Origin Pill...

The Yin-Yang spiritual energy flowed into the alchemy furnace through his fingertips, perfectly fusing the power of flame and ice within, slowly extracting the spiritual energy from the medicinal herbs... In the past, when refining pills, he had to carefully control the heat, but now, having broken through to the Golden Core stage, his control over spiritual energy was much more precise. Before long, a faint medicinal fragrance wafted from the furnace, and three perfectly round Azure Origin Pills were successfully formed...

The instant the Azure Origin Pill was completed, a powerful surge of ice-type spiritual energy erupted within the cave, only to quickly stabilize... Liu Yang was overjoyed and strode into the cave—he saw Su Qingyao slowly open her eyes, her gaze gleaming with bright spiritual light. The spiritual energy emanating from her was several times stronger than before, clearly indicating that she had successfully broken through to the late Foundation Establishment stage...

"Master! I've broken through!" Su Qingyao stood up, her voice filled with excitement. She could clearly feel that the ice-type spiritual power within her body was not only more abundant, but her control over it was also much stronger than before. She could even condense multiple layers of ice shields in an instant...

Liu Yang smiled and nodded, handing her a Qingyuan Pill: "You've just broken through, take this Qingyuan Pill first to stabilize your cultivation and avoid leaving any hidden dangers..."

Su Qingyao took the Qingyuan Pill, swallowed it, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate her spiritual energy to refine the pill... After a moment, she opened her eyes, her smile even brighter: "The pill is so effective! My cultivation is now completely stable, and I'm not even far from the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage!"

"That's good..." Liu Yang breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned, recalling the two cultivators he had encountered earlier. "We just met two mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators in the mountains. They detected your spiritual energy fluctuations with their Spirit-Searching Discs, intending to steal your opportunity. I've already destroyed their dantian and made them leave... However, this also shows that the area around Qingyang City isn't peaceful. We need to be even more careful from now on..."

Su Qingyao's expression also turned serious: "Could it be someone sent by a family from Qingyang City? After all, we caused quite a stir at the Zhao family before, maybe someone is looking for us..."

Liu Yang pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's possible... However, our strength is much greater than before, so even if we encounter trouble, we're capable of handling it... Once you've fully stabilized your cultivation, we'll first go to the outskirts of Qingyang City to scout out the situation, see what the Zhao family's current state is, and whether anyone is specifically looking for us..."

Su Qingyao nodded in agreement, then remembered something and took out an ice-blue jade pendant from her storage bag, handing it to Liu Yang: "Master, after I broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, the power of this 'Ice Spirit Pendant' has also increased considerably. It can now release three layers of ice shields. Wearing it will give you an extra layer of protection..."

Liu Yang accepted the Ice Spirit Pendant. It was icy cold to the touch, and he could feel the pure ice-elemental spiritual energy it contained… He fastened the pendant to his waist and said with a smile, “Alright, I’ll accept it… Once we’ve investigated Qingyang City and it’s safe, we’ll find a suitable place to cultivate for a while. Your cultivation will improve rapidly; perhaps it won’t be long before you catch up with me…”

Su Qingyao's cheeks flushed slightly, and she nodded gently: "I will work hard in my cultivation and will never hold Master back..."

After resting for a while, Liu Yang removed the restriction on the cave entrance and led Su Qingyao towards Qingyang City... Just as they left the forest, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from afar, accompanied by shouts from cultivators, indicating that a large group of people was approaching the forest...

Liu Yang's eyes narrowed, and he pulled Su Qingyao behind a large tree, circulating his spiritual energy to conceal their presence... Soon, a group of cultivators dressed in black riding attire arrived on horseback. Leading them was a middle-aged man with a gloomy expression, his cultivation at the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage. A token engraved with the character "Li" hung at his waist—he was a cultivator from the Li family, one of the four great families of Qingyang City...

"Search thoroughly! We just received word that someone detected ice-type spiritual energy fluctuations in these mountains. It might be the female cultivator who escaped from the Zhao family! Finding her will lead us to the boy with the Ice Thunder Token, and then our Li family can obtain it and take over the Zhao family's position!" The middle-aged man shouted coldly, waving his hand to order the cultivators behind him to disperse and begin searching the mountains...

Liu Yang and Su Qingyao hid behind a tree, their expressions turning serious... They hadn't expected the Li family to be specifically searching for them, and with such a clear target—the Ice Thunder Token...

"Master, what should we do? There are so many of them, and the leader is already at the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage..." Su Qingyao lowered her voice, her tone filled with worry...

A cold glint flashed in Liu Yang's eyes as he slowly said, "Don't panic. They're just searching right now; they haven't found us yet... Let's quietly leave here, circle around to the other side of Qingyang City, and scout out the situation from the outside. Let's see how many people the Li family has mobilized, and what the other families' attitudes are... If only the Li family is looking for us, with our current strength, we might be able to handle it..."

Su Qingyao nodded and followed Liu Yang, silently heading towards the other side of the forest... The two figures quickly disappeared into the dense forest, while the Li family cultivators continued their thorough search, completely unaware that the person they were looking for had slipped away right under their noses...

Undercurrents are beginning to stir in Qingyang City, and Liu Yang and Su Qingyao are about to be drawn into this conflict once again...