Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

Tang Ming, that idiot, deserved no death. Liu Xing now faced a formidable foe alone. He quickly analyzed the strengths of both sides and formulated a battle strategy. First, he had been consciously conserving his mana, leaving him with perhaps 70% to 80%. The spider, having killed three people in a row and sustained significant injuries, had lost a significant amount of mana, estimating it would have 40% to 50%. Therefore, he had a slight advantage in mana. Second, the spider was bleeding profusely from the sword wound in its abdomen. One of its eight legs had been blown off, and in the moment it lost consciousness, he had chopped off another, leaving it with only six legs, significantly impacting its mobility. Third, the giant spider's intelligence was undeveloped, its IQ clearly lacking. Currently, it was operating on instinct, focused on a quick kill, oblivious to conserving its mana, which was rapidly depleting. Liu Xing quickly deliberated and formulated a plan to defeat the giant spider: exhaust it. While he possessed a talisman, with some tricks that could kill the spider with a single blow, he preferred not to use this powerful weapon unless necessary, reserving it for future survival.

The spider let out a low, buzzing growl, glaring at the villain who had hurt it most, its teeth gnashing with hatred. It continued its charge at Liu Xing, sensing the caterpillar's inferior level and having been wounded in several places. Its rage intensified, vowing to tear Liu Xing to pieces and suck him dry. Unleashing its full might, it unleashed a barrage of blade energy, venom, and spider silk upon Liu Xing. Liu Xing remained unfazed. The more frantic the spider became, the more it fell into his trap, and the faster its demise would come. He wielded his Yunluo umbrella in one hand and his Bibo sword in the other, engaging the giant spider in a battle across the hall. The room was neither too large nor too small, perfectly suited for maneuvering. He employed his mortal martial arts skills to the utmost, dodging the spider's pursuit and using the Yunluo umbrella to block any attacks he could. The spider, severely wounded, moved more and more slowly, its strength gradually failing. Several times he wanted to stop to stop the bleeding, heal his wounds and take a breath, but he would immediately be attacked by Liu Xing's Bi Bo Sword. From time to time, he would be bombarded with a hundred or so talismans, which were impossible to defend against and extremely annoying. Therefore, he had no chance to breathe and could only hold on to the end.

An hour passed, and Liu Xing's mana had been largely depleted, leaving him exhausted. The giant spider, however, was even weaker, its mana dwindling. Seeing it hadn't been able to defeat Liu Xing for so long, it grew even more furious, roaring non-stop. Liu Xing ignored it, patiently battling the foolish creature. Finally, the giant spider's energy was exhausted, and its massive body crashed down, sending up a cloud of dust. Its mana drained, it expired.

Liu Xing was sweating profusely, panting, and his mana was running low. He was truly exhausted. He quickly sat down cross-legged, took out his spirit stones, and absorbed a single one in each hand. After a day and a night, his spiritual power was fully restored, and he finally felt relieved. This cave was truly a blessed place. If possible, he really wanted to cultivate here for three months and break through to the twelfth level of mana. However, he didn't know if Tang Ming had any backup plans, so it wasn't safe to stay here. He had to evacuate as soon as possible.

He first went to the stone bed and bowed to the skull. He then removed his storage bag and casually threw out a fire talisman, burning the skull to ashes. From then on, Taoist Chongxu, a master of his generation, was reduced to ashes and passed into the dust of history.

He eagerly opened Taoist Chongxu's storage bag and emptied the contents. Sure enough, the assault boat he'd coveted was there. He eagerly grabbed it, examining it over and over. The boat was pitch black, about a foot long, seamlessly integrated, and emanating a rich spiritual energy. Liu Xing toyed with it, unable to let it go. He poured spiritual energy into the boat and began refining it. An hour later, the refining was complete. The assault boat was a top-grade magical instrument, adaptable to various sizes, capable of carrying three or four people. Its long, narrow form was incredibly fast, five or six times faster than his previous soaring flight. Even a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't catch up with it at full power. The key was its mana-saving nature: it could be recharged with spirit stones for autonomous flight, leaving the owner solely to control the direction. With the assault boat, traveling or escaping was much faster, and Liu Xing was incredibly satisfied. This adventure was well worth the effort.

Next, he examined the other items. The wealth of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was truly remarkable. He possessed tens of thousands of spirit stones, three top-grade magical instruments, and dozens of upper- and mid-grade instruments. He had truly made a fortune. Liu Xing was overjoyed. These resources were more than enough to support him in his cultivation to the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage. The remaining items were manuals on cultivation techniques, which Liu Xing valued highly, putting away for a closer examination later. He discovered a relatively complete manual, the "Chongxu Fa Jue," capable of being practiced from the Foundation Establishment stage to the late Core Formation stage. He finally understood the origin of the Taoist Master Chongxu's name. Another notebook caught his attention, revealing text similar to the ancient text of the "Turtle Breathing Technique" he had previously exchanged from the impoverished scholar. Upon closer inspection, he immediately recognized the same script and was overjoyed. It seemed that Taoist Master Chongxu had also studied this ancient text. Truly a rare find, effortlessly unearthed. He had been struggling to find information on ancient texts, and now, having found it here, he was pleasantly surprised. He couldn't help but want to study it now, but in the end he reluctantly put it down, quickly packed up and evacuated as soon as possible.

So, he collected the storage bags of Tang Ming and the others and examined them. With the legacy of Taoist Chongxu in front of him, the belongings of the Qi Refining Stage cultivators were indeed countless times inferior. They only had a few high-grade magic tools and a dozen mid-grade magic tools, a few books on the basic Five Elements exercises, and about a thousand spirit stones, most of which Tang Ming had taken. "They are really poor," Liu Xing muttered in disdain. He naturally knew how difficult it was for independent cultivators to practice, and every penny was hard-earned. These people were already the best among independent cultivators. No wonder these people rushed forward without a care in the world when they saw Taoist Chongxu's storage bag. They were afraid of poverty. Liu Xing was like a full man who didn't know the hunger of the hungry. He didn't have high hopes for their belongings in the first place. He collected their things and reduced their bodies to ash with a few fire talismans.

He now looked at the Black Blood Spider's corpse. It was a true Level 2 demon beast, its body brimming with treasures. He decided to visit the weapon refinery at the next market and refine it into a magical weapon suitable for him. With a wave of his hand, he tucked the entire spider corpse into his storage bag.

He inspected the cave again, front and back, finding nothing missing. He then used his magical powers to sweep the ashes out of the cave, erasing any traces of the struggle. He then exited the cave, grabbed a large rock, and blocked the entrance, camouflaging it with vegetation. A passerby wouldn't be able to detect the cave without careful observation. He then summoned his assault boat and flew towards the next market town.