Looking at the middle-aged woman's lifeforce gradually fading away, Lu Qing's face remained expressionless.
From the moment he first saw the information about the middle-aged woman, he never intended to truly let her go.
The reason he didn't kill her immediately was simply because she still had some use.
The poison he had her ingest was real.
The poison was something Lu Qing had found on an assassin from the Seven Kill Tower; it was extremely deadly.
If she didn't take the antidote within the time limit, the middle-aged woman would indeed die a painful death.
However, considering that she had led the way for him, Lu Qing finally chose to let her die without pain.
After confirming her death with his abilities, Lu Qing left the secret chamber and exited the Zheng residence.
But before leaving, he did something else.
A quarter of an hour later, when Lu Qing stood atop a high tower, the Zheng residence was already in chaos.
Several columns of fire shot into the sky, the flames raging fiercely.
The places on fire were the warehouse Lu Qing had looted, the courtyard where the old lady of the Zheng family lived, and two other uninhabited courtyards.
Lu Qing did this to cover his tracks.
By the time the fire was extinguished, the warehouse and the old lady's courtyard would be reduced to ruins.
No one would know how much was burned and how much was stolen.
Watching the fire from the tower for a while, Lu Qing saw that it wouldn't go out anytime soon, and he left satisfied.
After all, the most valuable items had already been taken by him, so even if the entire Zheng residence burned down, he wouldn't feel any loss.
Moreover, the houses in the western part of the city were all inhabited by wealthy families.
Each house was independent and far apart from each other.
No matter how big the fire at the Zheng residence, it wouldn't affect other households.
So he left the state city without worry.
As he left the city, Lu Qing saw the scholarly old man and a large group of people rushing back from outside the city.
But no one noticed Lu Qing's presence.
Seeing the hurried expressions of the scholarly old man and his group heading towards the Zheng residence, Lu Qing felt a bit amused.
He wondered what their expressions would be when they discovered the Zheng family's treasure house had been destroyed by fire.
With a very cheerful mood, Lu Qing left the city and entered the forest, immediately activating the Earth Movement Talisman and using his technique to head towards Jiuli Village. Ȓ𝒶ɴＯBЕS
Walking and stopping intermittently, Lu Qing spent most of the day and finally returned to Jiuli Village.
However, he did not go home but went directly into the forest and arrived at the Yuhua Cave.
Everything in the Yuhua Cave was as it was. Lu Qing sat on the jade bed in the dark room and took out the Earth Spirit Pearl from his Spatial Qi Bag.
The reason he did not go home first was because of this earth-element treasure.
Even in the era of immortal cultivation, the Earth Spirit Pearl was considered a supreme treasure, its value comparable to high-grade spiritual artifacts with powerful capabilities.
This treasure, nurtured from the source of earth element, contained the purest earth power and had various incredible uses.
Once refined, it would bring unimaginable benefits to the cultivator.
"One of the benefits is that my already maxed-out aptitude can be improved further," Lu Qing's eyes shone with a glimmer of light.
According to the Li Huo Sect's inheritance records, the five original spirit pearls each had their own miraculous uses.
If one could refine any of them, they could use the power of the spirit pearl to cleanse their body and improve their aptitude.
Lu Qing had previously consumed Earth Vein Spirit Liquid, enhancing his cultivation aptitude to a certain limit.
Unless he found a more miraculous spirit item than Earth Vein Spirit Liquid, it was almost impossible to improve his cultivation aptitude further.
Coincidentally, the Earth Spirit Pearl was far more precious and miraculous than the Earth Vein Spirit Liquid.
"The old lady of the Zheng family had weak soul power and no inheritance, so she couldn't comprehend the profundity of the treasure and couldn't refine it. She could only keep it in her secret treasury as a collection."
"But I'm different. The Li Huo Sect, skilled in both alchemy and artifact refining, has many methods to refine spiritual items in its inheritance. I can use some of these divine refining techniques now."
After calming his emotions, Lu Qing composed himself, sat cross-legged, and held the Earth Spirit Pearl in his hands, ready to begin refining it.
The jade bed, nourished by the formation in the cave for countless years, was extremely sturdy.
It could bear the weight of the Earth Spirit Pearl.
Once his mind was completely calm, Lu Qing used a strand of soul power from his brow acupoint to wrap around the Earth Spirit Pearl.
The first sensation he felt upon touching the Earth Spirit Pearl with his soul power was its extreme heaviness.
When he previously retrieved the Earth Spirit Pearl, he relied on the power of his Spatial Qi Bag and didn't feel much.
But now, using only his soul power, he truly felt the might of this earth-element treasure.
His soul power was like an ant climbing a mountain, unable to move it at all, like an ant trying to shake a tree.
However, Lu Qing used his soul power not to move the pearl but to refine it.
Recalling the divine refining methods from the Li Huo Sect's inheritance, Lu Qing's soul power, wrapped around the Earth Spirit Pearl, suddenly became extremely gentle, like flowing water and mist, gently penetrating the pearl to leave his soul imprint inside.
Of course, as an earth-element supreme treasure, the Earth Spirit Pearl's interior wasn't easy to penetrate.
This was destined to be a painstaking task requiring patience and willpower.
Fortunately, Lu Qing had both.
Time passed bit by bit, and in the timeless Yuhua Cave, where it was always bathed in soft white light regardless of day or night, Lu Qing remained sitting cross-legged on the jade bed, unmoving.
His pale face showed that he was not entirely at ease.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Qing suddenly relaxed and opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.
"Finally, it's refined."
"Although it's only a preliminary refinement, I can barely control this Earth Spirit Pearl."
"Fortunately, the spiritual energy has not yet revived, and this Earth Spirit Pearl, after tens of thousands of years of spiritual energy depletion, has lost its spirit and greatly diminished in power. Otherwise, with my current cultivation, refining it would be impossible."
"Now, let me experience the legendary Earth Spirit Pearl and its wondrous properties."
With a thought, Lu Qing activated the soul seal he painstakingly left in the Earth Spirit Pearl.
The Earth Spirit Pearl suddenly shrank and turned into a stream of light, entering his brow acupoint.