Ming Qi told Mo Qingchen that the location was the Valley of Despair, not far from the Bikong Mountains. He would wait there and gave a time. If Meng Junyi and the others wanted to meet Ming Qi, they would arrive at the appointed time.
If they still hadn't arrived by the appointed time, Ming Qi would not wait any longer.
He had been extremely cautious throughout the entire journey. Now that Mo Qingchen had finally left, Ming Qi felt relieved and relieved.
On the way, he checked on Meng Ling and found that she was doing very well under the nourishment of the Calming Stone. She had recovered significantly, and the demonic energy within her body had been well suppressed, with no signs of restlessness.
Ming Qi had been very busy during this period, and Meng Ling had been in a deep sleep. Now, in the Valley of Despair, Ming Qi planned to absorb blood energy again and transfer it directly to Meng Ling, allowing her to quickly recover to the point where she could condense her body. Otherwise, Ming Qi would feel a little guilty about keeping her trapped in the ring.
Ming Qi finally had some free time to study the ancient spiritual mirror, another item he'd acquired at the Fengxian City auction.
According to the auction description, this strange mirror only served to calm the mind and nourish the soul. However, Ming Qi disagreed. The moment he touched the ancient spiritual mirror, he clearly felt the vibrations of the Supreme Diagram.
Any fluctuation in the Supreme Diagram would inevitably trigger the mysteries within. Now that he had some free time, he could calm down and carefully study the mirror.
Placing the ancient spiritual mirror before him, Ming Qi activated the Supreme Diagram.
A thick white mist spread, completely enveloping the ancient mirror. Ming Qi quickly channeled a strand of his consciousness into the Supreme Diagram, following the path of the Supreme Diagram's fluctuations to explore the mirror's secrets.
As soon as his consciousness made contact with the ancient spiritual mirror, Ming Qi was surprised to sense an ancient and vicissitudes of life transmitting to his mind.
"It's truly an antique!"
Sensing the age-old aura emanating from the ancient mirror, Ming Qi immediately concluded that it must be quite old.
Furthermore, Ming Qi could sense the slow fluctuations of spiritual energy within the mirror, clearly indicating it was also a magical weapon.
Generally speaking, magical weapons that have endured through ages possess some unique qualities, but Ming Qi hadn't immediately discovered the uniqueness of this ancient mirror.
His spiritual sense continuously penetrated the mirror. With the aid of the Supreme Diagram, Ming Qi had no difficulty mastering it. However, despite this, he still couldn't discern the mirror's inherent power.
"Is it simply its antiquity that attracted the Supreme Diagram's fluctuations?"
Ming Qi wondered. Normally, whenever the Supreme Diagram fluctuated, it would give him a similar sense of enlightenment, no matter the circumstances. But this time, he felt nothing.
"Could it be that even the Supreme Diagram sometimes misjudged things?"
After a long period of fruitless contemplation, Ming Qi even began to suspect that the Supreme Diagram had made a mistake.
At this moment, Ming Qi unexpectedly discovered that the white mist enveloping the Supreme Diagram began to dissipate, and the light on the Supreme Diagram dimmed.
"Hmm? What's going on?"
Watching the Supreme Diagram rapidly dim, Ming Qi became even more confused.
It wasn't until the Supreme Diagram, unable to even stabilize its form and about to merge back into Ming Qi's sea of consciousness, that he suddenly realized.
It was insufficient power!
Yes, the Supreme Diagram seemed unable to draw power on its own. Its only source of energy came from the Yuan Crystals Ming Qi had invested in it, and it had been so long since Ming Qi had last injected Yuan Crystals.
"So that's how it is!"
Having figured it out, Ming Qi unhesitatingly poured in handfuls of Yuan Crystals.
As countless Yuan Crystals were poured in, the Supreme Diagram once again shone brightly, and a thick white mist enveloped it.
Ming Qi didn't consider the Supreme Diagram's consumption of Yuan Crystals a waste. Although pouring in so many Yuan Crystals seemed extravagant and wasteful, only he knew how worthwhile this investment was.
The Supreme Diagram could bring him endless opportunities, even directly channeling profound cultivation techniques into his mind at the right moment. This was something no cultivator, even a Martial King, could possibly imagine.
Following the traces of the Supreme Diagram, Ming Qi's consciousness once again entered the Ancient Mirror. This time, he discovered that many things he hadn't sensed the first time emerged from within the mirror.
Gradually, he finally understood something.
The Ancient Mirror seemed to contain a very special power. Though not powerful, this power was strange and eerie, so strange that it was impossible to decipher its true nature.
Secondly, this ancient mirror seemed to contain a unique, independent space. Although this space didn't seem very large at the moment, seemingly about the same size as Ming Qi's ring, it was, like the energy within it, quite unique.
This space seemed to overlap!
Realizing this, Ming Qi's curiosity intensified. This ancient mirror was clearly no ordinary object; he was fortunate to have it in his hands. His only current difficulty was his inability to fully grasp its wonders.
If he couldn't fully grasp it, then he couldn't truly master it. Without full mastery of this treasure, there was no way he could use it. This was precisely Ming Qi's dilemma. Although he knew he had a treasure in his hands, he had no idea how to use it. This feeling was truly unpleasant.
Much of the day passed, and Ming Qi still had no clear idea. He had been distracted by his long hours of research and contemplation, and he was exhausted. His head felt a little swollen.
Knowing it wouldn't be accomplished overnight, Ming Qi decided to stop his relentless pursuit and rest to regain his strength before continuing his research and contemplation. After all, the agreed date was still quite far away, leaving plenty of time.
After putting away the Supreme Diagram and the Ancient Mirror and resting for the better part of an hour, Ming Qi stood up, Soul-Stealing Sword in hand, and strode towards the depths of the Valley of Despair.
The Valley of Despair had obviously been chosen to gather blood energy. Besides seizing the opportunity to improve his strength, Ming Qi was single-mindedly focused on how to fully restore Meng Ling.
Sword in hand, Ming Qi plunged into the mountains and began a frenzied hunt.
Swinging and sheathing his sword, each simple movement stirred up clouds of blood mist, gathering all the blood through blood control techniques and then transferring it all through the ring to Meng Ling's original form, the Human Blood Demon Harp.
If the painstaking contemplation and comprehension he had previously devoted to studying the Ancient Spiritual Mirror was a form of spiritual awareness and wisdom cultivation, then Ming Qi's current, almost frantic hunting was clearly a pure physical training.
He fought from zenith to dusk, only ceasing when his hand gripping the longsword began to tremble uncontrollably.
Leaning his longsword against the ground, a hint of coldness flashed in Ming Qi's eyes. Before him, a dark figure flashed swiftly through the shadows of the forest, then unexpectedly paused.
A pair of eyes, gleaming with a faint light like will-o'-the-wisp, peered towards Ming Qi through the dense forest.
Ming Qi was startled at first, then he detected a familiar aura.
Just as Ming Qi was wondering, a giant wolf emerged from the forest ahead, its body as black as ink, its maw and fangs threatening and intimidating.
"Dahei!"
Ming Qi immediately recognized the giant wolf. It was none other than the Dire Wolf, the demonic beast he had brought to the Biyou Sect!
He hadn't expected the Dire Wolf to escape here after the battle in Bikong City.
Hearing Ming Qi's call, Dahei finally confirmed the identity of the person in front of him and rushed over at a lightning speed.
Arriving beside Ming Qi, Dahei poked his head toward him affectionately. His fang-barred mouth opened, and he growled a few times. However, since he couldn't speak, he couldn't express his meaning.
Swish, swish, swish!
As Dahei appeared, a white figure appeared not far away. Immediately afterwards, Dabai also rushed over like a fly, pouncing on the Dire Wolf without hesitation.
Seeing Dabai's incredibly quick movements, Ming Qi immediately spoke to stop him.
"Dabai, don't move. It's my friend, just like you."
"Friend?"
Dabai stopped abruptly, tilting his head to look at the inky-black dire wolf in front of him.
"You're saying this dark creature is your friend?"
Dabai clearly didn't believe it. To it, it was clear that this dark creature wasn't on the same level as itself.
"Okay, okay, from now on, you're just partners. No fighting."
Ming Qi hadn't expected these two to get along peacefully. Sure enough, Dabai stopped talking and took action.
It pounced on the dire wolf and engaged it in a fierce fight.
Dabai was already at the innate level, while the dire wolf was still at the acquired level, so Dabai easily knocked the dire wolf away.
The dire wolf, however, didn't seem to realize it was outmatched. After somersaulting, it got up and continued fighting.
Watching the two men engaged in an endless feud, Ming Qi gave up on them and simply found a place to rest.
After nearly half a day of frantic hunting, his internal energy had been completely depleted. Now was a prime opportunity for cultivation, and he naturally couldn't miss it.
At night, the roars of unknown monsters could be heard from the Valley of Despair. Ming Qi still didn't know how powerful the monsters lay within its depths.
One of his other plans for this trip to the Valley of Despair was to explore the depths, hoping to see if there were any opportunities within the ruins left behind by the ancient beast-taming sect.
After a night of quiet cultivation, Ming Qi's spirit had fully recovered, and he was at his peak. It seemed that the constant fighting along the way had stabilized his previously unstable energy. He was now a true innate third-level Yuan Gang realm.