After an unknown amount of time, the bronze True Essence within his apertures continuously battered the surrounding aperture walls.
The True Essence was rapidly consumed, and the sea level continuously dropped.
Chen Qing casually grabbed two more primeval stones, and the primeval sea slowly rose.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The surging waves endlessly crashed against the aperture walls, and finally, a quantitative change led to a qualitative one.
The white light membrane trembled, and the originally gentle white light suddenly burst forth with an aggressive brilliance.
Seeing this, Chen Qing was overjoyed and continued to urge his True Essence to batter the aperture walls.
The white light grew brighter and brighter, the light rays distorting and intertwining.
In just a dozen breaths, strips of light appeared on the light membrane. These light strips flowed like water, constantly rotating and colliding.
Finally, the light strips connected, completely covering the entire light membrane.
The original light membrane aperture wall had disappeared, replaced by a spherical white water membrane. Its surface was smooth, without any Impurities. The water membrane was noticeably thicker than light, with shimmering waves flowing across its surface, flickering on and off.
The True Essence sea also returned to its calm state.
"I've advanced to the middle stage…" Chen Qing lay sprawled on the ground. He had no idea how long he had been Cultivating, and nourishing his apertures couldn't replace sleep. Moreover, Chen Qing had never used a Gu to modify his body, so he was now very sleepy.
"Hoo… hoo… hoo…"
Chen Qing immediately fell into a deep sleep.
After sleeping for an unknown period, Chen Qing slowly opened his eyes.
"Damn it, how long did I sleep?" Chen Qing clutched his hungry stomach, pulled out a handful of dried rations from his cloth pouch, shoved them haphazardly into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed them with some water.
Chen Qing swallowed the last bite of dry rations. His stomach was still a bit hungry, but it was better than the dizzying hunger he had felt earlier.
"I need to find something to eat quickly," he muttered, struggling to get up from the ground. His limbs were still as soft as if filled with water.
But Chen Qing gritted his teeth and painstakingly shuffled to a pool of water. He cupped his hands, guzzled a few mouthfuls, and then splashed water on his face. The cold water made him sneeze, but he was completely awake.
Then, Chen Qing immersed his mind into his apertures, observing his First Rank middle-stage Azure Green True Essence, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"It wasn't in vain that I spent so much time, day and night, flushing the aperture walls. It's time to practice a bit, and I haven't eaten yet, so I'll hunt some wild game." Chen Qing stood up and walked towards the hole he had fallen into.
He slowly climbed up.
"This place is quite hidden, isn't it?" Chen Qing looked around. The surroundings were filled with red maple grass and trees. The hole was very secluded, and since almost no one else would come here besides him, it was very safe.
"Then… it can begin," Chen Qing muttered to himself, raising his right hand. The blood-colored leech tattoo on his hand flickered slightly.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot!" Chen Qing patted his head and cleaned up the traces he had left.
"Hmm, that's about right now."
Before Chen Qing finished speaking, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes. Chen Qing's pupils contracted sharply, and the blood-colored leech tattoo instantly appeared, his entire right arm glowing with an eerie crimson light under the moonlight.
Chen Qing's right hand condensed a blood-colored Qi vortex, but Chen Qing felt that calling it a Qi Blade would be more appropriate.
"Go!"
Chen Qing let out a low shout, and a blood-colored Qi Blade shot towards the grass. As the Azure Green True Essence in his apertures also dropped a bit, estimated to be about half a point, its power also increased slightly compared to when he activated it with emerald green True Essence.
The Qi Blade plunged into the grass, kicking up a cloud of dust. Chen Qing frowned and cautiously approached. He saw one, no, it should be two halves of a wild rabbit lying deep in the grass. Chen Qing was a little dumbfounded and put away the Blood Qi Whirlwind Blade Gu on his right arm. He squatted down, looking at the wild rabbit, thinking that this was an unexpected bonus, perfect for filling his stomach.
He slowly reached out and grabbed the two halves of the wild rabbit.
"Now I have something to eat." Chen Qing held the wild rabbit, a satisfied smile on his face, and turned to walk towards the hidden cave, preparing to properly process the wild rabbit and enjoy a delicious meal.
Back in the cave, he casually tossed the rabbit onto the ground, then summoned a blood-red leech and gently placed it on the rabbit's corpse. It was the Blood Qi Whirlwind Blade Gu.
The Blood Qi Whirlwind Blade Gu was like a person who had been starving for three days and three nights encountering a delicious feast. The originally listless Blood Qi Whirlwind Blade Gu, which seemed like it would perish any second, began to frantically absorb blood, and the rabbit's corpse slowly shriveled.