Chapter Sixty-Four: The Sinister Chill of the Cold Rain

Late December, and winter was descending.
The vast wilderness of Yunze was shrouded in a dense, gray mist.
In Qingyang Market, snowflakes as large as goose feathers floated down.
These days, Qin Ming, having little else to do, had been studying a pill recipe—an intermediate grade pill designed to nourish spirit insects, called the Spirit Feed Pill.
Even when the flowers were out of season, these pills could keep his spirit insects well fed.

On this day,
Qin Ming once again made his way to the rear mountain behind the spirit fields. He glanced around to ensure he was alone, then slipped quietly into the woods.
He took out a violet demon-flower seed, holding it in his palm as he silently awaited the arrival of prey.
Before long,
A large snow leopard appeared within Qin Ming’s sight.
With swift reflexes, he formed a spell and flicked the seed toward the leopard.
In a twist of fate, the leopard sprang aside at the last moment, seemingly intent on searching for food elsewhere.
The bramble spell landed right where it had leapt from.
With a rush,
A cluster of dark purple, withered vines erupted wildly from the ground.
Just as Qin Ming was about to lament his failed attempt,
Countless needle-thin poisonous barbs grew along the violet vine.
Curiously, these barbs were ethereal, lacking physical form.
They radiated an intense, chilling aura, seemingly designed to assault the soul itself.
Had he not observed them with his powerful spiritual sense, they would have been nearly undetectable.
Triggered by the leopard’s leap, the poisonous barbs detached and shot out at incredible speed,
Piercing deep into the snow leopard’s mind.
With a thud,
The snow leopard paused mid-air, stiffened, and crashed to the ground.
Its pupils contracted, eyes turning pale, and without warning it collapsed lifelessly.
Just as he suspected!
The poison of the dark chill—a venom that freezes the soul itself!
“It can now launch the chilling poison barbs autonomously. Far more agile than the previous bramble spell,”
Qin Ming thought excitedly. Previously, the bramble spell cast with the black spirit seed was powerful,
But it had drawbacks. Unless he ambushed his enemies along their path, it was too easy for targets to evade or defend against it when cast.
Now, with the violet spirit seed, the barbs could be launched automatically, catching the enemy off guard, nearly impossible to defend against.
Still, casting it directly was too obvious, giving the enemy time to react.
If the opponent lacked a soul-protecting artifact,
Combining it with the old spirit seeds could easily confuse them and land a devastating blow.

The violet vines swiftly wrapped around the snow leopard’s corpse, draining it dry and transforming it into a blood pearl that dropped to the earth.
Qin Ming raised his hand, retrieving the blood pearl—it was perfect nourishment for the withered blood poison vine.
Suddenly,
A flash of inspiration shot through his mind.
What if he combined the bramble spell with the advanced Spirit Rain Technique? What kind of chain reaction would that produce?
With his formidable spiritual power, rivaling the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, Qin Ming could cast the Spirit Rain Technique to cover hundreds of yards.
If he were to hide the violet bramble seeds within the cloud layer and let them fall with the rain, it would be a lethal attack, completely undetectable!
Determined, Qin Ming resolved to test it on a target.
He summoned his swarm of four-winged frost bees.
He was also curious to see how these first-tier spirit insects performed in battle.
Qin Ming ventured deeper into the woods, searching for some time until he discovered a cave along a rocky cliff.
He commanded the bee swarm to fly inside.
Moments later,
A thunderous roar shook the ground from within.
Qin Ming’s expression shifted, tension mounting.
“Could I really be this unlucky?”
“I only wanted to test my spell’s strength—not encounter some fierce beast!”
He leapt onto the branch of a giant tree nearby,
Squinting, eyes fixed on the cave entrance.
Thud! Thud!
Heavy footsteps echoed as some massive creature struck the earth.
Suddenly, a giant black-furred bear, over two yards tall, charged out of the cave.
“A mid-tier, first-level monster beast,” Qin Ming murmured with a strange look,
Breathing a sigh of relief.
Once, such a beast would have made him either its meal or forced him to flee in terror.
But not anymore.
Following the bear, his swarm of four-winged frost bees descended.
A dense cloud of frost bees enveloped the giant bear, their transparent stingers burrowing everywhere, driving the beast into a frenzy.
But its hide was tough, and despite the bees’ relentless assault, they could not pierce that thick fur.
When the timing was right, Qin Ming withdrew the bees into the spirit beast pouch.
He formed a spell and pointed skyward.
Thunder rumbled—
A vortex of dark clouds began to form overhead.
As he cast the spell, he scattered the violet bramble seeds, infused with the bramble spell, into the cloud cluster, completely undetectable.

Rain poured down in torrents.
Now, Qin Ming could cast the advanced Spirit Rain Technique instantly, effortlessly. In the blink of an eye, heavy rain fell across hundreds of yards.
The giant bear below looked up in terror at the sky.
It could not fathom why, in the midst of a snowstorm, thunder and rain had suddenly appeared.
Desperate, the bear bolted for the cave.
Raindrops fell upon it. The bear paused, shaking the water from its fur, apparently feeling no danger from the rain.
The coolness was, if anything, strangely pleasant.
But then—
Several needle-thin, transparent poison barbs fell with the rain,
Effortlessly penetrating the bear’s body.
As it enjoyed the rain’s cleansing, a sudden agony pierced its mind, and its consciousness became clouded.
Moments later,
The giant bear’s body stiffened, frozen in its last posture, unmarked on the outside, but utterly lifeless within.
Clusters of brambles dropped from the clouds, entwining the bear, then transforming it into a blood pearl.
“It works perfectly together!”
“Yes, from now on, I’ll call this move ‘Chilling Rain of Dark Poison.’”
“Who would have thought—spirit plant spells could fuse into such a wide-area, insidious attack.”
Qin Ming dispersed the spell and cleared the clouds, his face alight with excitement.
He leapt to the bear’s side, collected the blood pearl, then skinned the pelt; the materials from this mid-tier beast could fetch a few spirit stones.
A look of joy crossed Qin Ming’s face—he had gained yet another unexpected trump card.
Just as he was lost in his delight,
His message talisman suddenly received a transmission.
Qin Ming opened it; it was from Manager Liao.
“Fellow Qin, what are you up to?”
“I just went to Clear Breeze Pavilion to find you, knocked for ages, but it seems you weren’t home?”
“Here’s the thing—our Pavilion Lord broke through to Foundation Establishment a couple of days ago! After consolidating her cultivation, she has just finished her closed-door training today.”
“She wishes to invite you to a small celebration for her Foundation Establishment in a few days, and sent me to deliver the invitation.”
Qin Ming’s face was filled with shock and envy as he murmured,
“What?”
“Gu Qingzhao broke through to Foundation Establishment?!”
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