Having witnessed the Ten-Poison Demon Centipede hunt down the Wind-Spirit Green Snake, Li Qi became even more cautious.
Even when sleeping, he would wake up from time to time, using his telekinesis to scan the surroundings for unknown threats.
It could be said that he now slept with one eye open.
Li Qi kept practicing diligently. His magic power gradually grew stronger, while his body also grew, reaching nearly three inches in length.
With a body patterned in green and white, he chose to hide himself within tree crevices.
Though his cultivation never stopped, the increase in magic power was very slow, and he held a belief firmly rooted in his past life:
Foundations were incomparably important.
Therefore, Li Qi constantly worked to circulate his magic power, searching for a method to purify it and elevate its quality.
He did not dare to try anything rashly, relying instead on continuous speculation.
Yet none of these imagined methods triggered a state of epiphany—until one day, when he saw a small whirlpool in the water and finally hit upon a solution.
That was to circulate and compress magic power like a whirlpool, which might yield a much more powerful kind of magic power.
At that moment, he finally triggered an epiphany, working out the details of this method.
"You have once again fallen into a state of epiphany, comprehending the profound mystery of using a whirlpool to hone and purify magic power."
"You have obtained a special method of magic purification: the Pure Essence Secret Art!"
"This secret art is neither an innate ability, a spell, nor a cultivation technique; it is simply a secret art for purifying magic power, usable solely for that purpose."
"The Pure Essence Secret Art has nine stages in total. Once cultivated to the ninth stage, you will attain the most powerful magic power state within the same realm!"
After comprehending the Pure Essence Secret Art, Li Qi's cultivation speed suddenly slowed down.
However, the speed of his bloodline evolution abruptly accelerated.
Previously, his Cold Silkworm bloodline awakening progress was at 32%, but after practicing the Pure Essence Secret Art, the situation changed entirely.
"You have practiced the Pure Essence Secret Art, and your magic purification has reached the first stage!"
"The transformed magic power has activated more of your Cold Silkworm bloodline, raising your Cold Silkworm bloodline progress to 50%!"
At this point, half of the little green worm's body was covered in cold white stripes.
Following that, he spent another three months in cultivation.
During this period, he remained within this patch of woods, not daring to expand his activity range outward.
This was because he was unsure whether even more powerful demon beasts existed in the surrounding area.
As for that Ten-Poison Black Centipede, after devouring the corpse of the Wind-Spirit Green Snake, it had vanished from his field of observation.
The area where he currently stayed was relatively safe, with the only other creature of a similar kind being the red carp in the river.
Yet it lurked deep within the pool and would not easily show its head.
Such an environment was most suitable for Li Qi, who was still in the early stages of development.
Under these conditions, after another half-year of cultivation, Li Qi finally completed his full bloodline awakening.
"You have grown into a late-stage elementary demon insect!"
"You have successfully accumulated one year's worth of magic power, which has reached the tier of triple-refined pure essence!"
"Having been purified by the triple-refined Pure Essence Secret Art, the quality of your magic power is nine times its original level!"
"This high-quality magic power has completely activated your Cold Silkworm bloodline! You have transformed from an ordinary green demon insect into an entry-level spirit insect—the Cold Silkworm!"
"As an elementary Cold Silkworm, you have awakened other innate abilities of the Cold Silkworm: Frost Flash Escape, Chilling Breath Silk Thread, and Bone-Piercing Frost Venom!"
"Frost Flash Escape allows you to transform into a streak of cold light, instantly escaping a range of a hundred meters!"
"Chilling Breath Silk Thread allows you to spit out a special type of silk. Possessing extreme tenacity and controllable by your chilling breath, this silk has the capacity to entangle and strangle, while also carrying a paralyzing frost effect."
"Bone-Piercing Frost Venom causes any living creature bitten by you to be afflicted with frost venom that penetrates deep beneath their bones, making it extremely difficult to remove!"
This time, Li Qi had transformed into a foot-long white Cold Silkworm.
As a white Cold Silkworm, he simultaneously awakened three innate abilities related to the Cold Silkworm bloodline.
Li Qi now possessed a total of four innate abilities: Protective Frost Aura, Frost Flash Escape, Chilling Breath Silk Thread, and Bone-Piercing Frost Venom.
With these four abilities, his survivability increased immensely.
He made a preliminary attempt, and after exhausting his magic power, he successfully spat out a nearly half-meter-long cold silkworm thread.
This thread adhered to his body, and upon channeling his magic power, it could crawl like a snake and perform actions such as entangling and strangling.
It could now be regarded as Li Qi's own innate spirit weapon, completely under his control.
If used well, this cold silkworm thread could achieve unexpected results.
Due to the effect of the Pure Essence Secret Art, Li Qi's total volume of magic power had only increased from one year's worth to five years' worth.
Had he not practiced the Pure Essence Secret Art, he would have possessed at least fifty years of magic power by now.
Yet the combat prowess displayed by his five-year magic power was far more formidable than fifty years of ordinary magic power.
The force he could leverage with a single year's worth of magic power rivaled the effect of thirty to forty years of ordinary magic power.
Now, just one year's worth of magic power could generate a Protective Frost Aura covering a radius of nearly ten meters around him—an effect that would require nearly thirty years of ordinary magic power to achieve.
This was the effect of a qualitative change in magic power, a transformation akin to moving from burning firewood to nuclear power.
Yet after half a year of cultivation, Li Qi's greatest improvement was not in his innate abilities, but in his spiritual telekinesis based on the Transcending Immortality Cold Moon Contemplation Technique.
In truth, his bloodline transformation and the emergence of his magic power were merely byproduct effects brought about by the enhancement of his spiritual telekinesis.
Right now, Li Qi's spiritual telekinesis could cover a range of nearly six kilometers.
He could observe every change within a six-kilometer radius, and his telekinesis possessed a high degree of stealth, making it very difficult for other demon creatures to detect.
With such a vast observation range, Li Qi had already discovered nearly thirty demon beasts possessing varying levels of magic power within his domain.
The most powerful among them possessed at least five hundred years of demon clan magic power cultivation.
Such a formidable demon beast could easily annihilate the current Li Qi. Having discovered the existence of this entity, he hid and cultivated with even greater caution.
After the enhancement of his telekinesis, its primary function was observing the surrounding situation.
Secondly, it allowed for telekinetic telekinesis manipulation of objects.
He could now easily manipulate objects weighing up to five kilograms, moving them at will within a hundred-meter radius around him.
This hundred-meter range constituted his most formidable combat safety zone.
At its maximum, his telekinesis could pry up and move objects weighing as much as a hundred kilograms!
However, for objects over five kilograms, while he could move them, he could not control them with the same fluid dexterity as a five-kilogram object.
Only with objects weighing five kilograms could he achieve the maximum flexibility in use and control.
Such powerful telekinesis provided Li Qi with his greatest trump card for survival.
The core target Li Qi chose for telekinetic object manipulation was the cold silk he spat out himself.
Resilient, powerful, and possessing a paralyzing frost effect, combined with its inherent controllability and his telekinesis, the results were even more devastating.
Li Qi had tested it: using this cold silkworm thread in coordination with telekinetic manipulation, he could easily slice through a boulder nearly half a meter thick!
Such formidable destructive power gave him a powerful preliminary means of attack.
Understanding his own situation, Li Qi had no intention of going out to roam; he continued to lay low in his lair to cultivate, waiting for an opportunity to grow further.