The Iron Horse 07 sped across the desert, leaving a long trail of dust behind it. Lam Minh drove while using his spiritual sense to scan the surrounding area. Devil's Cry Canyon was the same as ever, desolate and filled with a hidden killing intent.
He didn't enter through the main pass where the previous battle had taken place. Instead, he circled around to a more remote area with damp cliffs, the ideal environment for Stone Mushrooms to grow.
After about an hour of searching, he found his target. On a high, treacherous cliff, there was a cluster of ash-gray mushrooms that looked no different from normal rock formations. These were the Stone Mushrooms.
"Found them," he murmured.
He parked the vehicle in a discreet location and began to climb the cliff. With the agility of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, this was as easy as flipping his hand. He quickly picked a large bag full of mushrooms, enough for the entire regiment.
The "main" mission was complete. Now, it was time for the "side" mission.
"Alright, little Madakaros friends, where are you?"
He sat on a high rock, closed his eyes, and expanded his spiritual sense to its maximum, carefully scanning every cave and crevice in the canyon.
One minute, two minutes passed... nothing.
"Strange, it's so quiet today," he frowned. Had his point-farming luck run out?
He patiently scanned for a little longer. And then... he felt it.
About 3 kilometers east of his position, deep within a complex cave system, there was an aura of qi.
It wasn't strong. It was very weak, only equivalent to a Late-stage Qi Refining creature. But there was something very unusual about it. It wasn't the ferocious, tyrannical aura of a normal Madakaros, but an aura that carried pain, weakness, and... a hint of wisdom.
"Interesting," Lam Minh was curious.
He decided to check it out. He jumped down from the cliff, got into the Iron Horse, and drove in that direction.
The cave system was located in a very treacherous area, its entrance obscured by large boulders. Without spiritual sense, it would be almost impossible to find.
He left the vehicle outside and entered alone.
The inside of the cave was dark and damp, with many nooks and crannies. He followed the guidance of his spiritual sense, and the deeper he went, the clearer that aura became.
Finally, he reached a large cavern. In the middle of the cavern, a small fire was burning faintly. And sitting next to the fire was a Madakaros.
But it was unlike any Madakaros he had ever seen.
It had the form of an old human man, thin and stooped, wearing ragged clothes made of animal skins. It also had three eyes, but the two outer eyes were closed, and only the third eye in the center of its forehead was half-open. Its gaze held no ferocity, but the weariness and wisdom of someone who had lived for a very long time.
And the strangest thing was, it had many serious wounds. One arm was broken, and there was a deep gash on its chest, with black blood still seeping out. Its aura was extremely weak; it was clearly gravely injured.
Lam Minh hid behind a rock and observed. This was the first time he had seen a Madakaros that looked so "old" and "wise."
"Who's there?"
The old Madakaros suddenly spoke through a psychic wave, its voice hoarse and feeble. Its third eye turned towards where Lam Minh was hiding.
Knowing he had been discovered, Lam Minh didn't hide anymore. He stepped out.
"Just a passerby," he said, his hand still resting lightly on the hilt of his dagger, ready to fight.
The old Madakaros looked at him, showing no intention of attacking. "A human... Foundation Establishment Realm? Impossible... How can you humans cultivate?"
Lam Minh was surprised. This one seemed to know a lot.
"Why is it impossible?" he asked back.
The old Madakaros coughed a few times, more black blood trickling from the corner of its mouth. "Your bloodline... was sealed a long time ago... Who... who helped you break the seal?"
Lam Minh was even more astonished. A sealed bloodline? Could this be the reason why humanity couldn't cultivate in his past life?
"Who are you? And how do you know these things?" Lam Minh asked, moving a little closer.
"I am Mak'lar," the old one said. "A physician... a wandering scholar of the Madakaros race. I came to this planet not to invade, but to search for an ancient medicinal herb."
He looked at Lam Minh, his gaze somewhat complex. "I was pursued by my enemies, severely injured, and had to hide here. I never expected to meet a descendant of humanity who could cultivate."
Lam Minh remained vigilant. He couldn't completely trust the words of a Madakaros. But his intuition told him that this old one wasn't lying.
"You said you're a physician? You also know how to heal?"
"Of course," Mak'lar replied, with a hint of pride. "The medical arts of my Madakaros race far surpass anything you can imagine. But my injuries are too severe, and I've run out of medicinal supplies. I cannot heal myself."
Lam Minh looked at Mak'lar's wounds. He realized the gash on his chest wasn't caused by a conventional weapon. It carried a dark, evil qi that was constantly eroding his life force.
A bold idea suddenly came to him.
He approached and sat down opposite Mak'lar.
"Perhaps, we can make an exchange," Lam Minh said.
"An exchange?" Mak'lar was surprised.
"That's right," Lam Minh said. "You are a scholar; you must know a lot about the cultivation system, about medicinal herbs, about the secrets of the universe. As for me, I might have a way to help you treat this wound."
Mak'lar looked at him with utter disbelief. "You? Help me heal? This wound was inflicted by the Dark Demonic Saber; even the great elders of my clan are helpless against it."
"Let's just see," Lam Minh smiled confidently.
He knew that with his current cultivation, he couldn't completely heal Mak'lar. But he had something that no one else had.
The "qi" of the "Primeval Dragon God Art." Dragon qi possessed the attributes of light and growth, the nemesis of all dark and evil qi.
He held out his hand, and a warm, light green stream of qi emanated from his palm. "Well? Want to give it a try, old friend? Your knowledge in exchange for your chance to live. A very fair exchange, wouldn't you say?"
Mak'lar stared at the stream of Dragon qi on Lam Minh's hand, his third eye contracting to its limit. Horror and hope appeared simultaneously in his old eyes.
"Dragon... Dragon qi... This is pure Dragon qi! You... who are you?"
Lam Minh just smiled and didn't answer. He knew this fish had taken the bait.
...
The look of horror and hope in Mak'lar's eyes as he saw the stream of Dragon qi on Lam Minh's hand said it all. He was like a drowning man who had found his only life raft, even though that raft was in the hands of someone who should have been his enemy.
"You... you can really heal the wound inflicted by the Dark Demonic Saber?" Mak'lar asked again, his voice no longer calm like a scholar's, but filled with a thirst for life.
"I don't know for sure," Lam Minh replied, his expression still calm but his mind racing. "But my Dragon qi is the natural nemesis of all kinds of evil qi. At the very least, it can help you suppress the dark qi that is eroding your life force, buying you more time."
He withdrew his hand, and the stream of Dragon qi vanished. "But as I said, this is an exchange. I help you with my part, you have to give me something of equal value."
Mak'lar was silent. He was in a completely weak position. His life was in the hands of a human. But as a scholar, he was no fool.
"What do you want?" he asked, trying to remain calm.
"Knowledge," Lam Minh said directly. "I want everything you know about the Madakaros cultivation system, from Qi Refining to the higher realms. Especially the weak points, the flaws in the qi circulation process of each realm. I also want to know about the medicinal herbs and energy ore in the universe that you often use for cultivation."
Lam Minh's request was extremely sensitive. This was core knowledge, the foundation of an entire race's power. Revealing it to an enemy was no different from handing them a knife.
Mak'lar frowned. "Those are the secrets of my race. Why should I tell you?"
Lam Minh sneered. "Because you're about to die. Are you going to keep those secrets to take to your grave? Or do you want to trade them for a few more years, maybe even a few dozen years of life? You're a scholar, you should understand which choice is smarter."
He added another psychological blow. "Besides, I'm not your enemy. The ones who injured you are your enemies. I'm just a passerby making an offer. You can refuse, and I will leave. And you can just sit here and slowly wait to die in the agony of eroding dark qi."
With that, he turned, pretending to walk away.
"WAIT!"
Mak'lar quickly called him back, just as Lam Minh had predicted.
The thirst for life had triumphed over loyalty to his race. Moreover, the ones who hunted him were also from the Madakaros race; internal strife and external enemies had caused his attachment to his "homeland" to fade considerably.
"Fine... I agree," Mak'lar said through gritted teeth. "I will tell you everything. But you must promise to do your best to heal me."
"Of course," Lam Minh smiled, turning back. "A fair exchange."
And so, in a remote cave, a one-of-a-kind exchange of knowledge in history took place.
Mak'lar, with the vast knowledge of an erudite scholar, began to explain to Lam Minh. He spoke of the subtle differences in the operation of the 108 meridians of the Madakaros race compared to humans. He pointed out the fatal weak points in the process of condensing a Primary Core, the flaws when forming a Golden Core... He also described dozens of rare ores and medicinal herbs in the universe, their uses, and where to find them.
Lam Minh was like a dry sponge, frantically absorbing this priceless knowledge. It supplemented and perfected the understanding he had from his past life, giving him a much more comprehensive and profound view of the path of cultivation. He continuously asked difficult questions, which often astonished Mak'lar at the wisdom of this human student.
After several hours of exchange, when Mak'lar had said almost everything he knew, he began to pant, his face growing paler. The dark qi in his body began to flare up again.
"It's... it's your turn..." he said weakly.
"Alright, old friend," Lam Minh said, standing up and approaching. "Relax your body, don't resist. I'm about to begin."
Mak'lar complied, closing his eyes, completely entrusting his life to Lam Minh.
Lam Minh placed a hand on the wound on Mak'lar's chest. He began to circulate his purest Dragon qi, slowly channeling it into the old scholar's body.
The moment the warm Dragon qi made contact, the dark qi in Mak'lar's body reacted violently, like snow meeting fire. It shrieked and tried to resist.
"Endure it for a bit!" Lam Minh said.
He increased the intensity of the Dragon qi. An invisible battle took place inside Mak'lar's body. The Dragon qi, with its attributes of light and growth, slowly surrounded, eroded, and purified the evil dark qi bit by bit.
Mak'lar groaned in pain, but within that pain, he also felt an unprecedented relief. The deadly aura that had tormented him for so long was gradually being pushed back.
After about half an hour, Lam Minh had helped Mak'lar purify nearly half of the dark qi. He stopped, his forehead drenched in sweat. This process consumed a great deal of his spiritual energy.
"How is it?" he asked.
Mak'lar opened his eyes, his complexion a little rosier. He could clearly feel his life force gradually recovering. "Miraculous... truly miraculous! Dragon qi is indeed the nemesis of Dark Demonic Energy! Thank you, young man, you have saved my life!"
"It's not over yet," Lam Minh said, but a cold glint that Mak'lar didn't notice flashed in his eyes. "There's still half of the dark qi hidden deep within your inner core. I need to use a more special method to remove it completely."
"What method?" Mak'lar asked quickly.
"I need to use my qi to create an 'energy vortex' inside your inner core to suck out all the dark qi," Lam Minh explained "professionally." "But this process is very dangerous. You must trust me completely, open your mind entirely, and not have a single bit of defense. If you have even a thought of resistance, both of us will suffer a backlash."
Mak'lar, now completely trusting Lam Minh, nodded without hesitation. "Alright! I trust you! Do it!"
He closed his eyes, completely relaxing, and threw open the "gate" to his inner core.
This was the moment Lam Minh had been waiting for.
He placed his hand on Mak'lar's dantian and circulated a stream of Foundation Establishment qi, but this time, it was not healing Dragon qi.
It was a destructive qi, as sharp as a drill.
"Farewell, old friend," Lam Minh whispered. "Your knowledge was very useful. Thank you for your 'contribution' to the cause of humanity."
His destructive qi, meeting no resistance, plunged straight into Mak'lar's wide-open Primary Core.
STAB!
"You...!!!"
Mak'lar's eyes flew open, filled with utter disbelief and rage. He had been tricked.
But it was too late. His Primary Core was pierced, and his entire lifetime of cultivation dissipated into thin air. His life was extinguished.
[Received 2500 Immortality Points.]
Lam Minh withdrew his hand, his expression cold.
"The grudge of annihilation cannot be left unavenged. I cannot risk letting you survive and potentially becoming a threat to humanity in the future. Only the dead can keep secrets."
He stood up, looking at the corpse of the Madakaros scholar without a shred of regret.
On the battlefield of life and death, being merciful to the enemy is being cruel to one's own kind. He understood this better than anyone.
"A total of nearly 5,000 points. Not bad," he murmured. "Now then, time to go back and cook."
He turned and left the cave, leaving behind a cold corpse and a dying fire.