Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 440 Returning with a Full Load
The golden-armored ant shone with golden light, and golden thorns sprouted from its body, shooting towards the toad.

A beam of light shot out from the puppet's mouth.

The ghost general then used magic to condense a ball of blood in his hand and hurled it at him.

Three different attacks came from three directions, forcing the toad to split itself in two to deal with them. It opened its huge mouth and spewed out a large amount of black mist, which was the poisonous mist stored in its own body and did not require any additional spiritual power.

Thick black mist spread out, covering an area of ​​several dozen feet in radius. The golden-armored ants, puppets, and ghost generals attacked into the black mist, but it was like a mud ox entering the sea, without making a sound. However, they did not hesitate and rushed directly into the black mist to fight the toad. The sounds of thumping came from inside.

Because the toads had to deal with them, their control over the Qingxuan Evil Flame was greatly reduced. Song Xian's spiritual power surged wildly into the red lantern, and before long, he absorbed the Qingxuan Evil Flame into the inner chamber and sealed it away.

Perhaps sensing that the Qingxuan Evil Flame had lost contact, or perhaps knowing that it was no match, the toad-like figure shrouded in black mist retreated.

Having reached this point, Song Xian could not possibly let it go. He put away the crimson lantern, clasped his hands together, and several flames appeared around the black mist, transforming into a wall of flames that surrounded the toad.

Then he unleashed the Xuanluo Yin Fire, which transformed into a giant black serpent and headed towards it.

Fireballs poured into the black fog one after another, cleansing it of the poisonous mist.

At this point, the toad had little spiritual power left in its body. It could no longer use magic to fight off the fireballs and could only endure them with its body. One fireball after another slammed into its body, tearing its skin and causing it to bleed profusely.

The black serpent, the true form of the Xuanluo Yin Fire, followed closely behind the fireball attack and pounced on the toad.

Instantly, black flames erupted around the toad, and it let out a mournful cry. A giant black snake coiled around its body, and the toad's flesh and blood visibly melted under the burning black flames.

Soon, it plummeted from mid-air. Seeing that it was on the verge of death, Song Xian used the Profound Heaven Fusion Fire Technique to withdraw the Profound Luo Yin Fire, turned over the Blood Soul Banner, and a ghost emerged from it, devouring the toad's flesh and blood.

Song Xian then recalled the Golden-Armored Ants, the Puppet, and the Ghost General. With a flash, he arrived in front of the cultivator. Due to the poison entering his body, his flesh and blood had rotted in a short time. After removing his storage bag, Song Xian went inside to check. Inside, besides tens of thousands of spirit stones, there were some pills, talismans, cultivation materials, and a cultivation manual.

Why is this person fighting with a toad here?

There are only two possibilities. First, this person stopped to rest on the island and unexpectedly encountered the toad, leading to a battle.

Secondly, the man was not resting on the island, but rather searching for something, and happened to wander into the toad's territory. It is also possible that the two fought all the way from the sea to the island.

Curious, Song Xian followed the traces of their fight and arrived at a huge cave. From the broken rocks inside the cave, it was clear that the two had fought there.

He strode into the cave, and the deeper he went, the more profound and expansive it became.

He hadn't gone far when he spotted two toad-like monsters. Without a word, he killed them both.

Seven or eight more Qi Refining level toad demon beasts surged out from inside. This cave was like a toad's lair, and he showed no mercy, dealing with all the demon beasts inside.

When he reached the end of the cave, he saw a large pond with dried-up river water. Inside the pond grew a crystal-clear tricolor flower with a fruit that was half red and half purple, shaped like a baby.

Purple baby fruit.

Song Xian immediately recognized the spiritual herb as the main ingredient of the Yuan Shen Dan (Primordial Spirit Pill), which is a pill that enhances a cultivator's spiritual sense and strengthens their spiritual power.

Song Xian never expected that there would be such a miraculous medicine inside this cave.

Could it be that the cultivator came looking for this item? It seems so.

This person somehow learned that the Purple Infant Fruit grew here, so he came to pick it. Unexpectedly, the cave had been occupied by the toad monster, so he broke into the inner room, was targeted by the toad, and lost his life.

How could a Purple Infant Fruit grow in a place like this?
There is no spiritual energy here, and this pond is not a spiritual pool.

Logically speaking, the Purple Baby Fruit should never grow here.

Since it's not something that grows naturally, there's only one possibility: someone planted it here intentionally.

He leaped into the pond, took the Purple Infant Fruit into his pouch, and noticed a few traces of eerie green liquid remaining in a small pit not far away. So he went there, scooped up the liquid from the pit, and observed it for a while. He could sense the faint spiritual energy within the liquid, which further confirmed his previous guess.

These Purple Infant Fruits were cultivated by someone. Originally, the pond should have been filled with some kind of spiritual liquid that could help the growth of spiritual herbs. The Purple Infant Fruits grew only after absorbing the nutrients from the spiritual liquid.

If this is the case, then the toad-like monster might be the spirit beast of the owner of this place, which is why it has been guarding this place all this time.

Without a doubt, the toad's owner must have been missing for a long time, as evidenced by the fact that the toad has given birth to so many offspring.

Song Xian arrived at the end of the stone wall, carefully observed and explored for a while, but found no hidden mechanisms or passages.

It seems that the toad's owner did not pass away in this cave, but rather met with misfortune while traveling. Presumably, the Purple Infant Flower was not yet mature when he left, so he left a spirit beast here to guard it and prevent it from being damaged or picked.

To be able to obtain such a large pool of spiritual liquid and to be willing to leave behind a sixth-tier spirit beast, this master's cultivation must have reached at least the Golden Core Realm.

Perhaps the Azure Profound Evil Flame inside the toad demon beast was also its doing. After all, with the strength of a Golden Core cultivator, the power of the Azure Profound Evil Flame is nothing to mention. Unless one cultivates the Profound Heaven Fusion Fire Technique like Song Xian, one would not pay much attention to it.

The owner of this place may have obtained the Azure Profound Flame by chance. Finding it useless to keep but too precious to discard, he entrusted it to his spirit beast to help it refine and absorb the flame.

This trip has been incredibly lucrative, and Song Xian was overjoyed. He had originally come to find the Soul-Severing Crystal, but unexpectedly encountered Tani Loguri on the way and obtained the Xuan Kong Tree.

After landing on the island, they encountered a toad that had absorbed and refined the Azure Profound Flame, and also obtained the Purple Infant Fruit, the main ingredient of the Divine Sense and Primordial Spirit Pill. Their luck was simply too good.

Of course, he was able to obtain these things not only because of good fortune, but also because of his own strength. If he were not strong enough, even if they were offered to him, he might not have been able to take them.

After leaving the cave, he returned to the mountain where he had been standing, took out his shovel and began to chisel at the rocks.

After working for less than an hour, they indeed discovered a black triangular prism-shaped mineral crystal, which was the Soul-Severing Crystal.

Holding the Soul-Severing Crystal in his hand, he could feel waves of coolness coming from it. In the following days, he worked tirelessly like a miner, digging into the mountain and unearthing dozens of Soul-Severing Crystals.

The reason he was mining so many Soul-Severing Crystals was to take them to the Blood Moon Realm and exchange them for Ghost Crystals.

Of course, you can't exchange a few dozen Soul-Severing Crystals for a few Ghost Crystals; in terms of value, they're not even as good as Yin Soul Pearls.

Although it contains yin energy that can help ghosts cultivate, there must be similar things in that other realm as well.

He only wanted to determine the exchange value—how many Soul-Severing Crystals were needed to exchange for one Ghost Crystal—so he had accumulated some on hand. …

The sky is clear and cloudless.

In the western region of the Muhe Grassland, in Sunset City, in front of the Xuanjian Sect's mountain gate, a beam of light shot down, revealing Song Xian's figure.

In the distance, the Xuanjian Sect disciples on guard quickly approached, their faces wary. After glancing at him, they bowed and asked, "This is our sect's mountain gate. May I ask what brings you here, senior?"

"I'm looking for Tani Roguli. Please tell him that Su Xian is looking for him." Song Xian was wearing a mask and a large black robe; he didn't want others to know his true identity.

"Yes, please wait a moment, senior." The man replied and turned to head towards the mountain gate.

Although Tani is a rogue cultivator, he has a close relationship with the Xuanjian Sect. He usually cultivates and studies formations here. His status is somewhat similar to that of a guest elder in a Qin Kingdom sect. They call him 'Robi,' which is the Muhe Plain language and means the most honored guest.

Compared to guest elders, this position has greater freedom and authority. They do not accept sect salaries, nor do they protect sect security; the two sides merely cooperate.

The sect will provide what it needs, such as a cultivation room, an alchemy room, or cultivation materials.

However, these are not free; they must be exchanged for spirit stones or equivalent items.

Similarly, Robbie is not obligated to protect the sect's safety. When the sect encounters a crisis and asks for his help, he can refuse. If he accepts, the sect will need to provide spirit stones or other items.

The relationship between the two is more like a special partnership. For example, Tani can serve as the Robbie of the Genma sect while also serving as the Robbie of other sects.

Guest elders, however, cannot hold multiple positions and can only serve in one institution.

If you want to change jobs, you need to resign from your current position.

Because guest elders are paid, this profession relies on reputation and credibility. If they violate the rules, such as holding multiple positions simultaneously, serving in two or more sects at the same time, or abandoning their sect when it faces a crisis, their reputation will be ruined, and no one will hire them.

Not long after, a beam of light shot out from inside, it was Tani.

He glanced at Song Xian, but since Song Xian was wearing a mask, he couldn't be completely sure. He only judged it to be him from the way he was addressed as Su Xian and his cultivation level, so he tentatively asked, "Benefactor?"

"I've already told you not to call me benefactor anymore. I have something I'd like to ask you for help with."

Hearing the familiar voice, Tani confirmed his identity: "My benefactor, please feel free to give your orders. Let's go to the inner room to discuss this in detail!"

"No need, it's just a small matter, a few words will suffice. I don't want too many people to know that I came to see you. Please move over there, let's go to a quiet place and talk for a bit."

Song Xian didn't completely trust him, and besides, he had something the other needed. Out of caution, he was unwilling to go to the other's territory. Moreover, he didn't want too many people to know that he had come to see him.

The two rose into the air and arrived in the distant mountains and forests. Seeing that there was no one around, he took off his mask.

"Does Fellow Daoist Tani know of a place called Xuanguan Island in the Boundless Sea?"

Tani shook his head: "Mystic Light Island? Never heard of it."

Song Xian flipped through his hand and took out a map, which was the map of the Boundless Sea. There was a red dot on it: "This is Xuanguan Island. The reason I traveled thousands of miles to the Boundless Sea is to go to this island to find something."

“After we parted, I went to this island and found what I needed. I personally confirmed that the island has the Soul-Severing Crystal Mine.”

"Now I need to find a group of people to go to this island and mine the Soul-Severing Crystals on that island."

“As you know, I come from the Qin State. If I go back to the sect to gather people, the journey is too far, and the losses outweigh the gains. Therefore, I want to recruit a group of people nearby.”

"Can you help me find someone?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Tani nodded immediately: "I wonder how many people my benefactor needs? Do you want cultivators or mortals?"

"I need one hundred strong and robust men, plus ten Qi Refining cultivators to manage them. I also need to borrow a second-tier spirit ship."

Tani pondered for a moment: "People aren't the problem, I can find them quickly. The problem is how to feed and water so many people? According to the map, it's an isolated island, and the journey is long. It will take a lot of time to travel there and back, and transporting supplies will be very difficult. In addition, the Boundless Sea is the territory of monsters. If we are unlucky and encounter a monster attack along the way, that would be troublesome."

Song Xian nodded: "I also took that into consideration, so I didn't ask for too many people. Fortunately, there is a lake on that island, so the water problem can be solved. As for food, we can just bring more food on the spirit ship."

"How long do they need to stay on that island?"

"I don't know how many Soul-Severing Crystals there are on that island, or how long it would take a hundred people to mine them."

Tani frowned: "If this goes on for a long time, the food supply on the island will be a big problem. Besides, the safety of those coming and going cannot be guaranteed. The boundless sea is full of monsters. It's okay for cultivators to travel alone and not be a big target, but spirit ships are such big targets that they might be targeted by sea monsters. Once attacked by monsters, those Qi Refining cultivators alone are no match for them."

"Secondly, the island is not necessarily safe. There are many resource-rich islands in the boundless sea. The reason why no force has been stationed there for a long time is because sea monsters will come to the island to harass it from time to time."

"Fellow Daoist Song, how about this? We'll find a powerful organization and entrust this matter to them. They'll be responsible for manpower, food, and security. You'll only need to pay a fixed amount of spirit stones."

After a moment's thought, Song Xian nodded: "That's fine, but it's inconvenient for me to show my face. You'll have to handle this. You must not reveal my identity to anyone."

“No problem, leave this to me. I’m familiar with the leader of the Xuanjian Sect. I’ll discuss it with him first. If he’s unwilling to take on this, I’ll look for other forces. I’m sure there will always be someone willing to take it on.”

“Alright. Go ahead! I’ll wait for your news.” Song Xian readily agreed. He wasn’t worried that the Xuanjian Sect leader would seize the Soul-Severing Crystal Mine if he found out about it on Xuanguang Island.

This wasn't exactly a secret; the fact that he was able to find out about it from the information exchange in the coastal town's market meant that many people knew there was a Soul-Severing Crystal mine there.

The reason why no sectarian forces went there to mine is that it would be a losing proposition.

While it's true that things are valued for their rarity, it also depends on whether anyone actually needs them. Soul-Severing Crystals have very few uses in the cultivation world, and basically no one needs them, so they are practically worthless. Mining on Xuanguan Island is both troublesome and dangerous, and the journey is long, so no one mines them on a large scale.

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P.S.: (I've been coughing a lot, so I'll be taking the day off tomorrow to go to the hospital.)
(End of this chapter)