Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 404 Is this thing possibly real?
The giant scallop moved surprisingly fast.

Furthermore, when the shell opened, a powerful suction force was actually emitted from inside.

As a result, Xiao Chen and a large area of ​​seawater nearby were sucked in together.

Several cultivators who were close to the scallop were also affected by the suction force, and their bodies swayed several times.

Those cultivators who were a little further away only saw a curtain of water suddenly roll back on the sea surface.

Then a giant wave crashed down, and Xiao Chen disappeared without a trace.

Everyone was experienced in combat and immediately realized what had happened.

Oh no, Fellow Daoist Xiao has been eaten by a demon beast.

If it were an ordinary newly promoted True Lord encountering such a rare and sudden accident, they would probably panic right now.

But it doesn't matter, this isn't the first time Xiao Chen has been eaten by a monster.

Although this doesn't seem like something to be proud of.

However, he at least has some experience in handling such situations.

What should I do if I get eaten by a monster?
Let's first activate the spiritual energy shield, then roll up our sleeves and take it down!

As the saying goes, the strongest fortresses are often crumbled from within.

Although there is a very strong suppressive force inside the giant scallop, which can make the prey that is swallowed up unable to move as if trapped in a formation.

But it doesn't matter, Xiao Chen is protected by the Divine Blessing Veil, so he is naturally unaffected.

On the contrary, this way he could finally attack the scallop's body directly without having to try to pry open the solid shell.

Since they were brought into close combat, the outcome of the battle was self-evident.

Xiao Chen easily defeated and killed the scallop demon infant in just about 15 minutes.

The reason it took so long was because he only used the Azure Wave Penetrating Needle during the battle.

At the same time, I consciously avoided the pearls that were almost everywhere inside the shell.

That's right, for some reason, this giant scallop didn't focus on cultivating a giant spirit pearl.

Instead, it dispersed and nurtured hundreds or even thousands of fourth-order water-type spirit orbs, each the size of a small watermelon.

Moreover, they are all exactly the same size and color; at least, no difference can be seen with the naked eye.

"I knew it! Where could one find tens of thousands of fourth-tier spirit orbs?"

Xiao Chen had encountered six identical spirit orbs before, and now, looking at these very familiar spirit orbs, his doubts vanished: "They must have all originated from here."

No wonder this scallop's fighting ability is relatively weaker than the other two giant sea monsters.

However, he was still highly regarded by the Lord.

"Boom~!"

Suddenly, an explosion rang out outside, sounding like three bursts of flame simultaneously striking the seashell.

Then came some clanging or whistling sounds.

Interspersed among them were intermittent, indistinct shouts: "Aim here... Save Fellow Daoist Xiao..."

The sounds were very chaotic, and it was impossible to tell who was speaking.

Xiao Chen stood inside, his ears filled with the sounds of spiritual energy colliding and the faint echoes from within the shell.

Oh no, they're still attacking the shells!
"Stop! I'm fine, everyone stop!"

Xiao Chen quickly shouted, "The shell is no longer protected by demonic energy. I mustn't let it get damaged!"

Fortunately, after losing its demonic essence, the shell no longer closed tightly, but instead revealed many small gaps.

Therefore, he crawled out of there without much effort.

"Bang~!"

As soon as Xiao Chen showed his face, a seal with a diameter of three zhang (approximately 10 meters) crashed down in front of him, directly hitting the Four Symbols Mountain-Suppressing Cover.

Luckily, he was prepared, otherwise he might have been accidentally injured.

"Look, it's Fellow Daoist Xiao!"

True Monarch Liekong was the first to shout, "Fellow Daoist Xiao is alright."

The people outside immediately saw Xiao Chen's figure and stopped their spells.

Although there was a minor mishap along the way.

But since Xiao Chen is now safe and sound, it means that the final battle is over.

Even the True Lords present couldn't help but show a hint of joy on their faces.

It's over. This ordeal has finally come to a complete end today.

Everyone gathered around.

There's no need to elaborate on the various words of concern and congratulations.

After the pleasantries, the most important thing was to distribute the spoils.

Xiao Chen was the first to speak, and took the entire seashell by himself.

The rest of the group divided the spirit pearl inside the shell and the spiritual materials from the other four great demons equally.

In fact, everyone present, including the Golden Core disciples in the distance, could see that the seashell was the best and most precious item.

At the same time, if we consider only the contributions of this final battle, everyone's efforts were roughly the same, and there was no significant difference between them.

However, after exchanging glances, no one dared to question the fairness of this distribution method.

Instead, they all chose to remain silent and each took a fourth-tier spirit orb.

"Fellow Daoists, I won't say anything more. Tonight, I will host a banquet for everyone to celebrate together!"

Xiao Chen took the initiative to take over the celebration banquet, setting up a long table outside Lianhua Temple nearby.

Of course, he actually contacted Gangyuan Zhenjun privately and borrowed many Golden Core disciples from him to help out.

In particular, they borrowed several spiritual chefs to be in charge of cooking.

However, Xiao Chen also provided them with a lot of monster meat.

A large portion of them consisted of the essence of flesh and blood cut off after the Battle of Shallow Sea.

This essence of flesh and blood is different from ordinary monster meat. Usually, you can only find less than 100 catties of it on a monster that is more than 200 feet long.

Even for Nascent Soul True Monarchs, regular consumption can effectively replenish Qi and blood.

But now Xiao Chen took them all out without hesitation to enrich the variety of ingredients.

He also took out the Fragrant Spirit Wine that he had previously obtained from the Zhaokong Sect.

Those two jars, which have been stored for over five hundred years, are used to entertain the True Lords.

Xiao Chen even distributed spirit wines that were less than two hundred years old, giving them directly to the Golden Core disciples below.

After all, those younger vintage spirit wines weren't particularly precious to him.

Let's just bring it out and have a good time for everyone.

As expected, the atmosphere at the table was filled with laughter, and after everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they were all beaming with joy.

That night, the group rested briefly at Lianhua Temple.

The next day, they all boarded the spirit boat and set off together with the Mozhang Sect and Lianhua Temple to meet at Pudu Temple.

Yunwo Zhenjun also specially sent a telepathic message to Lüshuang Zhenjun via his spiritual sword.

Firstly, to announce the good news of the human race's great victory and the end of the war.

Secondly, I also wanted to inquire about the current condition of his injuries.

If it's convenient, please reply to this message. Everyone can wait for him to come over at Pudu Temple.

The reason for this is that we also called over True Lord Treading Frost.

It was because the human race had already won the victory, and they invited him to discuss many important matters that followed.

Some things also require the joint decision-making of the leaders of the major forces and all fourth-order cultivators of the Compassionate Sea.

Xiao Chen got a general understanding of the situation.

It sounds quite complicated; there are many important things to deal with.

However, everyone quickly reached their first consensus.

It has been tentatively decided that a crucial conference will be held at Pudu Temple next.

Then, through friendly exchanges at the conference, the overall situation of the Compassion Ocean will be finalized.

Clearly, after the recent great battle with the sea creatures, everyone is now yearning for peace.

Xiao Chen naturally expressed his strong support for this.

On the afternoon of the same day that everyone returned to Pudu Temple, Yunwo Zhenjun also received a telepathic message from Lushuang Zhenjun.

It was mentioned that although his injuries had not fully healed, they no longer affected his normal activities.

He boarded the spirit ship and set off at the same time as sending out the telepathic flying sword.

Please wait a couple of days, he will be there soon.

No one objected to this, since everyone had a lot of things to do anyway.

Even Xiao Chen had to deal with the five powerful demons he had brought back earlier.

I had just returned and was busy going to the northern route, so I didn't have time to deal with it.

Now we finally have the time to collect spiritual materials and perform initial refining.

In fact, this is considered basic common sense in the cultivation world.

That is, many spiritual materials from demonic beasts cannot actually be used directly.

Especially monsters of the third rank and above.

Because they are often very large, their scales, armor, claws, teeth, and other spiritual materials also become exceptionally large.

For example, the fifth-order giant tooth in Xiao Chen's hand is taller than a cultivator when it stands upright.

For example, the giant seashell he brought back by tying it to the back of the spirit ship was a full three thousand feet in size!
If these materials are not refined, they cannot be used directly for crafting weapons, alchemy, or setting up formations due to their size.

It must first undergo a ritualistic refinement using secret techniques related to its subsequent purpose.

Extract the essence and discard the dross, and incidentally compress the volume to a suitable size.

This makes it convenient to carry, store, and trade, and also convenient to put directly into production.

What if a cultivator doesn't know how to perform the ritual?

Actually, the solution is quite simple.

If you don't mind the hassle, you can simply skip the process and preserve the original condition.

When the time comes to actually use it, whoever takes over will be in charge of the ritual.

Or, like Xiao Chen, he could directly ask someone knowledgeable like True Monarch Qian Shu of Qianji Valley to come and help.

You should know that almost all the high-level cultivators in the entire Compassionate Sea are gathered here now, so there is no need to worry about not being able to find the right people.

Also worth mentioning.

Although weapon crafting and puppet making are two different things, they have many similarities.

Especially in the handling of materials, many techniques are directly related.

Therefore, True Lord Qian Shu is both a fourth-order puppeteer and a fourth-order weapon refiner.

And it wasn't just him; all the True Lords of Thousand Machine Valley throughout the ages had some involvement in weapon crafting, the only difference being the level of their mastery.

"Besides the giant seashell, the most crucial thing is this axefish." Xiao Chen took the initiative to explain the incident of encountering sword energy during the pursuit: "The other great demons didn't find anything unusual, so just handle it as it comes."

Upon hearing this, True Monarch Qian Shu also became interested: "Is that so?"

"I've never really seen anything like this before, and today is a real eye-opener."

To prevent a lack of focus later, he decided directly: "Let's start with this axefish."

After saying that, True Lord Qian Shu took out more than a dozen special tools in one go.

Half of them were magical artifacts he had crafted himself, and the other half were left behind by the predecessors of Thousand Machine Valley.

They are all designed specifically for collecting and processing spiritual materials.

In addition, he also mastered two minor spells, both of which were related to this.

It must be said that it is precisely in these details that one can see the difference between cultivators with lineages and independent cultivators.

A rogue cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage might possess a Heaven-level inheritance, learn a fourth-order secret technique, and own a custom-made spiritual weapon.

However, they ultimately fail to take into account all these subtle details.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen has now become familiar with everyone in the Compassionate Sea, and they are all quite friendly towards him.

Therefore, although he was a rogue cultivator, he could enjoy treatment no less than that of a sect cultivator simply by using facial recognition.

Soon, True Monarch Qian Shu finished disassembling it.

Xiao Chen then noticed that the axefish was located on its lower abdomen near the demon infant.

Surprisingly, an extra section of bone, resembling a sword sheath, grew out.

Moreover, both in terms of surface color and texture, it is almost identical to a sword sheath made of refined iron.

"Wow, the Endless Sea is truly amazing."

Touching the bone that was so realistic, Xiao Chen couldn't help but sigh, "Even holding it in my hand, I feel like I can hardly recognize it."

"If this were put up at an auction, people would probably believe it was a real sword sheath."

"It's amazing that this axefish could undergo such a unique mutation. Life is truly amazing."

However, the True Lord Qian Shu beside him remained silent for three breaths.

Then, a hint of uncertainty crept into his voice: "Fellow Daoist Xiao, well, maybe, I'm just saying maybe."

"This scabbard, it might even be a magical artifact."

"At the very least, I don't think it looks like bone."

what?
Xiao Chen was stunned when he heard this. Wasn't this a masterpiece of nature?

He looked down at the scabbard in his hand again: "Fellow Daoist Qian Shu, do you mean that this thing might be real?"

"Not bones, but part of some magical artifact?"

He quickly handed it over so that the other party could have it appraised more easily.

This is outrageous! Could this really be a sword sheath?

The key question is, if the scabbard is real, how do you explain the previous "fish and sword as one"?

"Well, it might not necessarily be a magical artifact."

Qian Shu Zhenjun thought about it again and shook his head: "If it were a spiritual artifact, it wouldn't be unresponsive to my secret technique."

"But based on the results of the exploration, it should contain some kind of gold-bearing ore that I don't recognize."

"At the same time, I did not find any trace of gold minerals in the rest of the bones of this axefish."

He then concluded, "Therefore, it is unlikely that this piece of bone underwent some kind of special mutation on its own."

"The more likely scenario is..."

At this point, True Monarch Qian Shu hesitated for a moment before revealing his speculation: "It is part of some ancient magic treasure."

"Long ago, for reasons unknown to us, it fell into the sea somewhere."

"Later, it was eaten by that axefish."

what?
Xiao Chen looked at the bone-white scabbard again. This thing might come from some ancient magic weapon.

To be honest, it sounds pretty outrageous, even more unbelievable than the miracle of life.

Who can believe it, and who dares to believe it?

That axefish actually managed to find the scabbard of an ancient magic weapon in the open sea, swallowed it, and eventually learned sword intent from it.
So its luck is quite remarkable, no wonder it became a fourth-tier great demon.

But none of that matters anymore.

Xiao Chen subconsciously pressed, "Can you tell which magic weapon it is?"

If it really is half a magic weapon, then he'll make a killing.

Unfortunately, True Monarch Qian Shu shook his head: "Fellow Daoist Xiao, I really don't know much about magic treasures, and I have no way of deduce their origin."

"The clues in this regard are probably not of much help."

He had no ulterior motives whatsoever; he genuinely had never come into contact with any magical artifacts.

Moreover, it wasn't just him; very few people in the entire Compassionate Ocean had actually seen a magic weapon, let alone an ancient one.

In fact, Xiao Chen had noticed this aspect before when he borrowed ancient books.

That is, in ancient times, there were obviously a lot of magical treasures, and almost every major power had one or two.

Later, during the middle period, the number of new magical artifacts began to decrease significantly.

Later, it became even rarer to see such a thing. The detailed records of the Compassionate Ocean over the last 500,000 years do not contain any definite news about the birth of a new Dharma treasure.

In the last tens of thousands of years, even unsubstantiated rumors have disappeared.

Xiao Chen had been in a hurry and blurted out the question about his origins.

Looking back on this now, he immediately realized that True Lord Qian Shu hadn't lied to him; he really didn't know much about it.

"Oh, that's a real shame."

After realizing this, Xiao Chen's initial surprise turned into calm: "It seems I'll have to try my luck in the future."

Such incomplete ancient magical artifacts are not necessarily more useful than spiritual objects.

If the other half of the matching flying sword cannot be collected later, it will most likely only be able to be carried on one's person as a collectible.

And while this kind of thing is cheap, it's not exactly cheap.

However, if you were to put it up for auction or use it for barter, it's unlikely that anyone would be willing to pay a price, let alone a high one.

Objectively speaking, it is also extremely difficult for Xiao Chen to collect the other half of the ancient magic treasure.

God knows whether that half is lost, damaged, or taken elsewhere by its original owner.

No wonder Qian Shu Zhenjun, who was the first to realize this, showed no surprise.

For the monks of the Sea of ​​Compassion, it was more worthwhile to rely on a near-illusory hope of successful collection.

They might prefer to directly acquire a sword-type spirit item, as it's simpler and more effective.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen had another option compared to them.

That is the new cultivation world!
If he really can't find any clues, he can consider taking this relatively intact half of the scabbard over there to use as the main material for fusing weapon crafting techniques.

Thus, it was transformed into a fused spiritual artifact.

In other words, it can be used no matter what, and even if it is manufactured and then sold, it can at least generate cash.

Hey, wait a minute, isn't this a business opportunity?

Xiao Chen suddenly realized that there should be quite a few fragments of magical artifacts like the sword sheath in the Compassionate Sea and even the entire Eastern Region.

Because the crafting techniques here are not advanced enough, these fragments of magical artifacts cannot be utilized at all.

They can only sell them off at a low price or leave them to gather dust in the sect's warehouse, hoping that one day they can collect the remaining parts.

If he could take these fragments of magical artifacts to the new cultivation world, find the Broken Gold True Lord to forge them into fused spiritual artifacts, and then bring them back.

Wouldn't that be a great way to make a huge profit from the price difference?
I'm a fucking business genius!

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, are you alright?"

Qian Shu Zhenjun vaguely sensed Xiao Chen's emotional change, which immediately puzzled him.

It's easy to understand the shift from initial surprise to slight disappointment, but what does it mean when it suddenly and inexplicably turns into a sense of joy?
"I'm fine!"

Xiao Chen smiled slightly: "Next, I will need to trouble Fellow Daoist Qian Shu to take a look at other spiritual materials."

He's now actually hoping to find another fragment of a magical artifact.

Unfortunately, magical treasures are not something that can be found everywhere, and none of the other great demons had the same opportunity as the axefish, so naturally no extra surprises were found on them.

Xiao Chen only gained seventeen fourth-tier spiritual materials.

Of course, he immediately gave two of the spiritual materials that were unrelated to defensive spiritual artifacts to True Monarch Qian Shu as payment for processing the materials and helping with the refining process.

After all, it was to compress that three-thousand-foot-long seashell into a three-foot-long size.

The other party worked tirelessly for two whole days and two nights.

With the issue of spiritual materials resolved, the next step is to wait for the arrival of True Lord Treading Frost.

Although Xiao Chen had no demands that needed to be discussed at the upcoming conference, he could have left early.

But he still chose to stay and attend the conference.

Just consider it an eye-opening experience and something to do.

In any case, this is a major event involving all fourth-level cultivators in the entire Compassionate Sea.

It will most likely be written into the classics of major sects in the future.

For hundreds of thousands or even millions of years to come, as long as one sect still has its lineage, these things will continue to be passed down to future generations.

Rounding to the nearest whole number is equivalent to a momentous event that will be remembered for generations.

Pudu Temple assigned Xiao Chen to the same side hall as before, as his resting place.

So he practiced his spells while waiting.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The next night, as Xiao Chen was pondering the Soaring Palm technique, he heard someone gently knocking on the door: "Master Xiao, is this a convenient time to talk?"

Ok?
The voice sounded a little unfamiliar.

At least Xiao Chen couldn't tell who the person was at first glance.

However, he was too lazy to guess and immediately replied, "It's convenient, please come in!"

Judging from his title, he should be a Zen master from Buddhism, and I guess he's here to see the sword sheath.

Since Xiao Chen wanted to find out clues about the sword sheath and the ancient magic weapon, he naturally didn't hide anything.

Therefore, in the past few days, after hearing about this matter, the other cultivators also came to him out of curiosity to borrow the sword sheath for a look.

Few of the ancient magical artifacts have ever been seen by anyone.

Therefore, everyone wanted to take a look and touch it.

Xiao Chen wasn't the kind of person to be petty, so he let him touch her.

Magical artifacts are sturdy and cannot be broken by touching.

Anyway, he's not afraid of being targeted because of this, or rather, he'd love for someone to rob him.

After all, if someone really had designs on this, it means they at least had some relevant clues.

Otherwise, who would fight so fiercely over a fragment of an ancient artifact that is almost impossible to collect?

(End of this chapter)