Promise!

Chapter 245, Entering the Mountains

For the next half month of the Yuanqi Tide, Zhuang Jin mainly searched for natural treasures suitable for him and for refining ice-attribute attributes, but he did not encounter any, nor did he find any natural treasures of other attributes suitable for refining.

This is normal. Natural treasures suitable for refining attributes are already extremely rare, and the chance of finding one with the same attribute is even smaller.

To be honest, despite Zhuang Jin's tireless search, if he actually encountered a rare ice-attribute treasure suitable for refining, he would subconsciously doubt his luck, wondering if someone had set a trap for him.

Such a large-scale surge of vital energy is not something that any one person can dominate. The 'Zhuang-Ming rivalry' between Zhuang Jin and Ming Guangxie was only temporary, and it quickly faded away as they each dealt with it calmly.

—Zhuang Jin's "little essay" drew the attention of the Suspended Heaven Division, which was somewhat taboo among the innate martial artists outside the three major families. It was not advisable to go any further and be too aggressive. In any case, the trap had already been set, and Ming Guangxie was already being watched by the Suspended Heaven Division. Doing more for the time being would only bring trouble to himself. Too much of a good thing would be bad. As for Ming Guangxie, who was being watched by the Suspended Heaven Division, he had no choice but to stay at home and keep a low profile. He had already behaved himself.

The drama surrounding the "Zhuang-Ming rivalry" only dominated the city's headlines for a few days before being overshadowed by new events. In this once-every-five-years major upheaval, the city's stage is a stage of constant flux, with one event following another.

One after another, innate martial artists entered the Funiu Mountains and then disappeared without a trace. Among them were a few innate martial artists with extraordinary potential, casting a shadow over the hearts of some concerned individuals.

As old talents fall and new talents rise, five innate martial artists have emerged in this month. Each of these extraordinary figures is a legend, and their appearance will cause a huge sensation, greatly encouraging first-, second-, and third-rate families and inspiring countless lower-level martial artists.

In such a prosperous year, there would be no shortage of treasures appearing in the Funiu Mountains. Every three to five days, the Xuantian Bureau would release information about a treasure that would appear in the auction, pushing the already lively and expectant atmosphere in the city to rise like waves.

On the fifteenth day of the first month of the sixty-third year of the Qianyuan era, the state-level first-class auction truly began, pushing the atmosphere that had been brewing for so long to its peak.

In the top-tier auction, there were everything from martial arts techniques and cultivation resources to treasures that enhanced the soul, treasures that refined attributes, and pills that helped break through bottlenecks, such as the Corpse-Subduing Pill and the Qi-Condensing Pill.

Zhuang Jin coveted many of these items, but unfortunately, he lacked sufficient credentials and contribution points.

Oh, right, the treasure that appeared at the auction, suitable for refining attributes, wasn't ice-attribute, but wood-attribute.

In fact, the rare and precious materials suitable for refining attributes produced in the Funiu Mountains are mostly of the wood element. Encountering the wind spirit pearl of the wind element involves a great deal of luck. As for the rare and precious materials of the ice element suitable for refining attributes, the Yuanzhou region of the Nine Provinces, with its wondrous Liuguang Snowfield, has the highest probability of producing them.

At the auction, Zhuang Jin only acquired a few rare materials to prepare for his envisioned core energy storage and divine weapon capable of exceeding limits at critical moments.

……

Speaking of the large-scale energy tide in January last month, Zhuang Jin reaped a considerable harvest. Afterwards, he sold the various resources he obtained, including some that were not particularly rare, to the Suspended Sky Division, earning a total of fifty to sixty million contribution points. He then exchanged these points for materials to craft another Qi Bomb.

The reason there was only one is that after Zhuang Jin tried it, he found that the explosive force of the Qi Bomb was too dispersed. It could severely injure or even kill martial artists at the second level of the Innate Qi Realm, or strange beasts at the Sixth Fu Realm that had tempered three or four Fu organs. However, it posed a relatively limited threat to martial artists at the third level of the Innate Qi Realm, as well as strange beasts at the Sixth Fu Realm that had tempered five or six Fu organs.

In contrast, another approach, which involves storing core Qi and unleashing explosive power at critical moments, using weapons to restrain Qi and combining them with one's own martial arts technique—the Meridian-Severing Divine Sword—to condense the Qi of a second-level Qi Realm martial artist into a single sword strike that can unleash explosive power, seems to have a brighter future. Therefore, more resources are planned to be invested in this area.

This plan for a divine weapon had actually begun long ago. Zhuang Jin hadn't been working in isolation; when it came to weaponry, he consulted Shen Tu Biao, a master forger in his inner circle. Upon seeing this 'new type of divine weapon,' Shen Tu Biao was like a gourmet seeing a delicious meal, racking his brains and putting in tremendous effort.

Project Divine Weapon was not progressing smoothly, with two major problems.

First, the load-bearing material.

Innate Qi is difficult for ordinary materials to withstand, let alone to unleash beyond its limits. To condense and output the entire Innate Qi of a martial artist in an instant requires extremely high-quality materials.

They had been stuck at this step for a long time, until the day Zhuang Jin and Ming Guangxie returned from their struggle for the Wind Spirit Pearl, when Shen Tu Biao left a message saying there was new progress.

Second, the core of the Qi storage system.

Specialization is key, and this goes beyond the realm of conventional weapon forging. Even Shen Tu Biao couldn't offer much help, so Zhuang Jin had to do it himself.

However, after creating the Qi Bomb, the same approach was adopted, using the micro-engraving method of chips from the previous life. Although it was expensive, this problem was easily solved.

With these two problems solved, only the final step remains: to perfectly fuse the energy storage core with the weapon and forge it into a complete divine weapon.

Zhuang Jin auctioned off several precious materials at the auction, and with the remaining tens of millions of contribution points, he exchanged them for many other materials. He and Shen Tu Biao worked day and night for several days, and finally succeeded on this day.

Once completed, this sword resembles an ice crystal, its blade almost transparent and invisible. Only upon close inspection can one discover the extremely fine and intricate circuits within.

“Brother Zhuang, this Ice Soul Divine Sword is extremely strong due to the precious materials you provided. It is strong enough to withstand innate qi. It goes without saying that it can be used normally, not to mention the super-limit state you envisioned.”

Shen Tu Biao excitedly introduced to Zhuang Jin, "Nurture it in daily life to charge the core of the Ice Soul Divine Sword. At critical moments, Brother Zhuang can combine it with the martial art 'Intercepting Meridian Divine Sword' to condense the nearly all the innate qi stored in it—equivalent to that of a second-level Innate Qi Realm martial artist—into a single sword strike. With such a strike, even a third-level Innate Qi Realm martial artist could be severely injured if they are not careful."

"It is said that there is a secret technique called 'Sword Nourishing Technique,' which uses qi to nourish the sword in daily life. When the sword is actually drawn, it can unleash power far exceeding the normal state. However, I can confirm that the secret technique 'Sword Nourishing Technique' is definitely far from reaching that level."

"Thank you very much, Brother Shentu!" Zhuang Jin accepted the sword, delighted with it. With this trump card, he would be much more secure in hunting ice-attribute beasts and obtaining beast cores in the Funiu Mountains later.

"There's just one thing Brother Zhuang should be aware of: condensing all the innate qi of a second-level innate qi realm martial artist into a single sword strike will place an extremely heavy burden on the Ice Soul Divine Sword. Even with all the special materials used, I estimate it can only withstand a maximum of three strikes. In other words, it's fine for normal use, but if you were to use such an overpowered sword strike, it would shatter after three strikes."

This is actually Shen Tu Biao's solution. Since it is too demanding to be able to withstand multiple loads and be used repeatedly like a conventional weapon, let's change our approach and treat it as a consumable item that can be used only once or a few times. That would greatly reduce the difficulty.

He said it with some heartache. The sword had taken tens of millions of contribution points to forge, but all he got was a consumable item that could only be used three times. As a blacksmith, he felt it was a waste and his wallet was aching.

Zhuang Jin took this in stride. He believed that the contribution points were meant to be used; they had no value if left unused. Only when they were transformed into real trump cards were they truly worthwhile.

"By the way, Brother Shentu, I'll transfer the casting fee to you." Zhuang Jin said, taking out the token.

"Haha, that won't be necessary!"

Shen Tu Biao, being a straightforward and generous person, waved his hand and refused, saying, "Brother Zhuang's forging of this sword has greatly inspired me as well, so consider this forging experience as payment."

"Let's keep things separate. This sword took two years from conception to completion. Brother Shentu must have put in a lot of effort. Please accept it." Zhuang Jin insisted without further ado, and only after paying three times the normal forging price did he take the sword and leave.

Watching Zhuang Jin's retreating figure, Shen Tu Biao sighed inwardly, "Brother Zhuang is a kind and honest man!"

……

In the Funiu Mountains, Zhuang Jin, carrying the Ice Soul Divine Sword and accompanied by the Purple Kangaroo, followed a familiar route. After passing through a perilous area and overcoming a barrier, he ventured into the second level of the forbidden zone for the first time.

He could clearly feel that, compared to the energy tide of last month, even in this second-level forbidden land, the concentration of heaven and earth energy had greatly decreased. In comparison, it felt somewhat desolate and decaying, like a messy beach after the tide had receded.

However, this is actually the normal situation; the abnormal and rare period is the primordial tide.

'The primordial energy tide, though I don't know the principle behind it, only lasts for one month a year, which is a very short period in comparison; this is normal in the Funiu Mountains.'

It's like the year-end celebration – a celebration for both martial artists and mythical beasts.

During this period, treasures appeared in the Funiu Mountains, and all sorts of powerful beasts broke away from their territories, running around everywhere and vying for the treasures.

Now that a large-scale energy tide has just passed and the grand carnival has ended, various powerful beasts have returned to their territories to rest and digest their energy, which has greatly reduced the danger in the Funiu Mountains.

Even so, Zhuang Jin was not careless and made full preparations. For example, he exchanged with people in the Gangqi Realm small circle for a map showing the distribution of powerful beasts in the second level of forbidden lands, and he also brought along the purple kangaroo.

Normally, the various powerful beasts in the Funiu Mountains each have their own territory. They may conceal their presence, but they generally stay near the natural treasures in their own territories. Now, by having the purple kangaroo investigate and avoid danger, this treasure-hunting rat has become a danger detector.

Swish!
Zhuang Jin concealed his presence and flew past quickly with the purple kangaroo. If one were to look down from above at this moment, one could see that he was not traveling in a straight line, but rather in a rather winding path, and sometimes he would stop abruptly and detour to the side.

This was naturally to avoid powerful alien beasts.

Of course, some of the powerful beasts had extremely keen senses and noticed Zhuang Jin, but they didn't move.

—Those who have survived a massive energy surge and returned to their territory have all reaped considerable rewards and are currently processing them. Zhuang Jin, however, deliberately avoided their territory, at most brushing past them without entering the core. Since he was merely passing through, why would they chase after him?

This is like a tiger that has eaten its fill, and when a wolf passes by the edge of its territory, it doesn't linger or chase after it to fight.

The journey was smooth, and we made our way to Yunchi Mountain.

Zhuang Jin's physique is of the ice attribute. To refine the attribute, he naturally needs the core of an ice-attribute beast. Considering the beast treasure he used when he reached the Meridian Opening Realm, he set his sights on the Netherworld Python of Yunchi Mountain.

"My goal is to reach the Six Organs Realm, having refined one or two organs, equivalent to a Netherworld Python at the first level of the Innate Qi Realm in martial arts."

"Even with a beast core of a lower realm, refining attributes is too inefficient; even with a Netherworld Python of a higher realm, without using my trump cards, I might not be able to kill it, and even killing it would be difficult, and the commotion would be too great, potentially attracting danger."

This was the best choice Zhuang Jin made based on her own circumstances and the overall cost-effectiveness.

……

Ten days later.

The second forbidden land, Yunchi Mountain.

Towering peaks rise amidst swirling clouds and mist, revealing numerous secluded pools of varying heights within the mountains, shimmering like mirrors in the sunlight.

On the mountainside, a line of water flashed by, followed by a white figure walking on the water.

This was Zhuang Jin chasing a Netherworld Python. As the python and the man passed by, they startled many strange beasts.

A gigantic, mountain-sized, blue tortoise spews out water-dragon-like cannonballs; a group of transparent ice carp, like chameleons, change colors and exhale a cloud of colorful bubbles; a slender, monster-like creature sticks its head out... Instantly, chaos erupts, with chickens flying and dogs running wild.

Swish swish!
Soon, after chasing for a mile or two, Zhuang Jin intercepted the Netherworld Python in a mountain cave. With his sword energy crisscrossing, he killed the python and took out a cherry-sized, uneven beast core with two lines on its head.

'The beast cores I need to refine my attributes: one for a beast core at the peak of the Six Organs Realm; three or four for a beast core at the Six Organs Realm refining three or four organs; and ten for a beast core at the Six Organs Realm refining one or two organs… With this one, I now have seven, almost there.'

Zhuang Jin, relying on his strength to bully the weak, easily overpowered the Netherworld Python, a cultivator at the second level of the Innate Qi Realm, who had only tempered one or two of the Six Organs Realm.

The reason we only obtained seven beast cores in these ten days is because we spent more time searching for our targets.

—Yunchi Mountain is not only home to the Netherworld Python, but also to other strange beasts he had seen before, such as the Azure Giant Turtle, the Illusory Ice Carp, and the Water Dinosaur. He would simply avoid those with suitable cultivation levels, such as the Five Viscera Realm or even higher.

Zhuang Jin was about to turn and leave to continue his search for prey.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp!"

At this moment, the purple kangaroo suddenly emerged from Zhuang Jin's clothes, pointed into the cave, and began to dance wildly, clearly sensing some treasure.

Is there any treasure in this cave?

Zhuang Jin paused and turned around to look.

……

(End of this chapter)