Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 80 The Potential of a Magic Weapon (Bonus Chapter)
Fang Shu immediately turned around and walked to the spot where the shadowy cat was lying down.

When he arrived at this place, the restless Gu worms on his body all became quieter and stopped rushing out.

However, Fang Shu tentatively took out another Gu worm from his sleeve.

Under his watchful eye, the Gu worm, though not as clearly targeted as a leech, still lingered in mid-air for a while before finally landing on the ground with a thud.

It looked around and finally approached the little bug, wanting to squeeze into the crevice in the rock as well.

Immediately, Fang Shu realized that this place was probably the most concentrated area of ​​metal and stone poison in the entire cave.

These venomous insects, especially that leech.

Their sensitivity to the poisons of metal and stone far exceeds that of Fang Shu. In addition, the Gu worms do not understand the concept of restraint and only act on instinct or command.

Without further hesitation, Fang Shu forcibly captured the two Gu worms, held his breath, and, holding his long tongue sword, began to dig into the ground.

Sizzle! Cut marks appeared on the large stalactite in the cave.

The moment the stone was cut open, Fang Shu felt a metallic taste in his mouth and nose again. Even with the lead stone as a barrier, he could still feel his bones starting to itch.

Fortunately, this level is still within his ability to endure for a short period of time.

Distracted by the Taoist talisman, Fang Shu checked his physical condition and then continued.

Buzzing, the stalactites continued to be cut open.

As it turned out, Fang Shu himself was fine, but the Second Tribulation Long Tongue Sword in his hand was the first to be unable to withstand it. Even though he hadn't infused it with much blood and qi, the sword became extremely hot, making it difficult for him to hold.

I wonder whether this thing will be damaged or benefited after today.

But Fang Shu couldn't care less about that now. In no time, he cut the stalactite, which was as big as a millstone, into several pieces and lifted them all up.

Then a surprising scene unfolded: the cut stalactite contained nothing, but beneath it was a flat stone platform. The platform was engraved with twisted patterns, flickering and serpentine, all of which were cryptic characters.

Fang Shu immediately had the Daoist talisman memorize all these secret characters, and then he rubbed his long tongue sword on a millstone-sized stone platform.

He thought to himself, "Is this... a Dharma altar?"

As the object resembling an altar was revealed, Fang Shu began digging into the surrounding rock strata again. He quickly removed all the stalactites within a ten-foot radius, revealing the altar buried deep beneath.

After a careful examination, just as he had expected, what appeared before him was indeed a Dharma altar!
Furthermore, the cryptic writings on the altar are interconnected, and the altar itself still retains some spiritual energy.

Although Fang Shu couldn't understand the meaning of the secret texts on the altar for the time being, it didn't stop him from trying to figure out the purpose of this method altar by following the clues.

Soon, based on the direction of the secret text and the concentration of the metal poison, he turned his attention to the altar itself.

呲呲!

A clanging sound rang out, and he thrust out his long tongue sword, intending to tear the altar, which was about ten feet in diameter, into eight pieces.

However, the altar was made of sturdy material and had been nourished by spiritual energy for countless years, with abundant metal element inside, which caused the Long Tongue Sword to suffer a minor loss.

Fortunately, the Long Tongue Sword was not yet destroyed, and the secret inscriptions on the altar had long been worn out, leaving it in a damaged state. Fang Shu patiently cut and slashed, finally managing to divide the altar into several pieces.

Immediately, a bead the size of a thumb rolled down from the very center of the altar.

The moment it appeared, the concentration of the metal poison in the entire cave reached its peak, the metallic and fishy smell in Fang Shu's mouth became even stronger, and even the Dao talisman in his mind was frantically warning him.

The bead was jet black, like a black pearl, and was the source, or rather the core, of the poison in the entire cave.

Fang Shu squinted and saw that the air around the bead was distorted, appearing extremely hot. Although the bead itself did not emit light, the air a foot away was glowing brightly, forming signs of will-o'-the-wisps burning.

Fang Shu stared intently at the bead, his breathing becoming heavy. He realized that he had encountered another treasure, and its value was likely even greater than that of the purple lead cloud breast milk!

He pondered for only a moment before immediately withdrawing his thoughts, not daring to drift off into thought again.

Because the Daoist talisman was frantically warning him, his simple lead-stone armor was insufficient to effectively shield him from the potent metallic poison emanating from the bead. The metallic poison was rapidly accumulating within his body, soon to cause irreparable damage.

Fang Shu's eyes flickered, intending to put the bead back into the altar and seal it again with fragments of the altar and stalactites.

However, as he was about to act, a thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately extended his long tongue sword, flicking the quail-sized bead into the air, and promptly opened a bag of purple lead mica milk in his hand.

With a thud, the jet-black bead immediately fell into the water sac and soaked in the purple lead mica milk.

With the purple lead cloud breast milk acting as a barrier, the dense poison of metal and stone around them quickly subsided, soon dropping to the level when Fang Shu first entered the cave, and was still dissipating at a very weak degree.

This situation made Fang Shu breathe a sigh of relief, and he looked with even greater surprise at the altar beneath his feet and the surrounding caves.

Fang Shu had already begun to speculate: "Could it be that this place is not naturally formed, but man-made, and that altar just now was a key point of a formation... Is there a formation set up here?"

With this guess, Fang Shu immediately abandoned his idea of ​​calling his master over.

Following the direction of the excavated altar, he continued digging in this cave, knocking down several fluorescent stalactites.

Soon, based on various clues found in the cave, Fang Shu confirmed the origin of this place.

This place is indeed not purely man-made, but rather semi-man-made. Someone set up an array in this natural mineral vein cave containing the poison of metals and stones, and then used unimaginable methods to draw the poison of metals and stones from the mineral vein into this cave, creating this dangerous and poisonous place.

The ultimate essence of the poison in this place is the black bead that Fang Shu just sealed in the purple lead cloud mother's milk!
Realizing this, Fang Shu's gaze shifted again.

He searched his memory and, based on the existing clues, confirmed the origin of the black bead in his hand.

This object is not a ritual implement, but a rare and precious item, also known as "lead essence and poisonous sand".

It is a precious material for refining qi after lead stone has been refined, and it belongs to the crystallization of the poison of metal and stone.

Similar to it are copper essence amber, iron essence amber, mercury essence amber, silver essence amber, gold essence amber, and so on. Among them, the poison beads formed from lead, copper, and iron are the most common and the least valuable of the poison ambers.

They can all be used as medicine, and refined into magical artifacts like divine sand, which can be used to poison thieves. It is said that the best of them, the Golden Essence Poison Sand, can even poison a Golden Core Immortal and destroy his immortality.

However, even the lowest grade of lead-refined poison sand is a spiritual material, a material used by spirit immortals, and rarely seen by human immortals who refine essence!
Therefore, Fang Shu was not disappointed at all that the "poisonous sand" in his hand was actually lead essence.

Moreover, the one in his hand was not a scattered grain of sand, but a perfectly round one, as large as a quail egg. This could no longer be called poisonous sand, but should be called a "poisonous pearl" or a "precious pearl," and its quality was even more superior.

Using such an object as medicine or breaking it down to make magical artifacts like divine sand would be a complete waste of its resources. It should be understood that it is itself a natural magical artifact, and could even be refined into the legendary "magical treasure".

Thinking of this, Fang Shu's breathing suddenly became heavy:
"A magical artifact embryo!?"

A magical artifact possesses extraordinary effects, unlike a magic weapon.

The beauty of these items lies in their "treasure" nature; they are not only rare and difficult to obtain, but also have astonishing uses.

A ritual implement can only serve as a tool, becoming a bridge and extension of the hands and feet for the immortals to cast spells. It must be used in conjunction with corresponding spells to exert its wonderful use. Otherwise, if an ordinary immortal obtains it, he would be lucky to use it as a fire poker temporarily.

However, magical artifacts are not limited to magic. It is said that they contain the principles of heaven and earth, and that carrying them can allow one to merge with the energy of immortals.

These abilities may increase a deity's comprehension of a particular type of magic, enhance the power of a deity's casting of a particular type of magic, or make a deity immune to the effects of certain spells, strengthen their physique, enhance their spiritual sense, increase their escape speed, and so on.

In short, ritual implements are tools of "techniques" with a single use; magical treasures are treasures of "the Way" with a wide range of uses.

Thinking of this, Fang Shu was immediately moved.

As a celestial being, the tools of "technique" are naturally indispensable to him, as they are related to his life. However, the treasures of "the Way" are undoubtedly even more precious and rare to him, things that can only be encountered by chance and cannot be sought after.

Fang Shu knew immediately that this matter must not be revealed to others, lest it bring trouble, and that he had to deal with it as soon as possible.

He then sat cross-legged on the ground, picked up the water sac containing the lead-poisoned pearl, stuffed it into his chest, and then used his qi and blood to carefully polish the poisoned pearl through the purple lead-containing milk.

The two come into contact.

Fang Shu discovered that this object was indeed extraordinary. Its bead-like body was like a human body, easily containing his blood and qi without any stiffness. It was truly a potential magic treasure!
(End of this chapter)