Deities: Rulers of Nature

Beneath Mount Xi, the nine-layered underground cave also expanded outwards under the catalysis of the divine realm's origin. New spaces were opened up around each layer, and the height of each layer also increased, making some narrow caves wider.

Beneath the nine-story underground cave, three new caves are gradually taking shape, and soon their size will be in no way inferior to the previous nine.

The various mineral veins in the twelve-layered underground cave were also desperately absorbing the dissipated divine essence, and a large number of new ores were generated. Some of the mineral veins gradually showed some strange features, and the boundary between the mortal and the spiritual was becoming blurred.

Finally, two veins were the first to complete the transformation.

Mithril Vein

[Rank: Bronze]

[Spirituality: Magic]

[Appearance: The overall shape resembles a ten-kilometer-long silver vein...]

[Information: Mithril, imbued with magical energy, possesses excellent energy conductivity. Even a small amount incorporated into other materials can enhance the overall energy conductivity. Mithril itself is very light yet extremely strong, making it suitable for crafting weapons and armor...]

This is a silver ore vein located on the ninth level of the underground cave. After Ji Xuan observed some possibilities with his all-knowing eye, he took the initiative to move a large amount of silver ore here, and then guided some of the divine domain's origin to merge into it, directly creating a bronze-grade mithril ore vein.

For Ji Xuan's clan, the mithril mine is extremely useful; it might even improve the research efficiency of their first extraordinary equipment.

[Topaz Vein]

[Rank: Iron]

[Spirituality: Spiritual Affinity]

[Appearance: The overall structure resembles a seven-kilometer-long, yellow, crystalline mineral vein...]

[Information: Topaz veins, imbued with spiritual affinity, are an excellent material for crafting spellcasting weapons. Furthermore, topaz is relatively soft and possesses good ductility...]

The topaz vein on the seventh floor also gave Ji Xuan a pleasant surprise. Although the spirituality of these topaz stones was biased towards spellcasting, they could also be used as materials for crafting weapons with a focus on health and mana.

If we're really going to count, among all of Ji Xuan's clans, only the Staff of Nature in Qing Dao's hands can be considered a proper magic staff. The green papal robe and the crimson Xishan crown can only be considered extraordinary equipment with some spellcasting tendencies.

The Staff of Nature is a symbol of the High Priest, the Crown of Shishiyama is a symbol of the King of Shishiyama, and similarly, the Pope's Robe is a symbol of the Pope's identity in the Church of Nature.

Like the previous two, the main material of the papal robe is spiritual silk thread drawn by Ji Xuan from natural oak trees, woven together with silk thread drawn from various mineral essences.

The papal robe is a bluish-gold color, feels like silk, and can automatically adjust its size to fit the wearer's body.

The robe has extremely high defensive capabilities and can also conceal the wearer's aura. When damaged, it can repair itself by absorbing the life force of vegetation or minerals.

As extraordinary equipment crafted by Ji Xuan, all three possess growth potential. The Pope's Robe and the Xishan Crown are hard to say, but the Staff of Nature already shows some signs of being a legendary artifact.

Getting back to the main point, the fact that the entire Shan Hai Divine Realm only has these three extraordinary pieces of equipment is somewhat meager.

Now, with the addition of mithril and topaz veins, His people can craft extraordinary equipment on their own.

The changes in the underground caves ended there, but the encircling seas outside the central continent did not stop expanding. Compared to before, some areas of the four seas became more secluded, and huge shadows would occasionally rise from the sea surface and stir up waves.

If you put someone with thalassophobia or megalophobia here, they would probably faint immediately.

Another noticeable change occurred in the northern region, specifically in the spiritual realm of the Mysterious Glacier.

The Xuanbing Glacier, shrouded in snow and wind year-round, absorbed a large amount of divine essence, but did not undergo spiritual advancement. Instead, after reaching spiritual saturation, it frantically produced ice marrow.

From afar, drops of ice marrow, resembling sapphire sand, overflowed from the Xuanbing Glacier. These ice marrow were extremely light, and under the blowing of the north wind, they turned into countless blue specks of light, scattering like dandelions and drifting to all parts of the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm.

A completely new change began to appear: the bodies of the mortal beasts that came into contact with the ice marrow visibly faded from their original color, turning into a crystalline ice blue.

Their fur, flesh, blood, and even internal organs gradually become translucent, and from the outside, one can even clearly see the wriggling of the internal organs and the flow of blue blood.

Their bones also changed, radiating a jade-like luster, and a dense chill emanated from their bone marrow.

In the blink of an eye, a thin layer of frost covered the ground and plant surfaces near them, which melted into dew under the sun and then froze back into ice.

They are no longer ordinary wild beasts, but the third type of spirit beast in the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm: the Xuanbing Beast.

【Mystic Ice Beast】

[Rank: Iron]

[Spirituality: Cold Marrow]

[Appearance: A translucent spirit beast with an ice-blue body; its skeleton resembles a blue jade carving. When it moves, numerous small ice crystals condense around its body...]

[Quantity: Continuously increasing]

[Reproduction method: Can only be passively transformed through ice marrow erosion]

[Information: Spirit beasts are transformed from ordinary wild animals that have been eroded by ice marrow. They possess the spiritual essence of the cold marrow and can unleash ice elemental attacks. Their bones are excellent spiritual materials...]

For mortal beasts, the erosion of ice marrow is not so easy to withstand. Many will die during the transformation process or explode, with clumps of ice shards and bits of flesh intertwined with ice blue and blood red spraying around, or turning into lifelike ice sculptures.

Those Xuanbing beasts that survived the erosion of the ice marrow, whether they were physically strong, had a strong will, or were simply lucky, soon discovered that the living environment that had once made them feel warm and comfortable was gradually becoming unfriendly.

It's not the kind of unbearable pain, but rather a feeling of irritability that wells up from the bottom of your heart, and the longer it goes on, the stronger this irritability becomes.

Fortunately, an instinct told them that they should go to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Therefore, these Xuanbing beasts abandoned their former habitats and began to migrate towards Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Soon, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain became lively, with various kinds of Xuanbing Beasts frequently appearing.

Because their origins are all different, these Xuanbing Beasts have appearances ranging from carnivores like tigers, wolves, and lions to herbivores like deer, sheep, and cattle. In addition, Xuanbing Beasts that look like birds occasionally fly overhead, and Xuanbing Beasts that look like fish swim beneath the ice of the North Sea.

These ice beasts did not fight among themselves; on the contrary, they got along very harmoniously, as if they had lost some of their biological instincts.

Indeed, this is true. For the Xuanbing Beasts, the way they distinguish their own kind is not by appearance or size, but by the chilling aura that emanates from within.

Unlike their predecessors, the Xuanbing Beasts no longer need to eat meat or grass; ice and snow have become their main food source.

In the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, a mouthful of ice and snow is enough to sustain a Xuanbing Beast for a day. If the ambient temperature is low enough, they don't even need to eat; they can simply absorb the frost elements from the environment.

Conversely, if in a high-temperature environment, the Xuanbing Beast needs to consume large amounts of ice and snow to maintain its vital signs.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the appearance of the Xuanbing Beast is a great addition to the northern ecosystem of the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm.

After a large number of Xuanbing Beasts were transformed, the fusion of the divine realm's origin came to an end. Shifting our gaze from the ground to the sky, we found that there seemed to be more stars in the sky, and even the outlines of the Seven Luminaries seemed to have become much larger.

The boundary between the Sea of ​​the World and the Central Continent has stabilized again, and the crystal wall outside the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm has stopped expanding.

At this point, the divine essence taken from the Blood Sea Divine Realm was completely digested.

[Divine Realm: Mountain and Sea Divine Realm]

Lord of the Divine Realm: Ji Xuan

[Territory: Approximately 10,000 square kilometers]

[Divine Realm Environment: Mountains, Snow-capped Mountains, Plains, Caves, Rivers, Lakes, Oceans, Swamps...]

[Intelligent Races: Four-Armed Serpent Spirits, Cherry Blossom Spirits, Snowflake Spiders]

[Saints: Green and Crimson]

[Creatures of the Divine Realm: ...]

[Spiritual Plants: Blood Bone Lotus (Bronze), Blood Orchid (Bronze), Jade Bone Grass (Bronze), Cherry Dew Grass (Bronze), Jade Rice (Black Iron), Crystal Dew Fruit (Black Iron)...]

[Spirit Ore: Azure Mine Vein (Bronze), Mithril Mine Vein (Bronze), Topaz Mine Vein (Black Iron), Spirit Salt Mine Vein (Black Iron), Hematite Mine Vein (Black Iron), Moonstone Mine Vein (Black Iron)]

[Spiritual Locations: Moon Reflection Pool (Bronze), Mysterious Ice Glacier (Black Iron), Blood Spring (Black Iron)]

[Spirit Beasts: Sprout Deer, Molten Iron Beast, Mystic Ice Beast]