However, he was disappointed; after he refined all the nearby soil into fine ash, he still was unable to find anything suspicious.
Inside the Black Tower, Small Tower shook lightly in disdain and said, “A mere Flower Blossom Tier warrior wants to find a mustard seed micron, such foolish exaggerated hopes!”
Ling Han was curious and asked, “Then how strong does an elite have to be to find it?”
“At least in this realm, no one can do it,” Small Tower said very assuredly.
Ling Han nodded, remembering what Small Tower once said—if the Black Tower fully unleashed its power, it could destroy the entire vast land here. How could “trash” like Shattering Void Tier warriors possibly find such a grand kickass treasure?
With nothing to do, he took out the Black Stone and tempered his soul spirit.
Disordered thoughts of chaos arose as Ling Han stably guarded his mind, fending against it and improving the power of his divine sense.
When Ling Han’s spirit power was exhausted, he felt a clear improvement in the durability of his divine sense. Although it was now terribly fatigued, it was filled with tenacity, and was even more solidified.
Sensing once again outside, there was already no trace of Elder Nine Clouds. He was probably hiding somewhere, waiting for him to appear on his own.
Ling Han smiled and had a sumptuous meal with Hu Niu before leaving the Black Tower. Looking at the place, it was already five thousand meters away from where they were.
“Black Tower turns into dust, moving with the wind, so its naturally far away from the original place,” Small Tower said.
Ling Han nodded. Originally, the Black Tower wouldn’t float randomly, but Elder Nine Clouds dug three feet deep—as the dust flew upward, Black Tower naturally danced along with the wind, leaving far from the original place.
Presumably, Elder Nine Clouds should still be guarding the original place, staring with concentrated attention.
‘Ha, good luck to thee,’ Ling Han said inwardly and walked off swaggeringly.
After another day, he arrived at the second ring of the forest.
This was the last place where strongholds were. Further ahead was the core area of the forest, where terrifying Demonic Qi bred and influenced the living things inside the forest to crazily thirst for blood.
When martial artists stayed there for long, their temperament would change drastically, turning them into monsters that knew only of slaughter.
Ling Han didn’t rest here and advanced directly, entering the last area. He was very careful; from here on out, Flower Blossom Tier beasts would appear—that was no joke.
Without advancing for long, he encountered the assault of three beasts. One was at the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, and the other two were at the Spiritual Ocean Tier. They were not at all afraid, launching their attacks at Ling Han and Hu Niu.
Ling Han took a while to annihilate the Spiritual Pedestal Tier beast. He captured a Spiritual Ocean Tier beast alive, then brought it into the Black Tower after knocking it out and studied it quite a bit.
The result greatly surprised him. He didn’t find anything like the Demonic Qi; these beasts should’ve been imperceptibly influenced by the chaos intent of the black stone, becoming more bloodthirsty instinctively.
In other words, the living creatures here were completely “crazy.”
Chapter 403
Chapter 403: Spirit Grass Appears
Translator: Reverie_ Editor: Kurisu
Ling Han exited the Black Tower and walked inside the forest.
Venturing deeper with each step, he felt the chaos intent influencing him imperceptibly; if it weren’t for his Heaven Tier divine sense and him having a strong first impression of the chaos intent, he really might not have discovered it.
He activated the Eye of Truth and saw black-colored Demonic Qi everywhere, rising from the ground in threads and strands a thousand meters above the forest before disappearing.
This Demonic Qi was very weak, far from being comparable to what Asura Demon Emperor had used to control him, but it was greater in amount, covering the entire core area of the forest. The Demonic Qi here couldn’t control people, but it would cause a drastic change in temperament of living creatures.
What did the black stone have to do with Asura Demon Emperor?
According to reason, Asura Demon Emperor had already been suppressed for several millennia, but the Dark Demon Forest? He had never heard of it in his previous lifetime, so it should have appeared in the near millennia, meaning that the two shouldn’t have any relationship.
However, this might not be for certain. If the black stone appeared several millennia ago in the vast lands but was only buried deep underground, the Demonic Qi would never come to the surface. However, with the changes in the landscape, it was complete possible that the black stone would come to the surface. That’d explain the “delay” of several millennia.
His own understanding of this world was still very very little.
Ling Han withdrew the Eye of Truth. Inside the black stone was Chaos Origin Source, which could repair the Black Tower; he had to get it.
Advancing forward for a while, he suddenly felt a wave of heat rush over. Soon after, another wave of cold came pressing in, making his bones almost freeze. Weng , the Thunder Battle Armor was instantly activated, forming a barrier around him.
Heat and cold intertwined?
Found it!
He hurriedly leapt out. Xiu, xiu, xiu , after several leaps, an extraordinary sight appeared in front of him. This was a vacant area of thirty-meter radius, forming a perfect circle. Half of the land was fiery hot, with every single rock burnt red, while the other half was frozen by the cold; there wasn’t a trace of an intermediate region, but clear opposites.
At the center of this area, a rock bulged out, roughly half a meter tall, milky white, without a speck of dust. On top of this rock, an oddly shaped plant grew.
It was two feet tall, and on the bottom of it was a foot of crimson like agate, but on top one foot was crystal clear like ice. It only had two leaves, one on the bottom crimson like fire, and one on top like an ice sculpture.
Crimson Red Chilling Ice Grass!
Ling Han recognized it at first glance and was overjoyed beyond all expectations. He never would’ve thought it would go so smoothly, finding Crimson Red Chilling Ice Grass so quickly. He hurriedly walked forward, but only after a few steps, he felt a startling heat wave that even the Thunder Battle Armor couldn’t block assault him. Moreover, he also became severely dizzy.
Poison!
He hurriedly retreated and took out a petal of Golden Flower of the Stone, which was top grade antidote.
In a short while, the feeling of dizziness immediately disappeared. He moved the other end, wanting to enter through the icy glacial land. However, similarly, his blood began to freeze as the skin on his body began having traces of frost only after a few steps, making him feel severely nauseated.
Poison again—but this time it was chilling poison.
Ling Han took out and swallowed another Golden Flower of the Stone, retreating to a safe distance.
Cold and heat should be balanced, otherwise it wouldn’t form a symmetrical circle and one side would definitely be stronger. Thus, he couldn’t break through from the end of blazing flames, and evidently couldn’t enter from the chilling end, either.
No wonder this spirit grass could live for so long—he couldn’t even get close, let alone harvest it.
With the Thunder Battle Armor’s defense, he could endure cold and heat at least at the Spiritual Pedestal Tier in strength, but if it were Flower Blossom Tier, then there was no way. Not that the Thunder Battle Armor was unimpressive, but his tier was too low, unable to fully unleash the power that the treasured armor should have.
Such forces of cold and heat were probably very hard to withstand even for Flower Blossom Tier warriors, which was the reason why this stalk of spirit grass could live to this day.
Ling
Han thought, ‘If I use Black Tower’s power boost, then I can make my cultivation reach the fifth layer of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier. Then, if I activate the Thunder Battle Armor, I should be able to obtain the defense of late stage Flower Blossom Tier. But, is such defense enough?’
He hesitated because there was only one chance to use the Black Tower’s power boost. Although it was better used later, for his father, he naturally wouldn’t mind using it now… the condition was being able to obtain the stalk of spirit grass.
“Hm? Someone’s coming!” He was slightly startled, sensing two presences speedily approach, one of them extremely strong.
Xiu, xiu , two figures appeared one after the other. The one in front had revolving divine light all over that turned into sharp swords, extremely terrifying, as if it could tear apart heaven and earth.
The World’s Second Sword, Yao Hui Yue!
Behind him was Tong Zhi Ming, with humbleness written all over his face. But when his gaze swept by Ling Han, he immediately revealed and arrogant look and said, “After seeing my master, hurry up kneel down to pay respects!”
Ling Han sneered, and said, “I don’t have your body full of lowly bones, kneeling at every turn!”
“Impudence!” Tong Zhi Ming glared; this youngster was too arrogant, having only the fifth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier cultivation… Wait, this youngster was at most seventeen to eighteen years old, and was already at the fifth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier; even put in the middle state, it wouldn’t be seen as weak.
Strange… north region could actually foster such a talented person?
“Zhi Ming!” Yao Hui Yue reached out to hold him back. He looked at Ling Han filled with interest and said, “I like proud people, but only those that truly have the capacity for arrogance. You’re not bad, when I was your age, I was about the same cultivation.”
“Master is too humble!” Tong Zhi Ming hurriedly said. “Master was already ninth layer Spiritual Ocean Tier at seventeen years old and spent one year to solidify tier thereafter, fighting without meeting a match at Spiritual Ocean Tier.”
Yao Hui Yue smiled slightly, and said to Ling Han, “Youngster, cultivate diligently, I hope that one day you’ll qualify to challenge me.”
“Master!” Tong Zhi Ming cried out, never thinking that Yao Hui Yue would think so highly of Ling Han.
“I have a feeling, you might be a great rival in the future,” Yao Hui Yue said.
Tong Zhi Ming was even more shocked; this evaluation was too high, right? Since that was so, why not kill Ling Han earlier?
“I look forward to your challenge!” Yao Hui Yue said, extremely boldly.
This guy was really like Sword Emperor, arrogant and confident, unafraid to of all challenges.
Ling Han laughed aloud, and said, “Then wait two years for me!”
Two years?
Tong Zhi Ming almost fainted; two years to catch up with Yao Hui Yue in Tier? You’ve got to be dreaming.
“Hahahaha, interesting, interesting, meeting someone even more self-confident than I! However, I don’t have much patience. I won’t kill you this time, but the next time I see you, I’ll definitely take your life!” Yao Hui Yue laughed boisterously.
“Definitely won’t disappoint you,” Ling Han said indifferently, not caring at all.
Chapter 404
Chapter 404: Initial Success on Formations
Translator: Reverie_ Editor: Kurisu
Yao Hui Yue no longer paid attention to Ling Han; honestly, with Ling Han’ current strength, he really couldn’t interest him to fight; waving his hand could instantly kill Ling Han. He looked at the Crimson Red Chilling Ice Grass, taking large strides forward.
He chose the flame area, and instantly, waves of flames rose from the ground, spurting towards him.
Yao Hui Yue brushed casually with his hands as flashes of Sword Qi shot out, annihilating all of the flames. However, as he approached the center with each step, the power of the flames were more violent and turned into a fire snake, convolving around him.
“Extinguish!” Yao Hui Yue used as his fingers as a sword. Xiu, xiu, xiu, nine flashes of Qi shot out in unison.
Ling Han’s gaze brightened—nine flashes of Sword Qi!
This was a person who possessed the most potent Sword Qi he had seen thus far. It was unknown whether this was Yao Hui Yue’s limit; if he reached ten flashes of Sword Qi, then he qualified to form Sword Ray, stepping into the second level of sword path.
However, the limit of Sword Qi should be near thirty flashes. If it were him, he definitely wouldn’t form Sword Rays hastily, but instead push the amount of flashes of Sword Qi to the limit and then form the Rays; this way, the power of Sword Ray would be stronger.
The power of nine flashes of Sword Qi was shocking as expected. Although it was with fingers as a sword, it suppressed the fire snake completely. However, three more fire snakes gushed out, assaulting towards Yao Hui Yue.
Now, even the exceptional talent revealed a cautious expression, waving both hands as sword light instantly shocked the heavens.
He used the Mysterious Three Thousand.
‘Yes, yes, yes.’ Ling Han watched and confirmed it with his own sword technique, instantly feeling like he benefited profoundly. After all, the Heaven’s Sword Sect passed down this sword technique and Yao Hui Yue could receive the devoted guidance of elites within the sect, but Ling Han could only fumble on his own; the difference was too great.
There were some subtle changes which Ling Han praised inwardly as he kept becoming enlightened on why and how things were.
Although Yao Hui Yue was a talented swordsman, this land of fire was surely terrifying as endless flames swept over, forcing him to draw his sword.
Ding!
A cold ray of sword light, dazzling heaven and earth.
The fire snake was once again suppressed, but the fiercer the suppression, the fiercer the backlash; more fire snakes scuttled out as if they were inextinguishable.
‘Yao Hui Yue is very strong!’ Ling Han said inwardly. This person’s tier was only at the first layer of the Flower Blossom Tier, but his battle prowess was at least ten stars and easily surpassed nine stars; moreover, this obviously couldn’t possibly be Yao Hui Yue’s full strength.
Yao Hui Yue was still advancing, but turned slower and slower, finally stopping two meters from the Crimson Red Chilling Ice Grass. It seemed he was a few steps away from being able to harvest the spirit medicine, but because of the difference of these few steps, it was so close yet worlds apart.
At last, Yao Hui Yue could only retreat without choice.
Ling Han assessed it; apparently only the defense of the peak stage of the Flower Blossom Tier could get close to that spirit medicine. So, he definitely had to improve his cultivation to the ninth layer Spiritual Ocean Tier and then use Black Tower’s power boost—then he would have seventy percent certainty.
It was enough!
He took out another petal of Golden Flower of the Stone, threw it towards Yao Hui Yue, and said, “The fire and ice are both strangely poisonous; this is Golden Flower of the Stone, it detoxifies.”
Yao Hui Yue caught it, shoving it in his mouth without thinking. Tong Zhi Ming was just about to shout out “Master,” but Yao Hui Yue had already swallowed it, nodding towards Ling Han in gratitude.
Ling Han smiled and turned to leave.
His current cultivation was still a bit weak, and staying here had no meaning. It would be better to first find the Heavenly Luck Stone and return when he’d reached the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier, which would roughly take three months.
In the following few days, he wandered all over, searching for the whereabouts of the Heavenly Luck Stone, but had no results. Instead, he encountered a Flower Blossom Tier beast and was chased closely, hiding inside the Black Tower in the end.
Flower Blossom Tier opponentss were too strong; even if he had tow tenth tier Spirit Tool at hand, he wasn’t qualified to fight them.
/> Other people couldn’t stay in this area for long, spending at most ten days before they had to leave. They had to at least retreat to the second ring, dispelling the chaotic evil thoughts before reentering the core area.
However, Ling Han was unafraid of them—entering Black Tower once, he could expel all the violent chaotic thoughts inside. Moreover, after he kept enduring and toughening his divine sense with the black stone, he gained a considerable immunity to such assaults of chaos.
In a flash, one month’s time had already passed as more and more elites entered this area. The news of the Heavenly Luck Stone had already spread; perhaps Spiritual Infant Tier elites would be enthused, seizing this chance for their own descendants or inheritors.
Ling Han’s cultivation advanced into the sixth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier and reached the late stage, not too far from breaking through to the seventh layer. This was within his expectations, but what made him exulted was that he had a breakthrough in formations.
He successfully carved fifteen formation patterns on a rock—not only was it without a teeny bit of error, but also was it without pauses.
Perfect!
After carving different formation patterns on seven stone rods, he sprayed them offhandedly, but it fanned out orderly into seven positions.
Instantly, each formation pattern lit up, drawing the power of heaven and earth in a miraculous way through the seven stone rods. A spirit snake was forming, but as it had just started, pa, pa, pa, the seven stone rods exploded into pieces and the formation immediately crumbled.
It couldn’t be helped. These were only normal stones—how could they possibly bear the power of heaven and earth drawn by a fourth tier formation? Not to mention fourth tier, even second tier and third tier were a no-go—they would only be able to bear a formation at the first tier.
Ling Han carved on rocks, not wanting to waste the Purple Patterned Gold he had bought. Fifth tier rare gold naturally shouldn’t be wasted, and fortunately, it weren’t sixth tier; otherwise, he might not even be able to buy it even if he were willing to put up a large amount of three star Origin Crystals—worldly treasures were extremely rare.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 216