The forest of blood-red icicles appeared quite strange with its ground littered with the corpses of the small silver beasts.
……
In some lightless place in the great canyon, two voices were calmly having a chat in the darkness.
“Weren’t you too sloppy, using both Ironfire Ants and Silverlight Mice? Although we’ve always played our tricks in each of the treasure hunts, they were well hidden. The appearance of the black desert and blood icicle forest is far too brazen. Apart from the few that didn’t encounter these obstacles, I fear that a majority of Devil and Righteous Dao cultivators will have died. When that time comes, those Nascent Soul cultivators will no longer be fooled.” A voice spoke with slight fear.
“Fool? Did you truly believe that our previous actions in the Heavenvoid Hall were unnoticed by the Righteous and Devil Daos? They had long figured them out but they chose to feign ignorance due to our Star Palace’s power. They also knew that we could only control a few of the Heavenvoid Hall’s minor restrictions that wouldn’t result in too great a death. In each treasure hunt, it would merely result in a few more deaths of the Righteous and Devil Dao Core Formation cultivators.” The other voice unhurriedly replied.
“The black desert and the blood icicle forest are the most ferocious restrictions I can control. It is only somewhat of a pity for them to be used like this. After all, as the previous generation masters of the Star Palace, we’ve spent quite some effort to grasp them.” He unhurriedly spoke with a tone of regret.
“There is nothing to regret! Right now, there are rumors widely spread that the two sages have reached a crucial point in their seclusion and cannot be contacted, causing the inhabitants of the Scattered Star Seas to be alarmed. However, this has caused the inner disciples of the Star Palace to become restless. They are completely reliant on us old fellows to handle the arduous affairs of the palace. With the Righteous and Devil Dao starting to stir, it is becoming far more difficult to suppress them. Although each of the sides alone prove no threat to us, it will become dire once they join forces.
“The only method we currently have is to forcefully cripple the strength of the two sides and cause them to become doubtful and unsure of our true circumstances. After all, given the many years that the Star Palace has governed the Scattered Star Seas, it is impossible for them to not have misgivings. So long as we can drag this on for a moment more, the two sages will be able to leave seclusion. At that time, even if the two sides joined hands, we won’t have to worry about them. Our two Lord Sages’ Divine Essencefused Light will be able to force the Mad Matron of Myriad Gates of Enlightenment and Devil Saint Island’s Archsaint of the Six Paths to retreat.”
“The usage of the Ironfire Ants and Silverlight Mice restrictions were unavoidable. Apart from these two restrictions, none of the others are nearly as destructive against Core Formation cultivators. They all lack the proper fierceness to admonish them and reflect our unyielding attitude. As for your fears of the two sides using this as a pretext to act, they are groundless. Those among the dead aren’t their own personal disciples, and they are our opposition in the contest for the Heavenvoid Cauldron. What we’ve done isn’t enough for them to act! At most, they’ll be inwardly seething.”
The cold voice sneered as he gave his long explanation.
The first voice remained silent as if approving of the other’s judgements.
Chapter 466: Refined Crystal
“How many swarms have we hit since we’ve traveled together?” Han Li slowly asked as he looked at the insect corpses on the ground.
“Seven! Although we’ve encountered many ant swarms, we haven’t encountered any that numbered in the ten thousands.” Standing at Han Li’s side, Yuan Yao obediently replied.
They’d already traveled together for half a day. Han Li frowned at hearing the number and his expression grew sullen as if he had worries on his mind.
After some thought, he swept his arm towards his Gold Devouring Beetles that had finished consuming the corpses. They followed his command, transforming into a cloud of sparkling light as they flew back into his floating spirit beast pouches. Han Li then calmly put them away.
“What? Fellow Daoist Han appears unhappy? We’ve already crossed through the center of the desert, the most dangerous area. The path out should prove to be much safer.” Yuan Yao blinked upon seeing Han Li’s expression and spoke with slight confusion.
“Safer? Do you really believe so?” Han Li glanced at Yuan Yao and sneered.
“Could it be that there are still more dangers ahead?” Yuan Yao unconsciously frowned and spoke without confidence.
With an indifferent expression, Han Li said, “I don’t know if there are more dangers ahead, but I am certain of something. We will be quite lucky to not encounter any ant swarms that don’t have any late stage ants. As of now, we’ve yet to encounter any megacolonies that contain late grade ants. We have to be more careful on the way out. If we don’t encounter any mishaps after half a day more of walking, we should be truly safe.”
Yuan Yao’s complexion turned white, but after a short moment, she feigned indifference. She forced a smile and said, “Aren’t you being paranoid?”
“I hope that is the case!” Han Li didn’t continue speaking despite knowing that that the late stage ants existed among the Ironfire Ants. Although the strength of late stage ants are ordinary, their astonishing intelligence would be certain to prove more than troublesome.
Due to their previous conversation, they remained completely silent for the next four hours.
However, something strange had occurred. They hadn’t encountered a single ant colony on their path. Yuan Yao had become conscious that something was amiss, and her face revealed a trace of unease.
But, when they mindlessly climbed up a tall sand dune, they saw an astonishing scene ahead of them.
“This is...” Yuan Yao wore a terrified expression. Her red lips moved several times, but no words came out. While Han Li’s expression was a bit more calm, he was still quite alarmed.
In the sand ahead of them was a solidarity pillar of ice with a height of about a hundred meters.
The ice pillar was extremely cold. Not only did it flicker with faint white light, it also contained a black giant of the same height. The giant appeared hideous. It had wide, glaring eyes and a smooth, shiny bald head, and was frozen inside the pillar of ice. How strange!
After staring at it for a moment, Han Li immediately swept his eyes past the nearby sand. The nearby ground was filled with holes of all sizes as if a great battle had been fought there.
A strange expression stirred from Han Li’s eyes as they fell upon the giant once more. But when Han Li gazed at one of the giant’s eyes, he couldn’t help but shout in surprise.
“Did Fellow Daoist Han discover something?” Yuan Yao couldn’t help but turn her head and ask after hearing Han Li.
Han Li slightly smiled in response. He then narrowed his eyes and released his spiritual sense. After confirming that nothing was concealed in the nearby area, he bluntly walked down the sand dune and towards the pillar of ice in large strides.
“Humph!” Yuan Yao sulked and expressed discontent at Han Li’s attempt to remain mysterious, but she still followed him. After all, she’d have to waste magic power to resist the high temperatures if she left the range of Han Li’s Glacial Ice Pearl.
“Winged Ants!” When Han Li arrived about forty meters away from the pillar of ice, Yuan Yao spoke with astonishment.
At her current distance, she was finally able to clearly see the giant’s true appearance, a formation of countless black winged ants! From a distance it could be passed off as genuine - a truly inconceivable affair! But as the Ironfire Ants remained completely motionless inside the pillar of ice, it was unknown whether they were alive or dead.
At that moment, Han Li stopped and started muttering to himself as he gazed at the ice pillar ahead of him.
After examining it, Yuan Yao slowly said, “Since
these ants are already dead, let’s go on our way! It’s a waste of time to remain here.”
“Are you truly certain they are dead? They still could be alive.” Han Li felt doubtful.
“How could they still be alive?” Yuan Yao glanced at Han Li with astonishment and spoke with disbelief. “The Myriad Gates of Enlightenment has an ancient treasure named the Profound Yellow Mirror. Have you not heard of it? So long as the treasure reflects on something living, they will grow still from terror and become trapped in a pillar of icy crystal. After several days, the crystal ice pillar will eventually disappear.”
“I’ve never heard of it before.” Han Li’s honest answer left the woman wide eyed and somewhat speechless. Han Li circled the huge ice pillar several more times before speaking with a pensive expression, “According to what you’ve said, these insects were disposed off by Wan Tianming.”
“If it wasn’t him, then who? What are you thinking? Apart from time itself, this crystal ice cannot be broken by ordinary magic treasures. Otherwise, the Profound Yellow Mirror wouldn’t have such a famous name.” Yuan Yao glanced at Han Li as if she had guessed what he was thinking and smiled.
After Han Li heard this, he calmly glanced at her. He then moved his hands at his waist and tossed out all of his spirit beast pouches. A huge cloud of Gold Devouring Beetles then suddenly appeared in the air.
“Go!” Han Li bluntly pointed at the ice crystal pillar. The gold-silver beetle cloud suddenly descended upon it and densely covered the pillar’s peak in an instant.
“You still intend on having your beetles consume the winged ants’ remains? Your beetles may be ferocious, but they can’t chew through...” Yuan Yao’s sentence remained half finished.
This was because the giant that was trapped by the crystal ice pillar was quickly being cut down at an amazing speed. In the blink of an eye, the giant’s head had disappeared from view.
Yuan Yao’s small mouth gaped open and didn’t close until a while later.
Under the woman’s astonished gaze, the Gold Devouring Beetles had completely devoured the huge pillar of crystal ice alongside the giant trapped within. All that remained was an egg-sized crystal ball that mysteriously shined with black light.
Han Li smiled upon seeing it appear and walked several steps forward before bending down to pick it up.
This item was called a “Refined Crystal”. It was a rare material that was formed in the abdomen by beings that had frequent meals of ore that remained undigested. Although the cultivators that knew of its existence were a sparse few, Han Li had read a rumor of it from an ancient book and was unsure of its validity. But when he saw the pearl contained within the Ironfire Ant Giant’s eye, he suddenly recalled this and his heart began to stir. He didn’t expect that he would truly acquire the refined crystal.
It was a peak supplementary material for strengthening magic tools. So long as this material was joined together with a magic treasure, not only would its might increase, but the resilience of the magic treasure’s body would immediately strengthen to a point of disbelief. After that point, it would be hard to imagine anything that could break it.
It was also unknown whether Wan Tianming had not known about this item or had overlooked it from negligence. Either way, it had benefited Han Li. So long as he took the time to refine it into his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, their strength would surely increase by another level.
While Yuan Yao didn’t know about the refined crystal, she knew it was certain to be a good item from Han Li’s happy expression. However, she had tactfully remained silent about things that had little to do with her.
The two continued on their way in silence.
...
In an extremely crude stone hall with an area of about two hundred meters and a height of about thirty meters was a transportation formation. Apart from the transportation formation at the center, each of the walls had a huge stone gate about ten meters tall. At the moment, each of the gates was sealed as tightly as a prison cell.
There were also about a hundred mismatched stone tables and chairs. These stone chairs were sparsely occupied by six cultivators with various expressions. Grandmaster Zenith Yin, Layman Qing Yi and Wan Tianming were the only Nascent Soul cultivators present. The other cultivators were late Core Formation cultivators; none of whom could be considered weak.
Each of their expressions were sullen, and they possessed no interest in talking. The stone hall’s atmosphere was beyond stifling!
Grandmaster Zenith Yin was particularly dreadful with his ashen complexion. He stared at the transportation formation as his eyes continuously flickered with ominous glints.
Chapter 467: More Treasures
These cultivators were the first ones to reach the end of the Path of Ice and Fire. While the black desert and blood icicle forest naturally proved to be no threat to the Nascent Soul cultivators, the late Core Formation cultivators suffered quite badly to escape them. As for the weaker cultivators, their odds were grim. Only a few of them had managed to make it here so far.
Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi naturally worried about Han Li’s fate. If Han Li died on the Path of Molten Rock, his Bloodjade Spider would’ve perished with him, leaving them without any cause for joy. Zenith Yin, who stood to benefit the most, felt especially terrible, far worse than Layman Qing Yi did.
Although Wan Tianming appeared calm, he had lowered his head and was silently staring at his wide, thin hands with an icy gaze.
Naturally, these three Nascent Soul cultivators knew of the strange changes of the Path of Ice and Fire. They were certain that these changes had to do with the Star Palace elders that had yet to appear, causing them all to clench their teeth in resentment and feel great trepidation.
What was the intent behind the Star Palace’s actions? Could it be they truly wanted to tear away at the faces of both the Righteous and Devilish Daos?
Time slowly passed by underneath this stifling atmosphere. Man Huzi, Tian Wuxi, the old farmer, Wu Chou, and the Bone Sage all eventually arrived from the transportation formation from the stone palace. These people either had wretched expressions or were gritting their teeth in fuming rage. They were clearly inwardly cursing at the Star Palace elders for causing these changes.
As of current, it was only half a day more before the Path of Ice and Fire were sealed off. Zenith Yin’s expression had originally soften upon seeing Wu Chou appear. But with Han Li still missing, his face grew unsightly once more.
Wu Chou was able to pass through the Path of Ice and Fire unscathed because he had fortunately been given an ancient protective treasure beforehand. Zenith Yin didn’t expect he would need to give Han Li such a treasure in order to protect himself.
Presumably, Qing Yi and Man Huzi also felt remorse from this. After all, Qing Yi and Man Huzi also had many powerful ancient treasures on hand. Had they given some of them to Han Li, they wouldn’t have to worry about his survival.
With that thought, Zenith Yin gloomily glanced at the old man and Man Huzi.
The Confucian-robed old man was currently gazing at the transportation formation with a fluctuating expression, appearing to be thinking of something. Man Huzi was gazing at the hall’s roof with his chin moving as he muttered to himself. It was clear that he was pondering about something as well.
Seeing this, Zenith Yin’s pent-up rage grew stronger, but his heart soon grew calm. He merely had to face reality and consider his steps moving forward without the Bloodjade Spider.
At that moment, the Bone Sage was sitting cross-legged on a stone table. His eyes were half open, appearing as if he were in the middle of refining Qi. Although he was slightly surprised by Han Li’s absence, it made sense. According to his view, Han Li’s true strength was at most that of a late Core Formation cultivator. He merely had a fifty percent chance of making it through the strange transformations of the Path of Ice and Fire. But without Han Li’s assistance, he feared he lacked the strength to deal with Zenith Yin.
The Bone Sage became
unsure whether or not he could take action inside Heavenvoid Hall. Perhaps he would look for another suitable opportunity and take some time to better prepare himself, increasing his odds of success.
Feeling helpless, the Bone Sage couldn’t help but inwardly curse at the Star Palace elders for a long while.
As for Wan Tianming and the other Righteous Dao cultivators, they also had bellies full of grievances. They had no choice but to alter their original plans of drawing support from the Core Formation cultivators.
As a multitude of various attitudes and sinister designs stirred among those inside the stone hall, the two white clothed Star Palace elders suddenly appeared in the transportation formation at the center of the hall. At that moment, everyone gazed at the two cultivators with menacing expressions.
The kindly-faced white clothed man ignored their icy gazes and swept his gaze across the room. He then deeply sighed and said, “Sigh! Just which of you imprudent Fellow Daoists activated those ferocious restrictions on the Path of Ice and Fire? You stirred up huge changes in the canyon. Us two were unable to find a way to reverse these changes, resulting in a loss of many Daoists from the cultivation world. We are quite ashamed at this failure and will beg for forgiveness from the Star Palace Sages when we return, spending over a hundred years in meditation.” He appeared as if he were truly lamentful.
Having heard that, the Righteous and Devilish Dao cultivators shamelessly cursed them out in their hearts. They planned on cleanly brushing the matter aside with those frivolous words as if the affair had nothing to do with them..
However, what happened next was just as the two had anticipated. Although the people in the palace coldly glared at them, none of them took the initiative to question them. Man Huzi, Wan Tianming, and the other Nascent Soul eccentrics fiercely glanced at them several times, but they eventually turned away, each minding their own business.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 253