by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
Xiang Shaoyun was a well-read person, and he had naturally read books on formations before. Although he wasn't exactly an expert at formations, he knew enough to recognize some formations. The energy-neutralizing formation before him was capable of turning all attacks into nothingness, making it almost impossible to break.
Xiang Shaoyun did not know formations well, but he could rely on his talent to see each formation rune with clarity. Thus, he could easily find a weak point that would make it much easier to break the formation. He stepped forth, sending out a pulse of wood profundity. A formation eye buried underground exploded.
Bang!
The formation eye's destruction weakened the other formation eyes, and the energy powering the formation grew disordered. Xiang Shaoyun repeated his actions, destroying dozens of formation eyes in succession. Finally, the formation dissipated and could no longer block his path.
The strong-ape, who had hidden at the depths of the cave, saw what happened. Thick indignation flickered in his eyes.
Instead of forcing his way in, Xiang Shaoyun said, "Strong-ape, I will give you an opportunity. Do one thing for me, and I'll spare you."
The strong-ape replied, "This sovereign will never surrender. Come fight me to the death if you dare."
"You're really not coming out?" asked Xiang Shaoyun with a smile.
"No. Come in if you can," challenged the strong-ape.
"Sure. Don't blame me for burning your cave to the ground," said Xiang Shaoyun as he sent Yun Flame out, sweeping the cave with the flame.
Bang! Bang!
The raging flame burned within the cave, raising the temperature to an uncomfortable level. The strong-ape was powerful enough, but it still suffered a great deal under the torture of Yun Flame, who was now a high-level flame. The raging flame pushed his defenses to the verge of collapse.
"Roar! Roar!"
He repeatedly roared as he tried to extinguish the flame, but his struggles were for nothing. With the profundity of flame, Xiang Shaoyun could allow the flame to burn for an eternity. Nothing could stop his flame. Waves of flame swept forth one after another, destroying the strong-ape's defensive barrier, forcing him to escape deeper into the cave.
When Xiang Shaoyun found that the ape was actually retreating deeper, he concluded that there definitely was something good within the cave. He opened his mouth and took a deep inhalation, pulling the flame back inside him before dashing into the cave's depths.
The flame energy within the cave had reached an intense level, but Xiang Shaoyun was immune to it. His clone was actually stronger than his main body, and in any case, the flame energy here was a product of Yun Flame in the first place.
Moving at his fastest speed, Xiang Shaoyun advanced into the cave. He found that the cave was incredibly deep, and he still couldn't see the end of it even with traveling at his speed. Suddenly, he saw the strong-ape standing still, not daring to go any deeper.
Xiang Shaoyun also stopped as he could sense an odd aura ahead of him. He narrowed his eyes and focused his vision. He found that the cave wall beside the strong-ape was decorated with a large number of high-grade spirit crystals.
The spirit crystals were not the source of his biggest shock, as in front of the strong-ape were strands of pure yellow energy floating about. There weren't many, but they contained an incredibly dense vicious energy that made advancing an exceptionally fearful prospect.
Xiang Shaoyun also noticed that the strands of energy were not pure vicious energy as some pure earth energy was mixed within as well. He could see some similarities between the energy here with the dark origin energy he had absorbed before.
The strong-ape was extraordinarily powerful, but not even he dared to approach the vicious energy since the energy was too powerful. It could dissolve even Sovereigns, and the strong-ape would have no way of absorbing it.
"Strong-ape, submit or die," demanded Xiang Shaoyun murderously as he knew that the strong-ape was left with no other options.
Naturally, the strong-ape was not someone to be so easily subdued. With a roar, he spun around and attacked. A massive club had appeared in his hand. This was a weapon he had personally forged, and he was using it in his last-ditch effort to escape.
Unfortunately for him, the cave was too small, and it restricted his movements. Of course, Xiang Shaoyun was similarly restricted as well. However, he was still stronger than the strong-ape. Using his full strength, he suppressed the ape.
Eventually, the strong-ape was defeated. Blood sprayed everywhere as Xiang Shaoyun pounded him with numerous Major Slab Palms. The ape nearly crashed into a strand of vicious energy, and he was so frightened he could feel his soul leaving his body.
"I am willing to submit! I am willing to submit!" shouted the strong-ape unhesitatingly.
Xiang Shaoyun was surprised to see how much the strong-ape feared the vicious energy. He stopped attacking.
"You wouldn't have suffered this much if you had surrendered earlier," said Xiang Shaoyun. He pointed forward and asked, "What's with the vicious energy here?"
"I don't know, but I know it's very scary. It's more than just a regular vicious energy. I once threw some sovereign materials to it, and even they were directly reduced to nothingness," said the strong-ape honestly.
"This is your turf, yet you know nothing?" asked Xiang Shaoyun, displeased.
The strong-ape was afraid that Xiang Shaoyun would attack again, so he hurriedly explained, "This might be the mystic earth essence energy."
Chapter 920: Mystic Earth Essence Energy
Mystic earth essence energy.
This was an extremely rare energy. Although it was not a type of origin energy, it was comparable to one. As an essence energy that had formed over 10,000 years of slumbering underground, it was an existence at the level of a 10,000-year flame. It wasn't a vicious energy, yet it contained the attributes of vicious energy, granting it the ability to decay everything.
It was incredibly useful, and if one could refine it into one's body, not only would one's combat prowess grow, one's offensive power would also increase. Furthermore, the mystic earth essence energy was also an excellent material for forming one's soul foundation, and it was much more valuable than the black tides mystic stone that Xiang Shaoyun had obtained not long ago.
If the mystic earth essence energy continued to evolve, it would eventually become earthly mother energy, the most primordial of earth energies. It was extremely rare, and even the mystic earth essence energy was rare enough to be coveted by Saints, to say nothing of the earthly mother energy.
Who would have imagined that something this rare would appear at the outer fringe of the Dragon Phoenix Mountain Range and remain hidden all this while? The strong-ape was originally a Demon Emperor. After discovering this clump of mystic earth essence energy, he borrowed the thick energy to cultivate and quickly grow into a Demon Sovereign.
But even now, he still didn't dare to touch the mystic earth essence energy, and it was clear just how destructive the mystic earth essence energy was.
When Xiang Shaoyun heard that he was looking at a clump of mystic earth essence energy, joy covered his face, and he exclaimed, "I actually found a mystic earth essence energy here? I'm rich! I'm rich! Hahahaha!"
Ever since he found out about the requirements of entering the Soul Foundation Realm, he had been paying close attention to numerous top-tier materials. He aimed to find the best of materials to forge his soul foundation, and now, one had appeared before him. One could only imagine how happy he was currently.
"Don't be too happy. This mystic earth essence energy can't be harvested so easily. Perhaps only Saints can do it. Anyone else will die upon touching it," said the strong-ape.
Xiang Shaoyun calmed down upon hearing the ape's words. The strong-ape is right. This is tricky.
"Stand guard outside. I'll try to absorb it," said Xiang Shaoyun after giving it a thought.
The strong-ape did not disobey and left immediately. In fact, he hoped to
see Xiang Shaoyun die in his attempt to absorb the mystic earth essence energy. When the strong-ape was leaving, Xiang Shaoyun transmitted to Money that he no longer needed to fight the strong-ape, and he had Money stand guard alongside the strong-ape. He needed enough time to study the mystic earth essence energy.
The strong-ape left, and Xiang Shaoyun started approaching the mystic earth essence energy. He observed the clump of energy and found that it was quite a small clump. I only occupied about two cubic meters of space. The surging energy around it was incredibly oppressive, and the rich earth energy it exuded nourished its surroundings, giving birth to numerous high-grade spirit crystals that were worth a lot altogether.
Instead of touching the mystic earth essence energy himself, Xiang Shaoyun took out a random emperor weapon and tossed it over.
Tsssss!
The instant the weapon touched the mystic earth essence energy, it was corroded. It stood no chance against the clump of energy.
Xiang Shaoyun frowned and sighed, "What a terrifying corrosive power. And the essence energy contains the corrosive power of vicious earth energy. How am I supposed to absorb it?"
He was confident that not even sovereign weapons could do anything to the clump. He did not have tools of higher grades, so it would be hard for him to collect the clump of energy.
After contemplating for a while, he decided that his main body needed to be present if he wanted to collect the mystic earth essence energy. After all, his main body was equipped with an astral cosmos sea that could store life.
There were already several different energies stored in his astral cosmos sea. Taking even the entire cave alongside the mystic earth essence energy into his astral cosmos sea wouldn't be an issue. So long as he avoided direct contact with the mystic earth essence energy, everything should be fine.
At that thought, his main body picked up speed. While the main body was on the way, the clone tried attracting a strand of mystic earth essence energy to see if he could absorb it. The moment he touched the strand, his entire body jolted as though he was hit by an electric shock. A rotting pain assaulted his body, causing him to quickly move away and cease all thoughts of experimenting with the energy.
"This is a pain that reaches one's heart," lamented Xiang Shaoyun. "A clone is still a clone, after all. It is different from the main body. Although it can also make use of numerous combat techniques and powers like the main body, it does not have any stars that can absorb the exhausted energies. Thus, the clone is fated to serve only as a tool to strengthen my soul power."
He did not attract the strand of mystic earth essence energy to only absorb it. He also tried to figure out the differences between his main body and his clone. He had learned something from his attempt.
The clone was inherently different from the main body. The clone was not necessarily capable of everything the main body could do. However, the clone could use all the battle techniques and powers available to the main body. Moreover, his clone, in particular, was stronger than his main body. Soon, his main body arrived with Aikai. Both Money and the strong-ape were stunned.
"Who are you? Why do you look so much like my boss?" Money asked blankly.
Xiang Shaoyun said, "You bastard, even after spending all that time staying in my astral cosmos sea to absorb the nine-colored fog, you still can't recognize me?"
"If you're my boss, who's the guy inside?" asked Vicious One in confusion.
"That's my clone. Alright, get out of the way. I need to go collect the mystic earth essence energy. We'll talk later," said Xiang Shaoyun before rushing into the cave.
Money and the strong-ape did not stop him. The two were still in a state of confusion. Soon, the main body arrived and merged with the clone. Once again, he pulled a strand of mystic earth essence energy toward him and activated his earth star and earth profundity. He then absorbed the strand of mystic earth essence energy into his earth star.
The moment it entered his body, he felt his body start to collapse due to its corrosive power. Intense pain assaulted him, a pain much more terrible than what he'd suffered when he was tempering his body with fire and lightning. The pain was mainly due to the energy's overwhelming power and high grade. With his current strength, absorbing it would result in such pain. If he was a peak Sovereign or even a Saint, he wouldn't suffer such discomfort.
Even so, with his astonishing willpower, he resisted the pain. He used the Secret Reversal Technique and quickly healed his rotten meridians and internal organs before forcing the strand of mystic earth essence energy to enter his earth star.
Even after entering the earth star, the mystic earth essence energy was still rebellious as it attempted to dissolve even the star, as though nothing in the world could hope to restrain it.
"Refine!" Xiang Shaoyun roared and circulated his cultivation method as he split the mystic earth essence energy into numerous portions. He suppressed it again and again as he attempted to fully refine it and fuse it with his own energy.
Chapter 921: Gains
Xiang Shaoyun had only absorbed a tiny strand of the mystic earth essence energy. Thus, under his full suppression, he slowly defeated it and combined it with his astral energy. Eventually, the strand of energy became one with his astral energy, signifying that he had successfully fused them.
His earth star started growing, improving how much he could gain cultivating over several months or even an entire year. Like the gold star, the earth star also started exuding thick vicious energy, granting it a latent destructive prowess.
Xiang Shaoyun absorbed a few more strands of mystic earth essence energy, and after several rounds of suffering, his earth star finally reached the limit of his current cultivation realm. He could no longer compress the energy, and he stopped the absorption.
Of his nine stars, the earth, flame, and dark stars had reached their limits. The other stars had also reached the peak of his current cultivation level, only a tiny bit away from reaching their limits as well. He only needed to spend some time pushing the other stars to their limits before he could attempt an advancement into the eighth stage.
Since he had comprehended nine profundities, he absorbed energy faster than many cultivators. In his plan, he would require less than three months to push himself to the next stage.
He ended the cultivation session and muttered, "There are formations here that weren't set up by the strong-ape. Someone else must have been here before. Where is that person?"
He scanned his surroundings, but he couldn't find anyone, not even a corpse. It greatly confused him. His gaze then landed on the mystic earth essence energy again. His vision pierced through the clump of energy, and he saw the vague image of something hovering up and down, as though a figure was seated cross-legged.
"Don't tell me there's a corpse there?" Xiang Shaoyun was speechless.
Anything would be destroyed upon contact with the clump of energy. Only a Saint would perhaps not fear it. But a figure seemed to be in there. Was there really a super expert cultivating inside?
After thinking about it for a bit, Xiang Shaoyun started wondering if what he saw was an illusion. He only saw a vague image that soon vanished. His current focus should be thinking of a way to collect this mystic earth essence energy so he could use it to forge his soul foundation in the future.
He drew his Radiant Saint Sword and dug out the walls around the mystic earth essence energy. These walls were formed of high-grade spirit crystals, and one would be bedazzled just looking at them.
When Xiang Shaoyun was done digging out the surface walls around the mystic earth essence energy, he used his astral cosmos sea to pull the entire space inside, which was extremely dangerous. If his astral cosmos sea couldn't withstand the might of the mystic earth essence energy, it would rot away, and not only would his astral cosmos sea be ruined. His entire person would rot away as well.
One could say that this was a great benefit that went hand in hand with great risk. If he succeeded, the gains would be humongous, an
d if he failed, his life would be the price.
Ultimately, Xiang Shaoyun succeeded.
When the mystic earth essence energy entered his astral cosmos sea, it did not change. Like all his other stored energies, it remained still, and its rotting power converged around itself instead of spreading and causing havoc.
"Sure enough, the astral cosmos sea can contain everything. The mystic earth essence energy might be scary, but staying in the astral cosmos sea is the same for it as staying in the outside world. It won't harm me," said Xiang Shaoyun, satisfied.
He then called the strong-ape, Aikai, Money, and the three birds inside and had them mine the spirit crystals in the cave. He had decided to thoroughly clean the cave of the crystals, leaving nothing behind. The strong-ape was somewhat unwilling, but he was left with no choice but to obey.
While mining the spirit crystals, Xiang Shaoyun also discovered some earth elemental herbs growing in the cave. He had the three birds consume them, leaving only three sovereign-grade strength-enhancing grasses that he planted nearby the mystic earth essence energy in his astral cosmos sea.
The strength-enhancing grasses had grown alongside the strong-ape in the cave. If an earth cultivator consumed them, the cultivator's strength would greatly increase. However, the boost in strength would only last for about an hour. Even so, in a situation of life and death, consuming one such herb could allow one to turn the situation around.
The entire vein of spirit crystals occupied an area of about 30 cubic meters, with each cubic meter containing about 1,000 spirit crystals. Altogether, they had obtained around 30,000 high-grade spirit crystals after mining the entire vein clean.
Thirty thousand might not seem like a large number, but a high-grade spirit crystal was more than 10 times the worth of a mid-grade spirit crystal. Thus, one could only imagine the worth of what they had mined from the cave.