NABC Chapter 2147 Continuously Obtaining Ranked Spiritual Materials
Chapter 2147 Continuously Obtaining Ranked Spiritual Materials
"A sixteenth-grade low-level spiritual material..." Cao Feiyu's lips parted slightly.
“Compared to this high-grade spiritual material, these millions of Dao Crystals piled up like a mountain seem rather ordinary,” Chen Fei interjected, his tone regaining its usual calmness, but a glint of shrewdness still shone deep in his eyes.
Ten million Dao Crystals is certainly an astonishing fortune for a cultivator in the Tai Cang Realm, but Dao Crystals are ultimately consumables.
The sixteenth-grade low-level spiritual materials are completely different. They are supreme treasures that touch upon the laws and are related to the Great Dao. Their value is difficult to measure with ordinary Dao crystals.
In most cases, cultivators can only obtain fragments of a rank, rather than complete rank-level spiritual materials.
"Judging from the arrangement of these Dao Crystals, their purpose is to form a Spirit Nourishing and Position-Nurturing Array. Using the primordial energy of a massive amount of pure Dao Crystals as fuel, it continuously nourishes the position-grade spiritual material in the jade box, preventing its position from disintegrating over the long years and automatically returning to heaven and earth."
Upon hearing this, Cao Feiyu carefully observed the details of the energy fluctuations and indeed discovered that the energy emitted by those Dao Crystals was not dissipating randomly, but was being guided, converging thread by thread towards the jade box in the center, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea.
The puppet returned safely and stood beside Chen Fei, the traces of demonic energy clinging to its body slowly dissipating.
Chen Fei placed his hand on the core array on the puppet's chest, carefully scanning every array pattern and energy circuit inside and outside with his divine sense. He confirmed that during this brief exploration, the puppet's core had not been eroded by demonic energy, nor had it triggered any hidden warnings or tracking restrictions.
everything is normal.
"It seems that the protection of this secret palace mainly lies in the concealment of the outer space and the dense demonic energy environment, while there are no additional killing formations inside." Chen Fei pondered, slightly relaxing his vigilance, but not completely letting his guard down.
He turned to Cao Feiyu and said in a deep voice, "Senior Sister, no obvious danger has been found inside the hall yet. However, the demonic energy is dense, so please be careful."
Upon hearing this, Cao Feiyu nodded, her jade-like hand already gripping the sword hilt, a faint blue light swirling around her, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.
"Understood, junior brother, don't worry."
Chen Fei took the lead and stepped into the spatial portal. Cao Feiyu followed closely behind, and their figures were instantly engulfed by the surging demonic energy.
The instant the two figures disappeared completely from the doorway, Chen Fei didn't even turn his head, but simply waved his hand lightly towards the doorway.
"Buzz!"
The space rippled again, and the door that had been opened was smoothed out as if by an invisible hand, quickly closing and disappearing.
In the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal, leaving only the howling wind across the Gobi Desert and the lingering shadows of distant pavilions. The entrance to the secret palace was once again perfectly concealed, isolating it from all outside influences and prying eyes.
The moment you step into the passageway, demonic energy carrying a strong corrosive and chaotic intent surges in from all directions, like countless cold tentacles trying to erode your Yuan Power and soul.
Cao Feiyu's body immediately shone with a bright blue light, forming a soft yet tough protective shield that kept the demonic energy out. The surface of the shield emitted a soft "sizzling" sound, which was the Yuan Power constantly counteracting the erosion of the demonic energy.
Chen Fei, on the other hand, was more composed. A faint dark golden light flowed around his body. When demonic energy approached within three feet of him, it would melt away like ice and snow meeting the sun, making it difficult to get close.
The two walked one after the other through the long corridor and arrived at the huge bronze palace door that was already wide open.
Standing at the entrance, the scene inside the hall has an even more direct and impactful effect on the senses.
A surge of pure and powerful primordial energy, mixed with profound fluctuations of spiritual power, rushed towards us, instantly invigorating our spirits. As far as the eye could see, the mountains of crystalline Dao crystals, illuminated by the soft glow of the dome's pearl, refracted a dreamlike brilliance.
The milky-white jade box, suspended above the summit of Daojing Mountain, exuded an indescribable allure, like a moon surrounded by stars.
Chen Fei once again used his divine sense to carefully scan every corner of the hall, and only after confirming that it was no different from the previous investigation of the array puppet did he step into the hall.
Cao Feiyu followed closely behind, her eyes scanning the surroundings warily, paying particular attention to the shadowy areas where Dao Crystals were piled up and the dark corners of the dome.
The hall was empty, containing nothing but the Dao Crystal and the jade box. The floor was paved with smooth, mirror-like black stone slabs, on which faint, dark array patterns were faintly visible, forming the foundation of the Spirit Nourishing and Position Cultivation Array.
"Collect the Dao Crystals first, then deal with the jade box," Chen Fei said in a deep voice.
He worried that activating the jade box might trigger unknown changes, so collecting the Dao Crystals, which he believed served as an energy source, might reduce the risk.
Cao Feiyu nodded in agreement.
Chen Fei took a few steps forward and stood about ten feet in front of the Dao Crystal Mountain. His expression was calm. He raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and gently guided the mountain of crystal-clear Dao Crystals.
"Splash!"
In an instant, the silent hall resounded with a sound like pearls falling onto a jade plate. Millions of crystals, piled high on the ground, rose into the air, transforming into two dazzling, crystalline torrents.
Chen Fei and Cao Feiyu each opened their own planes, allowing the vast torrent of Dao Crystals to continuously flow into them. In an instant, the hall was filled with dazzling spiritual light and surging primordial energy, almost forming two vortexes of primordial energy.
Several breaths passed before the mountain of Dao Crystals on the ground was completely collected, revealing the smooth black stone slab beneath.
The entire hall seemed to dim as a result, except for the milky white jade box floating in mid-air, which still radiated a warm and mysterious luster.
Chen Fei and Cao Feiyu each sensed the mountain of Dao Crystals piled up in their storage spaces, and a look of satisfaction appeared on their faces. Ten million Dao Crystals, even if divided equally, would amount to millions each.
Chen Fei took a few steps forward and came to the bottom of the jade box.
He looked up at the jade box, which was about a foot square, and gathered a wisp of pure Yuan energy at his fingertips. It also contained a strand of the power to pierce through illusions from the Undying True Light Mirror, so as to ensure that he could deal with any possible restrictions or traps.
Chen Fei flicked his finger.
"Ding!"
With a crisp sound like jade striking jade, the wisp of Yuan energy containing the power to shatter illusions struck the lock on the top of the jade box precisely.
"Click!"
With a soft sound, the lustrous sheen on the surface of the jade box flashed slightly, and the seamless lid popped open a crack.
There was no dazzling light, nor any dangerous aura; only a deeper fluctuation, as if containing some primordial rule of heaven and earth, emanated from the crack.
Chen Fei used his Yuan Power to guide the box from a distance, and the lid slowly flipped open, revealing the contents inside.
It was a ball of light that appeared chaotic and was constantly changing shape.
Sometimes it resembles a misty fog, sometimes it condenses into crystals, and sometimes it flows like liquid. Inside the ball of light, countless runes, seemingly written directly by the Great Dao, are born and die, faintly forming mountains, rivers, stars, and even blurry phantoms of living beings.
An indescribable sense of weight, burden, and nurturing naturally emanates from it.
"As expected, he is a high-quality talent..." A glint flashed in Chen Fei's eyes.
Cao Feiyu also stepped forward, looking at the chaotic ball of light, feeling the Daoist charm and fragments of laws contained within it, and a smile appeared in her eyes.
After admiring it for a moment, Cao Feiyu withdrew her gaze, looked at Chen Fei, and said seriously, "Junior brother, you can keep this high-quality spiritual material for now."
Upon hearing this, Chen Fei looked at Cao Feiyu.
Cao Feiyu continued to explain, "This spirit material is a complete whole, with its internal law fragments and Dao rhyme forming a unique pattern. If we forcibly separate it, we will inevitably lose some of its rank fragments. Rather than wasting it like that, it's better to keep it with you for now."
She paused, her gaze clear: "Since we are traveling together and exploring together, we should share the opportunities. But this thing is special, and it would be no use to separate us."
After listening, Chen Fei pondered for a moment and nodded. Cao Feiyu's words made sense; forcibly dividing the spiritual material was indeed meaningless.
With a gentle wave of his hand, Chen Fei sent the jade box and the chaotic light within it slowly flying into his palm. Enveloped in a layer of gentle Yuan energy, he carefully inspected it and stored it in the Realm of Return to Nothingness.
After putting away the jade box, Chen Fei's gaze swept around and finally settled on the wall deep in the main hall, directly facing the entrance.
Previously, the view was obscured by the Dao Crystal Mountain, but now that the Dao Crystal has been removed, the full view of the wall is finally revealed.
The wall was not flat, but recessed inward, forming a niche-like opening. In the center of the opening, instead of a statue of a deity, stood an ancient stone tablet about nine feet high and four feet wide.
The stone tablet is made of neither gold nor jade, and is dark blue in color. Its surface is covered with mottled traces of time, but it is generally well preserved.
Instead of writing, the stone tablet is carved with a huge mural.
The content of the murals was somewhat similar to what Chen Fei had seen in other halls before.
Both murals depict the grandeur of the ancient celestial court, with sprawling palaces, soaring mythical beasts, and immortals coming and going, surrounded by auspicious clouds and countless streams of propitious energy. However, at the very edge of this complete mural is an image of a ferocious beast carrying a stele.
"There really is a teleportation array."
Chen Fei stepped forward, raised his right hand, and at his fingertips, a wisp of Yuan energy flickered.
Like the most skillful carving knife, it swiftly and steadily strikes the specific nodes of the mysterious array patterns on the stone tablet murals.
With each touch of his fingertips, a soft and steady light shone from the array pattern. Chen Fei's movements were fluid and seamless, as if he had practiced them a thousand times.
As the last bit falls.
"Buzz!"
The entire dark blue stone tablet suddenly trembled, and then the illuminated array patterns on the tablet shone brightly, intertwining and forming an incredibly complex three-dimensional light array.
The light array detached from the surface of the stone tablet, hovered in front of the mural, and slowly rotated, emitting increasingly intense spatial fluctuations.
Immediately afterwards, the stone tablet itself began to radiate a dazzling light, illuminating the entire dimly lit hall. The light grew stronger and stronger, eventually converging at the center of the mural, at the location of the swirling pattern.
Chen Fei pointed his fingers like a sword and made a vague slash towards the center where the light was converging.
At the center of the mural, where the vortex pattern is located, the space ripples and twists violently like water, eventually collapsing inward to form a portal with shimmering edges and a chaotic, swirling interior.
On the other side of the portal, a similarly styled hall could be faintly seen. Within that hall, a shimmering, precious light seemed to flicker.
A pure and vibrant energy, imbued with a unique vitality, rushed towards us.
A hint of surprise involuntarily flashed across Chen Fei and Cao Feiyu's eyes; this primordial energy was somewhat similar to the aura of the Spirit Nourishing and Positioning Array.
More importantly, there was a trace of spiritual material fluctuation mixed in with the rich primordial energy, and its quality and strength were clearly at the level of a sixteenth-grade low-grade material.
The two quickly exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. They had just passed through a teleportation array and had actually discovered another sixteenth-grade low-rank spiritual material.
Just how many such treasures are sealed away in these ancient celestial ruins?
Chen Fei suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and the puppet stepped across the teleportation array first, appearing in the main hall.
The style and scale of this hall are quite similar to the one we have now. Both have a high dome inlaid with pearls, and the walls and floors are paved with some kind of dark stone, with ancient and blurred patterns carved on them.
In the center of the main hall, there was also a mountain of Dao crystals. Although the quantity seemed slightly less than that of the previous main hall, only about six or seven million, it was equally full of vitality and piled up into a gleaming small mountain.
The soft spiritual light emitted by the Dao Crystal illuminated the entire hall.
At the summit of Daojing Mountain, a milky-white jade box, almost identical in style to the one seen before, floated silently.
The warm luster of the jade box, intertwined with the subtle emerald green light emanating from within, exudes a serene and pleasing aura.
It was yet another sealed secret hall for nurturing spiritual energy, with the same configuration and the same high-quality spiritual materials.
Almost the instant the puppet stepped into the main hall, it transformed into a blurry golden afterimage and pounced toward the floating jade box.
Chen Fei's intention was clear: the situation here was unclear, so he would first use the puppet to retrieve the treasure as a test. If there were vengeful demons waiting outside the palace, they could be triggered by the puppet so that they could deal with them in time.
The puppet arrived in front of Dao Crystal Mountain in an instant, and stretched out its arm without hesitation, grabbing at the floating jade box.
However, just as the puppet's fingers were about to touch the jade box...
"Roar!"
A roar filled with violence, anger, and astonishment suddenly erupted from the direction of the main entrance of the hall, like a thunderclap from a clear sky.
This roar was not merely a sound wave; it also contained a powerful spiritual impact and a dense, almost tangible, malevolent demonic intent, causing the entire hall to tremble slightly and dust to fall from the dome.
With this deafening roar, the two bronze doors of the main hall, which had been tightly closed, were flung open. The bronze doors slammed against the walls on both sides with a deafening crash, and the hinges even emitted a piercing metallic twisting sound.
Outside the palace gates, the swirling, viscous black demonic energy was even thicker than before, as if the area outside the gates were an ocean of demonic energy.
Amidst the churning demonic energy, a tall, ferocious figure, like a demon god emerging from the deepest hell, stood majestically at the open palace gate.
It was a vengeful demon, and judging from the demonic power it exuded, it was clearly a vengeful demon at the mid-stage of the Tai Cang Realm.
This vengeful demon was nearly four zhang tall, its entire body covered with a thick carapace that appeared to be made of obsidian, covered with twisted spikes and hideous bone spurs.
Its head resembled neither a dragon nor a beast, with a single, curved horn on its head gleaming with a chilling light. Three scarlet demonic eyes burned with raging fury as they stared intently at the puppet.
"Dare to trespass on this forbidden area, or you will die!"
The roar of the vengeful demon was filled with boundless killing intent and rage. Its demonic energy erupted and rose like black flames, making it appear like a world-destroying demon god.
His massive body lowered slightly, his three demonic eyes locked onto the array puppet and the teleportation portal behind it, a terrifying aura rapidly gathering, ready to unleash a thunderous attack at any moment.
"Only one mid-stage Tai Cang Realm cultivator... That's alright." A smile appeared on Chen Fei's face.
The moment the demon appeared, the puppet stopped grabbing the jade box. The array patterns on its body lit up slightly, and a large array enveloped the demon from the air.
Chen Fei and Cao Feiyu stepped across the teleportation array and into the main hall.
Meanwhile, in the vicinity of the collapsed pavilion, outside the outer space barrier.
Two streaks of light descended, revealing Zhu Xingyan and Wu Jianghan. After moving away, the two unexpectedly returned.
Zhu Xingyan's gaze swept across the area where he had fought fiercely with the vengeful demon. The huge, charred ice pit was still conspicuous, and the residual Yuan energy and demonic energy fluctuations in the air had not completely dissipated.
He frowned slightly, his gaze slowly shifting as he carefully surveyed his surroundings.
"Senior brother, have you found anything?" Wu Jianghan stood half a step to Zhu Xingyan's side, one hand on his sword, cautiously observing his surroundings, and asked in a low voice. He knew the purpose of Zhu Xingyan's return, and a hint of anticipation filled his heart.
Zhu Xingyan did not answer immediately. A crimson light flickered in his eyes, as if he were deducing something.
Just now, when Zhu Xingyan was refining the source of the vengeful demon and extracting the Illusion-Breaking Spirit Guide, he captured a blurry image from the remaining fragments of its memory, and that image was from this very place.
This vengeful demon did not wander aimlessly here; it had been entrenched here for many years. In its fragmented memories, this area repeatedly appeared, especially this open space that seemed no different from other places.
Occasionally, a very subtle crack, blending seamlessly into the space itself, would flash by, and the vengeful demon's memory would only instinctively guard and linger over it.
After a moment, Zhu Xingyan slowly spoke, his voice carrying a hint of certainty: "This should be the place, a hidden palace."
Upon hearing this, Wu Jianghan's eyes flashed with a sharp light. If this were true, it was very likely that some treasures left behind by the ancient Heavenly Court were sealed within.
This yields far greater rewards than simply hunting vengeful spirits.
"In that case, I would like to ask you, senior brother, to use your magic to find the entrance," Wu Jianghan said in a deep voice, his grip on the sword tightening even more.
Zhu Xingyan nodded, said no more, and slowly raised his hands, forming a complex and profound hand seal in front of his chest.
As the hand seals were formed, his aura suddenly changed. His originally fiery Yuan Power became restrained and profound. A blood-red light shone from his brow and heart, growing brighter and brighter.
"open!"
Zhu Xingyan let out a low shout, his right hand forming a hand seal, fingers pointing like a sword, and suddenly pointed at the red light between his eyebrows.
"Buzz!"
A slight tremor rang out, and the crimson light between Zhu Xingyan's brows suddenly spread out. Beneath his skin, something seemed to be wriggling and protruding.
The next moment, the skin and flesh in the center of his brow parted to the sides on their own, revealing a strange vertical eye with a dark gold pupil and wisps of flame patterns around its edge.
The moment this vertical eye appeared, a strange, scorching, and sharp energy emanated from it, as if it could pierce through illusion and reveal the truth.
This is the Crimson Sun Illusion-Breaking Eye, a secret technique cultivated by Zhu Xingyan. This eye technique requires the combined nurturing of pure Yuan Power and divine soul power. When activated at a critical moment, it can see through many illusion arrays and hidden restrictions.
His ability to capture fragments of memory from the source of the vengeful demon was also thanks to this eye technique.
At this moment, Zhu Xingyan fully activated his Crimson Sun Illusion-Piercing Eye. Within its dark golden vertical pupil, flames seemed to burn, and its gaze, like a tangible beam of light, swept across the seemingly empty area. (End of Chapter)