Born with immortal seed

Chapter 219 Spring and Autumn Cicada

"There is a high probability that there is not a single top-grade spirit stone in the entire Qingfeng Sect... Uncle Ge might have one, but even if he does, there would be at most one or two."

Bai Zichen held the top-grade fire-element spirit stone, his expression unchanged, but he couldn't contain his joy.

One top-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for two hundred high-grade spirit stones, which is equivalent to four million low-grade spirit stones.

Even with all his possessions combined, excluding the Purple Star Thunderclap Sword Embryo, none of them could compare to this top-grade spirit stone that seemed to pulsate with flames.

Top-grade spirit stones can almost be considered the foundation of a Nascent Soul sect.

In the dark ages when there were no Nascent Soul True Monarchs to oversee the sect, the Holy Lotus Sect relied on its reserves of top-grade spirit stones to fully unleash the power of its fourth-order grand formation, which enabled it to withstand a formidable enemy at the Nascent Soul level.

Top-grade spirit stones are usually only found at high-end barter events; no Nascent Soul cultivator would be willing to use them to pay for normal items.

Top-grade spirit stones are extremely rare in the cultivation world. Even if you were to excavate an entire large spirit stone mine, you might not find a single top-grade spirit stone.

Bai Zichen's encounter with this top-grade spirit stone in the magma can only be described as incredibly fortunate.

"It must be a top-grade spirit stone that took tens of thousands of years to condense in the spiritual veins beneath the volcano. It drifted out and I happened to obtain it... There is indeed something strange down there. A second-tier spiritual vein, let alone tens of thousands of years, even hundreds of thousands or millions of years, could not possibly produce a top-grade spirit stone."

I originally planned to investigate after I reached the Core Formation stage, but now it seems best to wait until I have a late-stage Core Formation cultivation level.

If the depths of a volcano truly lead directly to the Earth's core, then it wouldn't be surprising to find a top-grade spiritual stone there.

But with that comes the risk increasing a hundredfold.

Connecting to the Earth's core, the most filthy and evil place, the true toxic fire erupting from the Earth's core would likely affect an area of ​​thousands of miles around.

Even a Nascent Soul True Monarch would find this situation extremely troublesome.

"Forget it, it's better to be careful. If we really trigger the Earth's core fire, large areas deep in the Black Mountain will become a dead zone unsuitable for habitation, which may trigger a beast tide... Even Jade Moon Lake is within the affected area. In one fell swoop, we will destroy most of the foundation that the sect has worked so hard to build in the Black Mountain."

Bai Zichen gave himself a wake-up call. Fortunately, he always left himself some room for maneuver and stopped immediately after realizing that he was about to reach the limit of the Rainbow Feather Robe.

The liquid magic power cultivated from the Fire Dragon Returning to Origin Scripture increases in strength under such conditions. If the Rainbow Feather Robe is forcibly activated, Chi Lian could descend at least another hundred feet.

If we were to do that, the risks would be enormous.

“A top-grade fire-element spirit stone can completely replace the effect of the Heavenly Gang Gathering Spirit Array and be used when breaking through to the Core Formation stage, but I don’t need it… I probably won’t need such a precious spirit stone for a while, and taking it out to trade would be like a child carrying gold across the street, attracting covetous eyes.”

Bai Zichen suddenly realized that while top-grade spirit stones were good, they were useless before he could form his core.

"Perhaps it can directly absorb the pure fire elemental energy from the top-grade spirit stone. Anyway, if I use some of it, I can slowly absorb and recover it myself in the future."

He found a jade box and carefully put away the top-grade fire-element spirit stone.

Even a small piece can be worth four million low-grade spirit stones, so it's no exaggeration to treat it with the highest standards.

He found a jade slip and recorded the location of the volcano and the strangeness of the lava beneath it. He then sent the information to the Transmission Hall upon returning to his sect.

He not only didn't come himself, but also warned other cultivators in the sect to avoid this volcano.

In the days that followed, Bai Zichen visited a frozen cave and a giant tree that was hundreds of feet tall.

The icy cavern has countless branching passages, and divine sense is restricted; a Foundation Establishment cultivator could indeed fall into it if he is not careful.

He carefully left his divine sense imprint at each fork in the road, and with a divine sense strength far exceeding that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he spent a month traversing the icy cave. He did indeed see several skeletons, but they had all been dead for hundreds of years.

The remaining artifacts were all ordinary magical implements, which, after such a long time and the erosion of time, shattered at the slightest touch.

The hundred-zhang giant tree is an ancient tree that has become a spirit, and the Transmission Hall clearly records that it has reached the third-level standard.

However, the ancient tree only possesses a very weak intelligence. It usually takes deep root in the ground to absorb spiritual energy, and it will never take the initiative to harm anyone unless someone enters its territory.

For such a harmless third-tier plant-like demon beast, Qingfeng Sect has never included it in its campaigns during its various pioneering wars.

Of course, another very important point is that destroying the ancient tree offers no additional benefits other than the harvest of a large amount of third-tier spirit wood.

Unlike other third-tier demon kings, they occupy third-tier spiritual veins as their territory.

Ancient trees, being rare examples of plants that have become spirits, seem to have low requirements for the quality of spiritual lands, as they can draw enough spiritual energy simply by relying on their countless underground roots that are thousands of feet long.

After careful consideration, the Hundred-Foot Ancient Tree became the last target in all of Qingfeng Sect's land reclamation war plans.

Bai Zichen transformed into a sword beam and, relying on his sword speed, circled around the edge of the ancient tree, but still couldn't find Su Li's figure.

Based on past experience, there have been instances where sect elders were trapped by ancient tree branches for months before being released.

That's why Zhou Suqing listed this place as one of the locations where Zuli might fall.

"There's only one location left. If we don't find it here, I'll have to turn back to Emerald Moon Lake..."

Bai Zichen took a simple map and checked the directions.

He had spent almost three months searching for Su Li. As a fellow disciple with whom he was not a life-or-death friend but only someone with a decent relationship, he had already done more than enough.

Although he obtained a top-grade spirit stone during the search, his original intention was to save people, not to seek any reward.

The final location is a mysterious valley where a sect elder disappeared a hundred years ago.

However, subsequent rescue efforts, which lasted for over a month in the mysterious valley, failed to uncover any clues, and the matter was eventually dropped.

Zhou Suqing was well-read, having read almost all the miscellaneous records in the sect, which is why she knew the story of this mysterious valley.

Bai Zichen flew to the vicinity of the valley at night, so he found a dry place and sat cross-legged in meditation for the night.

They waited until dawn before drawing their swords and stepping into the valley.

The valley was long and narrow, and you could see the end of it at a glance. Only a few first-level demonic beasts were running around on the two mountain peaks.

They measured the entire valley on foot, taking only an hour.

“It doesn’t seem like anything’s wrong. How could a Foundation Establishment cultivator just disappear for no reason? ... Little guy, come out and get to work.”

Bai Zichen, as a last resort, released Gun Gun from the spirit beast pouch.

Returning to the outside world from the spirit beast pouch, Gun Gun was a little dizzy and circled around twice before squeaking incoherently at its owner.

The complex meaning conveyed can be interpreted as the beast disliking the environment in the spirit beast pouch and not wanting to stay there anymore.

"Alright, alright, I'll try to keep you outside as much as possible from now on... or I'll try to buy you a high-grade spirit beast bag next time I go to the Beast Market."

Bai Zichen was carrying a mid-grade spirit beast bag, which was already the best in the market.

The interior space is barely enough for a little creature to take a turn or hop around a couple of times; no spirit beast would like to be confined to such a cramped space.

A superior-grade spirit beast bag can be several times larger, at least equivalent to a small courtyard, which is much more comfortable.

However, only the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect sells spirit beast bags of this level, and they are quite valuable.

After hopping around a couple of times, the panda received its owner's request and began running happily back and forth in the valley.

With its four short legs wobbling along, it would nibble at wildflowers along the way; it was hard to tell if it was frolicking or working.

About half an hour later, the panda ran back to his side and bumped into him forcefully.

"So you really did notice something was wrong?"

I only released the panda to do my part, but I didn't expect the little guy to perform so many good deeds recently.

It's unclear whether it's related to Zurich, but at least it has uncovered the mystery hidden beneath the calm surface of the valley.

"You mean, something's not right behind this wall?"

Bai Zichen scanned the roaring stone wall, but his divine sense seemed to have vanished into thin air, only able to perceive the thick stone wall.

Normally, it might be overlooked, but since the panda sensed its special aura, it seemed extremely abrupt.

Rolling's sensory abilities are different from a cultivator's divine sense; they are abilities deeply rooted in his bloodline.

Whether it's the sacred beast's essence blood hidden deep underground in the Bai family ancestral hall or the thick stone wall at this moment, both are things that divine sense cannot penetrate, but can sense through their aura to tell their master what they have discovered.

"It has a powerful aura, but not as strong as mine... Gun Gun's ability to express itself is still quite clear."

The sword light danced, peeling away the stone wall layer by layer as easily as cutting tofu, and soon the stone wall was opened up, revealing the pitch-black space inside.

But with the stone wall no longer obstructing the view, a quick scan with divine sense revealed the entire situation inside.

"Junior Brother Su?"

Bai Zichen saw Su Li, whose entire body was wrapped in a cicada pupa, her face pressed against the pupa wall, revealing a ferocious and terrified expression.

Zuli must have lost consciousness. The cicada pupa throbbed and contracted rhythmically, as if it were trying to digest the human inside.

Bai Zichen did not rush forward to save the person upon seeing the target. Instead, he held his sword horizontally and extended his divine sense to its maximum extent.

It's impossible that Su Li trapped herself in a cicada pupa. Either it was done by a cultivator, or some insect-like monster was hiding in the shadows.

His divine sense swept back and forth without finding any clues. Connecting the vague information being transmitted over the roll of water, the sword light, as if guided by divine inspiration, turned and blasted towards the broken stone wall once more.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

A series of sharp, rapid cicada chirps rang out, and a cicada, half green and half gray, flew out. Just as the sword light was about to strike and cut it in two, it inexplicably slowed down.

Bai Zichen knew very well that he had not slowed down the sword light, but in reality, the sword light seemed to be moving in slow motion, advancing scene by scene in the form of stop-motion animation.

This somewhat familiar sense of disorientation made him feel nauseous and his chest tightened.

The cicada chirped and flapped its wings as it flew into the sky.

"Spring and Autumn Cicadas!"

Bai Zichen was shocked and blurted out.

Half of the insect's body was a vibrant, bright green, brimming with life.

The other half of the insect's body was gray and withered, like a piece of dead wood.

The fact that it slows down its sword light and changes its speed inexplicably matches the famous and wondrous insect in the cultivation world, the Spring and Autumn Cicada!
(End of this chapter)