Born with immortal seed

Chapter 386 Demon Beast Testing the Sword
Judging from its scale, the Gengjin mine on Jinguang Mountain is estimated to be worth at least a million spirit stones.

According to the rules of the Qingfeng Sect, any mineral veins discovered by the sect's disciples must be handed over to the sect for mining.

Depending on the mining costs, the discoverer will receive varying percentages of the profits, ranging from a maximum of 50/50 split, but generally around 30%.

The General Affairs Hall and the Spirit Mine Hall, even with their immense power, dared not deduct any share of the Gengjin ore vein found by Bai Laozu, citing operating costs as the reason.

Based on a small spirit stone vein that Zhou Suqing discovered several years ago, the Core Formation Ancestors all implicitly agreed to receive a maximum of 50% of the profits.

However, hundreds of thousands of spirit stones are nothing to Bai Zichen, mainly because he doesn't currently have many uses for them.

The essence of Geng metal deep within the core of the ore vein is what he values ​​most.

If he could get five or six catties of Gengjin essence, it would be enough to refine all the third-tier flying swords on his body.

It might have little effect on flying swords like the Great Sun Furnace Sword, which is already at the top of the third tier, but it can increase the lethality of swords like the Thunder Sound Sword and the Green Maple Sword by at least 20%.

He doesn't need these third-tier flying swords right now, but when he sets up the Star River Sword Formation in the future, the quality of the flying swords will directly affect the power of the sword formation.

As the number of flying swords increases, the consumption of true essence also increases exponentially.

Similarly, the destructive power of each flying sword in the sword formation will eventually be multiplied together.

Even the slightest deviation could cause a huge error in the formation of the sword array.

After returning, Bai Zichen handed over the matter of Jin Guangshan to Ma Ruoxi, asking her to inform Tong Huan to arrange for sect cultivators to take over the spiritual vein.

The main focus was on the Gengjin ore vein; not a single grain of Gengjin essence could be missed, and all of it had to be collected and left for Old Ancestor Bai.

Three months later, Bai Zichen used the Sound Bamboo Sword to slay the Ghost-Faced Shark, a low-grade third-tier demon beast.

Even though it dived to the bottom of the lake and tried to escape using the water's advantage, Bai Zichen still caught up with it.

The demon-faced shark was nailed to the blue stone at the bottom of the lake, leaving behind a crystal-clear spiritual pearl. Pure water vapor gathered towards the pearl, producing gurgling spiritual water.

"There is no demon core in its body, but a spirit pearl instead... This is truly eye-opening. There are all kinds of strange things in the cultivation world. It is normal to encounter any kind of demon beast."

Bai Zichen tossed the water-elemental spirit bead, about the size of a basket, in his hand. Inside, at its core, was a miniature ghost-faced shark.

"No wonder they couldn't even capture the essence of a demon beast; it actually merged with the spirit pearl and became like a cultivator's primordial spirit..."

The original plan was to use the blank banner to collect all the essences of the third-tier demonic beasts that had been killed and hand them over to Zhou Suqing.

She is studying new battle formations and has some ideas.

But even the most skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Without enough spiritual materials to refine array flags, array plates, and array diagrams, even the best design plan is useless.

It is said that Zhou Suqing picked up weapon crafting again specifically for this reason.

Battle formations, a special type of formation involving multiple people working together and being complex and obscure, involve extremely sophisticated equipment.

Even a slight deviation can lead to a complete departure from the original designer's intentions.

Even among array masters, communication is extremely difficult. How can a weapon refiner fully and truthfully understand the design intentions of an array master?

To achieve an even more perfect result, Zhou Suqing simply took on the role of a weapon refiner on the side.

Anyway, anyone with the skills of a second-tier high-grade weapon refiner can make these array flags, array plates, and array diagrams.

For her, it's not a difficult peak to climb; she can achieve it in a few years.

However, the array flags were designed to provide a clear carrier for the cultivators' magical power to converge in the battle formation, making them more flexible and operable.

Zhou Suqing's chosen method is to use the essence of demonic beasts as the core, which allows the newly created battle formation to reach the level of the late Foundation Establishment stage, and is no longer so rigid and sluggish.

This idea was inspired by the third-tier ghost king restrained in the Ghost Spirit Sect's Ten Thousand Ghosts and Fierce Souls Formation.

The battle flags are easy to forge, but the essence of the demon beast that serves as the core is hard to find.

The essence of a second-tier demon beast is completely ineffective and will greatly diminish the power of the battle formation.

And in just a few years, the essence of the second-tier demon beast will be scattered, and the array flags will return to blankness.

Only the essence of a third-tier demon beast can maintain its essence for hundreds or even thousands of years through the spirit-binding restriction copied from the Ten Thousand Ghosts and Fierce Souls Array.

However, neither Zhou Suqing nor Wei Dao had the strength to reliably deal with a third-tier demonic beast.

The amount of essence needed to refine the array flags is not just one or two; the current number of Qi Refining disciples in the Qingfeng Sect is enough to support dozens of battle arrays with a hundred people each.

With Ge Cang in seclusion, the important task of collecting the essence of demonic beasts naturally fell to Bai Zichen.

This spirit orb combines a demon core and a spirit essence, suggesting it comes from a special race and is distinct from ordinary demon beasts.

Bai Zichen carefully put it away, thinking it might come in handy in some situations in the future.

The surface of Lake Lengcuo, where the demon sharks live, appears to be only a few hundred acres, but there are underground rivers and rapids at the bottom of the lake, which he only discovered after chasing them all the way.

The underground stream meanders for at least several dozen miles, forming several natural caves with stalactites hanging from their ceilings.

There is nothing particularly special about the area around Lengcuo Lake. The lakeside is covered with several kinds of second-tier spiritual herbs, which can be cultivated as a spiritual plant garden.

In addition, the land irrigated by the lake water can be developed into at least a thousand acres of second-tier spirit fields.

However, Bai Zichen made other discoveries in the cave at the bottom of the lake.

One of the rooms was cool and refreshing, without the oppressive heat of the underwater currents. Stepping inside, you could even feel a cool breeze on your face.

"Cooling beads!"

Bai Zichen looked up at the stalactites above his head, where there were at least a hundred pearls embedded in them.

The second cave was dry and cool, without a trace of moisture or dampness.

Hundreds of water-repelling beads are embedded among the stalactites.

Further on, there are a hundred luminous pearls, a hundred dust-repelling pearls, a hundred nine-curved pearls...

Each pearl may not be very valuable, but the quantity creates a qualitative change, and when added together, it becomes a considerable number.

Moreover, in the hands of cultivators who want to collect the pearls and refine unique magical treasures, the value of these pearls can rise to another level.

Bai Zichen left Lengcuo Lake and headed back home, leaving behind dozens of aquatic beasts floating on the lake.

All of their demonic bodies were intact, without any visible injuries, lying quietly on the lake surface, eerily still.

Three months later, the beautiful snake in the Cold Crow Gorge let out a series of mournful cries, broke off a section of its tail, and fled in a sorry state.

The upper body of this serpentine beast had already taken on a somewhat human-like shape, with arms growing from its ribs and a full chest, but its body was still covered with blue scales.

For a demon beast to transform into human form, it generally needs to reach the fourth rank and have a cultivation level equivalent to that of a human Nascent Soul True Monarch before it can begin to slowly transform.

There are also two special cases.

Firstly, the fourth-tier Azure Phoenix on Flaming Mountain possesses divine beast bloodline and powerful lineage, which ironically delays its transformation into human form.

The divine beast bloodline within his body was deeply rooted and its effects were too obvious, so he couldn't truly take human form until it was completely refined and absorbed.

Secondly, there is another form of special bloodline, which is basically achieved by consuming rare flowers and herbs during the growth process, and can partially manifest human form before the fourth stage.

Of course, compared to a true fourth-order transformed great demon, this transformation is quite crude and still retains a large number of demon beast characteristics.

However, once these kinds of monsters reach the fourth rank, their transformation process will be smoother than that of other fourth-rank monsters. It won't be long before they can complete this transformation path, which is regarded as a nightmare journey by all newly broken-through fourth-rank monsters.

"First-tier flying swords are still too fragile. Five of them broke during the match... Fortunately, I can easily forge a dozen ink bamboo swords, so it doesn't matter."

Bai Zichen threw the broken sword in his hand to the ground and watched the fleeing snake beauty without giving chase.

Instead, he closed his eyes and focused his mind, sensing the insights he gained from controlling the sword during the previous battle.

He doesn't lack a third-tier low-grade demonic beast as a combat trophy; compared to that, any improvement in his swordsmanship is worthwhile.

These insights gained in the face of battle are sometimes lost forever if missed.

During the battle, he had done his best to protect the Ink Bamboo Sword, but the gap between a first-tier flying sword and a third-tier demonic beast was simply too great.

Even with her exquisite swordsmanship and masterful skill, the serpentine was not a demon beast known for its strength and physical prowess.

However, the difference between a third-tier demonic beast and a first-tier flying sword is so great that even a slight brush of demonic power will cause the sword's light to flicker and its blade to be damaged.

It was only because the true essence reversed and protected the sword that the sword was able to break in two; otherwise, the small body of the Ink Bamboo Sword would have been broken in two long ago.

Only by wielding the sword with dazzling, dazzling skill, dodging all of the Serpent Beauty's attacks, and using only feigned sword light to guide the opponent's offensive, can one maintain the momentum for even a moment.

The destructive power of the second-tier flying sword is also a major problem. Even if it transforms into a sword thread and pierces the beautiful snake, it can only cause superficial wounds, far from being fatal.

"call!"

Bai Zichen exhaled like a sword, and in this extreme situation he created for himself, his control over the subtle details of the flying sword rose to another level.

If you want to break through in battle but don't have a suitable opponent, this is the only way to hone your swordsmanship.

Having figured out the key to the changes in sword light, he suddenly had a breakthrough in understanding the Nine Illusions Sword Technique, truly entering the inner sanctum of its art.

I glanced at the direction the beautiful snake had fled; the trail of blood stretched for over a hundred feet before disappearing.

The beautiful snake had long since disappeared from the range of his divine sense.

Bai Zichen was not in a hurry and first took a tour of Hanya Gorge.

This place was originally home to a nest of three-tiered crows, hence the name.

The crows had moved away somewhere, and a beautiful snake had swum in and taken over the third-tier spiritual vein. Thousands upon thousands of snake beasts had also gathered in the canyon.

They were all normal snake-like monsters, none of them had developed a human-like form like the beautiful snake.

When a fearless second-tier serpent lunged at them, without even raising a hand, a wisp of emerald green sword thread coiled around it, and the serpent was severed in two, falling to the ground with a clatter.

Aside from finding a few pieces of ancient cold iron that could be used as materials for sword forging, there was nothing else that caught my eye.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, Bai Zichen seemed to sense something, turned back, and swung his sword, carving a large pit in the ground in front of him.

A ten-zhang-deep pit appeared in an instant, revealing the skeletal remains of three birds and beasts inside.

He discovered with his divine sense that the soil beneath the ground was not as soft as the surrounding soil, so he started digging. Unexpectedly, instead of finding any treasure, he unearthed the skeletons of three birds and beasts.

"They were the corpses of that nest of third-tier crows, all killed by a single sword piercing their skulls..."

After examining the bird and beast skeletons, Bai Zichen's expression grew increasingly solemn.

(End of this chapter)