Chapter 233: The Mysterious Object in the Rock Flows
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The geocentric fire vein was actually expansive, and the direct passageway to the Underground Rock River was just one of the countless ways that led to the fire vein. But it was the largest and longest, and also led to a spacious area that made it suitable for the building of a smelting chamber.
Besides this main and spacious passageway, there were also other large and small ones pressed against each other like a honeycomb. But they were either too narrow or led to an area with heavy Evil Qi and high temperature, thus becoming obsolete.
There were two important functions to the geocentric fire vein. First, smelting families like the Wu Family could forge Secondary Heavenly Weapons with the help of the rock flows here. Second, those like Junior Leopard who practiced the Fire Way Method to condense Evil into Gang and raise their cultivation here.
Only a handful of powers who had the right to build a smelting chamber in the geocentric fire vein; there were only four in Great Jin and they had already conquered the fire vein. And though there were many who practiced the Fire Way Method and needed the Spiritual Spiritual Energy of Fire, few had the right to enter the fire vein. Even if they were granted the right, they would be killed by fire toxin here if they didn’t have at least a Level Three cultivation.
Yet those whose cultivation was over Level Three and wanted to strengthen their cultivation in the geocentric fire vein didn’t have the right to enter. Thus, a phenomenon appeared whereby there were those like Junior Leopard who would sneak in.
But those people were few and far in between. After all, Great Jin and the four smelting families weren’t easy to handle. Besides the guards stationed outside the entrance, experts from the four families also patrolled the main passageway. Even Junior Leopard struck down the guards, it was impossible for him to go far into the passageway.
After all, there were few who had achieved Level Seven and even fewer were those who had that cultivation while practicing the Fire Way Method. Those who did were generally taken in by Jin and other powers, never having to worry about lack of access to geocentric fire veins. Thus the four smelting families only had to send some ordinary experts to do the patrolling.
Based on Junior Leopard’s current identity and position, he could just mention it to the Wu Family if he wanted to practice inside the geocentric fire vein and they would make the proper arrangements. It wasn’t simply because he was an Elder, he was also the strongest fighter in the family. They all believed that his combat capability had long surpassed the First Elder of the family, Lyu Yiyue. Him wanting to have a closed-door training was something that fitted their wishes precisely.
But Junior Leopard didn’t think of doing so, nor did he want to bother the family for this. So he came to the underground fire vein just like that but unexpectedly encountered disciples from the family on patrolling duty.
He walked deeper inside along the main passageway and, after a while, found a branch on the wall with the thickest Spiritual Energy of Fire and drilled inside.
This particular passageway was cramped and only as tall as his shoulder. It was only wide as his body, so he could drill through once he entered it.
He drilled into the passageway like a mouse and when he made it across, he felt strong Spiritual Energy of Fire, along with fire toxin, hitting him squarely in the face.
He marveled at the strong energy, patting himself on the back for choosing the right place this time. The Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique inside his body began to turn, coming to life. He saw a thin red stripe wandering around his body, engulfing the dense Spiritual Energy of Fire.
That was the second state of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique. Besides some hermit Elders from the Tian Long Taoism, perhaps there was no one else who could use this technique to this extent except him.
For most people, this fire toxin would lead them to death. For Junior Leopard, the Spiritual Energy of Fire around him was an incredibly nourishing substance.
The entrance to the passageway was extremely narrow. Junior Leopard was ready to be a mouse, but after a while, the passageway opened up and became increasingly wide. Very soon, he was able to straighten his body and walk along the passageway.
He walked for some distance, feeling the temperature around him rising. There were now three golden red stripes around him, but he could still feel the heat coming from around him.
“I think I’m very close to the main passageway where the Underground Rock River is!”
Junior Leopard quietly estimated his current location.
The passageway he was taking was straight and steep, yet he never slowed. He estimated he had already entered deep into the underground, but frowned when he looked at unending and deep passageway. “All passageways to the Underground Rock River are supposed to be connected, but why can’t I see any sign of it until now?”
He mainly came here this time to find the Underground Rock River because he needed the Earth Fire Yuan Essence in it to cultivate his muscles and bones, unite his fist intent, and refine his Internal Qi.
To others, the Earth Fire Yuan Essence was something exceedingly rare because they were hidden deep under the rock flows of the geocentric fire vein. Ordinary martial artists, even Level Nine experts, weren’t capable of collecting such Spiritual Energy of Fire under the rock flows. It was only by chance and in very special places that they could find such quality Spiritual Energy of Fire.
But it was never a problem for Junior Leopard. Using his Black Sun Fist Intent, he could easily draw the Earth Fire Yuan Essence under the rock flows to him. He just needed an area with rock flow to obtain plenty of the essence and guide it into his body using the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique. That way, he would be able to strengthen his body, increase his Qi, and practice his fist intent. That was the plan, but unexpectedly he couldn’t even find any trace of the Underground Rock River until now. This turn of events made him somewhat dejected.
“Damn it! If I remember correctly, the book I’ve once read said all passageways inside the geocentric fire vein lead to the underground lava.” It was for this reason that he chose a passageway with the densest Spiritual Energy of Fire. He thought such a passageway would naturally be much closer to the rock flows. Why else would the fire be so fierce here?
Yet sadly, it wasn’t the closest route to the rock flows. It might even be the furthest way.
“No, something’s not right. If this is the furthest way, why is there such dense Spiritual Energy of Fire here? I’ve already materialized five Fire Dragons by now, I’m afraid even my Fire Dragons will be roasted if I don’t arrive at the rock flows soon!”
Junior Leopard may have a high cultivation, but he was still human. He was finding it hard to shoulder on as the Spiritual Energy of Fire in this passageway became thicker. He was probably the only one who could. Even a Level Seven expert with Gang Qi would feel tortured being in this place.
Suddenly inspired, a layer of green light enveloped him. He performed the Jade Original Power Gang Spirit he learned not too long ago. His Blue Sword transformed into a lush green anima surrounding him, preventing the unending hot gas from getting near him.
He was here to practice, not to suffer. The three Fire Dragons dancing around him seemed to have absorbed enough Spiritual Energy of Fire and were gleaming in golden-red gloss. Their scales, horns, whiskers, and five claws have become increasingly clear. They didn’t look any different from true dragons. It would be hard for people to believe it was Junior Leopard’s Internal Qi that created these Fire Dragons.
With green light looming up around him, Junior Leopard continued to walk for about six hours. His expression suddenly shifted when he noticed the direction of the passageway changing not far ahead. He couldn’t see anything beyond the corner standing where he was, but he could feel a stream of dense, invincible pneuma surging in the entrance of the corner where he detected large amounts of the Earth Fire Yuan Essence.
“Seriously? Can this passageway be the one that leads directly underneath the rock flows? This is the only place with the Earth Fire Yuan Essence. Did I really get this lucky?” There was only one place containing natural Earth Fire Yuan Essence: the bottom of the geocentric rock flows.
The earth’s core, with its mysteries and splendidness, were not in any way less beautiful than scenes under the sea. Most rock flows led directly to the earth’s core, but sometimes there could be voids underneath. In Junior Leopard’s previous life, these voids were similar to river-crossing or subsea tunnels. People could go through these tunnels, but they were also filled with terrible fire toxin. It was hard for even a Level Eight or Level Nine expert to survive here.
So Junior Leopard halted his footsteps.
The green light around him flourished. before disappearing after an idea came to him. He raised his hands and the five golden-red Fire Dragons flew past him toward the void hiding behind the corner. Simultaneously, he combined the three pieces of golden flames into a Lion that pounced at the corner as well.
With the five Fire Dragons and one Lion rushing toward the corner, Junior Leopard howled and felt a stream of hot flow being absorbed by his body through his creations. The Mysterious Fire in his Dantian jumped suddenly, and his Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique and Bright Moon Deifying Technique started acting. He began absorbing the enormous energy here in a mad manner.
After a while, his creations flew back from the corner and entered his body. A piece of golden-red light emerged from his skin and began wandering around.
Junior Leopard’s eyes opened wide. He took out a little china-white bottle and poured three white pills out of it, swallowing them all.
Tendon-Changing Pills!
These were the Tendon-Changing Pills!
As Junior Leopard’s strength rose, so did his position in the Wu Family and the number of gains he received. What was more, Anyuan Store had been expanding at an alarming rate thanks to him. They now not only controlled the shipping across Luo River but also began to dabble in the medicinal herb business.
Though herbs needed for the Tendon-Changing Pills were rare and hard to find, Junior Leopard didn’t need much as he was making pills, not decoctions. Therefore, though it hadn’t been easy, Anyuan Store scraped together all the necessary medicinal herbs by the time he returned from the northern prairie. Even if there was only very little of some of the rarer herbs, it was enough to make a bottle of Tendon-Changing Pills.
After swallowing three pills, Junior Leopard immediately practiced his martial arts to absorb its effects. Three streams of cold energy combined and began to wander along his tendons, meridians, and skeleton. The energy felt like icicles piercing his tendons, meridians, muscles, and bones, almost freezing them.
He was under the rock flows where an incessant heat was overflowing, yet it still wasn’t enough to offset the severe coldness he felt.
He stood up with a rush and spread his legs, adjusting into position. His bones cracked as he moved, making a dull noise similar to what it sounded like when hard shoes stepped on an iced floor.
Soon after, the dull cracking of his bones adopted a mellower sound.
Clank, clank, clank― Rattle, rattle― Jingle, jingle―
The sounds changed as Junior Leopard made his moves, interchanging between fast and slow. First, he used the Moon-evil Painted Skin Punching Skill, then the Blood Evil Harden Bone Fist, and finally, the Tai Chi Quan.
His moves gradually slowed and, judging by his speed, he seemed to be carefully practicing Tai Chi. But his moves were fused with the ways of the Blood Evil Harden Bone Fist and the Moon-evil Painted Skin Punching Skill.
The sounds coming from his bones became quieter yet clearer.
Jingle, jingle, jingle―
It sounded like pearls falling on a plate of jade, clear and melodic.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh―
Suddenly, blasts of sound like tidewater appeared in this clear and melodic sound.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh―
At first, it was low and incoherent, very hard to hear. Yet as the time went by, Junior Leopard’s speed of punching became slower and slower, and the sound became louder and louder and more and more regular, just like the ebb and flow.
Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze―
At the moment, Junior Leopard seemed like he was being injected with mercury in his entire body. Every move he made seemed accompanied by the surge of his qi and blood.
At this point, he had immersed himself in an abstruse state. The Blood Evil Harden Bone Fist, the Moon-evil Painted Skin Punching Skill, as well as the other punching skills the stranger in the thunder taught him merged into one, where it was unclear where one began and the other ended. What held them together was Tai Chi Quan.
Boom, boom, boom―
He had no idea how much time has passed when a thunderous sound came out from his body. The slower his movements were, the louder the sound became.
“Ah, I can’t take it anymore! But I only have a little more to go!”
Junior Leopard’s moves became abruptly faster and he spread his arms like a gibbon. He made a somersault in the air as if he had no control over his body and fell with a stagger.
He straightened his body and squinted before walking toward the corner of the passageway without hesitation.
“It’s not enough. Though there’s a lot of Earth Fire Yuan Essence here, it’s not enough to satisfy me. If I force myself to breakthrough into the Bone-Forging Realm here, it’ll affect my future prospects. I need even more and even clearer Earth Fire Yuan Essence. I need to travel deeper down this passageway!”
Junior Leopard didn’t relax his steps and directly turned at the corner of the passageway.
Whoosh!
A burning heat flow ambushed him, nearly sweeping Junior Leopard off his feet. He gritted his teeth and rushed in under the protection of the golden-red light.
“This is definitely it!”
Finally, he felt like a heavy burden was lifted off him after he turned the corner and passed the scorching subterranean tunnel.
He was truly lucky as the tunnel was a short one. After going through the tunnel, the passageway began head upward where the scorching heat gradually dissipated, reducing the impact on Junior Leopard. He had to turn several more corners before finally finding his target: the geocentric rock flows.
The billowing lava was as dense as pulp, exuding an overwhelming heat. Its golden-red light lit up the entire underground cavity.
This was a void underneath the stream of geocentric rock flows, smaller than the void in the main passageway leading to the geocentric fire vein but with denser heat.
Compared to tunnel earlier cramped with dense heat coming off the Earth Fire Yuan Essence, this was much better.
“I made it! I made it! I just need to―What’s this?”
The overjoyed Junior Leopard was planning on using this area as his practicing spot when he suddenly stopped, stunned.
He saw something weird; there was a rock inside the rock flows!
The geocentric rock flows were like rivers on the ground. The only difference was that water flowed in rivers while magma flowed in rock flows.
Therefore, rock flows would also come across barriers. Matters that constituted magma were diverse from each other, where some may pile up with the flow like sandstones in rivers. As time passed, small islands or pebbles would also be formed in rock flows.
These islands or pebbles generally wouldn’t last. No matter how hard they were, they were worn down by the rock flows day after day, year after year.
This stream of rock flow in front of Junior Leopard was narrow and its flow was also smooth. What was unusual was the small island within it. Strictly speaking, it can’t be considered an island. At most, it was just a large rock and a barrier.
It was precisely this barrier that surprised him, for he sensed intelligence coming from this black and common stone.
Such intelligence! From the looks of it, this stone wasn’t a dead thing at all. It must be alive! Such intelligence was denser than even the material he used to make Emerald Pearl Sword, as well as his Demon Devil Needles.
He couldn’t help fawning over what a marvelous material the stone would make for refining celestial devices. If he gave the stone another thousand of years, it may develop spiritual intelligence and give birth to another Monkey King. But for the moment, it was merely a remarkable material for the celestial devices refinement.
He didn’t know how long this stone had remained here, how many special materials it gained from the rock flows, or how many years it had suffered from the washing of the rock flows to cultivate such high intelligence.
Having come across such a great treasure, he surely wouldn’t be soft-hearted and let it go. He raised his figures and a piece of sword qi of Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword shot out, charging at the rock flow. The sword qi violently incised on the part of the stone where he thought its intelligence first formed.
Swaaaa―
A strange sound came from where his sword qi cut the stone. He then sensed a stream of extremely overbearing power rebounding from the root of the stone, charging toward the Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword. If it was any other sword, it would have already be smashed into pieces by that overwhelmingly strong power.
“It’s not a stone!”
Through this attack, Junior Leopard was sure there was an object with the high intelligence hiding inside the stone. It didn’t come from the black stone itself.
His Extreme Yang Through Sky Sword was incredibly sharp and successfully cut the root of the stone despite the setback. A dazzling golden-red light emerged from the bottom of rock flows. The stone submerged in the magma and disappeared without a trace.
There was no better place than the rock flows for a stone to hide. At this time, the root of the stone had already been cut. Once it sank inside the magma, it would swim with the tide like pebbles in the river. God knew where it would be then.
Of course, Junior Leopard wouldn’t allow this to happen. When he saw the stone sank into the bottom of the rock flow, he transformed his hand into a saber and slashed at where the golden-red light was gleaming inside the magma.
He used his Space Division Skill!
In a flash, that space was divided apart. Now that it was independent of its surrounding, the stone naturally had nowhere to hide.
Junior Leopard abruptly flicked his sleeves. A stone gleaming with golden-right flew out from the divided rock flows and headed in his direction. He used his sleeves flick the stone and it ripped from the surface, revealing its golden inner material with immense intelligence.
An irregularly-shaped, golden-red material, made neither of gold nor stone, emerged in front of him.
Without hesitation, he pointed with his finger and a piece of thought flickering like a will-o’-the-wisp flew toward the strange material.
That was Junior Leopard’s piece of thought.
Junior Leopard was very clear that a Mysterious Object of this grade ought to be psychic, just lacking the final step. If it were given another thousand of years, it would surely develop the ability to think. But now, he had truly benefited from this.
Such a Mysterious Object that was close to developing the ability to think held no barriers against his thought. In fact, it could even be said that the object was waiting for him. As soon as his thought went in, they were in complete harmony and in sync.
Under his control, the light of the object gradually dimmed, revealing its hard shell. Its size also shrank and finally became a black, fist-sized ‘stone’ similar to an insensate stone.
“This is definitely good stuff but the problem is I don’t know how to use it. Oh well, I’ll just let it be.” The small size of the stone meant it wouldn’t take up much space, so he put it away in the space he reserved for his two hammers.
Though the hammers were large enough to fill out the space, it was still enough to store a fist-sized stone.
Junior Leopard sighed with relief when everything was done. He released the Space Division Skill he performed just now and the Black Sun Fist Intent appeared behind him. Then a fist-sized bubble popped up from the bottom of the rock flows.
“Okay, it’s time to practice. Let’s see if I can make a breakthrough this time!”