Chapter 424 – Above Gold
“I know a bit.” Lin Kun nodded. He was inwardly unwilling, but he was rather scared of the killing disaster in front of him. Even though the Medicine Capital was relatively far from the source, he had still heard of the name ‘devilish brat’. Several years ago, this was still a small brat, yet he had already stirred up a storm in the Void God Realm and ‘bullied’ everyone. A year ago, he killed his way to fame, defeating the dual-pupiled individual and killing a supreme expert to become the wasteland region’s sole supreme youth.
Towards this ten or so year old individual that angered gods and humans alike, as well as leaving great ancient sects helpless, Lin Kun became more scared the more he thought about it. He deeply regretted provoking him. Everything he was doing now was simply to remedy the situation.
At this moment, the group was all excited and extremely interested. Even Yun Xi was incomparably moved. That was an Emperor Butterfly! Forget about its ability to find spiritual roots, just its strength alone was known as world-changing. Not even the renowned archaic Demonic Sky Splitting Butterfly, known for its terrifying fighting prowess, was its match. It was to the point where some people in the cultivation world speculated that if not for its single appearance during the archaic era, making it hard to evaluate potential, it might have been added into the archaic ‘vicious ten’.
This wasn’t some random nonsense and truly had been considered before. It was above the golden butterfly and granted the title divine butterfly. This divine bug was too powerful. If it had made an appearance a few more times, allowing for a more accurate assessment, the conclusion might have been heaven defying.
However, there were people who wondered why it only appeared once. After all these endless years, there couldn’t have only been one instance, right?
“There was only one, and only after countless generations was a single one born.” Yun Xi said softly. This was a story that she had seen inside a dust covered bone book in the Heavenly Divine Mountain.
How did it come into being? No one knew. A few heavenly ranked archaic creatures surmised that it might not have originated from this realm.
After struggling intensely inside, Lin Kun calmed down. He saw that Shi Hao was interested and knew that he had avoided this disaster. The other party probably wouldn’t want to take revenge on him anymore.
After thinking carefully, he felt that the secret regarding a divine bug like this wasn’t something that a Formation Arrangement Realm elder like him could protect anyway. He might as well just use this as a chance to exchange for some karma.
There was absolutely no need to think about Shi Hao’s potential. Right now, everyone knew that as long as he was given enough time, he could surpass the powerful individuals of any sect in the present age. After making this choice, he calmed down inwardly and no longer struggled inside. He didn’t hesitate and began to walk towards a corner of the medicine field.
He squatted down. After feeling about in the earth, a kacha sounded. Symbols lit up beneath the soil, and then it began to split apart with ga zha ga zha sounds.
Lin Kun extracted a stone case from the formation hole that was a square foot in size and handed it to Shi Hao.
“Is it really the Emperor Butterfly?!” Everyone widened their eyes. They were all extremely nervous, and even their breathing became hoarse. Even Huo Ling’er’s full chest was rising and falling, and her beautiful eyes flickered with luster as she gazed at the seemingly ordinary stone case.
“Be careful. If it really is the Emperor Butterfly, even the larva alone would have unimaginable spirituality and powerful might.” Yun Xi excitedly warned.
Towards these types of legendary creatures, she had always felt curiosity, as well as a sense of reverence for the later generation descendants of the archaic era. She truly wished to see the single Emperor Butterfly in existence.
Lin Kun was a bit embarrassed and said in a soft voice, “It is only some important clues. It isn’t the hibernating larva.”
Everyone was a bit disappointed, but they also released a pent up breath. After all, this was only natural. If a world-shocking divine bug had been brought out by a king level figure, then that would be strange and inconceivable.
When the stone case was opened, a bronze piece could be seen. There were hundreds of mysterious symbols on top, and despite being rather faint and full of mottled rust and scars, there was still a type of gentle and ancient feeling to it.
“This is half of the bronze piece. It has been recorded within our Divine Medicine Gate that if the complete bronze magical artifact could be found, then the legendary Emperor Butterfly can be obtained,” Lin Kun explained.
As for the piece in his hand, it was unintentionally discovered after entering this courtyard. An older generation figure obtained this bronze piece many years ago and sealed it here.
Everyone felt somewhat discouraged. Countless years had passed since the ancient times, yet no one had obtained the other bronze piece. How were they supposed to search for the other piece?
“There are already some clues. That year when the medicine god fell, his possessions were passed on to his child, and this bronze piece was naturally in his hands as well…” Lin Kun explained.
“What? There are news regarding the medicine god’s descendant?” The nine-headed lion asked.
“Correct, his skeletal remains have been found.” Lin Kun nodded and then began to explain this matter in detail.
That place was precisely the divine valley that was protected by a hundred formations. Ever since the historical remains appeared, there would be many people searching about it each day, and as such a few clues were discovered.
The big red bird immediately became unhappy. What kind of place was that? They couldn’t enter at all! According to what the purple-clothed Yun Xi said, the formations were most likely laid by a deity. It would be hard for anyone in the present age to break them.
“Something unexpected happened just yesterday. There was someone who found a secluded underground cave that lead straight into the divine valley yesterday,” Lin Kun said.
“How could that be? There was someone who could break through the formations arranged by a deity?” Everyone became shocked.
“It was opened by an ancient individual. Three formations were broken in succession, but he ultimately died inside. When someone entered inside, they saw many fragmented magical artifacts. There was also a jade tile that recorded the dead individual’s identity,” Lin Kun said.
After hearing this, everyone understood what happened.
“This matter is still a secret, so only a few people know about this. Right now, many great figures have moved out from the Medicine Capital and entered the divine valley where the formations have been broken to see if they could reap any benefits.”
When they heard these words, the group immediately couldn’t sit still.
After carefully understanding the situation, they were lead by Lin Kun quickly towards the ancient divine valley. Immortal energy continuously curled up around this area and auspicious light could vaguely be seen. The valley was extremely mysterious looking.
This time, Shi Hao did not head towards the place where the divine spiritual root could be seen, and instead, he directly arrived at a region surrounded by all types of formation banners.
It was clear that this place had been controlled by someone. The banners fluttered, locking down this area. Mists surged viciously, making it so that practically nothing could be seen!
Lin Kun was also a great figure in the Medicine Capital, so he was allowed to bring his own people in as well. This place had been occupied by a few powerful experts, and normally, no one could enter.
“The number of people Elder Lin has brought in is a bit high.” Upon entering, the group was greeted by a few cultivators who were guarding the underground cavern. Otherwise, people would casually come and go.
Lin Kun smiled and exchanged conventional greetings with them. He then ultimately led Shi Hao and the others inside without any obstruction.
The underground cave was deep and isolated. Only after heading down a hundred zhang were they able to travel on horizontal ground that lead to the valley. They could see how difficult it was to break through the formation back then, and how great of a price was paid to open up this route.
There were still symbol remnants inside this ancient caverns, and the terrifying aura continued to diffuse through this area. If they hadn’t been broken, a normal person would immediately die without leaving any remains upon coming into contact with those symbols.
By travelling along the ancient cave, they soon arrived in a bright area. They had entered the inside of the mountain valley where the first formation previously lied.
“Yi, this place is like a world of its own?!” The flame crow gasped.
Everyone became frightened. This region was too large, and they couldn’t see the end from where they stood. They weren’t sure just how many times larger this place was than the mountain valley they saw in the outside world. You have to understand that this was merely the first formation. Once hundreds were added together, how vast would that be?
They all felt like they had a headache. Could a great wilderness have been condensed here? Everyone began to try and size up this first formation, but they found that it was truly endless. From this, it meant that the true size of the divine valley was even more limitless.
“I reckon that the hundred formations added together should cover several tens of thousands of li, maybe even more,” Huo Ling’er speculated.
A territory as large as this made everyone’s teeth sore. Just how ridiculous was this? This great formation covered tens of thousands of li, so just how great was the one who created such a thing?! This was absolutely astonishing.
“What is the purpose of this? Who is so senseless as to bring about such an enormous formation?” The nine-headed lion spoke in a rather troubled tone.
“There aren’t any opportunities for life here…” Shi Hao revealed an astonished expression. There wasn’t much vegetation within this first formation, and the little that was here was scattered about. It seemed like all of the spiritual essence here had been sucked dry.
“Apart from protection formations, there are also spiritual congregation formations. They are all concentrated towards the center of the vast valley.” The purple-clothed Yun Xi spoke.
“The spiritual essence from tens of thousands of li shouldn’t all be for the purpose of nurturing that single stalk of spiritual root, right?” Huo Ling’er revealed a look of shock.
What kind of plant was that? If this was true, then the requirements for its growth was just too terrifying.
Even Shi Hao was greatly shaken. This mountain valley was definitely laid out by an unmatched great figure, one that likely did not belong to this world.
“All of this was purposely left behind by someone to one day be picked up.” Shi Hao said softly. If this was the case, then an unmatched individual would once again appear!
Under Lin Kun’s lead, they once again entered the ancient cavern. This route lead to the second formation, and there were definitely spatial symbols here. There was an incomparably vast distance, yet they quickly crossed it and arrived on the ground.
As expected, the second formation was seemingly boundless as well. It covered just as much space as the first formation, and it was similarly devoid of life. There wasn’t anything valuable here.
Lin Kun reminded, “If we continue to advance, it will be dangerous. The medicine god’s child died in the third formation, and he was only able to break through a portion of the restrictions.”
“Let’s go.” Shi Hao only wanted to take a look, so he obviously wouldn’t take risks.
Upon entering the third formation, there was a safe region. There were already a hundred or more people here that were currently studying the formation or trying to find something.
These people consisted of great figures of the Medicine Capital along with their disciples and descendants. They were here to see if they could stumble upon any heavenly opportunities. Even though this chance had been given to them, the amount of things that could be gained here was limited.
This safe area was not particularly large. Hazy mist blurred the surroundings, making it hard to see beyond them distinctly.
Many people were searching in that area in hopes of obtaining something.
“Yi, there are quite a few magical artifact fragments.” Sure enough, there were many ruined artifacts here like broken formation flags, shattered primordial symbol bones, and fractured medicinal cauldrons.
“Those are the remains of the senior.” Lin Kun spoke and pointed forward.
The flesh on that body had long disappeared, and the bones were dark gray in color. It was extremely abnormal, as if it would crack apart from a light touch. It had suffered from the power of a terrifying formation.
In addition, there was a spiritual gathering formation here that had completely extracted all of the body’s essence.
“Staying here for too long will cause a severe drainage of one’s essence…” They hadn’t stayed here for that long, but Shi Hao and the others already had this kind of feeling.
The third formation hadn’t been completely broken through, and as such, they couldn’t even remain in this safe region for too long, or else there was a chance of dying.
“Elder Lin, you came.” Someone greeted.
“The medicine god’s heir is precisely our ancestral master and an extremely formidable figure. From our research, it seems like he managed to break into the deity level in the later stages of his life and followed a diagram here.”
The information they disclosed was extremely shocking, immediately startling Shi Hao. He couldn’t help but observe with that dual-pupil.
Was it really a divine level expert? Shi Hao trembled inwardly, because he noticed that a certain bone hadn’t completely turned dark gray. There was a type of divine light flickering about it with the aura of a deity curling about.
Even a divine individual only managed to break through two and a half formations while possessing a portion of the formation diagram. Exactly how terrifying was this place?!
Shi Hao no longer had much hope, because this place was too dangerous. Moreover, after walking around this place, he didn’t find the bronze piece.
“Yi, there really was one!” RIght when he felt like he wasted his time and was about to give up, the dual-pupil inadvertently caught a strange aura that was the same as the bronze piece on him.
When he carefully observed it, he immediately exulted. It was surprisingly the other half! This truly was an unexpected surprise.