Chapter 837: Digging for Treasures
“Condense.”
Mu Lingxi stood above the sea of magma. Behind her, a pair of enormous ice phoenix wings spread open, and a powerful surge of freezing cold air rushed out from her body, dispersing in all directions.
The scorching magma let out a hissing sound, visibly solidifying at a rapid pace, turning into a dark gold color.
The black rock within had streaks of golden patterns running through it, appearing quite extraordinary.
The rock’s hardness could even rival that of some low-grade True Martial Treasures.
The closer to the central sea area, the denser the divine power contained within the rock, the more golden patterns it held, and the higher its quality.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen decided to start collecting rock from the central region.
Zhang Ruochen opened the Scroll World and released the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape.
Zhang Ruochen controlled the Abyssal Ancient Sword and the Sky-Soaring Sword to cut the rock into massive blocks ten zhang in length, while the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and Demon Ape carried the blocks into the Scroll World.
Both the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape were Half-Saints, possessing immense strength, and their carrying speed was astonishingly fast.
In just half a day, with the cooperation of the two humans and two beasts, a pit over ten li in diameter had been dug out in the central sea area.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen continued digging downward, reaching nearly a thousand meters deep without hitting the bottom.
The deeper they went, the denser the divine power contained within the rock.
“Zhang Ruochen, look over here,” Mu Lingxi said.
Zhang Ruochen walked over and saw a half-meter-long black hard block faintly visible inside the dark gold rock wall.
The hard block was covered in mysterious patterns full of aesthetic appeal, emitting a fairly powerful energy fluctuation.
“Could it be a fragment of a divine corpse’s armor?” Zhang Ruochen said with a delighted expression.
“That should be right. Just a single fragment, falling into the magma and being burned for who knows how many years from the Middle Ages until now without melting—this shows its material must be incredibly remarkable. If we reforge it, we could definitely forge a powerful sacred artifact.”
Mu Lingxi was about to strike, shatter the rock, and retrieve the armor fragment.
But Zhang Ruochen immediately stopped her, saying, “Don’t move it for now. Dig it out along with the rock and put it into the Scroll World first.”
“What’s wrong?” Mu Lingxi asked, puzzled.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Death Zen Ancestor once said that the blood worms in the Ghost Spirit Valley are corpse worms from the divine corpse’s body. Since the corpse worms carry Death Evil Qi, the divine corpse’s armor must also carry Death Evil Qi. The power of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree can purify Death Evil Qi, so it’s better to be cautious.”
Mu Lingxi and Zhang Ruochen cut out all the rock around the armor fragment and brought it back into the Scroll World, moving it beneath the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree before breaking the rock layer by layer.
When the armor fragment was exposed to the air, it indeed released very dense Death Evil Qi, condensing into a black cloud of deathly energy.
Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi were prepared and immediately retreated, avoiding contact with the Death Evil Qi.
“Rustle, rustle.”
The branches of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree gently swayed, each leaf rapidly inhaling and exhaling, quickly purifying the Death Evil Qi on the armor fragment.
Mu Lingxi crossed her arms in front of her chest and nodded, “If we can find a few more armor fragments and add some other materials, we might be able to forge a set of armor with astonishing defensive power.”
“Huh?”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes flashed with a strange light as he approached the armor fragment.
He saw that on the concave side of the armor fragment, there was a layer of dark red membrane, and inside that membrane, a small amount of liquid was flowing.
Zhang Ruochen carefully released his spiritual power, penetrating the membrane and extending inward.
With a loud bang, an extremely powerful aura surged out from inside the membrane, shattering Zhang Ruochen’s spiritual power.
Zhang Ruochen took a step back, a look of pleasant surprise on his face. He glanced at Mu Lingxi and said, “Divine blood.”
“What?” Mu Lingxi said in surprise.
Zhang Ruochen said, “There’s a blood membrane on the armor, and the liquid inside that membrane is divine blood.”
Mu Lingxi’s beautiful eyes also became extremely bright, unable to hide the joy in her heart, and said, “There must be at least forty or fifty drops of divine blood in that membrane. We’ve hit the jackpot this time!”
“You know, even our Mu Clan, as a Medieval Aristocratic Clan, can only activate one or two drops of divine blood every ten years to cultivate the most outstanding talents. Those old fellows are incredibly stingy.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled, “After the Middle Ages, no gods have been born in the entire Kunlun Realm. Even the Medieval Aristocratic Clans are living off their past glory. Every drop of divine blood used is one less. Divine blood has many uses—refining Sacred Pills, condensing Sacred Sources, comprehending the Saint King Great Path... each use consumes it. Being able to take out one or two drops every ten years to cultivate the younger generation’s talents is probably already the limit your Mu Clan can bear.”
“Hmph!”
Mu Lingxi pouted, clearly still quite dissatisfied with the elders of the Mu Clan.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze fixed on the armor fragment, and he said, “Divine blood contains extremely powerful energy. Before we find a suitable container, we shouldn’t break the blood membrane for now.”
A single drop of divine blood could pierce through a Hundred-Pattern Sacred Artifact, so even vessels at the level of Hundred-Pattern Sacred Artifacts couldn’t hold divine blood.
Only beings at the Saint level could use sealing inscription runes to seal the power of divine blood.
For now, they had to wait for Xiao Hei to arrive. After all, Xiao Hei was the artifact spirit of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and possessed extraordinary power within the Scroll World’s inner world. With its methods, sealing divine blood shouldn’t be difficult.
“Since we found one armor fragment, we’re sure to find others.”
Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi left the Scroll World and re-entered the large pit at the center of the magma sea, continuing to dig out rock.
Upon hearing that divine blood could be dug out from the rock, the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape became full of energy, unleashing their full strength without rest, carrying massive boulders as heavy as mountains into the Scroll World.
After another half day of digging.
Zhang Ruochen reached deeper underground and found three more armor fragments, each carrying divine blood.
Among them, the largest fragment had a fist-sized clump of divine blood, roughly estimated to contain at least two hundred drops.
It could be said that finding an armor fragment was like uncovering a shocking treasure vault, gaining wealth that no other Half-Saint could match.
Besides the armor fragments, Zhang Ruochen also dug up a broken piece of divine bone. Although it was only the size of a human head, it contained astonishing divine power and was truly priceless.
Death Zen Ancestor had taken away the divine corpse, and the divine might in the Ghost Spirit Valley was rapidly dissipating, even the fragile space was quickly stabilizing.
Thus, some people began crossing the cliff and arriving at the area of the magma sea.
Blood Moon Ghost King was the first to arrive.
Like a wisp of black smoke, it flew in from afar and landed at the edge of the large pit at the center of the magma sea, condensing into a tall, slender, and stunningly beautiful figure.
“What demon dares to trespass here? Don’t you know that our Lord Chen has claimed this area?”
The Devouring Elephant Rabbit hadn’t clearly seen Blood Moon Ghost King’s figure and roared angrily.
It was having fun—divine blood and divine bones were buried underground. Anyone who tried to touch them would have to fight it to the death.
Blood Moon Ghost King turned around, glanced at the Devouring Elephant Rabbit, and waved its arm. A surge of icy ghostly energy rushed out, sweeping the Devouring Elephant Rabbit away and sending it tumbling into the distance.
“Whoosh!”
Blood Moon Ghost King transformed into a series of beautiful afterimages, flying toward the bottom of the pit, soon spotting Zhang Ruochen, who was cutting rock.
Feeling the icy ghostly energy, Zhang Ruochen didn’t look up and said, “Blood Moon Ghost King, you’ve come at just the right time. Come help. With a Ghost King like you lending a hand, we should be able to dig up even more good stuff.”