Chapter 396 - 257: Seven Divine Woods, Acquiring Spiritual Artifacts
Chapter 396: Chapter 257: Seven Divine Woods, Acquiring Spiritual Artifacts
Caught off guard, his wrist plunged downward. He could barely support its weight.
’This thing is strange.’
Lin Changheng was taken aback.
It was clear that in all his time in the Cultivation Realm, Lin Changheng had never encountered such an object.
Immediately, Lin Changheng sent his Divine Sense to wrap around the object and probe it, trying to identify it.
He quickly discovered that the object’s interior was incredibly dense—impenetrable to both needle and water. His Divine Sense couldn’t permeate it in the slightest.
’How strange!’
Lin Changheng couldn’t help but re-evaluate his assessment. A light began to shimmer in his eyes as streams of pale gold, clear, and gray light intertwined and spun like Divine Light, gazing directly at the object.
He was trying to see through it.
But he was still blocked, unable to penetrate it in the slightest. By now, Lin Changheng’s Insight ability could see through a solid iron plate, yet it was failing him now!
Half an hour later, Lin Changheng finally gave up, dejected.
Closing his eyes for a moment to soothe their strain, Lin Changheng felt that none of his various techniques were working on this piece of charcoal that was neither gold nor wood.
Whether it was probing with his Divine Sense, nurturing it with Magical Power, or performing a deep inspection with his Insight Abnormal Technique, nothing could affect it in the slightest.
It was like a truly dead thing, unchanging for millennia, silently resisting all outside attempts to probe it.
After a moment of deliberation, a flicker of resolve flashed in Lin Changheng’s eyes.
’Since gentle methods are useless, I’ll have to try something more forceful!’
With a mere thought, a wisp of incredibly condensed Red Sky Profound Flame, glowing a faint, dark gold, slowly emerged from his fingertip and cautiously approached the charcoal-like fragment.
The Flame didn’t burn fiercely. Instead, like the finest of carving knives, it focused a thread of extreme heat onto a single point, tentatively searing a tiny, almost imperceptible protrusion on the fragment’s edge.
SIZZLE...
A peculiar sound arose, like grease dripping onto a fire, but deeper and more muffled.
Under the heat of the Red Sky Profound Flame, the charred black exterior finally... showed a minuscule reaction!
It wasn’t burning, nor was it melting. Instead, the spot being seared grew deeper in color, revealing a hint of profound cyan. It was as if all impurities had been instantly refined and purified by the extreme heat, revealing a more fundamental form beneath!
Moreover, as that spot was burned, a nearly imperceptible aura—cool, distant, and ancient—faintly drifted out.
Although it was only a wisp, it greatly lifted Lin Changheng’s spirits!
’It’s working!’
’And... this aura is...’
Lin Changheng increased the intensity of the flame.
The Exotic Fire could actually slowly refine its outer charred shell!
He immediately focused, controlling the wisp of Red Sky Profound Flame with the delicate precision of an embroiderer, patiently searing the fragment’s surface bit by bit.
The process was extremely slow, as Lin Changheng was careful not to let the temperature get too high and damage what was inside.
Time passed, bit by bit.
Lin Changheng soon discovered that the substance within seemed unaffected by the flame’s heat. A moment ago, his concentration had lapsed and he’d accidentally scorched the interior directly, yet not the slightest mark remained.
’It’s as if it’s immune!’
Fine beads of sweat gradually formed on Lin Changheng’s forehead, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
As the charred outer shell was refined away bit by bit, the profound cyan color grew more distinct. The surface even began to reveal extremely complex, naturally formed wood grains. For some reason, staring at these patterns for too long made one feel dizzy and disoriented.
And the ancient aura drifting from it grew a fraction clearer.
’Just as I thought... it’s actually a piece of wood. I wonder if it fell from a tree or was torn off by force.’
A realization dawned on Lin Changheng. ’And only an Exotic Fire like the Red Sky Profound Flame can slowly refine away its accumulated Dead Shell and reveal its true form!’
’At this rate, I have no idea how much time and Heart Power it will take to completely refine this fragment. But at least I’ve found the right method. There’s hope!’
No longer in a rush, he retracted the flame.
’This can’t be rushed. It requires patient and persistent effort.’
’Since I’ve confirmed it’s wood, then...’
Then, struck by an idea, he powerfully activated the True Intent of his Rongsheng Divine Abilities.
It swept forth.
Slowly, from beneath the charcoal-like lifelessness, he detected an extremely faint, yet incredibly ancient and vast essence—an origin that felt as if it came from the dawn of creation!
This wisp of essence was restrained to the point of being almost completely dormant, yet it carried an indescribable weight and nobility!
Lin Changheng’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He calmed himself and focused, circulating the True Intent of his Rongsheng Divine Abilities with all his might to perceive the wooden fragment.
Soon, in his "vision," the rough, charred exterior seemed to turn transparent.
Inside, it was not completely lifeless. Instead, there was an indescribably complex wooden structure, exquisitely fine, containing patterns that seemed to embody the profound principles of the Great Dao, far surpassing any Spirit Plant he had ever seen!
The True Intent of his Rongsheng Divine Abilities seeped in cautiously, trying to touch it, to nourish it.
There was no response. It was still being kept out.
’This is clearly some kind of Exotic Wood, a Divine Wood!’
Lin Changheng was almost certain of it.
’It doesn’t seem to match any of the Seven Divine Woods of the Cultivation Realm.’
Lin Changheng had collected a great deal of information, especially regarding Spiritual Materials.
People often enthusiastically gifted him treasures, and if he couldn’t recognize their value, it would be all too easy to let a bright pearl gather dust.
Therefore, he had made a point of collecting various notes and illustrated catalogues for reference.
Among wood-type Spiritual Materials, there are seven top-tier Divine Woods, highly sought after by Cultivators. They can be refined into Magical Treasure Embryos or directly forged into Magical Treasures.
They were formidably powerful and possessed all sorts of miraculous effects.
But only a lucky few ever managed to obtain them.
But after Lin Changheng took out his catalogues and made a careful comparison, he found... it didn’t match any of them.
Clearly, it was not one of the Seven Divine Woods.
The list of the Seven Divine Woods, after all, had been compiled by a Divinity Transformation Great Power, an expert in the field, who had traveled the entire Cultivation Realm.
Later, although it was revised and supplemented by many other Great Powers, the number "seven" was always maintained.
For millennia, all Cultivators had believed this list to be infallible.
On the rare occasions one of them appeared, it would indeed cause a great stir.
It was said that Ling Feng Master of the Extreme South Palace—the very same True Core Cultivator who had led the last expedition to the Jiazi Secret Realm—possessed a Magical Treasure refined from one such rare material. He had once brought it out during Magical Combat and used it to decisively slay a Core Formation Tribulation Cultivator of the same level.
Its astonishing power was clear from this one example!
...
Below the Seven Divine Woods, there were another twenty-three types of "Exotic Wood." They were also very powerful and more than sufficient to serve as the main material for a Magical Treasure Embryo.
Alas, they were also rarely seen.
’I wonder what kind of wood this is...’
Lin Changheng was puzzled, looking at the wooden fragment in his hand. ’Could it be a specimen that slipped through the cracks of the records? Or perhaps the wood itself has mutated somehow?’
With no conclusion in sight, Lin Changheng decided not to dwell on it. He carefully put the wood away, then picked up the Ten Thousand Poison Skull and the Hidden Void Blade and began to refine them one by one.
...
「Time passed.」
After he finished refining the two Spiritual Artifacts, Lin Changheng went out again, heading to the Spirit Wine Tower where he had first met Wu Jiu.
He went to the same spot as last time, by the railing on an upper floor, but this time he only ordered a single pot of Spirit Wine.
He began to pour and drink by himself.
Just as he was about to finish the pot of wine...
"Aren’t you going to leave a cup for this old Daoist, Mr. Lin?"
A familiar laugh rang out again as a withered hand reached in and gently summoned the wine pot just as Lin Changheng was about to pick it up.
He grasped it in his hand.
Then, an old man with a black beard and hair, wearing a shabby Daoist Robe with a large, vermilion gourd at his waist, poked his head in with the same grinning posture as before.
"You certainly make yourself at home, Fellow Daoist."
Lin Changheng glanced up at him and said, annoyed.
"Heh heh, it’s not that this old Daoist makes himself at home, it’s that Mr. Lin is kind-hearted and generous."
Seeing that Lin Changheng didn’t stop him, Wu Jiu poured himself a cup and took a sip with relish. "I have to say, though, these past few days of waiting have been absolutely unbearable..."