Chapter 520 - 517: Scrape the Ground Three Feet, Treasure Galore
“Chirp, chirp…”
After several clear chirps, the Qingluan’s form appeared before Qin Feng.
However, it seemed somewhat inappropriate to still call it Qingluan at this point, as there had been a slight change in its size, and even the originally lush and beautiful feathers had transformed, with the majority turning a fiery red, while only a small portion retained their original lustrous green color.
Aside from that, the aura of flames on its body had also become incredibly intense, no longer mild as before; even its fiery red feathers seemed to constantly give the impression of being engulfed in flames.
Although the blood of the Phoenix could not possibly be stronger than that of the Divine Bird, the Phoenix, the Qingluan’s bloodline was not pure. At this moment, following its fusion with the Phoenix’s bloodline, its appearance had undergone a drastic change, and even the aura of its power had altered significantly. The originally pure and masculine Pure Yang Flame now remains masculine but had become much more domineering, with the power of the flames greatly intensified.
Plus, having just merged its bloodline and acquired Divine Powers, Qingluan’s control was still somewhat lacking. A slight external force could cause flames to rise from its feathers.
However, Qin Feng wasn’t concerned about this. The flames involuntarily released were not enough to harm him.
Placing his hand on Qingluan’s head, he gently stroked the crown-like feathers on its head, feeling the scorching aura within, and he was secretly pleased in his heart.
This fusion, although it made the power within Qingluan no longer a simple Pure Yang Fire, had significantly increased its might. Along with retaining Pure Yang Power, it had also gained many other changes and Divine Powers.
In particular, the Bathing Fire Rebirth that Qin Feng had been so eager for was a genuine life-saving Divine Power. If he could master it, his ability to preserve his own life would immediately rise by several levels.
Through communication with Qingluan, Qin Feng quickly understood the cost of employing Bathing Fire Rebirth. Every use would consume a substantial amount of Origin Power, and if used excessively, it might even lead to a drop in cultivation.
However, these consumptions were nothing compared to life itself.
Besides, there were plenty of heavenly treasures in the world that could replenish Origin Power, and it wasn’t as if he couldn’t make up for it later. Even now, Qin Feng carried numerous Spiritual Elixirs that could enhance Origin Power, which the sect had prepared for him, Li Miaozhen, Lianxing, and Gu Wumou, in case they encountered serious injuries during their trials.
Yet, to master this life-saving Divine Power, there were many difficulties to overcome. Most importantly, he had to comprehend the corresponding Flame Principle.
Bathing Fire Rebirth was not only a lifebound Great Divine Power of the Phoenix Clan but also closely related to the Flame Principle passed down through the bloodline of the Phoenix Clan. Before cultivating it, Qin Feng had to understand the Principle.
Fortunately, understanding the Power of Laws was already part of his plans and did not conflict with his cultivation. It was only a matter of shifting the focus of comprehending other Principles to the Fire Element Principle first.
This was not something that could be achieved in a short time. Qin Feng stayed in the area for another seven or eight days, focusing his spirit on Qingluan every day. However, as he still needed an opportunity to fully grasp the Fire Element Principle, he did not continue his closed-door cultivation and decided to leave.
He felt that this so-called opportunity should not be far from him and might come very soon.
After all, the place he was currently in was a world of flames. When it came to the easiest place to comprehend the Fire Element Principle, there was none better than here.
So he planned to continue delving deeper into the Fire Kingdom, exploring more of its depths in search of the chance to comprehend the Principle.
Even if he did not find it, he could also look for treasures along the way.
He never imagined that the process of searching for treasures would make him forget about cultivation.
This place had been burning in flames for countless tens of thousands of years, not only was the fire Spirit Energy incredibly abundant, but it had also given birth to countless fire element resources; many mountain ranges exposed Fire Spirit Stones to the outside, and many originally ordinary veins had turned into extremely high-quality artifact refining materials after burning for an eternity.
If it weren’t so inhospitable for ordinary beings, once developed, the sheer amount of resources harvested could undoubtedly sustain many large Sects.
For example, some mountains contained iron ore and had turned the ore into fire-pattern steel after being burned by flames year after year.
And there were many places like this; every time Qin Feng saw these treasure lands, he wished he could take them all away.
It was a pity his power was limited, he couldn’t move mountains that were too massive, and even cutting a mountain peak in half was difficult because the veins and rocks had become incredibly hard after withstanding the flames for years.
Then there were the visibly everywhere fire element Spirit Veins.
Every time Qin Feng saw a large Fire Spirit Vein, he was so envious that he wanted to stuff it all into the fifth layer of the Demon Refining Pot.
If his strength were enough, he probably wouldn’t need much time to gather more than ten large Spirit Veins for the Pure Yang Treasure Wheel in the fifth layer and form a super Spirit Vein, giving the fifth layer the basic requirements to become a Grotto Heaven.
Of course, just Spirit Veins weren’t enough; he still needed to master some Space Law or fill it with various Space Treasures, continue to expand the fifth layer until it reached a sufficient range, and lay down powerful Array Formation Restrictions before he could preliminarily refine it into a Grotto Heaven.
It was a pity that he was still limited by his strength, so Qin Feng could only look at the countless treasures and Spirit Veins with longing.
Since he couldn’t do anything about those large Spirit Veins, Qin Feng didn’t aim too high and started to extend his devilish claws toward the smaller Spirit Veins.
Before the trial, he had specifically learned from his master how to extract Spirit Veins. Now that these veins were everywhere, when else would he use this technique if not now?
So, Qin Feng, like a mole, would find an area free from Giants and Monsters every day to cut the underground small Fire Spirit Veins and move them to the fifth layer of the Demon Refining Pot.
It was also because Giants and Monsters didn’t care about small Spirit Veins, so collecting them went smoothly without attracting much investigation; otherwise, it wouldn’t let him sever Spirit Veins so easily.
Sometimes, when he came across a particularly eye-catching material, he wouldn’t pass it by, either splitting mountains and rocks or directly burrowing into the ground to excavate precious materials.
After all, he was proficient in the Five Elements Escape Technique, whether it was burrowing underground or into the fire, or through various extraordinary metals, nothing could stop him.
In addition to Monsters in the Fire Country, there were plants that absorbed Fire Element Spirit Energy to grow, all of which were fire element heavenly treasures; Qin Feng was not one to refuse, acting as if he was in a treasure mountain, daily transporting various treasures into the Demon Refining Pot to the point where he became immersed in it and forgot about returning.
Previously, when assisting the Ruyi Golden Snake and the Qingluan with their bloodline fusion, he used up the Spiritual Energy and even the origin of the Spirit Veins inside the Demon Refining Pot, which had made Qin Feng rather distressed for a while.
But now, he felt not only had everything been compensated for, but he had also made an enormous profit, practically making a fortune.
In the beginning, because he was not skilled enough, it took two or three days to completely move a small Spirit Vein; but as he moved Spirit Veins daily, he quickly mastered the technique, sometimes able to relocate two or three in a single day. In just over a month, he could accumulate a hundred or more small Spirit Veins, gradually piecing together the required amount for a large Spirit Vein.
Of course, it was only the number he had, he still didn’t have the strength to refine the small Spirit Veins as one and turn them into a large Spirit Vein.
However, with these things in his possession, they would sooner or later all come together, so he didn’t care about it at all.
As time passed, coupled with the Fire Kingdom’s perpetual light, making no distinction between day and night, Qin Feng had not bothered to keep track of time until one day, Qingluan reminded him that the mini Spirit Veins within the Pure Yang Treasure Wheel had exceeded a thousand in number, which should equate to the quantity of ten major Spirit Veins, jolting him out of his contented collection.
At this point, not only was the Fire Element Spirit Energy in the fifth layer space incredibly abundant, but in the vast area, many crimson plants and trees had been added—these were the Fire Element Spiritual Plants that Qin Feng had transplanted from the Fire Kingdom.
Furthermore, numerous large and small mounds could be seen on many open grounds, resembling mountains of Fire Element resources, all of which Qin Feng had excavated, whereas the mountains were treasures he had exerted great effort in moving here.
Looking at his gains, Qin Feng felt satisfied in his heart, knowing just this period’s harvest was enough to sustain a small Sect.
He stopped the action of collecting Spirit Veins and, upon calculating, realized he had been in the Fire Kingdom for over a year, which surprised him somewhat.
But after calculating carefully, it made sense. On average, it took about a month and a half to gather the number of a major Spirit Vein, and sometimes when he encountered precious plants and Artifact Refining materials, he would also divert his spirit and energy to gather these resources, which is why it took so long.
With a helpless shake of his head, he admitted that he had not been steady enough, having wasted so much cultivation time for these treasures. Although he would still spend some time every day meditating and cultivating, his thoughts were focused on intercepting Spirit Veins and collecting resources. With an unstable Daoist Heart, his realm naturally did not improve, to the extent that he had not yet comprehended the Fire Element Principle.
“Alas…”
Qin Feng sighed with happiness—the problem with having too many treasures was that they weren’t entirely advantageous!
He stopped for the moment. Although major Spirit Veins had their own hierarchy, he was already very pleased to have collected one in such a short time. He decided not to covet more and would no longer spend too much time and experience on Spirit Veins, and would prioritize his own cultivation.
Moreover, still amidst a trial, he felt that he had already spent enough time there. Always busy hunting for treasures, he seemed to have forgotten the purpose of the trial.
“I wonder how Senior Sister Li is doing now.”
Qin Feng murmured to himself, thinking that she would have encountered an absence if she had sought him during this time.
“Explore a bit more, then it’s time to leave!”
Having made his decision, Qin Feng walked towards a nearby mountain range. He planned to hit another jackpot before leaving, intending to move the mountain peak shimmering with golden light into the Demon Refining Pot.
His vision was exceptional, and he had spotted the distinctiveness of this mountain peak from afar. Upon closer inspection, his heart leaped with joy—the entire mountain was composed of pure Refined Gold, a purity and lack of impurities rarely encountered on his journey. He could move so few of them, so of course, he would not miss this one.
Thus, he habitually sent out Qingluan to keep watch and dove underground to start the busy work.
However, after exerting a tremendous effort, barely severing the mountain’s connection to the earth, employing Anti-Gravity Divine Power to lighten the weight of the mountain, transforming into a ten-zhang Giant and barely shouldering the mountain, ready to put it into the Demon Refining Pot, he encountered the unexpected.
“Boom…”
A loud noise was followed by the cries of Qingluan and the roars of monsters, causing Qin Feng’s spirit to tense up.
His Divine Sense swept the area, and he immediately spotted several fiery red simian monsters in the distance.
One by one, these monsters leaped through the air as if flying, crossing the distance with just a few jumps to arrive close by.
Curiosity filled their eyes as they seemingly failed to understand why this giant was carrying a mountain.
However, their confusion did not deter them from causing trouble.
It should be known that Qin Feng had transformed into a ten-zhang giant. To these monsters, he undoubtedly appeared as a member of the Giant Clan. Although Qin Feng was not exuding any flames, what did that matter? Could a giant appearing in the Fire Country possibly be a Frost Giant?
Seeing Qin Feng as a giant, the monsters immediately identified friends and foes.
Not to mention that the monsters were often oppressed by the giants, naturally clashing with the Flame Giants. Merely the fact that the mountain peak was their usual playground was enough reason for them to cause trouble for Qin Feng.
As they drew closer, they cast spells, hoping to take advantage of Qin Feng’s apparent vulnerability while he held the mountain to kill him on the spot.
However, they were still at a distance, and with Qingluan blocking outside, Qin Feng had not yet been struck by the simian monsters’ attacks.
He hesitated briefly but did not stop his actions; instead, he slightly shifted his form. Using the Refined Gold Mountain to block the monsters’ spell attacks, he also leveraged their force to suddenly lift the mountain completely, placing it inside the Demon Refining Pot.
Seeing the mountain suddenly disappear, the simian monsters were understandably stunned.
But Qin Feng was not about to stand there dumbstruck along with them. He gestured to summon several Spiritual Beasts from the Demon Refining Pot and launched a direct attack at the monsters.
In reality, over the past year, he had captured many Spirit Veins and frequently encountered various monsters. However, as he was focused on gathering Spirit Veins and treasures, he had little interest in dealing with these monsters—especially since sometimes he would come across those he could not beat—thus, he seldom fought with them.
But now, having decided he would be leaving after one more turn, of course, he would no longer be polite to these monsters.
Not to mention that the strength of these simian monsters was only equivalent to that of an ordinary Purple Mansion Demon Beast—Qin Feng was certain he could win if he went all out.
And after seeing these simian monsters, Qin Feng also had an idea in mind.
It wasn’t that he wanted to subdue them, but he remembered that his Demon Refining Pot housed a Fire Ape.
Although the Fire Ape had been sent to the fifth layer’s Pure Yang Space and had cultivated to the peak of Demon Core with the nourishment of abundant Fire Element Spirit Energy and the support of many resources, it had fallen behind in comparison to several of his frequently used Spiritual Beasts, becoming significantly weaker.
Out of sentiment, Qin Feng still remembered the old days. The Fire Ape had once been the strongest Spiritual Beast under his command and had been one of his trump cards during his Foundation Establishment Realm. However, it had fallen behind since he had not focused on cultivating it as his primary Spiritual Beast.
Now, Qin Feng thought that the arrival of these simian monsters was timely. He had always relied on the Demon Refining Pot’s ability to merge bloodlines to cultivate Spiritual Beasts, but he was not ignorant of the Beast Taming Sect’s techniques for raising Spiritual Beasts.
Since these monsters had delivered themselves to his doorstep, he would use their Essence Blood to enhance the Bloodline Power of the Fire Ape and strengthen its capabilities!