Chapter 328: Metal Spirit Root (1) |
He never would have expected it. Not only did the Dragonized Insect Mother know the location of the nest, but it was desperate to take him there.
Such urgency could only mean one thing: a treasure lay hidden within.
An opportunity like this was not to be refused. “Lead the way,” Jiang Chen said, a flicker of excitement in his voice.
The creature’s colossal body contorted, instantly reversing its course. With a sickening series of undulations, it slithered to an open patch of ground and began to tear into the earth.
In an instant, the cavern was a whirlwind of flying dust and splintered rock. Its speed and efficiency were nothing short of astonishing. Soon, its massive form vanished into the soil, plunging deeper into the planet’s crust.
Jiang Chen gave it a moment before following. As man and beast descended, the depth quickly surpassed a hundred meters, then several hundred, and finally, a thousand.
He was thankful for his Earth Spirit Root. Without it, the experience would have been unbearable. The dense earth qi, while rich in spiritual energy, exerted a crushing pressure that would have pulverized an ordinary man.
Deep into their descent, the Dragonized Insect Mother abruptly changed course, boring a horizontal tunnel straight to the left. Its speed underground was terrifying, easily outpacing even Jiang Chen with his innate affinity for the element. It tore through solid rock as if it were loose soil.
An unknown amount of time passed in the suffocating darkness.
Jiang Chen followed close behind, and a moment later, the narrow tunnel opened into a vast, subterranean cavern.
The darkness was not absolute. The space was bathed in the faint, sickly green luminescence of strange flora. The only problem was the air—it was thick and stagnant, heavy with the cloying scent of damp earth and decay.
The Dragonized Insect Mother chirped, “*Jiji!*”
Jiang Chen nodded slowly, his eyes scanning the grotesque chamber. “So, this is the nest of the Spirit-Eroding Fungus King. Buried this deep… no wonder it’s so difficult to find.”
Ignoring its master completely, the insect mother scrambled toward the right side of the nest. Jiang Chen’s gaze followed, landing on a spherical object the size of a human head.
It was a sickly grayish-purple, its surface glistening with a layer of slick, viscous mucus. Through the semi-translucent membrane, faint golden veins seemed to pulse with a life of their own. He could clearly sense the immense, compressed Spirit-Eroding Turbid Qi and pure Wood Spirit Qi roiling within.
The Dragonized Insect Mother looked positively ecstatic as it latched onto the object, beginning to feed greedily.
The more Jiang Chen looked, the more familiar it seemed. *Is that… a sclerotium?*
He recognized it for what it was: a grotesque larder. In the absence of food, the Spirit-Eroding Fungus King could sustain itself on this nutrient-dense core for centuries.
His interest sated, Jiang Chen shifted his attention, his gaze sweeping across the cavern. He was immediately drawn to something on the opposite side.
There, a cluster of mycelium grew, glowing with the brilliance of pure gold. Most fungal filaments were a dull bluish-purple; this vibrant color signified a unique, and likely valuable, property.
Jiang Chen strode over for a closer look. The filaments looked as if they were woven from spun gold, their tips adorned with minuscule, glittering crystals.
*A gold mine? It must be nearby.*
Only after absorbing vast quantities of gold would a Spirit-Eroding Fungus King produce such Gold-Devouring Mycelium. If harvested and carefully nurtured with Metal Spirit Qi, it could be refined into Geng Gold Spirit Liquid—a potent concoction capable of purifying a cultivator’s internal Metal Spirit Qi and enhancing the quality of their Spirit Root.
The problem was, Jiang Chen didn’t have a Metal Spirit Root. For him, this was merely a collector’s item, its practical value nonexistent.
He felt no urgency to harvest it. Instead, he released his spiritual sense, letting it sweep through the cavern and paint a detailed map in his mind. His vision was sharp enough to pierce the gloom, but it was a crude tool compared to the omniscience of his spiritual sense.
The scan immediately yielded a new discovery. There was something buried beneath the Gold-Devouring Mycelium.
Jiang Chen circulated the Earth Spirit Qi in his dantian. With a wave of his hand, the soil before him peeled back, layer by layer, revealing the object hidden beneath.
It was a massive pile of gold sand.
No, this was different. Ordinary gold sand was a bright, lustrous yellow. This pile was a dark, tarnished gold, as if it had been corrupted by some foul energy.
Jiang Chen’s eyebrow shot up. “Eroding Gold Sand?”
Legends claimed the substance was intensely corrosive, capable of effortlessly grinding down Spirit Weapons and Magical Artifacts. Conversely, it could also be forged *into* such items—weapons designed to be scattered in battle, melting an opponent’s defenses on contact.
Either way, both the Gold-Devouring Mycelium and the Eroding Gold Sand were treasures.
He began to collect them with meticulous care. But as he brushed aside the first layer of sand, he found something else nestled within.
At the very center of the pile lay a fist-sized nugget: an Eroding Gold Sand Mother.
It was a flawless, brilliant gold, its surface as smooth as a mirror, and it radiated an aura of pure, unadulterated Geng Gold Qi.
Jiang Chen’s breath caught in his throat. “The ancient texts… they say if an Eroding Gold Sand Mother is repeatedly tempered with Crimson Fire, its corrosive properties can be purged, leaving behind only the purest, top-grade Geng Gold Essence.”
Geng Gold Essence had two profound effects.
First, it could dramatically improve the quality of a Metal Spirit Root. When casting metal-elemental arts, a layer of Sharp Metal Protective Qi would automatically form, massively amplifying their power.
Second, if refined directly into the body, it could awaken a Metal Spirit Root in someone who didn’t have one.
Jiang Chen glanced at the Dragonized Insect Mother, still greedily feeding on its sclerotium. “I never imagined,” he murmured, a rare, genuine smile touching his lips, “that on our very first day together, you would bring me such a heaven-sent opportunity.”
He had the Crimson Fire. He now had the material to create Geng Gold Essence. And he had all the time in the world.
Without a shred of hesitation, Jiang Chen acted. He lifted the Eroding Gold Sand Mother with his spiritual energy, letting it float before him. Then, circulating the Nine Flames Mystic Art, he unleashed the first layer’s Crimson Fire from his palm.
This was no mortal flame. Forged from the Fire Spirit Qi in his dantian, the Crimson Fire warped the very air as it appeared, which crackled and popped under the intense heat.
The tempering began.
He carefully enveloped the Eroding Gold Sand Mother in flame. At first, the nugget resisted the intense heat, its golden light flaring violently as it tried to repel the fire. The Crimson Fire and the Geng Gold Qi clashed, producing a sharp, grating screech, like a blade scraping against steel.
As time stretched on, beads of sweat—a rare sight—formed on Jiang Chen’s brow. The pressure was immense. He had to maintain the absolute stability of the Crimson Fire while simultaneously threading a wisp of his spiritual power deep into the nugget, coaxing the Geng Gold Essence within to interact with the flames.
The process was incredibly dangerous and agonizingly slow.
Fortunately, Jiang Chen’s control over flame had reached the microscopic level. Even on his first attempt at such a delicate refinement, he made no mistakes.
Gradually, the Crimson Fire gained dominance, its power slowly eating away at the Sand Mother’s outer layer. A web of fine cracks spread across its once-perfect surface, and from them, wisps of dark golden mist began to leak out.
Jiang Chen’s eyes lit up. This was the corrosion, the impurity.
He immediately increased the output of his Fire Spirit Qi, intensifying the blaze. He would burn every last trace of the corrosive properties out of it. Under the searing heat, the dark golden mist transformed into plumes of acrid smoke, filling the cavern with a pungent, chemical stench.
As the purification continued, a new light began to glow from within the Sand Mother. It was faint at first, a mere glimmer, but with each passing moment, it grew stronger, brighter, more brilliant.
Finally, under the relentless assault of the Crimson Fire, a crisp *CRACK* echoed from within the nugget. Countless fissures spiderwebbed across its surface before the entire outer shell shattered, revealing the treasure within: a single, impossibly pure orb of Geng Gold Essence.