“How can there be Spirit Beasts in a spiritual mine? The Encyclopedia of Weapon Refining doesn’t record this.”
Qian Duoduo stepped forward, curiously examining the scorpion. The scorpion’s head, legs, and tail were all purple, giving it an imposing appearance.
At this moment, the purple scorpion raised its head, its purple-glowing eyes glaring at Qian Duoduo with an expression of disdain.
Qian Duoduo was actually scorned by an insect!
His eyes wide, Qian Duoduo reached out to flick the purple scorpion’s head.
“Be careful. This little fellow has a cultivation of the Nascent Soul Initial Stage,” Liu Boli warned.
Nascent Soul Initial Stage? It could crush Qian Duoduo with one claw. No wonder it looked down on Qian Duoduo, who was only at Condensing Qi Stage Level Seven. Qian Duoduo quickly withdrew his hand, but after a moment’s thought, he reached out again and stroked the purple scorpion’s head. “With Master Liu Boli here, why would I be afraid of you? No wonder the Helou Family didn’t mine this spiritual mine.”
The purple scorpion’s skin was icy cold, smooth, and very elastic.
The purple scorpion didn’t expect Qian Duoduo to dare touch it. It opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and its bright red tongue flicked out in a show of defiance.
But in Liu Boli’s palm, it could only do so much.
“Master, what kind of Spirit Beast is this?” Qian Duoduo found it quite cute.
“This is a rare item. It’s called Purple Spirit Tin Gold, also known as Purple Spirit Scorpion. I’ve only heard that in tin spiritual mines, there’s a type of Purple Spirit Tin Gold. This Purple Spirit Tin Gold isn’t a spiritual ore, but a living entity transformed from a spiritual ore. If my cultivation hadn’t advanced, we would have become its food today.” Liu Boli squeezed the Purple Spirit Scorpion with his palm. The Purple Spirit Scorpion lay obediently, its eyes docilely drooped.
“What’s it for? As material for Artifact Refining?”
The Purple Spirit Scorpion seemed to understand that Qian Duoduo was talking about using it for Artifact Refining. Its two eyes bulged, and it glared fiercely at Qian Duoduo.
“It would be too wasteful to use it for Artifact Refining. I’ve lived this long and only coincidentally encountered this one. Imagine how precious it is.” Liu Boli held the Purple Spirit Scorpion, examining it carefully.
“Then, raise it as a pet and have a litter of small scorpions?” Saying this, Qian Duoduo became concerned about the Purple Spirit Scorpion’s gender.
As soon as Qian Duoduo finished speaking, the Purple Spirit Scorpion’s pointed claws curled up. If Liu Boli’s finger hadn’t been pressing on it, it would have jumped up and bitten Qian Duoduo.
“In the Immortal Cultivation World, there’s a legend that within blessed Immortal Mountains, there are five great spiritual objects: Purple Spirit Tin Gold, Purple Spirit Iron Gold, Purple Spirit Copper Gold, purple spirit silver Gold, and purple spirit profound gold. These five great spiritual objects take the form of scorpions, venomous snakes, centipedes, spiders, and Golden Toads.
“Whoever consumes a drop of vital blood from one of these spiritual objects when advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm will become a Purple Spirit Nascent Soul. When they advance to the Heavenly Human Realm in the future, they won’t fear the Heavenly Tribulation and will face no difficulties.
“If one consumes the vital blood of three of these spiritual objects, they will become a Purple Profound Nascent Soul, and entering the Half-God stage will be as easy as drinking water. And if one consumes all five…” Liu Boli shook his head, not continuing.
“What will happen, Old Liu?” Qian Duoduo pressed.
Liu Boli looked up, stroking the Purple Spirit Scorpion’s head, and said, “They will become an Eternal Nascent Soul, with a chance to become the only Eternal Realm in this world.”
“What is the Eternal Realm? How powerful is it?”
Liu Boli smiled bitterly and said, “It’s the highest Realm in legends. How powerful it is, I don’t know either.”
“Oh.” Qian Duoduo thought about how he was only at Condensing Qi Stage Level Seven, so knowing about the Eternal Realm had no meaning. He lowered his head, seeing the Purple Spirit Scorpion’s docile appearance, and couldn’t help but ask, “Is its vital blood so precious? It looks like it could yield quite a few drops, couldn’t it?”
The Purple Spirit Scorpion immediately spread its body and shrieked at Qian Duoduo.
Liu Boli tapped its head, and the Purple Spirit Scorpion immediately softened, lying on his palm with its eyes closed.
“This one spiritual object can only yield three drops of vital blood. If all three drops are taken, it will die. If one drop of its vital blood is taken, it will take at least a thousand years to recover.”
“This really is a treasure.” At this point, the Purple Spirit Scorpion’s status in Qian Duoduo’s heart surpassed that of the tin spiritual mine.
Liu Boli beckoned with his left hand, and a large chunk of tin spiritual ore flew over. He used his palm as a knife, carving a few times to hollow it out and sculpt a nest, into which he placed the Purple Spirit Scorpion. After setting up several confinement and concealment Formations outside, Liu Boli placed the nest into the Golden Toad.
“Indeed, this Golden Toad can accommodate spiritual bodies.” Liu Boli nodded with satisfaction, then took some raw tin spiritual ore and Spirit Liquid, placing them in the Golden Toad, turning a corner inside into the Purple Spirit Scorpion’s home.
Qian Duoduo had long discovered that his Golden Toad was different from ordinary Storage Pouches. Ordinary Storage Pouches had small capacities and could only store inanimate objects. But the Golden Toad had a large space, could accommodate Souls and Soul bodies, and now, it could also accommodate spiritual bodies.
…
Returning to the Sect from Chifeng Mountain Range, Qian Duoduo took a new route. The biggest advantage of the new route was the potential for new discoveries.
Along the way, although he didn't discover any more Spiritual Veins, he did find many spiritual plants, Spirit Beasts, Spirit Birds, and ores. The massive amount of Spirit Liquid taken from the tin Spiritual Vein was more effective than Qi Return Pills, not only stabilizing Qian Duoduo’s cultivation at Condensing Qi Stage Level Seven but also transforming all his Spiritual Veins into sky-blue, which meant the first layer, seventh level.
After nearly ten days of travel, on this morning, Qian Duoduo finally saw the magnificent Refining Spirit Sect Sect again.
Joy couldn't help but surge in Qian Duoduo's heart. Whether he was Jin Buhuan or Qian Duoduo, this was ultimately home.
The Sect’s Formation swept over Qian Duoduo. After confirming his identity, the invisible barrier opened, allowing him to enter the Sect.
On Lingwu Avenue, there were no carriages and no people.
Perhaps it was too early, and no one was out yet. As Qian Duoduo was guessing, he suddenly saw two large white banners hanging in front of the Beast Tooth Peak mountain gate on the left, swaying in the cold wind.
Qian Duoduo’s heart tightened—someone in the Sect had died? It seemed to be someone of high rank. If white banners were hung in front of the Sect, it was at least an Elder or above.
Quickening his pace, he also saw white banners in front of the mountain gates of Xiongjin Mountain, Jianjian Peak, and Wen'an Peak.
Who died? Qian Duoduo wanted to find someone to ask, but there was no one in front of the Artificer Hall and Wanjin Pavilion on either side of Lingwu Avenue.
Even on the training ground, which used to be bustling with people, there was no one.
Could it be that a Palace Lord had died? Qian Duoduo’s heart clenched. His maternal uncle, Tang Honggong, was also a Palace Lord. It absolutely couldn't be him.
In front of the Mengyuan Mountain mountain gate, besides the two large white banners, there were also several rows of neatly arranged spiritual flowers.
Qian Duoduo’s heart pounded. The person who died must be from Meng Yuan Legion.
Crystal snowflakes adorned the petals of the white spiritual flowers.
His eyes became moist.
“Maternal Uncle, my dear Maternal Uncle, how could something happen to you?” Qian Duoduo walked into the mountain gate.
The spiritual flowers inside the mountain gate were arranged along the mountain path. The higher he walked, the more spiritual flowers there were, and the heavier Qian Duoduo’s steps became.
Slowly, people began to appear on the mountain path. They were dressed in gray robes, with unfamiliar faces, seemingly miscellaneous Disciples from other mountains, coming to mourn his maternal uncle.
After the gray-robed Disciples came the Blue-Robed Disciples. On the mountain path, more and more people gathered, all bowing their heads, some even weeping softly. Looking around, there were at least a hundred thousand people.
Qian Duoduo followed the crowd, walking forward, his sorrow growing heavier.
At this moment, he heard the voice of Sect Leader Niu Jinshui.
“For the Sect, he did not hesitate to sacrifice his life. Facing a powerful enemy, he fought tenaciously. This spirit of selfless dedication and indomitable will is worthy of being learned by everyone in the Refining Spirit Sect, and worthy of being remembered forever by the Cultivators of every Immortal Mountains.”
Niu Jinshui’s resonant voice echoed through the mountains, and the crying in the crowd grew louder. Qian Duoduo had to wipe away his tears with his sleeve every few steps.
His blurred eyes saw a tall, black tombstone at the very front of the crowd. In front of the tombstone, the purple-robed, red-robed, and green-robed members of the Sect were gathered. The atmosphere was solemn and grave.
“He sacrificed his life for righteousness, his legacy eternal. After discussion with the various Palace Lords of the Sect, it has been decided to posthumously confer upon him the title of Purple-Gold Disciple of this Sect, to be enshrined in the ancestral temple, and to enjoy eternal offerings!”
Hearing this, Qian Duoduo could no longer control himself. He quickly ran a few steps, burst out of the crowd, and with a “thud,” knelt before the tombstone, crying loudly, “Maternal Uncle!”