Chapter 297: Golden Light Divine Flame

Qin Ming gazed at the unexpected scene before him.

In the flash of an instant within his mind, a spark of inspiration flashed by.

He immediately sent a voice transmission to Jin Lingzi.

"Jin Lingzi, what exactly is going on?"

The moment his words fell.

The Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror, which was floating upward in mid-air, began to tremble and roll violently.

Subsequently, Jin Lingzi's intermittent voice came through.

"Uh, that original artifact spirit inside hasn't completely disappeared."

"Back... back when my master refined me into an artifact spirit... it was to suppress it and control the precious mirror."

"But somehow, it has awakened again now..."

"I can only go all out against it."

"It depends on fate."

Qin Ming: "..."

After Jin Lingzi finished speaking.

The Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror was seen rolling wildly in the air; the two artifact spirits inside were devouring each other, one waxing while the other waned.

Qin Ming furrowed his brows.

If Jin Lingzi emerged victorious, that would be fine; in that case, this supreme treasure, the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror, would still obey his control.

But if the original artifact spirit within the magical treasure gained the upper hand, wouldn't that mean the cooked duck was about to fly away?

How could Qin Ming accept such a result?

He immediately spoke to Jin Lingzi, saying, "How can I help you?"

"The Green Emperor Art."

"The Green Emperor Art of the Qingyuan Sect, along with your Green Emperor Wood Emperor Sacred Body, might be able to control it." The aura transmitted by Jin Lingzi was already extremely faint.

Clearly, having undergone thousands of years of weakness, it could no longer contend with that original artifact spirit from before and was about to be completely devoured by it.

Upon hearing this, Qin Ming did not hesitate; he circulated the Green Emperor Art, and instantly, a verdant rune drifted out from between his eyebrows, transforming into a sapling with two leaves.

It was precisely his Green Emperor Wood Emperor Spiritual Body.

In an instant, a vast and boundless power of time and age radiated outward.

Qin Ming activated his cultivation technique and struck at the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror, which was shaking violently in mid-air.

Instantly, several streams of greenish magic power transformed into vines that entangled the precious mirror, holding it in place; the magic power of the Green Emperor Art seemed to possess an innate suppression over it, causing the mirror to obediently remain fixed.

But when Qin Ming attempted to contact Jin Lingzi again, he was shocked to discover that the other party showed no movement or reaction whatsoever.

"Oh no!"

Qin Ming's face immediately darkened; could it be that this fellow Jin Lingzi had been defeated in the battle of artifact spirits? Truly, whatever one fears most is what comes to pass.

Just as he thought this, the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror before his eyes suddenly erupted with brilliant light, actually breaking free from the magic power of the Green Emperor Art and preparing to continue rushing outward.

Qin Ming's heart immediately sank.

He had expended such great effort, first gathering the bronze mirror, then following the map to risk entering the Taihu ruins to seek the artifact spirit, then searching for the Heaven-Mending Soul Fire Liquid, and finally coming here to repair the precious mirror.

Just as success seemed within reach, this mishap occurred, leaving him extremely depressed.

Qin Ming's gaze turned cold; today, no matter what, he would not allow this treasure to slip from his grasp.

He immediately flew after the Jin Guang Mirror.

Just when he was at a loss.

Suddenly.

The Yin-Yang Xuanteng tattoo of his innate spiritual plant on Qin Ming's arm suddenly extended several pitch-black, ink-like vine tentacles; fast as lightning, they instantly locked down the fleeing Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror.

No matter how much it struggled, it could not break free from the restraints of the black vines.

Just at this moment.

On the branches and vines of the innate spiritual plant Yin-Yang Xuanteng, rows of silver runes appeared and plunged into the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror.

Abruptly.

Inside the flawless Jin Dan in Qin Ming's dantian, that silver rune which Mo Qingshan of the Qingyuan Sect had called the "Wood Rune Origin" resonated with the Yin-Yang Xuanteng from afar, instantly suppressing the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror.

"Divine Ability Fusion Refinement."

Qin Ming suddenly recalled a secret method from the Treasure Refining Art that Jin Lingzi had taught him.

The higher-grade a magical treasure is, the more a cultivator can fuse their divine abilities into their innate magical treasure to unleash its maximum power.

Qin Ming made a virtual grasp with his five fingers; twenty-one strands of Four Seasons Divine Light appeared out of thin air, and he then fused them all into the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror.

Immediately after, he opened his mouth and blew, causing the third-tier top-grade Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame to fly out, also transforming into a green phoenix fire bird that plunged into the mirror.

A few breaths later.

A golden spiritual light flew out from within the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror, transforming into a golden rune that plunged into Qin Ming's body.

"Artifact Spirit Acknowledges Master."

A thought involuntarily surged up in Qin Ming's mind.

Matters had come to this; the artifact spirit of the precious mirror had also submitted to him.

He slightly sensed it.

As expected, an extremely close resonant connection had formed between Qin Ming and the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror, giving him a feeling of wielding it as easily as one's own arm.

Qin Ming immediately activated the Treasure Refining Art again and began refining this supreme treasure.

Time passed bit by bit.

Several days later, Qin Ming finally succeeded in completely refining the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror, forging it into his second innate magical treasure.

Qin reached out and summoned; an ancient bronze mirror, palm-sized, fell into his hand.

At first glance.

This Hooked-Jade Jin Guang Mirror appeared plain and unadorned, utterly ordinary.

Yet the earth-shaking power it contained was known clearly only to Qin Ming himself.

"A top-grade magical treasure. Even beyond that."

"With my current cultivation, I can only unleash one ten-thousandth of its power."

"The supreme treasure with which White Bone True Person once swept through the Jin Dan stage has finally been completely mastered by me!"

"Even things White Bone True Person could not accomplish back then have been achieved by me."

"Hahaha!"

Clutching the precious mirror, Qin Ming felt immense joy; even he, usually so calm, let out a laugh of unparalleled exhilaration.

Even when he broke through to the Jin Dan stage, he had not been this excited.

Yet there was one matter Qin Ming had not anticipated.

That was that Jin Lingzi had indeed been devoured by the primordial artifact spirit during the struggle for control, completely gone. And this current artifact spirit was extremely aloof.

Qin Ming asked several times in succession, but it gave no response.

However, since the Hooked-Jade Jin Guang Mirror had already been completely refined and controlled by him, he feared no further anomalies from it.

Boom—boom—boom! Just then.

Having undergone such great turmoil just now, the heavenly and earthly essence within the Lei Chi had been completely absorbed by the Hooked-Jade Jin Guang Mirror.

This space, having lost its source of energy, neared the edge of collapse and fragmentation.

The ground beneath Qin Ming's feet also began to constantly tremble and crack, collapsing downward.

He immediately stored his two turtle puppets, transformed into a streak of azure rainbow fleeing light, and rushed swiftly along the path he had come.

At the very instant the space completely collapsed.

Qin Ming's figure flashed and flew out through the void gate in its final moment before closing.

He looked back, seeing the entire space continuously crumbling within the void, turning into countless specks of dust.

Thus, the Lei Chi, the sacred treasure-refining ground of the ancient Guqingyuan Sect, also completely vanished into the dust of history.

"Phew~" Qin Ming exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

Fortunately, his most important objective had been achieved; it had been a narrow escape.

Holding the Hooked-Jade Jin Guang Mirror, Qin Ming felt a strange confidence welling up from within.

"It's a pity there is no 【Spirit Plant Treasure Embedding】 attribute."

"Otherwise, I could embed this treasure into my innate spirit plant to continue nurturing it."

"I wonder... what kind of power this legendary Jin Guang Divine Flame possesses."

Although Qin Ming now held this treasure, he had never deployed or used it; his heart began to harbor expectations regarding the Hooked-Jade Jin Guang Mirror's power.

After all, it had fused his Four Seasons Divine Light and the Spirit-Devouring Poisonous Flame; the mirror's power would only be greater.

Just at this moment.

Perhaps sensing the heavenly and earthly disturbances here.

From the depths of the Beast Roar Mountain Range, suddenly came a surge of powerful demonic energy, rushing swiftly toward this side.

In just a few breaths, it arrived before Qin Ming.

Qin Ming swept out his divine sense, and a strange expression appeared on his face.

"It's actually this old bear."

"Master, do you need me to deal with it?"

Shi Tian Shu, eager to try, transmitted his voice to Qin Ming.

"No need; it is perfect for testing the power of my newly acquired magical treasure," Qin Ming said lightly.

The fleeing light ahead dispersed, revealing the figure of a purple giant bear over ten zhang in size.

It was precisely the Earth-Shaking Giant Bear Demon King who had once hunted Qin Ming in the Beast Roar Mountain Range.

Presumably, having killed its offspring, Qin Ming triggered a special sensation (sensing/connection).

The nearby third-stage Earth-Shaking Giant Bear Demon King also truly sensed the aura on Qin Ming.

As the saying goes, when enemies meet, their eyes turn extra red.

The Earth-Shaking Giant Bear's aura surged violently; it roared at Qin Ming and pounced toward him.

Its crimson eyes fixed firmly on Qin Ming, as if intending to tear him apart.

Seeing this, Qin Ming remained unhurried; he took out the Hooked-Jade Jin Guang Mirror in his hand, injected magic power into it, and shone it upon the charging Bear King.

Swish! Upon the Hooked-Jade Jin Guang Mirror, a blinding burst of Jin Guang Divine Flame suddenly erupted, instantly sweeping across the Giant Bear Demon King.

It did not even have time to react.

The Jin Guang Divine Flame ignored all of the Earth-Shaking Giant Bear's defenses, transforming into golden light rays that instantly penetrated its body.

Even the thick-skinned and fleshy physique of the Giant Bear Demon King failed to withstand it.

The Earth-Shaking Giant Bear's eyes revealed terror; it froze stiffly in mid-air.

The next instant, it aged at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After growing familiar (with the sensation), this powerful third-stage Demon King listlessly fell from the sky.

Dead from vitality exhaustion, lifespan depleted! At this moment, Qin Ming also realized: this Jin Guang Divine Flame actually directly attacked the enemy's lifespan, ignoring all defenses and unable to be resisted.

"No wonder it is called the number one offensive supreme treasure."

"So that's how it is."

Simultaneously, Qin Ming's face turned pale, and his body felt utterly depleted.

In some inexplicable way, he felt that the single strike just now, which had mobilized the Hooked Jade Jin Guang Mirror to annihilate the enemy, had instantly drained more than half of the magic power within his body.

Furthermore, Qin Ming clearly felt that in that very moment of activating the magical treasure, fifteen years of his lifespan had vanished without a trace.

"A lifespan-reducing divine ability."

"I didn't expect that although the Hooked Jade Jin Guang Mirror possesses immense power, sweeping away everything, the price paid is also extraordinary."

"That Earth-Shaking Giant Bear Demon King still had at least one hundred and fifty years of lifespan remaining."

"Whereas I have lost fifteen years of lifespan."

"In other words, when fighting enemies of the same realm, the ratio of lifespan burned is one to ten."

"It's acceptable; barely within a range I can endure."

"Anyway, since I can cultivate the 【Abundant Lifespan】 trait, plus having over two thousand years of lifespan, I can make it all back."

"However, this Hooked Jade Jin Guang Mirror must be treated as a trump card."

"Unless absolutely necessary, it cannot be used lightly."

"When encountering cultivators with higher cultivation bases than myself, the ratio of lifespan burned will likely reverse."

"Ten to one; I would have to burn ten years of my own lifespan just to eliminate one year of the enemy's lifespan. That would truly be akin to self-detonation."

"However, the Yin Yi Shuangfeng also possesses a venomous stinger that attacks lifespan."

"If I encounter a thorny enemy, I can let it go first, and only after the enemy's lifespan has been weakened to a certain degree will I engage myself."

"In this way, I can ensure absolute safety."

As Qin Ming's thoughts raced, he roughly comprehended the power of the Hooked Jade Jin Guang Mirror.

Immediately, he stored the magical treasure away, cast the Thorn Technique upon the corpse of the Giant Bear Demon King, and harvested a blood bead.

Subsequently, he dug out the third-rank demon core of the Earth-Shaking Giant Bear as well.

After accomplishing these tasks, Qin Ming stored the Xiong Wang's corpse; every part of it was a treasure, and its fur and hide could serve as high-grade spiritual materials.

After clearing all traces from the scene, Qin Ming oriented himself in a specific direction and flew toward the outer regions of the Beast Cry Mountain Range.

(End of Chapter)