Chapter 277: Cyan Gold Copper

Hearing Zhang Nuo's words, the black-faced man was slightly stunned; he had not expected the other party to actually want his gauntlets. At the bottom of the Mi Hai Vortex, Spiritual Qi was insufficient to drive Magic Treasures, making weapons indispensable; these gauntlets were extremely important to him! However, in the current situation, even if the black-faced man did not want to give them up, there was nothing he could do.

Without delay, he gently took off the gauntlets and threw them far toward Zhang Nuo. Zhang Nuo raised one hand and caught the gauntlets. Before he could examine them closely, the Spirit Insect suddenly swooped down, and then, holding the gauntlets—which were flashing with a faint cyan light—in its two little hands, it took a fierce bite.

Only a "Crack!" sound was heard! A piece was missing from the end of the gauntlet. Zhang Nuo looked at the Spirit Insect suspiciously, his mind racing; through the mental connection just now, he realized the reason the Spirit Insect had suddenly awakened from its slumber was this seemingly unremarkable pair of gauntlets!

Chewing on the gauntlets in its hands with large bites, the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" happily did backflips in mid-air! At this moment, the black-faced man also discovered this secret. Only now did he realize that what Zhang Nuo had released was not a Nascent Soul at all, but a creature that looked very much like a Nascent Soul.

"Crack!" With another heavy, large bite, the Spirit Insect had eaten almost half of the gauntlet; from its blurry face, sounds of chewing could be heard.

Zhang Nuo looked along the broken edge where the gauntlet had been bitten, only to see a golden light faintly radiating from the center, and waves of pure Yin Qi emanating from the golden light.

"This is 'Cyan Gold Copper'! No wonder the little guy was so anxious!"

In his mind, Chunyangzi exclaimed aloud. He was knowledgeable and immediately recognized the origin of the metal used to forge the gauntlets!

"What is 'Cyan Gold Copper'? Senior, what exactly is this thing?"

Zhang Nuo was completely bewildered; he had never heard the name of this metal before.

"Kid Zhang, you don't know this, but in the Underworld, this metal is extremely precious. It takes thousands upon thousands of years to form. It is most suitable for refining Underworld Magic Treasures, but 'Cyan Gold Copper' is very rare even in the Underworld. If some great powerhouses can add even a little bit to their Magic Treasures, it is considered quite good!"

"What is its use?"

After listening to Chunyangzi talk for a long time, Zhang Nuo still did not understand. He looked up at the Spirit Insect in mid-air and saw that only a tiny piece of the gauntlet remained in its little hands!

"Simply put! A Magic Treasure infused with 'Cyan Gold Copper' can reduce the consumption of Yin Qi. If using one move of an Underworld technique requires consuming the Yin Qi of one Divine Sea, then if you use a Magic Treasure containing 'Cyan Gold Copper', only half is needed!"

Zhang Nuo was suddenly enlightened. Although he was currently in a place with plenty of Yin Qi, it still took time to refine it into his body. If these gauntlets hadn't been eaten by the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect," he might have been able to make good use of them.

"It seems this little guy has a very good sense for all kinds of precious metals!"

After exclaiming, Chunyangzi said slowly.

At this time, the Spirit Insect had already eaten the entire gauntlet clean, let out a very satisfied "Yiya" sound, and then flew toward Zhang Nuo's chest. With a flash of golden light, the Spirit Insect burrowed into the Spirit Beast Bag itself.

The black-faced man watched all this, somewhat dumbfounded. What kind of monster was the other party raising? How could it eat metal? Just as he was shocked, Zhang Nuo slowly took a step and walked in front of him, the smile on his face like a spring breeze, without a trace of murderous intent.

"Fellow Daoist, can you tell me where you got your gauntlets?"

Looking at the other party's smile, the black-faced man understood: this was a case of a dog that bites not showing its teeth!

"They were crafted for me by a cultivator in my Zhai who understands artifact refining!"

Not daring to hide anything, he was sensible and directly stated the origin of the gauntlets.

"And the materials?"

"I mined them from the mine shafts around the Zhai!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Nuo's eyes lit up instantly. A mine shaft? There was actually a "Cyan Gold Copper" mine shaft around Stone Village! This made him extremely excited. If he could get more "Cyan Gold Copper" for the Spirit Insect to eat, perhaps the next time it produced Mysterious Crystal Stones, they wouldn't be white, but the higher-grade Black Profound Crystal Stone.

Seeing that Zhang Nuo's eyes were almost turning green, the black-faced man retreated in fear. He didn't know what kind of devious plan this seemingly honest, harmless-looking young man was hatching.

"Tell me the specific location of the mine shaft!"

Realizing he had lost his composure, Zhang Nuo hurriedly restrained his emotions, straightened his face, and said.

"Follow the Zhai and head southeast for over six thousand miles; there is a mine shaft. That is where I mined them! However, this kind of metal ore is very hard to find. It took me nearly a full year to find the ore needed to forge the gauntlets!"

When the black-faced man said this, Zhang Nuo didn't react much, but Chunyangzi inside the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" let out a loud roar.

"Damn it! You found so much in just one year!"

At this moment, Zhang Nuo couldn't see Chunyangzi's expression, otherwise, this old fellow would have had his jaw drop to the ground!

Calming his mood, Zhang Nuo asked many more questions about Stone Village. The black-faced man answered every question, telling him everything he knew.

Finally, Zhang Nuo asked about Su Haizhen and Miao Chi!

"Su Haizhen seems to have been in Stone Village for a long time; she was already there before I arrived. As for Miao Chi, when he arrived at the Zhai, he was indeed a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, but because he didn't receive the nourishment of Demon Core essence at the time, to save his life, his Nascent Soul had long since been dissipated!"

"What? His Nascent Soul was dissipated!"

This news made Zhang Nuo's eyes widen. He simply couldn't believe it; the Nascent Soul that had been condensed with such painstaking effort had just been dissipated like that! How much courage must that have taken!

"If what you say is true, hasn't Miao Chi's cultivation fallen to the Golden Core Stage?"

Zhang Nuo suppressed the wild joy in his heart. With Miao Chi's cultivation fallen, he feared him even less! Even if they had a falling out and fought, he wouldn't suffer too much of a loss! But what surprised Zhang Nuo even more was that the black-faced man shook his head slightly and said:

"After his Nascent Soul was completely dissipated, he didn't even manage to keep his Golden Core!"

This sentence made Zhang Nuo's mouth hang open in shock, his face full of disbelief. Dissipating the Nascent Soul and not even managing to keep the Golden Core—did this mean Miao Chi's true cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage?

"However, even so! Miao Chi's special cultivation as a Body Refining practitioner still makes his physical body incomparably strong! Although the Nascent Soul is gone, the body as powerful as a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator remains!"

Originally excited to the extreme, upon hearing this, Zhang Nuo's expression became grave again. In this way, the physical body of a Body Refining practitioner would not weaken with the decline of cultivation!

"How do you know all this?"

After his brief joy, Zhang Nuo began to doubt the authenticity of what the black-faced man said. If the other party was fooling him, it would be troublesome to suffer a big loss when caught off guard.

"Please rest assured, Fellow Daoist, every word I say is true! When I first entered Stone Village, my Spirit Power hadn't been completely exhausted, so I used a secret technique to check inside Miao Chi's body! He really doesn't even have a Golden Core!"

Fearing that the goodwill he had built up with Zhang Nuo would fade, the black-faced man said hurriedly.

Seeing that the other party's expression didn't look like he was lying, Zhang Nuo hesitated for a moment, then a faint smile appeared on his face. He waved his hand lightly at him, signaling that the black-faced man could leave.

As if granted amnesty, the black-faced man turned around and ran toward Stone Village without looking back. The moment he turned, the Yin Qi at the center of Zhang Nuo's brow flickered like water ripples, and then a black butterfly wrapped in silver flames flew out from it.

The butterfly circled in the air, its wings vibrating as it turned into a ray of light and rushed toward the top of the black-faced man's head! Feeling a slight sound behind him, the black-faced man broke out in a cold sweat; at this moment, he feared Zhang Nuo changing his mind the most.

He turned his head abruptly, only to see a black butterfly face-to-face with him! After a faint, soft cry, the "Hell Butterfly" emitted an invisible suction force from its mouth. The black-faced man's heart trembled slightly, his pupils suddenly contracted, and from his tightly closed pupils, two white, smoke-like things rushed out.

The "Hell Butterfly" opened its mouth wide and sucked these things entirely into its belly, then turned its body and returned to Zhang Nuo's side. At this moment, the black-faced man's body was like a pile of mud, collapsing softly to the ground, his eyes full of terror, yet there was no sign of pain on his face.

Over the ten years the "Hell Butterfly" had been here, due to the abundant Yin Qi, it was no longer what it used to be. Coupled with the fact that the black-faced man's Divine Sea was empty, it had extracted the soul from his body in one strike.

However, what made Zhang Nuo somewhat surprised was that the "Red Glow Fire" was originally a crimson flame, but after years of constant nourishment by Yin Qi, it had actually turned silver. This left him very puzzled!

According to Chunyangzi's explanation, the substance supplying the "Red Glow Fire" had suddenly changed, causing the fire seed itself to mutate. This mutation had both good and bad aspects, but Zhang Nuo was considered lucky; judging by the appearance of the "Red Glow Fire," it should have become even more powerful!

Yin Qi is a substance from the Underworld, and its stimulation to the soul is greater than that of Spiritual Qi and Demonic Qi. Constantly nourishing the "Red Glow Fire" seed with Yin Qi might have stimulated the innate spirituality of the fire seed! If nourished with Yin Qi for a long time, the "Red Glow Fire" might eventually become spiritualized!

"Does Senior mean that the 'Red Glow Fire' seed in my body could become a living thing?"

Zhang Nuo frowned as he looked at the "Hell Butterfly" in front of him, seeing the silver flames roaring and rolling, waves of heat sweeping out; compared to the previous crimson flames, he didn't know how many times more powerful it was!

"What is impossible about that! There are plenty of spiritualized flames in the Immortal World! The Pure Yang Divine Fire in my body back then was spiritualized!"

In order to verify his own conjecture, Chunyangzi even brought himself out to bear personal witness!

Zhang Nuo nodded slightly; if this were truly the case, it seemed that being knocked to the bottom of the Mi Hai Vortex this time was not a bad thing after all! At the very least, it had made the Red Glow Fire and the Hell Butterfly even more powerful!