Chapter 278: Mine Cave

Looking down at the corpse of the black-faced man, Zhang Nuo walked over slowly. After looting everything on his body, he suddenly gave a cold smile!

He extended a palm, his fingers covered in Yin Qi, and pressed it onto the dantian position of the black-faced man's corpse. Yin Qi continuously emanated from Zhang Nuo's hand, becoming increasingly dense, until finally, like a flooding river, it surged uncontrollably!

Zhang Nuo's expression was calm. He exerted a slight force with his five fingers as if grabbing something. After a moment, he suddenly lifted his hand, and with his fingers tightly clenched, streaks of Golden Light leaked out from between them.

At this moment, a faint smile appeared on Zhang Nuo's face. He slowly opened his palm, and there, in the center of his palm, appeared a Golden Core emitting a faint Spirit Power.

This Golden Core belonged to the black-faced man. Now that they were at the bottom of the Mi Hai Vortex, Spiritual Qi was especially important for a cultivator; not everyone had an Underworld cultivation method they could practice!

Exposed to the outside, the Spirit Power of the Golden Core was leaking away at a speed visible to the naked eye. In a mere instant, the luster on the surface of the Golden Core dimmed. Zhang Nuo frowned and hurriedly took an exquisite small Jade Box from his Storage Bag, opened the lid, and gently placed the Golden Core inside.

"I think you had better refine this Golden Core quickly! Otherwise, before long, it will completely dissipate!"

Chunyangzi had been silent, and only after seeing Zhang Nuo finish all this did he offer a reminder. Zhang Nuo nodded; he deeply understood the situation Chunyangzi spoke of. However, there was no suitable place at the moment; if he were to rush into refining someone else's Golden Core, things might go wrong if he wasn't careful!

Regardless, a cultivator's Golden Core contained pure Spiritual Qi. If they were not in this place, an ordinary person would not risk refining a Golden Core formed by someone else!

Glancing sideways at the black-faced cultivator's corpse on the ground, Zhang Nuo's thoughts shifted, and he lowered his body once again.

"He is a dead man; what more do you want to do to him?"

Chunyangzi was greatly puzzled; there was nothing left of value on the black-faced cultivator. Without answering him immediately, Zhang Nuo extended a finger, Sword Qi flashing on the tip, and carved a long wound on the black-faced cultivator's face. In an instant, blood flowed out.

"Whoosh!"

After a soft sound, silver flames ignited on Zhang Nuo's fingertip. The bone-white flames appeared extremely cold in the pitch-black space, and the constantly flickering flames cast a bizarre reflection on half of Zhang Nuo's face.

Only at this moment did Chunyangzi finally understand what Zhang Nuo wanted to do; it turned out he wanted to test if the instinct of the evolved "Red Glow Fire" had mutated!

A flame famous for being able to burn blood—if it lost this instinct, it would undoubtedly greatly reduce the power of this fire!

The silver flames, the moment they touched the blood, drilled into the black-faced cultivator's body in the blink of an eye. What followed was a change that even made Zhang Nuo cry out in surprise.

In just the time of a single breath, the black-faced cultivator's corpse twitched violently, and then a sheet of silver flames surged out from within his body. The silver light flashed in Zhang Nuo's pupils for only a moment before extinguishing! The cultivator's corpse before his eyes instantly vanished into nothingness!

"What terrifying power!"

Zhang Nuo stood up. He found it hard to believe what he had just seen; in just an instant, a person had been burned away by the silver flames like that!

It seemed the power of the evolved "Red Glow Fire" had not regressed; on the contrary, it had become even more formidable! With this reassurance, Zhang Nuo's escape light surged, and he flew toward the distance.

Just as Zhang Nuo killed the black-faced cultivator, inside Miao Chi's room in Stone Village, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly took a Jade Token from his Storage Bag!

This Jade Token was only half the size of a palm, with several Fowen inscribed on its surface. The moment Miao Chi took it out, the Jade Token shattered with a "pop" sound.

"Could it be... this is impossible!"

As if he had guessed something, only to quickly deny it, Miao Chi's face was filled with uncertainty. He looked down at the shattered Jade Token in his hand, his brows knitting together. Inside this seemingly ordinary Jade Token remained a strand of the black-faced man's Divine Sense; unless the other party had fallen, the Jade Token would not shatter!

"Did that brat Zhang Nuo kill him?"

Although he refused to believe it in his heart, the facts were right before him. He had sent the black-faced man to intercept and kill Zhang Nuo, and now that the Jade Token was shattered, it meant the black-faced man had fallen! A series of doubts lingered in Miao Chi's mind for a long time.

At the bottom of the Mi Hai Vortex lay a dark space. There was no sunlight here, no rain or dew; there was only boundless darkness and many unknown creatures.

At this moment, a streak of escape light streaked across the sky. Zhang Nuo stood within the light; his target was the mine cave that the black-faced man had mentioned, where "Green Gold Copper" had been collected.

After flying for about three hours, Zhang Nuo finally found the entrance to the mine cave. After landing, the escape light on his body faded, and Zhang Nuo gazed into the bottomless mine cave.

The cave was pitch black, and with his eyesight, he could see at most twenty-some feet deep! This mine cave appeared somewhat dilapidated, as if it had been abandoned long ago after being fully excavated. It was hard to imagine that "Green Gold Copper" could still be found in such a place!

Zhang Nuo hesitated for a moment. He did not walk into the mine cave himself; he was not clear what kind of dangers existed in the pitch-black cave, especially now that he had switched to practicing the Underworld cultivation method, causing most of his supernatural abilities to lose their power. In particular, not being able to use the "Nine Dragon Sword Case" gave him a massive headache!

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Nuo took the Spirit Beast Bag from his bosom and released the transformed "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect"! As soon as the Spirit Insect appeared, it looked at the entrance of the mine cave very strangely, as if there were something inside attracting it.

Floating quietly in the air, it clenched its two small hands into fists. Although he could not see its expression clearly, Zhang Nuo could fully imagine it.

Aside from rare metals, there would be nothing else that could make the Spirit Insect take things seriously. It seemed the black-faced man was not wrong; "Green Gold Copper" really did exist here!

"Go!"

Zhang Nuo spat out two words. The Spirit Insect's body surged forward, and it flew into the mine cave by riding the air. Watching its anxious appearance, Zhang Nuo shook his head helplessly.

Compared to himself, letting the Spirit Insect enter the mine cave was the safest option. Underground, whether in speed or adaptability, the "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" was much stronger than him. Even if it encountered any danger, the Spirit Insect could carve out a path to escape!

He did not know how deep this mine cave was. The mental connection between Zhang Nuo and the Spirit Insect was gradually becoming faint, and almost three days later, the mental connection disappeared completely!

Judging from the information sent back earlier, the Spirit Insect was still heading deep into the mine cave, and it had not encountered any obstruction along the way! Standing at the cave entrance and thinking for a moment, Zhang Nuo immediately flew to a hidden spot around the mine cave, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to practice breathing exercises!

In the blink of an eye, three months passed, and the Spirit Insect still had not come out. This caused sweat to appear on Zhang Nuo's forehead; without the mental connection, he did not know where that fellow had run off to.

Another three months passed, and the Spirit Insect still did not appear. Zhang Nuo could no longer sit still; his figure paced back and forth at the entrance of the mine cave! From time to time, he would probe it with his Divine Sense. However, inside the empty mine cave, there was nothing but darkness!

"Little Zhang! Be quiet! Didn't that black-faced brat say it himself? It took him a year to find that much. Furthermore, this place has been mostly developed; the Spirit Insect won't be back that quickly!"

Seeing Zhang Nuo's anxiety, Chunyangzi comforted him.

The "Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect" was Zhang Nuo's lifeline! He could not allow the slightest mishap. The fortune inside the mine cave was unpredictable; he really didn't know how it was doing now.

His heart felt as if it had been thrown into a frying pan, tossing and turning, unable to calm down. After waiting for another period of time, Zhang Nuo simply carved out a simple Cave Abode on a small mountain nearby.

After setting up a Restriction around it, he hid in the Cave Abode to cultivate! The "Immovable Underworld King" cultivation method was unfathomable, and Zhang Nuo also needed a large amount of time to study it. Using the time spent waiting for the Spirit Insect to return, he devoted his entire body and mind to the cultivation method, which also diverted his attention and saved him from letting his imagination run wild all day.

Through his research on the "Immovable Underworld King" cultivation method, Zhang Nuo deeply felt that the first level of the cultivation method he had mastered was at most just the surface; compared to its true breadth and depth, it was not worth mentioning at all!

During this time in the Cave Abode, Zhang Nuo continuously tempered the Yin Qi in his body to make it more pure. At the same time, Chunyangzi also raised a problem that was currently the most thorny.

That was the issue of merging the Underworld cultivation method with the Righteous path cultivation method. First of all, the mediums required for the two were different; one required Yin Qi, while the other required Spiritual Qi. It was difficult for a cultivator's Divine Sea to contain both powers at the same time.

Being at the bottom of the Mi Hai Vortex, there was naturally no shortage of Yin Qi, but if there were an opportunity to leave this place in the future, Yin Qi would become the biggest problem. Without Yin Qi, the "Immovable Underworld King" cultivation method would be stranded!

However, these were matters for later; Zhang Nuo did not need to consider so much yet. The most important problem at hand was how to simultaneously contain both powers within his body.

"That white bone skeleton was able to practice both Demon Sect cultivation methods and Buddhist supreme arts! I think there must be an inevitable connection between things in the world, so I should be able to as well. Besides, whether it is Demonic Qi or Yin Qi, they are both transformed from 'Yin and Yang Qi'. They seem to be incompatible like water and fire, but there must be an inevitable connection between them!"

Chunyangzi understood Zhang Nuo's words, but some things were easier said than done! Seeing Zhang Nuo's determination, Chunyangzi found it hard to say anything more and immediately told him some of the experience he knew.

"Little Zhang, that is all I know! Whether it works or not depends on your own fortune!"

Zhang Nuo remained silent upon hearing this and reached into his Storage Bag to take out a large handful of Spirit Stones! Here, one could only absorb pure Spiritual Qi from Spirit Stones! Fortunately, Zhang Nuo's wealth was very abundant, and the Spirit Stones on his person were enough for him to squander for a while!