Chapter 304: Black Profound Crystal Stone

After a moment, the black Qi on the Spirit Insect's blurry face ceased, and its body rose into the air once more, slowly flying before Zhang Nuo and extending a small hand toward him.

Zhang Nuo's heart pounded wildly; if he and Chunyangzi were not mistaken, the object in the Spirit Insect's hand must be the long-awaited "Black Profound Crystal Stone!"

The restorative ability of the "White Profound Crystal Stone" was already quite strong, but compared to the "Black Profound Crystal Stone," it was still far inferior. The Nine Dragon Sword Case was currently only two or three tenths restored; if it could receive the restoration of the "Black Profound Crystal Stone," it would certainly be able to unleash power even greater than it possessed now!

As the Spirit Insect's small fingers slowly parted, a black crystal the size of a fingernail appeared in its hand. The surface of this black crystal was smooth, and inside the crystal, streaks of black Qi flowed. The black Qi seemed to have a life of its own, resembling snakes or dragons, and as it gurgled and swirled, it emitted an eerie Spiritual Pressure.

"It... it is the 'Black Profound Crystal Stone'! No mistake! There can be no mistake!"

Chunyangzi was even more excited than Zhang Nuo; he roared these words, causing Zhang Nuo's mind to suffer quite a bit of agony. His head buzzed, and golden light almost flashed before his eyes!

"Senior! Calm down!"

Under Zhang Nuo's desperate reprimand, Chunyangzi finally quieted down, though he continued to mutter to himself as if possessed.

"It's real! It really is real!"

Ignoring Chunyangzi, Zhang Nuo carefully took the black crystal from the Spirit Insect's hand. After examining it closely, he could not suppress his own wild joy!

Before Zhang Nuo's excitement could subside, a mental connection came from the Spirit Insect before him, and his expression instantly turned grim.

It turned out that this little fellow, having just produced the "Black Profound Crystal Stone," immediately felt hungry, and it had taken a liking to the Xian Mountain beneath its feet, wanting to start eating immediately!

Zhang Nuo grimaced. At this moment, the Great Sui Empire and the Demon Emperor were engaged in a fierce battle on this Xian Mountain. Although he understood that since this was a Xian Mountain, there would certainly be no shortage of rare ores within the mountain, he was very uneasy about letting the Spirit Insect devour it now!

If someone else discovered the existence of the Spirit Insect, they would dig it out even if they had to level the entire Xian Mountain. The Spirit Insect seemed very stubborn and ignored Zhang Nuo's attempts to soothe it!

Finally, forced by necessity, Zhang Nuo resorted to crude measures; he forcibly grabbed the Spirit Insect and shoved it into the Spirit Beast Bag, then surged with escape light and flew toward the distance!

After flying for about a month, Zhang Nuo landed in a mountain valley one day. This place was rarely visited by cultivators. After opening his Divine Sense and confirming it was safe, he finally released the Spirit Insect.

The little fellow emerged from the Spirit Beast Bag in a very low mood, floating in the air before Zhang Nuo, its two small hands pointing at Zhang Nuo incessantly, its mouth emitting endless "yi-ya" sounds! It seemed to be scolding him about something!

Sweat appeared on Zhang Nuo's forehead. Through their mental connection, he understood what the Spirit Insect was saying: the ores in Chenjie Mountain were extremely rare items containing vast amounts of vital energy. If he had let the Spirit Insect devour them at the time, it might have allowed it to advance to the third rank!

Facing the Spirit Insect's accusations, Zhang Nuo had no choice. There was a reason for his actions, and he had been forced to take the Spirit Insect away. After soothing it for a while, the Spirit Insect suddenly shifted its form. With a flash of golden light, it transformed back into its original appearance, then dove headfirst into the ground below and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye!

Zhang Nuo sighed helplessly. Looking at the pitch-black hole in the ground, he could only shake his head and smile bitterly.

"What happened? What is wrong with the little fellow?"

Compared to Zhang Nuo, Chunyangzi seemed even more concerned about the Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect!

"It says it's hungry! It insists on eating something here! It refuses to wait any longer!"

The Spirit Insect was like a willful child; it usually seemed very well-behaved, but when its temper flared, Zhang Nuo had no way to deal with it!

"Let it be! Let's look at the 'Black Profound Crystal Stone' first!"

Chunyangzi's words were like those of an indulgent grandfather; as long as his grandson was happy, he could do whatever he wanted!

At this moment, Zhang Nuo took the Black Profound Crystal Stone out of his Storage Bag and placed it on his palm. Chunyangzi released his Divine Sense, surrounding the crystal, and sighed in admiration! After a long while, he calmed down and said to Zhang Nuo:

"I say, Zhang lad, you should use this crystal to repair the 'Nine Dragon Sword Case' now!"

"But Senior, it's too dangerous here! There isn't even a Cave Abode!"

Looking around, Zhang Nuo said with difficulty.

"Who knows how long it will take to repair the Sword Box? If you delay any longer, I'm afraid there won't be time. The sooner you repair it, the sooner you benefit! Don't worry about the Cave Abode; don't you have the 'Pure Underworld Divine Tree'? Just use that!"

"Use the Divine Tree?"

Zhang Nuo asked back in surprise, but judging by Chunyangzi's tone, he did not seem to be joking.

"Yes, use it! Release the Divine Tree completely, then hide inside the tree to perform the repairs. In this way, the Divine Tree will become a Cave Abode!"

"What if I get discovered?"

"I usually think you're quite sharp, so why do you get stupid when something happens? How many people in this world recognize the 'Pure Underworld Divine Tree'? Besides, this place is relatively secluded, and you have the Sword Box to conceal your Spirit Power fluctuations, so who would discover you? Furthermore, this tree has been growing inside your body for a long time, which is not enough to make it strong. The Heaven and Earth Origin Qi here is dense, so releasing it will allow it to absorb some! Perhaps the tree will grow even more vigorously!"

Chunyangzi spoke with sound logic, and Zhang Nuo was somewhat tempted. After hesitating, he finally agreed. He raised his right palm above his head, and Yin Qi from his Divine Sea flowed gurgling toward his palm. In the blink of an eye, a bloodstain split open in his palm, and then green shoots grew out.

With a "crack-crack" sound, a huge tree three or four zhang tall grew out. Zhang Nuo held the giant tree with one hand and stood at the hole where the Spirit Insect had disappeared. With a movement of his Divine Sense, countless intertwined roots from the base of the tree wrapped his figure inside.

In a moment, a large tree stood in this place. It was thick enough for five or six people to embrace. On the surface, it looked no different from other trees, only more vibrant in color, but as its lush branches and leaves swayed, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Origin Qi was rapidly surging toward the tree body.

Zhang Nuo sat cross-legged at the roots of the big tree, feeling the changes outside, and his heart felt a surge of joy. It seemed Chunyangzi was right; the "Pure Underworld Divine Tree" he had fully released was indeed constantly absorbing the surrounding Heaven and Earth Origin Qi.

The Yin Qi that had been exhausted to activate the tree was slowly being replenished into his Divine Sea through the tree. After waiting for a full day and seeing that nothing unusual had happened, Zhang Nuo finally took out the "Black Profound Crystal Stone" and, with a flip of his hand, brought out the Nine Dragon Sword Case as well.

The Sword Box floated in Zhang Nuo's palm, the nine dragon carvings on its surface lifelike, occasionally swimming across the surface of the box. However, when the nine dragon carvings sensed the presence of the "Black Profound Crystal Stone," two of the carvings immediately leaped off the surface of the Sword Box, their mouths slightly agape, constantly swallowing Spiritual Qi!

With a faint smile, it seemed the sentient Sword Box had already sensed the power of the "Black Profound Crystal Stone." Zhang Nuo did not hesitate and slowly moved his hand holding the black crystal toward the mouths of the dragon carvings.

"Awooo!"

After a faint dragon roar, a ray of multicolored light sprayed from the dragon's mouth, directly wrapping the "Black Profound Crystal Stone" and pulling it inside, after which the dragon carvings returned to the surface of the Sword Box.

The next moment, the surface of the Sword Box underwent a heaven-shaking change. The nine dragon carvings moved across the Sword Box as fast as swimming fish, and the dragon roars, one louder than the next, were soul-stirring! Intense spiritual light enveloped the Sword Box, making it almost impossible to see its true form!

This situation lasted for about half an hour before returning to calm, but the Nine Dragon Sword Case had changed significantly; its volume had shrunk slightly, and it looked even more exquisite.

The dragon carvings on the surface of the Sword Box were full of vitality, as if they were alive. Each dragon's mouth was slightly exhaling Spiritual Qi, and with each inhalation and exhalation, it drew the surrounding Spiritual Qi to surge toward this place.

Zhang Nuo's heart gave a sudden jolt. It seemed that after the restoration by the "Black Profound Crystal Stone," the Sword Box's ability to gather Spiritual Qi had improved significantly. It was not night, but he could clearly feel it gathering Spiritual Qi. From this, it could be inferred that if it were late at night, the speed and concentration of the Sword Box's gathering of Spiritual Qi would rise to a new height! Perhaps it would be several times stronger than before!

With a movement of his Divine Sense, a Flying Sword flashed out of the Sword Box. "Swish!" The place where Zhang Nuo was located was like a strike of lightning! The flashing spiritual light was so piercing that he could barely keep his eyes open!

His heart was even more ecstatic! Just from the appearance of the Flying Sword, its sharpness had increased significantly! As the spiritual light slowly faded, the surface of the Flying Sword was as smooth as a mirror, no longer looking broken as before, and within the blade, a dragon shadow seemed to be constantly swimming.

This surprised Zhang Nuo even more; he had possessed the Nine Dragon Sword Case for so long, but this was the first time he had seen a dragon shadow appear on the surface of the Flying Sword.

"It seems the Sword Box has now been restored to four or five tenths! Not bad!"

When Chunyangzi's voice sounded, Zhang Nuo nodded repeatedly. Although he had not specifically tested the power of the Flying Sword, it was not hard to imagine from its changes!

"Wait until nightfall to see exactly to what extent its ability to gather Spiritual Qi has improved!"

Since he was waiting for the Spirit Insect to return anyway, Zhang Nuo simply used this time to cultivate! While closing his eyes to rest, he felt that the Spiritual Qi at the base of the "Pure Underworld Divine Tree" had become extremely lush. Breathing in and out felt effortless, as if the Spiritual Qi were right beside him, ready to be absorbed into his body!

A look of joy appeared on his face, and a bold idea suddenly popped into Zhang Nuo's mind! That was to raise his cultivation to the Golden Core Late Stage from here, and at the same time, open his Fifth Divine Sea!