Chapter 973: Harvest

The treasures before his eyes shimmered, dazzling the senses and casting a brilliant radiance across the entire Mount Zhijing. Li Xieming held his breath, stepped forward twice, and scrutinized the purple-gold Thunder Profound Mace, replying, "Oh!"

Just as he was about to pick it up, his gaze could not help but drift toward the Li Fire spirit treasure. It appeared as round as a Golden Core, entwined with golden threads, with various Li Fire illusions flowing and true fire accompanying it, making it impossible to look away. His gaze immediately froze in mid-air: "Good!"

Though his gaze could not move, his hands subconsciously performed his previous action. He quickly reached toward his waist, took out a jade box, and stuffed it into Li Zhouwei's hands, saying:

"Take the elixir first!"

Li Zhouwei had actually already taken a 【Profound Certainty Heart-Calming Medicine】 inside the grotto-heaven, but the one Li Xieming had taken out now was 'Pin Water', which was more suitable for his condition. He nodded in agreement, swallowed it casually, and laughed:

"Inside, I obtained eight stalks of spirit incense, five spirit objects, three spirit artifacts of extremely high grade, one Li Fire spirit treasure, one copy of merit discourse, one spirit embryo snatched on the road, two Zifu cultivation techniques... five portions of spirit resources... as for the remaining odds and ends, there are countless ancient magic artifacts!"

"It is precisely because the items on me are so valuable and I was worried about ambushes outside that I found an exit inside and came out early. Otherwise, now that the strange phenomenon has just appeared, I wouldn't have reached the lake so quickly."

Li Xieming was shocked and said:

"This is enough to be the foundation for establishing a sect! Just how many people's things did you snatch!"

Li Zhouwei just laughed: "Uncle-grandmaster doesn't know, the wealth of this Wanling Heaven... I fear it is unprecedented. Inside the grotto-heaven, immortal palaces were everywhere, spirit artifacts were on display, and it was luxurious everywhere. Items rare in the outside world were set out left and right in the immortal palaces as decorations... It even surpassed the Anhuai Heaven of yesteryear. It can be said that everyone ate their fill!"

Li Xieming clicked his tongue secretly, shook his head, and replied: "After all, it is the Wanling Upper Sect! How could it be an ordinary orthodoxy? But spirit treasures are hard to come by; you must have spent a lot of effort!"

Li Zhouwei said solemnly:

"That is not ordinary. I offended a few families, but none of them were important figures—some Northern Di tribes, Southern demonic cultivators, Maha Lianmin—the more debt one has, the less one worries. I snatched from them!"

"All the cultivators were seizing treasures, and few wasted time fighting. The remaining 【Shi Louyingge】 fought quite fiercely, and the injuries on this junior were also bestowed by him."

He shook his head, his golden eyes mostly calm:

"He sought benevolence and obtained it; he is not having a good time now either."

"【Shi Louyingge】!"

Li Xieming knew this person was a Zifu mid-stage cultivator and had faced the pressure he brought directly. No wonder he could cause Li Zhouwei so much trouble. He raised his eyebrows and said:

"It is all old grudges..."

Li Zhouwei sneered and didn't mention it, saying: "Let me show Uncle-grandmaster a treasure first!"

He raised his hand quite mysteriously and hooked it lightly under the table, from which a jade box immediately jumped out.

This box was covered in dense patterns and shimmered with light, looking extremely unusual. Li Xieming recognized it at a glance; it was the jade box Li Tongya had obtained in Lake Center Continent years ago. It had no outstanding value itself, but when it came to containing spirit objects, it was the most useful one he had had for so many years! This thing was originally used to store Taiyin Moon Radiance and Moon Branches. Later, when the heaven and earth opened with the sun and moon shining together, these things were all put into the heaven and earth, and they would not be damaged in the slightest, so this jade box was taken out.

His interest was suddenly piqued: "What treasure? To use this thing to store it!"

But as the jade box was lifted, a point of raging bright white flame was burning scorchingly inside! This fire was bright white, dazzling to the eyes. One could vaguely see many pale gray, nearly invisible flames surrounding the bright white. At this moment, it surged up, and a fierce, scorching heat rushed toward his face, causing Li Xieming's heart to shake: "Zifu Spirit Fire!"

He had deep qualifications in this area. After just one look, he was shocked:

"A Bing Fire related to the sun!"

Li Zhouwei predicted he would be pleasantly surprised and laughed: "Spirit objects that are hard to see on ordinary days... there are plenty in the grotto-heaven!"

How could Li Xieming listen to anything now? He hurriedly stretched out two fingers, wiped them lightly on the jade box, and refined this fire in an instant!

"Hum!"

The raging bright white flame immediately jumped onto his palm, dancing joyfully. Li Xieming closed his eyes slightly, his heart greatly excited, and replied: "Good spirit fire!"

Li Zhouwei asked with a smile: "Does Uncle-grandmaster recognize it?"

This scratched his itch. Li Xieming chuckled and replied:

"I really have some understanding! Years ago, I heard True Person Senior Yuan Dao explain the Dao. There is a type of fire called 【Following Desire Bing Fire】, and I had some insights in my heart. Since then, I have specifically studied and collected it, secretly corresponding to it..."

"The Great True Person mentioned that the Jin Wu and the Three Yangs resonate to produce three types of fire. The one corresponding to Mingyang is the essence of desire fire outside of life desire, which is the second type of fire. And this one corresponding to the sun is the first, called 【Sun Bing Fire】... It is rumored to have infinite power. The Jin Wu bestowed it upon a descendant called 【Yang Star Great Sparrow】. The descendants of the 【Yang Star Great Sparrow】 call themselves Tianwu, and they use this 【Tianwu Bing Fire】 before our eyes!"

His eyes were still filled with unbelievable shock, and he replied: "I don't know much about this thing, but among Bing Fires, it is definitely an existence at the very forefront! You don't use fire, so you don't know the power of this thing... If a Zifu cultivator of Bing Fire obtained it... it would definitely be enough for him to make a resounding name for himself in the Zifu!"

"In all these years... the most precious spirit fire I have seen is this one! Even the 【Small Peacock Karma】 of yesteryear is inferior to it!"

"Oh?"

Li Zhouwei hadn't expected this flame to be so remarkable. His heart moved secretly, and while pondering, he said:

"That is true! I remember there was a screen in the 【Xinhu Palace】 that also depicted the Jin Wu, its beak pointed at the sun, with three circular positions in total. It must also correspond to this allusion."

Li Xieming was overjoyed. He just put away the flame and laughed: "Although the sun neutralizes quite a bit, this fire still has the hidden path of Bing Fire. It can burn the magic body and damage a person's magic power. Not only is it like a maggot on a tarsal bone, extremely difficult to remove, but it can also resonate with the sun to kill enemies with power..."

"The power is great, but firstly, the consumption of magic power is also great, and secondly, the power is not easy to control. The latter doesn't count for much... The point is that it is too rare. I should find a few seniors to ask!"

Li Xieming's meaning of 'doesn't count for much' was naturally 【Gufeng Fire-Drawing】. He received it happily. Li Zhouwei then took out the various items. The remaining spirit object was a pot of 'Shangyi' spirit objects, which were one with the 【Cuixin Xuanyuan Technique】 and obviously could not be moved, so they were placed in the clan.

Following that was an extremely conspicuous jade ring, with smoky colors rippling and rouge dyed through. The 【Shangshan Mingxuan Jade】 and 【Longxuan White Jade】 combined were also considered a type of Zifu spirit object, extremely precious:

"This item is powerful. Uncle-grandmaster, take it and ask True Person Zhusheng of the Southern Border."

Li Xieming admired it over and over, but Li Zhouwei took out another item. Its colorful light was scorching, like crystal, flashing with dazzling light, making Li Xieming raise his eyebrows in joy:

"This time, it can be considered as making up for that spirit object, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to explain it to Wan'er!"

It was precisely the 'Quan Dan' spirit object 【Six-Phase Instrument Color】! This item was unusual. The 【Houshu Golden Book】 mentioned it, and it was much rarer than that 【Nine-Colored Xuan Mercury】 of yesteryear... It was a treasure of the 'Quan Dan' path, which could assist in transformation, and refining it into a spirit artifact was even more miraculous!

This glance made Li Xieming both regretful and happy. After all, human hearts are hard to satisfy, and he couldn't help but sigh: "It is actually such a miraculous spirit object! If the 【Nine-Colored Xuan Mercury】 were still here, this item could be left for her to refine artifacts after achieving Zifu, which should be able to make her divine abilities go up another level... What a pity!"

Li Zhouwei was noncommittal and laughed: "It is hard to have things go as one wishes. Let's just wait and see."

These were all things he had obtained early on. At this moment, he paused slightly and actually took out another Xuan box, lifting one of them lightly to reveal a ray of white light.

Inside the box lay a piece of water gold, about a finger long, emitting a colorful, misty golden light, while a thick water vapor sank to the bottom, colored dark blue.

"'He Water' spirit object!"

This jade box was precisely that ray of white light snatched from Helian Wujiang's hands. Li Zhouwei was extremely lucky; it was not spirit resources, but a spirit object! It made him laugh: "It's just that my family doesn't have a He Water orthodoxy, so I can't identify what it is... but it's not difficult. I am considered an acquaintance with Daoist Xiangchun, so I will write a letter to ask."

'He Water' was a manifest Dao of the current world, and even one of the few Great Daos that had always manifested from ancient times to the present. The quantity was already not small. Although the situation in the grotto-heaven was slightly different, it still lacked spirit objects of this path.

Li Zhouwei was not surprised, but Li Xieming sighed:

"No wonder everyone is rushing for it. Adding these five spirit objects together is enough for me to collect for a few hundred years..."

"And that's not all!"

Li Zhouwei then untied the 【Biting Qingyuan Xuan Cauldron】 and handed it to Li Xieming, saying solemnly: "This is the 【Biting Qingyuan Xuan Cauldron】. Although its power in fighting is not great, its auxiliary effect is extremely strong. It can rely on spirit objects to refine spirit water, and in terms of miraculousness, it exceeds the vast majority of spirit artifacts today! Only in the Wanling Grotto-heaven would there be such a treasure..."

Li Xieming held it in his hands, but Li Zhouwei's gaze swept over the purple-gold Xuan Mace and the Li Fire spirit treasure, replying: "These two treasures, one is a leader among spirit artifacts, and one is a spirit treasure. I will trouble Uncle-grandmaster to refine them a bit while I heal my wounds..."

Li Xieming agreed repeatedly and laughed:

"I still have a jade talisman here, and there are three treasures that need to be refined, which will take quite a bit of time... but it is always sweet to suffer for it. It will be hard to have days like this in the future."

Li Zhouwei laughed, took an item out of his sleeve, and presented it to him with his palm facing up. It was a golden jade piece the size of a palm, with shimmering patterns and a slight curve, which made Li Xieming freeze:

"There's more?!"

The golden-eyed youth just laughed:

"That's right!"

He shook his hand, and the jade piece turned lightly in the air, suddenly turning into golden light, extending like water. When it finally fell into his palm, it had already turned into a golden spear about a zhang long.

This spear was extremely strange, smooth all over, without a single pattern, and without any formal undulations. The spear tip and the spear body were one, looking very inconspicuous.

Li Zhouwei said with slight regret: "This item is also a spirit artifact, called 【Descending Light Camp Qi Sharp】. There are six in a set. When they flew out at that time, I only snatched one. Its power is not obvious, but it can be used."

"【Descending Light Camp Qi Sharp】..."

Li Xieming was slightly surprised, listening to Li Zhouwei reveal quite a bit of appreciation, and replied: "This item is forged with 'Xiao Gold' spirit objects. The original owner, in order to highlight the miraculousness of 'Xiao Gold' spirit objects being without cause or effect and free and easy, did not apply a single Xuan pattern, pushing the ability of 'Xiao Gold' to the extreme..."

"Therefore, this item is quite special. Although it doesn't have great divine abilities itself, and even travels through the Great Void extremely slowly, its resistance to magic spells is very high, making it difficult to calculate. When all six arrive together, it has the miraculousness of 【No Cause, No Effect】..."

"How powerful!"

This artifact-refining technique was quite peculiar, completely different from the current trend of pursuing many Xuan patterns and many divine abilities. Li Xieming listened thoughtfully, nodded repeatedly, and replied: "The ingenuity of the Douxuan cultivator really makes one's eyes light up!"

This 【Descending Light Camp Qi Sharp】 was naturally more suitable for Li Zhouwei. Li Xieming pushed it over and told him to keep it. Li Zhouwei then counted the harvest of the final Li Fire Palace, placing the deep red, gorgeous jade slip on the table, with a faint smile: "Ancient Li Fire cultivation technique 'Chongguang Huoming Scripture', achieving the divine ability 'Nine-Layer Grab'!"

Li Xieming just took it to look at it and sighed: "Jiangqian's orthodoxy has a successor!"

Li Zhouwei sat on the side, took out spirit water to extinguish the flames on his body, nourishing and repairing, and replied:

"And that's not all. Although this technique is an ancient method, it is extremely miraculous. It was created right when the Zifu Golden Core Dao was first founded. It is obscure, difficult to understand, and treasures life... It has quite a bit of mystery. Those who cultivate this technique probably find it very difficult to turn to the Heaven Fetus Demonic Dao..."

"What is even more rare is that the secret methods in that grotto-heaven were often kept in the hands of people with important identities. I don't know how they were sealed, but the owner of this Li Fire Palace was either this person with an important identity, or not under the control of the superiors at all. The secret methods were attached behind it, three in total!"

Actually, according to Li Zhouwei's judgment, this palace was not in the middle of the mountain peak, but in a place on the edge, which showed that the latter possibility was even greater. He secretly kept an eye on it, changed the subject, and replied:

"All of the above means that my family can let disciples with real talent practice this method, and the probability of breaking through to Zifu is not small!"

Li Xieming nodded repeatedly, and saw Li Zhouwei open the two jade boxes obtained together. One was red spirit energy, precisely the 【Mingyi Chongguang Qi】 required by the 'Chongguang Huoming Scripture', with nine portions in total.

And the other place was even more brilliant and dazzling. It was red gemstones the size of pigeon eggs, and the rolling Li Fire energy rushed toward his face immediately. There were five in total, each bright and of excellent quality. The one in the very center was even surrounded, presenting a bright golden color.

"The ones around are Zifu spirit resources 【Red Light Li Amber】..."

Li Zhouwei swept a glance at this, his heart feeling strange. The one in the very center should be a spirit object, but he couldn't tell what it was, so he secretly pondered:

"It's like it was prepared early on, wanting to pass down the orthodoxy... Could it be that there was a prediction for the fate of Wanling Heaven, so the spirit energy was prepared... It's a pity that there was no time to go to the other side hall, missing the Li Fire spirit artifact..."

One must know that the 'Chongguang Huoming Scripture' had a method for gathering energy. Although it was troublesome, he didn't know if it could still be effective today... But the owner of this Li Palace did such an act, clearly worrying that the spirit energy would dissipate after the heaven and earth changed, and even certainly understood that Wanling Heaven could be preserved for a considerable period of time, but had no real future...

His heart went through several turns. Li Xieming in front of him exhaled slightly and laughed: "With so many things, there is finally spirit resources to forge spirit armor!"

Li Zhouwei hadn't expected him to still be thinking about spirit armor. He was slightly startled, watched Uncle-grandmaster put it into his sleeve, and had to accept it with a smile, replying: "Trouble Uncle-grandmaster!"

The rest were hard to judge. Li Xieming waved his hand at him while taking the 'Ku Jin' spirit embryo silver bell, in a great mood: "Senior Liu is watching in the East Sea, and we have never had any repayment for him. This 'Ku Jin' spirit embryo is absolutely more than enough. He will definitely be happy, and if there is anything, he can help..."

Li Xieming also took the remaining eight golden-patterned Xuan incenses to look at, but couldn't figure them out. He estimated that only figures from the Douxuan orthodoxy could recognize them. It just so happened that one was Chijiao Island and one was Zhangxiao Sect, and their relationship with his own family was worse than the other. After thinking about it, the only one that was a bit more peaceful was Duxian.

He was pondering when Li Zhouwei prepared to go into seclusion to heal his wounds, reminding: "That spirit treasure... Uncle-grandmaster, remember to refine it first. Perhaps it has an echo with the 'Chongguang Huoming Scripture'!"

Li Xieming nodded repeatedly, sent him out, and replied: "Leave the miscellaneous affairs to me. You can heal your wounds with peace of mind. It will definitely be handled for you."

But when he reached the mountain forest, Li Xieming saw the youth suddenly remember something, turn his head, his eyebrows flamboyant, his eyes bright, and laugh: "That Helian Wujiang... I have also avenged Uncle-grandmaster!"

Characters appearing in this chapter——

Li Xieming 【Zifu Early Stage】 【Zifu Alchemist】 ===== CHAPTER 974 =====