Chapter 556

Yan Buji was completely unaware that a meticulously planned capture operation was quietly surrounding him.

At this moment, he was still counting his gains from these days.

"Hmm, the spiritual materials for refining spirit spears and spirit cannons are basically satisfied; what remains are the Yama Helm and the Abni Sword."

After refining an Accumulation Device, one can construct one's own armament, and by then it would also count as a life-saving trump card.

Thinking this way, Yan Buji originally planned to find a safe place to make a trip to the Youming Jie, but because the Fissure Void Stone had been refined by himself into the Fissure Authority Rod, he still needed to disassemble the rod and combine it with the Youming Scripture before he could go down.

However, by chance, Yan Buji heard something quite interesting.

"Frontier Blade Imperial City seems to have unearthed a brand-new type of ore!"

"Really?"

"I heard that people from Bear City and Dragon City have all gone there; they're probably going to negotiate a purchase with them."

"That does seem to be quite good spiritual material; I don't know when it will be put on sale."

"Bear City and Dragon City?"

Bear City itself is the imperial city that developed spirit cannons and spirit spears; it is the foremost force in the West Sand River Basin for researching and developing Accumulation Devices. Dragon City is no slouch either, with many artifact refiners, and this time's Hundred Temples Buddhist Dharma Assembly is also being held in Dragon City; the reputations of these two imperial cities in the West Sand River Basin are both very high.

Upon hearing this news, Yan Buji immediately became interested.

"I don't know what kind of ore it is; let's go take a look first."

Anyway, the spiritual materials he has gathered so far basically meet the demand; if that new spiritual material is indeed of high quality, he can think of a way to steal some.

If not, there's no need to provoke them.

Thus, Yan Buji hurried all the way to Frontier Blade Imperial City.

Frontier Blade Imperial City is built before a medium-sized oasis, with many cultivators coming and going nearby. Unlike in the East Dongxing Sea Region and the Nan Ting Mountain Region of the West Sand River Basin, ordinary people here are not allowed to live in the oasis; they can only live in the desert like nomads, and their main source of income is the desert camels.

However, some Buddhist temples are instead built in the desert under skies full of yellow sand; they occasionally go to the nomads' tents to provide aid, and in the process take on disciples.

Upon his first arrival at Frontier Blade Imperial City, Yan Buji felt that this place was different from the other imperial cities he had seen.

Although this imperial city is not particularly large, there are many caravans coming and going around it. Moreover, not far away there is a huge mining pit, with many Lianqi Phase cultivators digging for ore inside.

"What a huge vein of ore."

Yan Buji raised his eyebrows; with just a slight perception he sensed that the vein seemed to contain many types of minerals, and surprisingly it also produced Spiritual Stone ore.

Such a large comprehensive ore vein is of considerable value, enough to support the development of a cultivation sect for ten thousand years!

The West Sand River Basin is not lacking in resources; it's just that most resources lie beneath the yellow sand, and developing them is as hard as climbing to heaven. Ordinary people basically cannot luck into those resource points unless they are swallowed by the quicksand and die.

"Speaking of which, the natural disasters of the West Sand River Basin are terrifying—places that look no different from ordinary sand are actually vast seas of quicksand." Yan Buji's complexion also wasn't looking good.

Earlier, when he was discovered stealing spiritual materials and pursued, Yan Buji accidentally fell into a quicksand area; even activating his Immortal Essence couldn't help him struggle free, and he only escaped by forcibly shifting his position with the Heaven Gate Law.

Afterward, Yan Buji inquired widely and only then learned that the place was actually one of the West Sand River Basin's natural disasters—the site where the Essence‑Swallowing Quicksand Sea appears.

The Essence‑Swallowing Quicksand Sea can be crossed by ordinary people, but if a cultivator falls in without means to escape, death is certain; it occasionally appears in various places of the West Sand River Basin, unlike the Ten Great Deadlands which have fixed locations, and it also seals cultivators' magical power.

After that incident, Yan Buji became very careful in his actions; before stealing spiritual materials, he would still first investigate the surrounding situation.

This time, Yan Buji also began investigating the situation of Frontier Blade Imperial City beforehand; although he might not necessarily act, knowing the nearby circumstances is better than being completely in the dark.

However, looking at the overcast sky, Yan Buji felt something was off.

"Oh no, isn't this the Black Sand Storm coming?"

"We're done for; we won't be able to leave for several months."

"What should we do?"

"Just go into the city; the imperial city has a protective formation, so withstanding the Black Sand Storm is no problem."

In an instant, the cultivators entering the city quickened their pace, and Yan Buji also noticed that the Lianqi Phase cultivators at the mining pit were swiftly retreating back into Frontier Blade City.

Whooo—!

Gusts of fierce wind blew, carrying sand and dust that forced people to pinch their noses, making breathing difficult.

Yan Buji pinched his chin and nodded: "It's only a few months; I can wait."

The Black Sand Storm, likewise one of the West Sand River Basin's natural disasters, is similar to the Essence‑Swallowing Quicksand Sea; it is also a disaster where being swept in without some means makes survival very difficult.

The biggest difference between the Black Sand Storm and ordinary sandstorms seen usually is that once the Black Sand Storm appears, it will definitely whip up fierce winds for a long period afterward; the closer one is to the storm's center, the greater the wind's might, so much so that even a Nascent Soul Cultivator would find it hard to survive at the storm's core.

Moreover, the Black Sand Storm covers a large area; once it occurs, it will slowly drift in a certain direction, but as long as one's luck isn't too bad, it's generally impossible to fall into its center.

As the natural disaster descended, Yan Buji was forced to stay in Frontier Blade Imperial City for shelter; although the Black Sand Storm at this time isn't inescapable, there's also no need to risk his life by running.

"Good, let's first take this period to disassemble the Fissure Authority Rod, then we'll talk."

Yan Buji thought.

As one of the components of cultivators' combat power nowadays, the best aspect of the Accumulation Device is that if you are familiar with its structure, you can reforge and disassemble it according to your own ideas.

Although most cultivators' insights into artifact refining are not that great, from Yan Buji one can see that the higher a cultivator's cultivation, the more skilled and formidable they become in artifact refining even without systematic study.

Thus, the strength of artifact refining is linked to how often cultivators normally use Accumulation Devices.

As for Yan Buji's artifact refining, it isn't very strong; he can only improve the Accumulation Device's turnover by raising the quality of spiritual materials, but disassembling and reforging is not really a difficult task.

After a few days.

After Yan Buji disassembled the Fissure Authority Rod, he regained the Fissure Void Stone.

But if he later wants to upgrade the Fissure Authority Rod, what should he do?

This is also the problem that has long troubled Yan Buji: the Fissure Void Stone in the Youming Jie is something that ghosts see and fear; he has also heard that it is because the Fissure Void Stone was over‑mined by ancient warriors that led to the splitting of the Youming Jie. Although he doesn't know whether that saying is true, possessing the Fissure Void Stone in the Youming Jie will definitely draw hostility.

Therefore, Yan Buji cannot possibly go to the Youming Jie to inquire about the whereabouts of this thing.

"Surely he doesn't have to go back to the Nan Ting Mountain Region to look for the cave master who originally gave him the Fissure Void Stone, does he?"

Speaking of which, the cave master might know what this thing is used for, but chose not to take it and instead hid it in his own cave; could it be because this Fissure Void Stone holds some secret?

Yan Buji is somewhat curious, after all, if that cave master does not go to the Youming Jie, this thing in the Five Regions is not some flood‑beast; therefore it must be that the Fissure Void Stone has some secret, which is why he dares not lightly carry it on his person.

Upon thinking this way, Yan Buji also feels a bit strange.

He has possessed this Fissure Void Stone for over three hundred years, and nothing has happened to it.