Just thinking about it—that this giant serpent is a genuine demon immortal—is enough to make people lose their minds in envy.
Just as Xiao Wenbing was observing the giant snake, a person suddenly approached him and asked softly, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, would you like the Ice Sealing Technique lifted?"
Nodding slightly, Xiao Wenbing said, "Thank you for your trouble, Immortal Master."
"I wouldn't dare. My name is Yi Da. Fellow Daoist Xiao, please just call me by my name."
"Okay." Xiao Wenbing smiled slightly and did not refuse.
This man was one of the other two Flame Realm Immortals, who brought Xiao Wenbing here. He was extremely respectful throughout the journey, and judging from his attitude alone, Xiao Wenbing knew that Quini had already revealed his agreement with them. Otherwise, given his status as an immortal, he would never have been so deferential.
A mist suddenly rose from the giant snake's body, gradually spreading outwards. Moments later, under the sunlight, it appeared even more breathtaking. Xiao Wenbing was amazed. Although he had been watching intently, he still couldn't figure out what technique Yi Da had used. It seemed that none of these immortals were merely empty names.
However, this is also why Xiao Wenbing hasn't used his divine spark. If he had used it, it wouldn't have been possible to hide it from anyone. But since there's no battle going on right now, and he's not in any dangerous situation, he naturally can't maintain his divine spark state at all times.
"So beautiful..."
An excited voice came from behind Xiao Wenbing.
Xiao Wenbing was startled and turned around to see Diexian clapping her little hands and chirping happily. He looked back at the misty sky, which, under the sunlight, had a mysterious, hazy quality. Hmm, it was rather beautiful.
After lingering outside the temple for several days, Butterfly Fairy finally couldn't resist any longer. Ignoring Feng Hua's attempts to dissuade her, she insisted on going to Xiao Wenbing's side. And Xiao Wenbing, knowing there was no danger, naturally didn't try to stop her. Thus, Xiao Wenbing gained another little follower.
Before long, the mist dissipated, and the giant snake was finally fully exposed before them.
It wasn't noticeable through the thin layer of ice, but once the ice melted, this enormous monster brought an extremely heavy sense of pressure.
Although they knew the giant snake was dead, its enormous size still inspired awe. Just like the Butterfly Fairy, who had already hidden behind Xiao Wenbing, grabbing his arm and only peeking out with her tiny head, occasionally stealing a glance.
Although Xiao Wenbing was secretly shocked, he hadn't expected that this giant snake would still possess such power even after its death. However, he wasn't as weak as Die Xian. After glancing at it twice, he said, "Yi Da, if you have other things to do, go ahead and take care of them. You don't need to stay with me."
Yi Da bowed and said, "Yes." Then, with a swift movement, he had already left the inner mountain gate. He naturally knew that Xiao Wenbing's words were just an excuse, and he really didn't want to see his former companions being refined before his eyes, so he took this opportunity to leave.
Xiao Wenbing patted Butterfly Fairy's little hand and said, "Butterfly Fairy, don't be afraid, I'm here."
The butterfly fairy obediently responded, but still dared not come out. Indeed, although Xiao Wenbing's stature was barely considered tall and strong among humans...
However, compared to the giant serpent before him, it was nothing. Therefore, his words of comfort were not very convincing.
Shaking his head helplessly, Xiao Wenbing reached out and took out a small bronze mirror from the Heavenly Void Ring, saying, "Mirror God, there's no one here, you can come out now."
A fleeting halo of light appeared, and the Mirror God materialized, first asking, "Have you confessed everything?"
“That’s right, I’ve already given the orders. No one is allowed to come in and disturb me before I’ve finished creating my avatar.” He smiled slightly and said, “I said I wanted to use the power of this giant serpent to go to the underworld. This is related to whether the passage can be successfully built. Quini and the others definitely don’t have the guts to come in and disturb us.”
“Hmm, that’s right, but…” Mirror God pointed at Butterfly Fairy and said, “Why did you bring this little guy in here too?”
"She wanted to broaden her horizons, so I brought her along."
The Mirror God snorted inwardly. Having known Xiao Wenbing for so long, it had learned a little about the principle of attraction between opposite sexes, so it stopped paying attention to him. In any case, the Butterfly Fairy was the only demon besides Xiao Wenbing who knew of its existence, so there was no need to avoid suspicion.
"Alright, where are the materials? Are they all ready?"
Xiao Wenbing shook his head and said, "The Flame Realm is extremely poor, so don't expect to squeeze any profit out of them. All the materials are in the Heavenly Void Ring. If you see anything you like, just take it."
"Hmph, I'm always the one helping you." Mirror God muttered to himself as he searched for materials in his Heavenly Void Ring. Fortunately, before coming here, HP and the others had not only given him a lot of spirit stones, but also stuffed him with a lot of miscellaneous raw materials, so after going around, there was quite a lot of stuff on the ground.
Having taken out the Earth Vein Jade Cauldron, the Mirror God said, "Throw away the Earth Vein Fire."
"What?"
"Now that we have the Fire Spirit Immortal's immortal fire, what do we need that thing for? Just throw it into your fire-type fortress."
Xiao Wenbing thought it made sense, so he summoned the fire-type fortress, took out the earth vein fire source, and threw it over. Instantly, the fire-type fortress emitted a red light, the surrounding air suddenly rose much higher, and even the grass on the ground showed signs of scorching.
The butterfly fairy flashed away and quickly dodged to a safe distance.
After a moment, the red light on the fire fortress completely dissipated, and the surrounding temperature gradually returned to normal. Seeing that there was no danger, Butterfly Fairy hopped back to Xiao Wenbing's side.
Xiao Wenbing chuckled, affectionately patted her little head, and said, "Butterfly Fairy, why don't you leave for a bit?"
"Why?"
"The Mirror God is about to take out the Immortal Fire, which is much hotter than the Earth Vein Fire."
"Ah..." Butterfly Fairy was shocked and immediately jumped up, hiding far away.
Xiao Wenbing took out the Spirit Gathering Platform and was about to open it when he heard the Mirror God say, "Wait a moment, first refine this Earth Vein Cauldron, otherwise it won't be able to withstand the temperature of the Immortal Fire."
“That’s right.” Xiao Wenbing recalled how pathetic he was when he was running around from Quini’s hands. “This immortal fire is really strange. It can even burn your energy avatar.”
The Mirror God paused abruptly, sighing, "This is the immortal fire of the Fire Spirit Immortal! That guy's cultivation is too high, he's already close to the realm of a true god, so my energy is naturally nothing."
"Fortunately, we still have the Qiankun Ring to counteract it," Xiao Wenbing said with lingering fear.
The Mirror God nodded slightly and sent the Earth Vein Jade Cauldron into the Spirit Gathering Platform.
Finding this amusing, Xiao Wenbing asked, "Could the Spirit Gathering Platform also be used as a furnace?"
"It can be used temporarily, but the Spirit Gathering Platform is just an energy converter. If it is used as a furnace, the energy will be wasted too much."
As the Mirror God spoke, his movements were anything but slow. He quickly retrieved the newly refined Earth Vein Cauldron from the Spirit Gathering Platform. Compared to before, the cauldron's design hadn't changed much; in fact, it appeared even more ancient.
However, Xiao Wenbing knew that the performance of this cauldron was vastly different from the previous one. Sure enough, when the Mirror God took half of the immortal fire from the Spirit Gathering Platform and put it into the cauldron, it only heated up slightly before showing no further signs of activity.
"Alas...what a pity." The Mirror God looked at the giant serpent before him and let out a helpless sigh.
"What's wrong?"
"This giant snake is half-water-based, which is extremely rare. Only if one has a water spirit or Nether Water can refine it to achieve the best effect."
Xiao Wenbing laughed and said, "Don't even think about it. You can't find the Water Spirit. As for the Nether Water, the Food King certainly has it, but I don't have it here. I'll just ask him for some when I get back."
"There's no other way." The Mirror God sighed again. However, just as it was about to officially begin its work, it suddenly heard the Butterfly Fairy ask in a charming voice, "Master, is this the Nether Water you wanted?"
Volume Four: The Divine Artifacts Chapter 330: Netherwater
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Overjoyed, Xiao Wenbing took the small jade bottle from Butterfly Fairy's hand. He asked, "How did Butterfly Fairy get this on you?"
He was quite familiar with this jade bottle; it was the vessel that the old fellow had taken out to hold the Netherwater when he was fighting the King of Food in Wanbaotang.
"It was given to me by Senior Food King." Butterfly Fairy smiled sweetly. Seeing her master so happy, she was also deeply infected and became excited.
Xiao Wenbing's expression changed slightly. He really didn't know whether to scold the Food King or be grateful to him. To give away this precious treasure, which he regarded as his life, showed how much the old man loved Little Butterfly Fairy. However, hadn't the Food King considered that although Butterfly Fairy appeared to be an adult, her mind was not yet mature?
According to the old Taoist priest, this is simply the Butterfly Fairy's consistent nature; before she reaches the Nascent Soul stage, there's no way to expect her to become understanding. Therefore, giving her something like the Nether Water is tantamount to giving her a grenade that could explode at any moment.
This is... the King of Food...
Xiao Wenbing gently uncorked the bottle and sighed deeply. Indeed, it contained the water of the underworld.
He glanced at Butterfly Fairy, and just thinking that this thing had been taken from her delicate white hand filled him with lingering fear.
"Master, is this it?" Butterfly Fairy hopped over and stretched her swan-like white neck to peer into the bottle.
Xiao Wenbing was shocked and quickly moved away, saying, "Butterfly Fairy, be careful. This is not something to joke about."
"Mmm." Butterfly Fairy immediately shrank back obediently, nodding with a smile. Her master's words were, of course, correct.
"Is it Netherwater? Haha, this is truly heaven's help!" The Mirror God laughed as he stepped forward, took the jade bottle, shook it twice, and said, "Unfortunately, there's too little of it."
Xiao Wenbing's expression changed, and he pulled Die Xian away. If anyone else had obtained the Netherwater, they would have been extremely cautious, fearing that a moment of carelessness would lead to endless trouble. But the Mirror God was an energy being, and no matter how powerful the Netherwater was, it couldn't harm an energy being, which was why he could be so reckless. However, the Mirror God forgot that he and Die Xian were still nearby; if they accidentally got even a little bit on themselves, the trouble would be immense.
"Mirror God, can't you be a little more careful?" Xiao Wenbing said with dissatisfaction.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Mirror God said with a look of disdain, "You're such a coward."
He shook his head slightly; there really was no way to explain it to the spirit of a divine artifact.
The Mirror God looked at the small bottle of Nether Water in his hand with great joy, and suddenly said to Xiao Wenbing with deep emotion, "What a pity, your cultivation level is too low."
Xiao Wenbing was taken aback, his brow furrowing. The power of the Netherwater was extraordinary. Even ordinary immortals would likely find it difficult to withstand, so naturally he had to be somewhat fearful.
Unexpectedly, the Mirror God shook his head and said, "Wenbing, you must work hard to cultivate."
With a calm smile, Xiao Wenbing said, "The path of cultivation emphasizes gradual progress. Moreover, even if I were to reach the Tribulation Transcending stage in one go, I would still have to give way to this bottle of Nether Water."
"Hmm? Nonsense, even Quini wouldn't dare approach this bottle of Netherwater, so of course you can't." Mirror God snorted and said, "I mean, if you can cultivate to the Tribulation Transcending stage, then the earth elemental power within your body will be enough to support you in creating Netherwater and Immortal Fire out of thin air."
"Ah, is it time to undergo the tribulation period?"
"Yes, these kinds of rare and precious objects may seem unremarkable, but the energy they contain is extremely powerful. It is far beyond the ordinary. If your cultivation level is not yet at the Tribulation Transcending stage, don't expect to create one out of thin air."
Xiao Wenbing nodded slightly, then suddenly asked, "Is this enough Nether Water?"
"Far from enough."
"So, would you like to use the Spirit Gathering Platform to cultivate more Nether Water?"
"Exactly, and we also need two more containers."
“Indeed, water and fire are merciless.” Xiao Wenbing knew that ordinary containers could not hold immortal fire and underworld water, and that to collect large quantities of water and fire, an extremely large container was naturally required.
After retrieving the jade bottle, Xiao Wenbing said, "I don't know what this jade bottle is made of, but it's not afraid of the corrosive effects of the Netherwater. It's really amazing. Why don't I make a few more like this?"
The Mirror God immediately shook his head and said, "Forget it, even hundreds of such small jade bottles wouldn't be enough for this giant snake."
"Then what should we do?"
"Go find the spirits of earth and wood, peel off a layer of their skin, that should be enough."
Xiao Wenbing gave it a strange look and said, "Good idea."
After stuffing the small bronze mirror and the Nether Water into the Heavenly Void Ring, Xiao Wenbing left the Inner Mountain Gate with Die Xian.
As soon as he stepped out of the mountain gate, he saw Queenie and asked in surprise, "Queenie, what are you doing here?"
"Fellow Daoist Xiao's creation of this external avatar is for the future of our Flame Realm. It is of great importance and cannot be disturbed. Therefore, we have decided to take turns guarding this place and not allow outsiders to enter."
"Ah, thank you so much." Xiao Wenbing was overjoyed. With these immortals personally guarding the mountain gate, he, no, the Mirror God, could finally show off his skills with peace of mind.
Quini glanced slightly towards the inner mountain gate, then asked hesitantly, "How is Fellow Daoist Xiao's refining going?"
Bing gave a perfunctory reply, told them not to let anyone in, and then hurriedly left.
Before leaving, he secretly observed that Quinni's eyes showed no unusual expression. It seemed that they were indeed following custom in giving him the corpse.
The saying "respect for the dead" truly doesn't apply in the Flame Realm. He shook his head slightly; perhaps he genuinely resented such things, so he felt uncomfortable no matter what.