"It seems my two spirit magpies were swallowed by this thing." The spirit magpie was a small, scout-like bird bred by Lu Xuan specifically for exploration. It had little combat ability, but was extremely sensitive to hidden restrictions and fluctuations in spiritual energy. It was a special spirit beast used specifically to explore ruins.
"This thing looks quite powerful, let's not waste time. How about we go all out and kill it outright?" Old Demon Han suggested.
Lu Xuan naturally had no objections; the valley behind this thing was a rather valuable place. Inside was a rich vein of Gangyin Sand.
Gangyin Sand is an extremely precious refining material. Although not a primary material, it is one of the few materials that can be added to refining magical artifacts to make them more robust. In terms of effectiveness, it is second only to 'Refining Crystal' as a rare material.
The dozen or so puppets attacked with all their might once again. The giant python sensed the danger, but faced with the combined might of the dozen or so puppets and Lu Xuan and Han Laomo, it was still powerless to fight back. It's worth mentioning that this creature was much more intelligent than expected. It had actually concealed two more heads within its massive body. In its complete form, it was a three-headed giant snake.
Unfortunately, it only had three heads. If it had thirty, perhaps there would have been a chance. Han Laomo's thirty-six Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords transformed into a giant sword in mid-air, directly severing one of its heads. Meanwhile, Lu Xuan's Yin-Yang Twin Lightning reduced most of the giant snake's body to charcoal.
This wasn't the first time Han Laomo had witnessed Lu Xuan's lightning magic. However, the fact that Lu Xuan could unleash such a powerful spell so effortlessly still left him extremely shocked.
After dealing with the three-headed black serpent, what appeared before the two of them was the vein of Gangyin Sand.
"With this, we can raise the strength of our puppets to another level."
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Chapter 536 The Land of Sealed Demons
The Gangyin Sand vein is not an easy spiritual ore to mine. The main reason is that it is extremely hard. Even a small amount of Gangyin Sand in the ore will make it incredibly hard. Special magical artifacts are required for mining it. It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the harvest is extremely small. Generally, it requires the combined strength of a large sect to mine it in large quantities.
However, this was not a problem for Lu Xuan and Han Laomo. One of them had the Gold-Eating Insects, and the other had the Iron Fire Ants. Both were special spirit insects that specifically devoured metal-attribute spiritual materials.
The Great Evolution Divine Lord once taught Old Demon Han a method for mining spiritual materials using Gold-Eating Insects. The Gold-Eating Insects could directly devour the ores and then spit out the罡银砂 (罡银砂, a type of abrasive sand).
Lu Xuan's Ironfire Ants had a similar effect. Furthermore, both types of spirit insects could even purify the Qi Silver Sand within their bodies, making its purity astonishingly high, and the effect was even greater when combined with magical artifacts. The two released the spirit insects, letting them gnaw on the Qi Silver Sand themselves. The two then quickly traversed the valley.
Beyond the valley lay a patch of Arctic Primordial Light. This was a unique celestial phenomenon. This Arctic Primordial Light was virtually immune to any magical artifacts or restrictions. Anyone who entered it was almost certain to die. However, Lu Xuan, who had been prepared, was naturally not afraid of such a thing.
The Arctic Primordial Light is essentially a type of Great Five Elements Divine Light. It belongs to the same series as the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light of the Chaotic Star Sea. Both are products of mutation resulting from the aggregation of the Five Elements. This is why ordinary magical artifacts cannot resist it. Because unless deliberately prepared, almost all magical artifacts cannot escape the Five Elements attributes. Therefore, ordinary magical artifacts are basically useless here. However, if properly countered, this thing isn't a big deal.
After tossing Han Laomo a ring, the two activated it. Using the Five Elements Divine Light to protect themselves, they easily passed through the area covered by the Arctic Primal Light. Their destination was just ahead: the inner valley of Fallen Demon Valley.
The Inner Valley refers to the battlefield of that ancient war. The entire Inner Valley was utterly torn apart by the immense power of that ancient era. Countless spatial rifts float in the air. Many of these rifts even move around freely. There are also many deeply hidden, almost invisible spatial rifts.
"This is it. Not far ahead, there's a cave. It's probably been taken over by a fire toad beast. Deep inside that cave, there's the remains of an ancient cultivator. That's our target."
Of course, this goal is only a small one. The main reason is that the ancient cultivator possesses something Lu Xuan desires: the crafting method for the renowned ancient treasure, the Seven Flames Fan.
Lu Xuan was very interested in this extremely offensive magical artifact. However, at this moment, the two of them turned their heads almost simultaneously, because besides them, there were actually two other people who had entered this inner valley.
Lu Xuan scanned the area with his divine sense and discovered that the two newcomers were also Nascent Soul stage cultivators, both at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. One of them was quite famous in Tiannan, known as the Marquis of Nanlong. The other's surname was Lu, but Lu Xuan hadn't greeted him before and didn't know his full name.
The two exchanged a glance, and then their figures vanished simultaneously.
At this moment, Marquis Nanlong and the cultivator surnamed Lu also arrived. The two seemed to have a pre-existing goal, quickly flying in a certain direction. This wasn't surprising, because Lu Xuan knew about this place because in the original story, Old Demon Han had come here with these two.
"Follow them," Lu Xuan said softly. The two then concealed themselves and quietly followed the two. The two quickly found the ancient cultivator's remains, cleaned them thoroughly, and then did not leave. Instead, they continued exploring in another direction.
"Sect Master, it seems that the two of them are exploring with a specific purpose in mind."
"That's right, the two of them went straight for this body as soon as they arrived. They were clearly prepared. That's not surprising; didn't I know about this body too? What's interesting is that besides this place, they seem to know of other benefits. But this is the Fallen Demon Valley; I'm afraid they might have found something else entirely..."
Lu Xuan didn't continue, but Old Demon Han understood. Fallen Demon Valley was never a treasure trove. It was an ancient battlefield; looting corpses and finding some spoils, or perhaps some spiritual herbs, was normal. But finding some kind of secret realm was rarely a good thing.
The two people ahead turned left and right, eventually arriving at a strange pool. The pool was peculiar because the surrounding terrain was an extremely hot environment of gushing lava. Yet, the pool itself emanated a chilling aura, clearly a place where some kind of spiritual energy had gathered.
The icy pool has the effect of isolating divine sense; even with the powerful divine senses of Lu Xuan and Han Laomo, they cannot penetrate it.
However, Lu Xuan already knew where he was. If he wasn't mistaken, this should be one of the two sealed areas of the Fallen Demon Valley, the place where the ancient demon's soul was sealed.
Ancient demons are different from ordinary demons. The Demon Realm corresponds to the Spirit Realm, so it also has ascended beings and cultivators. Whether they cultivate on their own in the Demon Realm or ascend to it, they can only be called demons. Ancient demons, however, refer to a special kind of demon race from the ancient times of the Demon Realm. They are one of the oldest existing races in the Demon Realm. They are born with the body of a true demon. As long as they have pure true demon energy, they can advance rapidly.
The key point is that ancient demons are almost the nemesis of human cultivators. They are born with the ability to devour the flesh and blood of human cultivators, allowing their nascent souls to recover and their cultivation levels to increase. There are virtually no side effects, as if humans themselves are simply a link in their food chain.
It's important to understand that most demonic cultivation techniques can steal a person's vital energy and even cultivation level. However, the vast majority come at a price. It's common for high-level demons to devour human cultivators, but there are ultimately certain limitations.
To be able to devour human essence as easily as eating and drinking, one must possess a true demonic body. Most demons need to cultivate this body, but ancient demons are born with it.
"This should be the sealed area of the Fallen Demon Valley. These two guys are probably here to search for treasure. If things get out of hand, kill them without hesitation," Lu Xuan whispered to Old Demon Han.
The one sealed inside is the soul of an ancient demon. It's useless to Lu Xuan. What he wants is the body of a true demon. And given the difference between ancient demons and humans, this thing is an absolute enemy of humanity. So Lu Xuan doesn't mind eliminating it while he's at it.
"knew."
Han Laomo responded, a slight chill creeping into his eyes. Although Han Laomo wasn't a good person, he still had his principles and a sense of justice. If possible, he wouldn't mind sacrificing something for the human realm. However, if his own safety was truly at stake, he would immediately transform into Han the Runner.
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Chapter 567 Appearance
Marquis Nanlong and the cultivator surnamed Lu were clearly prepared. They used a magical artifact called the Water-Dividing Flag to enter the pool directly. At the deepest part of the pool, a stone door appeared. The surface of the stone door was carved with a huge, one-horned demon head, which occupied almost half of the surface of the stone door. It was lifelike and ferocious.
"This is......"
"That's right, this is the Gate of Blood Curse. Brother Lu, what are you waiting for? Let's make our move."
"The blood energy on this door seems a bit too demonic. Could there be a problem?" The cultivator surnamed Lu sensed something was amiss. However, Marquis Nanlong didn't seem to care.
"This gate was sealed by an ancient cultivator using his entire life essence. Naturally, it differs from ordinary restrictions, which is quite normal. What, Brother Lu, are you now considering backing out?" Marquis Nanlong said calmly, his gaze shifting.
"Back down? We've already come this far, how could I, Lu, do such a foolish thing? However, just in case, shouldn't we be a little more cautious?" The old man shook his head and said solemnly.