Chapter 1264: One Ice Mountain, One Being
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Zhang Ruochen released his Spiritual Power. It extended, forming 36 half-transparent chains on the ice mountain.
Then the mountain slowly moved toward the Dead Soul Ancient s.h.i.+p, approaching it. The closer it got, the clearer the figure inside the mountain.
It was a middle-aged man in his thirties. He wore dark blue-green armor and grasped a sword with beastly patterns. Even though he’d died, his eyes still held terrifying spirit.
“This man must have been very powerful when he was alive,” Huang Yanchen said.
“You can tell?” Ao Xinyan asked.
“His armor is called the Jade Saint Armor,” Huang Yanchen explained calmly. “It is a Thousand-pattern Saint Weapon.”
“The Jade Saint Armor? I heard that only the Jade Martial Saints of Martial Market Bank are qualified to wear it. You need to at least be in the Absolute Land Realm to become a Jade Martial Saint.”
Ao Xinyan was a student of the Eastern Region Saint Academy. She naturally knew what a Jade Martial Saint represented. Each of them had terrifying abilities and strong power. They represented the top combat abilities of the Martial Market Bank.
The ultimate goal of many students of the Saint Academy was to become a Jade Martial Saint and enter the upper level of the Martial Market Bank.
“The value of a Jade Saint Armor is like the Ten Saint Blood Armor. Plus, the Jade Martial Saint must have other treasures too. We hit a goldmine this time!” Blackie laughed with excitement.
The ice mountain got closer and closer. It was only 500 meters from the s.h.i.+p.
Zhang Ruochen pulled his Spiritual Power back. Expression serious, he said, “The Jade Saint Armor cannot be touched.”
“Why?” Blackie didn’t understand.
Huang Yanchen, Qing Mo, and Ao Xinyan were confused as well. Why couldn’t they take such a treasure?
“I can’t explain it. Anyways, something in me says that we cannot take the Jade Saint Armor.” Zhang Ruochen continued, “Also, no matter how cold the water in the Yin Yang Sea is, it won’t turn to ice. The water will only freeze when a being falls into the water, becoming an ice mountain.”
“What you’re saying is that the ice mountain will disappear after we take the Jade Saint Armor?” Ao Xinyan asked. “And without the ice mountain, we’ll be unable to enter the Abandoned Deep Sea?”
Zhang Ruochen furrowed his brows deeply without speaking. He thought of some critical facts, but he couldn’t pinpoint them.
Blackie seemed anxious. “I can just toss the Jade Martial Saint’s body back into the sea after taking the armor. Won’t it form another ice mountain?”
With that, Blackie rushed out and landed on the top of the mountain.
“Blackie, no,” Zhang Ruochen uttered.
Kaboom.
Blackie’s paw fell down, shattering the mountain. Then it grabbed the Jade Martial Saint’s body and flew back onto the s.h.i.+p.
“Heh, Zhang Ruochen, you’re too timid,” Blackie said, chuckling. “Look, there’s no danger at all.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were very fierce. “It wouldn’t be dangerous if it was so obvious to you. Countless creatures have ventured into the Abandoned Deep Sea since ancient times. How many have left alive?”
Since Blackie had already opened up the ice mountain, Zhang Ruochen didn’t feel like wasting more breath. “If you dare to act brashly again, I won’t be so nice.”
The Abandoned Deep Sea was too dangerous. Throughout history, barely anyone could leave alive.
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t alone. There was also Huang Yanchen, Ao Xinyan, and Qing Mo. He had to bring them all out safely. Anyone dying here would make him feel guilty.
Thus, as the team’s leader, Zhang Ruochen had to be careful. He couldn’t make everyone lose their lives just for some small benefits. Any small mistake could be fatal.
Blackie took the Jade Saint Armor off of the Jade Martial Saint. In its hand, the armor quickly shrunk into a Martial Saint Badge the size of one’s palm.
Blackie handed it to Huang Yanchen. “Try talking to him. It’s not like I took the Jade Saint Armor for myself. Not taking a treasure right before your eyes would make anyone impatient.”
Huang Yanchen didn’t refuse it. She took the badge and smiled. “I think Zhang Ruochen is right.”
Blackie was angry. “Why?”
“Any being who dies in the Abandoned Deep Sea will be sealed in an ice mountain,” Huang Yanchen said. “In other words, one ice mountain represents one being. As we go deeper into the sea, we’ll definitely see more and more mountains. Each one has a treasure inside. Will we have to open all of them? As we collect the treasures, danger will get closer and closer to us.”
Blackie didn’t think so. Would they have to pretend they couldn’t see the treasures later? It would feel worse than death.
Plop.
Zhang Ruochen tossed the Jade Martial Saint’s body back into the sea. Crackles sounded immediately. A layer of ice quickly formed over the body’s surface. The ice thickened until it froze into a mountain again.
Next, Blackie, Huang Yanchen, Qing Mo, and Ao Xinyan climbed onto the mountain. Zhang Ruochen used Spiritual Power to control the mountain, turning it into a “s.h.i.+p” that sailed into the Abandoned Deep Sea.
Around 800 miles later, dense white dots appeared on the surface of the sea up above. As they got closer, the group finally saw that each white dot was an ice mountain. There were at least 8,000 mountains before them.
For as far as they could see, peaks overlapped. It was an impressive sight. Even more impressive was that each mountain contained a being. Some were human, some were savage beasts, and others were plants or strange ancient creatures.
One of the mountains sealed a 3,000-meter-tall golden tree, s.h.i.+ning brilliantly. The mountain was extremely majestic. Merely the part over the surface of the water was 7,000 meters tall.
Everyone was stunned by this sight. There were honestly too many sealed beings. Some had been preserved since the far ancient times without decaying. Their appearances had been preserved for millenniums.
“Team Leader was right,” Ao Xinyan said in surprise. “Greedy people will definitely die when they enter the Abandoned Deep Sea. There are too many treasures here. You can’t collect them all.”
Each sealed creature had a piece of treasure. Any cultivator would be tempted if they saw them. But if a cultivator put all their effort into collecting treasures, then it was logical that he would die in the Abandoned Deep Sea.
Everyone understood this logic, but very few could control their greed. Once the door to greed was opened, it could never be closed again.
“Mine, they’re all mine!”
Blackie went crazy with excitement. Its eyes even turned green. It stared at the treasures in the mountain, wanting to rush out and collect them, but Huang Yanchen and Ao Xinyan worked together to stop it.
Other than helping to find Blackie’s physical body, Zhang Ruochen had entered to find the recipe for the Six Saints to the Sky Wine.
According to Blackie, the recipe was on a Saint Beast King of the Dragon Li Cat Race. In other words, he could find the recipe by finding the corpse of that Saint Beast King.
Zhang Ruochen released his Spiritual Power. He scanned that portion of mountains but couldn’t find any trace of that Saint Beast King.
Thus, he steered the ice mountain deeper into the Abandoned Deep Sea.
“The Immortal Vampires are coming!” Huang Yanchen said.
Zhang Ruochen turned and looked back. He saw a b.l.o.o.d.y cloud appear above the sea. It rushed in their direction, quickly arriving within ten miles of them.
Inside the cloud, the various Saints of the Immortal Vampires were also standing on an ice mountain. The Immortal G.o.ddess’ Spiritual Power was much stronger than Zhang Ruochen. She could also steer the mountain much more quickly as well. It wasn’t strange that they could catch up.
The various Immortal Vampire Saints were all excited by the cl.u.s.ter of mountains. Many of them trembled with excitement.
“Congratulations, Your Highnesses. There are large amounts of rare treasures sealed in ice. Each one is invaluable.”
“The heavens have blessed the Immortal Vampires. Our entire force will improve greatly after receiving these treasures.”
…
Nine Blood Saints flew off of the ice mountain and rushed into the cl.u.s.ter. They took out saint weapons to smash the mountains apart and take the treasures inside.
The Immortal G.o.ddess, Crown Prince Qitian, Crown Prince Motian, and three Death Knights remained standing on the ice mountain. They stared at the other mountain with Zhang Ruochen’s group.
Qi Sheng had been defeated by Zhang Ruochen not too long ago. He was indeed a bit humiliated. However, there wasn’t any depressed feeling about him today. He seemed cheerful instead.
Smiling, he said, “Zhang Ruochen, do you have any objections to the Immortal Vampires taking all of these treasures?”
“They don’t belong to me, so why should I object? Take as many as you want.” Zhang Ruochen smiled as well.
Qi Sheng’s heart skipped a beat. He was a bit surprised and also had a bad feeling. With Zhang Ruochen’s domineering personality, how could he not compete with them over these treasures?
Qi Sheng remembered how Zhang Ruochen had fought bloodily no matter the opponent for the World Spirit back in the Blue Dragon Void World.
This wasn’t normal.
Had Zhang Ruochen not come to the Yin Yang Sea for these treasures?
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave now. I won’t disturb you all from collecting the treasures.”
Zhang Ruochen steered his ice mountain, continuing forward.
“You think you can leave just by giving up these treasures? To me, your life and blood are more valuable than all these treasures added together.”
Qi Sheng waved an arm. The three Death Knights behind him instantly turned into streaks of blood-red light. They landed on three ice mountains, surrounding Zhang Ruochen’s group.