Chapter 307: The Magical Effect of Air-frozen Bead and the Forming of Faux Air-frozen Bead
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Is it already done?!” Looking at the palisades, at the bottom of the mine hole, smoother than gla.s.s and the complicated Formational Incantation scripted on it, Zhou Bao’s eyes gazed with greed. “When can we enter the Azure Secret Area?!”
“Yes, it’s done, but you can’t enter yet. In a year, there are ten months for the Azure Secret Area to be filled with endless Essential Qi Tide. He whose cultivation has reached the Mysterious Realm will end up in a pile of dust by the furious Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth. You have to wait for another three months at least, before you enter.”
“Three months? That’s too long!” Suddenly, Zhou Bao’s face looked bitter. After the days of closed-door training, he figured out the location of the seven acupoints of the Real Dragon’s Nine Acupoints, which he could continue to condense as long as he wanted . However, the condensation demanded a vast amount of the essence, which is impossible to get in this time and this world. He could not open three acupoints even if he managed to gather all the essence of the world for a thousand miles around. That was only the Real Dragon’s Nine Acupoints; Zhou Bao secretly wanted to open the Primordial Loach Monster’s acupoints. It was a fierce beast in primitive times. Condensing its acupoints would definitely demand more essence of the world than that of the Real Dragon’s Nine Acupoints. Then he had to think about the Azure Secret Area. Who would have thought that he could not still enter the entrance of the pa.s.sageway although it was ready? That was really a pain in his a.s.s.
“Boy, you’d better hurry up and get in! Your Internal Qi has cultivated a breakthrough point and you might reach Level Eight and condense the Real Essence Source at any time. If you still can’t condense and open the acupoints, you’ll get yourself into serious trouble!” The Green Spirit’s voice suddenly appeared in his head.
“I know, I can feel it!” said Zhou Bao, grumpily, “But now is not the right time. There is Essential Qi Tide in the Azure Secret Area. Do you know about that?”
Essential Qi Tide!!
That was not the first time Zhou Bao heard about it, but he didn’t actually knew what it meant. Literally, it was something like a storm caused by a whole tangle of too much Essential Qi.
But it was beyond Zhou Bao’s knowledge to truly understand it.
“But you can’t avoid it, kiddo. It may seem troublesome, but there’s still a way to solve it. Don’t forget your Air-frozen Bead!”
“That bead?” Zhou Bao’s eyes brightened, but he just started shouting the next minute. “Air-frozen Bead? I don’t have a f*cking Air-frozen Bead! I just have some of the ingredients, but not full!”
“But you already have a Wind Bead. Being the main body, and the ingredients you own, you could forge a celestial device of the Mysterious Level. Although it’s not as powerful as the Air-frozen Bead, and it couldn’t function as a Pure Yang Celestial Device, it will help you to deal with the Essential Qi Tide.”
“Seriously?!”
“Of course, you can’t count on it to clear away the Essential Qi Tide in the Azure Secret Area. But all it can do is to protect you from the Essential Qi Tide. Besides, you must find a spot with steady Essential Qi as soon as you set foot in the Azure Secret Area. But don’t worry about that right now, I’ll talk you through the details after you get in there,” said the Green Spirit. He continued to say after a short pause, “As a matter of fact, this is the best option for you. If you wait and enter the Azure Secret Area until the Essential Qi Tide is faded, others who are able to enter will definitely do the same. On the other hand, you will certainly make a lot of noise when refining your acupoints at the Azure Secret Area and draw their attention. That might blow your cover and get yourself into real danger!”
Zhou Bao nodded. “Okay, then, I’ll go and refine the Air-frozen Bead. d.a.m.n it! When refining the celestial device, I can’t make it without the Internal Qi, Divine Awareness, and the essence and blood. Please don’t have another breakthrough on me when I’m doing it!” He cursed in a low voice, said h.e.l.lo to Sun Rat of Emptiness and Golden Rooster, turned around and left.
“Alas, the Youngers! No patience at all! They can’t even wait for a couple of months!” Seeing Zhou Bao left with a worried face, Sun Rat of Emptiness smiled and said to Golden Rooster.
“I guess he has something difficult to disclose,” Golden Rooster said with his head shaking. “Haven’t you smell any strange on him lately, Rat? His Internal Qi is incredibly strong. More like he’s already reached Level Nine, if you ask me. The reason why he can’t possess the Real Essence Energy at the moment is that he has yet to break through Level Eight and condense the Real Essence Source. But I suppose he’ll break through the Level Eight Realm in no time!”
“Level Eight? How could it be easy to break through?” Sun Rat of Emptiness said, showing a little disagree with his friend. “Condensing the Real Essence Source is not an easy job. His body is strong as Level Eight or even Level Nine expert. However, to condense the Real Essence Source, one will need the Apprehension and repeatedly purify his Internal Qi. Only in this way, one will have the chance to get some insights. That guy is too young to understand all of that!”
“Maybe you’re right. But I still have a feeling that he can do it,” Golden Rooster said vaguely, looking at Zhou Bao’s shadow. “He’s less than 20 years old, remember? If he really succeeds, oh G.o.d, I guess Elder Qing will have to rearrange for him.”
“I don’t think so. Elder Qing won’t make any change even if he succeeds. Things don’t work as it did thousands of years ago. The principle of the Immortal Palace is to live in peace and stay out of trouble. We are expected to mind our own businesses. Elder Qing cares of our cultivation!” Sun Rat of Emptiness said, “You, of course. You’re up to something, aren’t you?” He laughed.
“It’s none of your business!” Golden Rooster sneered and turned his head around. “Just do your job. The gateway will come useful after six months, so you’d better keep your eyes on it. Elder Qing would you if anything went south!”
“As if I should care! I’m merely a man doing my job.” Sun Rat of Emptiness sneered, too. “I don’t own this Azure Secret Area. I’m just building a gateway. How could anyone possibly blame me for anything?”
Again, Golden Rooster laughed grimly and stopped talking.
Sun Rat of Emptiness was seemingly angry; turned his head and stared at the gla.s.s-like palisades, closing his ears to Golden Rooster.
…
…
“Green Spirit, are you sure that the thing I’ve practiced will work in the Essential Qi Tide?” Zhou Bao asked.
“Sure, boy! Believe me!” Green Spirit shouted.
“You seem interested in getting into the Azure Secret Area, especially when it is connected to the Essential Qi Tide!” Zhou Bao thought and said.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…”
Green Spirit laughed in a strange way and said, “Not bad, huh? Clever boy. I am interested in it. It’s lethal to you, but good to me. Don’t you really know what it is, do you? The Essential Qi Tide is composed by strong Essential Qis of different properties between the earth and sky. If Essential Qis imbalanced, so conflicts and impact with each other occur to a point that they’ll form the Essential Qi Tide to sweep over the entire universe. The Essential Qi Tide is precious regardless of being difficult to be dealt with. During such period, the conflict and impact of various Essential Qi will lead to the formation of many Essential Qis but of new property. Meanwhile, it will bring all the Essential Qi in the world together. The Earth Fire Yuan Essence, for instance, is buried deep down under the rock flows of the earth’s core, which makes it untouchable in normal circ.u.mstances and abnormally precious. When the Essential Qi Tide occurs, it will come to the surface all the way from the deep core. Such things are what the Azure Secret Area can offer, many of which are beneficial to my recovery and helpful to you as well. You can only see them during the Essential Qi Tide period, which means it’s impossible to be found in normal days even if you manage to get into the Azure Secret Area and know where it is!”
“You mean it’s a good thing to have the Essential Qi Tide?!”
“Heh, heh. In fact, the Essential Qi Tide exists anytime and anywhere. In this world, even in the primitive times, this phenomenon occurs frequently. It’s also likely to happen nowadays. It has not been a long time since the Azure Secret Area only taken shape, which explains why the high frequency of such phenomenon. What’s more, the essence of the world will become more and more steady with every burst of the Essential Qi Tide. Given enough time, the frequency will reduce and eventually form into a steady world, just like the world we are in right now!”
“How long does it take?!”
“Oh, very long! Just as I told you, the Essential Qi Tide occurred in the primitive times. Not every year though, but every thousands of years. As for the Azure Secret Area, the time of the Essential Qi Tide maybe reduce after ten thousand years, and maybe there will be three to four months quiet period in a year.”
“I’ll enjoy the benefits in the Azure Secret Area if I practice the Air-frozen Bead successfully, right?”
“Absolutely! That’s why you should start finding the ingredients right away. Oh, and don’t forget to search carefully when you get into the Azure Secret Area.” Green Spirit laughed and said, “Ten months of Essential Qi Tide period within a year. Aren’t you the luckiest of them all?!”
Green Spirit’s words made Zhou Bao’s mouthwatering. He could not wait to get deep down into the mine vein, laid the Yin and Yang Dust Formation, took the Wind Bead and other materials out from his s.p.a.ce of the segmentation of two worlds, and started to condense the Faux Air-frozen Bead in the way that the Air-frozen Bead had been practiced.
The pure-cyan Wind Bead, glowing in a weak mysterious light, was extracted entirely from the Wind Essence. It was hard to ignore the wisps of wind coming out of the bead when he held it in his hands.
It was the purest form of the wind spirit. Zhou Bao could tell by his experience in practicing the Dragon Flying Technique. He was unable to start condensing the Air-frozen Bead when he first obtained the Wind Bead, for lack of materials. This was the first time that he had taken it out after a long time.
“What a pity! If I took the Wind Bead earlier and apprehended it constantly, my Dragon Flying Technique would have been at the Advanced Level by now. d.a.m.n it! I always had some obstacles when practicing the Dragon Flying Technique, but the moment I took the Wind Bead out and felt the intelligence of the wind in it, it was gone. Is it luck or bad luck?” Zhou Bao thought to himself. He wielded the Wind Bead, raised his hand and threw a dozen of odd materials into the air, circling the Wind Bead.
As soon as Zhou Bao slightly opened his mouth, a Tusita Fire came out of his mouth and instantly wrapped the Wind Bead and all other materials. He wielded the characteristics of the Purple Bright Heavenly Fire in the Tusita Fire with ease and perfect skill, a gust of purple came out of the fire, which immediately melted all the other materials except the Wind Bead. And then, the color of the fire changed. All at once, there was no trace of purple, while part of the flame became freezing cold instead.
Between cold and hot, it can be said that it is a heavy fire.
The surrounding s.p.a.ce was cracked by the flame, creating strips of black filaments in the air floating like a cobweb.
That was the Archaic Yin Flame!
It was the coldest Yin flame in the world; but it did not last long as it was created by the Tusita Fire, a temporary side effect like the Purple Bright Heavenly Fire. At the same time, the cracked s.p.a.ce automatically repaired itself with the cobweb-like cracks. And the materials vanished as well while the Wind Bead showed another state.
The Wind Bead was a solid bead extracted from the Wind Essence. But at that moment, it looked like a water ball, glittering with ripples.
Zhou Bao was patiently and quietly observing the transformed bead, as if he managed to see through every structure and every ripple on it.
He did not know how long it had been. But the Wind Bead restored to its peaceful state at last. Zhou Bao made his next move when there were no ripples on the surface.
“Puff…” Zhou Bao cruelly bit his tongue tip and spat blood to the Wind Bead.
With blood on the surface, the Wind Bead was dented by the powerful impact force, as if it was made of liquid. Then, the blood permeated into the core of the Wind Bead.
The permeation process was not happening randomly. On the contrary, it followed a fixed pattern. Soon the Wind Bead was glowing with Zhou Bao’s essence with the blood in its core.
Zhou Bao slowly opened his eyes, looking at the bead, he practiced a gesture with his hands and left a mark on the bead vigorously.
One, two, three…
For six hours, the gestures in Zhou Bao’s hands were changing, growing more and more complicated in slower motion, and he was reciting spells at the same time. Little by little, Zhou Bao’s divine thoughts were planted into the Wind Bead with the incantation and gestures.
The glowing blood light in the bead dimmed, gradually concentrated at the core and then spread out again into many sanguine talismans.
The antiquity, simplicity, elegance and dignity released by these talismans were beyond description.
“Ha!”
Zhou Bao shouted after the talismans had totally taken shape. A ray of weak blood light coming between his eyebrows and penetrated right into the bead.
Suddenly, the bead radiated dazzling green light. A great force was released from it and then restrained.
Everything went quiet.
Zhou Bao stopped and waited, looking at the transformation of the talismans inside the beam. A long wait came again.
When everything is over, the appearance of the beam changed.
The light-cyan bead floating in front of Zhou Bao was no longer glittering, but sedate and solemn.
The Faux Air-frozen Bead, though made from many materials, was smaller than the original Wind Bead, like a light-cyan round stone but with irregular light blood patterns on the surface.
“Whoosh—!”
Zhou Bao took a long sigh; he was entirely exhausted and became sluggish.
The Faux Air-frozen Bead was only at the Mysterious Level, but it’s refining process was way harder than that of the Golden Flame Mirror. One reason was that he didn’t had the perfect ingredients, and the other reason was that he used the method for refining Pure Yang Celestial Devices to refine the celestial devices of the Mysterious Level. Just like breaking a fly on the wheel, he consumed too much strength and only got half of the results with double effort.
“You are lucky to have the Tusita Fire! Otherwise, it could have been harder!”
That was Green Spirit’s voice.
The Tusita Fire was the flame invented by necromancers of the antiquity times for refining weapons and for the practice of Chinese alchemy. Zhou Bao should attribute 99 percent of his success to the Tusita Fire.
Zhou Bao was pumped out, though. He sat for a long while before he looked up and showed his tired face.
He took a look at the Faux Air-frozen Bead. Then, the Faux Air-frozen Bead became a green light, penetrated between his eyebrows and disappeared with a bright flash in his eyes.
“How long has it been?”
“Half a month!” Green Spirit said coldly. “It’s been half a month.”
“Wow! No wonder I’m starving!” Zhou Bao touched his belly and laughed in embarra.s.sment. “I need a big meal!”
“Get into the Azure Secret Area as soon as you’re finished!” Green Spirit said.
“I know! I know! What’s the hurry!” Zhou Bao waved his hand impatiently and sent Green Spirit back to the green lamp.
…
…
“Finally, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d are here! I’ll look for you myself if you won’t show up!”
The moment he got out from his training, he ran into the Golden Rooster, Zhu Ba, Jiang Xiao and others, whose faces contorted with anger.
Zhou Bao frowned slightly. He could tell there was a problem between the two sides. They all stayed at the yard recently for the job at the Azure Secret Area. Being the headman of honor, Golden Rooster took charge of the construction, while Jiang Xiao was responsible for the logistics and fund. They had to work together but not all the time.
Golden Rooster, the overseer, was appointed by Zhou Bao, so Jiang Xiao knew that Golden Rooster was a n.o.body. Jiang Xiao used to give him whatever he wanted and the two had a pleasant cooperation. But it seemed that the good old days were gone.
Jiang Xiao and Zhu Ba, who were about to complain to Zhou Bao, were astonished by Golden Rooster’s address.
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d?”
All over the northwest, no one had the gut to call him that except w.a.n.g She, Chief of Tian Long Taoism. How could an overseer dare to say that? The next moment, Jiang Xiao and Zhu Ba’s anger turned into fear.
“What’s the fuss about? Huh?” Zhou Bao looked around and didn’t see anyone except Jiang Xiao, Zhu Ba and Golden Rooster. “What the h.e.l.l is going on? It can’t be that they took your wife away from you!”
“Stop trying to be smart!” Golden Rooster shouted, “Guess what, I quit!”
“Have you finished your job? Why do you quit?” Zhou Bao asked. He thought Golden Rooster was here just to build an entrance to the Azure Secret Area. Considering that the job was finished two weeks ago, it did not make any sense that he wanted to quit.
“This…!” A thought occurred to Golden Rooster’s mind, but he looked at the two men behind him and did not say it aloud.
“Enough! Don’t play innocent. I totally trust them with my secrets.” Zhou Bao said and glanced at the two frightened men.
Listening to Zhou Bao’s words, Golden Rooster realized that it was okay to be honest with them now. He drew a scroll out from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Bao.
Zhou Bao felt strange. But he was frozen when he finally opened that scroll.
“What’s this?!”
“It’s a blueprint!”
“I…I know. Of course! But is the Jin Emperor planning to build to the new imperial palace?” Looking at the blueprint, Zhou Bao was still at sea. The building in this blueprint was so granted. Take the Royal Capital of the West Capital as a reference, it just accounted for a quarter of the total area at most of it.
“No, it’s exactly your yard!!”
“Mine?!” Zhou Bao shouted and almost fell to the ground. He looked at Jiang Xiao and Zhu Ba, and the Golden Rooster.
“You sure? I mean, I just wanted a yard. Just made a courtyard. I didn’t ask for an imperial palace!”
“Not imperial palace, it’s a partial blueprint of the Divine Wind Palace!”
Speaking of that, even Golden Rooster felt embarra.s.sed and his face turned blank.