Chapter 108: The Mystical Crystal

The vast icy plain shimmered with colorful lights stretching endlessly into the horizon.

Xu Chen surveyed the entire expanse; not a wisp of smoke or sign of life disturbed the hundred-mile radius.

At this moment, Zong Changshou approached the foot of a towering glacier and tapped on the massive ice formation.

“Junior brother, Xiao Fuzi, this place is quite suitable to store some supplies—a hidden treasure trove,” he said.

“After all, we’ll be returning sooner or later.”

Zong Changshou gathered his inner strength and struck the glacier with a powerful blow, chipping off only a small piece of the frigid ice.

“A fine spot,” Xu Chen’s eyes gleamed with approval.

Given the glacier’s hardness just now, with his current strength, carving out a cave at its base would be effortless.

Xu Chen gently pressed his palm against the glacier and then pulled out a colossal ice block, ten zhang square in size.

Observing the perfectly smooth cut, Zong Changshou glanced back at the small chip he had broken off and began to doubt himself.

According to their initial plan, inside the glacier they needed to find three secure spots to stash supplies as contingencies, in case they encountered overwhelming enemies and lost their resources.

The three of them unloaded part of their supplies from the Illusory Dragon Horse and concealed them inside the ice chamber Xu Chen had carved.

They trimmed a portion from the extracted ice block and then returned it to its original place.

The fit was seamless, leaving no visible trace of cutting.

“Bang!”

With a casual palm strike, Xu Chen shattered the small ice chip into powder that drifted away on the wind.

“Which way now?”

Having finished, Xu Chen turned to the ever-silent Li Chengfu beside them.

“Wait a moment; I haven’t chosen yet,” Li Chengfu replied.

He sat cross-legged on the ice, eyes closed as if deeply attuned to something.

Xu Chen and Li Chengfu took their time, sitting on the ice and chatting.

After two full hours, Li Chengfu stood and pointed toward a smaller glacier in the distance.

“Slightly unfavorable, slightly favorable,” he said confidently.

“Then let’s move!”

The three, fully armed, walked across the boundless ice field, the Illusory Dragon Horse trailing behind.

At this moment, the Illusory Dragon Horse seemed to blend seamlessly with the ice plain; even the supplies strapped to its sides were camouflaged in matching hues, making it almost invisible unless observed up close.

Xu Chen, walking at the front, couldn’t help but glance back at the Dragon Horse.

“With my current eyesight, beyond three hundred zhang, I simply can’t detect it.”

“Heh, the moment I heard a whisper of its existence, I bought this Illusory Dragon Horse, spending most of my fortune,” Li Chengfu said proudly.

“By the time we were about to enter the Ancient Wilderness Battlefield, the price of Illusory Dragon Horses had soared a hundredfold.”

“You probably didn’t buy just one,” Xu Chen casually remarked.

“There are only four juvenile Illusory Dragon Horses in the Qi-Blood realm on the market. I made a killing.”

As the three chatted and walked, Xu Chen suddenly looked to the distant sky.

He spotted a small black dot tens of miles away.

“Not sure if it’s a beast or an alien,” Xu Chen said, drawing his Celestial Blue Bow from his back.

“Junior brother, should we switch to the Breaking Mountain Bow?” Li Chengfu asked nervously. In the illusion realm, death was reversible; now, though revival was possible, the cost was steep. He wanted Xu Chen, the primary fighter, to wield the best weapon.

“No need. Judging by its speed, it’s not too strong.”

Xu Chen gripped the Celestial Blue Bow, leading the two and their horse onward.

As the black dot approached, Xu Chen suddenly drew the bow to full moon draw and released a silent Breaking Wind Arrow.

The arrow flew without a sound; the distant target, a small black dot, noticed only when the arrow was halfway there. It flapped its wings, changing direction in an attempt to evade.

But Xu Chen had already predicted all its paths.

The Breaking Wind Arrow struck the black dot’s wing, immediately locking it down with a strange force.

The black dot spiraled from the sky. Zong Changshou dashed eagerly toward the direction.

Within the group, he handled intelligence, scouting, treasure hunting, map drawing, and interrogation.

Li Chengfu watched Zong Changshou racing off and Xu Chen sheathing his bow, a strange sense of familiarity washing over him.

The two men and the horse walked normally across the ice plain, while Zong Changshou dragged a black-winged alien behind them.

“Not bad, a Blackwing from the Holy Spirit Celestial Court. Their race ranks slightly above average; we should gather plenty of intelligence,” he said.

The Blackwing alien, limbs and wings broken, stared fearfully at the trio.

“$%&^&**((%))” Zong Changshou spoke to the alien.

The Blackwing’s eyes flashed with shock, then defiance.

“Junior brother, Xiao Fuzi, you continue ahead. I’ll extract some information,” Zong Changshou said, dragging the alien further away.

Xu Chen and Li Chengfu pressed on.

“Having Senior Brother Zong is a relief,” Xu Chen sighed.

“Indeed. When we used to play together, I only had to focus on gathering spirit coins,” Li Chengfu replied casually.

As they talked, a powerful oppressive force suddenly descended from the sky, followed by a terrifying suction.

The colorful light band stretching tens of thousands of miles transformed into a long, dreadful black hole, devouring the land beneath.

Feeling the pull, Xu Chen braced the supplies on the Illusory Dragon Horse with his strength.

“Can you hold it?” Xu Chen looked to Li Chengfu.

Li Chengfu pressed down with his full strength and nodded.

The two and the horse resisted the massive suction, moving forward.

This force lasted over an hour before dissipating; the colorful light band reappeared in the sky, and the icy plain returned to calm.

At that moment, a black shadow sped rapidly toward them.

“I interrogated a bit. Nearly ten million alien Qi-Blood realm beings from the Holy Spirit Celestial Court have entered the Ancient Wilderness Battlefield,” Zong Changshou reported.

“More than expected, but most are cannon fodder. Only about a million elites truly possess strength.”

“The Holy Spirit Celestial Court released over seventy million beasts, mostly for scouting.”

“As for others, the Blackwing has undergone special training; no matter the torture, they reveal nothing.”

“Two bits of intelligence are enough,” he said, returning the Breaking Wind Arrow to Xu Chen.

“That Blackwing had at least five dragon-level Qi-Blood power. One arrow shot from over ten miles, hitting its wing precisely and subduing it with subtle energy.”

“I regret not bringing more Breaking Wind Arrows.”

“Two hundred are enough.”

Xu Chen smiled, placing the arrows back in his quiver.

“I’ll scout ahead and map the terrain; you two proceed as planned.”

With that, Zong Changshou enveloped himself in a layer of cold ice, blending with the ice plain, and vanished from their sight.

Atop a glacier, the two men and the horse scanned the distance.

A figure camouflaged in the environment twisted, revealing Zong Changshou’s full form.

“Fifty miles east, a group of Red Flame Clan. Their path does not intersect ours.”

“No anomalies or treasures found in our route.”

Zong Changshou reported his findings point by point.

“Then let’s continue. I feel different discoveries await in that direction,” Xu Chen said, pointing toward a vague, distinct scene ahead.

“Still slightly unfavorable, slightly favorable,” Li Chengfu assessed.

The three pressed on, Zong Changshou bringing up the rear, drawing a map.

Soon, a highly accurate map appeared before Xu Chen and Li Chengfu.

“Good enough for now.”

Three days later, as if divided by a cosmic boundary, one side was vibrant—sun shining brightly, lush grasslands nearby, forests and mountains faintly visible afar.

The other was an icy wasteland, devoid of life.

The colorful light band, tens of thousands of miles long, ended here, disappearing as if two worlds had been forcibly merged.

“It truly is a world where a great cosmic law is in chaos. Such a spectacle is rare,” Li Chengfu marveled.

“The more dangerous the environment, the greater the rewards.”

The three and their horse crossed the ice plain, entering a world brimming with spring’s vitality.

Sunlight warmed them, unusually pleasant.

Yet the more comforting the surroundings, the more vigilant they became.

Carefully advancing, Xu Chen’s spider-web-like energy expanded to its fullest, and Thousand Illusions Energy scouted the ground beneath.

Still, Xu Chen felt as if he were being watched.

He trusted his energy—and his instincts even more.

He drew the Ink Shadow Blade from his back; seeing this, the others also unsheathed their weapons.

“Roar!!”

A thunderous roar shattered the silence; a five-zhang-long Red Flame Demon Tiger seemed to manifest from thin air, lunging at Xu Chen.

“Watch out!”

Xu Chen slashed fiercely; the blade’s light passed through the fiery tiger like a phantom.

The Red Flame Demon Tiger, like an illusion, sprang onto Xu Chen.

In an instant, Xu Chen was pulled into an unknown space.

The demon tiger struck again.

“Bang!!”

Before it could roar, Xu Chen’s palm crushed the Red Flame Demon Tiger into fragments. His consciousness snapped back.

A peanut-sized crystal hovered mid-air, then dropped to the ground.

“What’s this?”

Xu Chen picked up the small crystal. Upon touching it, a message flashed in his mind.

“This seems to be a divine skill inheritance—Red Flame Spiritual Fire,” Xu Chen said, glancing at Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou.

They stared blankly, eyes vacant.

Had they also been drawn into that world to fight?

Just as Xu Chen pondered how to help them, Li Chengfu awoke as from a nightmare, gasping heavily.

Another small crystal fell to the ground.

Soon after, Zong Changshou also stirred, breathing heavily.

Only a small crystal lay on the ground.

Xu Chen gathered the third crystal; the three crystals attracted each other, merging into a slightly larger one.

Only then did the two regain full awareness.

“That blazing tiger was formidable—at least five dragon-level power. It took all my strength to defeat it,” Li Chengfu admitted, still shaken.

“The fight wasn’t in vain. This is your spoils,” Xu Chen said.

“This should be a law-type crystal, containing a divine skill of Red Flame Spiritual Fire. Absorbing it allows one to learn the skill.”

“Do humans have such things?”

Xu Chen’s eyes sparkled. If not, he knew the three of them would be rich beyond measure.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, but I’ve heard of similar spirit items, each worth a fortune,” Zong Changshou said, his eyes shining as he eyed the crystal.

“How much is it worth in spirit coins?”

Xu Chen casually tossed the crystal to Zong Changshou.

“The value depends on the divine skill. The stronger the skill, the higher the worth.”

Holding the crystal, Zong Changshou received the message in his mind.

“Red Flame Spiritual Fire—a spirit fire divine skill that greatly enhances combat power. I estimate it’s worth at least ten million spirit coins.”

“But this item surely holds research value for the strong and should fetch considerable human contributions.”

Zong Changshou’s tone was excited, like a fisherman who’d just caught a prized catch.

Even if it means staying up late, he had to finish this chapter.

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