Chapter 820: Gangyin Sand

Volume Six: Heavenly Spirit Treasures

A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality VIP, Volume Six: Heavenly Spirit Treasures

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As Han Li watched, the flying knife struck the stone wall, erupting in a blinding white light.

Sensing something, Lu Weiying's expression shifted slightly. With a wave of his hand, he immediately recalled the flying knife.

Han Li looked closely and saw a faint, inch-deep knife mark where the flying knife had struck. Within the mark, tiny specks of silver light faintly shimmered.

"This is..." The old man's face showed a flicker of surprise. He quickly stepped forward to the knife mark and began to examine it carefully.

"Vajra Silver Sand? This stone wall actually contains raw Vajra Silver Sand?" The old man's voice trembled slightly after only a brief examination.

Upon hearing the words "Vajra Silver Sand," Han Li's expression changed dramatically. He, too, stepped forward and gently touched the knife mark with a finger, carefully identifying it.

Han Li had, of course, heard of Vajra Silver Sand. It was one of the few materials that could be added during artifact refining to make magic treasures more robust. In terms of effectiveness, it was a rare material, second only to Refined Crystal.

This material itself was extremely hard, making it difficult for magic treasures to affect it. It was nearly extinct, whether in the Scattered Star Seas or the Southern Heavenly Cultivation World.

No wonder Lu Weiying's flying knife had almost no effect when it struck.

Han Li solemnly observed the knife mark for a moment, then silently raised his hand. Over a dozen small, gleaming green swords shot out from his sleeve, transforming into streams of green light that flew directly towards various parts of the stone wall.

Southern Marquis and the other person were startled at first, but immediately understood Han Li's intention.

A series of clanging sounds echoed, and over a dozen sword holes, several inches deep, appeared on the stone wall. Each hole also emitted faint silver specks.

"It is indeed Vajra Silver Sand," Han Li said slowly, a hint of surprise on his face. "Moreover, the entire stone wall contains Vajra Silver Sand, but the density isn't uniform. It seems this isn't man-made but rather a natural vein of Vajra Silver Sand within the wall."

When Southern Marquis and the other person saw that Han Li's flying swords could pierce the stone wall several times deeper than their flying knife, their expressions subtly changed.

However, upon hearing this, the old man surnamed Lu's eyes widened with greed. He stared fixedly at the stone wall, unable to utter another word.

A flicker of excitement also crossed Southern Marquis's face. But after a brief consideration, his expression gradually returned to normal.

"Let's go. We'll explore for treasures in the inner valley first," Southern Marquis said calmly.

"Leaving already? This Vajra Silver Sand is a rare treasure. Why don't we extract some first?" the old man hesitated, his face full of reluctance.

"Brother Lu, how can you be so confused now!" Southern Marquis frowned, giving the old man a meaningful look. "Haven't you just witnessed how incredibly hard this Vajra Silver Sand is? Don't be fooled by the potential full vein of Vajra Silver Sand ore here; a fist-sized piece of raw ore can only yield a tiny, rice-grain-sized speck of refined Vajra Silver Sand. How much time and spiritual power would you need to cut out enough raw ore? Furthermore, while this material is indeed precious, don't forget that what we lack now aren't these material possessions, but spirit medicines that can extend our lifespan and rapidly raise our cultivation realm. Otherwise, once our time comes, we'll just be a pile of bones."

Lu Weiying was startled by Southern Marquis's words, then nodded repeatedly as if suddenly enlightened.

"Brother Southern Marquis is absolutely right! I was momentarily blinded by treasure and almost forgot the main purpose of this trip. Thank you for the reminder, Brother Southern Marquis." The old man was no ordinary cultivator; he immediately came to his senses after Southern Marquis's reminder. He clasped his hands together in a gesture of gratitude towards Southern Marquis and spoke.

He then stopped looking at the stone wall and quickly walked deeper into the cave, fearing further temptation.

Southern Marquis's expression relaxed. He called out to Han Li and then went inside.

Han Li was also very reluctant to leave behind this entire vein of Vajra Silver Sand, and his steps involuntarily slowed a little.

However, even with his flying swords infused with Geng Gold, making them far sharper than ordinary flying swords, and with spirit liquid to quickly restore his spiritual power, cutting out enough raw Vajra Silver Sand ore would still not be an easy task. It would also very likely provoke the jealousy of Southern Marquis and Lu Weiying.

Realizing it was truly not feasible to act, Han Li could only sigh lightly and, with a heart full of regret, prepared to follow the two into the cave.

But just then, the voice transmission of Grand Exalted Dayan suddenly echoed in Han Li's mind.

"Hehe! To think there's so much Vajra Silver Sand here! I searched for ages back then and never found much. As expected of the Fallen Devil Valley! This is perfect for the puppets I've recently developed. With puppet bodies infused with this Vajra Silver Sand, ordinary treasures won't be able to harm them in the slightest. Take all this Vajra Silver Sand!" Grand Exalted Dayan's voice was filled with excitement.

"Take *all* of it? Old monster, are you still half-asleep? This is a Vajra Silver Sand ore vein, not a spirit stone vein. How am I supposed to take it all? Hack it out piece by piece with my flying swords?" Han Li retorted, exasperated, upon hearing this.

"Hmph! Since I, this sovereign, said so, then of course there's a way!" Grand Exalted Dayan replied, already prepared. "Little Han, don't you have many Gold Devouring Beetles? I'll teach you a spell. You can control the Gold Devouring Beetles to drill into the stone wall, devour the Vajra Silver Sand, and then spit it out to form Vajra Silver Sand crystals. I obtained this method years ago from a slain insect cultivator. Not just Gold Devouring Beetles, but several other types of spirit insects can do this, though none are as convenient as your Gold Devouring Beetles."

"There's such an incantation? Good, transmit it to me! I'll have these spirit insects collect the Vajra Silver Sand immediately." Han Li said, surprised and delighted, immediately responding. It was unclear whether his excitement was for the Vajra Silver Sand or for the powerful incantation.

"Let me make one thing clear first," Grand Exalted Dayan said calmly before transmitting the spell to Han Li. "No matter how much Vajra Silver Sand you obtain, you must first set it aside for me to refine the final puppets. You absolutely cannot waste it on other things, nor can you incorporate it into your magic treasures. If there's any left after refining the puppets, you can do whatever you want with the remainder; I won't interfere in the slightest."

"Senior, it seems you don't know that my magic treasures don't need Vajra Silver Sand at all," Han Li chuckled upon hearing this. "They've already been tempered with Refined Crystal. That material is far more effective than Vajra Silver Sand."

"Refined Crystal? You have such a heaven-defying material? Is there any left? Even a tiny bit would be immensely useful to me!" Grand Exalted Dayan seemed stunned for a moment, then immediately cried out excitedly, his voice filled with wild joy.

"As you know, the magic treasures I use are a complete set of flying swords," Han Li replied blandly. "Although the Refined Crystal I obtained back then wasn't a small amount, it was barely enough. So there's nothing left."

"None left? What a waste of heaven-defying resources!" Grand Exalted Dayan instantly became utterly disappointed, muttering sounds of regret.

Han Li couldn't help but secretly roll his eyes.

How could using Refined Crystal on one's natal magic treasures be considered a waste of resources? However, since he currently needed the other party's help, he could only pretend not to understand and listen to a few more of their complaints.

By this time, Han Li had followed the other two some distance into the cave, intentionally or unintentionally maintaining a certain distance to prevent them from noticing anything unusual about him.

The cave was somewhat dark, but all three were cultivators with profound spiritual power. By simply infusing a little spiritual energy into their eyes, they could see things clearly enough without any difficulty.

The cave maintained the same size as its entrance. The two-colored stone walls were still that light yellow hue.

Along the way, Han Li casually used a flying sword to cut into the stone wall again.

The result was still the shimmering silver color. Han Li was somewhat astonished, but his desire to claim these ore veins intensified even further.

As Han Li walked, he listened to Grand Exalted Dayan transmit an insect-controlling incantation through his spiritual sense.

Although the incantation was entirely composed of ancient text and somewhat obscure, with just a few pointers from Grand Exalted Dayan, Han Li, who already had some experience with insect-controlling techniques, suddenly understood it completely and quickly grasped its essence.

Once the incantation was fully transmitted, Grand Exalted Dayan's voice fell silent again.

Han Li then lowered his head and pondered the incantation again, confirming he had it right. With a seemingly casual flick of his hand towards his waist, a spirit beast pouch suddenly vanished.

Afterward, Han Li's walking posture didn't change at all. However, one by one, golden Gold Devouring Beetles silently flew out from his sleeves, quietly heading back the way they came.

The two walking over ten yards ahead were completely unaware of Han Li's subtle actions.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all the Gold Devouring Beetles in the pouch had been released.

With his hands hidden in his sleeves, Han Li formed a hand seal and conjured a magical imprint. A low incantation then echoed in his spiritual sense, which he transmitted to the large swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles that had returned to the cave entrance and were hovering before the stone wall.

The golden swarm of beetles suddenly burst with golden light. Then, after a brief blur, all the flying insects swarmed towards the stone wall and, without any hindrance, directly burrowed into it, vanishing without a trace.

The surface of the stone wall showed no signs of damage.

Sensing this situation with his spiritual perception, Han Li finally relaxed, withdrew his attention, and slightly quickened his pace.

After walking for a while longer, just as they rounded a bend, the two people ahead stopped. Han Li's heart tightened, and he quickly looked forward.

The path ahead suddenly opened up, and the passage became several times wider.

This wide passage was covered from top to bottom with strange, stalactite-like stones that emitted threads of silvery-white light, illuminating the entire passage brightly.

These silver threads were exceptionally strange. Although clearly intangible, each thread of light was remarkably distinct, as if it were a physical entity.

"This is the Northern Polar Primordial Light," Southern Marquis said solemnly, taking a deep breath as he gazed at the silver threads ahead. "Although both fellow Daoists should already know this, I must remind you again: within the Northern Polar Primordial Light, apart from the Two-Element Ring, you absolutely must not recklessly use any spiritual power or magic treasures. Once any spiritual power leaking from our bodies is detected by the Northern Polar Primordial Light, all three of us will certainly face a dead end." Han Li remained silent, not replying. Instead, he shook his sleeve, and a dark ring shot out, circling once before landing in his palm.

The ring shimmered with spiritual light!