Chapter 1428: Thousand-Year Ironwood

In a remote mountain hollow, ear-splitting explosions periodically emanated from an underground cave, shaking the ground.

A low beastly roar sounded, and a ten-foot-tall yellow giant ape burst out of the underground cave. The ape had a wide mouth with fangs, several visible bloodstains on its chest, and its back was profusely bleeding; its left arm was missing, indicating severe injuries.

Before it could run far, a massive golden wheel shot out from the cave, instantly piercing the yellow giant ape's body. The ape fell to the ground, its body split in two, and blood stained the ground red.

Wang Qiuming emerged from the underground cave, cloaked in gold and beaming with a smile.

He had teleported directly into the monster's lair, finding two mid-tier third-grade Mighty Golden-Backed Apes and over a thousand catties of monkey wine.

Given his strength, the two mid-tier third-grade Mighty Golden-Backed Apes were naturally no match for him. He had obtained over a thousand catties of monkey wine immediately upon entering the Flying Immortal Ruins, considering it a significant haul.

Outside the cave lay a dense, black forest. As far as the eye could see, countless black trees, over a thousand feet tall, blocked out the sky, and numerous green vines coiled around the towering trees.

He put away the Mighty Golden-Backed Ape's corpse and released a chubby Two-Eyed Rat. This high-tier second-grade spirit beast possessed a keen sense of smell and was adept at locating rare medicinal herbs.

The Two-Eyed Rats bred by Wang Changsheng had multiplied for many generations, and many Wang family cultivators raised one. However, no one had yet managed to cultivate a third-grade Two-Eyed Rat.

Wang Qiuming took out two fist-sized green nuts and fed them to the Two-Eyed Rat. After consuming the nuts, the rat's body briefly glowed yellow before it burrowed underground. A small mound of earth then formed and moved rapidly across the ground, with Wang Qiuming following close behind.

After roughly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the earthen mound abruptly stopped.

Rumble!

The ground seemed to tear open, and a black centipede, over ten feet long, burrowed out from beneath. Its body bore faint yellow patterns, and its head had a pair of three-foot-long black antennae. Underneath its abdomen were hundreds of sharp black claws, and its eyes, the size of washbasins, were a pale golden hue.

The Two-Eyed Rat was now in its mouth, with only its tail visible.

This was a high-tier third-grade venomous insect, and its golden eyes were fixed directly on Wang Qiuming.

Wang Qiuming's expression shifted. It was indeed the Flying Immortal Ruins; third-grade demonic beasts were commonplace here.

The black centipede opened its gaping maw, and a thick black beam shot out, striking towards Wang Qiuming.

The golden cloak on Wang Qiuming's body lit up with countless golden runes, transforming him into an afterimage as he retreated over ten feet.

With a loud bang, the black beam struck the trunk of a towering ancient tree, instantly creating a half-foot-diameter pit that emitted steam.

Wang Qiuming frowned. Just as he was about to cast a spell to attack the black centipede, a deafening explosion ripped through the air. A massive mushroom cloud billowed high above, and two streaks of light flew rapidly towards their location.

The black centipede paid no heed, swiftly charging towards Wang Qiuming and spewing out thick black beams from its mouth.

Wang Qiuming's golden cloak blazed, and he became an afterimage, moving swiftly through the dense, crowded forest.

A series of explosions followed as the black beams struck the ground, creating several massive, charred pits, each several feet in diameter. When the black beams hit the towering ancient trees, half-foot-diameter holes instantly appeared on their trunks.

At this moment, two streaks of light flew towards them, revealing two men with strikingly similar features. Wang Qiuming did not recognize them.

Behind them was a blood-red cloud hundreds of feet in size. Upon closer inspection, the cloud was composed of hundreds of thousands of blood-colored ants, their sharp mouthparts exposed, and a pair of thin, blood-red wings on their backs.

The black centipede's tail suddenly sprayed a cloud of black poisonous mist towards the two Core Formation cultivators. They swiftly dodged, scattering in different directions. The blood cloud also split in two, forming two separate entities that pursued and caught up with them. The blood-colored ants then frantically gnawed at their protective spiritual energy.

Two agonizing screams pierced the air as the two men visibly transformed into skeletons with terrifying speed. Neither their protective spiritual energy nor their defensive magical artifacts could withstand the swarm of blood-colored ants.

After a flash of dark light illuminated its body, the black centipede burrowed underground and vanished.

Wang Qiuming was dumbfounded but quickly recovered. His golden cloak immediately flared with brilliant light, transforming into a streak of escape light that shot through the air and fled.

The blood clouds merged back into one, then gave chase.

In a lush, dense forest, Ye Haitang stood before a black ancient tree over a thousand feet tall. Tens of thousands of black demonic mosquitoes lay scattered on the ground.

The black ancient tree had sparse leaves and was entirely jet black and lustrous, reflecting a metallic sheen. Looking around, all the trees were of this same black type, each over a thousand feet tall.

"So many Ironwood trees over a thousand years old," Ye Haitang murmured. "No wonder this place is named the Flying Immortal Ruins."

Ye Haitang mused to herself that thousand-year Ironwood was an excellent material for refining fourth-grade puppet beasts.

The scarcity of fourth-grade puppet beasts stems from several factors. Firstly, the refining materials are rare; at least thousand-year-old spirit wood is required, and not all such wood is suitable. Ironwood is the optimal choice, though fourth-grade metal ores can also serve as a substitute.

Secondly, fourth-grade puppet beasts require the refinement of a fourth-grade demonic beast's essence spirit. Acquiring such an essence spirit necessitates killing a fourth-grade demonic beast, and if the refining process fails, both the materials and the beast's spirit are wasted.

Furthermore, the cost of refining a single fourth-grade puppet beast is prohibitively high; the materials required for two such puppets could instead be used to refine a single spirit treasure.

Finally, the refining time is considerably long. Crafting a fourth-grade puppet beast is as time-consuming as forging an entire set of second-grade magical artifacts. Additionally, these puppets require high-grade spirit stones for power, and such stones are inherently scarce; the Wang family, for instance, had only managed to collect a dozen or so.

The Wang family possessed two puppet beasts; one had been repaired, and Wang Qingqing currently carried a fourth-grade puppet beast.

Even if she could only cut down a single thousand-year Ironwood tree and immediately depart the Flying Immortal Ruins, it would still be well worth the effort.

It was unknown how long these Ironwood trees had been growing. Ye Haitang searched for quite a while before finally locating a younger Ironwood tree. There was no other option, as the older, more ancient trees were simply too formidable for her to cut.

Ye Haitang summoned her Black Lotus Mirror, infused it with a magical incantation, and the mirror surface pulsed with dark light. Hundreds of fist-sized black thunder-fireballs flew out, smashing onto the Ironwood tree.

Rumble!

A series of explosions followed, and a wave of black flames engulfed the lower half of the Ironwood tree.

Ye Haitang flicked her sleeve, and seven dark-glowing flying knives shot out, striking the Ironwood tree. A series of "clink-clink" sounds of metal striking wood rang out, leaving several shallow chop marks on the Ironwood's surface.

She frowned. These Ironwood trees had absorbed a vast amount of spiritual energy, thriving vigorously. Even using her magical artifacts, she found it difficult to fell a single tree quickly.