Chapter 1436: The Soothing Soft Jade

The ground was crisscrossed with lines, as if it had been ploughed.

Zhao Shou gazed at the numerous demon bee corpses on the ground, let out a long sigh of relief, and praised with a smile, "Fairy Ye, we owe this victory to the formation you set up against them. Without it, even if we had managed to wipe out these Blackflame Bees, it would have taken us considerable effort."

After spending several days together, Zhao Shou had truly come to appreciate Ye Haitang's formidable skills, especially her mastery of formations.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, you are too modest," Ye Haitang replied. "With your strength, these Blackflame Bees would be no match for you, even without my assistance."

Ye Haitang's tone remained cold, giving off an aloof impression.

She frowned and produced a light blue orb. It shimmered incessantly, emitting a dazzling azure glow.

"The Sensing Orb is reacting; my kin are approaching."

A rare expression of joy crossed Ye Haitang's face. Had Zhao Shou not been there, she would have immediately gone to rendezvous with her clan members.

Zhao Shou frowned. This was not good news at all. His cooperation with Ye Haitang was merely temporary. While cultivators from Myriad Beast Island were expected to arrive gradually as per their agreement, he had not anticipated the Wang family cultivators getting here first.

Where were his fellow disciples? Why were they so delayed?

Ye Haitang glanced at Zhao Shou, then hesitated slightly before asking, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, since my clan members have arrived, do you still wish to continue our cooperation?"

Even with the existing relationship between Wang Changsheng and Gongsun Yang, a matter concerning a ten-thousand-year spiritual medicine meant that neither Zhao Shou nor Ye Haitang would yield to the other.

Beyond the spiritual medicine, if they stumbled upon other rare treasures or exotic fruits, a fair division might prove impossible. After all, one could never truly know another's intentions.

Zhao Shou had only allied with her to reach their destination more quickly. Now that they were there, the arrival of the Wang family members compelled Zhao Shou to make a decision.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhao Shou replied, "Since Fairy Ye's clan members have arrived, I shall not impose further. I can proceed on my own."

With that, he strode away. Ye Haitang gathered the demon bee corpses from the ground, then with a raise of her delicate hand, sent a beam of azure light soaring into the sky.

A deafening roar erupted!

Following a thunderous roar, an azure lotus flower, over a thousand zhang in size, materialized high in the sky, clearly visible for thousands of miles around.

Ye Haitang made a hand seal, dissolving into a gust of clear wind and vanishing as if she had never been there.

Outside the mountain range, Wang Qingling and Wang Qiuming grew visibly excited upon seeing the azure lotus flower high above.

"Fairy Qian, we've rested sufficiently," Wang Qingling asked seriously. "Our kin are calling for us to rendezvous. Would you like to join us?"

Qian Yue frowned deeply. Although the Wang family was an affiliated force of the Myriad Sword Sect, she doubted their reliability when faced with immense temptation. She placed more trust in her own fellow disciples.

While other rare treasures or exotic fruits might be manageable, Qian Yue couldn't guarantee that the Wang family cultivators wouldn't succumb to greed if a ten-thousand-year spiritual medicine were discovered.

"I'll wait for my fellow disciples," Qian Yue replied after a slight hesitation, letting Wang Qingling and Wang Qiuming leave. "If you wish to meet with your clan members, then by all means, go."

"Fairy Qian, please take care," Wang Qingling advised, then hurried with Wang Qiuming towards the depths of the mountain range, intent on reuniting with Ye Haitang.

At the edge of a vast, boundless forest lay a grayish-white valley, its ground strewn with numerous grayish-white stones.

From within the valley, deafening roars echoed, and thick smoke and dust billowed.

A short while later, a colossal, bizarre insect flew out of the valley. Its body was elongated, with hundreds of pairs of pale blue, slender legs beneath its abdomen. It possessed two antennae, each about a foot long, on its head, a cavernous, blood-red mouth, a pair of light blue wings on its back, and a visible pair of pale golden fangs. It had no eyes.

Before it could get far, a ball of azure flame shot from the valley and slammed into its body.

With a pained shriek, the massive insect's body writhed relentlessly, emitting strange, high-pitched hisses.

A powerful whooshing sound pierced the air as a massive wind blade, over a hundred zhang long, shot out and struck the creature.

The creature was instantly sliced in half, spilling a large amount of green liquid as its body fell to the ground.

Wang Qingqing and Wang Huaxiu flew out of the valley and landed before the slain creature. They appeared somewhat disheveled, suggesting they had faced considerable difficulty.

Wang Qingqing knelt and extracted a watermelon-sized golden ore from the creature's abdomen. The ore resembled fine jade, translucent and shimmering. When she gently squeezed it, several clear fingerprints appeared on its surface, only for the ore to automatically revert to its original form moments later.

"A Roaring Spirit Soft Jade!" Wang Qingqing exclaimed, delight evident in her voice. "I never imagined we'd find a fierce Roaring Spirit Insect here, let alone obtain a piece of its soft jade!"

The Roaring Spirit Insect ranks seventh on the Heavenly and Earthly Marvelous Stones list. It subsists on metal ores, typically hiding within mineral veins and rarely showing itself. It is impervious to blades and spears, possesses formidable regenerative capabilities, and its sole weakness is fire attacks. They had fortuitously encountered one and spent the better part of a day successfully slaying it, thereby acquiring a piece of Roaring Spirit Soft Jade.

The Roaring Spirit Soft Jade is a unique refining material with the extraordinary ability to self-repair, making it an ideal component for crafting Fourth-tier puppet beasts. Wang Qingqing, deeply engrossed in artifact refining, had consulted numerous ancient texts on the subject; otherwise, she would not have known that the Roaring Spirit Soft Jade was found within the Roaring Spirit Insect.

"This is the Flying Immortal Ruins, after all," Wang Huaxiu said with a smile. "It's not surprising to find Roaring Spirit Insects here." This piece of Roaring Spirit Soft Jade alone would be sufficient for crafting a top-tier defensive magical treasure, though other refining materials would, of course, still be needed.

Wang Qingqing's delicate face suddenly changed. She recoiled, shouting, "Careful! We have company!"

No sooner had she spoken than a dozen incredibly thick yellow tentacles burst from the ground, lashing out at Wang Huaxiu with a loud whooshing sound.

A gust of clear wind swept through, and Wang Huaxiu dissolved into a gentle breeze, vanishing instantly. The dozen thick yellow tentacles slammed into the ground, causing it to explode and kick up a cloud of dust.

"Who's there? Show yourselves!" Wang Qingqing bellowed, flipping her hand to produce a small, pale blue mirror and pointing it towards the dense forest nearby.

With a flash of azure light, a concentrated beam shot forth from the mirror, striking a specific corner of the dense forest nearby.

The void shimmered with a silver light, and a broad sweep of silver energy surged forward to meet the incoming attack.

A deafening crash!

The silver and azure lights collided, neutralizing each other and unleashing a powerful shockwave that snapped a dozen towering ancient trees in half. Two men and one woman then materialized, their attire clearly identifying them as cultivators from the Four Seas Sect.

Leading them was a dashing, tall young man in a silver robe, an eighth-layer Core Formation cultivator. The other two, both at the seventh layer of Core Formation, were also quite formidable.

"The Roaring Spirit Soft Jade," the silver-robed youth stated gravely. "Fairy Wang, Fellow Daoist Wang, we don't wish to make things difficult. However, by custom, those who witness such a discovery are entitled to a share. How about you grant us half of the Roaring Spirit Soft Jade?"

The silver-robed youth spoke gravely. While other materials might be disregarded, the Roaring Spirit Soft Jade was no ordinary refining component. If enough of it could be gathered, crafting a defensive spiritual treasure would be well within reach.