Chapter 2312: Silver Gang Crystal

An hour later, a green light illuminated a certain void, and Wang Changsheng appeared. A thoughtful expression crossed his face. He hadn't expected to encounter the Essence Fire Clan in the Barren Land; it seemed they were looking for someone. In the Barren Land, one had to guard against both demonic beasts and the Essence Fire Clan, which was truly demanding.

"Considering the time, he should be healed now!" Wang Changsheng murmured to himself, then transformed into a long blue streak and shot through the air, vanishing into the horizon.

Two days later, Wang Changsheng landed outside a massive karstic cave, through which an underground river flowed. Wang Changsheng whistled, and soon after, the river surface churned violently. A Qilin Turtle emerged from the water, with Wang Sen seated cross-legged on its back, his face slightly pale, clearly indicating an injury.

On certain occasions, Wang Sen could be useful, for instance, by luring away high-level demonic beasts. Wang Sen had been severely injured recently while luring a high-level demonic beast. As it was inconvenient for Wang Changsheng to travel with him, he had instructed Wang Sen to recuperate there. Wang Changsheng leaped onto the Qilin Turtle's back. A watery blue light screen shimmered into existence, enveloping both of them. The Qilin Turtle submerged, swiftly gliding along the riverbed, disappearing into the underground river.

Hundreds of millions of miles away, a vast, boundless black forest stretched out. An area spanning tens of thousands of miles had been razed to the ground, barren and pockmarked, as if someone had engaged in a fierce battle there.

Over a hundred thousand miles from this spot lay a hidden cave. The cave was over a hundred mu in size, with a giant, red-glowing tower situated in its center. The red tower trembled violently for a moment before quickly stabilizing.

After the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, a blue-shirted youth with resolute features and a captivating young woman in a red dress emerged. The youth was covered in blood, his face pale, clearly indicating a severe depletion of vitality. The young woman in the red dress had some red spiritual patterns on her face, and her eyes were crimson. Her waist was slender, her eyebrows arched like willow leaves, and her prominent chest formed a deep cleavage, inviting speculation.

"Stay here and recuperate. Once you're healed, return to Zhenhai Palace! The Soul Fusion Great Art won't extinguish your life soul lamp. I hope you can uncover information about the Mysterious Heaven item, and ideally, obtain solid evidence, such as the nascent soul of a Zhenhai Palace elder who has seen the Mysterious Heaven item." The young woman in the red dress instructed, her tone stern.

Over a thousand years ago, Jin Huo discovered the news of the Mysterious Heaven item's emergence while treasure hunting in the Profound Spirit Grotto-heaven and brought this information back to the Essence Fire Clan. However, it was merely his personal account, lacking concrete evidence. Not to mention other clans, even the high-ranking members of the Essence Fire Clan didn't believe it.

"Yes, Lady Yan Ji." The blue-shirted youth replied, his expression respectful.

With a single-handed gesture, Yan Ji caused the red giant tower to rapidly shrink and disappear into her sleeve. Innumerable red runes lit up on Yan Ji's body, then transformed into flickering points of fire and vanished.

A towering peak soared into the clouds, its sparse vegetation making it appear somewhat desolate. At its foot lay a massive cave. A streak of green light flew from afar, stopping above the peak. The light retracted, revealing a shimmering green flying boat, with Wang Changsheng and Wang Sen standing on it.

The Bi-pupil Rat lay perched on Wang Changsheng's shoulder, its eyes glowing with a dazzling yellow light. It chirped excitedly, its tail swishing back and forth. The Bi-pupil Rat had been using its earth-burrowing technique to search for spirit medicine when it unexpectedly discovered a metal mine. Such situations had occurred many times; generally, only high-grade or special mineral veins could impede the Bi-pupil Rat's earth-burrowing ability.

A wisp of Wang Changsheng's divine sense was attached to the Bi-pupil Rat. Using the rat's mutated spirit eyes, he could clearly see that at the end of the cave was a massive cavern, over a hundred mu in size, with parts of its stone walls emitting a faint silver glow.

"Silver Gang Crystal! It's actually here." Wang Changsheng was filled with both surprise and joy. This location was deep within the Barren Land, beyond the range Fang Ming had provided. He had originally given up and planned to return to Green Lotus Island, but unexpectedly discovered the Silver Gang Crystal on his way back, which was a pleasant surprise.

There were no traces of demonic beasts or birds inside the cave, and the Soul Devouring Golden Cicada showed no abnormalities. However, there were also no spirit medicines or spirit fruit trees.

Wang Changsheng flicked his sleeve, and tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Ants flew out, heading into the cave. The Gold Devouring Ants reached the end of the cave, climbed onto the silver-glowing stone wall, and began to gnaw. However, it wasn't long before holes appeared in the stone wall, and a swarm of silver beetles flew out from within, pouncing on the Gold Devouring Ants.

The silver beetles had a pair of silver feathered wings on their backs, a flat, elongated body resembling a sword sheath, and were entirely silver, including their eyes, with a pair of scythe-like silver fangs protruding.

"Silver Sheath Insects! These are indeed remarkable insects!" A flash of surprise appeared in Wang Changsheng's eyes. Silver Sheath Insects were ranked 208th on the Myriad Insect List. They enjoyed devouring various metals, were invulnerable to blades and spears, and resistant to both fire and water. The innate abilities of Silver Sheath Insects were not particularly strong, but by continuously consuming metal ore, Silver Sheath Insects of Rank 5 and above would produce unique metals. When refined into artifacts like swords, these metals could enhance the weapons' power. However, spirit insects were difficult to advance, making Rank 6 Silver Sheath Insects extremely rare.

The Gold Devouring Ants were no match for the Silver Sheath Insects and were quickly defeated. Wang Changsheng flicked his sleeve, and a shimmering yellow talisman flew out. After emitting a dazzling yellow light, the talisman transformed into a brawny youth in yellow robes.

"Go." Wang Changsheng pointed his finger, and the yellow-robed youth turned into a streak of yellow light, flying into the cave. As soon as he reached the end of the cavern, he moved his arms, and with a series of piercing whooshes, dense yellow fist shadows flew out, striking the Silver Sheath Insects. The lower-ranked Silver Sheath Insects struck by the yellow fist shadows immediately shattered into pieces.

The stone wall lit up with a dazzling silver light, and a Silver Sheath Insect over a hundred zhang long flew out from it. Its appearance strongly resembled a silver sword sheath.

"A Rank 6 Silver Sheath Insect!" Wang Changsheng's expression became serious, his face showing interest. The Gold Devouring Ant Queen was currently at peak Rank 5; he wondered if devouring the inner core of a Rank 6 Silver Sheath Insect could help it advance to Rank 6.

As soon as the Rank 6 Silver Sheath Insect appeared, it opened its mouth and spewed countless slender silver rays, piercing through the body of the yellow-robed youth, who then transformed into flickering points of yellow light and vanished. It then opened its mouth and blasted a silvery mist, engulfing all the Gold Devouring Ants and sweeping them into its mouth, where they disappeared.

The Rank 6 Silver Sheath Insect did not pursue them; it burrowed back into the stone wall, and the other Silver Sheath Insects followed suit. Wang Changsheng let out a cold snort. Since a Rank 6 Silver Sheath Insect had been discovered, there was naturally nothing more to discuss. He formed a hand seal, and the yellow-robed youth transformed back into a shimmering yellow talisman, disappearing into his sleeve.

Wang Changsheng flew into the cave, with Wang Sen following closely behind. Almost the instant Wang Changsheng and Wang Sen appeared, a piercing whooshing sound emanated from the stone wall, and hundreds of thousands of silver lights shot out, heading directly for them. Wang Changsheng formed a hand seal, and a humanoid phantom suddenly appeared in the void above his head – his Dharma Idol. As soon as the Dharma Idol appeared, its hands transformed into palms and it struck the void. The void vibrated and distorted, and two massive black hands materialized out of nowhere, slapping towards the opposing side, causing thick, long cracks to appear. With a thunderous roar, the dense silver lights were crushed to smithereens by the two black hands.