Chapter 2807: Illusory Moon Divine Crystal

There were four low-grade Sky-reaching Spirit Treasures, all offensive, with two severely damaged. They also found over three million spirit stones, some materials, and more than a hundred jade slips.

Wang Gonghu and the other two examined the contents of the jade slips. These slips covered a wide range of topics, including biographies, local customs, and catalogs of spiritual medicines.

They found nothing that could identify the cave's owner, suggesting the person was likely a rogue cultivator. Judging by the blackness of the remains, the individual had been afflicted by a strange toxin and severely wounded during their life. It was presumed they sought refuge to heal, but their injuries proved too severe, ultimately leading to their demise.

Wang Yong'an opened a golden jade box, revealing a pale golden crystal. He merely glanced at it, but felt a dizzying sensation; his expression became dazed, and the scene before him blurred.

Just then, a loud male shout rang out, and Wang Yong'an immediately regained his senses.

He quickly averted his gaze, a hint of horror in his eyes.

"A Phantom Moon Divine Crystal! It's actually this material!" he exclaimed.

Wang Yong'an said in surprise that the Phantom Moon Divine Crystal is a seventh-tier artifact refining material. It can be used to create illusions or to refine artifacts. A piece of Phantom Moon Divine Crystal this large is worth no less than ten million spirit stones.

"Our ancestor has been searching for this material; this is excellent!" Wang Gonghu exclaimed with delight.

"I recall that the Divine Weapons Sect possesses a prized treasure called the Heavenly Illusion Pearl," Wang Yi'er stated with a tone of regret. "It was refined primarily using the Phantom Moon Divine Crystal and could easily trap enemies in illusions. The Divine Weapons Sect has several such treasured artifacts, which are rarely used. During the last-but-one racial war, their Vice-Sect Master utilized the Heavenly Illusion Pearl to ensnare two Integration-stage foreign cultivators in illusions, leading to their elimination. However, the treasure itself was destroyed by an Integration-stage member of the Spirit Race."

"With this Phantom Moon Divine Crystal, our ancestor might be able to refine a powerful treasure," Wang Gonghu said with a smile.

They carefully checked the area, found nothing overlooked, collected the items on the ground, and then left.

On their way back, Wang Yong'an retracted all the formations.

Upon returning to Honglian City, Wang Yong'an recounted the events to Wang Yongqian and gave her a portion of the wealth.

Wang Gonghu distributed some wealth to Wang Yong'an as a reward. All clan members who reported discoveries received a share; otherwise, it would dampen their enthusiasm, and they might not report valuable finds in the future.

"What a pity!" Wang Yongqian lamented. "I told you there aren't that many evil cultivators. If you hadn't reported it, all the treasures would have been ours, instead of just getting a little bit like this."

She felt as if she had handed over a mountain of gold, and her heart was bleeding.

Had they not reported it and kept the treasures for themselves, their chances of advancing to the Void Refinement stage would have been significantly greater.

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Wang Yong'an replied. "Being careful is always preferable. One stroke of bad luck could lead to death and annihilation. Safety comes first."

Wang Yong'an had no regrets; in his view, safety always came first.

"That may be true," Wang Yongqian said with regret, "But this time, the clan members had already breached the outer restrictions; they just couldn't break the core ones. If there had truly been an ambush, they wouldn't have made it back anyway."

"Nothing is absolute; safety comes first," Wang Yong'an insisted, unmoved.

"This wasn't a wasted effort," Wang Yongqian said, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. "We acquired a Phantom Moon Divine Crystal. I wonder if our ancestor will give us a reward, and if so, how much benefit we'll receive."

She was famously fond of money, a fact known to all.

Wang Yong'an smiled but said nothing.

Seasons came and went, and over sixty years passed quickly.

On Tianshu Island, in a certain secret chamber.

Wang Changsheng sat cross-legged on a blue meditation cushion, his gaze fixed on the Azure Lotus Spirit Refinement Cauldron before him. A fine layer of sweat seeped from his forehead.

A short while later, Wang Changsheng made a hand seal. The flames flickered wildly and then extinguished, and the cauldron lid flew open. A beam of blood-red light flew out, hovering high in the air. It was a palm-sized blood-red gourd, emitting terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations—the Blood Toad Gourd.

The Blood Toad Gourd, refined with various poisonous materials such as Yin-Defiling Blood Jade and Foul Yin Crystal, had successfully ascended to a mid-grade Sky-reaching Spirit Treasure. As for the Spirit Stabilization Pearl, Wang Changsheng currently lacked suitable materials. He had, however, already refined the souls of several seventh-tier demonic beasts into the Blazing Fire Demon Refining Pagoda.

The two Integration-stage foreign cultivators possessed considerable wealth. Among their possessions were three types of Dharma Idol materials, including a piece of Silver Adamantine Crystal, which Wang Changsheng gave to Wang Qingshan.

The materials Wang Qingshan and Wang Yidao used to condense their Dharma Idols were both Silver Adamantine Crystal, as was Liu Qingfeng's. This level of treatment was unprecedented in the Wang family.

While Dharma Idols condensed with Silver Adamantine Crystal possessed greater power, the material itself was extremely rare; finding even one piece was a significant challenge.

Wang Qingshan was already at the late Void Refinement stage, while Wang Yidao was at the early Void Refinement stage. Given the cultivation speed of spiritual body cultivators, Wang Yidao might potentially reach the Integration stage before Wang Qingshan. However, Wang Qingshan had consumed the Heavenly Water Immortal Apricot Fruit, which significantly accelerated his cultivation compared to ordinary cultivators. Therefore, it was genuinely difficult to predict who would achieve the Integration stage first.

Wang Changsheng highly valued them as they represented the future of the Wang family. Wang Yidao, in particular, with his talent in the Way of the Blade, was expected to far surpass ordinary cultivators in strength once he matured.

In addition to the Dharma Idol materials, there were also over twenty seventh-tier materials, mostly for artifact refining.

The Golden Thunder Whale's hide was removed, and its corpse was given to the Qilin Turtle. Both were thunder-attributed, making the seventh-tier Golden Thunder Whale's corpse an excellent tonic for the Qilin Turtle.

The corpses of the golden-robed old man and the blue-robed young man were consumed by the Twin-Pupil Rat. Their true forms were Integration-stage great demons, and the Twin-Pupil Rat consuming their bodies was beneficial for its cultivation. However, their demon cores were not given to the Twin-Pupil Rat; they were saved for exchange with other Integration-stage cultivators. If they could be traded for seventh-tier demon turtle or demon rat inner cores to be consumed by the Qilin Turtle or Twin-Pupil Rat, the effect would be even greater.

With a single-hand gesture, Wang Changsheng summoned the Blood Toad Gourd, which flew towards him and disappeared into his sleeve.

He seemed to sense something and walked out.

As soon as he stepped out of the secret chamber, bursts of deafening thunder filled Wang Changsheng's ears, causing his eardrums to throb painfully.

His expression darkened, and he transformed into a blue long rainbow, flying out.

High in the sky, a black thundercloud spanning over ten miles floated, filled with innumerable silver electrical arcs. Accompanied by deafening thunderclaps, thick silver lightning bolts tore through the sky, fiercely striking downwards.

Duan Tongtian was undergoing his fourth grand heavenly tribulation.

Wang Changsheng gazed at the thundercloud in the sky, his expression grave.

If a Void Refinement cultivator's fourth grand heavenly tribulation produced a thundercloud this vast, wouldn't an Integration cultivator's fourth grand heavenly tribulation generate an even larger one, with undoubtedly greater power?

It was nighttime, and the sky had darkened.

Thunder rumbled incessantly, and dazzling silver lightning illuminated the entire Tianshu Island.