AWB Chapter 303 An Agreement Reached!
Chapter 303 An Agreement Reached!
Chen Jinshu did not answer, his fingers moving rapidly across the strings.
'Ding-dong————'
The clear and melodious sound of the zither echoed in the cave, transforming into countless sonic blades that swept towards the stone-armored crocodile.
At the same time, Chen Yan also lunged forward, his Gengjin sword energy condensing once more on his right arm, aiming straight for its left eye.
The stone-armored crocodile was caught between the sound of the zither and the sword energy, and was momentarily caught off guard.
Although its scales were tough, they developed fine cracks under the frequent attacks of the sonic blades.
"Youngster, do you think you can defeat me with just these?" The stone-armored crocodile roared, its demonic power erupting.
It suddenly opened its mouth and spewed out a ball of dark red true fire.
The flames carried intense earth elemental power, and upon contact with the air, they transformed into a rain of fire, illuminating the entire cavern in a fiery red glow.
Chen Jinshu's expression hardened, and she quickly plucked the strings of the zither, creating a light blue defensive shield that enveloped her, the puppet, and the spirit fox.
The fire rain sizzled as it hit the shield, causing it to tremble violently.
"Earthfire evil energy!" Chen Jinshu narrowed his eyes, recognizing the origin of the flames.
"It seems that beneath this spiritual cave lies a connection to molten lava."
"Good to know!" The stone-armored crocodile grinned, its tone quite arrogant.
"Within this earth vein cave, my demonic power is inexhaustible. What can you use to fight me?"
Chen Jinshu did not panic. Instead, he smiled slightly and said, "Since the spiritual cave is connected to the earth fire, then things will be easier."
She put away the Star Moon Guqin, took out a few spirit stones from her storage bag, and quickly set up an array under her feet.
That was a small array she had comprehended over the years, the Fire-Inducing Spirit-Dissolving Array, which could mobilize the underground fire energy and convert spiritual energy for her own use.
"What are you doing..." The stone-armored crocodile sensed something was wrong and was about to stop him when he saw that Chen Jinshu had already completed the final step of the formation.
A crimson array lit up beneath her feet, drawing in the fiery power from the earth, which transformed into streaks of fire that converged upon her.
Chen Jinshu used his own true essence as a guide to transform the firepower into pure spiritual energy, which he then injected into Chen Yan's body.
"Om-!"
Chen Yan's body trembled, and the Gengjin sword energy in his right arm surged several times over. The sword energy, which was originally three feet long, was now ten feet long.
It gleamed with golden light, carrying an incomparably sharp edge.
"Break!" Chen Jinshu shouted softly.
Chen Yan took a step forward, raised his right arm high, and a ten-zhang-long golden sword aura slashed through the sky and slashed down.
The air in the cave was cleaved in two by the sword, producing a sharp whistling sound.
The stone-armored crocodile's expression changed drastically; it sensed a deadly threat from the sword energy.
It opened its mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood essence, which transformed into a giant, earthen-yellow shield in front of it, while its body rolled to the side.
"boom--!"
The sword energy struck the giant shield, producing a deafening roar.
The shield, imbued with the essence and blood of the Stone-Armored Crocodile, was actually cleaved in two by the sword's aura.
The sword energy, still powerful, left a deep, bone-revealing wound on the stone crocodile's back, dripping with blood.
"Roar—" The stone-armored crocodile let out a painful roar, its massive body staggering backward and crashing into the cave wall.
It looked up at Chen Jinshu, its eyes filled with apprehension:
"What...what kind of swordsmanship is this?"
"Breaking Qi Slash," Chen Jinshu said calmly, then snorted coldly, "It's specifically designed to break through Qi."
The stone crocodile fell silent.
It looked at its own wounds, then at the puppet exuding a fierce aura, and finally sighed:
"Fine, I'll give you half of this spiritual cave."
"Deal." Chen Jinshu didn't hesitate and readily agreed.
She didn't intend to kill them all. After all, the Stone Armor Crocodile had discovered this place first. Since they were both Golden Core cultivators, if the other party fought desperately, she would probably have to pay a small price to take it down, which would not be worthwhile.
The stone-armored crocodile breathed a sigh of relief, staggered back into the pool, and immersed half of its body in the spiritual liquid to heal its wounds. Chen Jinshu then examined the cave and found that this earth vein spiritual cave was indeed a good place, not only rich in spiritual energy, but also containing several rare spiritual herbs in a corner.
"Huh? This is..." Chen Jinshu walked to the cave wall, parted a clump of moss, and saw several purplish-red spiritual herbs growing there, emitting a faint halo.
"Ziyangzhi!" Qingheng exclaimed in delight.
"This is the main ingredient for refining the Purple Sun Pill, a spiritual pill that can raise a cultivator in the early Golden Core stage by one small realm. It's a priceless treasure!"
Chen Jinshu carefully picked the few Ziyangzhi mushrooms and placed them in a jade box for safekeeping.
After searching the cave again, they found several pieces of high-quality spirit stone ore.
Seeing that the crisis was over, the three-tailed fox came over and rubbed its head against Chen Jinshu's leg, its eyes full of gratitude.
Chen Jinshu smiled and stroked its fur:
"Thanks to you for leading the way, otherwise it would have been a real pity to miss this spiritual cave."
The fox shook its three tails triumphantly, a glint of wisdom flashing in its eyes.
“Master, if this spiritual cave is used properly, a cultivation room can be built down there.”
Qingheng suggested, "With this concentration of spiritual energy, it's not impossible to break through to the Golden Core stage through seclusion."
Chen Jinshu nodded: "There's no rush. Let's take care of the medicinal herb garden upstairs first, and then I'll go into seclusion here."
She stayed in the cave for a while longer, feeling the abundant spiritual energy, and had already made up her mind.
The appearance of this earth vein spiritual cave not only increased the concentration of spiritual energy in Qingluan Valley, but also gave her an opportunity to break through to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.
"Let's go, let's go up first." Chen Jinshu turned around and led Linghu and Qingheng out.
As she approached the cave entrance, she glanced back at the stone crocodile that was healing its wounds: "I will come back in three days. I hope we will have made up by then."
The stone crocodile opened one eye and said in a muffled voice, "As long as you don't touch the thing at the bottom of the pool, everything is negotiable."
"Something at the bottom of the pool?" Chen Jinshu raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"
After a moment of silence, the stone-armored crocodile truthfully replied, "The reason this earth vein spiritual cave is so rich in spiritual energy is because there is a Nascent Soul level 'earth vein spiritual essence' at the bottom of the pool. It is that thing that gathers the earth's energy to form this spiritual cave. I have been cultivating here for a hundred years, waiting for it to fully mature before taking it away."
Chen Jinshu looked thoughtful and slowly nodded: "I understand. Don't worry, I won't touch it, at least not now."
She turned and walked out of the cave, back into the moonlight on the ground.
The three-tailed fox followed behind, glanced back at the cave entrance, then looked at Chen Jinshu and let out a sob.
"You want to stay?" Chen Jinshu squatted down and looked into its eyes.
The fox nodded, its eyes filled with anticipation.
Chen Jinshu smiled slightly: "Alright, Qingluan Valley is vast and sparsely populated, one more person won't make a difference. You can stay and keep me company."
Upon hearing this, the fox wagged its tail happily and came over to lick the back of her hand.
"Master, this fox is quite clever," Qingheng said with a smile. "It knows that if it follows you, it will get meat."
Chen Jinshu rolled her eyes at her, annoyed: "Don't talk nonsense. I took it in because it has a spirit."
Qingheng chuckled and fell silent.
Under the moonlight, a man and a fox walked back along the way they had come.
When she returned to the stone house, Jiang Yi and Yan Shuo were still waiting by the campfire. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw her come back.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, why have you been gone for so long?" Jiang Yi asked with concern.
"We discovered a spiritual cave and went to take a look." Chen Jinshu briefly explained the matter of the earth vein spiritual cave, but did not mention the stone armored crocodile, so as not to worry the two of them.
"A spiritual cave? That's a good thing," Yan Shuo said. "With this spiritual cave, we can progress faster in our cultivation here."
“Exactly.” Chen Jinshu nodded. “Tomorrow I will go to the valley to make some arrangements and utilize this spiritual cave to build a secluded meditation chamber.”
The four chatted for a while, then went their separate ways to rest.
Chen Jinshu returned to the quiet room, sat cross-legged, and sorted out what he had learned that evening.
The discovery of the earth vein spiritual cave was her greatest gain since arriving in Qingluan Valley. If she could make full use of it, she might be able to begin her attempt to break through to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm within a year.
Thinking of this, a sense of anticipation welled up in her heart. (End of Chapter)