Chapter 8: The Jade Realm (Part 2)
Guo Shier divided his Moon Blades into 108 smaller ones, which, like a swarm of red fish, cut swiftly. His digging speed was faster than that of Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan combined. The Moon Blades moved at his will, gathering and dispersing as he desired, and piece by piece, the Seal Spirit Jade ores were cut out, piling up at his feet in no time.
The three of them dug all day and obtained about a ton of raw Seal Spirit Jade ore. Guo Shier sighed, “The quality of these Seal Spirit Jade ores here is quite average. After purification… I estimate we can get at most 100 to 110 jin of refined Seal Spirit Jade.”
Eagle Demon said, “To construct a virtual altar, we need about 3,000 jin of purified Seal Spirit Jade. If the altar is to be made tangible from a virtual state, another 2,000 jin will be needed. In other words, the three of us need at least 9,000 jin of Seal Spirit Jade.”
Luo Zhan said, “I don’t mind. Let’s first meet Guo Shier’s needs.”
Eagle Demon smiled and said, “Since we have this opportunity, why not get more?”
Guo Shier nodded. “This is a rare opportunity. We don’t know when we’ll find Seal Spirit Jade again. We’ve brought enough supplies to stay in this secret realm for a long time. As long as we’re careful and avoid encountering other professionals, there should be no danger.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan felt somewhat helpless—their digging speed was too slow. Guo Shier’s Moon Blades were extremely sharp, allowing him to dig at incredible speed. The raw Seal Spirit Jade ore, embedded in the stone walls, could be easily separated. Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan simply stopped to help Guo Shier sort the ore and put it into storage pouches.
It took Guo Shier 18 days to completely excavate this ore vein, yielding 11 tons of raw ore. Adding to what they had dug earlier, they ended up with 12 tons of raw Seal Spirit Jade ore in total.
Guo Shier estimated that these raw ores could be refined into over 10,000 jin of refined Seal Spirit Jade. He said, “It’s not enough. This amount is far from sufficient. We need to keep searching.”
Eagle Demon looked up and said, “If we follow this passage, there must be more ore veins. We didn’t search the stone walls when we first came down.”
The three of them flew upward, and soon, Eagle Demon exclaimed in delight, “Shier! There it is!”
Guo Shier approached the stone wall to take a look. Indeed, there was an ore vein, though it seemed small, only about a person’s height. He said, “I’ll dig in first to see how much there is.”
The Moon Blade was indeed a powerful tool for digging, penetrating the stone wall in just moments. This time, they were lucky—the quality of the ore veins was excellent, and the deeper they went, the more ore they found. Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan gathered the fallen ore behind Guo Shier, both beaming with joy. Eagle Demon kept saying, “Not bad, there’s a lot this time.”
They continued digging for a hundred meters, yet the ore veins still hadn’t disappeared. Guo Shier smiled and said, “These ore veins are enough for our needs.”
After more than twenty days of digging, even though the three of them were strong, they began to feel tired.
Guo Shier used the Moon Blade to create a larger space and said, “Let’s rest here for a while. I’ll also purify some Sealing Spirit Jade. Hehe, I’ve never seen purified Sealing Spirit Jade before.”
Eagle Demon sat down heavily and said, “It’s too oppressive in here, Shier. Once we collect enough Sealing Spirit Jade, let’s leave.”
Luo Zhan also sighed, “Yeah, staying here for too long will drive you crazy!”
Guo Shier said, “Once we finish digging this ore vein, we’ll leave. We have enough ore!”
The three rested for half a day before Guo Shier continued digging. As they moved forward, the ore veins gradually became narrower, and the amount of ore decreased. Just as Guo Shier was about to stop, the Moon Blade hit nothing. He was stunned and said, “It’s through!” The Moon Blade created a passage as tall as a person in the stone wall, and Guo Shier flew out immediately.
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan followed closely behind, entering a vast space.
Since all three had cast the Vision Enhancement Spell, they could see far. This enormous space was several kilometers wide and hundreds of meters high. Where they emerged was in the middle, with the sound of flowing water clearly audible from below.
An underground river!
Boom!
With flashes of magic, the stone wall on the opposite side suddenly broke open from the inside, and the three of them flew out. At first glance, they saw a red glow on the other side—that was the light emitted by the Moon Blade.
Guo Shier felt anxious. It was best not to encounter anyone in such a place. He quickly checked his Cross-Realm Talisman and found it still functional, which relieved him a bit. As long as he could use the Cross-Realm Talisman, nothing to worry about. His biggest concern was that the secret realm might be sealed. If it was sealed, the Talisman Gates wouldn’t work, leaving them doomed inside.
The three of them hovered by the stone wall, wary of each other.
Guo Shier whispered, “Let’s wait for them to leave!”
The three on the other side also stayed still, and the two sides remained in this strange standoff.
A moment later, the stone wall across from them suddenly exploded, revealing another opening from which two people flew out. They were also stunned, and soon a confrontation between the three parties ensued. All three sides were puzzled, but the atmosphere became noticeably tense.
Guo Shieru muttered to himself, “That’s not right…”
Just then, a whooshing sound came, and with flashes of talismanic light, a person flew in from afar. The person seemed careless, not realizing something was wrong until he reached the center of the confrontation. He suddenly halted mid-air, his head spinning back and forth like a rattle. Upon taking a closer look, he was shocked to find himself surrounded by the three parties—the pressure was immense.
He quickly activated various defenses, with talismanic lights flashing all over his body as if a bright light bulb had been turned on, as he hung there in the air. Uncertain whether he would be attacked by all three parties together, he dared not fly any further and kept shouting, “Hey! I’m just passing by! I’m just passing by!” Though his voice was loud, he didn’t dare move.
Immediately after, two more explosions occurred. A hole appeared in the stone wall beneath Guo Shieru, and another one appeared on the opposite side, from which several more professionals emerged. Eagle Demon said, “Now things are getting interesting!”
More and more professionals gathered. Guo Shieru wondered, “Strange, there was only one person before. How did they all come here now?” He was no longer worried but remained vigilant. He knew the more people there were, the safer he would be. Everyone understood this principle, and the tense atmosphere gradually eased.
Everyone put down their weapons. There was no possibility of fighting here; any act of robbery could only happen in uninhabited areas. Killing here, with so many people present, was utterly foolish.
Guo Shieru whispered, “Let’s retreat and open the talisman gate to leave this place.”
At that moment, another group of professionals entered—about two hundred of them, all high-ranking Grand Sage Masters—making the atmosphere tense again.
One of them said, “Everyone here, don’t leave. Stay where you are. Whoever dares to leave… you can try!”
The crowd erupted in outrage. They were all high-ranking professionals—who was afraid of whom? Although there were over two hundred of them, what use were they if they just went into the holes? One Grand Sage Master ignored them completely, opened the talisman gate, and stepped inside.
A young man stepped forward from the group of two hundred. He reached out vaguely and said coldly, “If you want to die, I’ll fulfill your wish!”
Bang!
The open talisman gate and the Great Sage who had just stepped through it shattered suddenly. No one present could figure out how it happened—it was as if they had been crushed by an invisible giant hand, a terrifying sight that immediately intimidated everyone there.
Another Great Sage suddenly turned and rushed toward the cave entrance nearby. The young man said, “Want to leave? Dream on!”
That Great Sage struggled desperately at the cave entrance as if trapped in mud, but he couldn’t get in no matter what. The young man shouted, “Concentrate!”
A faint blue light flashed, and countless talisman lights appeared around the Great Sage’s body. In an instant, a huge ice crystal formed, sealing the Great Sage inside. The young man laughed and said, “Heh, I knew some would try to be lucky. Good, let this serve as a warning—to any professional who dares to resist, it will end like him!”
A chilling voice said, “Shatter!”
The ice crystal cracked loudly and turned to dust in an instant. The Great Sage sealed inside also shattered and fell to the ground.
Eagle Demon whispered, “What should we do?”
Guo Shier said, “Don’t move. Let’s wait!”
The hundred or so professionals present didn’t dare to move. This guy was too terrifying; he killed people as easily as crushing ants. Both the dead were Great Sages, killed without any resistance. After assessing their own strength, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.
That young man was extremely powerful—he could kill a Great Sage with a single move, which was truly frightening. He said, “Take them all away! What a hassle…”
The people were herded together and flown toward a nearby huge cave.
Guo Shier was stunned. This was the first time he had seen someone so powerful in this world. All the people here were high-level professionals, yet they were herded around like sheep. Who were these people?
Great Sages could be killed in one move. Guo Shier knew clearly that if he didn’t want to die, it was best to follow. Otherwise, there would be no way to seek justice even after death. These people killed without hesitation, showing no concern for their lives.
Soon, Guo Shier saw a huge talisman gate. He smiled bitterly inwardly and whispered, “Uncle Eagle Demon, we’re in trouble!”
Eagle Demon’s face turned pale as he said, “Be careful. We don’t know where this talisman gate will take us. I have a bad feeling about this!”
A Great Sage shouted, “Go in obediently! Anyone who dares to resist… will be killed on the spot!”
Someone shouted, “Who are you? How dare you rob elite professionals! Aren’t you afraid of arousing public anger?” No sooner had he finished speaking than he was pulled out of the crowd. The man, with a fierce expression, said, “I’m a professional from the Star Sect of the Star Continent! Dare you kill me?”
“Die!”
The man exploded on the spot, his flesh and blood flying everywhere. Then someone said, “What the hell is this Star Continent? All of you can go to hell! I don’t mind killing you all! There are plenty of elite professionals everywhere; we certainly don’t need you bunch!”
Guo Shier felt chills run down his spine. Who are these people?