Chapter 236: earth source strange crystal, Waiting at Leisure

On the way, Zhou Chen encountered several waves of souls and low-level anomalies, but he cut them down with Sword Qi, not wasting a single moment.

Two hours later, Zhou Chen arrived at his destination.

This was a desolate valley, littered with weathered rubble. A gray mist shrouded the entire area, obscuring the distant view.

Zhou Chen's Divine Sense swept across, and he quickly discovered the crack underground.

"This is it."

He leaped down, jumping into the crack.

The crack was deep and narrow, its rock walls covered in eerie moss that emitted a faint luminescence. Zhou Chen descended, the temperature rising the deeper he went.

After fifteen minutes, Zhou Chen was nearly three thousand feet underground.

The surrounding temperature was terrifyingly high; an ordinary person would have been roasted into a desiccated corpse long ago. But Zhou Chen was in the Quasi-Emperor Realm, so this temperature meant nothing to him.

"It should be nearby."

Zhou Chen slowed down, his Divine Sense carefully scanning every inch of the rock wall.

Suddenly, he stopped.

On the rock wall ahead, an earth-yellow crystal was half-embedded in the stone, radiating a rich aura of the earth. Countless profound patterns flowed on the crystal's surface, each containing a heavy power.

"Found it!"

Without a word, Zhou Chen reached out and pried the crystal from the rock wall.

The crystal felt warm in his hand, with a unique, heavy texture, as if he were holding a mountain.

[Ding! The Host has intercepted Ying Wu Dao's Opportunity: earth source strange crystal. Triggering hundredfold return. Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the earth core source crystal.]

The System notification sounded in his mind, and a watermelon-sized orange-yellow crystal appeared in Zhou Chen's hand.

The color of the earth core source crystal was deeper and heavier than the earth-yellow earth source strange crystal, and its patterns were more complex and profound.

Most importantly, the earth aura was more than a hundred times richer!

Holding the crystal, Zhou Chen could feel a majestic life force surging within. This power was gentle yet heavy, giving one a feeling as solid as Mount Tai.

Feeling the temperature in his hand, Zhou Chen took a sharp breath, his hands trembling slightly.

He remembered that in the Scripture Pavilion of the Taichu Holy Land, there was an ancient book specifically recording various Heaven And Earth Treasures. Among them, the earth core source crystal was mentioned.

The earth core source crystal is taken from the deepest part of the earth, formed by absorbing the essence of the earth's veins for billions of years.

For experts in the Quasi-Emperor Realm, this kind of treasure was practically priceless. It could stabilize one's Domain and accelerate the construction of a world prototype, providing a massive benefit for breaking through to the Emperor Realm.

The ancient book recorded that someone had increased their success rate of breaking through to the Emperor Realm by a full fifty percent using an earth core source crystal!

"I'm rich! I'm freaking rich!"

Zhou Chen trembled with excitement, his face flushing red.

With this earth core source crystal, his chances of breaking through to the Emperor Realm would increase by at least thirty percent, or even more!

"But I can't absorb it yet."

Zhou Chen took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

Breaking through to the Emperor Realm required finding an absolutely safe place for secluded cultivation, lasting from several months to several years. A hellish place like Burial God Ridge, filled with danger everywhere, was simply not suitable for seclusion.

Moreover, he still had many preparations to make and couldn't rush the Breakthrough.

Zhou Chen carefully placed the earth core source crystal into his storage ring and applied several layers of protective Restrictions to ensure nothing went wrong.

"Next, it's time to meet that old geezer Ying Wu Dao."

Zhou Chen narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing through them.

Ying Wu Dao was currently heavily injured and his cultivation severely damaged; it was the perfect time to kick him while he was down. If he could take this chance to kill him, the Ying Family would lose an Emperor Realm expert, which would definitely save Zhou Chen a lot of trouble.

If Ying Wu Dao were allowed to appear in the outside world, he could exert Emperor Realm pressure, and suppressing Zhou Chen would be quite easy.

This was also something Zhou Chen found unacceptable.

…

One day later.

Ying Wu Dao dragged his broken body along, moving with great difficulty.

His current appearance was wretched.

His right arm was severed, the flesh at the wound was a mangled mess, and white bone shards were exposed. His body was covered in scars, with the most severe ones nearly splitting him in half.

His face was as pale as a corpse's, his lips were purple, and he had to gasp for breath with every step.

"Damn Jiang Tianheng… Damn Black Scale Demon Ape…"

Ying Wu Dao cursed as he walked, his eyes full of venomous hatred.

He had burned one-third of his essence blood to escape, causing his cultivation to drop from the First Layer of Emperor Realm to the Peak of the Quasi-Emperor Realm. Such damage would take decades of recuperation to recover.

What was worse was that he was still trapped in Burial God Ridge.

The rules of Burial God Ridge suppressed him so much that he couldn't even exert half of a Quasi-Emperor's strength. He could encounter danger at any moment.

"But fortunately…"

A glimmer of hope flashed in Ying Wu Dao's eyes: "I have sensed the aura of the earth source strange crystal. As long as I get that source crystal, I can recover my cultivation and even go a step further!"

For the Ice Clan, although the earth source strange crystal was not as good as ice-attribute treasures, it was still an extremely precious Heaven And Earth Treasure.

Following a mysterious sensation, Ying Wu Dao made his way to the valley.

"This is it!"

He forced himself to stay alert, jumped into the crack, and headed all the way down.

The spiritual power in his body was almost exhausted, and every cycle of energy caused him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain. But at the thought of the earth source strange crystal, Ying Wu Dao gritted his teeth and persevered.

Finally, he reached the bottom.

But when he saw that empty rock wall—

He froze completely.

"No… impossible!"

Ying Wu Dao's eyes widened as he stumbled toward the rock wall.

There was a clear indentation on the rock wall, its shape and size matching the earth source strange crystal. But the source crystal itself was gone.

"God damn it…"

Ying Wu Dao trembled all over, a look of madness flashing in his eyes.

"Who was it! Just who was it!"

Ying Wu Dao roared at the sky, his voice filled with despair and rage. The echo reverberated in the narrow crack, shaking loose rubble that fell and crashed onto the ground, creating an even louder sound.

Just then—

Boom!

A streak of azure sword light descended from the heavens, slashing straight toward the bottom of the crack.

Ying Wu Dao's expression changed. Instead of retreating, he advanced, narrowly missing the sword light, which made Zhou Chen inwardly click his tongue in regret.

"Old Dog Ying, we meet again."

Zhou Chen stood above the crack, looking down at Ying Wu Dao with a smile. The moonlight shone from behind him, shrouding his entire figure in shadow and obscuring his expression.

"It's you!"

Ying Wu Dao's pupils constricted violently as he recognized Zhou Chen's voice: "That Disciple from the Jiang Family!"

"I'm not from the Jiang Family. I don't change my name or surname; I am Ji Wubing."

Zhou Chen corrected him: "But it doesn't matter anyway, since you're about to die."

"You want to kill me?"

Ying Wu Dao sneered, though his smile carried a hint of weakness: "Even though I'm injured, killing a Quasi-Emperor like you is still more than enough!"

"Is that so? Then let's try."

Zhou Chen didn't waste words; his figure flashed as he charged directly into the crack.

"Azure Lotus Sword Domain!"

A massive phantom of an azure lotus unfolded, and countless lotus sword lights condensed into a Domain, enveloping the entire bottom of the crack.

"To think there are two types of Perfection-level Sword Intent!"

Sensing this, Ying Wu Dao's expression changed drastically, and he immediately activated his Cold Ice Domain to resist, as a several-hundred-foot-tall ice wall stood between him and Zhou Chen.