It was the twenty-sixth day since they had entered the secret zone.
In the dense forest, Chen Jingzhai slowly opened his eyes inside the Mountain Duplication Formation.
Ever since he successfully captured the Swamp Black Crocodile, he had been trying to recuperate his spiritual power while cultivating in secret.
Even if there were no spiritual stones to acquire here, the rich essence power between heaven and earth allowed him to recover quickly.
However, he could not avoid having wasted several days because of it.
So much so that he became accustomed to the stench within the jungle.
The Mountain Duplication Formation had made quite a contribution this time.
Danger was lurking inside the jungle, but with the protection of this formation, Chen Jingzhai had not been detected.
Even though Grade 3 demonic beasts had walked by, he remained safe and sound.
Despite everything, Chen Jingzhai wanted to purchase some formation flags after leaving the secret zone.
With formation flags or formation disks in his possession, it would further ensure his safety.
There were also spiritual items, and he would not refuse even those common spiritual items.
Initially, he thought he was safe enough with just the earth escape spell.
But, he was too aggressive this time, resulting in wasted time and almost hurting himself.
Fortunately, his celestial bones were powerful, and his flesh was blessed by nature, contributing to the quick improvement of his muscles and meridians.
This time, the situation only resulted in the serious consumption of his spiritual power, and there were no long-lasting consequences.
After some self-reflection, Chen Jingzhai’s divine mind sank deep into the space inside the divine stone.
There have been significant changes taking place within this curious space.
The Seven Stars Moon Pool was still at the center, and there was nothing unusual about the magic lotus inside the pool.
But the Grade 2 demonic beasts collected by Chen Jingzhai had all turned into mummified corpses unbeknownst to him.
Only their skins remained.
Somehow, the ground was covered with soil, and grass was growing upon it.
The Black Ice Dolphin had also become a mummified corpse, but its skeleton was intact.
The Swamp Black Crocodile had died, and it was now a desiccated corpse.
And in exchange for all of these, an additional bloody pattern was now appearing on the divine stone.
Once again, Chen Jingzhai resorted to his special ability to gain insight into this phenomenon.
[Item name: Divine Stone]
[Grade level: Pattern level 2]
[Compatibility: Originally from outside the heavens, was later vanquished in the Blessed Land of Western Sands and Miraculous Illusions.]
[Vulnerability: Ability to absorb the treasure from heaven and earth and collect demonic beasts and such; could be mastered at pattern level 3.]
The grade level of the divine stone was not the usual Grade 1 or 2 as seen in the cultivation world but was graded by its pattern.
And its compatibility was not clear, especially regarding its origin before it came into this world, which was a complete blank.
The vulnerability was easy to understand and explained why the demonic beasts turned into mummified corpses.
At this stage, Chen Jingzhai was not surprised by anything.
The nature of the divine stone was so mysterious that it could even take in the Seven Stars Moon Pool, which was Grade 6.
It was enough to suggest that the divine stone was at least Grade 6 or above.
For this kind of treasure, Chen Jingzhai would be willing to accept any type of change.
Certainly, he would not be sharing this information with anyone else.
Like any special talent, it must stay hidden until it rots.
Chen Jingzhai thought it was not too outlandish for this treasure to be mastered at pattern level 3.
Such a precious item had to be mastered as soon as possible, or it would be a pity if it slipped away.
After it belonged to a master, perhaps more detailed information could be obtained.
Treasure from heaven and earth, as well as demons and spirits, could all be the sources to make divine stones generate more patterns.
Next, Chen Jingzhai felt that he just had to figure out a way to search for more treasure and demonic beasts.
This would not conflict with his original purpose for entering the secret zone.
“But what exactly does that pattern mean?” Chen Jingzhai wondered to himself.
Using the pattern to determine the grade level was enough to explain the uniqueness of the divine stone.
The pattern on the divine stone had to have its own special meaning.
It was a pity that he did not get any feedback when he tried touching it with his divine mind.
There was no comprehension to be had, which made him feel a little defeated.
After removing the Mountain Duplication Formation, Chen Jingzhai appeared in the forest.
Instead of hurrying through it, he flew in the direction of the swamp.
He allowed his divine mind to expand. In the swamp, he found some more Swamp Black Crocodiles.
Unfortunately, they were all baby crocodile subspecies, and none qualified for Grade 2.
Chen Jingzhai only managed to gather some crocodile eggs before leaving in disappointment.
After searching for quite a while in the forest, he found two Grade 2 medicinal plants.
Then, he disappeared using the earth escape spell.
Twenty-eighth day inside the secret zone.
Chen Jingzhai held a gleaming bone sword in his hand.
The entire body of the sword was whitish, almost silvery-gray, with a faint thin black line in the interior.
Occasionally, this bone sword emitted an icy cold air, and a wisp of it could easily freeze the flowers and plants nearby.
This was a bone sword made by Chen Jingzhai using the backbone of the Black Ice Dolphin.
No name and no grade—it was not even considered a magic item.
But, because it came from the Black Ice Dolphin, it naturally possessed a certain power after polishing and processing.
If disciples from the Heavenly Artisan branch saw this, they would probably accuse him of wasting precious resources.
This kind of Grade 3 material was definitely not something for Foundational Cultivators to play around with.
In the hands of a Grade 3 item alchemist, some better quality ores might be transformed into treasure.
Even if they were not treasure, they would definitely be top-level spiritual items.
Obviously, Chen Jingzhai knew all these reasons. However, it was extremely inconvenient not to have something ready in hand.
The skeleton of the Black Ice Dolphin was not small, so he only took a small part of it. He was not worried too much about any arguments about possible waste.
With this bone sword in hand, he could now fly using this sword.
Swordsmanship was something recorded in both the Fire Raven Burning Sky Celestial Code
and the Jade Toad Swallowing Moon Celestial Code.
This bone sword was cold in nature, so naturally, it was more suitable for the swordsmanship described in the Jade Toad Swallowing Moon Celestial Code.
Every day, Chen Jingzhai would use the bone sword to practice the Jade Toad Swallowing Sky Sword technique.
While practicing the sword technique, he slowly cultivated it into a magic item.
Because of its quality, the process of nurturing it into a magic item went exceptionally well.
Next, to make it into a spiritual item, all that was needed was to set up restrictions or endow it with spirituality.
Although the earth escape spell was a convenient way for him to lay low, the world underground was extremely monotonous.
It was not nearly as cool or fun as swordsmanship.
Not to mention, every time he exercised his swordsmanship, he was able to catch some little fish without fail.
In two days, he had already sent two Foundational Cultivators out of the secret zone.
Today… another fish was already on the hook!
Chen Jingzhai stepped on the bone sword and took off into the sky.
A green arrow suddenly shot out of the ground, aiming at Chen Jingzhai’s chest and abdomen.
“Who is it?” Chen Jingzhai chided coldly without betraying his emotions after he dodged the shot.
“Bai Jinfei from Elixir Peak greets Little Master-Uncle!
“I am fortunate to have run into Little Master-Uncle today and would like to have the pleasure of instruction from Little Master-Uncle!” A young cultivator, clad in a white robe and holding a nine-section bamboo staff in his hand, said with a smile.
“Just you?” Chen Jingzhai asked nonchalantly.
“One person is enough!” Bai Jinfei replied. “Could it be that the Little Master-Uncle is underestimating disciples from Elixir Peak?”
“That’s not it.” Chen Jingzhai held down the bone sword and descended from the sky, looking at the disciple nephew, whose looks were slightly less than his own. Then, he asked curiously, “I’m curious as to why all of you are targeting me. We have never even met before, so why are you all full of hostility?”
“Hostility?” Bai Jinfei raised an eyebrow and replied, “Surely Master-Uncle jests. We belong to the same clan, and none of us would dare be hostile. It’s just an exchange. There is no need for Master-Uncle to waste time on words.”
After speaking, the nine-section bamboo staff in his hand pointed toward Chen Jingzhai from the air.
Clearly, it was just pointed at random, but a gigantic shadow of the bamboo appeared in mid-air.
Like a falling heavenly pillar, it crashed toward Chen Jingzhai.
“You are pretty good at Elixir Peak’s medicine searching staff technique!”
When Chen Jingzhai saw this, he nodded and gave praise.
This was not the first time he had seen someone using the medicine searching staff technique, but the one in front of him was the most powerful.
But Bai Jinfei didn’t acknowledge his praise. Instead, there was only a cold sneer on his face as he continued to pour out his spiritual power to the fullest.
Just when the bamboo staff was about to land on Chen Jingzhai, he disappeared!
Bai Jinfei’s staff made a clanking sound, and before he had time to relocate his target, an icy coldness began creeping on his shoulders and neck.
The chilling bone sword was heavy with an icy coldness.
Chen Jingzhai did not want to waste any time. With one move from the earth escape spell, he was at the rear of Bai Jinfei. Although Bai Jinfei’s medicine searching staff technique was good, he was just a disciple of Elixir Peak.
And the disciples from Elixir Peak were not well-versed in combat.
