After stowing the circular rhomboid crystal, a thought suddenly flashed through Li Yan's mind. He looked up at Pingtu. "Senior, can the normal blue rhomboid crystals for entering the Wheel of Life and Death also be taken out of here?"
Ever since Pingtu had briefly explained the origin of the secret realm, he had seemed to have grown much quieter, as if he had not yet recovered from those memories. So, he had mostly remained silent, only responding when Li Yan asked a question. Now, hearing Li Yan's question, he looked at him and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Hahaha, little fellow, you're insatiably greedy. I can't give you those crystals. Even the two in your storage bag have to be taken back. If you absorb them again, you'll have to return the circular rhomboid crystal. Those blue rhomboid crystals are the essential elements that support the operation of this Wheel of Life and Death. You absorbed one before, and now there is one less passage here. If they are taken out of here normally, they will disintegrate on their own and return to the Five Elements, and can be re-condensed next time. Besides, the spiritual energy in this secret room is much denser than in those blue rhomboid crystals."
Hearing this, Li Yan couldn't help but look embarrassed. His thought was that those blue rhomboid crystals had allowed him to advance very quickly. He had gotten a taste of it. If he could have a blue rhomboid crystal at any time, wouldn't that mean that even if he were far from this secret realm one day, he would still have a constant supply of dense spiritual energy for cultivation? But now it seemed that was impossible. He couldn't even absorb the two blue rhomboid crystals in his hand anymore. If he had known, he wouldn't have asked. If he had absorbed these two blue rhomboid crystals, it would have been too late for Pingtu to say anything.
"Right, Senior, there is one more matter this junior needs to ask for your guidance on. Is that possible?" Li Yan suddenly seemed to remember something, his expression turning serious.
"Oh, let's hear it. But I don't have anything else here. Even if I did, you would need to have the ability to take it yourself. But that's something you can only consider after you've cultivated to at least the Nascent Soul realm," Pingtu said faintly.
Li Yan was stunned. He had wanted to ask about something else, but he hadn't expected Pingtu to say this. 'It seems there are still many good things kept in this secret realm. They must be in places those demonic beasts can't reach. But from his words, it seems he won't be giving them away for free.'
Li Yan suppressed his curiosity and didn't follow up on Pingtu's words. Instead, he asked, "Senior, do you know where in this Mortal Realm the 'Infinite Roam' tree can be found?"
"You're looking for the 'Infinite Roam' tree? Hmm, you want to refine the 'Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike' magical treasure, right?" Pingtu asked faintly after a moment of thought.
"Exactly. After all, this junior is about to reach Foundation Establishment," Li Yan replied respectfully. This was the content that the True Scripture of Gui Water had revealed when he was cultivating the tenth-level incantation of the Qi Condensation Realm.
"Mhm, your Gui Water Immortal Sect's Natal Magical Treasure is the 'Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike'. When you reach Foundation Establishment, you can refine this magical treasure, then consecrate it as your Natal Magical Treasure and slowly nurture it. Your Gui Water Immortal Sect's 'Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike' is ranked first among the Five Immortal Sects. It is unpredictable like yin and yang, illusory and traceless, and its form changes between hard and soft. Even I wouldn't want to encounter it. It's too difficult to deal with, too bizarre. Back then, the artifact spirit of True Lord Heishui's 'Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike' and I were the closest of friends. It's just that he was too proud, too powerful..." As Pingtu spoke, he seemed to have fallen into deep thought again, repeating the word 'too' several times. This left Li Yan somewhat dumbfounded. He had only learned of this "Artifact Refining" chapter when he was cultivating the tenth level of Qi Condensation. Apart from a few brief introductory sentences at the beginning, the entire chapter was about the refining method and the arts for consecrating and controlling it. It did not say how powerful the magical treasure was.
The opening text read, "Gui-Yi parts the waters, parting to swim out like a dragon, one strike shatters a thousand charges." There was no further description. After that, it required the disciples of the Gui Water Immortal Sect to start preparing the refining materials at the tenth level of Qi Condensation. Further down were the various materials, refining methods, and control arts. When Li Yan read this chapter, he saw that there were only about a dozen required materials, but he had only heard of or seen two or three of them, and they were extremely rare. Especially the main refining material, a branch from the "Infinite Roam" tree, he had never even heard of it, let alone how to find it. He had originally planned to ask Li Wuyi or Wei Zhongran after leaving the secret realm, but now that he had the chance, he naturally had to ask first. He had only asked about the "Infinite Roam" tree. If Pingtu didn't even know if it existed in the Mortal Realm, he could only ask about the tree's characteristics and leave it for later. As for the other materials, he would ask about them one by one, but the main material was the most crucial.
After a short pause, Pingtu returned to normal. "I can only say that you are rather lucky, yet also very unlucky. I have traveled almost everywhere in this Mortal Realm with True Lord Qianchong. As for this 'Infinite Roam' tree, which is both supremely soft and supremely hard, it should exist in the far north of the Desolate Moon Continent and the center of the Forsaken Continent, because only on these two continents is there a Northern Underworld Sea and a Deep Abyssal Lake. So, I say you are very lucky because you were born on one of these two continents, the Desolate Moon Continent, and not on the Wind God Continent, the Verdant Continent, or the North Ice Continent, or even the Forsaken Continent. Otherwise, you would never be able to cross the distance to reach it, unless you reached at least the Nascent Soul realm, then there might be a glimmer of hope. But you are also unlucky. In the past, in the Spirit Immortal Realm, when one was about to reach Foundation Establishment, their elders would help them find the refining materials and refine the artifact. But you, you don't know how to refine artifacts at all. Moreover, even though the Northern Underworld Sea is on the Desolate Moon Continent, it is tens of millions of li from here. You probably wouldn't make it ten thousand li before being eaten without a speck left. If not for the great loss of my origin power, making me unable to leave this secret realm now, I could accompany you on a trip. But I have only recovered less than ten percent of my strength and will soon fall into a deep sleep again, unless I can recover a second drop of origin power. But that will take a very long time."
After saying this, Pingtu looked at Li Yan. Li Yan was silent. He had only just seen this "Artifact Refining" chapter. Although he had expected it to be extremely difficult, he had not expected it to be so out of reach. He also looked at Pingtu. After considering for a moment, he still said, "Senior, I assume you also know the other materials for the 'Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike'. Could you inscribe a detailed description for me? Perhaps one day I will encounter them, or when I have the strength, I will go and search for them."
Pingtu nodded. "That's all we can do. If Dong Fuyi were here, he would surely be able to help you obtain this Natal Magical Treasure as soon as possible. Even though they are all 'Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spikes', they will become different as they grow in the future. The general direction will not change, but it may produce or mutate to have different auxiliary attributes due to your nurturing. I do know the materials for the four Natal Magical Treasures of your four sects, but I don't know the refining methods. The refining methods of your four immortal sects are also secretly transmitted, so you must not tell anyone, not even me."
With that, he waved his hand in the air, and a green Jade Slip appeared in it. He immersed his Divine Sense into it for a moment, then tossed it to Li Yan.
Li Yan respectfully caught it and then also immersed his Divine Sense into it. A short while later, an even more respectful expression appeared on his face, and he gave a deep bow to Pingtu. This Jade Slip not only contained descriptions of the various materials for refining the "Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike," but it even gave extremely detailed accounts of the types, levels, and habits of the accompanying demonic beasts and plants around them. It even included diagrams for each one, and for some, it even pointed out possible locations. It was comprehensive in every aspect. If Li Yan had to find this information himself, he didn't know how much time it would take just to figure out the sources of these materials. For example, one of the materials was the "Moon-Embracing Bone," which was actually the tail bone of the ancient demonic beast "Furious Zither Bird." And this "Furious Zither Bird" had another name in the Mortal Realm, the "Soaring Light Bird." So even if he had asked Wei Zhongran, he might not have gotten an answer.
Pingtu accepted Li Yan's grand bow calmly. He didn't feel there was anything inappropriate about it. Although the Five Immortal Sects were like branches of the same tree, they were still individual sects. For him to do this was already a great favor.
"Will you meditate and cultivate here, waiting for this trial of the Wheel of Life and Death to end, at which point I will send you out? Or will you go and participate in the final trial? The team that entered with you is in a bad situation right now," Pingtu said slowly.
Gong Chenying dragged her heavy body forward, step by step. The massive dark shadow behind her was now less than a li away. The route she had chosen was extremely concealed; clearly, she was hiding from something.
In the last trial, her team had finally encountered a team of demonic beasts. The leader was a second-tier, late-stage, peak Celestial Bull. When they met in the giant yellow sphere, she had originally thought she had encountered cultivators from the other three sects. Her blue rhomboid crystal and green gourd were instantly useless. The battle erupted in an instant. In terms of numbers, her side had the advantage. There were only four first-tier demonic beasts on the other side, from the Celestial Bull and Saintly Light Moth clans. But for some reason, after entering the giant yellow sphere, all of them, including the leading second-tier, late-stage, peak Celestial Bull, seemed to have gone mad. They completely ignored the rapidly spreading dark shadow in the sky and just attacked with their lives on the line. Gong Chenying's group had not arrived in the yellow sphere much earlier than these demonic beasts, so they had no time to set up formations and deadly poisons. They were immediately drawn into a fierce battle.
Although there were only five demonic beasts on the other side, they were all from the demonic beast race, and they were from the extremely troublesome flying clan. For a time, Gong Chenying's group was thrown into chaos. Gong Chenying barely managed to face the Celestial Bull demonic beast, whose realm was already the same as a human's Pseudo-Core. The four first-tier demonic beasts on the other side flew about, crisscrossing the battlefield at extreme speed, striking and then immediately retreating, not engaging in prolonged fights with the Malevolent Spirit Sect. For a time, the space was filled with bright spiritual light, and explosions boomed continuously. But the ones who fell one after another were all Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators. This made Gong Chenying extremely anxious. Although the space was filled with poisonous gas, they were facing the Celestial Bull and Saintly Light Moth clans. The Celestial Bull clan was itself a poisonous body and had antibodies to most deadly poisons, while the Saintly Light Moth clan had a healing and auxiliary body, constantly healing their companions and themselves and dispelling poisons. For a time, although they were continuously poisoned, it only served to further incite their vicious nature.
And the second-tier Celestial Bull that Gong Chenying was facing had a natural divine strength. Its single strikes often sent Gong Chenying, who was known for her close-quarters combat, retreating again and again. She could only rely on her movement techniques and immortal arts to constantly fight back.
Just like that, after the battle had raged for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the five demonic beasts on the other side finally showed signs of fatigue. This was mainly due to the ever-changing poisons of the Malevolent Spirit Sect. After they had madly unleashed them as if they were free, although the Celestial Bull and Saintly Light Moth clans were one resistant to poison and the other good at dispelling it, they could not dispel all the poisons in the world. Slowly, some insidious poisons eroded their internal organs, and their movements slowed down. This gave the Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators the opportunity to seize the moment and kill them one by one.
And that second-tier, late-stage, peak Celestial Bull was already heavily injured when it entered the giant yellow sphere. It was relying on a single breath and its formidable physical strength to beat Gong Chenying into a defensive posture. After a round of fighting, as the fierce battle continued, the second-tier demonic beast's injuries gradually acted up, and at the same time, it was also afflicted by many of the poisons in this space. Gong Chenying seized the opportunity and launched a sneak attack with her small golden axe. The second-tier demonic beast was slow to dodge. Seeing its large spear being blocked by Gong Chenying's long halberd, it was unable to save itself. A ruthless look appeared in the demonic beast's eyes. It mustered all its strength, turned its body back, but then charged forward to meet the attack. It was instantly cut in half at the waist by the small golden axe, but its back had blocked Gong Chenying's green long halberd. Before it died, it fiercely thrust its large spear upward, inserting it into Gong Chenying's lower abdomen, a life for a life.