Chapter 580 - 541: An Ominous Matter, Another Calculation Is Needed

As night fell, Song Ciwan stepped into the Ice Crystal Forest.

The moonlight that night was exceptionally bright. A limpid, cool radiance cascaded from the heavens, bathing the tall, sprawling forest and making the trees resemble the Divine Trees of a lunar palace. Anyone who stood within would instantly feel an indescribable, refreshing chill.

This place was a world apart from the Wind Mist Plain.

But the Ice Crystal Forest was far more dangerous than the Wind Mist Plain. The moment one stepped inside, regardless of the direction they took, they could be suddenly and inexplicably ambushed by Ice Arrows shooting from some unknown quarter.

This wasn’t even a deliberate ambush. The phenomenon was simply a natural consequence of the area’s unique environment.

Besides the inexplicable Ice Arrows that could appear at any moment, massive Ice Crystal Fruits would also fall from the sky from time to time—

On the surface, it looked like a giant chunk of ice, but its Attack Power was considerable. In addition to its high speed and intense cold, each Ice Crystal Fruit possessed at least the standard Power of one mountain.

In other words, being struck by one was equivalent to having a great mountain fall from the sky and smash down upon you!

This was more terrifying than a sneak attack from an ordinary Late-stage Divinity Transformation cultivator. The main reason was that the fruits fell without any pattern or warning, making them truly impossible to defend against.

Moreover, the power of the Ice Crystal Fruits wasn’t fixed. A regular one possessed the Power of one mountain, but some mutated versions could have the Power of two, three, or even the Power of Ten Mountains!

Unless one had reached the Divinity Transformation Stage or had an Innate Third Transformation Cultivation, no one usually dared to venture into the Ice Crystal Forest.

However, the Ice Crystal Forest was rich in resources. One of its most unique features was that the Ice Crystal Fruits that crashed to the ground could often contain various rare Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.

Some of the High-Level treasures were things that even Earth Immortals would covet and Celestial Immortals would take notice of.

Song Ciwan had only been in the Ice Crystal Forest for a brief half hour, but she had already encountered seven showers of Ice Arrow Rain and two Ice Crystal Fruits.

The Ice Arrows posed little threat to her; even without dodging, Song Ciwan could easily swat them away with her bare hands.

But she usually dodged anyway—if for no other reason than caution and the chance to practice her Body Technique.

After dodging, she would use her Qi Absorption Technique to catch all the Ice Arrows that flew past, placing them in the Heaven and Earth Scale. She tried selling a batch of one hundred:

[You have sold one hundred Four-star Ice Crystal Cold Arrows and obtained one bundle of twelve Five Elements Qi Arrows.]

Five Elements Qi Arrows: These formless arrows, when fired from a Treasure Bow, can have their elemental attribute freely adjusted. Their specific power depends on the archer’s Cultivation Power and the grade of the Treasure Bow.

’Interesting.’

From then on, Song Ciwan plucked a feather from every passing goose, collecting arrows all along her path.

In short, whenever Ice Arrows flew at her, she let none escape, collecting every last one in her Heaven and Earth Scale.

She stopped selling them for the time being, however. She decided to wait until she was through the Ice Crystal Forest and then sell all the Ice Arrows in one go to avoid wasting the Heaven and Earth Scale’s limited trades.

Before entering the Ice Crystal Forest, she had used up all of the previous day’s trades. Now, just after Midnight, and following that recent sale, she had nine trades left for the day.

Before Midnight, Song Ciwan had carefully selected and traded away many items.

[You have sold one hundred pounds of Demon Core Stage True Dragon Blood, two thousand Primordial Pearls, ten Primordial Longevity Pearls, and one stalk of the Five-star Level Spirit Medicine, Life Spirit Grass. You have obtained one Six-star Level Longevity Pill.]

Longevity Pill: Six-star Level. This Pill can extend the life of a Returning Void Celestial Immortal, a Fifth Transformation Martial Arts Grandmaster, or other beings of an equivalent Cultivation Level by thirty years.

Note: Each person may only consume one in their lifetime.

Ao Feng’s body was enormous, and he had previously shed over two thousand pounds of Dragon Blood. Song Ciwan was only testing the waters with this sale; she hadn’t put all of it into the Heaven and Earth Scale.

After the test, she found that Ao Feng’s Dragon Blood was indeed not very useful to her anymore. However, when mixed with Primordial Longevity Pearls, it could be traded for a Longevity Pill.

Although this Longevity Pill only extended one’s life by thirty years, it was a Six-star Level Pill that worked on both Celestial Immortals and Grandmasters!

The item was immensely valuable. It was just a shame it wasn’t a Seven-star Longevity Pill.

And while Song Ciwan had plenty of Dragon Blood on hand, she only had a little over one hundred and thirty Primordial Longevity Pearls remaining.

’It’s not enough. It’s really not enough!’

However, the True Dragon’s Blood seemed to have the magical properties of a binding agent. Song Ciwan decided that when she had a chance, she would have to experiment with more trade combinations and see if changing the "recipe" could yield other kinds of wondrous items.

As for this Longevity Pill, Song Ciwan decided to pass it off as something she’d found in the Ice Crystal Forest and give it to Grand General Guo later.

The Ice Crystal Fruits that dropped randomly throughout the forest also often contained various Marvels.

As she traveled, whenever an Ice Crystal Fruit fell and she couldn’t dodge in time, she would use Upright Shadowless. She would then wait for the fruit to shatter on the ground before collecting the treasure within.

The treasures inside the Ice Crystal Fruits were mostly Spirit Grass and ores. Those that hit with less force tended to yield Four-star Level treasures, while the heavier ones—like those with the Power of Five Mountains or even the Power of Ten Mountains—could produce Five-star Level treasures.

As for Six-star Level ones, Song Ciwan hadn’t encountered any yet.

It all came down to luck, and they were not easy to come by.

During her journey, she also encountered both demons and humans. Song Ciwan dealt with them using the same methods she had on the Wind Mist Plain, so there is no need to elaborate.

All in all, her pace was quite fast. Her ultimate goal was to rescue someone from the Ancient Divine Palace, not to explore the Wind Mist Plain and the Ice Crystal Forest.

Once she had a clear grasp of the situation, she would pick up the pace.

As the bright moon began to set in the west, Song Ciwan had crossed halfway through the Ice Crystal Forest. The edge of the woods was coming into view, and a massive shadow loomed faintly in the distance.

Several figures, both human and demon, could be seen on the shadow’s periphery, leaping into it one after another.

A powerful sense of foreboding washed over Song Ciwan. She stopped in her tracks and leaped onto a large, leafy ice crystal tree nearby.

Song Ciwan’s premonition was correct. Because she cultivated the Great Derivation Birth Skill, which allowed her to pull upon Celestial Secrets, every Sudden Inspiration she had was not to be taken lightly.

This time, she had appeared at Demon Suppression Pass under the identity of the Medical Cultivator, Xing Lan. Though she consciously tried to keep a low profile, her actions had been anything but.

Many humans and demons had noticed her travel route from the Wind Mist Plain to the Ice Crystal Forest. It took little thought for them to guess that her destination had to be the Ancient Divine Palace.

At this very moment, several Great Demons were already lying in wait at the entrance to the Earth Palace.

「Human Race. Demon Suppression Pass.」

In the Grand Governor’s Mansion, it was the same seemingly ordinary garden and the same unremarkable-looking old man.

The old man was not short, but his back was slightly stooped, giving him an air of decrepitude.

He sat at a weathered, mottled stone table. It seemed that the lines of a chessboard had once been carved upon its surface, but now the patterns were hidden, almost impossible to make out.

Across from the old man sat Guo Wanjun, his frame as broad and imposing as a great bear’s.

The old man spoke a single sentence to Guo Wanjun. "I have sent a letter to the Emperor regarding the Golden Core matter. His Majesty’s imperial reply was just two words."

Guo Wanjun immediately leaned forward, his eyes widening as he awaited the answer.