Chapter 33

Chapter 34: Sand Essence Treasure

The four people felt their way forward in the pitch-black cave, occasionally illuminated by the light of gemstones, which resembled a honeycomb.

Sometimes, the numerous forks in the path made it difficult to distinguish the right way, so they had to choose the paths that led downward, feeling their way like blind men on a wild horse.

During this journey, they hunted and killed three more Black Star Sand Beasts. The deeper they went underground, the larger the Black Star Sand Beasts became. The heavy black sand they spewed could fill a long stretch of the cave wall, leaving no place to hide!

The three Lei people were still fine, as they could summon a yellow turtle-like shield. Although the surface of the shield rippled from the impact of the heavy sand, the people inside were unharmed.

Qian Xing, however, was not so lucky. Staying at the top of the cave, he was still affected by the heavy black sand that filled the entire cave. His clothes were quickly reduced to shreds!

However, the Cold Ice Technique had become increasingly pure, and the power of Qian Xing's attacks had greatly increased. He channeled the Cold Ice Technique into his right hand, turning his entire right claw into a blue ice sculpture, emitting a chilling aura.

He grabbed the Black Star Sand Beast's eyes! The cold threads of the Cold Ice Technique could penetrate the beast's most vulnerable eyes, directly entering its brain and immobilizing it for six to seven seconds, giving the three Lei people enough time to unleash the Starfire Axe!

One strike of the Starfire Axe severely injured the beast.

Moreover, this beast was nearly twice the size of the first Black Star Sand Beast they hunted. It was not as agile in the cave.

After consuming the magic core, Qian Xing's Cold Ice Technique had become more refined. He could now understand the profound and subtle aspects of the Nine Yin True Canon, which had previously eluded him. His movements around the massive body of the Black Star Sand Beast were like ghostly shadows, appearing and disappearing in an instant.

Each time he touched the beast, he dealt a ruthless blow, creating several icy holes in the beast's body!

Although the Black Star Sand Cloud was powerful and had a wide range, it was like using a cannon to swat a mosquito against Qian Xing's ghostly "Night Demon" movements, never landing a solid hit.

The beast, fearing that Qian Xing would blind its remaining eye with his swift movements and wary of the severe injuries from the three people's Starfire Axe, realized that these four humanoids were not like the various beasts and humans it had previously devoured. It wanted to retreat, but where could it go?

The Starfire Axe swung wildly in the air, filling the cave with countless fiery sparks.

Qian Xing's attacks were even more ruthless. He never engaged the beast head-on, striking its left side and immediately moving to the right, and vice versa, causing the beast to pummel itself with its own heavy black sand.

Trapped in a two-sided attack, the beast could not protect its tail while defending its head. After holding out for about the duration of a stick of incense, it was finally defeated.

Lei Yue, as usual, extracted the magic core and handed it to Qian Xing. However, he did not stop there. He continued to search the beast's body and pulled out a talisman. When the silver talisman burned, it transformed into a pale blue light net, which swirled and enveloped an item inside the beast's body. Lei Yue reached out, and the pale blue light net flew into his hand.

Qian Xing looked closely and saw a thick, ink-like black mist inside the blue light net.

Seeing Qian Xing's interest, Lei Yue extended his hand and offered the blue light net to Qian Xing to examine.

The blue light net on Lei Yue's hand flickered like a blue grid of flames. When Qian Xing tried to lift it, he found it as immovable as an ant trying to shake a tree.

Qian Xing's face turned red, and he grabbed the blue light net with both hands, using all his strength to lift it!

With the power of the Cold Ice Technique at the late first level, Qian Xing could easily lift several thousand pounds, but he could only make the fist-sized light ball wobble, unable to lift it off Lei Yue's palm.

Amidst the laughter of Lei Feng and Lei Hai, Qian Xing's face turned as red as a boiled shrimp, but his curiosity about the black mist inside the blue light net only grew.

The three Lei people had only taken the magic cores and blood of the Black Star Sand Beasts during their hunting expeditions, never anything else.

Today, they made an exception by extracting this black mist, which must be a treasure.

After laughing enough, Lei Hai told Qian Xing, "Little brother, this Black Star Sand Beast is twice the size of the ones we hunted before, with at least three hundred years of cultivation. It has already refined the heavy black sand it ingested into Black Star Sand Essence. This sand essence, when expanded, can cover an area of over twenty feet and weighs twelve thousand pounds. It can be used to refine flying sand-type magical treasures!"

"Although we three do not want to use such sand-type magical treasures, they still have some value for trading with other cultivators in the cultivation market."

It turned out that the Black Star Sand Beasts they had hunted before were not old enough to have sand essence.

Qian Xing's eyes gleamed with desire. He already knew what the yellow turtle-like shield protecting the three Lei people was—a low-grade magical treasure: the Earth Symbol. It was actually the shell of a spirit turtle that had shed during its transformation after a thousand years, refined into a magical treasure. The requirements for using it were not high.

However, even this low-grade magical treasure had withstood multiple attacks from several beasts, and in the two scenarios Qian Xing had experienced, it was enough to ensure invincibility!

If only he had a magical treasure! Asking the three Lei people to give him one was clearly not possible, even though they themselves were using low-grade magical treasures. But the Black Star Sand Essence, the raw material for refining flying sand-type magical treasures, was right in front of him. If he could refine a magical treasure using this Black Star Sand Essence, wouldn't his chances of survival greatly increase?

Qian Xing's eyes were filled with longing. The three Lei people had seen this look many times from new disciples in their sect.

Lei Yue smiled at Qian Xing, "Little brother, do you want to refine a flying sand-type magical treasure? If you really want to, I can give you this Black Star Sand Essence! However, flying sand-type magical treasures are common in the cultivation world. Without adding some flames, toxins, or yin fire, their power is not strong. If you want to find powerful flames, toxins, or yin fire, it will take a lot of time and effort, and you might miss the opportunity to lay a foundation for cultivation."

The method of refining flying sand-type magical treasures is not too complex, but refining ordinary metal, stone, or sand into usable magical treasures requires a lot of time and effort.

Moreover, without auxiliary techniques, even if your flying sand is made of black iron and scattered into thousands of grains, its power is still not strong.

Therefore, unless you use some extremely esoteric auxiliary techniques, flying sand-type magical treasures are considered useless in the cultivation world.

The three Lei people were willing to collect this Black Star Sand Essence because it had already been refined by the beast and could be used directly as a magical treasure, saving the intermediate refining process. Therefore, it could still be traded for some items in the cultivation market. If Qian Xing wanted it, they could even teach him the method of refining flying sand-type magical treasures.

Qian Xing thought for a moment and was overjoyed, expressing his gratitude!