Chapter 72

"Indeed, it is a demonic beast that is born from the intersection of the Dark Rift and the Abyssal Magma, struck by countless lightning bolts. It is an extremely rare electric-type demonic beast in this world. I have only heard of it, but have never seen one." Dongfang Niemie said.

Yang Dingtian was instantly stunned!

The final requirement for the Five Elements Yin-Yang Array is an electric-type demon core. Neither Dongfang Niemie nor Ximen Ningning knew where to find an electric-type demonic beast, and they never imagined that there would be one beneath the Terror Manor.

It must be understood that electric-type demonic beasts are extremely rare in the entire world. Their living environment is too special and unique, requiring at least three things:

Fire, dark energy, and lightning!

Therefore, every electric-type demonic beast becomes an absolute treasure, attracting countless people to hunt them, but no one expected that there would be an electric-type night owl beast inside Zhao Wujie's Terror Manor.

Zhao Wujie continued, "This thousand-year-old night owl was captured by ten great masters during the Yin-Yang Festival three hundred years ago, when the night owl was weak, and then it was sealed in the magma abyss." Zhao Wujie continued, "Then my ancestors built the Terror Manor on this land, hoping to subdue the night owl as a martial spirit one day, but no one has succeeded in three hundred years. Four days later, the two moons will cover the two suns, and the world will be plunged into darkness. All dark creatures will instantly become powerful. The night owl is the king of dark creatures, and the seal can normally hold it, but on the Yin-Yang Festival, its energy surges tenfold. Although it can only last for a while, it will be very weak for the next six months. But even for that short while, it is enough to destroy the entire Terror Manor, and even all the forces within a few hundred miles will suffer from its devastating attack."

"Yang Dingtian, will you fulfill a father's last request and deliver this message to my son at the Terror Manor? Tell him to leave immediately." Zhao Wujie said, "I will return the Flame Feather and the two Blood Black Golds to you."

With that, Zhao Wujie used his last strength to throw the Flame Feather and Blood Black Golds over.

Then, Zhao Wujie added, "I am sorry for destroying your demon core just now. Please forgive my previous rudeness and go to the Terror Manor to make my son leave."

"I'll try," Yang Dingtian said.

"Good, thank you, thank you..." Zhao Wujie trembled as he took out a jade pendant, "Give this jade pendant to my son, and he will believe what you say."

Yang Dingtian slowly walked over to take the jade pendant from his hand.

Suddenly, he stopped, "Zhao Wujie, what is in your other hand? Is it a poison needle? You have no mystic energy left, yet you still want to kill me."

Zhao Wujie's face suddenly changed, becoming incredibly fierce. He abruptly threw the poison needle in his hand at Yang Dingtian.

Yang Dingtian easily dodged.

"I'll kill you, I'll kill you..."

"You come and join me in death, join me in death..."

"I will die with you, come here, come here..."

Zhao Wujie screamed madly, waving his hands like a devil. Suddenly, all his movements froze, and he let out a series of rapid breaths before his body crashed to the ground, dead!

******

Yang Dingtian did not immediately go over. He waited for several minutes to confirm that Zhao Wujie was dead before walking over and using a bag to pick up the jade pendant from his hand.

Yang Dingtian stared at Zhao Wujie's corpse for a moment, thinking, "Is the night owl he mentioned real or not?"

However, now was not the time to think about this. He needed to leave as soon as possible. Yang Dingtian turned and left the crystal mine.

Passing by the place where forty-nine Blood Black Golds were buried, Yang Dingtian hesitated for a moment but did not dig them out and take them away. Without the mystic fire, he could not forge a sword, and the Blood Black Golds would be useless.

"Child, take these dozens of Blood Black Golds out," Dongfang Niemie suddenly said.

Yang Dingtian asked in confusion, "Aren't the Blood Black Golds useless if taken out now?"

Dongfang Niemie explained, "Before forging a soul sword, you need to use a small amount of Blood Black Gold to forge a proto-sword. Then, carry this proto-sword into battle, allowing your aura and the sword's aura to blend. In the future, when you obtain the mystic fire, use this proto-sword as the seed, along with the remaining nine hundred Blood Black Golds, and forge them with the mystic fire. Only then can you forge a perfect soul sword."

Yang Dingtian said, "Didn't you say that only the mystic fire can forge Blood Black Gold?"

"Only the mystic fire can completely melt the Blood Black Gold, removing impurities and leaving only the essence, forging a true perfect soul sword," Dongfang Niemie said. "For example, forging a perfect sword requires 999 Blood Black Golds, weighing nearly 20,000 pounds. After being refined by the mystic fire, it weighs less than 100 pounds, with 99.5% of the weight burned away. Such a sword is incredibly powerful and can nurture an incredibly powerful sword soul."

Yang Dingtian was amazed. The Blood Black Golds in his hand were already all metal, seemingly free of impurities, but he never expected that after being refined by the mystic fire, only 5% of the essence remained. Yang Dingtian could not imagine how astonishing such a perfect, imperial-grade sword would be when forged.

"The proto-sword doesn't need to be so refined. Without the mystic fire, just find a powerful earth fire to melt the Blood Black Gold and then re-form it into a proto-sword," Dongfang Niemie said. "However, the proto-swords forged by earth fire are very rough and heavy. Forty-five Blood Black Golds, when forged with an extremely strong earth fire, would weigh about 200 pounds. If you can't find the strongest earth fire, a proto-sword weighing 700 to 800 pounds is possible."

"Master, with the same amount of Blood Black Golds, does a lighter sword mean a more powerful one?" Yang Dingtian asked.

"Of course," Dongfang Niemie said. "The lighter the sword, the fewer impurities, the purer the quality, and the more powerful the fiery energy it contains. However, without the mystic fire, forty-five Blood Black Golds, weighing 900 pounds in total, can only be forged to a limit of 100 pounds for a proto-sword."

"Does the proto-sword have a mystic energy boost?" Yang Dingtian asked.

"Of course. With the power of 45 Blood Black Golds, a top-tier proto-sword weighing 200 pounds has a 10% mystic energy boost, and an ultimate proto-sword weighing 100 pounds has a 20% boost," Dongfang Niemie said. "However, that's for ordinary Blood Black Golds. Your Blood Black Golds are ten thousand years old and could double the effect."

"So, it's about 30-40%?" Yang Dingtian exclaimed. "Ximen Shifu obtained a sword from a secret realm, which is already a top-grade divine weapon. The mystic energy attack boost is only 30-40%. A rough proto-sword made from ten thousand-year-old Blood Black Golds can have a 30-40% boost?"

"Of course, this is ten thousand-year-old Blood Black Gold, a supreme treasure of heaven and earth," Dongfang Niemie said. "Even as a proto-sword, it is already a famous sword in the world."

Yang Dingtian couldn't help but ask, "Master, what about a perfect soul sword forged from Blood Black Golds? What is the mystic energy attack boost? What about an imperial-grade one?"

"A perfect soul sword can have a 99% mystic energy attack boost, but no one knows about an imperial-grade one," Dongfang Niemie said. "However, by then, the mystic energy attack boost won't be the most important; mystic skills and the sword soul will be."

"For you, the most important thing about this proto-sword is to serve as the seed for future perfect sword forging, with the mystic energy boost being secondary," Dongfang Niemie said. "As long as it doesn't affect its use too much."

"Master, where can I find an earth fire to forge the proto-sword?" Yang Dingtian asked. "Is there one nearby?"

"Of course not. To melt ten thousand-year-old Blood Black Golds, you need a very powerful earth fire, at least an 8th or 9th-grade earth fire," Dongfang Niemie said. "It's like the heat of a mountain-sized magma condensed into a basin-sized flame."

Yang Dingtian was astonished. "The earth fire sounds extremely powerful. What's the difference between earth fire and mystic fire?"

"Earth fire is dead and cannot be refined into heart fire. Mystic fire is alive and can be refined into heart fire, which is the most important thing for a high-level martial artist, not inferior to mystic energy. An 8th or 9th-grade earth fire, though extremely powerful, has less than 1% of the energy of a mystic fire. For example, a 9th-grade earth fire might be found in a 3,000-mile area, but a mystic fire might not be found in a 10,000-mile area."

"So, almost all martial artists only refine fire-type demonic beasts into their heart fire. A few top-tier experts might have the chance to refine earth mystic fire as heart fire, but as for mystic fire, it's purely a matter of fate," Dongfang Niemie continued.

Yang Dingtian was amazed. It seemed that the path to a perfect soul sword was incredibly difficult. Even forging a proto-sword was so challenging.

"Where there is an unrefined mystic fire, I don't know, but I have some clues. However, I know of a top-grade earth fire that can help you forge a proto-sword. It's on Xilin Island, 8,000 miles away, where there is a Fire Cloud Demon Cave with a top-grade earth fire."

"That earth fire blooms every ten years, for less than an hour each time. The next bloom should be in four months," Dongfang Niemie said. "Once you reach 5th-grade Mystic Warrior, I will take you to that earth fire to forge the most top-tier proto-sword."

5th-grade Mystic Warrior, in four months!

"That depends on the breakthrough during the Yin-Yang Festival. If I can successfully break through to 6th-grade Mystic Warrior, I am confident I can reach 5th-grade Mystic Warrior within four months," Yang Dingtian said.

...

Since he needed to forge a proto-sword, Yang Dingtian had to take the forty-five Blood Black Golds out. However, he couldn't take them all at once. Forty-five Blood Black Golds weigh 900 pounds, and it was impossible to carry them all through the 200-meter unfrozen water pool in one go.

So, Yang Dingtian took nine Blood Black Golds each time, making five trips to transport all forty-five Blood Black Golds. This back-and-forth took nearly an hour.

By now, the sun should be setting, and Ningning must be waiting anxiously.

After moving all the ten thousand-year-old Blood Black Golds, Yang Dingtian had one more task. He needed to find the last four-legged cold snake that had hidden itself and hunt its demon core. The ice-type and metal-type demon cores he had obtained earlier were destroyed by Zhao Wujie.

With three Blood Black Golds in his pocket, he jumped back into the unfrozen water pool, as this was the only way to withstand the cold.

However, after searching several times, the four-legged cold snake was nowhere to be found. Even in the deepest part, Yang Dingtian searched, freezing to the point of stiffness, but still, he didn't see the cold snake.

Clearly, it hadn't gone far and must have hidden in a crevice. The unfrozen water pool wasn't small, and Yang Dingtian could only endure for about ten minutes each time, so he needed to find it quickly to get the ice-type demon core.

So, Yang Dingtian came up with a plan: play dead! He believed the cold snake had noticed him and might be watching.

After deciding to play dead, Yang Dingtian suddenly shivered in the water, then stiffened his limbs, floated motionless, and slowly rose to the surface, appearing to be dead.

Three minutes passed.

Five minutes passed.

The cold snake still didn't appear.

Ten minutes passed, and the cold snake still didn't show up?

Yang Dingtian, floating on the surface, was extremely anxious. Had the cold snake not noticed him, or was it too cunning?

If the cold snake didn't appear in another ten minutes, he would have to try another method.

Just then, a sudden ripple in the water appeared. An ice-blue snake shot out like a slingshot from somewhere, opening its mouth wide and lunging at Yang Dingtian.

Though it was a low-level demonic beast, it was incredibly cunning. It had feared that Yang Dingtian was faking his death and only attacked after about ten minutes. Its hatred for Yang Dingtian was intense, and as it lunged, its mouth opened wide, revealing sharp fangs.

Just as the cold snake was about to bite Yang Dingtian, he suddenly sprang up, and the Flame Feather in his hand shot out like lightning, piercing the snake's mouth. He then slashed and chopped, severing the snake's head and digging out its demon core in the water before jumping to the shore.

"Fortunately, there was still one cold snake. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known what to do with the ice-type demon core." Yang Dingtian examined the ice-type demon core, feeling relieved to have it back.

"I need to get out quickly. Ningning must be waiting anxiously." Yang Dingtian put the ice-type demon core in his pocket, picked up the bag of Blood Black Golds, climbed out of the mine, and headed outside.

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