Chapter 689: The Mysterious Xuan Armor
Chapter 689: The Mysterious Xuan Armor
In the blink of an eye, another month had passed.
Lu Chen diligently refined the Scarlet Phoenix Bone within his body, and as time went on, he could distinctly feel his bones growing stronger and more ethereal.
On this day, he arrived at the back mountains of his cave abode.
The back mountains boasted a deep and mysterious green pool, its surface shrouded in a mist of spiritual energy.
Growing along the edges of the pool was the ice mist fruit, known for its pervasive chill, and nearby grew the ice firefly grass, snow barrier orchids, and other water-loving spiritual plants.
When Lu Chen first moved to his cave, the pool hadn't been very large, but over the years, he had expanded it from time to time. Now, at its widest point, the pool spanned nearly a hundred feet in diameter.
As he inspected the spiritual plants in the fields beside the pool, a rustling sound caught his attention. The Lihuo Jiao drilled out from the bottom of the pool, its body, spanning several feet in length, dancing around Lu Chen.
Lu Chen tossed it a freshly picked mystical peach.
Just as he was about to continue inspecting the plants, a muddy creature emerged from the water. It was the Yan Jia Gui, its shell caked in mud, looking like a small hill of dark green rocks. Moving at a speed that didn't seem fitting for its bulky form, it crawled towards Lu Chen.
From one corner of the pool, the Dragon Carp poked out half of its head, its eyes filled with anticipation as it looked in Lu Chen's direction.
The two companions in the pool, the Lihuo Jiao and the Yan Jia Gui, had innate bloodline suppression, and the Yan Jia Gui was also quite mischievous. As a result, the Dragon Carp, suffering from invisible bullying, could only dwell in a secluded corner, spending its days curled up in a nest it had dug for itself.
"There's enough for everyone," Lu Chen said, taking out some spiritual fruits and a large bottle of Beast Spirit Pills, dividing them evenly.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes falling on the Yan Jia Gui in the water, and he let out a soft exclamation.
"Is it about to advance to a fourth-grade demon beast?"
With his spiritual sense, Lu Chen perceived a sudden surge of energy within the Yan Jia Gui's body, and its shell, like dark green rocks, became even more solid.
This Yan Jia Gui had been obtained by Lu Chen years ago during a secluded sea mission for his sect. After nurturing it for so long, feeding it countless spiritual fruits and pills, and letting it soak in the pure and rich spiritual energy of his cave abode, it had finally advanced to the fourth grade.
The advancement from a third-grade to a fourth-grade demon beast wasn't a substantial leap, and with years of accumulation and Lu Chen's protection by its side, the process was not difficult for the Yan Jia Gui.
A small vortex of spiritual energy appeared around the Yan Jia Gui, and it frantically inhaled the swirling energy. After a moment, all the spiritual energy rushed into its body, and the giant dark green turtle let out a low roar, its voice filled with joy.
"Congratulations, little guy," Lu Chen said, looking at the Yan Jia Gui, which had increased in size by half and looked even more ferocious. He transmitted his thoughts to the beast.
[Yan Jia Gui, fourth-grade demon beast, possesses extremely strong defense, ranking among the top of its grade. It loves to collect sand and stones imbued with spiritual power and attach them to its shell, refining the shell to enhance its defensive capabilities.]
As these thoughts flashed through Lu Chen's mind, his gaze was drawn to a white light cluster that quietly emerged on the surface of the pool.
The light cluster flickered in and out of visibility within the misty vapors, emitting a soft glow.
Lu Chen's figure darted forward, and the light cluster silently exploded, forming countless tiny lights that scattered across the water's surface. Then, it transformed into an armor-like shadow that surged into Lu Chen's body.
At the same time, a thought flashed through his mind.
[The demon beast Yan Jia Gui has advanced to the fourth rank, and the fifth-rank magical artifact, the Xuan Gang Armor, has been obtained.]
As the thought faded, a silver-white soft armor appeared in Lu Chen's hand.
The soft armor was engraved with numerous talismans, their intricate connections forming intricate restrictions. It was unclear what material it was made of, but when held, one could sense that its texture was not particularly hard. Lu Chen gently pulled at it with force, but the armor remained undamaged.
Its defensive capabilities were evident, given the current strength of Lu Chen's physical body.
Lu Chen's consciousness focused on the silver-white soft armor.
[Xuan Gang Armor, a fifth-grade treasure, refined from the silk of thousand-year-old ice silkworms and various spiritual minerals and artifacts. It possesses formidable defensive power, and when subjected to intense impact, it can generate a layer of Gang Qi on its surface to deflect attacks.]
For the Rock-Armored Turtle to advance from a third-grade to a fourth-grade demon beast and yield a fifth-grade reward was already quite impressive, and he suspected that the generally more substantial rewards from demon beasts played no small part in it.
After all, compared to spiritual plants of the same grade, nurturing a demon beast required significantly more time, effort, and resources.
"However, the Xuan Gang Armor, though a fifth-grade artifact, isn't very useful to me at the moment."
With the sixth-grade Taishang Rouge, the seventh-grade fusion of the Scarlet Phoenix Bone, the body-forging cultivation technique he had been practicing, and the numerous spirit fruits he had consumed to enhance his physique, his physical strength was already beyond that of ordinary fifth-grade defensive treasures, and the Xuan Gang Armor offered him limited improvement.
Additionally, he already possessed a fifth-grade Qing Feng Feather Robe, which could defend against soul attacks, conceal his aura, and block divination techniques, making it particularly suitable for Lu Chen, who valued his seclusion.
"I'll find an opportunity to exchange it for a spirit seed, or I can sell it to a general store later on."
Lu Chen stored the silver-white soft armor away and made a mental note.
Passing by the pool and traversing the cliffs, the incessant ringing of swords reached his ears.
Lu Chen looked up and saw over twenty vines clinging to the rugged rocks, with seventy to eighty mottled green gourds swaying gently in the wind.
As they swayed, the sword auras within the gourds rippled unceasingly, as if they could burst out at any moment.
"Time for another large harvest of sword talismans."
Lu Chen smiled as he carefully plucked each of the sword-nourishing gourds.
Although the sword-nourishing gourds were only third-grade, they were highly sought after in the general store and could fetch a good number of spirit stones.
In the end, he left six gourd vines for seed condensation, harvesting the rest.
Soon, the vines were adorned with flickering white light clusters, nearly eighty of them.
"A bountiful harvest!"
Lu Chen's figure darted like a stream of light, and the eighty-plus light clusters shattered silently in quick succession, transforming into sword talisman phantoms that surged into his body.
Harvested a third-grade Sword-Nourishing Gourd, obtained a fourth-grade Great Sun Sword Talisman.
Harvested a third-grade Sword-Nourishing Gourd, obtained a fourth-grade Howling Sea Sword Talisman.
Harvested...
Thoughts flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern, and fourth-grade sword talismans, imbued with sword auras, appeared before Lu Chen's eyes.
The sword auras raged like relentless waves, hung high like the blazing sun, or streaked like meteors, unstoppable in their might...
"With over eighty fourth-grade sword talismans, I wonder if I could directly obliterate a cultivator in the early stages of the Golden Core realm," Lu Chen mused to himself.
"It's a pity that I no longer have access to the sword pond in Tian Jianzong; otherwise, I could try to lure and guide the Sword-Nourishing Gourd to evolve it further."
Lu Chen held a fondness for the Sword-Nourishing Gourd, as the fourth-grade sword talismans it produced were incredibly useful, which sparked his desire to improve this third-grade spiritual plant.
Unfortunately, his cave abode lacked a place similar to the sword pond in Tian Jianzong, giving him no clues on how to enhance it.
"Hmm, perhaps I can place the spirit seed of the Sword-Nourishing Gourd within the Xuan Jian Sheath and nurture it with the two fifth-grade sword techniques."
A sudden idea occurred to him.
(End of Chapter)
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