Zhang Ling looked at the Ice Fire Jade in his hand, which no longer had any spiritual power, and still put it away with a backhand.
Then he searched the stone cave again, hoping to find something even bigger.
In the blink of an eye, more than a quarter of an hour passed. He explored several passages, and there were traces of monks' activities in these passages. Moreover, these passages were also very unusual. Most of them extended downwards, and the further down, the heavier the cold air became, which was very unusual.
However, after looking all the way, there were still some discoveries. Several more remains of human monks were found, but no storage bags were found either. However, next to the remains, he found some mining tools such as picks and hoes.
These things were all low-level magical instruments, obviously used to mine spirit stone mines. This made Zhang Ling a little surprised. Could there be a spirit stone mine here?
There are not only many stone caves here, but also long ones, winding and winding, and it is impossible to explore the end for a while. After exploring for a little while, he returned the same way. The time agreed upon by the few people earlier was also approaching.
When the few people gathered together again and talked about their respective discoveries, the others found something similar to Zhang Ling. They found some remains of monks in the passages, but there was nothing of value.
"This concubine has made some discoveries, please take a look, everyone."
Only Madam Cao smiled charmingly, and a small square jade box appeared in her hand with a flash of white light.
With a snap, the jade box was opened, and a purple-black pill was placed inside. Everyone immediately smelled a medicinal fragrance.
Foundation Establishment Pill!
Looking at the purple-black pill, they all recognized it. This was actually a Foundation Establishment Pill.
"It seems that the spiritual power is well preserved. It is a water-attribute Foundation Establishment Pill." Fire Dragon Taoist stared at the Foundation Establishment Pill in the box and couldn't help but chuckle.
In the Flowing Cloud Sea cultivation world, the best auxiliary elixir for Qi refining to advance to Foundation Establishment is also the Foundation Establishment Pill.
The only difference is that the Foundation Establishment Pills here are mostly refined using monster beast inner pills as the main material, so there is a clear distinction in attributes.
And taking the Foundation Establishment Pill of the same attribute has a higher breakthrough effect than ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills.
Zhang Ling also took a look, but he did not pay attention to the Foundation Establishment Pill, but was still looking at the box containing the pill. This box was actually carved from a piece of Ice Fire Jade.
"Brother Fire Dragon, this box is not ordinary." Yangshan Old Taoist suddenly said leisurely with a bright look in his eyes. He also instantly saw the difference in the box.
"What's so strange about the jade box? Oh, this is a piece of Ice Fire Jade. Judging from the quality, it is also close to a mid-grade Ice Fire Jade."
After a reminder from Fire Dragon Taoist, he also discovered the flame spiritual patterns on the jade box. With a frown, he also recognized that it was made of Ice Fire Jade.
"Everyone, this was found on a skeleton in the passage just now. I have carefully checked the skeleton, and its cultivation level was definitely not too high before its death, possibly only Qi refining cultivation." Madam Cao said, glancing at a few people, and then said in a low voice.
"I think you have all discovered that those skeletons are all monks, and according to their condition. Don't you have any discoveries at all?"
As Madam Cao spoke, she glanced at Yangshan Old Taoist.
"Hmph, this old man also found a dozen skeletons. According to the relics, it is very likely that there is a spiritual mine."
"Could there be an Ice Fire Jade mine here?"
For a time, several Golden Core stage(金丹: Golden Core) monks began to speculate.
However, they had not finished exploring all the passages just now. If they continued to explore, this guess might really be possible.
"Several seniors, Master Chen already has a method to break the restriction."
At this moment, a bald man walked over. This was one of the remaining Foundation Establishment stage(筑基: Foundation Establishment) monks.
"Haha, let's not guess randomly. Now let's break the restriction first and enter the building complex." Yangshan Old Taoist greeted everyone and approached Chen Qing and several other Foundation Establishment stage(筑基: Foundation Establishment) monks.
Zhang Ling and the others exchanged glances and followed closely.
Then Chen Qing told them about the formation restriction here. The mask shimmering with cold light in front of them was a formation formed relying on the underground Yin Meridian.
Fortunately, they had already seen a formation eye of this formation. They needed the cooperation of several Golden Core stage(金丹: Golden Core) monks to open a gap.
Immediately, Chen Qing directed the remaining Foundation Establishment stage(筑基: Foundation Establishment) monks to take out the formation plates and formation flags and directly insert them nearby. Then he took out a triangular formation plate himself.
This formation plate was jet black, like a piece of black iron, with cyan spiritual patterns engraved on it. Under Chen Qing's control, the formation plate floated in the air and spun around. Then other formation flags also emitted various spiritual lights and hit it.
A crackling sound rang out, and the triangular formation plate split into several triangular black iron pieces and stuck to the light wall.
Zhang Ling and the others immediately injected spiritual power into these triangular iron pieces. Chen Qing activated the stone pieces, and a crackling sound was made. The cyan spiritual lights on them were like lightning, but what was gathered was not lightning-attribute spiritual power, but ordinary five elements spiritual power.
They saw those iron pieces quickly spin, turning into several black lights, forming a black halo on the white light curtain, constantly cutting.
This scene lasted for half a quarter of an hour. The white light curtain kept shaking, and a circular gap of about ten feet was formed. Although the gap was extremely unstable, Zhang Ling and the others immediately passed through it.
After entering, the black iron pieces on the light curtain were ejected back all at once, turning into a triangular formation plate again. And the gap that had just been entered quickly generated a layer of cold mist, which healed in an instant.
At this moment, everyone was looking at the situation inside. Zhang Ling released his divine sense and swept it roughly.
The ground under his feet was covered with thick dust, and he could still smell the decaying smell in the air. This place had been closed for a long time.
This was a small town with an area of two or three hundred feet, but most of the buildings were low stone houses and stone buildings. Only the central area had a black stone hall.
"Let's go, let's go to that stone hall first."
Yangshan Old Taoist walked swiftly towards the stone hall. After a while, the crowd passed through three or four streets and arrived at the bluestone square below the stone hall.
Looking up, the stone hall was dark and heavy. It looked like it was built of black stones, each about ten feet in size. The whole body was still emitting a faint black light, but the area was not large.
Zhang Ling swept upwards and immediately encountered great resistance. The outermost wall of this stone hall was actually built of Black Star Stone.
After walking up hundreds of steps, they arrived at the gate of the stone hall. At first glance, they saw a stone gate three feet high.
The stone gate was actually wide open, and it was foggy inside. There seemed to be no formation restriction here. But when divine sense was probed into it, it could only explore a range of twenty or thirty feet before being blocked.
Everyone did not hesitate and entered inside one after another, but the shields on their bodies were all opened, and the magic weapons and instruments in their hands were ready to deal with danger at any time.
The crisp sound of footsteps echoed in the stone hall. Yangshan Old Taoist glanced at the ground paved with purple jade stones and couldn't help but snorted.
"Hmph, it's Purple Blood Jade again."
The ground was glowing with a faint purple light, paved with the Purple Blood Jade that had just been seen, and at the same time, a layer of thin ice mist was floating up. The stone hall seemed a little dim, quiet, and cold.
The few people walked inside, as if walking in an ancient relic. Fortunately, Purple Blood Jade can only play a role by absorbing the blood of living beings, so everyone was not worried.
Everyone carefully explored inside, and suddenly they heard a strange clattering sound next to their ears. Instantly, several people observed dozens of black shadows attacking them.
Yangshan Old Taoist, who was walking in the front, was the first to be attacked. In front of him, two tall black shadows pounced on him. This old Taoist was very strong. He just flicked the whisk lightly, and suddenly threw out seven or eight blue light balls.
With two loud bangs, the two black shadows were directly blown away. The other people were also attacked by one or several black shadows.
Zhang Ling, who was on the left, also encountered two black shadows. After roughly scanning with his divine sense, he found that these were two tall black panthers, attacking extremely fast.
The two black panthers were not monster beasts, but iron-black puppet beasts. The black panthers made the sound of metal clashing between actions.
He did not show any expression either, and also lightly shook the cyan flying sword. A dozen sword lights brushed and attacked.
The cyan sword light cut on the two black panther puppet beasts, and suddenly the puppets turned into a pile of iron pieces and scattered on the ground.
These were not high-level puppets, but two second-level puppets, with strength equivalent to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage(筑基: Foundation Establishment).
In an instant, there was a burst of ping pong pong sounds around, various spiritual lights flashed, and they were surrounded by thirty to forty puppets.
These puppet beasts had roughly the same style. There were black panther puppet beasts with iron-black bodies, and more than a dozen basalt tortoise puppets with blue light all over their bodies. These tortoise-shaped puppets were two or three feet in size and moved slowly, but when their bodies flashed with blue light, they groped out large groups of ice mist. Under the rapid flow, ice thorns shot out to attack.
There was also a puppet that was red all over, a bat puppet. It looked like the blood bats they had encountered just now, but the size was much smaller, only a foot in size, flying in the sky, and scattered a large piece of fireballs to attack everyone.
Fortunately, the puppet beasts were all mid-level puppets of the second and third levels, only equivalent to the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage(筑基: Foundation Establishment), which was completely not enough to deal with their Golden Core stage(金丹: Golden Core) monks. In just a few breaths, these puppets were all beaten into pieces.
He had encountered low-level puppets in the stone cave above before, and now mid-level puppets appeared here again. Zhang Ling couldn't help but guess whether there was a master who was proficient in puppet art before.
In the cultivation world, this kind of mid-level puppet comparable to Foundation Establishment strength(筑基: Foundation Establishment), although not many, can also be bought. They can be purchased in some medium and large market shops, but the prices are not cheap.
A second-level puppet can be sold for thirty to forty thousand spirit stones. So many second-level puppets appeared just now, but they cannot be refined by ordinary monks.
If they are sold, it will cost even more, and even late-stage Golden Core stage(金丹: Golden Core) monks will not waste so many spirit stones.
Puppet beasts are also one of the hundred arts of cultivation, but they are very resource-intensive.
After solving the puppet beasts, everyone safely explored the stone hall. The space inside was not large, and it was explored in a short time. It seemed that there was nothing else here except the puppet beasts.
Only in the central location was there a circular altar with a diameter of ten feet, engraved with some strange spiritual patterns.
These spiritual patterns were half light blue and half light red. They formed a strange Tai Chi graphic. They could feel that there was a weak fire spiritual energy and ice cold energy on it.
Several people gathered next to it and kept looking at it. Chen Qing took out the formation plate, formation flags, and other things, and studied the altar.
Zhang Ling and the others also communicated. They had explored this place several times, and only this altar was a bit strange. If there were really treasures, it was likely to be related to this altar.
For their Golden Core stage(金丹: Golden Core) monks, this treasure hunt was not smooth. They had not found anything useful, and their faces were not very good-looking.
Everyone hoped that this altar could bring them unexpected surprises.
After half a cup of tea, Chen Qing found out that this altar was a very small teleportation array, with a teleportation distance of roughly only a hundred miles.
According to Chen Qing, this teleportation array can be driven without placing spirit stones. The spiritual patterns on it are always kept on, and it is driven by the underground ice cold energy and fire spiritual energy.
After discussing a few sentences, everyone stood on the teleportation array. This kind of small teleportation array is built in some medium and large forces or sects. It can be teleported without the help of teleportation symbols, and there is no great danger.
After activating the teleportation array, the few people disappeared in a layer of red and blue spiritual light.
...
The light and shadow in his eyes were heavy, full of translucent crystal walls. Weak light could illuminate a large area nearby. This seemed to be an ice cave. The upper, lower, left, and right sides were all translucent jade stones, which looked very gorgeous.
The few people teleported to this place and were looking around.
"Haha, our previous guess was indeed correct. This is an Ice Fire Jade mine. Even if there are no other gains this time, these Ice Fire Jade are enough for us to make a fortune." Fire Dragon Taoist was looking at a protruding jade stone several feet long in front of him and laughed loudly.
The jade stone in front of him looked very irregular, showing an ice-blue color, but it was covered with some ice-blue patterns, flashing flame patterns of red spiritual light. It was a low-grade Ice Fire Jade, surrounded by ice cold spiritual power and red fire spiritual light.
Although it was only a low-grade Ice Fire Jade, there were many such jade stones with flame patterns in this ice cave.
Just by scanning with Zhang Ling's divine sense, he found more than a dozen Ice Fire Jade. This density was obviously an Ice Fire Jade spirit mine. Perhaps many mid-grade Ice Fire Jade could be found in the depths. If it were mined, the value would be considerable.
However, there was not much joy in his heart. Although Ice Fire Jade was somewhat valuable, it could only be exchanged for many ordinary resources.
For monks of their level, ordinary resources have little value.
Of course, another person who looked happy when he saw these Ice Fire Jade was Yangshan Old Taoist. He was an elder of a small sect. An Ice Fire Jade mine was a great wealth for their small sect.
The old Taoist glanced at the expressions of the crowd, and also put away his expression and said. "Brother Fire Dragon is right, the Ice Fire Jade mine is also a wealth for us. But let's explore this place again first. If there are no other discoveries, let's discuss how to allocate this mine."
