84: Sword Intent Canyon

This long, narrow canyon was about a thousand meters long, and its rock walls were incredibly smooth, as if they had been polished.

Although Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue were suspended in mid-air outside the canyon, the sharp aura emanating from the gorge gave both of them a strong sense of danger.

"This must have been sliced open by a single sword strike from a powerful Sword Cultivator, and that Sword Cultivator must have comprehended Geng Metal Sword Intent!"

Lin Luoxue felt the aura overflowing from the canyon and analyzed the situation, her eyes full of reverence.

Sword Intent is also divided into grades. Although the Golden Thunder Sword Intent comprehended by Lin Luoxue has special effects in suppressing evil,

in terms of Sword Intent itself, it can only be considered a low-grade Sword Intent. Geng Metal Sword Intent, however, is considered one of the stronger types of Middle Stage Sword Intent.

"To be able to cut out a canyon this long, that Sword Cultivator must have been at least a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator." Zhang Daobai felt a deep sense of shock upon seeing this.

"I want to stay here and comprehend the remaining Sword Intent inside. It might take some time."

Lin Luoxue looked at Zhang Daobai expectantly, seeking his opinion.

"If it benefits you, then go ahead. I'm not in a hurry anyway." Zhang Daobai nodded in agreement without hesitation.

Seeing Zhang Daobai agree, Lin Luoxue flew toward the canyon, while Zhang Daobai remained still.

Zhang Daobai was fully aware of his own talent for the Dao of the Sword; it was basically impossible for him to comprehend Geng Metal Sword Intent in a short time, so he did not plan to go in.

Zhang Daobai then released White Moon and its colony, leaving a portion of the Mist Concealing Worms here to guard Lin Luoxue while she comprehended the Sword Intent.

The rest of the Mist Concealing Worms were dispersed to search for treasures like Spirit Medicine, spirit plants, and Ore.

Just then, Zhang Daobai suddenly thought of something and snatched You Ying off his shoulder.

"Have you already scoured this Secret Realm?" Zhang Daobai asked, staring into You Ying's eyes.

"I just ate some Spirit Medicine while looking for Yao Beasts, but there's still a lot left!" You Ying said, its gaze flickering as it avoided eye contact.

"Only Grade Three and below are left?" Zhang Daobai guessed roughly.

"Something like that," You Ying replied vaguely, tilting its head.

"But don't worry, there wasn't much Spirit Medicine in this Secret Realm to begin with. I only ate about a dozen stalks," You Ying quickly added.

"Next time, remember to tell me beforehand. Don't act on your own."

Zhang Daobai wasn't angry that You Ying ate so much Spirit Medicine; he was angry that You Ying acted on its own initiative and didn't even plan on telling him.

"Definitely next time," You Ying nodded quickly upon hearing this.

Zhang Daobai hadn't held much hope for Spirit Medicine or spirit plants when he saw how desolate the Secret Realm was, and now he had completely given up.

However, the lack of Spirit Medicine and spirit plants didn't mean there weren't other valuable treasures.

"Now, go underground in this Secret Realm and look for Ore or anything else valuable," Zhang Daobai immediately ordered You Ying.

Upon hearing this, You Ying eagerly vanished from Zhang Daobai's hand.

"What exactly happened in this Secret Realm? It looks like it went through a massive battle."

Zhang Daobai hovered in mid-air, looking down at the scarred plain below. He could tell at a glance that a great battle had taken place here.

He even suspected that the desolation of this Secret Realm was a result of that great battle.

Zhang Daobai flew down to the plain and extended his Divine Sense to sweep the area below.

Since a great battle occurred here, there should be some clues remaining on the plain below.

Sure enough, after a short while, Zhang Daobai's Divine Sense scanned an anomaly.

Zhang Daobai then descended from the air and arrived at the bottom of a massive pit.

Looking down from above, the giant pit seemed to have been violently smashed by a massive fist, and a huge fist print remained at the bottom.

Looking at the fist print, Zhang Daobai estimated that if he took a hit like that, he wouldn't just be bruised—he'd be scattered everywhere.

Zhang Daobai then went to the center of the pit, took out a Spirit Sword, and began digging into the ground.

Soon, he dug up a piece of metal. After pulling it out, he realized it was a fragment of a Spirit Sword, and it was Spiritual Artifact grade.

Feeling the residual Geng Metal Sword Intent on it, Zhang Daobai immediately turned his head toward the Sword Intent Canyon.

"It seems this Spiritual Artifact fragment was left by the person who carved out that canyon. But who could shatter even a Spiritual Artifact?"

Looking at the huge fist print at the bottom of the pit, Zhang Daobai couldn't help but once again feel the profound power of Cultivators.

Although this Spiritual Artifact fragment was only palm-sized, the Materials used were very precious, so Zhang Daobai still put it away.

Afterward, Zhang Daobai continued using his Divine Sense to search this battlefield.

Soon, Zhang Daobai found various fragments on the battlefield: cracked armor fragments, a Spiritual Artifact spear with a broken shaft, and a severed hand that hadn't decayed at all despite countless years... Zhang Daobai picked up the pale golden severed hand in mid-air, his heart filled with shock.

If he hadn't been able to see clear blood vessels and bone patterns on this hand, he might have even suspected it was a special Spiritual Artifact.

A severed hand, broken off countless years ago, still had a hardness comparable to a Spiritual Artifact today. This was enough to show just how powerful the owner of this hand must have been.

"Eye of Appraisal."

Zhang Daobai immediately activated the Eye of Appraisal and looked at the severed hand, hoping to gain more information.

[Item: Arm]

[Details: Arm left behind by a Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator. It contains the power of Vajra and can yield two drops of essence blood. Used in Alchemy, it can greatly increase Physical Body strength.]

"Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator!"

Zhang Daobai couldn't help but exclaim as he looked at the information provided by the Eye of Appraisal.

He had originally thought it was left by a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator at most, but unexpectedly, it belonged to a Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator.

There were only two experts of this caliber even in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance outside, and they were perpetually in seclusion.

After calming his shock, Zhang Daobai was drawn to the subsequent information.

"Two drops of essence blood!"

Zhang Daobai's eyes lit up immediately when he saw the effects of the two drops of essence blood.

Body Cultivators are powerful, but the Body Refining process is extremely difficult. Although Zhang Daobai wanted to Body Refine, he had yet to start.

But now, with these two drops of essence blood from a Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator, once refined into a Medicinal Pill,

it could elevate his Physical Body to at least the High Grade Magical Artifact level, if not Magic Treasure level, saving him a significant amount of time and effort.

Thinking of this, Zhang Daobai looked at the golden severed hand in his grasp with fiery anticipation.

Although using human blood for Cultivation was somewhat repulsive, the thought of a High Grade Magical Artifact level Physical Body made Zhang Daobai feel much better.

"Why is everything just fragments and remnants? There's nothing intact."

Zhang Daobai looked at the pile of Spiritual Artifact and Magic Treasure fragments in his storage ring, feeling that they were tasteless to eat but a shame to discard.

Just then, You Ying, who had been sent out to search for treasure, suddenly appeared before Zhang Daobai.

You Ying opened its mouth and spat out a piece of deep purple Ore, then asked, "How about this?"

"This is?"

Zhang Daobai picked up the Ore and carefully appraised it. He quickly confirmed that it was Purple Heart Ruyi Copper, a Tier 4 spiritual Ore with excellent ductility, which could be used to forge Middle Stage or High Grade defensive Magic Treasures.

"Not bad. Where did you find this Ore? How much is there?"

Zhang Daobai estimated its value, nodded contentedly, and asked.

"In a mountain over there, probably thirty to forty thousand pieces," You Ying said, pointing toward the left.

"Thirty to forty thousand pieces... One piece of Purple Heart Ruyi Copper weighs over a hundred jin. Thirty to forty thousand pieces would be about five hundred thousand jin. That barely qualifies as a miniature Ore vein."

Zhang Daobai weighed the Ore in his hand and roughly estimated.

Guided by You Ying, Zhang Daobai soon arrived at the foot of a mountain.

After confirming the location of the Ore vein halfway up the mountain, Zhang Daobai immediately took out a large amount of equipment from his storage ring.

This equipment was prepared by Zhang Daobai specifically for mining, so he could quickly excavate Ore after entering a Secret Realm later on.

Zhang Daobai first took out an earth-yellow ruler about a meter long. This Magical Artifact was called the earth-dividing ruler, and its function was to control and separate soil.

Zhang Daobai injected spiritual Qi into the earth-dividing ruler, then plunged it into the ground.

In the blink of an eye, using the earth-dividing ruler as a boundary, the soil on the ground quickly separated to the left and right, forming an opening three meters long and two meters wide.

Relying on the effect of the earth-dividing ruler, Zhang Daobai quickly and easily carved out a passage leading into the mountain.

"Clang!"

Before long, under the excavation of the earth-dividing ruler, Zhang Daobai successfully reached the Purple Heart Ruyi Copper Ore vein.

Zhang Daobai then spread his Divine Sense to scan the direction and reserves of the Ore vein.

After confirming the situation, Zhang Daobai took out the next tool: the mining puppet.

The mining puppet was an extension product of Puppet techniques, a minor Cultivation art. It looked humanoid, but its hands were claws similar to those of a pangolin.

Zhang Daobai had five of these mining puppets in total. Although they were only Tier 2 Puppets, excavating a miniature Ore vein was no problem.

After quickly activating the Puppets, Zhang Daobai walked out of the passage. The mining task could be left to them; he didn't need to supervise inside.

Once outside, Zhang Daobai looked at You Ying, who was currently lying on a rock.

"Is this the only Ore vein in the entire Secret Realm?"

"Hmm, there seem to have been others, but they look like they've already been mined," You Ying nodded upon hearing this.

"It seems this Secret Realm has probably been completely exploited," Zhang Daobai guessed with some regret.

But none of that mattered. As long as he had the heart of the secret realm, this trip wouldn't have been in vain.

"Right, was there only one stalk of geng metal sword grass in that canyon?" Zhang Daobai suddenly remembered something and asked.

"Just that one stalk. But there's also a golden skeleton inside the canyon. Judging by the aura, it was likely a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator when alive," You Ying replied, flicking its tail.

"A golden skeleton of a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator!"

Hearing this, Zhang Daobai suddenly thought of something and immediately took the severed hand out of his storage ring.

"Take a look. Is the aura on that golden skeleton the same as the one on this severed hand?"

You Ying looked at the severed hand, recalled for a moment, and nodded: "It's the same source."

That Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator is actually dead!

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhang Daobai's eyes. He hadn't expected a Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator to die in a Secret Realm like this.

Wait! If the Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator died, why does this severed hand show no signs of decay, while the body is reduced to just a skeleton?

Zhang Daobai looked at the severed hand in his hand, feeling puzzled.

"Do you need me to bring that skeleton out?" You Ying asked when it saw his expression.

"What? Can't you enter that canyon?"

Zhang Daobai realized the hidden meaning in You Ying's words and countered with a question.

"The further in you go into that canyon, the stronger the Sword Intent becomes. Even I can't stay inside for too long," You Ying nodded solemnly.

"Then I'll trouble you. Also, take a look to see if there are any other valuable things inside."

Zhang Daobai nodded upon hearing this, accepting You Ying's offer.

You Ying nodded and instantly vanished from the rock.

Zhang Daobai instructed the Mist Concealing Worms to release some Spirit Concealing Mist at the entrance of the cave, then followed them toward the Sword Intent Canyon.

Upon returning to the outside of the Sword Intent Canyon, Zhang Daobai found that Lin Luoxue had already entered the canyon.

However, she hadn't gone too deep, sitting down to Cultivate about a hundred meters in.

Soon, You Ying appeared mysteriously before Zhang Daobai and spat out a golden skeleton over two meters tall.

The moment the golden skeleton appeared, Zhang Daobai felt a terrifying aura emanating from it.

Furthermore, Zhang Daobai sensed a dense surge of Geng Metal Sword Intent on this golden skeleton.

If one looked closely, they would notice dense, hairline-thin scratches all over the golden skeleton.

These scratches didn't look deep, but one must remember that this golden skeleton was left by a Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator.

The fact that marks could be left on this skeleton suggested that it had endured the erosion of Sword Intent for a very long time.

Realizing this, Zhang Daobai somewhat understood why the corpse of the Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator was reduced to only a skeleton.

It must have been gradually worn away by the constant erosion of Geng Metal Sword Intent over time.

Looking at the skeleton missing one hand, Zhang Daobai was even more certain that the severed hand came from this golden skeleton.

Zhang Daobai then opened the Eye of Appraisal, wondering if essence blood could still be extracted from this golden skeleton.

[Item: Human Race Skeleton]

[Details: Skeleton left by a Mid-stage Soul Transformation Body Cultivator. The bone marrow contains a dense Vajra Concept and can yield six drops of essence blood. A remnant soul of a Middle Stage Soul Transformation Cultivator is sleeping in the skull.]

Sure enough! And six drops of essence blood!

Zhang Daobai looked at the appraisal information and couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile.