Chapter 191 - Ice-Armored Ancient Insect
A burning sensation was suddenly felt from his Eyes of the Divine Battle Spirit, as if his eyes had caught fire.
“This is…”
Qin Nan’s face was filled with shock.
It was his first time encountering such a situation since he had awakened the Eyes of the Divine Battle Spirit.
This burning sensation did not last long, as his eyes returned to their calm state after roughly ten breaths’ time. That being said, Qin Nan’s thoughts were still incredibly shaken.
“Strange, that was very strange. Why would the Eyes of the Divine Battle Spirit turn so hot all of a sudden? The Eyes of the Divine Battle Spirit are capable of peeking at Heaven and Earth, there’s nothing they can not see through—they’re extremely powerful. There must be a reason behind that burning sensation. Could it be that the strange behavior is related to the Longhu Phenomenon?”
Qin Nan’s face was filled with a stern look.
He had been struck by lightning previously at the Longhu Mountain Range, granting him the Divine Battle Spirit.
He initially assumed it to be a coincidence, but the burning sensation a moment ago, and the appearance of the Longhu Phenomenon, were possibly hints that the Divine Battle Spirit and the Longhu Mountain Range shared some mysterious connections.
“Screw it, I should focus on completing the missions from Princess Miao Miao. After doing so, I can then freely hunt the beasts, while discovering the secrets of the strange behavior of the Eyes of the Divine Battle Spirit!”
Qin Nan pondered for a moment, and swiftly made up his mind, before he advanced deeper into the Mountain Range.
……
……
“Head west three hundred meters.”
“Head south three hundred steps, and there will be three ancient trees.”
Head northwest three hundred meters, and cross the river.”
“……”
Qin Nan advanced forward while holding the map in his hand.
Along the journey, he did stumble into many beasts, but they were merely Body-Tempering beasts, hence he bypassed them straight away as he had no interest in them.
“Only two miles left, I’ll arrive pretty soon.” Qin Nan mumbled to himself.
Following this, his figure turned blurry and flashed rapidly. After around ten breaths’ time, he finally arrived at the location of the Stone of the Abyss.
Not far from Qin Nan stood a small hill covered in wild grass due to an unknown number of years being exposed to the weather, leaving countless stains on it. Occasionally, huge flying beasts could be seen landing on the hill to take a short rest.
There was nothing special about the small hill.
“Eyes of the Divine Battle Spirit!”
Qin Nan’s eyes emitted an arcane light, which instantly penetrated the small hill.
With a glimpse, Qin Nan’s face was filled with a hint of surprise.
In his sight, inside the small ordinary-looking hill existed a huge amount of energy. The energy could be seen emitting from the center, represented by colorful lights, which resembled a radiant lotus throne.
Within the light resembling a lotus throne, was a purple stone with the size of a thumb.
The stone was no doubt extraordinary, emitting a stream of marvelous force which penetrated the ground through the small hill, like a tree spreading its roots, continuously absorbing the essence of strength from the ground.
“So this is the Stone of the Abyss. Legend says that this stone is a must to forge Houtian Weapons. If I were to have this stone, I would be able to awaken the Seven Deadly Sins, transforming them back into Houtian Weapons to display their strengths. Besides, this stone has a value of at least three hundred thousand Martial Emperor Pills, or even more!”
Qin Nan’s felt his heart start to beat rapidly.
“Screw it, no use having extra thoughts since I’ve promised the Princess. I should retrieve the stone at once!”
Qin Nan shook his head to restrain the extra thoughts in his heart, as his eyes turned sharp with a kick off the ground.
Behind him, the Seven Deadly Sins began to buzz while emitting Saber Intent. One of the ancient sabers then produced a loud bang and flew out from its sheath before landing in front of Qin Nan.
The ancient saber was known as Avaritia.
“Slash!”
Following the shout, Qin Nan grabbed the ancient saber Avaritia with his hand as the Greater Success Stage of the Arcane Realm burst out from his body, emitting a powerful Saber Intent, while he leapt into the air and slashed at the small hill!
BANG!
With a loud bang, the entire hill exploded in half after receiving the slash. Countless rocks were fired toward its surroundings, exposing the Stone of the Abyss.
Qin Nan’s figure did not show any hesitation, as he went up and reached out his hand trying to grab the Stone of the Abyss.
However, at that instant, a rare sight took place. The Stone of the Abyss emitted an even brighter seven-colored light and began to buzz, before it instantly soared into the air and escaped from Qin Nan’s reach, as if it had grown a pair of wings.
“Hmm? As expected of the Stone of the Abyss, to possess a certain level of intelligence, allowing Houtian Weapons to be forged.”
Qin Nan’s eyes flickered with excitement, as a grin appeared on his face.
He had battled against Marshal Beasts and geniuses previously, but this was his first time trying to capture a rare material.
“Mystical Eight Steps!”
An incredible speed instantly exploded from Qin Nan’s body, like a flash of lightning, allowing him to catch up to the Stone of the Abyss in just a few breaths’ time.
The Stone of the Abyss vibrated even more vigorously, as if it was trying to execute a killing blow, but Qin Nan—who was aware of its intention—swiftly grabbed the ancient saber Ira from his back without hesitation. He held the two ancient sabers forming a cross and fired a terrifying Saber Intent crushing down toward the Stone of the Abyss.
BANG BANG BANG!
After a series of explosions, the Stone of the Abyss finally returned to its calm state, as if it had given up on resisting.
“That’s more like it.” Qin Nan nodded his head in satisfaction, and reached out his hand to grab the Stone of the Abyss again.
At that moment, a strange red light flashed across the surface of the Stone of the Abyss, which escaped from the stone toward the woods, as if it was some sort of message transmission.
“Hmm?”
Qin Nan frowned his eyebrows slightly.
It was his first time battling a rare material, hence he had no idea the meaning behind the red light. However, he did not overthink it as he swiftly reached out his hand and grabbed the Stone of the Abyss, placing it inside his storage bag.
What the Stone of the Abyss tried to do was no longer his concern, as long as he caught it.
Before Qin Nan left the scene, a rapid buzzing sound could be heard from his back all of a sudden.
Qin Nan turned around and was stunned after a glimpse.
In his sights was an insect as big as a skull, covered in a thick layer of icy armor, staring at him with a pair of reddened eyes which was approaching Qin Nan at a fast speed, flapping its sixteen pairs of copper-colored wings while revealing its sharp fangs with a murderous aura.
“Ice-armored Ancient Insect? The Guardian Beast of the Stone of the Abyss?”
Qin Nan was startled, before coming up with an explanation.
Every rare material, since it came into being, would be guarded by some sort of beasts known as Guardian Beasts.
This Ice-armored Ancient Insect before him was quite a well-known beast, thoroughly covered in a layer of icy armor, difficult to be harmed physically. Although it only possessed a strength of the third-layer Xiantian Realm, its defense and speed were relatively outstanding, giving it the ability to face opponents of the fourth-layer Xiantian Realm.
Not only that, if a nest of these Ice-armored Ancient Insects were to attack, it would result in greater damage. Even an eighth-layer Xiantian Realm expert would flee for his life facing them.
That being said, Ice-armored Ancient Insects had their own weakness. It was extremely vulnerable to fire. If one were to attack with flames, even a first-layer Xiantian Realm cultivator could slay it with ease.
“What a surprise to find an Ice-armored Ancient Insect to be the Guardian Beast of the Stone of the Abyss. If that’s the case, I’m more than happy to accept your sacrifice, since I’m trying to collect Beast Cores too.” Qin Nan uttered a loud laugh, as he gathered his Saber Intent and prepared himself to slay the Ice-armored Ancient Insect.
At that instant, another surprising event took place.
A loud buzzing noise could be heard from a distance away, which caused the ground to tremble and the trees to collapse.
“What is happening?”
Qin Nan frowned who then unleashed his Eyes of the Divine Battle Spirit and observed the scene.
With a glimpse, his expression stiffened. It was not only a single Ice-armored Ancient Insect, but a total of three hundred of them!