Chapter 397 - 254: Consecutive Treasures (2)

Chapter 397: Chapter 254: Consecutive Treasures (2)

Yu Fei immediately began preparing the Fallen God Finger for a second time. Even it wasn’t quite enough; his other techniques were likely completely useless.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Yu Fei sensed a Grandmaster heading in his direction. It seemed an encounter was now unavoidable.

He couldn’t help but grow anxious. ’After all, heavenly treasures belong to the virtuous, and this person clearly has great virtue.’

Fortunately, the second cast of his Fallen God Finger successfully severed the strange red lotus before the Grandmaster arrived. Yu Fei quickly snatched it up and immediately fled in the opposite direction.

To avoid suspicion, Yu Fei took out a backpack and placed some common materials and supplements inside. That way, if the Grandmaster happened to run into him, appearing to have found nothing at all wouldn’t seem even more suspicious.

With his powerful senses guaranteeing his safety, Yu Fei managed to get a safe distance away. The unknown Grandmaster actually lingered for a moment right where Yu Fei had harvested the strange red lotus. He realized the person must have been after this very item, which made him even more cautious going forward.

The central region of the Jiaoyan Sea held even more treasures. Yu Fei stayed for another three days, during which he harvested over a hundred Golden Flame Orchids and even picked nine more of those strange red lotuses.

Just as he was preparing to leave, he suddenly detected a massive energy fluctuation up ahead. Yu Fei thought it over and decided to take a look from afar, just to satisfy his curiosity.

He cautiously closed the distance to just over ten kilometers before stopping. Peering into the distance, Yu Fei was surprised to see two Grandmasters locked in a fierce battle.

He was curious. ’What kind of treasure could make two Grandmasters come to blows like this?’ After watching for a moment, he realized they were fighting over one of the strange red lotuses.

’Time to go, time to go...’

Yu Fei turned and bolted.

High in the sky, the battle between the two Grandmasters was escalating, their anger flaring.

"I say, aren’t you taking this a bit too far? It’s just a Burning World Purifying Lotus. The Jiaoyan Sea always produces a few of these; it’s not some priceless treasure. Do you really want to fight me to the death for it?!"

The gray-robed Grandmaster was furious. ’The Red Sun Realm may be a lawless place, but there are very few things here useful to someone at the Grandmaster level. The Burning World Purifying Lotus is one of them—it can purify a Grandmaster’s True Essence, but that’s it. This madwoman attacked the moment she saw it, holding nothing back and completely disregarding the dignity of our rank.’

"Less talk. Get lost or die!"

The female Grandmaster’s expression was icy, her heart seemingly blazing with fury as she gave no quarter.

She didn’t want to be like this, but for some reason, it was like the Jiaoyan Sea was cursed. She had searched for five days and found nothing; the Burning World Purifying Lotuses seemed to have hidden themselves. The scorching environment was becoming unbearable. Now that she’d finally found one, she’d rather fight for it than continue her aimless search.

The gray-robed Grandmaster laughed, his anger reaching its peak.

"Heh... Then let’s see what you’ve got!"

The two clashed in an instant. The shockwaves of their Qi Jin kicked up giant waves of magma, shattering countless rock formations and making the entire area lethal to approach.

Yu Fei, the one who had started all this, quickly departed the Jiaoyan Sea, his gains immense.

Even after reaching the Grandmaster realm, Martial Artists who hadn’t practiced a sensory Secret Technique still had relatively weak perception. The boost granted by their rank alone wasn’t enough to discover a Burning World Purifying Lotus from tens of kilometers away. Aside from being faster, their efficiency at finding treasures couldn’t compare to Yu Fei’s.

After leaving the Jiaoyan Sea, he found a remote spot and carved out a cave. He took ice blocks from his storage space to fashion a temporary ice room, pulled out an air mattress, and enjoyed a long, deep sleep. Once he was fully rested, he prepared to search for the next resource.

Before coming to the Red Sun Realm, he had put a large amount of fresh water into his storage space, partitioned it into one-cubic-meter sections, and used the space’s temperature-setting ability to freeze the water into large blocks of ice. This allowed him to create his own ice room and enjoy a refreshingly cool environment in this scorching land.

’I have to admit, a storage space with a one-thousand-kilometer diameter is an incredibly powerful ability,’ he thought. It drastically improved his long-term survivability. If this talent were to level up again, Yu Fei couldn’t even imagine how large the space would become. ’Tens of thousands of kilometers?’

’If one day this space could support living beings and establish its own ecological cycle...’ The thought made his desire to upgrade it all the more pressing.

Ye Shuping’s list had specially noted two materials that were must-haves. The first was the Crimsonlight Streamer, and the second was the Golden Crow Fruit. There were quite a few other miscellaneous items as well.

All the herbaceous treasures were located in the far eastern part of the Red Sun Realm. Although the temperature there was high, it was home to the realm’s only source of fresh, running water. However, by his calculations, the herbaceous treasures weren’t mature yet. Based on the experience of previous years, there was still over a month to go.

Therefore, Yu Fei decided to head to the southern region to find the Crimsonlight Streamer.

This magical material was born amidst a volcanic cluster in the southern region of the Red Sun Realm. The Crimsonlight Streamer would be ejected during volcanic eruptions, soaring into the sky to be tempered by the astral winds before falling back to the earth.

It was produced in fairly large quantities, but the competition was exceptionally fierce. Each time one appeared, hundreds or even thousands of people would fight over it. It was impossible to obtain one without considerable strength.

When used by itself, the Crimsonlight Streamer could cleanse a Martial Artist’s spiritual soul, which was a great aid to those cultivating in the Gang Qi Realm. That was why the competition for it was so intense. Recalling these details, Yu Fei quickly set off.

’It’s just a fight,’ he thought. Aside from his early days of martial training, when he frequently lost to Gao Yunxiang, he had rarely known defeat.

The journey spanned thousands of miles. He had already spent three full days on the road, much of which was spent avoiding perilous terrain and dead ends, causing considerable delays.

The Red Sun Realm was saturated with vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Yang Qi, allowing Yu Fei to restore his Inner Qi even at night. His Inner Qi was constantly full, and the capacity of his Qi Sea had even increased by a sliver. This place was exceptionally suited for him.

After three days of nonstop, rapid travel, his Shrinking Earth Stepping Technique quietly reached the level of perfection. Its many profundities flowed through his mind, and his understanding of this Cultivation Technique reached its absolute limit.

Now, a single step could cover a hundred meters, allowing him to sprint into the distance without a sound. The Cultivation Technique’s only drawback was that it required his feet to be on solid ground to activate. At the perfection stage, it was nearly silent. Combined with the forward momentum from his Illusory Sword Intent, Yu Fei’s movements were now fainter than a gentle breeze.

During this relentless journey, the "gold and jade" characteristics that Yu Fei had absorbed over the past two months were continuously refined and integrated into his body. He began to feel a growing sense of lightness. When he looked inward, the blood-red patterns on his bones had grown more vivid.

The path of cultivation requires a balance of tension and relaxation, a union of action and stillness.

During the long periods of running, Yu Fei gradually entered a state of flow, only stopping to confirm his direction.

The Red Sun Realm was a land of scorched earth, with rivers of magma everywhere. To his senses, the primordial energy of the world was exceptionally violent. The entire land felt like the surface of the sea after a storm has passed—calm on top, but with powerful undercurrents churning below. It felt as if some violent power was gradually building, ready to unleash a world-shattering cataclysm at any moment.

After correcting his course three times, Yu Fei finally arrived at the volcanic cluster. The general area on his map was simply named the Thousand Mountain Craters.

Just as Yu Fei arrived, he saw a group of Martial Artists in the distance, fighting and killing each other. A bright streamer of light descended from the sky, seemingly slow but actually quite fast. As it neared the ground, a squad of twelve Martial Artists secured the hundred-meter zone where it was set to land. A man in ornate white robes stepped forward to collect the Crimsonlight Streamer. The other Martial Artists resentfully departed.

Farther away, other Martial Artists who had been rushing over also stopped in their tracks. Cursing in frustration, they turned to leave and find the next target.

The Crimsonlight Streamer was not easy to steal. The item could be stored temporarily within a Martial Artist’s spiritual soul. Once someone collected it, it was impossible to take the treasure, even by killing them, unless they brought it out voluntarily.

This was precisely why the competition was so intense.

Yu Fei observed carefully. The yield of the Crimsonlight Streamer wasn’t actually low; a streamer fell from the sky almost every hour. The problem was that the volcanic region was simply too vast. From the moment a Martial Artist spotted a streamer, there was no guarantee they could reach the landing site in time. As a result, luck played a huge role in acquiring the treasure.