<b>Chapter 512: Adventures in the Metal Realm</b>
“Heavenly accumulation fusion…” Lan Yunzhu pondered for a good while before replying: “I think I have heard of it before… Oh, right! Master had mentioned it in the past; this fusion is only possible in theory and even till now, cultivators do not accept such a way of thinking. They think that this type of fusion is merely theoretical speculation.”
“Then you are mistaken.” Li Qiye shook his head and said: “Discussions of this fusion have existed since a very ancient time and it is not just a theory. Later on, during the Desolate Expansion Era, the person to carry it out was Immortal Emperor Can Long of the Soaring Immortal Sect. The world knows that the emperor's true treasure was created from a three heavenly accumulations destiny stone, but very few people are aware that this true treasure has all three dao fused together.”
“Someone actually managed to carry out this type of fusion…?” Lan Yunzhu quietly murmured.
Li Qiye nodded and added: “It wasn't only Immortal Emperor Can Long, some other invincible existences had done it during the Emperors Era as well. Future generations were unaware of it, but the few who were privy to this secret considered these fusions to be the most supreme of destiny stones."
“Three dao are existences, six dao are grand forms, and nine dao are deities!” Lan Yunzhu murmured on: “Supreme fusions…”
These destiny stones were birthed by the heaven and earth, so each of these heavenly accumulations took on the form of a circle and were grand dao that followed a very particular and finely crafted system.
Three accumulations were called existence dao, such as the sword tiger, mulberry tree, and fiery vulture. Stones with four to six dao were called grand images because they would give birth to an even stronger dao. For example, if a six accumulations stone contained the three dao listed above, then the sixth dao might be of powerful forms such as the sun and moon or the Yin and Yang.
As for the nine accumulations destiny stones… Stones that had seven or more accumulations would have a possibility of containing one dao of the deities. A nine accumulations stone would definitely contain at least one.
Due to this particular system, the majority of cultivators believed that a grand form dao was stronger than an existence dao while a deity dao was naturally stronger than a grand form dao.
It made sense for these cultivators to have this belief. For example, the dao of the true dragon — its power was certainly stronger than the dao of the great river. For tens of millions of years, because of this system, many cultivators truly believed that more accumulations was better. [1. This part can be confusing, but existences are regular creatures, grand forms are something great (like the geography or the sun and moon), and deities are just godly creatures, such as true dragons.]
“Ultimately, there is only the most suitable destiny stone and not the strongest one.” Li Qiye smiled and continued on: “This place is the best at producing the highest quality and rarest destiny stones in this world. Maybe you will be able to find a destiny stone more fitting or one that has the right fusion for yourself. Or, we can even take a step back and assume that you won't be able to find said stones, but a nine accumulations destiny stone isn't a bad choice either.”
Lan Yunzhu glared at him and snappily said: “Let's go then, you think I can't do it?”
Li Qiye chuckled and checked the direction before saying: “Let's go over there. We'll surely be able to find that place.” He then led the way.
The Metal Realm was full of rocks that were close together in an intricate pattern. It was easy to become lost while walking around in this place, but Li Qiye seemed to be completely unaffected. It was as if he had been here before.
“Have you been here before?” Seeing how Li Qiye was so carefree while leading the way, Lan Yunzhu looked at him and asked.
Li Qiye flicked her forehead and replied: “I told you to read more but you didn't believe me. Reading the records of wise sages is very beneficial; one of the sages had left behind a map for the Prime Ominous Grave. If you had seen it before, then you would understand this place immediately.”
Lan Yunzhu didn't believe him and rolled her eyes to say: “Bah, how come I've never heard of the map of this wise sage?”
Li Qiye smirked and said: “This is because you lack the knowledge. You have a narrow view like a frog at the bottom of a well so of course you wouldn't know about this map.”
“You are the frog with a narrow view!” Lan Yunzhu angrily retorted.
Li Qiye simply chuckled and flicked her forehead once more only to be met by her combative glare.
The Metal Realm was vast and full of boulders, stone mountains, rock formations, and shores with innumerable pebbles… There were very few trees in this scenery filled with rocks.
Many great powers and vagrant cultivators had come to the Metal Realm. They all quickly tried to find treasure metals and divine stones right away.
To cultivators, no one would ever waste this rare chance since the grave only opened once every several generations.
Lan Yunzhu and Li Qiye didn't get very far before meeting a few ghost cultivators.
“It's Li Qiye!” At this time, Li Qiye enjoyed a notorious reputation since everyone knew that he could kill without blinking an eye. The ghost cultivators were especially cautious since Li Qiye had decapitated their people like cutting watermelons.
The weaker ghosts immediately retreated after they saw him.
Li Qiye then led Lan Yunzhu to their destination where they met many cultivators and great powers. Some sects wanted to dig at the mountains to find divine stones while others went deep into the caves to find legendary immortal metals.
Because this place produced a lot of great stone-based treasures, many cultivators and sects had great harvests. After crossing a large sandy beach, the two of them saw a master destroy half of this beach and he managed to dig out an imperial sandstone.
“Hahaha, Myriad Refined Sand! This is the king of all sand, a legendary imperial sandstone!”
“Go, now! Hurry up and dig, this imperial sandstone always comes in pairs; there is still another one down there!”
Other cultivators were sent into a frenzy after seeing someone dig out an imperial sandstone. They all began to crazily dig for the other one.
Li Qiye and Lan Yunzhu then passed by a large river and saw a group of cultivators diving down. They were all from the same sect and they seemed determined to search the river in its entirety before giving up. One disciple from downstream crazily screamed: “I found it, I found it! Master, I found the Myriad Water Source Stone!”
After hearing this, the group of cultivators soared downstream in jubilation. The sect master took a look at the treasure stone and joyously exclaimed: “This is indeed the Myriad Water Source Stone that the sect needs! Good, good job! Xiao Liuzi, you have done a great job. I'll keep it in mind for now and will reward you after we return!”
The disciple who made this great contribution was very happy.
Li Qiye and Lan Yunzhu then crossed over another dangerous mountain ridge. Many cultivators here found many great things, and the joyous atmosphere affected plenty of cultivators in this realm.
The Prime Ominous Grave was one of the twelve burial grounds. This place was not peaceful or safe at all. The Metal Realm was one of the five Grave Realms, so it absolutely would not stay peaceful as a paradise for treasure seekers. It was also filled with dangers.
Once they passed the previously stated ridge, they found a ghost tribe decimating a huge mountain; the members of this tribe had to dig down for a thousand feet before finding the things that they wanted. After seeing the treasure, the ghost tribe master grabbed this divine metal and roared: “Look, this is the Heaven Devouring Furious Dragon Divine Metal in the legends!” The entire tribe drowned in happiness. [1. The dragon here is actually a Denglong, one of the nine children of the Dragon King.]
However, during their celebration, insects started to gather in the sky and formed a huge hole. “Buzzz!”
“Not good, Metal-eating Insects! Run!” Seeing the emergence of these insects that covered the sky, everyone lost their minds and tried to flee.
“Ahh!” Terrifying screams sounded out continuously. Although these experts ran for their lives, the speed of these insects was too fast and they caught the cultivators in an instant. All the experts in the tribe who participated in the excavation were devoured by the insects. After the insects flew away, only skeletons remained.
The insects ate the experts and then carried this divine metal back to their hole before disappearing inside.
Seeing several hundred experts turn into skeletons in an instant made all the spectators shudder in fear. No one dared to approach this area anymore, let alone attempt to grab that piece of draconic divine metal.
“What are Metal-eating Insects?” Lan Yunzhu looked at the group of insects that were seemingly made from steel and asked Li Qiye.
Li Qiye answered: “An extremely dangerous type of insect. They will eat just about anything, and they like divine metals the most. Their bodies are also extremely tough. It is rare to see them outside, but they are actually everywhere in the Metal Realm. Anyone who wants to dig out precious metals should be ready to meet Metal-eating Insects. They like to hide below these treasures. The bigger they are, the stronger they will be. Some stories even mentioned an insect ancestor swallowing an invincible existence.”
Not just anyone in the cultivation world could be called an invincible existence. For example, even paragons capable of starting their own countries or experts who were bestowed divine titles couldn't be called invincible. Thus, one could only imagine how powerful these invincible existences must be. And yet, the Metal-eating Insects could still devour them — how terrifying was this?
However, the dangers of the Metal Realm went far beyond just these Metal-eating Insects. There were a few other dangers that simply couldn't be described with words.
Li Qiye and Lan Yunzhu then passed by a plain and saw a great character of the Heavenly Sovereign realm rush out from a bottomless stone cave while screaming: “Run, run away!”
His entire body was stained with blood. The experts behind him were bloodied and battered as well.
[spoiler title='512 Teaser'][/spoiler]