Ye Qin thought of this, and with a mere flicker of his divine sense, he retrieved the Silver-Armored Guard from his storage pouch.
This Silver-Armored Guard, standing two zhang tall and wielding a silver spear, was encased in a shimmering layer of silver armor upon which rested three inches of frost, making it resemble a sentinel of war eternally frozen in ice. A stern, chilling aura rapidly permeated the small cultivation chamber, as if plunging it into an ice cavern, rivaling the frost spells unleashed by a Nascent Soul cultivator.
It was only thanks to the Guard being forged from Mythril, possessing a potent spell-repelling attribute, that it hadn't already fractured and shattered under the intense cold. Ye Qin channeled his mana to push back the freezing atmosphere, took a deep breath, and suddenly threw a punch.
"Boom!"
Shards of ice exploded from the Silver-Armored Guard!
The thick, hard layer of frost armor covering the Guard's exterior was smashed apart by his fist, which was imbued with divine strength.
Immediately after, a sharp gleam flashed in Ye Qin's eyes, and his spirit sense aggressively bored into the Guard's abdomen.
Inside the Silver-Armored Guard, he perceived a mass of ice crystal, and within that crystal, an Ice Lotus Seed of dazzling luster radiated a powerful frost aura, actively suppressing a near-motionless Black Nether Flame.
Ye Qin was somewhat surprised by the tenacity of this Nether Flame.
However, he also knew that if this had been a ball of Yang Fire, it likely would have been extinguished long ago by the frost emanating from the thirteenth-tier Ice Lotus Seed. But this Nether Flame was Yin Fire, which did not clash with ice-elemental energies. Furthermore, its own rank was exceedingly high and immensely potent, so it was merely being fiercely frozen by the Ice Lotus Seed, showing no sign of being snuffed out.
If the Ice Lotus Seed were not suppressing that Nether Flame, its externally leaking frost power would have been several times more potent.
Ye Qin was currently in the early Nascent Soul stage, his spirit sense tens of times stronger than before, yet upon touching the frost surrounding the Ice Lotus Seed, even his spirit sense nearly froze solid.
The sinister aura of the Nether Flame, likewise, caused him to tremble with apprehension.
He had personally witnessed the terrifying nature of this Nether Flame; even as an early Nascent Soul cultivator, if he were to touch it, he would likely be instantly incinerated to ash.
Ye Qin felt these two nearly terrifying energies locked in confrontation. Not daring to be careless, he condensed his mana and sent streams of fine Wind Blades slicing towards the exterior of the ice crystal.
The ice crystal within the Silver-Armored Guard was extremely dense. Each Wind Blade could only cut a minuscule depth, requiring thousands upon thousands of frantic cuts before even a few cun could be severed.
His mana was depleting rapidly. He downed over ten mouthfuls of Thousand Bloom Brew to replenish his energy before finally slicing a large section of the ice crystal free from the Guard's interior.
Wrapped by the Wind Blades, the mass of ice crystal separated from the Silver-Armored Guard.
The Ice Lotus Seed and the Nether Flame were extracted from within the Guard’s body.
Fortunately, although these two spiritual items were overwhelmingly domineering, they were inanimate objects without a master’s control. As long as he avoided touching them directly, they posed no immediate danger.
He then spent a full three days using Wind Blades to forcefully separate the Ice Lotus Seed and the Nether Flame, which were frozen together within the ice crystal.
The Skeletal Croc of Corroding Bone, lying quietly in a corner of the cultivation chamber, seemed intensely interested in the Nether Flame. It appeared eager to draw near, tentatively extending a bony claw as if to snatch it, yet it recoiled with a look of fear, not daring to actually touch the flame. This Nether Flame's rank was far too high, exceeding its own capabilities.
Seeing that the Skeletal Croc could not collect the Nether Flame, Ye Qin waved his sleeve.
Whoosh!
The Ice Lotus Seed and the Nether Flame vanished simultaneously from thin air, losing all trace within the cultivation chamber.
The frost on the Silver-Armored Guard’s exterior gradually receded, returning to its original state.
"Finally dealt with the Ice Lotus Seed and the Nether Flame!"
Upon finishing, Ye Qin's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, soaking through his robes. He finally let out a sigh of relief.
The Ice Lotus Seed and the Nether Flame had been sent into his Purple Mansion.
He held no worry that the thirteenth-tier Ice Lotus Seed and the Nether Flame could harm his Purple Mansion. Even terrifying things like the Purple Divine Thunder, after thrashing wildly inside the Mansion, had failed to damage it in the slightest.
After a while, Ye Qin recovered his mana and fully submerged his spirit sense into the Purple Mansion.
The Purple Mansion, the Wood Residence Floating Island.
A crystalline Ice Lotus Seed rested on the ground of the Wood Residence Floating Island.
Ye Qin retrieved dozens of high-grade Ice Spirit Stones and used spiritual energy to encourage its growth. However, after absorbing the spiritual energy from these stones, the Ice Lotus Seed showed almost no reaction, let alone germinating.
"To make this thirteenth-tier Ice Lotus Seed grow, I probably need thousands upon thousands of high-grade Ice Spirit Stones. Cultivating the lotus is not a matter for haste; it must proceed slowly!" Ye Qin mused to himself after considering the situation.
The Nether Flame floated listlessly above the Fire Residence Floating Island, drifting back and forth. Within the Fire Residence Floating Island, any Yang Fire or terrestrial flames that touched this Nether Flame were almost instantly extinguished.
This Ice Lotus Seed was a thirteenth-tier spiritual object, and that Nether Flame was likely thirteenth-tier or higher; neither was easy to handle, and a single misstep could destroy his physical body and primordial spirit.
Ye Qin wore a contemplative expression.
"This Nether Flame’s rank is extremely high; perhaps it can be used to refine Nascent Soul grade Bone Artifacts!"
Ye Qin had only possessed the Skeletal Croc as his transformed skeletal demon because he lacked Ghost Fire above the Golden Core realm, making it impossible to refine skeletons surpassing that level. It wasn't unwillingness, but inability. Moreover, the Skeletal Croc had originated as a naturally born Corrosive Beast before transforming into a skeletal demon, and it later underwent tribulation to become a transformed skeletal demon on its own. Otherwise, Ye Qin would never have acquired a transformed skeletal demon.
Ye Qin possessed the artifact refinement chapter of the Profound Yin Grand Art, but he lacked the suitable rank of Ghost Fire. With this extremely high-grade Nether Flame, refining Nascent Soul-level skeletons and Bone Artifacts would become significantly easier.
Ye Qin’s only current concern was that his early Nascent Soul cultivation level might not be sufficient to control this Nether Flame when using it to forge Nascent Soul-grade Bone Artifacts, which posed a risk.
For now, the Ice Lotus Seed and the Nether Flame would remain in the Purple Mansion, to be used only when necessary.
Having settled the matter of the Silver-Armored Guard and the spiritual items within its core, Ye Qin finally felt at ease. Even if the Saint Emperor were to arrive demanding the Guard, he no longer needed to worry about anything.
...
Ye Qin emerged from seclusion after several days of closed-door cultivation.
During this period, the various affairs of the Azure Pill Palace had proceeded in an orderly fashion.
In terms of manpower, they had two early Nascent Soul cultivators overseeing matters, one Earth Clan Sacred Warrior, along with over a dozen cultivators in the early and mid-to-late Golden Core stages, and nearly two hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators—a force that was far from weak.
In terms of industry, the Azure Pill Palace specialized in alchemy, establishing shops in several major immortal cities, purchasing dozens of spirit islands for cultivating spirit herbs, and engaging in large-scale herb cultivation. The cultivators of the Azure Pill Palace originated from the Central Land’s immortal sect, the Azure Pill Gate, and were inherently proficient in herb cultivation and alchemy, leaving no issues in this regard. This was sufficient to supply the Palace’s cultivators for their daily cultivation needs.
It could be said that the Azure Pill Palace had already taken rudimentary form.
Given another few decades or a century, provided no major accidents occurred, the power of the Azure Pill Palace would be firmly rooted in the East Sea Cultivation World.
Ye Qin had not expended much personal energy on the Azure Pill Palace, as he was focused on his own pursuits, primarily the massive acquisition of low-grade ores from the mineral merchants in White Float City.
Over the past few months, he had come to fully understand the function of the Metal Residence Floating Island. Just as the Wood Residence Floating Island allowed for rapid herb cultivation, the newly appeared Metal Residence Floating Island’s greatest function was nurturing high-grade ores.
He only needed to pile various low-grade ores—such as Black Iron Ore, Profound Iron Ore, Cold Iron Ore, Red Copper Ore, Red Iron Ore, and so on—in large quantities onto the Metal Residence Floating Island. After one or two months of settling and consolidation, these ores would gradually transform into higher-grade materials.
The higher the tier of the ore, the more difficult it was to purchase in the market.
For instance, tenth or eleventh-tier Metal ores could be used to refine artifacts of the tenth tier or higher, suitable for Nascent Soul cultivators. However, ores of such high quality were exceptionally hard. Low-level Golden Core or Foundation Establishment cultivators, even if they discovered such high-grade ore, would be unable to excavate it. It required Nascent Soul cultivators to mine it themselves, or to search in various perilous locations across the East Sea, as it was otherwise difficult to obtain.
Similar to the eleventh-tier Thunder Marsh Stone that Palace Master Zhou Yu gave Ye Qin, such materials were rarely sold in the major commercial guilds of the market; they could only be sought out and dug up by Nascent Soul cultivators themselves, a process requiring considerable effort. Most Nascent Soul cultivators were busy, and even if they obtained such high-grade ore, they would likely use it themselves rather than sell it.
In contrast, ores from the first to ninth tiers, which had formed more recently, were relatively common and inexpensive. Some large mining operations on islands in the East Sea organized groups of Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators to mass-mine these low-grade ores and sell them to artifact forges.
Ye Qin discovered that his Metal Residence Floating Island could allow low-grade ores to consolidate into high-grade ones, so he certainly would not waste such a beneficial feature.
He conducted extensive experiments.
Roughly ten first-tier ores could consolidate into one second-tier ore, a process completed in just one hour. Ten second-tier ores could consolidate into one third-tier ore, requiring three hours.
The higher the tier, the longer the required time. Furthermore, the consolidation time varied depending on the type of ore. Common first-tier Red Iron Ore required very little time, only an hour to upgrade its grade. However, the rare first-tier Mythril Ore required a much longer duration, taking a full ten hours.
Most importantly, while finding first-tier Mythril Ore was relatively straightforward, locating Mythril Ore of the fifth or sixth tier and above was nearly impossible, unattainable even with spiritual stones. Ores of too low a quality contained too many impurities and could only be used to refine low-grade artifacts. Only high-quality ores could yield high-grade artifacts.
With these experiments, Ye Qin gained a deeper understanding of the Metal Residence’s capabilities.
He purchased a batch of relatively rare ores, including Mythril Ore, Mythril Gold Ore, Purple Gold Sand Ore, and over twenty other varieties, stocking them on the Metal Residence Floating Island to allow them to slowly consolidate into higher-quality materials.
One month later, Ye Qin parted ways with Huangfu Bing'er with lingering reluctance, before setting off towards the Blood Sea to meet the newly appointed Northern Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, Zhou Yu.