Wind Rising Overseas, Refining Crystal

“How many swarms is that now?” Han Li asked slowly, looking at the insect carcasses on the ground.

“The seventh. They are coming more frequently, but at least we haven’t run into another swarm of ten thousand or more,” Yuan Yao replied obediently from beside him.

It had been half a day since they had started traveling together.

Hearing her words, Han Li frowned, a shadow of unease passing over his face as if he was preoccupied with something. After a moment of thought, he raised a hand and made a sweeping gesture toward the beetle corpses. The Gold Devourer Beetles, which had been scouring the ground clean, transformed into a brilliant, glittering cloud and flew back into the Spirit Beast Pouch hovering in mid-air. Han Li calmly stowed the pouch.

“What’s the matter, Brother Han? You seem displeased. We’ve already crossed the most dangerous middle section of the desert. The rest should be much safer,” Yuan Yao said, blinking her beautiful eyes at his expression, a hint of confusion in her voice.

“Safer? Is that what you truly believe?” Han Li glanced at her, a faint sneer curling on his lips.

“Is there still some danger ahead?” Yuan Yao frowned slightly, a trace of disbelief in her tone.

“I don’t know exactly what lies ahead. But one thing I can say for certain: none of the swarms we’ve encountered so far contained a queen. Either there is only one queen in the entire desert, or we’ve been lucky enough to avoid the super-swarms that do have one. We should still be careful for the rest of the journey. Only if we go another half day without incident can we truly call it safe,” Han Li said flatly.

“Perhaps you’re overthinking it! These fire ants are so ferocious; maybe they don’t even have a queen at all!” Yuan Yao’s face paled for a moment, but she forced a smile and tried to sound unconcerned.

“Let us hope so,” Han Li said, not bothering to argue further. He knew very well that Iron Fire Ants did indeed have queens. And while a queen’s individual strength was unremarkable, its intelligence was said to be terrifyingly high. Encountering one would be a nightmare.

Under the shadow of his words, the next two hours of travel passed in silence.

Then something even more unusual happened: they didn’t encounter a single ant swarm for the rest of the journey.

By now, even Yuan Yao realized something was wrong. A faint look of unease crept onto her face.

But when they inadvertently climbed a high sand dune and looked ahead, both of them froze.

“This is…” Yuan Yao’s face was a mask of shock. Her red lips moved, but no words came out.

Han Li’s expression was slightly more composed, but he too was visibly stunned.

There, on the sandy ground before the dune, stood a solitary, enormous crystal pillar, about twenty to thirty zhang tall.

The pillar emanated an intense, bone-chilling cold and shimmered with a faint white glow. Trapped inside it was a black giant of equal height, with a grotesquely ugly face and wide, glaring eyes. He was completely bald, with a smooth, shiny head, standing utterly motionless within the crystal. The sight was profoundly eerie.

Han Li stared at it for a moment, then swept his gaze across the nearby sand. The ground was pitted and scarred with holes of various sizes, as if a fierce battle had taken place there.

A strange light flickered in Han Li’s eyes as he turned his attention back to the giant. Focusing on one of its eyes, he let out a soft exclamation.

“What did you find, Brother Han?” Yuan Yao heard his sound and finally snapped out of her daze.

Han Li offered a faint smile but didn’t answer. Instead, he half-closed his eyes and released his spiritual sense. After confirming that no one else was lurking nearby, he walked straight down the dune, heading directly for the crystal pillar.

“Hmph!” Yuan Yao let out a frustrated huff at his secretive behavior, a flash of displeasure crossing her face, but she had no choice but to follow. Without the protection of his Cold Ice Pearl’s range, she would have to expend her own mana to withstand the searing heat.

“Ants!” Yuan Yao gasped in shock when they got within ten zhang of the pillar.

From this distance, she could finally see the true nature of the giant. It was formed from countless black flying ants, clustered together!

From far away, the illusion was perfect, an incredible sight.

But these Iron Fire Ants were completely still inside the crystal. She couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead.

Han Li stopped and stared at the crystal pillar, lost in thought.

“Since these ants are already dead, let’s move on. There’s no use wasting time here,” Yuan Yao said slowly after a few more glances.

“How can you be so sure they’re dead? Maybe they’re still alive,” Han Li said with a hint of doubt.

“Alive? How is that possible?”

Yuan Yao shot him a strange look, finding it hard to believe he didn’t know.

“Don’t you know about the Ten Thousand Laws Sect’s famous ancient treasure, the Primal Mystery Mirror? Any living thing it shines upon has its soul instantly scattered, and a crystalline prism forms around its body! After a few days, even the body inside the prism vanishes without a trace.”

“Never heard of it,” Han Li answered honestly.

Yuan Yao’s beautiful eyes went wide, and she was momentarily speechless.

“So, these ants were taken out by Wan Tianming,” Han Li mused, circling the crystal pillar.

“Who else could it be? What are you planning? These crystals will dissolve on their own after a certain time, but ordinary magical tools can’t damage them. Otherwise, the Primal Mystery Mirror wouldn’t have such a fearsome reputation,” Yuan Yao said, as if guessing his intentions, a light laugh in her voice.

Han Li gave her a calm look. Then, his hands went to his waist. He released all his Spirit Beast Pouches. The massive cloud of Gold Devourer Beetles appeared in mid-air.

“Go.”

He pointed directly at the crystal pillar. The golden-silver insect cloud immediately descended, covering the top of the pillar in an instant—dense, thick, impenetrable.

“You’re really going to try and feed on those ant remains? Your bugs might be tough, but there’s no way they can bite through this…” Yuan Yao’s words died in her throat.

Right before her eyes, the crystal pillar encasing the giant began to visibly shrink from the top down. In the blink of an eye, the giant’s head had completely disappeared.

Yuan Yao’s mouth fell open and refused to close.

Under her stunned gaze, the Gold Devourer Beetles devoured the entire pillar—crystal and giant alike—leaving only a single egg-sized, black-glowing crystalline ball on the ground.

A trace of a smile appeared on Han Li’s face. He walked over, picked it up, and examined it closely.

This thing was called “Refining Crystal.” It was a rare material that an Iron Fire Ant Queen would regurgitate and store in its abdomen after feeding on ore every day.

Very few cultivators even knew of its existence. Han Li himself had only stumbled upon a mention of it in an ancient, obscure tome and had never been sure if it was genuine. It was only when he saw the giant’s eye and realized it was the queen that the memory surfaced, prompting him to take a gamble.

He hadn’t expected to actually obtain a piece of Refining Crystal.

This was the best supplementary material for strengthening a magical treasure.

By adding even a small amount of this material to any magical treasure, not only would its power increase, but the treasure itself would become incredibly durable, nearly impossible to cut or destroy.

He didn’t know if Wan Tianming simply didn’t know about it, or if he had carelessly forgotten. Either way, he had left a valuable prize behind.

Now, if he could just find some time to re-refine his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, their power would undoubtedly reach a new level.

Yuan Yao clearly had no idea what “Refining Crystal” was, but seeing the joy on Han Li’s face, she knew it was something valuable. She tactfully refrained from asking any inconvenient questions.

Without another word, the two of them set off again.

…

A crude stone hall came into view, about fifty to sixty zhang across and seven or eight zhang high. Apart from a single teleportation formation in the center, four massive stone doors stood on each side, each dozens of zhang high. All the doors were firmly shut, sealing the hall like a giant cell.

Scattered throughout the hall were dozens of stone tables and stools of varying shapes and sizes. Several cultivators with solemn expressions sat sparsely on the stools.

Extreme Yin Patriarch, the Confucian-robed elder, and Wan Tianming were all present. The rest were also late Core Formation cultivators, with not a single weaker one among them.

But at this moment, every one of them wore a dark expression, their faces grim. No one was in the mood to speak.

The hall was filled with a suffocating, oppressive atmosphere.

Extreme Yin Patriarch looked especially gloomy, his face completely livid. He glared at the teleportation formation in the center, his eyes flickering with a murderous light.