Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

Chapter 236: 236 Spirit Crystals Acquired

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two figures, both moving extremely fast and with very similar actions, caused those Inner Sect Disciples, who although coveted the prize from a distance, to abandon the thought altogether.

”It seems like Senior Brother Yin Huan has a greater chance!”

A voice rang out, clearly belonging to a disciple of the Poison Vein, but no one contested his statement as the current situation seemed to favor Yin Huan being closer to the Spirit Crystal.

At least, that’s what Yin Huan thought himself. At this moment, he couldn’t help but feel extremely pleased with his own reaction speed. That was a Fourth Rank Intermediate Spirit Crystal, after all. If he could get it, perhaps he could even use it to break through to the Late Stage of the Meridian Rushing Realm.

A Spirit Crystal was something that could be directly absorbed. Much like a Demon Core, some powerful Spirit Crystals could provide a massive boost to a cultivator when absorbed with the aid of a Cultivation Technique.

However, Strange Spirits are rare, and encountering high-rank Strange Spirits is even harder. Let alone stumbling upon one by luck, cultivators at the same level couldn’t possibly kill these Strange Spirits.

As for low-rank Strange Spirit Crystals, their effects are not as significant, leading to a vicious cycle. Generally, the only way to acquire a Spirit Crystal that matches one’s own cultivation is to pay a significant price at an auction.

Spirit Crystals are precious, and those that enter auctions tend to fetch exorbitant prices. Even someone as wealthy as Yin Huan would feel a sting.

Today, fortune presented itself. The Fourth Rank Intermediate Strange Spirit was slain by Elder Li Shan of the Spirit Vein Realm. The elder clearly didn’t value the Fourth Rank Intermediate Spirit Crystal highly, providing Yin Huan with an immense opportunity.

In Yin Huan’s eyes, that Fourth Rank Intermediate Spirit Crystal was already in his bag. Within the Jade Pot Cave’s fourth level, apart from Elder Li Shan, no one dared to contend with him, nor did they possess the ability to compete for it.

Especially when Yin Huan saw the Spirit Crystal exuding an earthy yellow aura within reach, his heart was racing with excitement. He reached out, attempting to grab the fist-sized crystal in his hand.

Whoosh!

But at that moment, when everyone, including Yin Huan and all the onlookers—even Elder Li Shan—thought the Spirit Crystal would end up in Yin Huan’s hands, a faint sound of air being pierced suddenly came from somewhere.

Immediately after, everyone’s faces showed surprise as they witnessed the Spirit Crystal, which was previously laying quietly on the ground, being struck by a mysterious force, catapulting into the air and flying swiftly towards a certain spot.

Yin Huan’s coveted prize had flown away. His anger was truly formidable, and when he sensed the nature of that breath, his gloomy eyes lifted, fiercely staring at a certain place. There stood a skinny youth with an ambiguous smile.

”Yun Xiao, you’re looking for death!”

Yin Huan was no stranger to this young man, but his mind had been fixed on the Spirit Crystal until now, never expecting Yun Xiao to dare interfere. He immediately shouted in a low voice.

But at this moment, Yun Xiao paid no attention to the aggravating fellow. The Strange Spirit had not easily been fended off, and Yun Xiao could not reconcile if the Spirit Crystal were to end up in Yin Huan’s hands.

Thus, after using his Meridian Qi to bounce the Spirit Crystal that was about to fall into Yin Huan’s hand, Yun Xiao’s figure flickered as he rushed towards the now airborne crystal.

”Utterly reckless!”

Seeing this, Yin Huan’s expression darkened even more. At this time, he seemed to disregard the flying Spirit Crystal completely and instead, with a lateral step, threw a fierce punch toward Yun Xiao’s back.

In Yin Huan’s opinion, despite Yun Xiao’s previous injuries at his hands, and even if he had also suffered some injuries from the Strange Spirit, dealing with this young man was still well within his capabilities.

Bang!

Contrary to what Yin Huan had hoped for, the punch, though accurate, ended up colliding with Yun Xiao’s right arm, which had been flung back, emitting a loud noise.

”Senior Brother Yin Huan, thank you!”

Yin Huan, who had expected his punch to shatter Yun Xiao’s bones, felt a surge of force causing him to involuntarily take a step back, and he heard a light laugh filled with an indescribable meaning.

This scene, witnessed by the surrounding aspiring talents, ignited a peculiar notion within them. In their eyes, although Yun Xiao was blasted further away, the direction he was sent flying toward was precisely where the Spirit Crystal was located. Hence, the words ”thank you” were not said in vain.

In contrast, even though Yin Huan only took a step back, that single step meant he had forever lost the chance to compete for the Spirit Crystal. However, at this moment, he could not afford to think of anything else, as his heart was already amidst a storm of fury.

”Meridian Rushing Realm Early Stage, how... how is this possible?”

Until now, until he faced Yun Xiao in direct combat, Yin Huan finally understood why Yun Xiao could fight on par with that Fourth Rank Intermediate Strange Spirit.

Just moments ago, because they were too far away, Yin Huan and many other talents were intimidated by Yun Xiao’s combat power, and thus, they did not actively sense Yun Xiao’s Meridian Qi Cultivation.

Or maybe they did sense it, but chose to selectively ignore this fact, and because of this, Yin Huan was now overwhelmed with turbulent emotions, as well as intense jealousy and unwillingness.

When Yun Xiao was still at the peak of the Meridian Gathering Realm, Yin Huan felt a sense of superiority facing him. Indeed, the Yun Xiao of the past had almost lost his life to him.

But Yin Huan couldn’t figure out how, just by taking a roundabout path from the fourth to the third floor of the Jade Pot Cave, Yun Xiao, who was just at the peak of Meridian Gathering Realm, had forcefully broken through to the early stage of the Meridian Rushing Realm.

Yin Huan himself was a genius at the Meridian Rushing Realm, and he knew how difficult it was to make this significant breakthrough. When he had his chance to break through, it took him a full three days and three nights.

Moreover, Yun Xiao should still have been facing the attacks of that Fourth Rank Intermediate Strange Spirit, right? It can be said that Yun Xiao’s breakthrough utterly subverted Yin Huan’s imagination and even flipped his longstanding views on cultivation.

Yin Huan could clearly sense that Yun Xiao had not activated his Ancestor Vein Power, but was genuinely at the early stage of the Meridian Rushing Realm. Although his aura was still somewhat unstable, he had truly crossed that chasm and reached another level of cultivation.

When Yun Xiao was at the peak of Meridian Gathering, Yin Huan could suppress him with Meridian Qi Cultivation, but now that Yun Xiao had broken through to the early stage of Meridian Rushing Realm, although still a minor realm below him, an inexplicable sense of unease rose in him.

At this moment, Yin Huan’s mind was filled with the scene of Yun Xiao fighting the Fourth Rank Intermediate Strange Spirit. That was a Strange Spirit capable of seriously injuring him with a single blow, and Yun Xiao could contend with it. Didn’t that mean Yun Xiao had even stronger combat power than him?

While waves of emotions surged in Yin Huan’s heart, Yun Xiao had much less on his mind. Seeing that he gracefully moved ahead, he actually caught the Spirit Crystal before it hit the ground.

”An Earth Attribute Spirit Crystal!”

Holding the earthy yellow crystal which still carried a hint of an earthy scent, Yun Xiao sensed and immediately knew its details, which was within his expectations and not surprising at all.

On the continent, there are all sorts of Strange Spirits, and therefore the attributes of the Spirit Crystals produced within them are also varied. The Fire Spirit Crystal Yun Xiao got for completing his low-level Spiritual Rank mission was a Fire Attribute Spirit Crystal.

However, for Yun Xiao, although this Earth Spirit Crystal did not match his own attribute, it made no difference to him because he possessed the Ancient Dragon Taming Technique.

Yet Yun Xiao, brimming with excitement, seemed to have forgotten something very important. That was that the hand that grabbed the Earth Attribute Spirit Crystal was his right hand, which bore the Blood-red Crescent Mark.

Ssst... Ssst...

Just as joy emerged in Yun Xiao’s heart, from within the Ancestor Vein of his right arm, a particularly strange aura suddenly burst forth. This aura sprayed from the Blood Moon Mark on the palm of his right hand, instantly enveloping the earthy yellow Spirit Crystal.

”Ouch, not good!”

It was only at this moment that Yun Xiao finally remembered something from the past. After getting the Fourth Rank Low Level Fire Spirit Crystal, it had been consumed by some mystical force.

Without a doubt, the same mishap from that day was occurring. Just as Yun Xiao thought to transfer the Spirit Crystal to his left hand, the fist-sized earthy yellow Spirit Crystal astonishingly vanished right from his right palm.

However, others such as Yin Huan, Li Shan, and those spectating talents, had no idea what was happening to Yun Xiao. They all believed that Yun Xiao had immediately stored the Spirit Crystal into his Waist Storage, as that was the safest.

Only Yun Xiao himself knew that once the earthy yellow Spirit Crystal entered his body, the Golden Snake Worm that had always been lurking somewhere immediately cheered and swallowed the fist-sized crystal whole.

It’s uncertain how the tiny Golden Snake Worm managed to swallow a fist-sized Spirit Crystal, but from that moment on, Yun Xiao knew he was now out of luck with the hard-earned Fourth Rank Intermediate Spirit Crystal.

”Damn creature!”

Yun Xiao, without any solutions, could only curse inwardly. And this time, the Golden Snake Worm seemed to hear his voice, turned its snake head, giving Yun Xiao’s non-existent Inner Vision Eye a glance, its serpent eyes seemingly filled with disdain and mockery.

”Yun Xiao, this Strange Spirit was killed by the Fourth Elder, so the Spirit Crystal should belong to the Sect. Why don’t you hurry up and hand it over?”

Just as Yun Xiao was brooding internally, a familiar gloomy voice entered his ears. As he came back to his senses and turned around, he saw the speaker was none other than the Poison Vein lineage’s Yin Huan.