HSSB339: Small things, great deeds
Yan Zhaoge stared at the flowing blue stream of light before him, “I am unable to ascertain what method that predecessor used. The one I thought of would be through these things.”
Saying thus, he took out a fiery red rock, placing it in the centre of the formation.
That rock flickered continuously, resembling the breathing of a living being.
Yan Zhaoge said, “When Grand Master and the others counterattacked into the Fire Domain, I specifically asked them to take note of a few things for me, bringing some back if they could. One of the most important of those was this, Fire Pith Crystals, that are produced by the further crystallisation of Fire Pith underground.”
“Also, it had to be Fire Pith Crystals produced within the Southern Underground Palace.”
Yan Zhaoge continued setting up the formation, “Through this, as well as some other, assisting methods, we can lock on the Southern Underground Palace as our target.”
Ah Hu assisted him from the side, “But Young Master, causing a change in the earth veins is not an easy thing. With our cultivation bases, even aided by the formation, can we succeed? After all, this formation is not Broad Creed Mountain’s Clear Qi Grand Formation ah.”
“Are we setting up things here first before waiting the Family Head or the old Chief to come over?”
Yan Zhaoge said upon hearing his words, “Father and Grand Master are in a standoff against the Sacred Sun Clan’s Huang Guanglie and the others, not able to leave easily. Even if they manage to come to the Extreme Northern Lands, they would also be detected by the other side. At that time, if they obstruct us or switch to attacking our clan’s core lands, that would be terrible for us.”
“Therefore, I will be the one to do this.”
Yan Zhaoge smiled, “As for how to do so, just my current strength alone is naturally insufficient. However, I have an idea that we can try out. If the experiment succeeds, us two Spirit Vessel Martial Grandmasters will also be able to do what even Essence Talisman Martial Grandmasters might not be able to.”
As he said this, Yan Zhaoge suddenly took out an object. It was a small black incense burner.
It was precisely the Earth Devouring Burner.
Looking at the small incense burner, Ah Hu blinked, “Young Master, I remember that this was something you obtained when killing that little brat called Zhao Hao back during the incident of Clear Concealed Lake.”
Yan Zhaoge said, “That is still so now. This treasure can absorb and contain all objects, bearing extremely great destructive power. My experiment is to see whether it can withstand the terrifying coldness of the Ice Pith Vein.”
Ah Hu said slowly, “But, from what I remember, you said that you have never been able to control this thing at will.”
“That’s right, and that is still so now. This treasure can only passively absorb attacks or forces coming towards it. I am still unable to actively control it to do anything,” Yan Zhaoge appeared casual, “Still, it is a well said thing: objects are dead whilst humans are alive; be a bit more flexible and your brain will let you survive.”
Yan Zhaoge punched towards the formation on the ground, his aura-qi stimulating and activating the formation, on which the light of fire instantly surfaced.
Heat emanated in all directions within this underground ice cave with the formation at its centre.
Stimulated by the heat, the blue stream of light which had originally been flowing quietly along, seemingly harmless, instantly turned violent!
Extremely terrifying cold qi that numbed one’s entire body erupted from the Ice Pith Vein, before a great amount of ice-blue mist swept over towards the formation Yan Zhaoge was in, seemingly wanting to extinguish this tiny ember.
Ah Hu gaped, lost for words, “Young Master…”
At the same time that he paid close attention to the Earth Devouring Burner, Yan Zhaoge had already taken out the Underground Splitting Shuttle once more, ready to immediately retreat along with Ah Hu as soon as something went wrong with the situation.
However, the Earth Devouring Burner didn’t let him down.
As that innocuous-looking small black incense burner met with the encroachment of the ice-blue mist, it erupted with a shocking force, sucking a great amount of the icy mist within.
It resembled a black hole, greedily sucking in the roiling icy mist, as though acceptant of all who offered themselves up to it.
As this begun, a wispy line of that blue stream of light was shockingly drawn over from the Ice Pith Vein, merging with the icy mist as it was devoured alongside it by the Earth Devouring Burner.
Ah Hu was taken aback, “What exactly is the origin of this thing, actually even able to absorb Ice Pith Veins? Won’t it freeze and crack?”
Squinting, similarly focused on the Earth Devouring Burner, Yan Zhaoge muttered, “Right, it’s indeed not simple. Although I had suspected that it should be able to bear it, after truly bearing witness to this, I too feel this to be a little inconceivable.”
“Still, no matter what, the most important segment having seen success, it is now confirmed that my original plan is indeed feasible.”
After observing a bit more, confirming that the Earth Devouring Burner had not reached its limit, Yan Zhaoge could finally be at ease as he kept the Underground Splitting Shuttle.
Ah Hu clicked his tongue in praise, “Still, Young Master, only able to passively absorb things rather than do so actively, the scale of this is still a little small. Can it really serve the effect of affecting the Ice Pith Vein and through it influencing the Fire Pith Vein elsewhere?”
He looked carefully at that blue stream of light, seeing that amidst its flow, it seemed to be interacting unceasingly with somewhere else.
This little bit of energy being sucked away by the Earth Devouring Burner seemed not to have done much as stability was very quickly resumed.
Yan Zhaoge said, “There is naturally still a followup, things not having been completed yet.”
Saying thus, he punched out once more.
With the Earth Devouring Burner bearing the pressure of the icy mist, the formation was able to continue circulating normally.
Numerous streaks of red light surfaced, coming into contact with the Ice Pith Vein, as the four fiery red sabres embedded on the corners of the ice layer above also now lit up with a red light, interacting with its glow.
Affected by this, the self-adjustment of the Ice Pith Vein was slowed somewhat.
This way, the unceasing absorption of the power of the Ice Pith Vein by the Earth Devouring Burner gradually began to see an effect.
It was just that the results were extremely slow and slight, almost to the point of being hard to detect.
Yan Zhaoge said, “Moving a thousand kilograms with four bits of force is not that easy a thing. We can just settle down quietly and wait for this to be settled, enough sand piling up that a tower has been formed, little accumulating into many, till a fundamental change can finally be seen.”
Ah Hu asked, “Young Master, can it be that the Fire Domain’s Southern Underground Palace will be the same as the Heavenly Ice Spring of the Snowy Immortal Palace that year?”
Yan Zhaoge looked at the Earth Devouring Burner, “It’s not, really. The scale of the Southern Underground Palace is much greater than that of the Heavenly Ice Spring. Unless the main Ice Pith Vein is shaken, the Southern Underground Palace will not be destroyed by such a method.”
“Therefore, I did not think of weakening it, instead wanting to strengthen it.”
Yan Zhaoge said mildly, “Going in was originally already not easy. At that time, I estimate that other than Huang Guanglie, none of the others of the Sacred Sun Clan will be able to enter.”
He smiled, “Alright, let’s just wait patiently here.”
Yan Zhaoge watched over the formation. Not having anything to do, Ah Hu began earnestly cultivating once more, attempting a breakthrough into higher levels.
Many days passed, the streams of purple qi within the black aura-qi of his entire body growing denser and denser over time.
As time passed, finally, the purple qi had become extremely vast, now agglomerating together, condensing into a tiny purple dot of light.
The black storms meanwhile became an existence like black soil.
That purple dot of light sunk downwards slowly, entering within the black spirit soil.
Ah Hu’s entire body shook. As he opened his eyes, his gaze actually seemed to flash with a streak of purple light which was gone in an instant.
Yan Zhaoge smiled, “Congratulations, Ah Hu. The second level of the Martial Grandmaster realm, the mid Spirit Vessel stage, success.”
Ah Hu grinned widely and laughed out loud in happiness, appearing exceptionally happy.
After being happy, Ah Hu scratched his head, asking, “Young Master, how is the situation of the Ice Pith Vein here?”
The corners of Yan Zhaoge’s lips curled slightly upwards, “It will very soon be clear.”