Chapter 416 – Phoenix Bone
The copper cauldron was roughly a third of a meter in height and wrapped within an ancient vine. Even after hearing the introductions made by the surrounding people, Shi Hao, the flame crow, and the others were all astonished.
It was because after someone placed their medicines inside to be refined, some hard beast bones began to strike against the top of the cauldron. Qiang qiang sounds were created that sounded clearly metallic.
The vine bloomed with bronze flowers. This was extremely shocking and unthinkable. It did not seem like a bronze cauldron, because it was clearly alive.
“These aren’t that special. This ancient vine and the spiritual medicine tree are of the same sort. They are both abnormal existences that protect the Medicine Capital.” Someone explained.
Even Yun Xi revealed a look of shock. They lined up here to ask the person refining the medicine for more information.
A lump of divine flame descended from the heavens, landing on the spiritual vine. Not only did the flame not burn the vine into ashes, it instead nourished its body, allowing it to become much stronger through a complete transformation.
Afterwards, the ancient vine became completely different. It had a will and spirituality, and it could also absorb metal attribute energy. Part of itself was changed, allowing the flowers it produced to form copper cauldrons.
When he heard these rumors, the big red bird’s eyes lit up. It said, “Is there no one who lusts after this spiritual vine?”
Someone from the side revealed a look of shock and said in a low voice, “Don’t speak nonsense. Otherwise, the great fiery gold vine won’t be happy.”
Fiery gold vine was the name of this spiritual vine. Its appearance reflected its attributes. There was divine flame inside of it that devoured metal, allowing it to produce the copper flower cauldron.
The people here all felt reverence towards it because this ancient vine was extremely powerful. Back then, there were experts who wanted to subdue it, but they were all defeated.
However, it never caused trouble, and it would typically even help others refine medicine. The medicines that underwent the copper flower cauldron’s refinement would all have effects that were miraculously better. As a result, it developed a well-known reputation within the Medicine Capital.
It was precisely because of this that it stood side by side with the medicinal tree and was respected in the same way. From a certain perspective, they could be considered the guardians of the Medicine Capital.
Everyone understood how extraordinary this vine was. The divine flames inside might possess a heavenly origin that could allow a cultivator to greatly evolve, but no one wanted to try and steal it.
The flame crow lined up. When it was his turn, he placed some medicinal herbs into the cauldron and offered some payment. Several pieces of uncommon metals were tossed in, and immediately after, the fiery golden vine produced metal attribute energy, absorbing it.
Meanwhile, when the medicinal pill was extracted, it was full of spirituality. It was much better compared to when an ordinary person refined it.
“It’s quite extraordinary. The flames that it uses far surpasses the flame essence from my Li Fiery Cave!” This was what the flame crow determined after this experiment.
Shi Hao used the dual-pupil he had, and he immediately became shocked. Within the fiery golden vine, there was a small person sitting within a lump of fire. It looked extremely dignified. What kind of flame was this?
He felt a wave of shock. This vine was formidable. To be more precise, this counterpart was the spirit housed within. The small figure within the flames was surrounded by layers of divine chains.
This was far more terrifying than that spiritual medicine tree! He had a feeling that once the small figure within the spiritual vine revived, a great chaos would immediately be stirred up!
“How long has this fiery golden vine existed for?” Shi Hao asked.
“Should be several thousands of years.” Someone replied.
Shi Hao took another careful look. He noticed that the aura was quite similar to that of the cave sealed within the Fire Nation capital’s fiery guardian spirit divine tree. This can’t possibly be the source of the ‘calamity and chaos’, right?
It was hard for him to calm down. The wasteland region was going to become chaotic; could it be that there might be some connection to these mysterious existences?
“Let’s go.” Shi Hao spoke. He did not want to stay in this place for too long.
They left this place and entered another bustling street in the Medicine Capital. As expected, this place was abundant with medicinal herbs. Stalls lined both sides of the street and trading was happening everywhere.
“Dragon bone, selling true dragon bone! True miraculous medicine! Do not miss this opportunity!” Someone hollered from the side.
The medicines sold in in this area were not plants. Instead, they were all bone fragments, ore, and other similar items. It was because these could all be used for medicinal purposes as well, so there were quite a few people looking around.
Even the booth where the true dragon bone was being advertised had many creatures around it. Even though the people didn’t believe that it was true, they still couldn’t help but take a look out of curiosity. They wanted to see what kind of spiritual medicine it was exactly.
“Ladies and gentleman, don’t be so quick to think that this is fake. This piece of bone was salvaged from the depths of the Bottomless Abyss. Not even the endless passage of time could destroy it, so it’s definitely not ordinary. Other than dragon bones, what else could there be in a place like that?” The seller boasted.
Everyone walked up and shoved their way forward to take a look. Then, quite a few people revealed looks of shock.
“I want this bone.” A vicious bird spoke. Of course, it had turned into a human form, and only his head remained in its original state. It made his appearance appear rather fierce.
“I am willing to exchange with five stalks of spiritual medicines!” Another person said.
“Yi, this truly isn’t an ordinary piece of bone. It’s quite formidable.” The nine-headed lion was moved. He had long turned into human form. His hair was golden, and his aura was heroic. If he hadn’t, his outward appearance would have been too astonishing. It might draw an unwanted crowd.
“It’s a piece of holy bone at the least. It can’t be crushed at all.” Yun Xi was astonished. She never thought that she would truly encounter a piece of bone that was this valuable.
When Shi Hao obtained it, he carefully inspected it. Then, he tested it with his divine force. In the end, without saying anything, he placed it down again.
“So?” Huo Ling’er asked him in secret.
“It is a saint’s bone, but its divinity had long been guided outwards. The little that remain is all on the bone’s surface,” Shi Hao explained.
“Isn’t this just a scam? They are clearly ripping us off.” The big red bird was discontent.
The bone quickly raised in price, and by now, many people surrounded this stall. Someone had already declared their willingness to exchange for eight spiritual medicines.
This region primarily sold bone pieces and ores. Shi Hao and the others discovered a few truly good items and purchased them at a high price.
In the end, they returned to the vendor selling the dragon bone and discovered that the holy bone was purchased by someone.
Suddenly, Shi Hao sensed something. He saw a tortoise shell inside this unremarkable looking booth. After picking it up and rubbing it within his hands, a slight silver color was revealed.
Could it be a white tortoise’s shell? He was startled. If this was true, then this was a good item. When refining the little nirvana pill, the white tortoise’s shell was one of the main ingredients. However, this item was too rare. Tortoise shells were easy to come by, but white ones were difficult to encounter!
If he could obtain this tortoise shell, Shi Hao felt that he could collect some spiritual medicines here and refine a batch of precious medicines for now, enabling an initial breakthrough.
However, after carefully inspecting it with the dual-pupils, he found that this seller truly wasn’t genuine. It was another counterfeit. There was only a small piece of white tortoise shell, with the remaining portions all belonging to a normal tortoise. It had been pieced together.
This tortoise shell only revealed a tiny bit of silvery whiteness. Without carefully observing it, one wouldn’t even be able to discover it. It was purposely done to bait careless buyers, making them feel like the entire item was spotlessly white. It was covered up previously to make others feel as if they discovered something good.
“This dishonest businessman!” Shi Hao cursed silently.
Sure enough, when the vendor saw him pick up the piece of bone, light flashed through his eyes. He carelessly walked over and began to try and dupe Shi Hao.
“Too shameless. This fellow is truly lacking in virtue.” After being informed of what was going on, the big red bird cursed inwardly as well.
Shi Hao secretly used the dual-pupils to observe the entire booth. He was suddenly shaken, for he truly noticed a good item. It seemed to be a pile of items that had been delivered, and there was even some dirt brought along with it.
“How much for this pile?” Shi Hao asked.
“A saint grade magical artifact,” said the booth’s vendor. He then introduced it in detail. “Do all of you see? These are good items that had just been dug up from an ancient cave. Have you all heard the news about the precious ancient medicine appearing in this world? These were precisely brought out from that place. They are all good items!”
Shi Hao’s group had been informed previously that someone had discovered a divine valley. There were countless formations arranged there, and immortal mists curled about. It was suspected that precious ancient medicine grew within it, so those from the Medicine Capital immediately rushed over. The divine valley was surrounded, and they were currently breaking the formation.
“Your price is too ridiculously. What kind of rotten items are these?” The big red bird’s mouth twitched.
In reality, no one would give him a saint grade magical artifact. How could normal people come into contact with something like that? Even supreme experts would be moved. The vendor was merely putting out an absurd price.
“How about this. I’ll be straightforward with you. A Formation Arrangement Realm magical artifact,” said the vendor.
Shi Hao’s group naturally still shook their heads. They weren’t willing to pay that price, so they turned around and prepared to leave.
The vendor carefully inspected those ores and bone fragments, and in the end, he wanted to exchange for an Engravement Realm precious artifact. After some dispute, Shi Hao agreed and brought away those items.
“Was it worth it?” Huo Ling’er asked.
“Extremely worth it!” They hadn’t walked far from the stall when Shi Hao gave this reply.
“What is inside?” The flame crow asked.
“I’m not sure what kind of bird’s bone this is. The surface is pitch-black, but there is divine light inside that is like a small sun.” Shi Hao said.
Right at this time, an extremely valiant middle-aged male flew over on a precious artifact and hollered, “A’De, you absolutely cannot sell the pile of items my people brought back!”
“What is going on?” The vendor was confused.
“Someone discovered a few bones within the valley, and they might be true phoenix bones! Some of the bones might contain primordial symbols within them that possess limitless energy!” The valiant male clearly recalled that there was a piece of bone within the pile of items that had been sent back.
“Ah, I just sold it!” A’De was shocked. Then, he looked towards Shi Hao’s group and said, “Friend, I’m not selling anymore!”
Their voices were extremely low and were spoken in secret, but with Shi Hao’s cultivation, he could hear them perfectly.
This left him amazed. If it was truly a phoenix bone, then there would be limitless energy inside. It would be far more valuable than a white tortoise shell. It could be used to first refine a batch of precious medicine to help him break through.
What kind of place is that valley exactly? There is an ancient divine medicine being protected by formations and phoenix bones scattered about. This is just too astonishing!
“Friend, I am not selling those items.” The middle-aged individual walked over with a downcast expression. For this pile of items, he killed two competitors. Now that he knew the value was unordinary, he naturally wouldn’t let it be sold.
“I’ve already purchased it, so they belong to me.” Shi Hao said.
The middle-aged male reached out a large hand and quickly grabbed towards Shi Hao. He was going to completely surround Shi Hao, suppress and capture him to seize back the pile of items.
Shi Hao casually brushed it away, blocking that hand.
“Friend, are you really not going to hand them over?” The middle-aged male’s expression became malicious. He never anticipated there being a rare true phoenix bone within the pile of items.
“What happened?” A luxurious carriage stopped, and eight vicious beasts roared in front of the carriage. It was clear that the identity of the individual inside the carriage was unordinary.
“Sir Qibing, someone is trying to forcefully purchase my precious bone.” The middle-aged male said.
Right at this moment, several divine rainbows tore through the skies. Someone shouted, “The divine valley might be where a true phoenix fell. Immortal divine objects have been discovered!”
These were all messengers, and they were here to inform some of the great figures within the Medicine Capital. It immediately triggered a huge uproar.