King of Creation
Chapter 385 - 381: Mysterious Black Stone Bead

Chapter 385: Chapter 381: Mysterious Black Stone Bead

Thud!

As soon as the black stone bead was taken out from the storage ring, it immediately became unbearably hot, emitting an astonishing temperature that made the air start to sizzle.

Unprepared, Ye Zhen’s hands were scalded with countless blisters, and instinctively letting go, the black stone bead thudded to the ground.

Boom!

Ye Zhen only felt the ground under his feet tremble; the surrounding mountains shook, and even the Strang Green Mountain not far away seemed to tremble and sway with the fall of the black stone bead, causing the pure Green Wood Spiritual Power enveloping the mountain to fluctuate as well.

Ye Zhen was stunned.

Since when had this thing become so terrifying?

Ye Zhen remembered that when he had just obtained it from the Black Water Legacy Mansion, apart from devouring any energy fed into it, there was nothing unusual about it.

Now, it had become so bizarre.

Especially the alarming temperature it emitted upon being taken out, Ye Zhen could almost confirm that the cause behind the tragedy within his storage ring was likely this black stone bead.

"Could it be that this black stone bead is connected to the Black Dragon Secret Palace in some way?"

Lost in thought, Ye Zhen gritted his teeth and hissed as he began treating the burns on his hands; if he hadn’t released it quickly, the skin on Ye Zhen’s hands might have been completely dissolved by the heat.

While pondering, Ye Zhen examined the black stone bead that had fallen to the ground.

After a while, Ye Zhen, with his hands covered in a thick layer of Red Jade Spiritual Power, picked up the black stone bead again and slowly headed back towards the Strange Green Mountain.

After researching for over one hour, Ye Zhen essentially hadn’t uncovered the secret of the black stone bead but discovered something else.

The black stone bead wasn’t heavy in his hands, but when it fell to the ground, it could shake the ground and the mountains, trembling incessantly.

Ye Zhen couldn’t explain why this was happening, but he found an opportunity to obtain Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystals.

The vibrations caused by the black stone bead’s descent could shake the Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystals scattered all over the mountain, causing them to sway. During these tremors, occasionally one or two Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystals would move slightly toward the base of the mountain.

Of course, it was just a slight movement; even after shaking numerous times, with some luck, a few Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystals might move about half an inch forward.

Under normal circumstances, for Ye Zhen to obtain Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystals from the Strange Green Mountain through this method was highly improbable.

Even if he caused tremors by dropping the black stone bead a million times, it wouldn’t make any Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystal move more than a meter.

After all, the movement caused by the tremors depended on luck; sometimes, after shaking a dozen times, the Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystal he had his eye on might not move at all.

However, patience was something Ye Zhen was never short of.

So, Ye Zhen started the most tedious and mechanical repetitive action—dropping the black stone bead.

Two hours later, after Ye Zhen picked up the third dark-green Supreme Spirit Wood Green Crystal, he gave up this monotonous task with his arms aching.

The three Supreme Spirit Wood Green Crystals that Ye Zhen got were all about a foot away from him, and the nearest remaining Spirit Wood Green Crystals were all about a meter away.

Of course, if Ye Zhen persisted, another four or five hours, maybe one day, he would get five or even ten Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystals.

However, if Ye Zhen spent most of his day in the Black Dragon Secret Palace just for one Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystal, it would be a huge loss.

What was most important was that during this one hour, in his efforts to obtain Supreme Blue Wood Spirit Crystals, Ye Zhen constantly changed locations to raise the black stone bead and create vibrations, gradually sensing an odd variation of power within the black stone bead.

When Ye Zhen moved toward the east, southeast, or northeast, the temperature emitted by the black stone bead increased, and the vibrations caused by its fall became even more intense.

When Ye Zhen moved to the west, southwest, or northwest, the temperature and vibrations it caused seemed to decrease to some degree.

Without a doubt, as someone brimming with curiosity, Ye Zhen chose to move eastward. He wanted to know what there was to the east that would cause the black stone bead to undergo such changes.

Moreover, the eastward direction was exactly where the mountain range of the Strange Green Mountain ran.

Packing up the three Supreme Spirit Wood Green Crystals he had with difficulty obtained, Ye Zhen took the Black Dragon Stone Orb and headed eastward, continuously sensing the changes along the way.

Riding the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten, Ye Zhen spent half a day to leave the range of the Strange Green Mountain.

After exiting the Strange Green Mountain, Ye Zhen encountered the first Martial Artist listed on the Black Dragon Ranking—Yem Yuan.

However, Yem Yuan was particularly wary of Ye Zhen.

Just as Huaa Wushuang was cautious of Ye Zhen’s Dragon Attack, the Black Dragon Secret Palace, isolated from the world, had become a place without rules.

"Did you kill someone?"

Yem Yuan had the intuition of a wild beast. His first words made Ye Zhen stunned, "I smell the blood on you."

"And it’s fresh!"

"Did you find anything?" Ye Zhen didn’t answer but instead asked back.

"A little...."

In their stiff exchange, Ye Zhen and Yem Yuan went their separate ways. However, Ye Zhen learned another piece of information: Yem Yuan had come from a different direction, the same direction Ye Zhen was heading.

The reason for this situation was simple. The place where the group first entered the Black Dragon Secret Palace had paths leading in all directions, allowing one to walk towards any direction they chose.

From the information obtained from Yem Yuan and his own observations, Ye Zhen concluded that the Black Dragon Secret Palace was not some palatial ancient mansion, but rather more like a barren wasteland, an isolated realm of death. At least, neither Ye Zhen nor Yem Yuan had seen any structure resembling a building within the Black Dragon Secret Palace.

Ye Zhen continued to move forward, guided by his intuition. His judgment wasn’t wrong; the farther east he went, the higher the temperature emitted by the Black Dragon Stone Orb became, and the more terrifying the vibrations caused by its dropping.

A day after leaving the Strange Green Mountain, Ye Zhen encountered another continuous range of peculiar mountains, this time radiating a thick essence of Earth Element Spiritual Power.

This peculiar yellow Spirit Mountain, much like the green one, was covered all over with Spirit Light Sparkling Supreme Yellow Earth Spirit Crystals, which seemed even more numerous than the Green Wood Spirit Crystals.

Similarly, at the foot of the mountain, an imposing light screen of Spiritual Power, as if a mountain itself, prevented Ye Zhen from entering and from picking up those Supreme Yellow Earth Spirit Crystals.

Moreover, four Martial Artists from the Black Dragon Ranking had already gathered near this yellow Spirit Mountain, racking their brains trying to acquire those Supreme Yellow Earth Spirit Crystals. However, their frustrated expressions and the difficulty of obtaining the crystals meant that their yield was sure to be nil.

The four Martial Artists showed absolute respect toward Ye Zhen, the top of the Black Dragon Ranking, and were almost exhaustively informative in response to Ye Zhen’s questions.

Looking at the four earnestly frightened Martial Artists, Ye Zhen did not stay long and left soon after. The deterrence of being the first on the Black Dragon Ranking was truly substantial.

Observing the four trying again to collect the Supreme Yellow Earth Spirit Crystals, Ye Zhen felt somewhat moved. Under normal circumstances, even if they devoted the entire seven days within the Black Dragon Secret Palace to the task, their yield would likely still be nothing.

Of course, Ye Zhen was not going to just let go of such rare Supreme Yellow Earth Spirit Crystals. Even if he didn’t plan to take many, he still aimed to acquire a few.

After all, in the Black Dragon Domain, even Low Grade Attribute Spiritual Crystals were rare, let alone Supreme ones, which were almost mythical.

After flying a good distance away, Ye Zhen found an appropriate spot and, after violently slamming the Black Dragon Stone Orb to the ground three thousand times, managed to obtain four Supreme Yellow Earth Spirit Crystals.

As for whether the four Martial Artists could hitch a ride on Ye Zhen’s success and gain one or two Supreme Yellow Earth Spirit Crystals, it remained uncertain.

Once again, following the energy fluctuations inside the Black Dragon Stone Orb, Ye Zhen continued to adjust his direction and move forward. After more than half a day, he left the large territorial expanse of the yellow mountain range.

"Hm?"

Hisss!

A sound of intense Spiritual Power burning up resounded, and all at once, the temperature of the Black Dragon Stone Orb in Ye Zhen’s hand skyrocketed, rapidly scorching through the Spiritual Power protecting his hand and giving Ye Zhen quite a scare.

"What’s this?"

Increasing the output of Spiritual Power, and even layering the Red Jade Spirit Armor onto his hands, Ye Zhen barely managed to withstand the high temperature bursting from inside the Black Dragon Stone Orb. Ye Zhen’s entire body, too, was covered with the Red Jade Spirit Armor.

Ye Zhen was confident that his flesh would not be stronger than the Mid-grade Treasure, the Green Wing Divine Bow. If the volcanic storm bursting out of the Stone Orb within the storage ring could destroy the Divine Bow, Ye Zhen had to be careful.

Along with the caution, Ye Zhen carefully held the stone orb up high as he ascended, concentrating his vision. His eyes, sharp like lightning, scanned the surroundings.

All along the way, Ye Zhen had already discovered that whenever there were powerful Spiritual Power Waves nearby, the Black Dragon Stone Orb would exhibit corresponding changes, such as getting hot or heavy.

Just as he encountered the yellow Spirit Mountain earlier, the Black Dragon Stone Orb became incredibly hot. However, it was still far cooler than it had become currently.

Suddenly, Ye Zhen’s pupils constricted sharply.

In the southeast direction a hundred miles away, a black light pierced the sky.

"Xiaomao!"

With a thought, a wild surge of Cloud Qi gathered, and the Cloud Winged Tiger Cub beneath Ye Zhen charged ferociously towards the place where the black light soared.

For the first time since entering the Black Dragon Secret Palace, this was the first time Ye Zhen witnessed such a moving phenomenon.

With the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten’s current speed extremely fast, it took less than a Hundred Breaths of time to carry Ye Zhen within ten miles of the ascending black light.

The skyward black light, like dispersing rosy clouds, tumbled and danced. Within this Hundred Breaths of time, the original towering black gleam gradually tumbled and condensed into a mass of black light, vaguely forming a spiral that hinted at the gate of a Secret Realm.

"Another Secret Realm Gate?"

Ye Zhen’s expression was first one of surprise, and then he was taken aback, for beside the swiftly forming vortex gate was the silhouette of a person! (To be continued. If you like this work, please support me with your votes and monthly tickets at the starting point (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)