Chapter 203: Divine Gold and Iron
Back in the day, the Great Strength Divine Demon Sect carved out a vast world of its own—a pocket realm spanning a million miles. Towering immortal mountains stood proudly like celestial dragons slumbering across the land, exuding a wild, primal aura.
The spiritual energy in this world was unimaginably rich—so dense it formed visible mist that floated through valleys and mountains. In some areas, it condensed into actual pools of spiritual liquid.
To any cultivator, this realm was a paradise—an ideal cultivation haven without equal.
It made sense.
In ancient times, powerful beings emerged one after another, and even immortals would sometimes descend into the mortal world. Just the fragment of a world left behind by the Great Strength Divine Demon Sect revealed a tiny glimpse of that era’s glory.
At this moment, deep within a valley, the clash of battle echoed fiercely, with brilliant light shooting into the sky.
A glowing talisman soared through the air, releasing divine radiance in all directions. It locked down a massive area of space with its power alone. Judging by the might leaking from it, the talisman was at least a low-grade Dao Weapon—an extremely valuable treasure.
Anyone capable of wielding such an item clearly wasn’t ordinary.
Below the talisman, two powerful human cultivators at the Divine Palace Realm were fighting against a spirit clan of the same realm. However, this wasn’t just any spirit clan member—it was at the peak of the Divine Palace Realm, and its bloodline clearly traced back to ancient, savage spirit beasts of legend.
Its true strength far exceeded the average Divine Palace Realm cultivator. Even with the two humans joining forces, they hadn’t been able to take it down yet.
Not far from their fierce battleground stood a three-meter-tall spirit herb. Its leaves gleamed like divine swords, shimmering with starlight. Though it remained still, the air around it radiated a sharp, killing intent. It was as if countless celestial swords had been stabbed into the earth, taking the form of a single plant.
Both the spirit and the human cultivators were extremely careful to avoid damaging the herb, deliberately steering their battle away from it.
No one dared to let a stray attack harm it.
“Starblade Grass?!”
Up in the sky, not far from the valley, a Golden Divine Chariot flew through the air, cutting across the clouds before hovering in place.
Inside, a young woman’s beautiful eyes lit up in surprise—Qin Xueyi gasped aloud as she caught sight of the herb.
Starblade Grass—an incredibly rare spirit herb. For anyone who trained in the way of the sword, it was a treasure beyond imagination. Not only could it refine and transform one’s body, but it even held the potential to awaken the rare Starblade Sword Intent.
Sword intent wasn’t limited to just one type per person. Some martial artists could grasp multiple intents—combining the intent of fists, spears, or even multiple sword concepts into a single fighting style.
Because of that, no sword cultivator would willingly pass up a chance at Starblade Grass.
Even for those who couldn’t comprehend sword intent, the grass’s body-refining properties alone made it worth fighting over.
“You want that herb?”
A voice asked gently beside her.
It was Li Xun, standing casually with a faint smile on his lips.
Qin Xueyi shook her head. “No need.”
While the Starblade Grass was valuable, it wasn’t particularly useful to her. Right now, she only needed a single drop of Black Tortoise blood to complete her Immortal Spirit Body—a legendary physique on par with the likes of the Heaven Dao Physique, the Chaos Body, and the Immortal Body.
Such physiques didn’t require something as basic as body cleansing.
As for the Starblade Sword Intent…
She didn’t need that either. In her past life, she had already comprehended the power of laws. Compared to that, intents were mere child’s play. If she felt like it, she could master Starblade Sword Intent at any moment.
That’s the privilege of standing at the pinnacle—an advantage most people could never understand.
“In that case, this will be easy,” Li Xun said with a soft chuckle. He stood up and casually stepped out of the golden carriage.
As soon as Li Xun stepped into view, the expressions of all three fighters—the two human experts and the spirit clan cultivator—sank instantly. It was the one outcome none of them wanted to see.
And now, that very outcome has arrived.
Worse still, the person who showed up was Li Xun.
Their wariness intensified.
On the surface, Li Xun only appeared to be at the Life and Death Realm, but all three combatants knew the truth: Li Xun’s actual
strength was easily at the Divine Palace Realm, if not higher.After all, he had already slain two Divine Palace Realm cultivators in the past—and not just early-stage weaklings, either.
One of them had been Duke Qi of the Great Chu Empire, a well-known late-stage Divine Palace expert. Yet, even he had fallen at Li Xun’s hands. That alone said everything.
This meant that Li Xun's strength was at least on par with any one of the three currently in the valley.
“Senior brother, what should we do?”
The middle-aged man in the grey robe quietly transmitted a voice message to his companion.
Both of them were from a powerful Holy Land. But inside this kind of secret realm, even a Holy Land’s influence didn’t count for much.
Because here, everyone had powerful backers—and rogue cultivators strong enough to stand on their own were rare to begin with.
“Let’s pull back for now,” came the reply.
His companion—a young man who looked no older than seventeen or eighteen—spoke calmly, though his eyes betrayed the weight of lifetimes. They were deep, ancient, like they had seen the rise and fall of empires.
And just like that, all three stopped fighting in unspoken agreement, retreating and keeping a cautious eye on one another.
Only Li Xun moved without hesitation.
In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the Starblade Grass.
His hand reached out toward it, ready to pluck the precious herb.
But just before his fingers touched it, the spirit clan cultivator suddenly let out a thunderous roar, its voice echoing through the skies.
“Li Xun! Take one more step, and you’ll be declaring war against the entire spirit clan!”
Li Xun didn’t even blink.
“And what if I am?”
With a casual wave of his hand, the Starblade Grass was cleanly sliced from the ground.
With his other hand, he caught it midair and stashed it into his storage ring, all in one fluid motion.
The moment the herb entered his possession, two mechanical prompts echoed in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You’ve discovered a blue level investable person. Invest one Starblade Grass to receive a mid-grade Spiritual Treasure: Ocean-Cleaving Sword!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You’ve discovered a purple level investable person. Invest one Starblade Grass to receive a piece of Divine Gold Iron!]
‘Oh?’
His eyes lit up.
‘Purple level?’
Li Xun’s gaze flicked to the two cultivators. In his vision, one of them—the spirit clan cultivator—was shrouded in a soft blue glow.
But the young human cultivator…
A faint violet radiance shimmered around him.
Divine Gold Iron—a Holy level forging material.
‘I’ve been meaning to look for some, and now it just walks right up to me. Talk about perfect timing.’
Li Xun couldn’t help but laugh to himself.
His system had given him a Treasure Advancement Talisman, but it could only be used once. He had already used it to evolve his Azure Dragon Halberd from a Supreme-Grade Spiritual Treasure into a Supreme-Grade Dao Weapon.
But now, even if he got another Treasure Advancement Talisman, it wouldn’t work on the same weapon again.
He’d used the halberd for a long time—it had accompanied him through countless battles. Parting with it didn’t sit right with him.
So if he wasn’t willing to abandon it…
Then the only way forward was to manually upgrade it into a Sacred Weapon.
Since he couldn’t use a talisman, he’d need to collect Holy level materials himself—either forge it personally or find someone capable of doing it for him.
And now, the first step—Divine Gold Iron—was right in front of him.