Zhou Kai opened his system panel.

[Zhou Kai] [Spirit Roots: Metal (Low Grade 12/100), Wood (Heaven Grade 600/Infinite), Water (Low Grade 17/100), Fire (Low Grade 23/100)] [Omni-Interaction Points: 220] [Alchemy Interaction Points: 4120] [Spirit Root Interaction Points: 6580] [Artifact Refining Interaction Points: 0]

All other interaction points had been zeroed out; he had poured everything into himself.

Zhou Kai’s eye twitched as he scanned the long strings of numbers behind Alchemy and Spirit Roots.

This system was hell-bent on making him progress alongside his beauties.

With over six thousand Spirit Root Interaction Points, he could elevate five Spirit Roots to Heaven Grade. Should he complete his Five Elements Spirit Roots and then boost them all to the limit?

The thought flashed through his mind but was quickly dismissed.

Forget it.

Spirit Root grade only affected the absorption speed of the corresponding Spirit Qi; it didn’t provide a direct combat power boost. His Heavenly Scripture and Myriad Forms Hammer were non-attribute techniques. Improving his Spirit Roots now offered too little return on investment.

It was like a cultivator who mastered the entry-level techniques of Calamity Abyss Valley, Heavenly Spring Sect, and Lone Goose Palace. Even if he learned them all, he would still remain an Outer Sect Disciple. The essence wouldn’t change.

He decided to save these points for now, or wait until he found powerful techniques of corresponding attributes, then dump them all at once.

Just then, a ripple came through his mental connection with one of the Jade Arm Mantises.

A discovery!

Zhou Kai sprang to his feet and hurried in that direction.

Passing through several dilapidated streets, he reached the ruins of a collapsed stone building. There, he found the Jade Arm Mantis standing over a corpse.

The corpse was… strange.

Clad in black robes, the body beneath the fabric had a semi-transparent texture. It was neither flesh nor ghost, not quite soul—like a shell preserving a human form.

A bowl-sized hole gaped in its chest, and numerous scratches and bite marks covered its body. Clearly, it had been killed in a fight, its bizarre body pierced through.

Zhou Kai frowned, feeling a familiar, elusive aura emanating from the corpse.

He crouched down, instinctively activating the Cicada Raiment Art, and cautiously reached out a finger to touch the semi-transparent “skin.”

The moment his fingertip made contact, a faint sense of resonance transmitted from the corpse, echoing distantly with the Cicada Raiment Art circulating within him.

Cicada Raiment!

It was the actual “raiment” cultivated by the Cicada Raiment Art!

Zhou Kai’s mind buzzed, a bold conjecture surfacing.

Could the “Cicada Raiment” be more than just an inanimate object used for concealment? This layer of skin seems to possess a certain independence.

Could it be that, at higher levels of cultivation, this technique can refine the Cicada Raiment into a clone capable of independent combat?

This conjecture was too astonishing, making his breathing quicken slightly.

If true, the value of the complete Cicada Raiment Art would far exceed his imagination, bordering on heaven-defying.

He needed more clues to verify his guess.

He continued exploring deeper into the city.

The further he went, the more similar Cicada Raiment corpses he found. At the same time, corpses of Yin Ruins Sect cultivators and Fu family disciples began to appear, their deaths gruesome, clearly the result of a fierce battle.

That turbid, dark-yellow great river flowed silently through the city. Zhou Kai followed its bank downstream.

Gradually, the buildings on both banks grew sparse, eventually disappearing entirely.

Ahead, the river channel abruptly split into five massive forks, the water pouring into five bottomless, enormous caves. The cave mouths were pitch black, emitting faint wisps of sharp, metallic killing aura—cold and razor-edged.

Zhou Kai sent his three Jade Arm Mantises to scout each cave briefly.

Their conclusion: the auras deep within the five caves were essentially the same—that sharp, metallic killing aura.

He randomly chose the second cave mouth on the left and stepped inside.

The cave interior was dimly lit, with only some unknown ores on the walls emitting a faint glow.

After walking about a hundred zhang, a stone stele appeared ahead, inscribed with four characters radiating a fierce, murderous intent: Geng Gold Mysterious River.

The further he went, the narrower the passage became. The stone walls on both sides were smooth as mirrors, gleaming with a metallic cold light.

Reaching the end, the view suddenly opened up, but Zhou Kai stopped in his tracks.

There was no path ahead, only a surging underground river. The water was a bright silver color, like flowing liquid metal.

He tentatively extended a foot, stepping onto the river’s surface.

A marvelous sight occurred. His foot stood firmly on the water as if on solid ground. The bright silver water merely rippled in a circle, unable to wet him in the slightest.

Zhou Kai marveled, striding confidently across this “Geng Gold Mysterious River.”

On the other side of the exit was a completely different world.

Two immense mountain walls stabbed into the clouds, their surfaces flat and smooth, gleaming with a blinding metallic luster. They looked like two peerless divine swords magnified ten thousand times, facing each other from afar, leaving only a narrow, thread-like passage between them.

Here, there was no land. Beneath his feet was still that surging Geng Gold Mysterious River.

Splash!

Just as Zhou Kai was taking in this spectacular scene, the river beneath his feet suddenly erupted!

Several dark figures shot out of the water, lunging straight for him.

Zhou Kai’s eyes focused. Looking closely, they were silver-white humanoid strange beasts. Where their arms should have been, there were two gleaming, sharp long blades!

“Perfect timing!”

Instead of being alarmed, Zhou Kai was pleased. His mind stirred.

“Go!”

The three Jade Arm Mantises transformed into streaks of jade-green light, their wings vibrating at high speed with a buzzing hum, instantly intercepting one of the Blade Arm Strange Beasts.

As for Zhou Kai himself, he reached back into his Storage Bag, drew out a flying sword, infused it with Mana, and sent it streaking like a beam of light toward the other beasts!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal clashing rang out incessantly.

The strange beasts’ blade arms were incredibly hard, holding their own against the high-grade flying sword in direct clashes, and they fought with fearless ferocity.

“Huh, only about Qi Condensation third or fourth layer in strength, but their defense is decent.”

After testing them, Zhou Kai held back no longer. Under his control, the flying sword pierced straight through their heads, ending them.

Pfft!

In just a few breaths, accompanied by several mournful cries, all the Blade Arm Strange Beasts were slain by his sword. Their corpses fell into the river, splashing up silver droplets.

On the other side, although the three Jade Arm Mantises only had strength around Qi Condensation second layer, Chen Xingze’s strict selection guaranteed quality.

Their movements were tricky, their angles bizarre, specifically targeting the beasts’ joints, necks, and other weak points. Their fight had also concluded.

The three little creatures circled the beast’s corpse, emitting a series of excited chirps.

“Want to eat?” Zhou Kai smiled. “Go ahead then.”

They immediately pounced, devouring it with gusto.

Watching their greedy manner, Zhou Kai stroked his chin. These strange beasts contained metallic killing energy, greatly beneficial to the Jade Arm Mantises.

Since these little guys liked them, he might as well kill a few more, take the corpses back, and refine them into Beast-Feeding Pills. That would surely be more effective than swallowing them raw.

Having decided, Zhou Kai took out his Spirit Boat. Although it consumed a lot of energy, he had plenty of Spirit Qi replenishing pills on him, so he wasn’t worried.

Skimming the river’s surface, he flew forward along this sword-wall canyon.

And so, he traveled for three or four days.

Every Blade Arm Strange Beast encountered along the way was slain by him and fed to the mantises. The auras of the three Jade Arm Mantises had clearly grown significantly stronger, and the scythes on their forelimbs had become even more crystalline and translucent.

On this day, Zhou Kai was piloting his Spirit Boat at high speed.

Suddenly!

The sword-like mountain walls on both sides began to hum without warning!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Countless golden sword beams, each about an inch long, shot out from the smooth cliff faces like a torrential rain of pear blossoms. They blanketed the sky and earth as they converged on Zhou Kai in the center of the river channel!

“Holy sh*t!”

Zhou Kai’s face changed dramatically. Individually, these sword beams weren’t powerful—only about early Qi Condensation level—but their numbers were overwhelming!

Thousands upon thousands, dense and impenetrable!

He immediately retracted his Spirit Boat; he couldn’t afford to let it get damaged. Activating his protective spiritual light, he made his flying sword dance into a curtain of light before him, using the Dragon Roaming the Void movement technique to dodge.

Even so, some sword beams still struck Zhou Kai, causing his spiritual light to flicker violently.

And right at this critical moment, two figures appeared not far ahead, treading on the river’s surface, speeding toward him!

People from the Yin Ruins Sect!

Zhou Kai’s eye twitched violently, cursing his rotten luck inwardly.

“It’s been two months already, how do they still have people here?”

No time to think. The two had clearly spotted him, and they were also dodging the sword rain!

Once the sword rain passed, the three of them would inevitably confront each other!