Chapter Fifty-Nine: With Enough Perseverance, Even the Iron Staff Can Be Ground Into a Needle

What exactly was that great serpent deity of sand and dust doing inside, to the point that even Long Yi, wielding the Divine Awe Blade, could not gain the upper hand? Moreover, it was merely a soul—could it be…?

Dou Wang was first to summon Wuyun, sending it into the central passage of the rippling current. The moment he entered, he was left dumbfounded!

A massive serpent, its body forged from solidified Steelbane liquid, loomed before him, completely unscathed. Dou Wang had barely stepped forward, his immortal leg yet to expand, when he was swept back with a single lash of its tail.

They clashed head-on—Dou Wang landed a kick, but the serpent’s body recoiled like a spring and instantly reverted to its original form. In contrast, Dou Wang was hurled away, golden blood spurting wildly.

No wonder Long Yi, even with his blade, had gained no advantage; any wound he inflicted would instantly heal, the severed parts merging as though untouched.

The next moment, Wuyun, summoned by Dou Wang, soared onto the Steelbane puppet serpent’s back. Though every bone in its body was shattered, its hands remained nimble. With a single point of the finger, the serpent was enveloped by the powers of Heaven and Earth and vanished in an instant.

“Don’t say I never gave you a chance!” Wuyun, sprawled on the ground, shouted sincerely to Long Yi. At first, Long Yi was indifferent, but when Wuyun retrieved the immortal artifact from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, everyone’s eyes burned with envy.

The Steelbane Puppet—this was a true shapeshifting immortal weapon, the finest among ninth-grade artifacts.

Such a weapon lacked overwhelming offense but boasted unparalleled defense, unmatched by any other.

Now that the weapon had been obtained, its ownership became the subject of heated debate. Old Bear Third was determined to claim it, but Wuyun paid him no heed and handed it directly to Little Worm.

Little Worm was indeed the most suitable.

After basking in his newfound glory for a while, a sudden question arose: Where am I? What is this place?

The group had lost their way. The Steelbane River concealed all sense of direction. As they wandered, countless cave mouths appeared—some large, some small, some wide, some narrow. From within a few, a dim light shone.

Boldly, Long Yi took the lead, entering one of the illuminated caves. No sooner had he stepped inside than a barbed hook latched onto his tail.

“Ha!” In the nick of time, the Ancestor Dragon of Six Talents triggered the Divine Blade’s defense, cleaving the hook and saving Long Yi from being reeled in like a fish.

The group was startled. Within this river of baleful energy, bizarre fish spirits had formed—long, rod-like snouts, eight limbs, crocodilian heads. Their cultivation matched the perfected immortal stage; with one more step, they would become true immortals.

These were Steelbane fiends, entities that had arisen spontaneously from the liquid. Each cave was its domain, and any who dared enter, regardless of strength, were nothing but prey. There was only one law: attack!

The very next second, overwhelming pressure descended. The fiend conjured icy blocks to entrap its foes.

Long Yi was undaunted, slashing with his blade—only to find that, in a twist of malice, the Ancestor Dragon of Six Talents had dampened its power. The blade barely made a mark.

In a flash, Long Yi was frozen in place. A heavy, spear-like spike shot straight for his chest and pierced him through.

Though both possessed immortal bodies, the fiend’s cultivation was leagues beyond—the gap insurmountable, even for the dragon’s formidable defenses.

With the Divine Blade refusing to unleash its might, Long Yi was as helpless as a sick cat.

The spear impaled him, its barbs ready to tear out a great chunk of flesh if withdrawn, leaving a gaping bloody hole.

“Hey!”

Dou Wang acted decisively, grasping the spear. Bathed in golden light, he wrestled the fiend for supremacy. In the next instant, both he and Long Yi’s torn flesh were hurtled toward the fiend’s gaping, sunflower-like maw.

At that critical moment, the forces of Heaven and Earth swept in, enveloping Dou Wang and shielding him from harm.

Having secured the dragon flesh, the Steelbane fiend shuddered with excitement. The scent of dragon blood stirred a frenzy in the surrounding caves.

“I have a feeling a dragon’s presence here bodes ill,” Long Yi muttered, clutching his wound, now somewhat familiar with this place. He swallowed several pills, but the gaping hole in his chest showed no sign of healing.

He was in his true dragon form; such injuries should have closed in an instant.

Examining the wound, he saw a battlefield: his own blood tangled endlessly with another liquid.

Within the Steelbane energy was a pressure that specifically suppressed dragon-kind.

Could it be true that even an Immortal King–level earth dragon beast had been slain here?

The Divine Awe Blade, as if of its own accord, flickered gently. The Steelbane fiend was cleaved in two and vanished into the river.

Drawn here, lured by injury, and in the end gaining nothing—what logic was that?

Old Bear Third, unwilling to believe it, investigated the spot where the fiend had vanished. He searched for a long time, but found no clue. It was as if these fiends were the very souls of the Steelbane River.

“Senior, we’re surrounded—there are fiends everywhere outside,” Little Worm reported, using the Steelbane Puppet in battle for the first time. Awkward and clumsy, the puppet had already been pierced dozens of times, its size diminished by three percent.

“Hold them off a while. They say a thief never leaves empty-handed, and neither do I!”

With only his head and internal skeleton remaining, Wuyun hobbled to where the fiend had vanished and began to chant a spell. In resonance with the Steelbane River, a spherical pearl appeared where the fiend had died—immature, not yet fully formed. In a flash, the powers of Heaven and Earth swept it away, and it was gone.

“Slay them all, capture them all, and repair the imperial artifact!” Wuyun bellowed with swagger. After only two steps, a chunk of his shinbone splintered off, sending him sprawling.

Dou Wang, moved by pity, whispered, “Senior, should I chop off my shinbone for you to borrow for a few days?”

Wuyun shook his head firmly. With a gesture, a thousand kinds of materialized ingredients appeared at his fingertips. They rapidly dwindled, and when only three hundred or so remained, he reduced them by half again.

Long Yi tried to identify them but recognized only a fraction of the hundred and fifty that remained.

“Egg of the Void Nether Beast, dust of imperial bone, lotus leaf transcended for a million years, spatial phoenix stone, virgin girl’s blood from a yin year, month, day, and hour, virgin boy’s blood from a yang year, month, day, and hour, artifact of time and space, nectar of divine softness, Stone of Nine Lives, Mirror of Ten Thousand Worlds, Axis of Reincarnation…”

The more Long Yi read, the more astonished he became. These items were all the stuff of legend—an emperor-level rhino’s flashing jade horn, pure yin-yang imperial blood, and so forth. Each was priceless beyond measure.

“Senior Wuyun, do you mean to use these materials to forge your true body?”

When Wuyun nodded, Long Yi felt as if he were embarking on a path of no return. Even as an Immortal Emperor, seeking these items would mean a struggle to the death.

Who would willingly part with such treasures? It was certain death or life!

Yet, with a wave of Wuyun’s hand, the list was pared down to only the items Long Yi had recited first; the rest became mere numbers.

A hundred billion!

“Could it be, Senior, that you need that many immortal stones as well?”

“Yes, a hundred billion top-grade immortal stones—more than enough to purchase the rest!”

Little Worm, exhausted, retreated into a cave just as Long Yi collapsed in front of him. Meanwhile, the Ancestor Dragon of Six Talents, ready to show off, raised the Divine Blade—only to find its power sapped.

“How many millions of swings would it take to hack out that many top-grade stones?” wailed the Ancestor Dragon. His passion to battle the incoming Steelbane fiends was instantly snuffed out, and he began chopping them down mechanically, one after another.

“As long as the effort is there, even the golden-hooped staff can be ground down to a needle!” Wuyun wagged his head, as if earning a fortune was the easiest thing in the world.