Kays Translations

Chapter 102: A Dangerous Treasure

The entire construction site was in chaos; black liquid sprayed out, releasing a pungent odor that filled the air. Amidst the stench, there was a faint, indescribable strange feeling; if it had to be described, it was like—a decayed, filthy aura.

If spiritual energy is a lively and vibrant presence, then this aura is one of deathly stillness!

After the initial excitement, Li Xian finally had to face reality—this black liquid was definitely not oil, or rather, it was more than just oil! It seemed to contain many dangerous substances!

Gradually, the decayed and filthy aura began to make Li Xian feel uncomfortable.

Everyone scrambled up the hillside in panic, allowing the construction site to be engulfed by the black liquid.

The black liquid seemed endless, quickly turning the valley into a vast expanse of water, forming a black lake.

Li Xian took a closer look and noticed that the surface of the black liquid seemed to shimmer with a rainbow of spiritual light; however, the colorful light was faint, and more prominent was a purple-black spiritual glow flowing beneath. Besides the purple-black, there were gray, black, and ghostly blue hues, none of which looked like anything good.

Ge Zhengfeng was mumbling something nearby, but it was vague, and Li Xian couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Still, Li Xian was curious and wanted to approach to collect a sample.

Unexpectedly, Ge Zhengfeng grabbed Li Xian, saying, “Don’t go over there; you’ll be risking your life!”

“Senior Ge, what exactly is this stuff?” Li Xian was truly too curious.

“It’s underground foul gas! Didn’t I just say that?”

“Is that really all it is, just underground foul gas?” Li Xian’s eyes widened; that seemed too simplistic.

Ge Zhengfeng looked at the black lake ahead, as if recalling something. “There’s a saying that in the Immortal Realm, countless beings have been born over countless millennia, not just the human race; in fact, humanity has only risen to prominence in the last few million years.

Especially in ancient times, when the heavens and earth were rich with spiritual energy and treasures were plentiful, and ferocious beasts roamed free; the human race could only survive in the cracks.

When these powerful beings died, they would slowly decay and gradually sink underground. The corpses of these powerful beings contain immense power, including celestial spiritual energy, demonic energy, and many forces we no longer understand.

After countless years of decay and fermentation underground, these forces formed this strange black liquid. This liquid contains a mix of powerful energies; the rainbow glimmers are actually extremely faint celestial spiritual energy, but unfortunately, no one can extract it, nor would anyone dare to!

Moreover, this liquid often contains remnants of ancient powerful beast souls or some fierce residual auras. Once a person comes into contact with this liquid, their soul can be scattered! Look, many craftsmen contaminated by the foul gas are slowly collapsing!”

Li Xian stared at the ever-expanding black lake ahead, his mind racing with calculations. Clearly, although this was not oil from another world, it could still be considered oil for this one! No matter what kind of oil it was, it was a treasure!

But the treasures of this world seemed even more dangerous, with the existence of residual souls! If he wasn’t careful, there could be dire consequences!

Li Xian felt a surge of excitement; he had unexpectedly discovered oil! But on the other hand, he felt conflicted as he watched the craftsmen collapsing one by one, his brow furrowing—oil on Earth wasn’t this dangerous!

Ge Zhengfeng watched for a long time before finally sighing, “Fortunately, this didn’t happen at the final stage of the project. Thank goodness we have gunpowder. Let’s move to another location.”

Next, they counted the numbers. Over a thousand elite workers and gradually arriving more than three thousand various craftsmen had lost more than five hundred lives! There were no injuries; only deaths! Anyone who was contaminated by that liquid would have their soul shattered and die. The remnants of these ancient powerful beings and their will were clearly beyond what ordinary foundation-building cultivators could withstand.

A faint sense of sorrow spread through the group, but the imperial tomb still had to be built.

The group made another round, and after detailed calculations, Ge Zhengfeng chose to continue excavating on the other side of Yunding Mountain. Yunding Mountain was vast, with a radius of over twenty miles; moving to another site to dig was completely feasible if they were careful.

But from that day onward, Li Xian kept furrowing his brows, thinking about how to utilize these treasures. Oil was an absolute treasure in any world!

This oil from the Immortal Realm must contain other valuable components: celestial spiritual energy, a large amount of spiritual energy, some unique medicinal properties, and the essence refined by powerful beings. There might even be bones of divine beasts hidden in this liquid—after all, on Earth, oil and coal often contained fossils!

That day, Li Xian returned to observe the black lake again. With each visit, he began to compile a data analysis—there was at least 5% spiritual energy in this black liquid! It was liquid spiritual energy! This estimate was based on the flowing lights he observed.

In other words, a hundred pounds of this black liquid could yield five pounds of liquid spiritual energy! Liquid spiritual energy was absolutely comparable to low-grade spirit stones. Based on experience, especially from witnessing the formation process of spirit stones in the conscious world, Li Xian estimated that one pound of liquid spiritual energy was roughly equivalent to ten ordinary low-grade spirit stones!

Aside from the spiritual energy, there was also celestial spiritual energy. However, it was too sparse, often appearing as a fleeting wisp of colorful smoke that disappeared without a trace. But it was celestial spiritual energy! If he could extract it, even if the entire lake could only yield one or two pieces of celestial spiritual energy, Li Xian would strive for it with all his might!

In addition to spiritual energy and fairy spirit energy, Li Xian also discovered some pure auras within, which were as fine as hair but flickered in the black liquid like mischievous sprites, exhibiting various colors.

Of course, the black liquid primarily consisted of the black substance itself; Li Xian believed it should be petroleum. However, this petroleum was not ordinary, as it must contain a large amount of ancient powerful beings’ bodily remains, powers, souls, and other mixed and fermented substances.

“This is a treasure! This is definitely a treasure! If I can find a way to separate and refine it, then… I will never have to worry about energy and spiritual energy again!”

Unfortunately, while the prospects were bright, the present situation was frustrating. Li Xian had caught countless wild beasts from the mountains for experimentation, but as soon as they touched even a hint of the liquid, it was game over!

“The future is bright, the future is beautiful, the future is splendid, the future is… but what about the present?”

Li Xian was in distress; he had also tried to dream at night these past few days, but it seemed to be ineffective!

Just as he was feeling troubled, he heard Song Xing’s voice from behind, “Young master, young master, the lady has sent a message.”

Li Xian immediately stopped feeling troubled and took the letter to read. As he read, he started to laugh, “Haha, our judgment is indeed good; my wise companion is referring to me and Qingqing.

Listen, listen, wise companion, Li Xian’s companion!”

Beside him, Song Xing was trying hard to stifle his laughter—this young master’s name was simply magical, with terms like wise brother, wise companion, and wise nephew… everything could be connected to him!

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