Chapter Eighty-Five: A Gift from the Immortal Realm

A gleam of excitement flashed in Sleepy Bug's eyes as it sprang up with delight. "Yes! I knew Big Brother could do it!"

By then, Zi Zi had finally let go of the worry in her heart and smiled. "This guy could clearly handle it himself, yet he had to make everyone tense from the very start."

In truth, one could hardly blame Qin Chuan. After all, the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar had such an imposing origin that being cautious was only natural.

As the Dragon Binding Jade Chain dissolved, all of the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar's abilities entered cooldown.

Caught in the knock-up effect, it had utterly lost the ability to resist. It was the butcher's knife to its flesh, and Qin Chuan was the knife.

Facing the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar as though it were fish on a chopping board, Qin Chuan naturally showed no mercy. With a swift glide, he crashed straight into the crack in the dragon head.

After a storm of flashing blades and sword light, the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar had been reduced to a pitiful wreck. It wailed, "Big Brother, spare my life! I am willing to follow you forever."

Of course Qin Chuan would not let a tiger return to the mountains and leave trouble behind. With a sly laugh, he said, "Follow me? That can be skipped. I don't feel like getting clubbed from behind!"

This fellow's skills were far too monstrous. Keeping him around would be a disaster, and Qin Chuan had no desire to invite suffering upon himself.

So, while the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar was still on its last breath, Qin Chuan mercilessly struck at its spirit core.

"Ding! Critical hit triggered."

"Ding! Killed level 27 Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar, obtained 225,000 experience points. An additional 100 percent experience bonus for killing above your level. Congratulations, Host, you have gained 450,000 experience points."

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the Seven-Star Elite title. All attributes bonus increased to 35 points."

Hearing the system prompt, Qin Chuan could not help but be somewhat surprised. "Damn, this thing is actually worth so much? Looks like its origin should be pretty impressive too."

As it was devoured, the radiance of the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar began to fade bit by bit.

At last, it split into two halves, and within it faint red lines could be seen.

At the same time, Qin Chuan sensed an incomparably pure force of origin. It was vastly different from anything he had devoured before, and the dark dragon patterns on the sword body grew much brighter.

"Ding! Devouring successful, gained 40,000 evolution points."

Qin Chuan could not help sighing. "Well, the things from the Immortal Realm really are something else."

Sleepy Bug darted over in a flash and said excitedly, "Big Brother really is amazing. You didn't even need Sister Zi Zi and me to help. Right, Sister Zi Zi?"

At that moment, Zi Zi ran over with a flying step and gave Qin Chuan a special embrace.

This move left Qin Chuan completely stunned. His sword body clearly felt an astonishing softness and a wonderful elasticity.

At that instant, Qin Chuan felt as though blood was running from his nose—if he had one, that is.

Yet Zi Zi soon let go of Qin Chuan, her cheeks slightly red as she said, "Congratulations on still being alive."

Qin Chuan blinked. "Just that?"

Zi Zi's face flushed again at once, and she said coquettishly, "Then what else do you want?"

What Qin Chuan had meant was: because I am still alive, you give me a hug?

But Zi Zi assumed he wanted more.

At that moment, Sleepy Bug, thinking itself clever, answered for her. "I think Big Brother wants you to kiss him, just like Sister kissed me."

Qin Chuan had never expected Sleepy Bug to say something like that, and he felt a secret surge of delight. Damn, little brother, you've really got my back!

What sounded like a ridiculous request was, surprisingly, accepted by Zi Zi after a brief hesitation.

To her, kissing a sword was no different from kissing a little bug.

After thinking it through, Zi Zi stepped forward generously and gave it a peck.

Buzz.

At that moment, Qin Chuan's sword body shuddered uncontrollably.

He suddenly felt as though he had been electrified, the sensation rushing straight into his spirit core and deeper into his soul.

"My first kiss is gone just like that."

When Zi Zi kissed the Cold Iron Sword, she too felt something different from kissing Sleepy Bug, something akin to resonance.

It was a little mysterious, wonderfully strange, and even she could not quite explain what sort of feeling it was.

The atmosphere became somewhat delicate. Qin Chuan and Zi Zi were each lost in their own thoughts.

Only Sleepy Bug, twitching its lively little nose, ran over to the side of the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar and stared at the blood-red patterns on it.

"Big... Big Brother, there's something strange here!"

Sleepy Bug's words startled Qin Chuan and Zi Zi at the same time, and both went over to take a look.

Zi Zi was, after all, broad in her experience and quickly saw what was wrong. She said in surprise, "Huh, these blood-red patterns might be dragon blood essence. If a spirit beast can refine it, it should be able to evolve."

Sleepy Bug could not help trembling and asked excitedly, "Sister, do you mean I can refine this dragon blood essence?"

"Yes, you should be able to."

At once, Qin Chuan urged, "Little brother, stop standing there. Hurry up and refine it."

Such an opportunity was rare beyond words for Sleepy Bug. Even a trace of dragon blood essence would bring about unimaginable changes.

"Mm-hmm, then I won't stand on ceremony, Big Brother."

"Little brother, this is a gift from the Immortal Realm. Don't you dare waste it!"

"Mm-hmm."

Thus, full of excitement, Sleepy Bug began refining the blood-red patterns on the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar.

In truth, the Bound Dragon Cold Jade Pillar contained both dragon blood and dragon qi. The dragon qi was nurtured within the spirit core, while the dragon blood remained in the body itself.

When Qin Chuan had devoured the spirit core just now, the dragon patterns on his sword body had changed noticeably because he had absorbed the dragon qi.

In the Sunset Forest, Qin Chuan had once devoured two dragon-patterned swords, and both of their spirit cores contained faint dragon qi.

Looking at the entire cold jade ore mountain, Qin Chuan could hardly be happier.

"Haha, this time I really hit the jackpot."

After Sleepy Bug's little commotion, Zi Zi had already calmed down. Smiling, she asked, "Qin Chuan, are you also going to start refining these cold jade ores now?"

Looking at Zi Zi before him, capable of fulfilling every shut-in's fantasy, Qin Chuan could not help but think of that "fragrant kiss" from earlier.

Seeing that Qin Chuan still had not answered, Zi Zi could not help asking curiously, "Qin Chuan, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing, nothing. I am going to start refining now. Please wait a moment; it may take some time."

Only after hearing Zi Zi's words did Qin Chuan come to himself, feeling only that deep within his spirit core something was pounding with a rapid beat.

"Mm, I'll wait for you."

"Good."

Thus Qin Chuan said no more nonsense and began to activate devour.

"Ding! Devouring successful, gained 1 evolution point, increased freeze chance by 0.01 percent."

...

The cold jade ore was raw stone that had not yet been refined, so the bonuses were pitifully small.

But that hardly mattered, because there was an entire mountain of cold jade ore here.

As the devouring continued, the whole mountain of cold jade ore began to shrink at a pace visible to the naked eye.

This sight once again left Zi Zi stunned. Everything seemed so unbelievable.

In the end, Zi Zi could only sigh, "Qin Chuan, you really are a monster!"

After about two or three hours, the entire mountain of cold jade ore had vanished without a trace.

Qin Chuan had also reaped a bountiful harvest. By now, his freeze chance had reached 60 percent. Add the 5 percent freeze chance granted by the Cold Jade Pearl, and it climbed to a staggering 65 percent.

"This... is insane!"

Qin Chuan was almost certain that with just a few basic strikes, freezing would basically always occur.

However, his freeze chance had already reached the limit of what could be improved. Further increases had become extremely difficult.

After all, in the second stage of enhancement there were only six skill points, and a 60 percent freeze chance was already the limit.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. Your evolution points are full. You may now choose an evolution direction."

"Mutated evolution!"

This time Qin Chuan did not choose to raise his grade. Since he had just devoured an entire mountain, a mutated evolution might well produce some new change.

Moreover, the chance of mutation evolution this time was as high as 95 percent. The higher the chance, the greater the possibility of evolution and mutation.

A few seconds later, the system gave a crisp prompt.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. Evolution successful. You have become the Dragon-Patterned Cold Jade Sword."

"Ah-ha, it really changed."

At this moment, Qin Chuan's sword body became smoother still, shimmering with a jade-like luster, while exquisite dragon patterns were engraved across it.

Though his whole form remained black, he looked far more impressive than before.

Qin Chuan glanced at the attribute panel with delight and found that there had been quite a few changes.