Chapter 133: The Wind-Breath Ship and Divine Gold

Qinghu thought to herself, why rush in now? Isn't fighting monsters tiring enough? Since there were others willing to help them wear down that creature's strength, she was naturally more than happy to let them.

Too many corpse beetles had been killed, scattered across the ground not far from the great stone gate of the underground palace, emitting a thick, putrid stench. This odor was, in reality, a type of corpse poison dissipating into the air; if a human breathed it for too long, they would surely be poisoned.

Qinghu took out the Wind-Breath Boat and kept it blowing, sending refreshing, clean breezes toward everyone around her.

"Little Lions, use fire spells to burn those beetle carcasses," she instructed. "The rest of you, move them and stack them into piles to make burning easier."

The Stone Spirits remained on the front lines, effectively blocking the majority of the beetles. Any that managed to slip through were promptly cut down by the group. Seeing the piles of dead beetles growing and taking up more and more space, everyone agreed that clearing the bodies was necessary. However, they worried: since the beetles were toxic, wouldn't burning them release the poison into the air and cause them to succumb to it?

"Don't worry, we have the Wind-Breath Boat," Qinghu said, pointing to the small vessel floating above her shoulder. "This boat is a treasure; it can constantly blow fresh, clean air around us."

"I was wondering why the air suddenly felt so fresh, even carrying a scent of grass from the outside world," Qingzhen laughed immediately. "The stench from before was almost enough to suffocate me."

Qinghu frowned. "Let's hurry and process these carcasses. The smell is unbearable."

"There are too many beetles," She Qi noted. "Even if we burn these, the smell won't dissipate for quite a while."

"Burn what we can for now," Qinghu replied. "Besides, the beetles aren't infinite. There will eventually be a time when they are exhausted."

The logic held up. The group began working in small teams, dragging the carcasses together and lighting them with fire talismans or by calling over a Fire Lion. The roaring blaze sent the combined stench of rot, fishiness, and burning flesh skyward. However, these foul fumes didn't drift toward Qinghu and her companions; instead, the Wind-Breath Boat drew them away, blowing them deep into the heart of the underground palace.

Watching the speed at which the air was being funneled, She Shiyi couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Oh my, Shen Qinghu, you are too wicked. Those guys deep inside the palace are probably going to be driven crazy by this stench."

She Qi and Shou'an also covered their mouths to hide their smiles.

Helan Che hadn't realized what was happening at first, but when he saw the swirling currents of air constantly being blown into the depths of the palace, he couldn't help but burst into laughter. My goodness, this method was a bit underhanded, but it was effective—truly, it was excellent.

When Qingzhen and the others noticed the visible currents of air being blown away above their heads, they all laughed uncontrollably.

Qinghu, however, kept a straight face, acting as if she didn't see them laughing. "Work, hurry up and get to work."

Hahaha...

In truth, none of them had a good impression of those birds that had flown deep into the palace without so much as a greeting. Sending this foul-smelling wind their way didn't bother anyone; in fact, they found it quite amusing.

The result of this amusement was that everyone became energized. They quickly hauled the carcasses, lit them into funeral pyres, and left the Wind-Breath Boat to funnel the black, putrid air deep into the palace!

Blow, blow with all your might!

The consequence of everyone working together on a mischievous deed was that the barriers between them lessened, and even the human youths could laugh and chat with the elite prodigies of the other races. This was a significant step forward; in the past, these non-human youths had never taken the humans seriously, let alone engaged in such exchanges.

As the piles of beetle carcasses were burned away, the ground began to reveal its true face. It was the ruins of a dilapidated city. From the moment they passed the great stone gate, they were surrounded by the wreckage of various buildings. Among the debris, one could occasionally see small pieces of metal, and the walls were embedded with colorful, shimmering particles.

These particles, likely due to the passage of time, had lost much of their luster, just like the metal fragments occasionally revealed on the ground.

Qinghu crouched before a wall of rubble, reached out to touch the waist-high, dirt-covered wall, and closed her eyes to investigate. She then said in pleasant surprise, "This is exactly what I needed! The Wind-Breath Boat has really hit the jackpot."

She took out a handkerchief to wipe the dirt from her hands and turned to She Qi and She Shiyi. "I've found something good. Care to do some business?"

"What kind of business?" She Qi and She Shiyi rushed over.

"See this? These ruins were likely forged by fusing a significant amount of spirit metals and divine metal particles. I can refine these back into raw spirit and divine materials. However, there's a cost: I require a large amount of pure earth-attribute spirit energy to extract them."

Upon hearing this, She Qi and She Shiyi’s eyes lit up. "What kind of spirit metals and divine metals?"

"From what I can see so far, there are at least seven hundred types of spirit metals and fifty-nine types of divine metals. I want ninety percent of the divine metals; the remaining ten percent is yours. You provide the pure earth-attribute energy," Qinghu stated.

Although Qinghu didn't list the specific metals, seven hundred types of spirit metals—many of which were surely precious—plus fifty-nine types of divine metals meant they were about to strike it rich. Even if the share of divine metals offered to them was small, it was still a fortune.

"Can we do a seventy-thirty split on the divine metals?" She Qi asked.

"What are you dreaming about? Don't be greedy," Qinghu replied, her expression indicating she didn't care if they accepted or not. "You have no use for divine metals anyway; getting a share at all is generous."

"How do we split the spirit metals?" She Qi asked.

"Fourth Brother, what spirit metals do you want? How should we split them with them? Come over and negotiate," Qinghu called out to Qingzhen.

"I don't even know which spirit metals are more useful to us," Qingzhen grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"I do, I'll help you negotiate," Helan Che volunteered.

"I can too, I know the value and rarity of many spirit metals. I can help negotiate as well," Wei Dongting chimed in anxiously.

"Fine, all of you come," Qingzhen said, looking at Qinghu. "Are you really going to stay out of it? If I negotiate a bad deal, you'll have to live with it."

"If you lose out, it's on you, Fourth Brother. I have no use for spirit metals anyway." Her Majesty was eyeing the divine metals; with divine metals to repair the Wind-Breath Boat, who would bother with spirit metals?

"So, the divine metals are what you mainly want?" Qingzhen realized.

"Yes."

"What do you need divine metals for?" Qingzhen asked, puzzled.

"To repair the boat. The Wind-Breath Boat is actually a Divine Race warship. Because it's severely damaged, it can only function as a fan right now. It told me to collect divine metals, and it can repair itself."

In truth, the boat's artifact spirit had long since lost its consciousness, leaving only the instinct to consume materials. But with her present, re-awakening an artifact spirit was hardly a problem. Her Majesty was, after all, a master of all sorts of craftsmanship.

"This boat... can actually repair itself? Wait, you're saying it has an artifact spirit? And it woke up?" Qingzhen asked hurriedly.

"Mmhmm. It's still very weak right now. It can't chat or play with you yet. Once it grows a bit more, it will be able to manifest a physical form." Authentic divine artifacts rarely lacked the ability to manifest; if it couldn't even do that, it would either be a collection of broken parts or a wreck on the verge of being scrapped.

Hearing that the little boat that only knew how to blow wind was actually a Divine Race warship, everyone looked at it in utter astonishment. My god, this is a warship? And a Divine Race warship at that?!

"We haven't even seen a single warship in the entire Eastern Barbarian Territory, and you have a Divine Race warship?" She Shiyi sprinted beneath the boat, staring at it intently.

The boat was only the size of a palm, but the deckhouse, the five sails, the intricate accessories on the hull, and the even smaller boats hanging from the gunwales were all clearly visible.

"Can this boat grow larger and smaller?" She Shiyi asked cautiously.

"It's stuck at this size. It's injured—severely disabled. It needs divine metals and time to recover," Qinghu explained.

"What if it does recover? At its peak, how big, long, and tall could this warship be?" She Shiyi asked excitedly.

"That depends on its recovery. It's severely wounded, and I don't know what it looked like at its peak. Let me put it this way: even if it is repaired, it won't be restored to its original state. That wouldn't suit me; it will be repaired according to my wishes. So, let the past be the past. Once I fix it, it won't need to be huge—just large enough to be useful," Qinghu said.

She Shiyi gave her a look of condemnation, as if to say she was wasting a heavenly treasure. Qinghu ignored him; the boy was clearly green with envy.

"Why does this boat look so familiar?" Ruan Qingwu stared at it for a long time. "Isn't this the treasure that Xie Wu’s master obtained?"

"You know Xie Wu?" Qingzhen asked in surprise. "On the day the little dog-men bullied Xie Wu at the Wuding City black market, my sister saved her. The next day, Xie Wu brought her master’s thank-you gift—this Wind-Breath Boat—and gave it to my sister."

"What? Xie Wu’s master gave a Divine Race warship to your sister?" Ruan Qingwu was shocked. This news was truly staggering. The human territories had never produced any Divine Race treasures, yet here was the Wind-Breath Boat. If this wasn't a supreme treasure, what was?

"I think Xie Wu’s master is going to be in trouble," Ruan Qingwu observed.

"Heh, definitely. A place that can produce a Divine Race warship must contain other treasures. Anyone would think so. From now on, both the Dao Court and the Ancient Saint Sect will be in an uproar," Helan Che laughed. "Wind-Breath Boat, oh Wind-Breath Boat, you’ve arrived at quite the moment."

"What? Are you planning to expose the fact that I have the Wind-Breath Boat?" Qinghu shot him a cold, side-eyed glance.

Cough, cough, cough—Helan Che choked on his own laughter. "Nothing of the sort! I've never seen a Wind-Breath Boat, and I don't know where it came from."

"Hmph. You’re sensible enough. However, once you leave the Xuantian Tower, any memory of the Wind-Breath Boat will vanish from your minds." Qinghu’s words carried the power of a curse. An invisible ripple swept over everyone present. None of them, save for Qinghu, felt the power of the spell.

"Yes, yes, none of us will say a word about the Wind-Breath Boat." Even though Helan Che hadn't felt the spell, he instinctively knew that if he leaked the secret, he wouldn't meet a good end.

Qinghu swept her gaze over him and then looked at Wei Dongting and the others. They immediately pledged their silence, and eventually, even Ruan Qingwu agreed not to reveal the secret.

Qinghu looked at everyone, then turned to her brother with a look of disdain. "Don't you go talking about it outside, either."

"I know, don't you trust your own brother?" Qingzhen grumbled, ruffling his sister’s buns. "Anyway, even though you aren't human, it's best you don't talk about it either," he added to the others.

"Rest assured," She Shiyi promised immediately. "I won't casually expose the news of the Wind-Breath Boat."

"Neither will we," the other snake-folk added. Then came the lions, both the Mighty Lions and the Fire Lions—Ba Lie and Little Lion Shi Mingzhao pledged to keep their mouths shut. Finally, the Black Dog-men! Black Zhan also promised, "Don't worry, the Black Wolf Tribe will never expose the Wind-Breath Boat."

"Then hurry up and negotiate! Get me enough pure earth-attribute spirit energy so I can refine things," Qinghu urged.

This was difficult to negotiate, as the interests involved were too vast. They debated for two hours; the main members argued so fiercely they almost came to blows, yet they couldn't reach a final resolution. The others killed beetles, burned carcasses, and waited anxiously for the results.

Although the distribution of spirit and divine metals remained undecided, they did reach an agreement on the earth-attribute energy. First, there were the earth-marrow crystals—inferior to earth-marrow beads, but still potent earth-attribute items. They were abundant, and the group managed to collect over three thousand of them, the smallest being the size of a human fist. These formed a small mound of crystals. Then there were the earth-marrow beads; they managed to produce twelve of them, each as large as the ones Qinghu had previously obtained.

They were all little "wealthy ladies" and "little gods of fortune." Finally, they contributed seven or eight rare earth-attribute treasures—three Earth Ganoderma, two Earth Spirit Roots, and two Earth Poria.

While waiting, Qinghu took advantage of the time to drink plenty of spirit fluid. Since her body’s transformation, her appetite for it had grown. *Gulp, gulp, gulp...* By the end, spiritual energy was dissipating directly from her pores. Well, she had definitely overindulged this time.

"Here, Qinghu. We haven't agreed on how to split the rest, but let's get the materials out first."

"Fine." Qinghu nodded. She looked at the items on the ground, opened her mouth, and inhaled, drawing all the earth-attribute spirit items into her stomach.

Qingzhen couldn't help but wince. The girl was becoming less and less human.

After consuming all the earth-attribute items, Qinghu began to place her hands on the ground at the edge of the great gate, channeling her energy. Before long, things began to emerge from beneath the earth. Tiny, colorful specks of light, shining with dazzling brilliance, rose from the ground and hovered around her like playful sprites.

As time passed, these specks grew larger. Some had grown into strips the size of a palm.

"That strip—why does it look like Purple Wind Copper? I heard the Purple Wind Copper veins had long been extinct!"

"That looks like Demon Eye White Iron. My god, I saw a piece the size of a fist at the year-end auction in Wendu City, and it sold for thirty thousand spirit stones!"

"Uh, look everyone, is that Essence Gold?"

"I see it! It is Essence Gold, and a very rare mutated Scarlet Fire Essence Gold at that!"

"My god, that's Moon-Glow Spirit Gold! The legendary Moon-Glow Spirit Gold!"

"Quiet, everyone be quiet! Can't you see Elder Sister Hu is getting annoyed?" the little dog-man whispered. He had noticed Qinghu glaring impatiently at the group of people gathered to stare at the metals.

"Stop looking for now. Everyone, kill the beetles and burn them so they don't get in the way," She Qi urged. "Why are you in such a hurry to see the spirit metals? As more are extracted, you'll have plenty of time to see them."

"That's right. Shen Qinghu is working, so we must be diligent too," She Shiyi added. "If anyone thinks only of treasures and not of killing beetles, don't blame me for being rude. As long as that thing deep in the palace is alive, we can't leave. Spirit metals are precious, but are they more precious than our lives?"

She Shiyi’s words served as a wake-up call. Everyone focused on the task at hand.

Qinghu would extract materials for an hour or two, then meditate to cultivate, eat, and continue working. When night fell, she would simply pitch a tent and go to sleep. Watching this, the group could only pout in helplessness. She was so leisurely—what could they do? They had to just endure it.

Since Qinghu was sleeping, the tireless Stone Spirits continued to fight. The front line between the beetles and the Stone Spirits had moved far away, already two miles from their makeshift camp. Exhausted from fighting, the group set up their own tents to rest.

Helan Che walked over to Qingzhen. "I don't have a tent. Can I squeeze in with you?"

"Sure." Qingzhen didn't mind; he wasn't one to fuss. The White Sheep brothers were always with him, and their tents were nearby. Qingzhen had already finished his dinner and was now brewing a type of milk tea, made with the milk of a ferocious cattle beast and various other ingredients. It was rich, creamy, and sweet—Qingzhen loved it. "Want a bowl?"

Helan Che shook his head. "No thanks. How can you like such sweet, greasy things?"

"Can't help it, it's just my taste," Qingzhen laughed.

"Qingzhen, why don't you bring out those spirit and divine metal pieces Qinghu left with you before she slept? Let me take a look," Helan Che asked.

Qingzhen shook his head immediately. "Qinghu will be angry. I don't dare provoke her."

*Dare not provoke her?* He was the one who spent every day bickering with his sister. Qingzhen just didn't want any accidents, like losing a piece or two. How embarrassing would that be?

"By the way, why is your sister a Divine Descendant?" Helan Che asked again.

"You ask too many questions," Qingzhen replied curtly.

Helan Che gave an awkward laugh. "I'm just curious."

"How old are you? Don't you know what can be asked and what can't?" Qingzhen scoffed. "You're a slick one, and you’re full of trouble. Go find Wei Dongting and share his tent. You're getting on my nerves."

Helan Che: "..."

A White Sheep brother nearby burst into laughter.

"Not leaving yet?" Qingzhen’s expression darkened.

Shou'an walked over. "What's going on?"

Helan Che gave another awkward laugh and left.

"What was that about?"

"He was trying to pry into my sister’s Divine Descendant lineage..." Qingzhen watched him leave, not hiding his irritation.

"Don't pay him any mind. He's young, but he’s got sticky fingers," Shou'an said.

"Hmph, he’s full of schemes. He even wanted to see how much gold Qinghu had collected. As if."

At first, Qingzhen had liked Helan Che, but he later realized the man was too oily, arrogant, and believed he could easily manipulate others. Was Shen Qingzhen really that stupid?

The next day, Qinghu woke up and began refining materials again. The fighting was calm on their side, but deep inside the palace, there were constant roars and explosive collisions. By the afternoon, another massive wave of beetles appeared from somewhere, ignored the battle at the gate, and surged deep into the palace.

By nightfall, the area near the stone gate had been thoroughly "mined" by Qinghu. Large amounts of spirit metal strips were arranged in piles, along with a small heap of shimmering divine metals. Qinghu ignored the spirit metals, tossing them to her Fourth Brother to manage. She tossed the portion of divine metals she didn't need to She Shiyi, and the rest were given to the Wind-Breath Boat. The boat gave a *whoosh* and swallowed the strips of divine metal.

The next morning, everyone noticed that the Wind-Breath Boat, which had been floating above Qinghu’s tent, seemed to have grown a bit rounder.

*Pfft!* A cloud of dust was suddenly spat out by the Wind-Breath Boat, hitting a distant wall and leaving it riddled with holes.

"What is it doing?" Qingzhen asked, puzzled.

"It replaced its old materials, so it spat out the useless impurities," Qinghu explained. Even if divine metals were damaged or eroded, the boat would naturally discard the old to make room for the new.

*Boom, boom, boom!* It was barely dawn, and the fighting inside had already resumed. They were truly model workers!

After breakfast, Qinghu and her group resumed work. Before long, wave after wave of beetles bypassed them and rushed into the palace. Then, in the afternoon, several waves returned. It was said that even throughout the night, large groups of beetles were returning.

By the time Qinghu and her group finished breakfast the next day, they discovered that the Stone Spirits had already pushed the front line seven or eight miles inside the great stone gate.