Chapter 21: Buy Yourself a Coffin

Qin Ming stood where he was, carefully contemplating his current state. A golden Bitter Sea surged and roared, its golden waves crashing violently. Amidst the shimmering golden fragments, a great thunder hung in the void, with billowing dark clouds and flashing bolts of lightning. This was the manifestation of the Cloud-Thunder Transformation. With a single move, he could now command the power of thunder. By blending it into his golden Bitter Sea, Qin Ming could make his explosive offensive power soar. Although he was currently only at the first level of the Bitter Sea realm, Qin Ming felt that with his various methods, he could easily challenge cultivators at the ninth level of the same realm.

Qin Ming looked at the golden light covering his skin; this was the outward manifestation of his Bitter Sea power. The Bitter Sea realm was quite unique. One could project their Bitter Sea to suppress opponents and enhance their own attack power. For most cultivators, their Bitter Sea was not very large, so when manifested in the world, it usually covered a range of only a few dozen yards. Anything exceeding a hundred yards was extremely rare. Imagine the sheer terror of being within a hundred-yard radius of an enemy's Bitter Sea.

Qin Ming attempted to manifest his own, but it only extended about ten yards. Within that ten-yard radius, everything was bathed in golden light. However, he could not yet see the complete golden waves, only a partial reflection. It looked less like a sea and more like a small stream. This was easy to understand: the Bitter Sea within Qin Ming’s Dantian was simply too vast—boundless and deep, far more expansive than that of ordinary cultivators. Seeing a few small ripples at a ten-yard manifestation was already quite an achievement; wanting to see the entire sea was a different matter. Perhaps when he could project it over several hundred yards, he would see the full picture—a truly awe-inspiring sight. The golden Bitter Sea roared, and the terrifying tribulation hung in the air.

Withdrawing his manifested sea, Qin Ming looked at the remains of the shroud-clad cultivator, lost in thought. He still lacked a suitable magical treasure. Had he possessed one, he could have dispatched that cultivator even faster. It was a pity his supply of divine metal was insufficient. The most important aspect of a magical treasure was its material, followed by the divine inscriptions carved into it. He lacked both. Given his current financial state, he could buy a treasure, but certainly not a suitable one. Truly fitting gear required specialized forging, or even crafting it himself.

"This person was sent by the Yin Corpse Sect to settle scores with me. Now that he is dead, the sect will surely react quickly and begin moving in earnest. It is not impossible that the Shenxuan Dynasty might even intervene personally."

Qin Ming analyzed the current situation and could not help but take a deep breath. Time was short, and the task was daunting. He had to rapidly increase his own strength and that of the entire Tongtian Immortal Sect within a short period. The first level of the Bitter Sea realm was far from enough.

As he pondered, Jiang Han stepped forward to loot the body, snatching the storage bag from the shroud-clad cultivator’s waist. It contained some pills and spirit stones. Qin Ming didn't even glance at those; his eyes were fixed on a piece of animal bone amidst the spirit stones. This was no ordinary bone; it was forged entirely from divine metal. Curiously, a trace of blood adhered to it. This was contradictory; naturally, bone and blood implied a flesh-and-blood creature, yet this bone was metallic. Could it be a metal-based life form?

Qin Ming soon noticed a guide-token beside the bone. He grasped it, and a moment later, information surged into his mind: "Immortal Gold Grotto." A flicker of wonder crossed Qin Ming’s eyes. As the name suggested, the Immortal Gold Grotto was rich in divine metals. Located in Yanjin Province, adjacent to Qing Province, the metals there were not mined but hunted. The divine gold within the grotto was mobile and possessed a degree of intelligence; there were even those with monstrous intellects capable of devising traps to lure and slaughter human cultivators.

"This place sounds quite interesting." A sharp light flashed in Qin Ming’s eyes. Hunting spirit beasts was common, but hunting metal was a first. He happened to be lacking metal to forge his treasure, so he could go and hunt for some. It was as if he were nodding off and someone handed him a pillow. Perhaps he could gather enough divine metal to forge his own sword. As a sword cultivator, how could he be without a sword? Sword cultivators were dashing, and equally formidable. "Immortal Gold Grotto, here I come!"

Yanjin Province was right next to Qing Province. The distance from the Baiduan Mountain Range to the grotto was not too great. He traveled at high speed, consuming liquefied spirit stones whenever he grew tired. After five days, he finally arrived near the Immortal Gold Grotto.

Before he even reached the site, a sharp, metallic aura rushed toward him. The hair on his skin stood on end—the body’s most intuitive reaction to danger, as if someone had placed a blade against his throat. Truly, it lived up to the name of the Immortal Gold Grotto! The aura emanating from it alone felt like a weapon. The closer one got, the more piercing the sensation became.

There were many cultivators on the road, including those who had come to explore and seize treasures. Qin Ming was unfazed; where there was opportunity, cultivators usually gathered in droves. He walked silently, attempting to use the Nine Dragons Heaven-Burial Cauldron to refine the spiritual energy here. However, once refined, it was no different from ordinary energy. He wondered where the sharp edge within the energy originated. Could it be that the energy itself wasn't sharp, but the Grotto was? Was the entire Immortal Gold Grotto something akin to a magical treasure?

After walking for most of the day, Qin Ming finally arrived. The grotto was massive, perched high upon a cliff. At the foot of the mountain, there were many cultivators—humans and transformed spirit beasts alike. Among them were many at the eighth or ninth level of the Bitter Sea realm, but no Heaven-Bridge realm cultivators. Presumably, some restriction within the Grotto prevented those above the Heaven-Bridge realm from stepping inside; otherwise, the treasures within would have long been seized by the great powers and not left for others. Existence, after all, was rational.

"Little brother, I see you have a need for our Yuntian Sect's coffins. Buy one; it's better to be prepared. If there's no one to collect your corpse, at least you won't be left to rot in the wilderness."

A rough, fat hand pressed onto Qin Ming’s shoulder, squeezing until his bones creaked. The other hand reached toward the storage bag at Qin Ming’s waist. Qin Ming shifted his shoulder slightly, shaking off the fat hand, and utilized his footwork to retreat several paces. He then turned to face the newcomer—a man with a face full of jowls and a hideous scar. Behind the fat cultivator were a dozen others wearing identical attire, presumably from the so-called Yuntian Sect.

Qin Ming remained calm, refusing as politely as he could: "Thank you for your kindness, but I don't think I'll be needing a coffin."