Chapter 346: Third Order Earth Rampart Crystal_2
Then, he shifted his focus, searching for the silhouette of a demonic beast.
As he scanned the area, the ground below was riddled with holes, and the dim sky was also gradually returning to calm.
All the Earth Dragon Qius lay on the ground, covered with wounds, and had long since lost any signs of life.
Seeing this scene, Lin Tianming was overjoyed, and his heart was extremely satisfied with his own strength.
Before making a move, he had some reservations, but it turned out he might have overestimated the overall strength of the Earth Dragon Qiu tribe.
To be fair, this battle had proven the overall strength of the Earth Dragon Qius was indeed not weak, considering the presence of three Second Order Late-Stage creatures.
Besides them, there were six Second Order Earth Dragon Qius as support; if it were an average Late Foundation Establishment Cultivator, even Hu Yuan at the Ninth Level of Foundation Establishment, he definitely would not be able to handle them.
But they had encountered him, or rather, himself after a breakthrough in his cultivation and a significant improvement in his magic artifacts.
He merely used routine tactics, relying on a few Second Order Attack Talismans, and did not even resort to powerful methods such as Spirit Arts and Spirit Detonation Beads.
Moreover, the Bloodthirsty Jiao, also a Second Order Late-Stage spirit beast, was not released to assist in the battle.
Even so, he had used just over half of his spiritual power to easily resolve the fight.
Now, he gained a new understanding of his overall strength.
If he were to use all his methods, facing several Second Order Late-Stage demonic beasts at the same time, there might be a possibility for him to win.
If he were up against Human Cultivators, it would probably be very difficult for three to four Late Foundation Establishment Cultivators at the Ninth Level to defeat him.
At this moment, Lin Tianming was filled with confidence in his strength.
After calming down, he immediately walked over to the corpses of the Earth Dragon Qius.
Looking at the wounded bodies of the Earth Dragon Qius, Lin Tianming's Tiangang Sword swung into action, collecting all the inner cores and usable materials from the bodies of the demonic beasts.
The Earth Dragon Qius were rare in the outside world, and the materials from their bodies were truly hard-to-find treasures.
Beyond that, the Earth Rampart Crystals that might exist in their lair were also greatly coveted by Lin Tianming.
He even thought that if he could bring back Third Order Earth Rampart Crystals to his clan and give them to Lin Shilu, it would surely please him greatly.
With these thoughts, Lin Tianming worked efficiently, quickly collecting all the usable items.
After cleaning the battlefield, Lin Tianming stood on a dune, pondering the possible location of the Earth Dragon Qiu lair.
At the time, the Earth Dragon Qius had come from directly in front of him.
If nothing unexpected happened, their lair was most likely located up ahead.
Additionally, the traces left by the Earth Dragon Qius as they burrowed out of the ground were also clues to follow.
As long as he followed the traces they left, he should be able to find it.
Deciding this, Lin Tianming did not delay and immediately began his search.
Soon, he followed the traces left by the Earth Dragon Qius, walking several miles forward, reaching a depression.
Here, there were no longer any signs of the Earth Dragon Qius passing through.
Obviously, this place was most likely the location of their lair.
At that moment, Lin Tianming stood mid-air, surveying the area, searching for the shadow of the Earth Dragon Qiu lair.
Looking around, the terrain here was slightly better, with air that wasn't as dry, and the ground finally had some sparse vegetation.
Even so, these conditions were far better than the sandy soil he had first encountered.
Moreover, the area was low-lying, slightly more humid, with a small pool of water at its lowest point, making it a suitable habitat.
The place was rather quiet, with no signs of demonic beasts.
Seeing this, Lin Tianming was not overly anxious; he then swung his Tiangang Sword and quickly began to dig into the ground.
The Tiangang Sword was very sharp, piercing through the ground as if it were made of water.
Being a body cultivator, he dug with great speed.
In the blink of an eye, a deep pit appeared on the ground, and he successfully found the entrance to the burrow of the Earth Dragon Qius.
At that moment, he was visibly excited, his face overflowing with a broad smile.
Having confirmed there was no danger, he walked in without hesitation.
Upon entering the cave, he discovered a whole different world inside; each channel was more than a yard wide, branching out in all directions, leading to unknown destinations.
Besides that, the entire cave was quite serene and extremely dark.
Seeing this, Lin Tianming did not dare to be careless, he promptly pinched a magic artifact and cast a fireball deep into the cave.
"Boom..."
As the fireball exploded without making any sound, Lin Tianming wasted no more time and continued walking deeper into the cave.
Fortunately, he possessed the Eye of Five Colors, which allowed him to see clearly in the pitch-black depths without being affected at all; otherwise, it would have been a considerable risk.
It wasn't long before Lin Tianming, just as he had hoped, found a round cave.
The cave was not small in size, rather damp inside, and scratched marks were everywhere. Moreover, it still bore the scent of the Earth Dragon Qiu, clearly revealing it to be their nest.
Seeing this, Lin Tianming was thrilled and hastily began to search within.
Soon, he had completely investigated the cave and, indeed, found some Earth Rampart Crystals.
However, it was somewhat disappointing that all the Earth Rampart Crystals he found were of lower quality within the Second Order, obviously due to insufficient age, not yet having formed high-quality ones.
Lin Tianming did not dwell on this matter; after all, this was just the beginning, and there might be some high-quality Earth Rampart Crystals deeper inside.
Comforting himself with this thought, he continued his journey deeper into the cave, meticulously searching.
An hour passed.
By that time, Lin Tianming had explored more than a dozen caves, still not finding any high-quality Earth Rampart Crystals. Although he had gathered dozens of medium-low and several medium-high quality Second Order crystals.
Having searched more than half of the caves and yet to find any Third Order Earth Rampart Crystals, Lin Tianming was slightly disappointed.
The Earth Dragon Qiu tribe was not small, and the Secret Realm only opened once every two hundred years; logically, there should have been a reasonable chance of finding Third Order crystals.
Yet for some reason, he had not found any, which was somewhat unexpected.
"Well, there's plenty of time anyway. Since I'm here, I naturally have to give it my all. It would be great to find some, but there's nothing to be done if I don't. The harvest is still considerable!" he muttered to himself and continued to walk deeper.
While walking, Lin Tianming came across a diverging cave.
At first glance, this cave was much larger than any other sub-cave discovered thus far.
Seeing the cave, Lin Tianming's face lit up with joy, thinking that such a large cave was likely the lair of higher-order Earth Dragon Qiu.
With that thought, he wasted no time entering and began to search meticulously inside.
Soon enough, after having scoured most of the cave, Lin Tianming arrived beside a pit in the ground.
In front of him, more than ten dark brown crystals lay in the pit, shining with a unique luster.
Seeing these, he smiled and picked up an Earth Rampart Crystal, admiring it affectionately in his hand.
Upon examination, he noted that the crystal was the size of a fist with a semi-translucent feature, along with a special aura, all confirming its grade.
As he had anticipated, it was indeed a Third Order Earth Rampart Crystal.
Although not particularly large, there were four or five more crystals of similar size here, over a dozen of the medium-high Second Order, and not even one of a lower grade.
At this point, Lin Tianming was overjoyed. Having secured a few Third Order Earth Rampart Crystals meant his risk-filled skirmish had not been in vain.
The amount of other grades of Earth Rampart Crystals was also considerable, along with the multitude of Demonic Beast Materials, making this journey well worth the effort.
Thinking of his fortunes, Lin Tianming couldn't help but feel delighted at his luck.
At the very least, upon entering the Secret Realm, he hadn't been transported to any dangerous locations, and he had gained so much on the first day.
Once he had composed himself, he quickly collected all the Earth Rampart Crystals.
After doing so, he left the cave and continued deeper, in search of more treasures.