Chapter 1767 Claiming a Block of Immortal Essence Stones

“Even so,” Jiao’er’s tone softened slightly, but remained icy, “the protective layer was damaged, spiritual energy leaked out, and my awakening was accelerated. Ultimately, it was all because of you. It is a fact that you absorbed that spiritual energy, and it is also a fact that you benefited from it. You cannot avoid this cause and effect.”

Zhang Xuan smiled bitterly to himself, knowing that he probably couldn't evade this debt.

The other party is a true immortal, and also a mysterious ancient demon race. It's already quite good that they can reason with him.

He sighed: "Alright, I am indeed involved in this matter. How would you like to compensate me, fellow Daoist? As long as it is within my power, I will not refuse."

Jiao'er's gaze swept over Zhang Xuan, then glanced at You Wuyai and Tian Shi Lao Zu behind him, and said coldly, "I awoke too early, my origin is damaged, and I missed the opportunity to plan the final battle. Ordinary treasures are useless to me. Do you have any top-level divine objects that nourish the icy origin, such as Chaos Origin Stone, Taiyin Xuan Crystal, or Nine Heavens Cold Jade Marrow?"

Zhang Xuan's lips twitched.

He did obtain some fragments of Chaos Origin Stone from the Abyss of Primordial Demons, but the quantity was scarce, not even enough for his own cultivation.

The names of Taiyin Xuanjing and Jiutian Hanyu Sui are only known to me.

He shook his head: "What you are talking about are all rare treasures of heaven and earth that are hard to come by, and I do not have any of them."

Jiao'er seemed to have expected this and was not surprised. She continued, "If there are no divine objects, then we will use immortal essence stones to compensate. My early awakening has resulted in the loss of my essence and the missed opportunities. If we convert these into cultivation resources, it will require at least... a hundred immortal essence stones."

"A hundred yuan?!" Zhang Xuan almost jumped up.

Immortal Essence Stones are the hard currency for true immortals to cultivate. They contain pure immortal spiritual energy and are extremely rare, not to mention the Nine Divine Realms, even in the Three Pure Immortal Realms.

Despite his tireless efforts and long-term operations in the Abyss of Beginning Demons, coupled with the spoils he had seized from the vanguard of the Three Pure Immortal Realms, he still only had a dozen or so Immortal Essence Stones in reserve.

This ice dragon is asking for a hundred dollars right off the bat, it's practically robbery!

“Fellow Daoist, this is a bit too much…” Zhang Xuan tried to bargain.

"Too much?" Jiao'er sneered. "Then it's fifty yuan, that's the bottom line. If you keep refusing, don't blame me for settling scores with you today!"

“One Immortal Essence Stone is comparable to a sixth-order spiritual vein. The spiritual energy I absorbed at that time was only the amount of a fourth-order spiritual vein. I can only compensate you with one Immortal Essence Stone.”

"Okay, bring it here first."

Zhang Xuan was taken aback. Did he agree so quickly?

Fearing the other party might regret it, he hurriedly took out a piece of immortal essence stone that exuded a rich aura of immortality.

"Please accept this Immortal Essence Stone, fellow Daoist."

With a wave of her hand, Jiao'er caused the Immortal Essence Stone to disappear.

She carefully sensed the quality of the immortal essence stone, and her cold expression seemed to soften slightly, but she still remained expressionless.

"The debt of spirit stones is settled, but the karma remains unresolved," she said calmly, then turned to leave.

Clearly, after receiving the compensation, she did not want to stay in this world any longer.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait!" Zhang Xuan hurriedly called out.

Jiao'er paused, glanced back, and asked with a hint of impatience, "What else is there? Have you changed your mind?"

“It’s not that I’m going back on my word.” Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, knowing that the opportunity was fleeting and he had to seize it. “There is just one thing I would like to ask you to know, Fellow Daoist. This matter… may also concern the survival and dignity of the ancient demon race that you mentioned.”

"Oh?" Jiao'er raised her eyebrows slightly, seemingly aroused. "Tell me about it."

Zhang Xuan briefly recounted how the Abyss of Beginning Demons and the Three Pure Immortal Realms had successively dispatched large armies to conquer the Nine Divine Realms.

The novel focuses on the arrogance of these two major forces and their greedy plunder of the resources of the nine divine realms.

“As far as I know, the Nine Divine Realms originated from the Nine Provinces in the ancient times. As for the Abyss of Beginning Demons and the Three Pure Immortal Realms, they were merely forces in remote areas in the ancient times, and they didn’t even dare to raise their heads in front of the Nine Provinces!” Zhang Xuan deliberately emphasized his tone, observing Jiao’er’s reaction.

Sure enough, upon hearing the words "Nine Provinces," a hint of reminiscence and pride flashed in Jiao'er's icy blue eyes.

When she heard that the Abyss of Beginning Demons and the Three Pure Immortal Realms dared to launch an attack, two clusters of icy flames instantly ignited in her eyes!

"How dare you?!" Jiao'er's voice suddenly turned icy cold, and a chilling aura erupted from her body, causing the temperature in the hall to plummet. "In the ancient times, they weren't even worthy of carrying shoes for the Nine Provinces! Now they dare to covet the ancient lands of the Nine Provinces and plunder the remnants of the ancient times? They're courting death!"

Her chest heaved slightly, clearly indicating that she was enraged.

The pride of the ancient Ice Dragon clan is deeply ingrained in their blood.

Seeing this, Zhang Xuan felt somewhat relieved and pressed his advantage, saying, "Exactly! They not only plunder resources and slaughter living beings, but also want to explore the secrets of the ancient wilderness. Their intentions are despicable! Now, their second wave of conquest is on its way, led by a reincarnation of the Taiyi Demon Lord, with more than twenty True Immortals, over a hundred Mahayana cultivators, and a demon army of one hundred thousand. They are determined to flatten the Nine Divine Realms. Although the Nine Divine Realms are fighting hard, the disparity in high-end combat power is too great, and they may not be able to hold out."

He paused, looked at Jiao'er, and said sincerely, "Fellow Daoist is a True Immortal of the Ancient Demon Clan, belonging to the same lineage as the Nine Provinces as the Nine Great Divine Realms. Now that the ancient lands of the Nine Provinces are being invaded by barbarians, how can you sit idly by? If you can lend a helping hand, you can not only protect the living beings of this region, but also safeguard the dignity of the Ancient Clan and deter the villains!"

However, the anger in Jiao'er's eyes gradually subsided, replaced by a cold indifference.

She shook her head: "You're right, they are indeed hateful. But... this world is now dominated by humans, the so-called new human race. In the ultimate war, all races will vie for supremacy, and the new human race is also one of the potential adversaries."

Her tone was calm and rational: "My mission is to preserve myself and strive for the interests of the Ancient Demon Clan in the final battle. Awakening prematurely is already an unexpected event. If I were to rashly intervene in the karma of this world and forge a deadly feud with the two great immortal realms, it would not only further deplete my own resources but also disrupt the clan's plans, resulting in more harm than good. Your war is your business."

After saying that, she turned around again, intending to leave.

Zhang Xuan's heart sank.

As expected, righteousness alone was not enough to move this ancient immortal who had lived for countless years.

His mind raced, and suddenly he remembered something.

"Fellow Daoist, wait a moment!" Zhang Xuan stepped forward. "Fellow Daoist, you mentioned that the new human race may be a potential adversary. But do you know that in this realm, there are not only new human races? There are also many... fellow ancient demon races who, like you, survived the Ancient Tribulation and have taken root and lived in this realm?"

Jiao'er paused, her sharp gaze fixed on Zhang Xuan: "What did you say? There are still ancient demon races in this world that have survived the great tribulation? And they've already been living in this world?"

“Absolutely true!” Zhang Xuan nodded emphatically. “Most of them live in special ancient and desolate calamity secret realms. Moreover, when the first batch of vanguard teams from the Primordial Demon Abyss and the Three Pure Immortal Realms invaded, some of their powerful members joined forces with the human race to jointly resist the foreign enemies!”

Jiao'er fell silent, her icy blue eyes flashing as she clearly processed the information and weighed something.