When Bai Ningbing finally managed to pry her eyes open, the first thing she saw was a soft yellow glow.
"You're awake too." A familiar voice seemed to drift to her ears, though she couldn't quite make it out.
Several breaths later, Bai Ningbing's vision cleared.
She saw Fairy Miao Yin beside her, along with Lady Black Tu.
Bai Ningbing's entire body was weak. She barely managed to prop up her upper body with her palms. "Where is this?"
She looked around and found herself inside a peculiar cave. The cave was shaped like a sphere, and Bai Ningbing and the other two immortals sat at its bottom.
The inner walls of the spherical cave were covered in vast patches of sparse, yellowish-brown soil. From time to time, flashes of red light would flicker and condense within the yellow earth, forming streaks of crimson luminescence that resembled blood vessels.
"Wait—these are..." Bai Ningbing's expression shifted to one of alarm and suspicion. She discovered that embedded within the walls of the spherical cave, at regular intervals, were pieces of immortal materials.
The first one she spotted was a chunk of copper directly ahead.
The copper was hard and domineering, thrust into the soil, its surface gleaming with a cold, metallic luster.
"Could this be... Dominant Copper? A Seventh Transformation immortal material?" Bai Ningbing identified it.
Then, not far from the Dominant Copper, she immediately noticed a block of snow-white iron.
The iron radiated an aura that surpassed even the Dominant Copper—it was unmistakably White Snow Iron, an Eighth Transformation immortal material!
"How can this be? Where Dominant Copper is produced, no other Seventh Transformation copper materials should exist. But from just a cursory glance, there are no fewer than five types of Seventh Transformation immortal materials here."
"Moreover, White Snow Iron has always been found condensed within rooster iron ore. How can a piece of White Snow Iron appear here all on its own?"
"Seems like even you, Bai Ningbing, can't figure out the mystery of this place," Lady Black Tu said, disappointed.
Fairy Miao Yin smiled. "We only woke up a little before you did, so we're just as puzzled. This place is too wondrous—it seems like some kind of storage room for immortal materials. Not just metal-path materials, but from other paths as well. Look over there."
Fairy Miao Yin pointed toward Bai Ningbing's left.
Bai Ningbing followed her gesture and saw, in a small patch of soil to the left, a dozen or so large, round radishes growing.
"I know those—White Wine Radishes. White wine forms inside them. They're only Sixth Transformation, but as food-path immortal materials, they're quite rare," Bai Ningbing said.
"Look here," Fairy Miao Yin pointed again.
Bai Ningbing discovered a ball of wind.
The wind was condensed into a mass, the size of a ball of thread, entirely dark green in color, emitting a low, subdued hum.
Bai Ningbing had once obtained the White Phase Blessed Land and had stayed by Fang Yuan's side for a long time, so she was fairly well-versed in such matters. Upon seeing this ball of wind, she narrowed her eyes and recalled what she had read in the records.
"This is Deep Ghost Wind—an Eighth Transformation wind-path immortal material. It can only be found in the deepest reaches of the earth. Even the Gu Immortals of Heavenly Court covet it."
Metal-path immortal materials like Dominant Copper and White Snow Iron, food-path immortal materials like the White Wine Radishes, wind-path immortal materials like Deep Ghost Wind—in addition to all of these, Bai Ningbing and the others also discovered Red Snake Iron, Orchid Vitality, Slumber Soil, and more.
"What is this?" Bai Ningbing and the others spotted a small fox in the soil above their heads.
Its fluffy fox tail and both hind legs were all trapped in the soil. Upon noticing that Bai Ningbing and the others had found it, it shrank into a frightened ball, letting out soft whimpering sounds.
The three female immortals stared wide-eyed, stunned for a moment, then cried out in unison: "Azure Fox Smoke Infant!"
An Eighth Transformation transformation-path immortal material, documented even in the Records of the Human Ancestor.
"What on earth is this place?"
"The Azure Fox Smoke Infant was supposed to be practically extinct. Who would have thought there'd still be one here."
The three immortals soon discovered Purple Mansion Soil as well.
This was an Eighth Transformation immortal material. The soil appeared as fine purple granules, with wisps of purple smoke rising from its surface. The purple smoke stood only half an inch tall, and at its peak, the smoke would condense back into even finer granules that rained down onto the Purple Mansion Soil below.
"This kind of Purple Mansion Soil is absolutely, completely extinct. Its effects are far too potent—it only made a fleeting appearance in all of history," Fairy Miao Yin confirmed with certainty.
The Purple Mansion Soil had extraordinary effects. A single wisp of purple smoke placed directly into one's Empty Orifice could enhance one's cultivation level. And if the Purple Mansion Soil itself was placed into an immortal aperture, as long as the quantity was sufficient, it could similarly advance a Gu Immortal's cultivation!
After a rough search, the three immortals found that the variety of immortal materials here was enormous. Though each individual quantity was somewhat meager, the total value was still staggering.
"The most abundant material here is Crystal Essence. Earth-path Crystal Essence, Water-path Crystal Essence, Lightning-path Crystal Essence, and so on. Could this be the legendary secret realm of heaven and earth—Hudi?" Lady Black Tu ventured.
Fairy Miao Yin shook her head. "Though the Records of the Human Ancestor doesn't provide much detail, since Hudi is mentioned alongside Xidi, it should clearly be comparable to the Xidi in Demonic Immortal Qi Jue's possession."
Bai Ningbing smiled. "Truly wondrous and mysterious! There's even Heavenly Crystal here. Isn't Heavenly Crystal supposed to be a product of the Nine Heavens? We should be deep underground right now."
The three immortals continued their investigation and soon overturned their earlier conclusions.
"So the most abundant material isn't Crystal Essence after all, but vast networks of Earth Blood Meridians buried within the soil."
At regular intervals, the Earth Blood Meridians would flash with flowing light, resembling a sprawling web of blood vessels growing and spreading through the earth. It was because of these that Bai Ningbing had noticed the crimson luminescence earlier.
Following the Earth Blood Meridians to their source, the three immortals made their greatest discovery.
A small, exquisitely delicate Mysterious Yellow Little Heart.
From it, the vast network of Earth Blood Meridians spread outward like a sprawling web.