Chapter 048: The Holy Cone
During the journey, to save as much time as possible, Chen Ran continuously cast all his support buffs on the white horse he was riding. The skills Divine Power, Endurance, and Wings of Light greatly reduced their travel time. They were like a white wind cutting through the increasingly heavy rain, splashing up water all along the way with a pattering sound.
Sky Mirror Lake was over two hundred li away. With Chen Ran’s full-speed travel, it only took a little over half a day, but that also meant they had lost half a day.
Perhaps it was a blessing from the heavens, but when they arrived at Sky Mirror Lake, the weather gradually began to clear. Through the thick clouds, the sun shone down once again.
When you first lay eyes on Sky Mirror Lake, it’s hard to describe the feeling, especially when the sunlight breaks through the clouds and shines on the mirror-like surface of the lake, reflecting the entire world into a bizarre and motley illusion.
Chen Ran brought Elena to a stop by the lake shore. After dismounting, he gently lifted Elena down.
“It’s so beautiful…” Elena said, clasping her hands to her chest in a heartfelt sigh.
“Indeed. This is the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen.”
Looking at the sparkling dust at his feet, Chen Ran bent down and gently scooped up a handful of sand.
In his hand, the sand glittered with some beautiful grains that looked like diamonds, of varying brightness. But this should be the purpose of his trip, the so-called Sky Pure Sand.
Feeling the power in the sand, it indeed carried an abundant holy attribute, which made Chen Ran feel a bit more at ease.
“Elena, I have things to do now, so I might not be able to accompany you. Just wait here and enjoy the scenery. Don’t wander off.”
Elena nodded obediently, like a gentle wife, incredibly endearing.
Chen Ran glanced at the outline of the lake shore. It seemed that collecting the Sky Pure Sand would be quite a task. It would be difficult to finish in just a few days. Because they would be spending the night here, Chen Ran had specially set up a small tent for the two of them to rest in at night.
After taking care of all the small matters, he began to seriously collect the Sky Pure Sand.
The purity of these sand grains varied. The small particles were scattered in the sand by the lake. Often, only a few grains that met Chen Ran’s requirements could be picked out from a large handful of sand. If he were to look for them one by one, he probably wouldn’t be able to collect the amount he needed in a month. But fortunately, Chen Ran had the Material Refinement skill, which was specifically for gathering.
A colorful light condensed in his palm, making a hissing sound as it covered a patch of sand. Under the effect of Material Refinement, the Sky Pure Sand Chen Ran needed was separated from the soil and collected by him. The grains of sand that met the purity standard entered the small collection pouch, shining like brilliant gems, bright and beautiful.
After working for about an hour, looking at the small handful of sand in the pouch, Chen Ran shook his head.
It seemed this work was really tiring. In just a short while, his back was so sore he couldn’t straighten up. Fortunately, he was a priest. After casting Endurance on himself, his body was revitalized again.
Collecting Sky Pure Sand was a tiring job, just a tedious process of moving from one place to another. The amount collected in a day was not much. And in the end, Chen Ran would definitely purify these Sky Pure Sands again, and the amount would become even smaller. In the limited time he had, Chen Ran collected as much as he could. Even at night, the bright Sky Pure Sands would shine with a faint, firefly-like glow, and he would slowly collect them by the moonlight.
After a day, Chen Ran was half-dead from exhaustion. But when he returned to the tent and saw Elena’s face, her watery eyes, he felt that everything he did was worth it.
They slept together at night. Chen Ran was so tired that he didn’t even have the energy to think about any R-rated activities. He woke up early the next morning to collect Sky Pure Sand again, not giving himself a moment’s rest.
This was his character. Whatever he had to do, he had to do it 100% well. The heavens hadn’t given him the background of a rich second-generation, nor had they given him a handsome face, so he could only achieve everything with his own two hands, and with at least 200% effort. That’s why he had a quality that many people lacked in certain areas: resilience.
While Chen Ran was busy, the idle Elena mostly sat on the shore not far from him, quietly watching him, occasionally bringing him some water and food.
Unknowingly, two days passed. Chen Ran looked at the few bags of Sky Pure Sand in his hands and sighed softly.
For now, this was all he could collect. Time was running out. In the next one or two days, the black knight would arrive. He couldn’t hesitate any longer.
He poured the scattered sand together. He had collected about forty-plus jin. Piled together, it looked like a pile of jewels, emitting a brilliant light and a rich holy aura.
However, he didn’t know how much would be left after these things were refined and purified again.
He used Material Refinement again. The sand reacted once more. The most important part of the sand was separated out under Chen Ran’s refinement. The sand that had lost its holy aura gradually lost its color, turning into the most ordinary, dull sand. And in Chen Ran’s hand, an exceptionally bright and shining stone appeared.
During the refinement process, Chen Ran simultaneously used his master-level weapon-making skill to create the outline of the weapon he needed. The forty-plus jin of sand was condensed into a small stone cone weighing only a few jin.
After condensation, the originally scattered sand was transformed into a complete, seamless stone cone, becoming a stone cone with super-strong holy power.
Looking at the quality of the stone cone, it had actually reached the super-strong excellent-grade (purple). And the fluctuations on it were completely those of a tool specifically for dealing with demon world and undead creatures. This was also the highest quality item Chen Ran had made since coming to this world. Although this weapon was not as useful as an ordinary good-grade (green) weapon in normal use, in terms of holy demon-breaking properties, its extra damage was not weaker than some epic-grade weapons. Perhaps with just a light scratch, an ordinary undead could be wiped out. Chen Ran had no doubt about this.
But the biggest problem now was that Chen Ran himself was not a warrior. Getting close enough to stab the black knight with the cone was a problem.
Regarding the black knight’s attack methods, Chen Ran had a general understanding after a few encounters. A set of methods specifically for dealing with the black knight quickly formed in his mind.
“Are you done?” Elena came closer and hugged Chen Ran from behind, her head resting gently on his back.
Chen Ran patted Elena’s jade-like fingers and replied, “The preparations are done. Before that, I have half a day to chat with you.”
Chen Ran was confident in his means of dealing with the black knight, although the process might be a little thrilling.
