The two quickly approached the front, and saw a small mound up ahead.
This small mound was quite short. It was only a little more than five feet tall. In the center, there was a hollow space about two feet in diameter, which contained a thick liquid. The fluid itself was transparent, colorless, and glimmered with a gem-like radiance.
The liquid emitted a strong suppressive might. When Gu Zuo neared, he couldn’t help but feel a conflicting sense of wanting to get closer and farther away. The former because his qi ocean was stirring restlessly to gobble it up. The latter because the suppressive might was incredibly strong, and his body was on guard — He felt that the liquid would cause extremely severe injuries if it was consumed.
Due to these two conflicting reasons, one would naturally become hesitant and indecisive.
Qi Xuanao was already standing in front of that small mound. A colorless bottle with a slender neck appeared in his hands. It was almost two feet tall, and its belly was stout. The bottle’s volume wasn’t small.
At this moment, he appeared a little impatient. If he wasn’t waiting for Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng, perhaps he would’ve already used this bottle to draw up that liquid.
After Gu Zuo got a clear look, he spoke in a low voice: “This is the spiritual source? What spiritual source is it?”
It seemed like bejeweled nectar or ambrosia. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Tianheng explained to him: “This is an Earth Spiritual Source. It’s the most commonly seen spiritual source.”
Following this, he told Gu Zuo all about what spiritual sources were.
A so-called spiritual source was the vital qi of heaven and earth — It was a deposit of heaven and earth energy that had undergone another evolution that surpassed the ranks of ambient qi and ambient profound qi.
It was normally in a liquid state. The two types that were the most common were Earth Spiritual Sources and Heaven Spiritual Sources. Among them, Heaven Spiritual Sources were more spirited and light, while Earth Spiritual Sources were more mellow and rich. Neither one was inherently better than the other, and both types lacked attributes.
In other words, Heaven Spiritual Sources and Earth Spiritual Sources were suitable for both martial artists and pharmacists. They had the same effect as moderate medicinal pills that replenished the body’s energy such as Qi Generating Pills, Qi Accumulating Pills, and Qi Infusing Pills. The powers of special spiritual sources were stronger, but this was in relation to special groups of people. The Wind Thunder Spiritual Source was such an example. If a martial artist or pharmacist without any special attributes encountered a spiritual source, it would certainly be more worthwhile to obtain an ordinary spiritual source. Otherwise, they would have to hand the spiritual source over to a powerhouse and exchange it for other resources.
Qi Xuanao and Tianheng explored this cave abode, and what they encountered was an Earth Spiritual Source. This was considered a type of good luck.
Currently, it had to be partitioned.
After taking several deep breaths, Qi Xuanao looked over.
Tianheng was magnanimous and well-mannered.
After Qi Xuanao’s eyes flickered a few times, he also became tranquil. He smiled and said: “Brother Gongyi, as per our agreement, it’ll be split fifty-fifty.”
Tianheng nodded his head: “As it should be.” Speaking up to here, he sighed, “It’s just that I’ll have to borrow a bottle from Brother Qi to hold this thing.”
Contrary to expectations, it wasn’t that Tianheng hadn’t made preparations ahead of time. Rather, it was because his current influence in the sect wasn’t enough to allow him to get a bottle to specially hold spiritual sources, and he didn’t want to leak any information. Once it was found out by someone in the sect, they wouldn’t have been able to conceal this time’s operation.
As a result, he simply didn’t make preparations for the spiritual source. He only informed Qi Xuanao early on.
When Qi Xuanao heard this, his palm flipped over, and clutched another long-necked bottle. It was thrown to Tianheng: “This is a matter of course. This Qi has already made suitable preparations for Brother Gongyi.”
Tianheng took the bottle, and smiled: “Many thanks.”
In actuality, Qi Xuanao had also sighed in relief.
When eliminating the flood dragon, he saw that Tianheng’s strength was only the tip of the iceberg. He had already acknowledged with some unwillingness that he wasn’t Tianheng’s opponent. Right now, Tianheng’s side had two people, while he was alone. If the other party suddenly became hostile, his luck would run out — Even his sect probably wouldn’t be able to demand any justice on his behalf.
Fortunately, Tianheng was an honorable man.
Thus, if he encountered this kind of situation again in the future, he could find this person for assistance.
The two prodigies raised the long-necked bottles, and walked closer to that small mound.
After that, they gently lowered the openings of the bottles into the Earth Spiritual Source to suck it up.
Not long after, both bottles were more than half full. The remaining amount of the spiritual source wasn’t going to be enough to fill the bottles — As the level of the spiritual source gradually lowered to the bottom, they discovered that this hollow space was only one foot deep.
There really wasn’t a lot of Earth Spiritual Source here.
Off to the side, Gu Zuo had been watching for a while.
At this moment, he only saw Qi Xuanao extend a hand and make a slashing motion. Finally, that last bit of spiritual source at the bottom was split in half. After both people collected their shares, not one drop of the Earth Spiritual Source was left in this hollow space. And within both of their bottles, neither had gathered more of the spiritual source than the other.
However, after the spiritual source was collected, a stone-like object appeared at the bottom of the hollow space.
This was —
Gu Zuo’s heart suddenly thought of a phrase: A source crystal.
After a spiritual source accumulated in a deposit for a long time, it could form a source crystal. Only, although a source crystal was the compression of a spiritual source, it was generated through the integration of other things. Thus, the source power contained within a source crystal was less pure than that of its liquid state counterpart… As far as martial artists at the Cosmic Realm and above were concerned, source crystals and spiritual sources were both cultivation resources. However, source crystals also possessed another big feature. If a Royal Realm martial artist absorbed a source crystal, it could provide a certain amount of help in breaking through to the Cosmic Realm.
Source crystals were also quite precious. Unfortunately, there was only one here. If it was something ordinary, it wouldn’t be an issue. But this kind of thing couldn’t be yielded so easily.
It was a pity that this source crystal seemed to have combined with some kind of law during its formation. It could be absorbed, but its physical form couldn’t be tampered with. Consequently, cutting it in half wouldn’t work.
Qi Xuanao and Tianheng looked at each other.
Tianheng said: “What does Brother Qi intend?”
Qi Xuanao murmured: “This thing is precious, and I want to exchange for it with something I have. What does Brother Gongyi think about this?”
Tianheng smiled: “I’d like to hear the details.”
Qi Xuanao pondered once more.
After a short period of time had passed, he lightly swept his hand towards the ground.
In the blink of an eye, a dense pile of black rocks appeared in front of Qi Xuanao. They couldn’t have looked more ordinary, but careful observation would allow one to feel that those rocks emanated with muted rays of light. Only a person with an extremely keen perception could detect that, wherever those rays of light roamed across the surfaces of these things, they would faintly radiate with profound mysteries.
Gu Zuo furrowed his brows.
He felt that he needed to supplement his own knowledge base as soon as possible… This was the second time he encountered something he didn’t recognize! Actually, he could tell that these should’ve been a type of ore, but he didn’t have a clear understanding of the specifics. Moreover, the system hadn’t reacted either…
But at the very least, this illustrated one point. Either this stuff’s rank was very high, it was an ore-type medicinal ingredient that he wasn’t ready to come into contact with, or these things basically couldn’t be used in medicine.
As such, which one was it?
In Gu Zuo’s heart, he faintly made some guesses.
Off to the side, Qi Xuanao opened his mouth: “Does Brother Gongyi recognize these things?”
After Tianheng examined them carefully, he confidently said: “Jet-Black Origin Iron.” Shortly thereafter, he couldn’t help smiling, “Brother Qi is quite lucky to encounter this stuff.”
Qi Xuanao also didn’t deny this.
Indeed, this was something he found in the cave abode. After exiting that stone forest, he accidentally discovered a very small mine of Jet-Black Origin Iron. He spent a little more than an hour to extract all of the Jet-Black Origin Iron. Right now, it was just enough to take out in exchange for the source crystal.
Qi Xuanao said: “I presume that Brother Gongyi is clear about the benefits of Jet-Black Origin Iron.”
Tianheng nodded his head: “When forging weapons, there’s a chance of increasing a trace of spirituality by adding this thing. The more Jet-Black Origin Iron is used, the higher the increase in spirituality. These ores of Jet-Black Origin Iron are a little more than five hundred kilograms. If they’re used to forge spirit weapons, at least ten thousand can be produced.”
But to be honest, these Jet-Black Origin Iron ores were still a bit lacking compared to the value of the source crystal.
For this quantity of Jet-Black Origin Iron, if all of it was used to forge low-ranked, human-level spirit weapons, one could produce a little more than ten thousand. If one wanted to forge golden-level spirit weapons, the amount would be reduced to a dozen or so weapons. And if one wanted to forge profound-level spirit weapons… It could only be said that it would depend on one’s luck to produce a single weapon.
However, these Jet-Black Origin Iron ores also had their advantages, and would be useful to the present Tianheng. The Iron Ox race under his administration could forge spirit weapons, which he needed to make money and to equip his battle slaves. Thus, the discrepancy in relative value wasn’t that big.
From this, it could be seen that Qi Xuanao had a certain understanding of Tianheng’s current properties and industries.
Qi Xuanao heard Tianheng’s words, and knew that his own deal wasn’t fair. Thus, he added another line: “If Brother Gongyi needs something, you can bring it up for discussion.”
Tianheng paused, as if in deep thought.
During this time, Gu Zuo’s gaze fell onto the brown clumps that surrounded the small mound. He reached out a hand to pick up a clump, grazed a finger over it, and used the tip of his tongue to lightly lap at his finger.
These actions of his naturally attracted the two prodigies’ attentions.
Upon seeing this, Qi Xuanao’s mind moved: “This stuff is the mud that has been transformed by the circulating energies emitted by the spiritual source for many years. Now, it has built up into clumps. It can be utilized in medicine or blended to help refine weapons. Its uses are by no means few in number. If Pharmacist Gu likes it, you can take all of it to play with.”
Gu Zuo turned his head, and his eyes faintly shined: “You’ll really give it all to me?”
Qi Xuanao nodded.
Gu Zuo looked at Tianheng: “Big brother…”
Tianheng gently smiled: “If Ah Zuo likes it, then take it.” At this point, he addressed Qi Xuanao, “We came to this place because Brother Qi supplied the information. Being able to collect the spiritual source is also thanks to the vessels that Brother Qi gifted. Since it’s like this, I will accept the Jet-Black Origin Iron in exchange for the source crystal if you throw in the mud clumps that Ah Zuo likes.”
Qi Xuanao heard this, and was somewhat surprised.
When he said those things just now, although he had the idea of making an exchange, he didn’t expect that Tianheng would actually agree. However, after thinking about this Pharmacist Gu’s potential and his identity as Tianheng’s personal pharmacist, Qi Xuanao felt that this was to be expected — For similar circumstances in treatment, if he had this kind of companion by his side, he would also be willing to suffer a slight loss in benefits to make his important person happy.
Sure enough, Gu Zuo revealed a great, big smile. He looked delighted and pleased.
Qi Xuanao felt amused, and also smiled: “Brother Gongyi treats Pharmacist Gu with intimate friendship and deep kindness.”
Gu Zuo’s face heated up. Although he knew perfectly well that Qi Xuanao didn’t mean it in that way, he still felt embarrassed like someone had seen through him. He hastily turned his head, focused his attention back onto that pile of mud clumps, and stopped minding the deal between those two prodigies.
Tianheng had a smile on his face as he accepted the Jet-Black Origin Iron that Qi Xuanao handed over. As for Qi Xuanao, he stepped forward, and carefully put away the source crystal.
Meanwhile, Gu Zuo took the opportunity to collect the mud clumps.
At this moment, Gu Zuo’s mind suddenly echoed with a low and soft voice.
[Ah Zuo, what kind of magical effects do these mud clumps have?]
This was Tianheng’s voice. Just then, they had been coordinating with each other the entire time. However, this didn’t mean that he hadn’t discovered that Gu Zuo was up to something — He was simply too familiar with Gu Zuo’s antics.
Gu Zuo had a distracted look on his face, but quickly responded. In his consciousness, he was unable to conceal his excitement.
[Big brother! This really is a good thing!]
Tianheng paused slightly.
[Can you tell me more?]
Gu Zuo straightened out his train of thought. He slowly and thoroughly talked about the matter in detail.
For this affair, it was better to start from when that source crystal was first discovered.
At that time, Gu Zuo’s brows were furrowed. His mind was conflicted.
— It would’ve been great if it belonged to his big brother, but Qi Xuanao was the one who supplied the information. That prodigy proposed an exchange, and also took out the Jet-Black Origin Iron. If the trade didn’t go through, he would sincerely feel bad. But if the trade went through, then they would be losing out…
[Modified Long-Term Mission: Gather Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects, cure the Tiandu Body, collect the source sand, and raise your strength.]
[Mission Item: <<Comprehensive Collection of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects>>]
[Completion Method: Unrestricted.]
[Completion Time: Unrestricted.]
[Failure Penalty: None.]
At once, Gu Zuo was stupefied. He couldn’t help asking right away.
[System, wasn’t the Wondrous Water already collected? Could it be that there’s another Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object? Furthermore, what’s source sand? I haven’t seen anything like this, so how do I collect it?]
The system answered promptly.
[The information can be obtained for three hundred strands of medicinal qi.]
Three hundred…
It was a tad pricey.
However, it was much easier to obtain medicinal qi on the Central Continent than when they were on the Peripheral Continents. Moreover, no matter how expensive it was, his big brother’s health was more important!
Gu Zuo made his decision, and replied immediately.
[Exchange!]
The system’s voice echoed out once again.
[A metal Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object is hidden within the Jet-Black Origin Iron. The Earth Spiritual Source radiates energy, which has merged with the surrounding mud. Perhaps because its power has transformed the mud, a special change has occurred. Alternatively, because the mud lacks any impurities and shows no promise of success, the radiated energy polymerized and reacted with the mud, forming source sand. The power within the source sand is extremely minute. However, it can be refined into a pill for the guardian to absorb. If the pill refining fails, the source sand will be wasted. May the host figure out the method of refining this pill on his own.]
Gu Zuo heard this, and his mind blanked.
Should he be considered stunned or intimidated by this good news?!
Originally, he felt that this thing wasn’t much. But through the system’s explanation, it had become one of the best things they could obtain during this trip?
This was too outrageous…
Gu Zuo silently asked.
[Wondrous Metal and source sand. Could it be that the cave abode’s owner had…]
He couldn’t help making such a guess. Impurity-free mud and the energy radiated by the spiritual source had combined to form source sand. However, there was an artificial spiritual source here, and the mud next to it happened to be free of impurities. Wasn’t this too abnormal?
The system answered his question in a monotone voice.
[The source sand and Wondrous Metal had been purposefully orchestrated. This cave abode was casually created by an ancient powerhouse, and was intended to be a gift for later generations…]
Soon after, Gu Zuo realized the true appearance of this cave abode.
It was purely used…to give things.
Reportedly, there was a heaven-level pharmacist in ancient times. Because their realm had reached a certain degree, they travelled around the Central Continent and placed some of their unneeded items into different cave abodes to be passed down to future generations. This cave abode was of a relatively high standard. Prepared within it were two types of precious Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects: The Wondrous Metal and Wondrous Water. Among them, the Wondrous Metal was for a martial artist who could break through the cave abode, and the Wondrous Water was for a pharmacist with the right aptitudes.
Of course, because this predecessor was a pharmacist and not a martial artist, their requirements toward pharmacists were much lower — After all, a pharmacist’s combat power wasn’t the important point. In any case, the strength of a person’s potential corresponded to how much they could take. This method of “giving things” was actually quite fair.
As for martial artists, it was true that young talents with aptitudes comparable to prodigies could come inside. The reason for this wasn’t because the pharmacist predecessor was too arrogant. Rather, it was because they didn’t have many things to leave behind for martial artists. Apart from placing tests with wild beasts and stone puppets, they also didn’t know which methods were more suitable. In addition, they were worried that if martial artists with insufficient strengths entered, it might’ve led to a mad scramble over resources and a fight to the death… In any case, there were many types of factors that were considered, which led to the present situation.
With regards to martial artists and pharmacists, this heaven-level pharmacist did their best to be impartial and unbiased. Martial artists were tested on strength, and pharmacists were tested on knowledge reserves. It was to the point that, prior to the checkpoints, martial artists and pharmacists would enter their designated locations. It was very considerate.
Merely, who would’ve expected that Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo, these two outlandish marvels, would appear among the later generations. From the beginning, Tianheng accidentally followed Gu Zuo into the pharmacist domain. Fortunately, the performances of these two people had been pretty good the entire time. At the final juncture, the pair was allowed to go to the martial artist domain together…
Having listened to the system’s explanation in its entirety, Gu Zuo gained an understanding of the generosity and inclinations of this cave abode’s owner. Right now, it wasn’t good to do anything in front of Qi Xuanao, but his heart still silently expressed his sincere gratitude to the cave abode’s owner.
If it wasn’t for the appearance of this cave abode and numerous coincidences, it wasn’t known how much time he and his big brother would’ve had to spend to find the required Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects. This time, they came to a cave abode, and gained two types! It truly could be said that a flood of good fortune had filled the heavens.
The value of the Jet-Black Origin Iron wasn’t enough, but if it was the Wondrous Metal, then it wasn’t inferior to that of the source crystal. On top of that was the source sand… Even though he wasn’t sure if he could refine this thing into a pill, it was enough to leave one satisfied.
Of course, Gu Zuo certainly wouldn’t foolishly confess these matters to just anyone.
In general, it was good enough to get by when fighting over resources. This was because both sides were prodigies, and both needed to keep face. Currently, Qi Xuanao had taken the initiative to suggest a trade. At that moment, Gu Zuo had the bright idea of pretending to like those clumps of mud.
Sure enough, Tianheng cooperated well. He automatically followed suit, and logically traded for the Jet-Black Origin Iron and the source sand. Moreover, because of Gu Zuo’s actions, Qi Xuanao didn’t become the slightest bit suspicious.
After listening to Gu Zuo’s words, Gongyi Tianheng understood in a flash.
[So it’s like this. Ah Zuo has done extremely well.]
Gu Zuo blushed.
He had simply relied on the external software known as the system to get the best deal.
Reaching this point, both sides felt that they had gotten the upper hand in this exchange. Naturally, they were even more polite and amiable with one another. The atmosphere between the two parties also seemed a bit closer.
Afterwards, the group of people search the area once more. Besides slaying some wild beasts, they didn’t encounter any other passable tests to acquire benefits.
Finally, Qi Xuanao took out a shortsword: “Now that our harvests are rather bountiful, we should depart. In this place, I gained a shortsword that had been concealed within one of the stone forest puppets. It may be assumed that it’s related to how we’ll leave.”
Upon seeing this, Tianheng asked Gu Zuo to take out their own shortsword. He said: “If it’s like this, how shall we use them?”
Qi Xuanao had a guess, but he didn’t know the genuine method. However, since they came in, the cave abode’s owner wouldn’t go so far as to provide no means of leaving, right? The problem was that Qi Xuanao didn’t know how he was transferred inside. Meanwhile, Tianheng had been carrying Gu Zuo on his back while they fell down. When he had looked up, there hadn’t been a doorway.
As a result, both prodigies thought that the sole possibility had something to do with the shortsword keepsakes. However, utilization of the shortswords required more testing…
Seeing that Qi Xuanao also didn’t know, Tianheng began scrutinizing the shortsword. Several people started to research.
After that, they steeled themselves, and used the most conventional method. They poured in their profound qi — In a split second, the shortswords unexpectedly erupted with bright lights!
Gu Zuo slightly startled.
Tianheng had fast reaction speeds, and directly pulled him over.
Immediately following this, the pair suddenly vanished from this place.
Qi Xuanao lowered his head to look at the shortsword emitting rays of light, and also disappeared in an instant.
Right after this, a group of three people opened their eyes. What they saw was a mountainside.
Behind them, the two prodigies’ battle slaves were still keeping watch. After seeing the group appear, the battle slaves let out sighs of relief one after another.
Tianheng and Qi Xuanao returned to their own troops, and inquired about the situation.
Gu Zuo went along to listen, and found out that two days had already passed since they entered the cave abode.
After the prodigies went inside, the cavern’s entrance suddenly shrank by fifty percent. Then, the interior became absolutely silent. When looking into the entrance, nothing could be seen.
The sudden disappearance of the prodigies had shaken the battle slaves. It wasn’t until a battle slave powerhouse with a high realm came out to manage the general situation that the crowd of battle slaves finally waited quietly.
One day passed by just like this. The cave abode hadn’t undergone any reactions, which caused them to be somewhat anxious. Fortunately, not long after the first day passed, two pharmacists were ejected. After the battle slaves made discreet inquiries, they realized that there weren’t any great dangers inside the cave abode. They hadn’t been able to pass a few so-called tests, and were kicked out.
But despite it being this way, there were happy expressions on the faces of the two pharmacists. Clearly, during this period of time, they had a few fortuitous encounters and obtained some benefits inside the cave abode.
After another day, Qi Xuanao and Tianheng appeared.
No other strange occurrences happened between then and now.
Tianheng heard this, and slightly nodded his head: “I obtained some benefits during this trip. After sorting everything out and placing them into the storehouse, they’ll be allocated in the coming days to serve as resources.”
The battle slaves were ecstatic.
Just from these matters, one could see that their master’s luck rained down from the heavens. So long as they followed him, would they be afraid that they wouldn’t be able to get a cut of the profits? For people like them, aside from wanting to follow a tolerant master, what they hoped for even more was an exceptionally lucky master — Otherwise, no matter how good their master’s temperament was, once he fell on hard times, how would he be able to care for the people who followed him?
Now that the future was bright, they couldn’t help but display their loyalties to the end!
On the other side, Qi Xuanao’s luck also wasn’t poor. His subordinated battle slaves were likewise filled with joy.
However, the two prodigies’ cooperation had ended. After giving a slight indication to each other, they went their separate ways, and didn’t journey together like when they arrived — Since this matter was done, they ought to return to their respective sects!
Gu Zuo stayed by Tianheng’s side, but his thoughts had already scampered over to that Jet-Black Origin Iron.
The system only said that a Wondrous Metal was hidden inside. Once they returned, he needed to find a way to get it out…
After a dozen or so days, Tianheng and Gu Zuo made their way back to the sect.
Currently, Gu Zuo had long gotten used to these past few days, which amounted to a “short-distance” trip. While riding in the small palace hall, he chatted with and was tyrannically oppressed in go matches by his big brother. He had also taken out the Jet-Black Origin Iron, source sand, and other things for research. As time passed, the days almost blurred together.
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
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