Sage of Humanity-Chapter 488 - 486: Spirit Stone Vein

Spirit Stones, as an essential resource for cultivation, naturally played an indispensable role for cultivators and also served as a currency for trade.

As long as one had enough Spirit Stones, cultivators could basically buy anything they wanted.

Of course, Spirit Stones couldn't be used inside the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, where only merit was acknowledged for transactions.

Following the guidance of the copper shard, Lu Ye surprisingly found a vein of Spirit Stones here.

Lu Ye suddenly remembered that when he first found nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones of varying quality on the body of a dead Blinding Speed Sect cultivator, he had thought that person was quite wealthy. Now it seemed that the Spirit Stones on the body of the deceased could very well have been mined from here.

For any cultivator in the Cloud River Realm, nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones constituted a considerable fortune—and that didn't even count the value of the other items in his storage sack.

Standing in the mine tunnel, Lu Ye was shrouded in a layer of golden light. The light was not his own spirit force, but rather emanated from the copper shards embedded in the rock walls as he entered this place. Lu Ye gave it a brief sense and found that the light had no protective power and did not cause him any trouble; however, it lingered on the surface of his body, not dissipating, and its purpose remained a mystery.

Surveying the exposed Spirit Stones in the vein, Lu Ye could tell without checking that they were all mid-grade Spirit Stones; there must have been at least several hundred of them.

As Lu Ye was observing, Amber, who had been perched on his shoulder, suddenly leaped down. Her Demon Origin surged as Amber revealed her true form, growling lowly into the darkness ahead.

Lu Ye also reached for the hilt of his saber; from the darkness ahead, there was a rustling sound, and it was clear that something was approaching rapidly.

Yiyi had already burrowed underground at the first opportunity.

The noises grew louder, and moments later, a beast the size of a calf emerged from the darkness. The creature had an antler-like thing on its head, and at first glance, it resembled a rhinoceros, but its body was covered with a thick carapace.

Amber immediately charged forward. The creature ducked its head, aiming its lone horn at Amber to charge her. At the moment of close contact, Amber deftly dodged to the side with a nimble turn, raising her paw and smacking it down onto the creature's body.

It was like hitting steel; a dull sound echoed. The creature staggered from the hit, and Amber took the opportunity to pounce, opening her giant mouth and biting fiercely. However, the creature's carapace seemed to be extremely protective, and after several bites, Amber couldn't break through it, getting thrown off when the creature twisted its body.

As the creature tangled with Amber, Lu Ye had already sprinted to the spot. Amber had just been tossed aside, and Lu Ye had drawn his Boulder Mountain Saber, fire-red spirit light climbing the blade, with a flash of saber light extending an inch from the blade. He swung down the saber, and the creature let out a piercing cry as most of its head was cleft open, spilling greenish fluid everywhere.

Staggering in place for a few steps, the creature crashed to the ground.

Insect Race! Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, finding it surreal how he could encounter these peculiar beings everywhere he went.

There were Insect Race members on the Spirit Stream battlefield, as well as on the Cloud River battlefield, and he often encountered them while training in the Mirage Realm. Now, a casual treasure hunt in a vein of Spirit Stones had led him to another encounter.

When Lu Ye first saw it, he thought it was a demon beast, but after he had killed it, he confirmed that it was a member of the Insect Race.

Moreover, it was comparable to one in the Cloud River Realm, though if one were to really assess its strength, it would only be on par with the Level 1-2 realms.

Killing such an Insect Race member was naturally not too troublesome for Lu Ye, even if he had not intervened, Amber herself could have handled it.

The strength of the Insect Race lay in their vast numbers and reproductive capabilities; usually, a single member of the Insect Race could hardly pose a threat to a cultivator.

Flicking off the bloodstains on the Boulder Mountain Saber, Lu Ye sheathed his weapon, and he and Amber stood there waiting for a while.

Yiyi suddenly emerged from the side, speaking in a low voice to Lu Ye, "The mine tunnels here are convoluted, all filled with Spirit Stones. The deeper you go, the higher the quality and the greater the number of Spirit Stones. However, in each tunnel resides an Insect Race member, and the deeper in you go, the stronger they get."

"So, to mine the Spirit Stones, we'll need to deal with these Insect Race members first," Lu Ye realized.

It looked like the copper shard was a sort of fortunate opportunity, allowing a cultivator to obtain a large number of Spirit Stones.

But to gain such an opportunity, one must first deal with the Insect Race members in the tunnels—this was probably a sort of test, too.

Without a doubt, the workings of Heaven's Augury were involved in both this opportunity and test.

Not too long ago, Lu Ye had spent almost all of the Spirit Stones he had on hand, so naturally, he wouldn't miss such a chance to acquire a large quantity of Spirit Stones.

Without further ado, he and Yiyi started mining the Spirit Stones from this section of the tunnel.

All were Spirit Stones exposed on the surface, so it wasn't difficult to mine them. In just half a Shichen, all the mineable Spirit Stones were extracted, roughly matching his previous estimate—about six or seven hundred Spirit Stones from this tunnel.

Moving forward and turning a corner, another tunnel appeared before Lu Ye. This time he did not activate the Sun Blaze Spirit Runes but instead held up a torch.

Torches were among the many items he always carried with him, almost an essential tool for all cultivators. Even though cultivators could see a bit in the dark thanks to their eyesight, having the light from a torch naturally made everything much clearer.

Like the situation just before in the mining tunnel, a large number of Spirit Stones reflected the torchlight, dazzling to the eye.

Lu Ye had just steadied himself when rustling noises came from ahead. Clearly, the Insect Race creatures guarding this place had been alerted and were now coming to attack him.

Lu Ye turned his head to look at Amber, who was perched on his shoulder...

Throughout all of Lu Ye's battles, Amber had hardly been involved, usually just crouching on his shoulder. When the opportunity was right, she would assist Lu Ye with the "Tiger Roar Intimidation".

The reason for this was mainly that Lu Ye's enemies were mostly not the kind that Amber could casually deal with. Over time, Amber had developed the habit of not causing trouble for Lu Ye.

Of course, perhaps it simply didn't want to partake in the battles, either.

But just now, it had taken the initiative to confront the enemy, probably because it had just advanced to Demon General and wanted to test its own strength. After biting the Insect Race a few times, it nearly broke one of its tiger teeth.

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After suffering a setback, Amber lost interest in these creatures, so even after sensing Lu Ye's gaze, it remained indifferent, still squatting obediently on Lu Ye's shoulder, swaying its big tail behind him, as if saying, "What are you looking at me for?"

Lu Ye then knew he couldn't count on it.

He hadn't counted on it for anything anyway...

Fortunately, there was Yiyi, who summoned a large Fireball that lightened the darkness. With a loud bang, the Fireball attacked the incoming Insect Race, its intense heat distorting the view as it powerfully smashed into its target, causing the creature to stumble while its unique screeching sound filled the air...

Following the Fireball were crescent-shaped Wind Blades, slashing against the carapace of the Insect Race, making thumping sounds.

The creature's screeching intensified.

All sorts of magic and spells burst out from Yiyi's hands, creating dazzling patterns of destruction until the Insect Race lay motionless. Lu Ye hadn't even seen clearly what it looked like.

Following their advancement alongside Amber, Yiyi's strength had indeed seen a massive increase. The spells she had cast before didn't possess such formidable power.

Now, Yiyi could very well be considered a magic cultivator of the Cloud River Realm! Moreover, unlike ordinary magic cultivators, because she was a Spiritual Body, she could cast spells of any element sign without being restricted by her own element sign.

After dealing with this Insect Race, Lu Ye as usual started extracting Spirit Stones from the mining tunnel together with Yiyi.

They were still mid-grade Spirit Stones, but there were more of them this time, approximately eight hundred in total.

They continued moving forward.

Soon, Lu Ye noticed a problem; the golden light that enveloped him was gradually fading over time. He had only passed through two mining tunnels, and already the color of the golden light on his body had diminished. At this rate, he feared that within a few Shichen, the golden light would completely disappear.

Lu Ye had yet to understand the purpose of this golden light; it provided neither strength nor hindrance, and even with changes, it remained so.

Perhaps its significance would only become apparent once it had fully extinguished.

As Yiyi had previously investigated, each mining tunnel contained an Insect Race creature, seemingly appointed as guards by Heaven's Augury. Any cultivator coming here with the intent to mine Spirit Stones had to pass the test of these guards.

The first Insect Race creature Lu Ye had killed had the strength of Level 1-2 of the Cloud River Realm, the one Yiyi killed was stronger, and with the third, then the fourth, they were obviously stronger still.

After six hours, Lu Ye stepped into the eighth mining tunnel. He had nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones collected by then.

This time the Insect Race creature that emerged was a Mantis Insect Race, which he often encountered in the Mirage Realm, roughly at a Level 5 of the Cloud River Realm strength.

This kind of Insect Race was not easy to deal with; its twin mantis sabers moved as fast as lightning, giving Lu Ye the impression he was dueling a real saber user.

On his own, Lu Ye would indeed find it difficult to kill it, because the carapace provided strong protection to the Insect Race.

Fortunately, he never had to fight alone. Yiyi continuously cast spells at the creature's side, distracting it. While Amber did not make a move, the bond of Life Origin and Beast Seal allowed it to provide assistance to Lu Ye just by sitting on his shoulder.

An ice-type spell bombarded the creature, covering its body with ice quickly and affecting its speed and response. Seizing the opportunity, Lu Ye charged forward and swung his Boulder Mountain Saber, creating a few crescent-shaped saber lights that sent the mantis flying. Its two mantis saber arms were held high, exposing the weak spot on its belly.

Lu Ye stamped his feet on the ground, propelling himself upward as a brilliant light flashed over the Boulder Mountain Saber. He thrust it fiercely into the mantis's vulnerable abdomen. With the Enhancement of Explosion Spirit Runes, there was a loud boom. The mantis screeched as its belly was ripped open and spilled its entrails. It fell to the ground unable to move anymore.