Chapter 269

Chapter 269: Discovering the Mine and Pure Divine Soul Power

Seeing that acting cute did not work, Little Shi finally got a bit serious and said: “Fine. I think Elder Sister has great potential. If I follow Elder Sister, I’ll have meat to eat.”

Shen Sang Ruo was unmoved as she replied: “You can eat meat by yourself. With your strength, you can have any jerky you want.”

Little Shi offered a second reason as she said: “Then another reason. I want to leave this place. Devil Qi will soon taint it. There is a Barrier Ward, and I can’t get out.”

She added a third reason with a spark in her eyes: “But if I form a Bonding Contract with Elder Sister, you can take me out.”

Shen Sang Ruo’s expression shifted a little. This reason was more convincing.

Little Shi lifted three fingers and said with a bright, pure smile as she looked straight at her: “Three reasons. Elder Sister can choose whichever to believe. For me, the first one is the truest.”

Shen Sang Ruo thought for a moment and felt Little Shi was not joking. But there was no time to decide now. She still needed to gather the treasures outside the cave. She said in a steady voice: “We’ll talk about this later.”

Little Shi nodded quickly and said: “Okay. I’ll wait patiently for Elder Sister to think it through.” Then she added helpfully: “By the way, there is another mine over there. Does Elder Sister want to take it too? It is the ore Human Race Cultivators use to craft weapons, if I remember right.”

For Little Shi, the only things she needed were the Beast Cores of snake demonic beasts. Everything else could go to Shen Sang Ruo. Of course, Spirit Stones and the Spirit Spring were useful to her too, but she had already decided to cling to Shen Sang Ruo. What was hers would be hers anyway.

Hearing there was another mine, Shen Sang Ruo perked up at once and asked with rising energy: “And it’s for Artifact Forging?”

“Right here. I’ll lead Elder Sister,” Little Shi said as she walked ahead.

After a few hundred meters, different ores began to appear on their left. On their right was where the Spirit Vein had been, now an empty stretch.

Shen Sang Ruo named them one by one as her eyes grew wider: “Cloud-Essence Stone, Bloodthread Silver, Blue Origin Crystal…” Her shock was no less than when she found the Spirit Vein.

These were all materials used in Artifact Forging, and every one of them was a rare, top-grade treasure. Each piece was enough to make Artifact Cultivators and Sword Cultivators go crazy. Even the vaults of an Artifact Forging Sect might not have so many.

She quickly did the math in her head. This mine could be given to the Sword Cultivators Branch and the Artifact Forging Division, for maintaining Life-Bound Swords and forging new weapons. With this, almost every branch of the Ninghua Sect would have deep foundations.

Never mind the targeting by Flying Cloud Sect. Even if the whole Cultivation World targeted them, Ninghua Sect would not be afraid. She could hardly imagine how quickly the Ninghua Sect would grow from here, or how fast the cultivators in the sect would rise. Given time, they could return to their peak.

She had thought the Ninghua Sect would have a long road ahead. She did not expect that a single trip to the Starfield Plain would save them decades, maybe even a hundred years. Her heart beat hard. She had never been this excited.

She immediately had the Giant Beetles use their skill again and Miniaturize this mine to the size of a palm. Then she wrapped both the Spirit Vein and the mine in protective shields with her Spiritual Power and stored them with care. Once they were back at the Ninghua Sect, she would place them underground and have the Giant Beetles restore them. It would be a perfect transfer.

Little Shi tugged her sleeve and said with urgency: “There should be nothing left here. Let’s go out.” Because the Spirit Vein and the mine had been Miniaturized, a large empty area had opened up, and the place might collapse. It was better to leave quickly. Also, based on what Little Shi had gathered, there had only been the Spirit Vein, all kinds of ores, and the guardian snake demonic beasts below. They had taken everything with no leftovers.

Shen Sang Ruo looked around. There were indeed no other treasures. She turned to leave.

However, as the two of them turned, a strange sound came from behind them.

“There’s a sound,” she said with a frown as she looked back.

On the empty ground where the ores had been, a light slowly rose.

Little Shi saw it too and said thoughtfully: “It looks like something was pressed under that mine.”

When the Giant Beetles Miniaturized the mine, that thing was freed.

The light was far away, so Shen Sang Ruo could not see what it was. She moved quickly toward it. In a few breaths, she stood before the glow.

She saw that it was only a cluster of light, or rather a ball of unknown energy that gave off light. Around it stood four half-height pillars forming a Formation that bound the energy in place.

“What kind of energy is this?” Shen Sang Ruo murmured. It felt familiar, but she could not place it.

Not knowing what it was, she did not dare to touch it. She planned to test it with Spiritual Power first. But then the Cosmos Pouch in her arms turned hot, so she had to check what was wrong.

She quickly found the cause. It was the two pieces of Spirit Jade Marrow she had stored inside. As if affected by something, they were darting up and down in the Cosmos Pouch.

She glanced again at the mysterious energy and suddenly remembered as she said under her breath: “This seems like Divine Soul Power.”

Afraid of harming other treasures, Shen Sang Ruo swiftly took out the two pieces of Spirit Jade Marrow. The moment they left the Cosmos Pouch, they slipped free of her hands and were pulled by the energy. They floated around the glowing cluster, shaking and humming.

It felt like they were resonating with the light.

The Divine Soul Power inside the Spirit Jade Marrow was already very strong, yet this cluster could make them resonate even through the Cosmos Pouch. That meant the Divine Soul Power within the light was truly terrifying.

[Another treasure like this, again?]

If Little Koi were not still resting in her sea of consciousness, she would have bowed to it. Little Koi swished its tail and blew bubbles in her sea of consciousness to say that it only raised the chance of good luck and nudged the quality a bit. The exact kind of luck still depended on Shen Sang Ruo herself. In truth, Shen Sang Ruo’s own fortune was not bad, which was why together they were producing such strong luck and finding heavy treasures one after another.

Little Shi walked over, touched her chin, and said with mild surprise: “There’s actually a cluster of Divine Soul Power here, and it’s extremely pure Divine Soul Power.” She added with a hint of awe: “This might be unique in the entire Cultivation World.”

She glanced at Shen Sang Ruo and asked brightly: “Elder Sister, do you want it? It will help you tame other demonic beasts in the future.” Then she thought sweetly of herself and added: “Of course, if I become Elder Sister’s demonic beast, it will help me too.”

She offered with confidence as she said: “I know a bit about Formation. If Elder Sister wants it, I can try to break this Formation.”

Watching the Spirit Jade Marrow rotate around the light faster and faster, Shen Sang Ruo shook her head slightly and said with calm certainty: “I think we may not need you to break the Formation.”