1511 Crystal
Three figures came flying in quickly from afar. They first examined the entrance very cautiously, and after they were done discussing their plan, proceeded to charge into the cave in unison.
Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha could tell that two among the three were ranged warriors, using frost and fire respectively, while the third was a flight-type special ability user, focused on drawing the tree vine monster’s attention.
The three of them were decent, reaching at least Advanced Star River rank. Furthermore, this was not the first time they had coordinated with each other. They displayed a deep tacit understanding of one another.
First, the Frost ability user unleashed clouds of white mist that sought out its enemy like lightning. When they struck the tree vine monster’s body, it rapidly began to freeze, and then the other ability user used his fire to give it an intense burn. The sudden rising and falling temperatures caused great damage to the vine monster, large pieces of its limbs shattering off.
Simultaneously, the warrior with the flight ability was nimbly flying about in the air. No matter how much the tree vine monster wanted to grab a hold of him, his small size and quick, nimble movements made the monster grasp blindly in the air. It was struggling to get a hold of this person, and instead had two of its vines broken off at once, greatly reducing its combat strength!
!!
The cave walls were rumblings as they were constantly being beaten by the tree vine monster, and rocks were falling all over the place. Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha had no choice but to quickly retreat all the way to a crevice in the cave wall, and continued to watch the three special ability users fight against the tree vine monster.
Soon, the tree vine monster was on the verge of dying, its four vines broken off, its control now limited to the small area around his body.
That was when the three made their way to the tree vine monster’s body. In one go, they used both frost and fire to kill off the monster!
Though it sounded easy on paper, the battle had actually lasted for twenty minutes. The three of them had expended a lot of their energy before finally getting the kill.
“Finally, we’ve killed this monster!”
“It wasn’t easy. Let’s leave after getting our spoils. High-level monsters are getting more numerous here, and harder to deal with.”
“Right? Looks like the changes to G.o.d Metropolis are getting worse with each pa.s.sing day. I have no idea if that’s a good thing or bad thing.”
“It’s of course a good thing for us! If it was not for there being so many monsters, how would we be able to obtain these precious crystals?”
“That’s true. Though no one likes monsters, their crystals are definitely something good.”
The three of them chatted as they looked around for items. They had retrieved a red crystal from the brain of the dead brown bear, one about the size of an adult’s fist.
Next, the three split open the body of the tree vine monster, and took out a green crystal from inside that was around the size of two adult’s fists.
Xia Fan could tell that these two crystals were very unique. There was a layer of black haze around them, and the smell they gave off was very peculiar, as well. It was somewhat similar to the smell an energy crystal would give off, but it was also different.
—
After obtaining the two crystals, the three men departed from the cave to search for new targets.
Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan stepped out from their hiding place and saw that the place was now a complete mess. Blood was mixed with the black sap from the tree vine monster, giving off an odious smell. The tree vine monster’s body was also gradually wilting after it had died.
“This smell is really overwhelming, let’s leave this place quick,” Traveling Buddha said, covering his nose.
Xia Fan shook his head. He went running to the corpse of the tree vine monster with a strange expression, sniffing the air constantly.
Traveling Buddha took several steps back and looked at Xia Fan as if he was a monster. “The heck, what’s so nice about this stench?”
Xia Fan chuckled, “Of course the smell is horrid, but I just discovered that there might still be more crystals under this tree vine monster.”
Traveling Buddha was shocked. He was just about to ask Xia Fan how he knew that, when he suddenly remembered that Xia Fan’s nose was even more sensitive than a dog’s. He did not ask anything more, just shaking his head.
Xia Fan circled the corpse once and then chose a spot. He took out a folding entrenching tool from his spatial ring and quickly began digging through the ground. Because he was a speedster, the work was quickly completed, digging several meters deep into the ground.
That should be where the crystals were buried. Xia Fan was afraid of damaging the crystals, so he tossed the shovel aside and continued digging with just his gloves.
His fingers suddenly came into contact with something hard. He pried one out and sure enough, it was a crystal!
In no time at all, Xia Fan brought out seventy-six crystals of varying sizes and color, and jumped out from the hole he had dug.
He then placed all the crystals on the ground, leaving Traveling Buddha dumbfounded.
“Those three guys fought for such a long time, and only went away with two crystals. Then here you are, just with your super-nose alone, actually digging out so many of them up in one go?” Traveling Buddha was shocked.
He was feeling cheated on behalf of the three men from before. They were the ones who had killed the monster, yet Xia Fan was the one who had reaped the greatest reward in the end. His Scent special ability sure was amazing! Though he did not take part in the fight, he was able to put his special ability to the fullest use at crucial moments!
Xia Fan just smiled. “This might be because that tree vine monster had a habit of hiding things. After it killed its prey, it would bury the crystals underground, so in the future when it wasn’t able to find anything to eat, it could then subsist on these crystals. It’s very normal for creatures in the natural world to have the habit of storing food.”
Traveling Buddha only half-believed his words. He took a yellow crystal into his hand and furrowed his brow, “You think these things could be eaten? Looking at it carefully, their color isn’t even pure, and there’s this black pollutant on it. It looks just like a fruit that has grown mold, and it just might make you sick eating them.”
Xia fan shrugged, “The smell of these things are quite similar to energy crystals, but whether they can be consumed by humans isn’t something I can be too sure about, so let’s just store them away first.”
Traveling Buddha stowed away the crystals, while Xia Fan took one from the pile and compared it with a Grade Nine energy crystal.
He had always been holding onto his Grade Nine energy crystals. Originally he had forty-seven of them, and after the big fight in the Demon Chasm as well as all the various inexplicable encounters, he used quite a bit of his stock, so he was now down to forty-three. These were precious resources that couldn’t be found anywhere after being consumed, so he had cherished them greatly all this while, only using them when he had no other options.
Energy crystals were also categorized into colors, and different colors signified different grades. But these crystals he had just dug out were not produced by geological means, but found growing in plants and animals. Adding to the fact that these crystals had black dots inside them, looking like they had gathered mildew, Xia Fan was reluctant to give them a try.
—
Looking at the time and realizing it was about time they headed back, Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha went back the way they came and went to look for Dragon Dou. The silly offspring of the local tyrant was elated when he saw that his two bodyguards had returned safe and sound, immediately treating the two to a meal in a restaurant.
After all the dishes were served, Xia Fan got up and closed the doors to their private room and took out a crystal to show to Dragon Dou. The instant he saw that it was a crystal, his jaw dropped in shock.
“How did you two get this thing?” Dragon Dou asked them.
Xia Fan said that they had killed a giant bear and saw it growing in its brain, so they took it back with them, not knowing what it was.
Dragon Dou nodded, “Ah, so you encountered those monsters! Honestly, these crystals are very precious. The people of G.o.d Metropolis do everything in their power to collect them, using them for cultivation. It’s said that it’s very helpful in going up in rank!
“In any case, it’s somewhat similar to energy crystals, but are even more powerful. Some of those people have practically gone crazy searching for these things. Just a small piece like the one you showed me is enough to trade for a cruiser!”
Xia Fan finally understood the situation. The people of G.o.d Metropolis had been using these things like others used energy crystals. In eons past, the Ashen Moon Universe had once been abundant with energy, and plenty of energy crystals grew everywhere. But the constant exploitation of that resource had gradually mined out the energy crystals, and that was especially the case with high-grade energy crystals. The price of them rose every year, gaining in value even faster than stocks!
Xia Fan asked, “Are there any side effects from consuming one?”
Dragon Dou pointed to the horn on the top of his head and replied, “Not really. You just grow a horn like me! Anyone you see on the streets that has longer horns just means they have eaten plenty of these crystals.”
Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha frowned. They were fond of going up in ranks, but neither wanted to grow horns. It would look too strange if they ran about in public with a horn on their head…
That was when a white light suddenly appeared across the sky, illuminating the darkness of the night.
Xia Fan was startled. He opened the window and saw changes in the distant starry sky. A planet had split into two and became two worlds!
“It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours! Isn’t the planet splitting too quickly?” Xia Fan exclaimed.
Dragon Dou lifted his wrist to check the time. “To be precise, it has only been twenty-one hours. I remember it was twenty-three hours between splits a while ago, so the rate is indeed increasing!”