Spirit Stone Secrets and a Rabbit Mask Revelation

‘What the hell is this amnesia spell?! I almost believed it!’

Yang Xueqing looked at the scarred man foaming at the mouth and silently lit a candle for him in her heart.

Bai Qiuyuan picked up the spiked club.

After confirming the man on the ground was still alive, he turned his gaze towards the black-clad man at the cliff’s edge.

Black-clad man: “?”

The black-clad man froze for a moment, then hastily shut his eyes and cried out.

“Huh? Why am I here? What just happened?”

“Why can’t I see anything?”

Yang Xueqing: “…”

‘Such a strong will to survive…’

A smile, as if commending the man for his ‘sensibleness,’ played upon Bai Qiuyuan’s lips.

He then tucked the spiked club he held into his spatial ring.

Bai Qiuyuan crouched beside the unconscious scar-faced man, beginning to search his person.

Soon, Bai Qiuyuan discovered a copy of “Basic Forging Guide” and a pouch of spirit stones on the man.

After ascertaining there was nothing else of interest on him, Bai Qiuyuan finally stood up.

After sensing the quantity of spirit stones, Bai Qiuyuan stored them in his spatial ring.

He then curiously opened the “Basic Forging Guide” to its table of contents and began to peruse it.

[Methods for Refining Spirit Stones]

[Methods for Enhancing Spirit Stone Purity]

[Puppet Forging]

Bai Qiuyuan pondered in confusion after reading.

‘Can spirit stones actually be artificially forged?’

‘In the cultivation world, spirit stones are equivalent to currency…’

‘So if I master the art of forging spirit stones, wouldn’t that mean!…’

‘What a treasure!’

With this thought, Bai Qiuyuan smiled as he placed the book into his spatial ring, then turned to Yang Xueqing with a grin.

“Let’s go. The secret realm will close in a few hours.”

“Mhm.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Xueqing immediately followed behind Bai Qiuyuan, and together they departed from the cliff.

Only the black-clad man, who had yet to recover his wits, remained.

The black-clad man waited until the two had gone far and their footsteps faded, then slumped to the ground, opening his eyes to gaze at the unconscious scar-faced man, lost in thought.

‘I survived…’

–Inn–

By the time the two left the secret realm, darkness had already fallen outside.

Bai Qiuyuan followed Yang Xueqing to the inn she had rented before entering the secret realm.

Although Yang Xueqing’s injuries had healed, her clothes were now dirty and torn from sword slashes and bloodstains.

Thus, they decided to rest and regroup for the night, planning to depart for the Sword Pavilion the following morning.

Bai Qiuyuan also directly used the spirit stones he had taken from the scar-faced man earlier to rent a room, intending to rest for the night.

Perhaps it was due to the spatial ring on Bai Qiuyuan’s finger, but both the inn’s waiter and the owner were exceptionally enthusiastic towards him.

This was despite Bai Qiuyuan appearing very young and wearing a peculiar mask.

After all, they considered it quite normal for the thought processes of the wealthy to seem unusual.

Although Bai Qiuyuan had asked Yang Xueqing if he should rent another superior room for them to stay in, she had declined.

After being refused, Bai Qiuyuan didn’t press further, simply following the attendant to the superior room.

–Bai Qiuyuan’s Room–

“Esteemed guest, this is your room. You may call me anytime if you need anything.”

“Very well. This is for you.”

As Bai Qiuyuan spoke, he handed a mid-grade spirit stone to the waiter, who immediately beamed with delight and chuckled.

“Many thanks, esteemed guest! Many thanks!”

With that, he closed the door and promptly departed.

The superior room here was quite ordinary, appearing much like those in the mortal realm.

It featured a soft bed, a table with four chairs, and a screen off to the side, behind which lay the washing area.

All the furniture was crafted from excellent materials.

Compared to the mortal realm, the room also boasted a sound-insulating formation array.

Bai Qiuyuan settled down at the table and took out the “Basic Forging Guide” to read.

Chapter One: The Forging of Spirit Stones.

Spirit stones could be mined from spirit stone veins.

Additionally, they could be artificially created by refining the spiritual energy in the air.

Each spirit stone was categorized by its purity into low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade.

Furthermore, spirit stones achieving ninety percent purity were known as [Supreme-grade Spirit Stones]!

Their value ratio was as follows: one Supreme-grade Spirit Stone equaled one hundred high-grade spirit stones, which equaled ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones, which in turn equaled one million low-grade spirit stones!

The method for forging spirit stones was…

…

A quarter of an hour later…

…

Having finished the introduction, Bai Qiuyuan used his finger as a brush and True Qi as ink, inscribing a peculiar rune in the air.

The very next second, all the spiritual energy in the surroundings began to converge towards the rune!

Once the spiritual energy around the rune reached an extreme density, it transformed directly into several drops of liquid!

With a serious expression, Bai Qiuyuan raised his hand once more and inscribed a few more runes.

After the runes were complete, all the liquid coalesced, ultimately forming a rhombus-shaped, earthy yellow crystal.

‘Is this a low-grade spirit stone?’

‘So, this is how one learns to forge spirit stones? It’s that simple?’

Bai Qiuyuan sensed the purity of the spiritual energy within the stone.

Thirty-two percent.

After a careful examination confirmed no issues, Bai Qiuyuan turned to the next chapter.

Chapter Two: Methods for Enhancing Spirit Stone Purity.

By enhancing one’s spiritual sense (TL Note: Often referred to as ‘divine sense’ or ‘consciousness’ in cultivation novels, it refers to a cultivator’s mental power used for perception, control, and communication), one could better utilize the forging methods mentioned in Chapter One.

The methods for enhancing spiritual sense included breaking through one’s cultivation realm or consuming heavenly treasures and earthly delights.

Bai Qiuyuan paused for a second upon seeing this, then opened his modifier to examine all the items he had plundered from the immortal mansion earlier.

Before long, all the heavenly treasures and elixirs capable of enhancing a cultivator’s spiritual sense without significant side effects appeared on the table before Bai Qiuyuan.

Gazing at the small mountain of heavenly treasures, Bai Qiuyuan chuckled.

“So, all I have to do is eat them to enhance my spiritual sense?”

“Simple!”

As he spoke, Bai Qiuyuan picked up a blue fruit from the table and took a bite.

The moment he bit into it, Bai Qiuyuan felt a warm current course through his body.

Then, a tearing sensation assaulted his eyes and head.

“Hiss~”

That sudden, tearing sensation instantly made Bai Qiuyuan gasp sharply.

‘Though not fatal, can it truly be this painful?’

With that, Bai Qiuyuan continued to eat.

Another quarter of an hour passed…

Bai Qiuyuan lay on the ground, clutching his distended belly.

On the nearby table, various heavenly treasures were still piled high.

“I… I can’t eat anymore…”

Bai Qiuyuan cried out with difficulty.

While Bai Qiuyuan could refine everything he ate into True Qi, heavenly treasures, once refined, produced an exceptionally large amount of True Qi.

However, Bai Qiuyuan’s Dantian (TL Note: The ‘cinnabar field,’ a vital energy center in the body, crucial for cultivation) had a limited capacity.

After his Dantian was filled, Bai Qiuyuan managed to force down one more, but could not eat another bite.

If a rogue cultivator were to witness Bai Qiuyuan devouring heavenly treasures in such a manner, they would likely leap up in shock.

Which ordinary cultivator didn’t require several days of refinement to fully absorb the medicinal effects of heavenly treasures?

Moreover, rogue cultivators faced harsh training conditions, enduring immense hardship in their search for heavenly treasures.

Even upon finding one, they risked being robbed, which could lead to deadly misfortune!

Yet, Bai Qiuyuan could directly treat heavenly treasures as a meal, eating until he was completely stuffed!

Bai Qiuyuan sensed his spiritual sense.

Originally, Bai Qiuyuan’s spiritual sense was vast, like a lotus pond of old, though its edges were discernible.

After being tempered by various heavenly treasures, Bai Qiuyuan’s spiritual sense was now as boundless as the ocean!

‘Next, let me test my spiritual sense. I’ll start by covering this room.’

‘…’

‘Wow! My spiritual sense can actually see even the corners so clearly.’

‘It’s practically a god’s perspective…’

Bai Qiuyuan: “…”

Suddenly, Bai Qiuyuan lay on the ground, falling into silence.

After about half a minute of silence, Bai Qiuyuan silently raised his hand, removed his mask, and then fell into contemplation, gazing at the half-mask of a little white rabbit in his hand.

‘Why is it a little white rabbit!!!!’

‘Could it be that I’ve been wearing this mask the entire time???’

‘Ah!!! How utterly shameful!!!’

Bai Qiuyuan set the mask aside, covered his face, which was burning red with shame, with both hands, and silently lay on the ground, circulating his Quieting Heart Art (TL Note: A cultivation technique used to calm the mind and emotions.).

Soon, Bai Qiuyuan calmed down.

‘Forget it, a little white rabbit it is.’

Bai Qiuyuan withdrew his spiritual sense and began to sort out the True Qi within his Dantian.

Impure True Qi was expelled, while pure True Qi was compressed…

…

–Next Door–

By this time, Yang Xueqing had changed into a set of sleepwear and was sitting cross-legged on her bed.

Since her travel bag, left at the inn, contained spare clothes, Yang Xueqing didn’t have to worry about not having anything to change into for the time being.

Having acquired a spatial ring, Yang Xueqing stored her travel bag within it.

At this moment, a panel appeared before Yang Xueqing.

On the panel, a fox with reddish-brown and white fur spoke with a smile.

“Host, the rewards for the previous secret realm survival mission have been settled!”

“Please check your inbox.”

Yang Xueqing clicked to confirm receipt.

A spatial ring and a spell manual instantly appeared in Yang Xueqing’s hands.

Earth-grade spell: [Palm Thunder]!

A third-grade spatial ring!

In the cultivation world, all cultivation techniques and spell manuals were categorized from highest to lowest into Heaven, Earth, Human, and Mortal grades.

Among these, cultivation techniques used by variant spirit roots were especially rare!

With the system’s assistance, Yang Xueqing’s spirit root could be unlocked later, allowing her to freely transform it into different elemental spirit roots!

Currently, after completing the novice quest, Yang Xueqing’s spirit root could freely switch between a water spirit root and a lightning spirit root!

Furthermore, lightning-element spells perfectly compensated for Yang Xueqing’s current lack of offensive power!

Yang Xueqing looked at the metallic-colored spatial ring in her hand.

After binding it with a drop of blood, Yang Xueqing examined the space within the ring.

The ring’s space was considerably smaller than the one Bai Qiuyuan had given her earlier.

Perhaps sensing Yang Xueqing’s confusion, the system transformed into a small fox, landing on Yang Xueqing’s shoulder, and explained.

“Host, don’t let this ring’s current small capacity deceive you. The spatial rings provided by the system can be continuously expanded by integrating rare materials into them!”

“As long as you have enough materials, it can be upgraded into a spatial ring with infinite space!”

“It’s absolutely incomparable to those roadside spatial rings with fixed capacities!”

“System, learn Palm Thunder.”

“Understood, Host!”

…

–Within the Secret Realm–

The scar-faced man finally awoke from his unconsciousness.

The black-clad man had already departed, not having bothered to deliver a finishing blow.

The scar-faced man gazed blankly at the secret realm, now enveloped in darkness, unable to recall why he was lying there.

“Huh? Where’s my money?!”

At that moment, the scar-faced man suddenly realized his money was gone!

He quickly checked to see if anything else was missing from his person.

After a while, the scar-faced man spoke with confusion.

“Hmm? The book I got for free when I bought melon seeds by the roadside is gone?”

…