Chapter 117: Strange Power

  Even if they deliberately slowed down, in just over a month, the mining of this not-too-large area with concentrated spiritual jade was almost completed. The three separate tunnels that were originally dug by the three people had already converged, and without asking, it could be known that their trip was quite rewarding.

  But what made the three feel that their trip was not in vain was that, apart from a small amount of four-piece spirit jade near the outer periphery of this mine, the deeper they went, the higher the quality of the spirit jade became. Most were six or seven pieces, and there were even a few eight-piece and extremely rare nine-piece at the very center, with an extremely high purity of spiritual energy contained within, all of which were water-attribute.

  Retrieve the Lingyu, and after moving aside some ordinary gravel stones around it, they looked at the Lingyu core surrounded by them in the middle, except for the lower part, all other parts had already been exposed. The diameter of the Lingyu core was over one meter, and the three people's emotions were somewhat excited and exceptionally joyful. Even ordinary Yu Xin from ancient times were rare treasures used by cultivators to refine Dan, refine instruments, and make talismans. After all, the number of jade mines in each world is limited, and the probability of producing Yu Xin within the mine is even lower.

  This spiritual jade core is even more of a rare treasure in the eyes of cultivators, and not to mention that if it were properly placed in a location with spiritual veins, over time, ordinary jade stones around it could be transformed into spiritual jade through its innate ability to gather spirits. It's also the top material for refining elixirs, concocting, and crafting talismans. Even a grain-sized piece is extremely precious and hard to come by, so how could the three of them not lose their composure when faced with such a large piece?

  Compared to the pale blue water-attribute spirit jade, the spirit jade core in front of them emitted a deep sea-like pure azure color, wrapped in misty spirit energy. Inside, it was crystal clear like a water droplet, and even seemed to have living things moving stealthily. Beautifully astonishing, its own spirit energy was contained yet not revealed, exuding spirituality.

  "It seems that, as Brother Zhuge previously guessed, this place is indeed the birthplace of the spiritual spring's companion spiritual jade mine. Not only is the quality of the spiritual jade extremely high, but there are also such large chunks of spiritual jade cores. We're really lucky this time!"

  Upon hearing Zuo Xiao Yao's sigh, both Zhuge Jing Yu and Qin Xiao nodded in agreement. Qin Xiao, who couldn't bear to look away, suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked, "This is such a large piece, truly rare. How will we divide it?"

  "Although Brother Lu doesn't know, we were able to come here and encounter this thing for a reason. What's more, he should have made up his mind by now. In my opinion, why not divide it into four portions?"

  There were three people on the scene, two of whom had a past with Luo Hongtian, and only one who was in modern times with Luo Hongtian, but they only nodded to each other without any deep connection. Since Qin Xiao asked about the distribution, it was mainly to understand his thoughts, Zhuge Jinyu touched his nose and said.

  Although it's extremely painful to bring this up, he has no choice but to propose this suggestion. It's not that he's being hypocritical or has ulterior motives, but rather because of emotional reason and moral obligation. Now that the four of them have gathered together, their goals are likely to be very unified, forming a single entity. How can they just abandon one another and let themselves reap huge benefits?

  Putting aside their original friendship, Qin Xiao and Zuo Xiaoyao naturally had no objections and followed suit, also looking at Zhuge Jinyu with a higher regard, of course, the pain was certain!

  The allocation plan had been decided, but how to separate it became a problem. The seemingly fragile Lingyu core was actually very hard, and only those who had personally tried to separate it knew its true nature. When infusing spiritual energy into the artifact, they wanted to break it open, but always ended up with nothing to show for it, as the energy would inexplicably disappear. Three people who had reached a dead end in their attempts looked at each other helplessly, feeling that their cultivation was not high enough and their current methods were limited.

  Once again, they deeply realized their own inadequacy. The three of them were all moved, and Zhuge Jingyu couldn't help but sigh, "It's said that those who have reached the True Realm can shatter the void with a wave of their hand, and even walk through the void. This spatial barrier is nothing to them, but we are trapped in this inexplicable place, unable to escape, and not even suitable for cultivating in the true world. We can't even deal with this piece of spiritual jade core, it's truly pitiful!"

  At first, the excitement and joy had been consumed to exhaustion in the three people's repeated failures. It would be a lie to say that they were not disheartened. Qin Xiao nodded "Brother Zhuge is right, but now, no matter what the future holds, we must all make an effort, no matter what, we cannot give up and end our days in the mundane world. Since we can't break it, let's take it away whole, with one person keeping watch, and wait until the future when we might be lucky enough to leave this realm, then we'll think of a plan."

  "Yes, no matter what the future holds, we must not lose heart. As Qin brother said, in fact, for a very long time to come, we won't have the opportunity to use them anyway. Let's take them out and bring them along first, and worry about distributing them later."

  Zuo Xiao Yao reluctantly agreed, even if they could break through, it would be unknown when they could use it. After all, this kind of heavenly material and treasure was not something that cultivators like them, who were only at the foundation-building stage, could afford to waste. It required a cultivation level above the late stages of the Embryonic Breath period to be able to wield it effectively. As for whether they would have the opportunity to cultivate to such a realm in the future, it was uncertain. Even if they managed to escape successfully, whether they could preserve their lives was also a problem. After all, if news leaked out, they would have to bear the consequences of being accused of stealing the treasure.

  Although the truth is clear, if this treasure is not within one's reach, even though they have a deep relationship now, each of them has concerns in their hearts. Before reaping benefits, they can pass the test too little. Zuo Xiao Yao lowered her eyes to hide her thoughts, she herself was already worried about her situation, and she also valued this Ling Yu Xin very much, but she clearly knew that she couldn't afford to lose her head, having good things is useless if one doesn't have a life to enjoy them.

  Although each had their own thoughts, the lower part of the Lingyu Xin was still connected to the lower part of the earth vein. It couldn't be broken open on the spot, so the top priority was to first "pull" it out. Zhuge Jinyu and Qin Xiao held a sword and a knife respectively, while Zuo Xiaoyao also grasped the dagger that Zhuge Jinyu had previously asked Jing Tong to forge for her. Together, they struck downwards at the lower part of the Lingyu Xin with all their might.

  "Bang!......"

  Three loud noises like heavy objects hitting a resilient screen rang out in succession, extremely clear!

  The three combined forces, the power is not ordinary, but the ending is counterintuitive. The originally normal bottom of the Lingyu Xin suddenly burst out with a strange force when the three people's magic tools were directed at it, bouncing their magic tools back, and the three people involuntarily retreated several steps, almost falling to the ground.

  "What's going on?"

  Seeing this situation, all three of them were shocked and puzzled. Zhuge Jingyu was even more surprised and asked loudly.

  "This power is coming from a strange place, I had carefully explored this area before and didn't find anything unusual. You see, it still looks the same as before over there, doesn't seem to be any difference!"

  It wasn't just Qin Xiao, but also the two cautious Zhuge's who had carefully observed their surroundings earlier. Looking around again, they saw that all the spiritual jade had been excavated, leaving behind a large number of ordinary rocks, and the ground around the spiritual jade core was littered with stones. Still, they couldn't find anything unusual. Zuo Xiao Yao nodded "That power should come from below, could it be that because of this spiritual jade core's suppression, it doesn't show at all?"

  "I'll try again with a bit less force, and everyone take a closer look at how that power is transmitted."

  Qin Xiao finished speaking, and then he wielded the inch-wide knife-like artifact downwards towards the Lingyu Xin, but this time there was no sound or any strange power appearing, the knife-like artifact simply returned without doing anything.

  With a heart full of suspicion, the usual careless smile on his face had long since disappeared. Zhuge Jiuyu proposed, "I'll sneak down and take a look!"

  Because there were not a few Lingyus in the upper layer of soil, they had also dug underground elsewhere and found that there was no more Lingyu in the lower layer. Until the three people almost simultaneously discovered this Lingyu core, and had already dug out most of the surrounding area, leaving only a small piece of land above where the Lingyu core was located. With nothing else detected by spiritual sense, the three of them didn't think to go and examine it further.

  Now it seems that there should be some unknown secret below, Zuo Xiaoyao was about to speak, but suddenly felt a movement in her heart, and Qin Xiao had already said "Let's go down together, leave Xiaoyao on top to observe carefully!"

  He was taken aback for a moment, then understood what he meant. Zhuge Jingyu pretended to be disappointed and shook his head, saying "You can go too, although I've always agreed that men and women work together, it's not tiring!"

  It's easy to think about it simply, but reality is often not so willing. When the two of them finally took action with some tacit understanding, they found that strange power had always been there!

  ps：

  Sorry for being late in wishing you all a happy new year. Wishing everyone a happy new year and may all your wishes come true in the new year!