The stars hanging in the night sky were blocked by a large number of centipede monsters, leaving only the vast darkness. Lu Yu pulled Yu Xiaoman away, fleeing in the direction away from the centipede monsters.
The number of centipede monsters was too great. Lu Yu couldn’t protect Yu Xiaoman while fighting them, so he chose to escape.
"Quick, choose a direction and run." Lu Yu said to Yu Xiaoman.
In a hurry, Yu Xiaoman randomly pointed in a direction, and Lu Yu took her and fled in the direction she pointed. The underground cave was vast, with paths branching off everywhere. Instead of choosing a direction himself, Lu Yu trusted Yu Xiaoman’s luck more.
At each branching path, Lu Yu asked Yu Xiaoman to choose a route, any route, without throwing arrows this time, as there was no time to do so.
After passing several junctions, Lu Yu found he had already shaken off the centipede monsters behind them. He glanced around and, sensing no demon Qi, stopped.
"Let’s take a break." As soon as Lu Yu finished speaking, he sat down on a rock to rest, recovering his Spiritual Qi and Qi Blood.
In the underground cave, there weren’t just centipede monsters; there were many other monsters too. Even with Yu Xiaoman guiding the way, Lu Yu still encountered quite a few monsters as they fled, carrying Yu Xiaoman, a burden, which greatly drained his energy.
But he couldn’t abandon Yu Xiaoman. On one hand, he brought her in, making it his responsibility to bring her out. On the other hand, if Yu Xiaoman were lost, Lu Yu would lose direction in the cave and couldn’t find the way out.
"What is this?" Yu Xiaoman asked, holding a pearl emitting a yellowish glow.
"Why are you touching things again!" Lu Yu said, seeing her holding a glowing pearl, his tone harsh. He had already warned Yu Xiaoman not to touch things in the cave, yet she didn’t remember, making Lu Yu somewhat angry.
Yu Xiaoman sensed Lu Yu’s anger and tried to explain.
"Huh? Wait, let me see what you are holding." Lu Yu fixed his eyes on it, realizing the thing in Yu Xiaoman’s hand looked familiar. He took it from her and examined it closely.
Lu Yu confirmed it was an Earth Spirit Pearl.
In the early stages of array understanding, it’s recorded that the Earth Spirit Pearl is the demon core left behind by earth-attribute monsters after they die. The demon Qi inside gradually dissipates over long periods, leaving pure earth Spiritual Qi, making it one of the best materials for setting earth arrays.
The pure earth Spiritual Qi in the Earth Spirit Pearl can also be absorbed by Martial Cultivators and monsters, used to breakthrough to the Sea of Qi realm, making it a rare and precious natural treasure.
A demon core must undergo a thousand years for all demon Qi to dissipate, leaving the purest Spiritual Qi, transforming into a Spirit Pearl.
The power within a Spirit Pearl can be easily activated by Martial Cultivators at the Qi Cultivation stage, but not absorbed. Only Martial Cultivators at the peak Sea of Qi realm can absorb the pure Spiritual Qi within to improve their state.
This item isn’t available in the marketplace. To be precise, Lu Yu’s level is too low to see if Earth Spirit Pearls are for sale, but considering it’s something left by a high-level demon beyond the Sea of Qi realm, he knows its value.
Lu Yu wanted to claim it as his own, "This is an Earth Spirit Pearl; it’s useless for you to keep it, so why not give it to me!"
Upon saying this, Lu Yu felt a nameless danger looming, looked at Yu Xiaoman quickly and said, "How could I snatch your things? Quickly keep it safe, don’t lose it."
He hastily shoved the scorching Earth Spirit Pearl back into Yu Xiaoman’s hands, silently raising his middle finger to the heavens in his heart, thinking it’s too unfair!
Lu Yu had no doubt that if he dared claim Yu Xiaoman’s fortune as his own, he’d be taken down by unforeseen mishaps in seconds, having already felt the danger earlier.
Yu Xiaoman looked strangely at the Earth Spirit Pearl in her hand, then at Lu Yu, handing the pearl to him, saying, "Master, take this; it’s useless for me to keep it anyway."
"I don’t want it; you keep it for yourself. You’ll need it in the future." Lu Yu turned his back to Yu Xiaoman, afraid of succumbing to the pearl’s temptation and taking Yu Xiaoman’s fortune, only to die in an accident with no place to argue.
Seeing Lu Yu’s attitude, Yu Xiaoman panicked, thinking he was going to abandon her, leaving her in a place filled with monsters.
"Master, you’ve saved me so many times and given me so many things; I have nothing much to repay you with, so take this pearl!" Yu Xiaoman placed the Earth Spirit Pearl in front of Lu Yu.
Lu Yu glanced at the pearl glowing brilliantly at the corner of his eye, unable to resist the temptation, he thought: Since Yu Xiaoman’s giving it to him, it’s not really stealing, hopefully he won’t be unlucky?
Lu Yu lightly touched the Earth Spirit Pearl with his finger, saying, "You’re giving it to me, right? It’s not me asking for it."
Yu Xiaoman seriously nodded and said, "Master, this is my gift to you."
"Then I’ll accept it?" Lu Yu touched the Spirit Pearl.
"Then I’m really taking it?" Lu Yu grabbed the Spirit Pearl, feeling no danger.
"Master, please just take it already! I’m begging you!" Yu Xiaoman couldn’t understand what the master was doing. It’s just a pearl, why so hesitant? If she weren’t afraid the master would leave her in the underground, Yu Xiaoman would have slapped Lu Yu with a slipper.
She wanted to tell him, if he’s a man, he shouldn’t dawdle!
"Since you’re sincerely asking me to take it, it would be rude of me to refuse." Lu Yu grabbed the Earth Spirit Pearl, feeling neither the prior sense of catastrophe nor danger and breathed a sigh of relief.
You thought I wanted to dawdle? I was afraid of agreeing too quickly and being killed by the heavens in error!
It seems if Yu Xiaoman willingly gives up her fortune and gifts it to someone else, unforeseen disaster won’t strike, Lu Yu thought.
Turning around, Lu Yu comfortingly patted Yu Xiaoman’s shoulder, saying, "Good, this was a test I put you through."
Yu Xiaoman felt a bit tense getting her shoulder patted, then relaxed hearing Lu Yu’s words and got curious about the test; what was he testing her on?
"From now on, you’re my little brother. Come to me with anything!"
Lu Yu went to the store, purchased a hundred Thousand-Mile Communication Talismans and slapped them into Yu Xiaoman’s hands.
"Here, contact me the minute you find anything (a fortune). Don’t hold back, need more just ask me."
At this moment, Lu Yu finally understood why rich people feel awesome.
When he slapped a hundred Thousand-Mile Communication Talismans into Yu Xiaoman’s hands, Lu Yu felt great. The thick sensation was like throwing ten thousand bucks at someone.
Yu Xiaoman, somewhat bewildered, took the Thousand-Mile Communication Talismans from Lu Yu, somewhat bewildered becoming his little brother, and somewhat bewildered passing his nonexistent test.
------------------------------------
Seeing the increasing collections, rising subscription numbers, and recommendation votes, and reading the comments left by everyone, the feedback feels great, and I can keep posting.
Come on! Use all the votes you have and hit me hard! The more you hit, the more excited I get, the better my state becomes, and the more updates I provide.