Astral Pet Figure
68
Chapter 68: The Nether Stone
Translator: Translated Henyee Editor: Translated Henyee
Fan Ganglie followed those footprints until he reached the edge of the cliff.
“Do not tell me—”
“I saw a trail left by another creature. Maybe someone's after him. With nowhere to go, it jumps, ” Ye Chenshan said.
Fan Yujing and Li Ying did not look happy. The journey has hurt them so much. And Fan Ganglie's most prized Astral Pet was almost killed. If the Fire-Tailed Blood Fox had already died at the bottom of the cliff, all the time and effort would have been in vain.
Su Ping slowly scanned the area and also noticed the messy remains that showed a fight. There were remnants of bright red feathers and broken bone fragments everywhere.
He leaped from the Magical Corpse Beast and looked down at the cliff, while not forgetting to keep an eye on who was behind him. The others in the group probably wouldn't push him, but he preferred to err with caution.
There's nothing to see. It was night time.
"Does anyone carry a flare stick?"
Everyone had descended from the Magical Corpse Beast to check out what was behind the cliff. It was Li Ying who took out a few flares from her backpack and handed them to Su Ping.
Su Ping took out one and threw it away. Using the falling light source, he could see the brownish-colored cliff walls, some small plants growing on the walls, as well as strands of red feathers tucked randomly between the pointed rocks.
He also caught a glimpse of a strange object somewhere, but failed to recognize it because the flare fell too fast.
He threw the others in the same direction. This time, he managed to find that it was some sort of irregularly shaped stone with a dark golden luster on its surface. It's lodged inside the wall.
"Is it gold ore or what?"
This place should not have been mapped. Finding valuable minerals is not surprising. In fact, this is why the settlers liked their work—by finding a gold or uranium mine, they became richer than most of their peers overnight.
Of course, Su Ping would be happy to bring back such a good trophy. But there was no way he could go down there and dig ore alone. He needs help.
In addition, the storage space is too small to hold too many raw minerals. His best option was to ask Astral Pet to transport them back in bulk.
Fan Ganglie threw a rock over the cliff and listened, but no one heard the last drop.
“Li Ying, send your earthworm there. If the fox dies, I want to see his body.”
Li Ying nodded and ordered his pet worm to start digging.
Su Ping was still unhappy with the situation. If their target dies, it means he has failed in his mission.
A moment later, Li Ying opened her eyes and exclaimed in joy. "I found him. It's alive!"
"Thul? It can't fly. How does it survive the fall?”
"There's a cave down there, I see a fox in it."
"A cave, huh?" Su Ping wondered how long the poor creature had been waiting there.
"Hurry up, get us there." Fan Ganglie looked happy after that.
"of course. I'll tell my earthworms to dig a tunnel. ”
Immediately, the worm released acidic body fluids to reveal its path until it was large enough for humans to pass through. By following the descending slope, they were able to reach the cave.
Or, it's not actually a cave. At least Su Ping would only see it as a small hole in the wall.
“Thank God, here it is,” Fan Ganglie smiled small. At least he finished his job.
The fox fondly nudged Fan Ganglie. Fan Ganglie was not his master, but they remained close friends.
Su Ping checked and found no fatal wounds on the fox other than a few scratches. Good news for him.
“It used vines that creep on the wall to slow down when falling, I guess.” Ye Chenshan looked up.
Su Ping remembered the pointy stone that could also be used as a stepping stone. Then he spoke to Li Ying, “I saw an open mineral there. Tell your earthworms to make another way so we can check it out.”
"Minerals?"
Everyone loves hearing such things. They can earn big money if they get gold or even something better.
"Let's do it!" Fan Ganglie.
Li Ying complied and gave orders to his pet, who dug another tunnel on the cliff. The tunnel ends where a solid object is buried in the wall. It was something several meters long and wide, like an enormous stone.
Fan Ganglie found the small device and started scanning the object.
“Uranium. 0.002%. Gold, 2.902%. Silver…"
A very disappointing reading.
The device was intended to detect the elemental composition of the object. However, there is no view above 5%, which means it is not very useful.
As they wondered what such a huge object was doing there, the Little Skeleton suddenly placed both hands on it and excitedly caressed its surface as if it really wanted to.
Su Ping quickly realized that the unknown object might be something useful for an Undead-type pet.
"System, do you know what this is?" ask in the heart.
"Agreed."
"good. Tell me."
"Valuation cost, one hundred energy points."
It's nonsense.
Su Ping checked his balance, which was a little less than 700, and decided to pay the price.
“This is 'Nether Ore', a compressed form of Undead energy. When refined, it would produce the Nether Stone. You can use it as an additional tool, or as a currency to trade with residents in the Undead Realm.”
“Nether Stone, yes? Just like spirit stones?”
"You can say it like that."
"System, can you fix it?"
"Agreed."
"remarkable. Can you-?"
"A hundred energy points."
“…”