New Discovery

Lü Zhong shook his head.

"It will be difficult. This old servant asked the old farmers who used to grow medicinal herbs. The special spiritual essence in this Medicine Field has already vanished.

"Not only is it no longer suitable for planting Herbal Ingredients, even ordinary crops would struggle to grow here."

No sooner had he finished speaking than several faint, indistinct sounds of a child crying suddenly drifted over from the burned Medicine Field.

An ordinary farmhand might have simply ignored them.

But Meng Zhao and Lü Yue were both skilled experts with cultivated inner strength, their ears sharp and eyes keen, their hearing far beyond ordinary men.

Not to mention that Lü Zhong had cultivated Innate True Qi. He immediately pinpointed where the child's cries were coming from.

At Lü Zhong's command, Lü Yue used his lightness skill and darted toward the depths of the burned Medicine Field, vanishing from Meng Zhao's sight in moments.

About a minute later, Lü Yue came running back, torn between laughter and tears. He was carrying a filthy little child in one hand, his face smeared black and white like a tabby cat. The crying from before had presumably come from him.

Lü Yue set the child down and lightly patted his head before saying to Meng Zhao and Lü Zhong, "This child was being naughty. He had a quarrel with his playmates and ran off alone to play. He accidentally fell into a small hole in the Medicine Field. It is nothing serious."

Lü Yue appeared quite relaxed. The child had likely been frightened and was now standing there obediently, too afraid to say a word.

Meng Zhao merely nodded to show that he understood.

Once they returned, they only needed to hand the child over to his family and have them keep a closer eye on him in the future.

Yet Lü Zhong kept staring at a small stone clutched in the child's grimy hand. First came confusion, then shock, and finally his expression changed dramatically. He grabbed Lü Yue, his aged voice even trembling slightly as he said, "Where did this child find that just now? Take me there at once."

Lü Yue was somewhat surprised, but since it was his adoptive father's request, he simply complied.

Meng Zhao likewise did not understand why Lü Zhong had reacted so strongly to such a tiny stone. But he knew there was likely some unexpected development, so he followed as well.

When they reached a spot roughly in the center of the Medicine Field, the three finally saw a shallow pit whose bottom resembled quicksand. It was not deep; for a child to get trapped within, the fear was greater than the actual danger.

The soil around it was charred black, yet for some reason, compared to the thick burnt smell elsewhere, this place carried a faint, refreshing air, as though they stood amid flowers and trees.

After arriving nearby, Lü Zhong's expression remained grim. He first looked, then sniffed, then bent down and thrust his hand deep into the pit as if sensing something. At last, he flew into a rage. "Just as I thought! Those hateful thieves actually stole a treasured heirloom of Meng Mansion! They deserve to die!"

It was Meng Zhao's first time seeing Lü Zhong like this, while Lü Yue was even more startled.

In his memory, Lü Zhong rarely became so enraged.

And whenever someone provoked Lü Zhong's fury, their end was never pleasant.

"Uncle Zhong, what is this?"

Hearing Meng Zhao's voice, Lü Zhong realized that he had lost his composure. He hurriedly suppressed his turbulent emotions and said, "This old servant has just discovered some new information, and indignation rose in my heart, causing me to lose my manners. Young Master, please forgive me."

Then his tone shifted as he said to Meng Zhao, "Young Master, can you see anything unusual about the stone in this old servant's hand?"

As he spoke, he spread open his palm. Resting there was a very ordinary-looking pebble, oval in shape and streaked with brown patterns.

It was no different from the one the child had held earlier. Lü Yue examined it again and again, but could not see anything wrong with it.

Meng Zhao did not actually possess such exceptional eyesight or extensive experience, but the Sky-Illuminating Mirror was too miraculous. After using the divine mirror to sense it slightly, he hesitated before saying, "The surface of this stone seems to possess a little more luster than ordinary stones?"

In truth, Meng Zhao had sensed a trace of essence within the stone—the kind of essence refined when martial artists cultivated inner strength, only even purer and more vast.

But to avoid arousing Lü Zhong's suspicions, he deliberately claimed that he had only noticed the stone's surface luster.

Lü Zhong had intended to keep them in suspense, never expecting Meng Zhao to truly discern a clue. He said approvingly, "Young Master truly has sharp eyes. That is not light, but fluctuations emitted by a kind of vital energy, which you sensed.

"That is why you felt that its surface gleamed and flowed with light, appearing far more dazzling.

"It was precisely because of this stone that this old servant discovered that there is more to the burning of this Medicine Field than meets the eye."

"This sort of stone is called an Earth Spirit Stone in ancient texts. It is produced only in geomantic treasure lands. Though its body is stone, it contains vital energy within and is mostly used in forging weapons."

Meng Zhao looked at Lü Zhong in confusion. If that were all, Lü Zhong should not have been so furious, should he?

Sure enough, Lü Zhong continued, "This Earth Spirit Stone is actually only a byproduct. It is not particularly precious.

"The true essence produced by such a geomantic treasure land should be a treasure known as the Earth Spirit Pearl."

Seeing that Meng Zhao still wore an ignorant, poorly informed expression, Lü Zhong patiently explained what an Earth Spirit Pearl was.

An Earth Spirit Pearl was a bead formed from highly concentrated vital energy fused with earth and stone. It was an exceptionally mysterious and precious treasure. Among the three grades of heavenly treasures, earthly treasures, and ordinary items, it belonged to the earthly treasure category.

The Jade Prayer Beads Meng Zhao was currently playing with could calm the mind, improve physical constitution, and aid the cultivation of inner strength. Yet they were merely ordinary items, separated from earthly treasures by an immense gulf.

The most common and direct effect of an Earth Spirit Pearl was that it could increase a person's inner strength cultivation without any side effects.

In Meng Zhao's understanding, the world contained endless, innumerable forces of vital energy, the source power of martial arts.

Generally speaking, only Innate Realm Warriors could absorb and use such vital energy.

That was also why Lü Zhong could sense the fluctuations of vital energy within the Earth Spirit Stone.

If not for the Sky-Illuminating Mirror's mysterious power, Meng Zhao would never have detected anything unusual about this stone.

The essence contained in flesh and blood, medicinal herbs, grains, and crops all belonged to a lower-tier power formed after Heaven and Earth Vital Energy had transformed and dissipated. It was comparatively gentle and balanced, making it more suitable for Houtian Realm martial artists to absorb.

But this did not mean Houtian Realm martial artists could not raise their inner strength cultivation by absorbing Heaven and Earth Vital Energy. There were always exceptions.

For instance, one might possess a Special Physique, use a certain treasure, or be located somewhere where Heaven and Earth Vital Energy was so dense that it became tangible. Any of these could break through that barrier.

The Earth Spirit Pearl was precisely a treasure that allowed Houtian Realm martial artists to directly use Heaven and Earth Vital Energy to cultivate inner strength.

It was like adding a buff to one's body that operated at every moment and continuously supplied energy—a top-tier cultivation resource.

Moreover, the Earth Spirit Pearl could be used to forge divine weapons, create objects of inheritance, purge poison and heal injuries, arrange certain grand formations, and more.

But for Meng Zhao, the Earth Spirit Pearl's importance to inner strength cultivation far surpassed all its other uses.

In martial arts cultivation, as long as Meng Zhao had enough energy points, he could use the Sky-Illuminating Mirror to improve his martial arts cultivation, even fuse, transform, and optimize martial arts. His future could be called bright indeed.

But cultivating inner strength was unlike deducing martial arts or raising realms; it required the actual conversion of energy.

For the time being, this Earth Spirit Pearl was a match made in heaven for Meng Zhao.