The Strange Pearl

Chapter 2: The Mysterious Pearl

"A first-tier mid-grade Green Wind Tiger?" Shi Yue's expression turned somewhat grim.

The aura of the Green Wind Tiger before him was comparable to a sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator, far beyond what a mere second-layer Qi Refining cultivator like himself could handle.

At this moment, Shi Yue already regretted venturing deep into the mountain range. He stood motionless, a Yellow Talisman in hand, staring intently at the Green Wind Tiger across from him.

The giant green tiger's eyes flashed with ferocity. Its limbs moved, and it lunged at Shi Yue with its Blood Basin Mouth wide open.

Shi Yue's face changed drastically. He hurriedly threw the Yellow Talisman in his hand.

With a "puff," the Yellow Talisman exploded the moment it neared the Green Wind Tiger. A surge of Yellow Runes burst forth, forming a Yellow Light Barrier several zhang in size that trapped the tiger inside.

An Earth Prison Talisman—sealed within it was the Earth Prison Technique, costing twenty Spirit Stones per talisman.

With a "bang," the Green Wind Tiger's massive body slammed heavily into the Yellow Light Barrier, causing it to shake violently.

The tiger opened its mouth and spat out Green Wind Blades one after another, striking the Yellow Light Barrier. The barrier trembled incessantly, its light dimming.

Shi Yue knew the Earth Prison Talisman wouldn't hold the Green Wind Tiger for long. He muttered a few words under his breath, a faint green light gathered beneath his feet, and with a light tap on the ground, his Figure Flickered, appearing several meters away.

Before long, Shi Yue vanished into the dense forest.

With a "bang," the Green Wind Tiger spat out a half-zhang-long Green Wind Blade, shattering the faltering Yellow Light Barrier.

Freed once more, the Green Wind Tiger's limbs moved, and it quickly charged in the direction Shi Yue had fled.

By this time, Shi Yue hadn't gotten far. An angry Tiger Roar echoed from behind him.

His heart tightened. At this pace, the Green Wind Tiger would catch up to him sooner or later.

"Is this where I, Shi Yue, end up as tiger food?" he thought to himself, his nerves taut.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Ahead lay a patch of weeds two to three meters tall—a decent hiding spot.

With that thought, Shi Yue abruptly sped up, plunging into the weeds. He activated the Breath Concealment Technique, suppressing his spiritual energy fluctuations.

Soon, the Green Wind Tiger caught up. It sniffed lightly, then turned its head toward Shi Yue's hiding place.

Seeing this, Shi Yue's heart clenched. He didn't dare breathe.

Just then, several Explosive Sounds rang out from ahead, faintly mixed with the roars of large demonic beasts.

The Green Wind Tiger immediately changed direction and charged toward the source of the noise.

Witnessing this, Shi Yue let out a long sigh of relief.

He turned to look behind him and spotted a pitch-black cave.

After a moment's hesitation, he picked up a Moonlight Stone and stepped inside.

He walked forward slowly, releasing his spiritual sense to probe the path ahead.

After several dozen meters, Shi Yue arrived at a stone room over a hundred zhang in size. In the upper right corner of the room grew a Red Fruit Tree about ten feet tall, bearing five or six fist-sized, brownish-red fruits.

"Is this... a Blood Moon Fruit?" Shi Yue murmured to himself, a hint of excitement in his voice.

Six Blood Moon Fruits in total. At market price, a single ripe Blood Moon Fruit was worth ten Spirit Stones. That meant if he picked and sold all six, he could earn sixty Spirit Stones.

After deducting the cost of the Earth Prison Talisman, Shi Yue would still net forty Spirit Stones.

Though the Blood Moon Fruits were right before him, he didn't rush to pick them. He released his spiritual sense, carefully scanning the entire stone room, but found no demonic beast.

Shi Yue frowned. He swept with his spiritual sense again, yet still found nothing.

Only then did he fully relax. He strode forward, picked all six Blood Moon Fruits, and stored them in his Storage Bag.

Shi Yue gazed at the Blood Moon Fruit tree, then shook his head, abandoning the idea of digging it up.

It wasn't that he didn't want to take the tree—it was that the digging process might destroy it. Better to leave it be, let it grow naturally, and return to harvest the fruits later.

He turned to head back the way he came, but hadn't gone far before he stopped, his expression turning grave.

A dozen meters ahead, a giant python over five or six zhang long appeared.

The python was entirely red, covered in crimson scales, with a bulging belly as if it had just fed.

"A first-tier low-grade Crimson Scale Python?" Shi Yue swallowed hard.

This Crimson Scale Python's strength was roughly at the third layer of Qi Refining. To defeat it, he would have to pay a considerable price.

Seeing Shi Yue, the Giant Red Python's eyes flashed with ferocity. It opened its mouth and spat out two basin-sized Crimson Fireballs, shooting them toward Shi Yue.

The cave was narrow, leaving Shi Yue no room to dodge. He pulled a Wind Wall Talisman from his Storage Bag and tossed it forward.

A green light flashed, and a transparent Wind Wall materialized in front of him.

With two "puffs," the Crimson Fireballs struck the transparent Wind Wall, flickered wildly, and dissipated.

But by then, the Giant Red Python had already lunged. Its heavy body slammed violently into the transparent Wind Wall, causing it to shake intensely as its light dimmed.

Seeing this, Shi Yue's face changed. After a moment's thought, he quickly retreated back into the stone room, muttering incantations under his breath.

With a "bang," the Giant Red Python's heavy body crashed into the transparent Wind Wall again, and the wall shattered.

With the Wind Wall gone, the Giant Red Python flicked its crimson tongue and slithered swiftly into the stone room.

The moment it crawled in, it spotted the bare Blood Moon Fruit tree. Its eyes instantly turned bloodshot. But just then, a cold shout rang out: "Giant Stone Technique!"

As soon as the words fell, a yellow giant stone weighing several hundred jin descended from the sky and slammed heavily onto the neck of the giant red python.

With a "bang," the ground trembled slightly.

At the same time, a sound of something cutting through the air rang out. A red short sword flashed into view and struck fiercely at the giant red python's head.

With another "bang," the red short sword left only a shallow white mark on the python's head.

By then, the giant red python had reacted. It let out an odd screech, opened its mouth, and spat out two crimson fireballs the size of washbasins, hurtling toward Shi Yue.

In response, Shi Yue's lips moved slightly. A flash of green light appeared at his feet, his figure flickered, and he shifted several meters to the left.

With two "bang, bang" sounds, the crimson fireballs struck the spot where Shi Yue had been standing, leaving two pits in the ground, radiating waves of scorching heat.

The red short sword kept hacking at the giant red python's head, but it failed to inflict any serious damage.

The python's neck was pinned firmly by the yellow giant stone, preventing it from moving, but it was not dead yet. It continued to open its mouth and spit out one crimson fireball after another at Shi Yue.

Shi Yue could only rely on the Wind Control Technique to dodge. Though he evaded the Crimson Scale Python's attacks, his spiritual power was steadily draining. Once it ran out, he would be in grave danger.

Seeing this, Shi Yue flipped his hand and produced a silver talisman. A flicker of reluctance flashed in his eyes before he tossed it forward. The silver talisman transformed into a silver lightning spear over ten feet long, which stabbed fiercely into the giant red python's head.

With a thunderous "boom," the silver lightning spear struck the python's head and exploded, turning into a vast expanse of silver electric arcs that engulfed the python's head.

After a moment, the silver light faded, revealing the giant red python once more.

Compared to before, the python's aura had weakened considerably, and its head was a bloody mess.

"Chop." Shi Yue pointed lightly at the python's head. The red short sword circled around and struck it with full force.

With a "puff," the giant red python's head was severed cleanly. A torrent of blood gushed out, staining the ground red.

Seeing this, Shi Yue let out a long sigh of relief. He pointed at the yellow giant stone, and the red short sword circled around before slashing heavily into it.

With a "bang," the yellow giant stone shattered into pieces.

Shi Yue beckoned to the red short sword. It spun in the air and flew back into his hand.

A yao beast's entire body was a treasure. The Crimson Scale Python's skin could be used to refine low-grade inner armor, and its gall could be used for alchemy. This single Crimson Scale Python was worth no less than six Blood Moon Fruits.

Shi Yue walked over to the python's corpse, flipped it over with effort, and used the Red Moon Sword to cut a long gash along its belly, intending to peel off the skin.

With a "pop," a blue pearl the size of a dragon's eye rolled out from the python's belly.

"Oh? This is..." A hint of confusion flickered in Shi Yue's eyes as he picked up the blue pearl.

"Isn't it said that only yao beasts at the second tier or above could possibly have an inner core? And the Crimson Scale Python is a fire-attribute beast—its inner core should be red!" Shi Yue wiped the blue pearl clean, examined it closely, and muttered to himself.

The blue pearl looked as ordinary as a pebble, but upon closer inspection, he noticed five faint white cloud patterns on its surface.

He squeezed the blue pearl hard. It felt solid and hard, nothing like a yao beast's inner core.

"Could it really be just an ordinary stone inside a yao beast's body?" Shi Yue tried injecting some spiritual power into the blue pearl. But soon, he regretted it. The spiritual power in his body spiraled out of control, flowing endlessly into the blue pearl.

The massive loss of spiritual power caused Shi Yue's face to turn pale. He tried to fling the blue pearl away, but to his horror, he found it stuck firmly to his hand, continuously draining his spiritual power.

Before long, the blue pearl had drained all the spiritual power from Shi Yue's body. Overwhelmed by intense pain, he blacked out.

When Shi Yue woke up, he was astonished to find himself in a strange space.

He stood in front of a crude stone house. In front of the house were three mu of empty spirit fields.

"This... where is this?" Shi Yue stared at the scene before him, utterly bewildered and filled with shock.

He remembered clearly that he had been inside a cave. How had he ended up here? Was he dreaming?

He pinched his thigh hard. The pain from his thigh told him that everything before him was real.

Shi Yue extended his spiritual sense, sweeping it around, but detected no aura at all. In other words, aside from himself, there was no other living creature in this space.

After a moment's hesitation, he walked toward the spirit field. When he reached the edge, he was horrified to discover that the ground he stood on was a thousand zhang above the surface below. Beneath him stretched an endless blue sea. He was actually standing on a floating island in the sky.

"Could it be... that blue pearl is a space treasure?" The thought flashed through Shi Yue's mind. His heart began to pound wildly, and even his breathing grew rapid.

A space treasure—a special type of treasure imbued with the Space Law, containing its own space capable of holding all things. That was how the Great Void Sect's texts described space treasures.

At this thought, Shi Yue was thrilled. But soon, his excitement faded. He had stumbled into this place in a daze, but he had no idea how to get out.

Shi Yue was a Qi Refining Stage cultivator, unable to abstain from food. He still needed to eat daily. He had three Bigu Pills on him, enough to last about ten days. Though there was a bit of Spirit Rice in his Storage Bag, it was only enough for two or three days. At most, he could hold out for thirteen days.

After thirteen days, if he had no food, he would starve to death.

Shi Yue pondered for a moment, then stepped into the stone house. It was completely empty inside.

"Am I really going to be trapped here?" Shi Yue walked out of the stone house, looked up at the blue sky, and muttered to himself.

Over the next three days, he turned over every inch of the ground beneath his feet, but still found no way to leave.

He flew out of the floating island on his artifact, but due to his limited spiritual power, he couldn't go far.

Since there was no way out, Shi Yue decided to calm down. He sat cross-legged in the stone house and began to cultivate.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy here was far richer than outside. Since he couldn't leave, he might as well stay and cultivate. Perhaps he could reach the Foundation Establishment Realm before starving to death.

Of course, Shi Yue knew this was impossible. It was just self-comfort.

This space was as bright as day, with no darkness, no sunrise or sunset. The only reason Shi Yue could accurately track time was a hourglass he carried. The sand inside flowed extremely slowly, taking a full day for all the sand at the top to fall to the bottom.

Ten days later, Shi Yue was sitting cross-legged in cultivation when suddenly his ears buzzed and his head grew heavy. When he opened his eyes, he found himself back inside the cave. The Crimson Scale Python's corpse was still lying nearby.

(This book is a relaxed farming-style xianxia novel. I hope it can bring a different xianxia world to all readers. A new book by a new author—please collect and support! Thank you!)