The Eerie Pearl

Chapter 2: The Eerie Pearl

"An early-stage, first-rank Green Wind Tiger?" Shi Yue's expression darkened.

The aura of the Green Wind Tiger before him was about the same as that of a sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator. It was no beast a little second-level Qi Refining cultivator like him could handle.

By now, Shi Yue regretted venturing so deep into the mountains. He stood perfectly still, a Yellow Talisman in his hand, staring intently at the Green Wind Tiger opposite him.

A flash of murderous intent appeared in the Cyan Giant Tiger's eyes. It moved its limbs, opened its enormous jaws, and sprang at Shi Yue.

Shi Yue's expression changed dramatically. He hurriedly flung the Yellow Talisman from his hand.

With a soft pop, the Yellow Talisman burst apart as soon as it neared the Green Wind Tiger. Countless Yellow Runes surged out and transformed into a Yellow Light Barrier several yards across, trapping the Green Wind Tiger inside.

It was an Earth Prison Talisman, with an Earth Prison Technique sealed inside. Each one cost twenty Spirit Stones.

With a bang, the Green Wind Tiger's massive body slammed hard into the Yellow Light Barrier, making it shudder violently.

The Green Wind Tiger opened its mouth and spat out a flurry of Green Wind Blades. They struck the Yellow Light Barrier, making it tremble incessantly as its light dimmed.

Shi Yue knew the Earth Prison Talisman wouldn't hold the Green Wind Tiger for long. His lips moved a few times. A flash of green light appeared beneath his feet, and he lightly tapped the ground. His figure blurred, and he appeared several meters away.

Before long, Shi Yue vanished into the dense forest.

With a bang, the Green Wind Tiger spat out a half-yard-long Green Wind Blade, shattering the wavering Yellow Light Barrier.

Now free, the Green Wind Tiger moved its limbs and raced after Shi Yue.

Shi Yue hadn't gotten far when an angry tiger's roar came from behind him.

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

Was I, Shi Yue, really going to end up in a tiger's jaws? he thought, his expression tense.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Ahead lay a patch of weeds two or three meters tall—a fine place to hide.

At the thought, Shi Yue abruptly picked up speed and plunged into the weeds. He then used the Breath Concealment Technique to hide the fluctuations of his spiritual energy.

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

Shi Yue's heart clenched. He barely dared to breathe.

Just then, several loud blasts rang out in the distance, faintly mingled with the roars of a large monster beast.

The Green Wind Tiger immediately changed direction and charged toward the sounds.

Seeing this, Shi Yue let out a long breath of relief.

He turned to look behind him and spotted a dark cave.

After a brief hesitation, he held up a Moonlight Stone and walked inside.

He proceeded slowly, releasing his spiritual sense to probe ahead.

After walking several dozen meters, Shi Yue came to a Stone Room over a hundred yards across. In the upper-right corner grew a Red Fruit Tree about a yard tall, bearing five or six brownish-red fruits the size of fists.

"Could these be Blood Moon Fruits?" Shi Yue murmured, looking excited.

There were six Blood Moon Fruits in all. At market prices, a ripe one was worth ten Spirit Stones. In other words, selling all six would earn him sixty Spirit Stones.

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

Though the Blood Moon Fruits were right before him, he didn't rush over to pick them. Instead, he released his spiritual sense and carefully searched the entire Stone Room, but detected no monster beasts.

Shi Yue furrowed his brow and swept the room with his spiritual sense again. He still found nothing.

Only then did he finally relax. He hurried over, picked all six Blood Moon Fruits, and stored them in his Storage Bag.

Shi Yue gazed at the Blood Moon Fruit Tree, but in the end, he shook his head and gave up on digging it up.

It wasn't that he didn't want to take the tree with him. The problem was that digging it out might well destroy it. Better to leave it growing here than ruin it, then return for more Blood Moon Fruits another time.

He turned to retrace his steps, but before he'd gone far, he stopped, his expression grave.

A dozen or so meters ahead, a giant python five or six yards long had appeared.

The python was red all over, its body covered in red scales. Its belly bulged as if it had just eaten.

"An early-stage, first-rank Crimson Scale Python?" Shi Yue swallowed.

The Crimson Scale Python's strength seemed to be around that of a third-level Qi Refining cultivator. Even if he won, he'd have to pay a steep price.

The moment it saw Shi Yue, murderous intent flashed in the Red Giant Python's eyes. It opened its mouth and spat out two basin-sized Crimson Fireballs, which shot toward him.

The cave was narrow, leaving Shi Yue nowhere to dodge. He pulled a Wind Wall Talisman from his Storage Bag and tossed it forward.

A flash of green light, and a transparent wind wall appeared before him.

With two soft pops, the Crimson Fireballs struck the transparent wind wall, flashed violently, then dissipated.

But by then, the Red Giant Python had already lunged forward. Its heavy body slammed into the transparent wind wall, making it shudder violently as its light dimmed.

Shi Yue's expression changed. After a moment's thought, he hurried back into the Stone Room, his lips moving as he chanted.

With a bang, the Red Giant Python's heavy body struck the transparent wind wall again. The barrier immediately dissolved.

With nothing left to stop it, the Red Giant Python flicked out its red tongue and quickly slithered into the Stone Room.

As soon as it entered, it saw the Blood Moon Fruit Tree stripped bare. Its eyes immediately turned bloodshot. But just then, a cold shout rang out: "Giant Stone Technique!"

As the words fell, a Yellow Giant Stone weighing several hundred pounds dropped from above and smashed into the Red Giant Python's neck.

With a bang, the ground shuddered slightly.

At the same time, a sharp whistle cut through the air as a Red Short Sword flashed over and slashed hard at the Red Giant Python's head.

With a bang, the Red Short Sword left only a shallow white mark on the python's head.

By now, the Red Giant Python had reacted. It let out a strange cry, then spat out two basin-sized Crimson Fireballs, hurling them at Shi Yue.

Shi Yue's lips moved. Green light flashed beneath his feet, and his figure blurred as he shifted several meters to the left.

With two bangs, the Crimson Fireballs struck the spot where Shi Yue had been standing, leaving two pits in the ground that radiated heat.

The Red Short Sword kept chopping at the Red Giant Python's head, but it barely managed to hurt it.

The Yellow Giant Stone pinned the Red Giant Python's neck firmly to the ground. It could no longer move, but it wasn't dead either. It kept opening its mouth and spitting out one Crimson Fireball after another at Shi Yue.

Shi Yue could only use the Wind Control Technique to dodge. Though he avoided the Crimson Scale Python's attacks, his magical power kept draining away. Once it ran out, he'd be in danger.

Seeing this, Shi Yue flipped his hand and took out a Silver Talisman. A trace of reluctance showed in his eyes as he tossed it forward. The Silver Talisman transformed into a yard-long Silver Lightning Spear, which stabbed fiercely into the Red Giant Python's head.

With a deafening crash, the Silver Lightning Spear struck the Red Giant Python's head and exploded, transforming into a mass of Silver Electric Arcs that swallowed it.

A moment later, the silver light subsided, revealing the Red Giant Python.

Compared with before, its aura was much weaker, and its head was a bloody mess.

"Sever!" Shi Yue pointed lightly at the Red Giant Python's head. The Red Short Sword circled around and slashed down hard.

With a splat, the Red Giant Python's head came off. A great gush of blood poured out, staining the ground red.

Seeing this, Shi Yue let out a long breath of relief. He pointed at the Yellow Giant Stone, and the Red Short Sword circled around and chopped into it.

With a bang, the Yellow Giant Stone shattered into pieces.

Shi Yue beckoned to the Red Short Sword. It circled around and flew back into his hand.

Every part of a monster beast was valuable. The Crimson Scale Python's skin could be used to refine a low-grade Inner Armor, and its gallbladder could be used to make pills. This Crimson Scale Python was worth no less than six Blood Moon Fruits.

Shi Yue walked up to the Crimson Scale Python's corpse and strained to roll it over. He drew his Red Moon Sword across its belly, making a long incision, intending to skin it.

With a slap, a Blue Pearl the size of a longan rolled out of the Crimson Scale Python's belly.

"Hm? What's this...?" A trace of puzzlement flashed through Shi Yue's eyes as he picked up the Blue Pearl.

"Isn't it said that only monster beasts of the second rank and above might have inner cores? Besides, the Crimson Scale Python has the Fire Attribute. Its inner core should be red!" Shi Yue wiped the Blue Pearl clean, examined it for a while, and murmured.

The Blue Pearl looked as ordinary as a pebble, but when he picked it up and examined it closely, he saw five faint cloud patterns on its surface.

He squeezed the Blue Pearl hard. It felt rock-solid, nothing like a monster beast's inner core.

"It came from inside a monster beast. It can't just be an ordinary rock, right?" Shi Yue tried injecting a little magical power into the Blue Pearl. But he soon regretted it, because the magical power inside him slipped out of his control and poured into the Blue Pearl without end.

As a great deal of his magical power drained away, Shi Yue's face turned pale. He flung his arm, trying to throw the Blue Pearl away, but to his horror, he found it stuck fast to his hand, constantly siphoning away his magical power.

Before long, the Blue Pearl had drained all the magical power from Shi Yue's body. Overcome by intense pain, he passed out.

When Shi Yue woke, he was astonished to find himself in an unfamiliar space.

Shi Yue stood before a simple Stone House. Three mu of open Spirit Fields stretched out in front of it.

"Th-this... Where am I?" Shi Yue stared at the scene before him, stunned and utterly shocked.

He clearly remembered being in a cave. How had he ended up here? Was he dreaming?

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

Shi Yue released his spiritual sense and scanned the area, but detected no auras. In other words, there wasn't a single other living creature in this space.

After a brief hesitation, he walked toward the Spirit Fields. When he reached the edge, he was horrified to discover that the ground beneath him was a thousand yards above the earth. An endless blue sea stretched below. He was on an island floating in the sky.

"Could that Blue Pearl be a Space Treasure?" The thought suddenly flashed through Shi Yue's mind. His heart began pounding, and even his breathing grew unsteady.

A Space Treasure was a special kind of treasure containing the Space Law. It formed a world of its own and could hold all things. That was how the Great Void Sect's records described Space Treasures.

At the thought, Shi Yue was overjoyed. But before long, his excitement faded. He had somehow entered this place, but he had no idea how to leave.

Shi Yue was a Qi Refining Stage cultivator and couldn't go without food. He had three Bigu Pills on him, enough to last about ten days. He also had some Spirit Rice in his Storage Bag, but only enough for another two or three days. That meant he could last at most thirteen days.

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

Shi Yue pondered for a moment, then walked into the Stone House. It was completely empty.

"Am I really going to be trapped here until I die?" Shi Yue walked out of the Stone House, gazed up at the blue sky, and murmured.

Over the next three days, he turned over every inch of ground beneath his feet, but still couldn't find a way out.

He flew off the floating island on his flying artifact, but his magical power was limited, so he couldn't get very far.

Since there was no way out, Shi Yue simply calmed down and sat cross-legged in the Stone House to cultivate.

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

Of course, Shi Yue knew that was impossible. It was nothing more than a way to console himself.

This space was as bright as day. There was no darkness, sunrise, or sunset. Shi Yue could tell the time only because he had a timer with him: an hourglass whose sand flowed especially slowly, taking a full day to fall from the upper chamber into the lower one.

Ten days later, Shi Yue was sitting cross-legged on the ground, cultivating, when his ears suddenly buzzed. His head grew heavy. When he opened his eyes, he found himself back in the cave, with the Crimson Scale Python's corpse still beside him.

(An easygoing farming-style xianxia novel. We hope to bring all our readers a different kind of immortal world! New author, new book—please add it to your collection and show your support! Many thanks!)