The next morning, Lin Qin slipped to the bottom of the pool again.
This time, he had a clear goal, so he searched more thoroughly. His mental power combed through the silt and crevices between the rocks again and again. Sure enough, around the hollow where he had first found the Cold Jade Marrow, he discovered four more similar stones, each somewhat smaller than the first. The largest was about the size of a goose egg, while the smallest was about the size of a walnut. They lay scattered in the silt, as if some force had brought them up from deeper layers—or perhaps finding the large one at the center had disrupted some sort of balance, revealing its companion stones as well.
He brought all the Cold Jade Marrow he had found back to shore. The five deep-blue stones lay together, lowering the temperature around them by several degrees and filling the air with a cool, refreshing scent.
"So many!" Aileen's eyes lit up as she looked at their haul. This would last her a long time, and they would even have some left over to make magic items or trade.
"How are you planning to use them?" Lin Qin asked. He had no direct need for these Water Element materials and was more interested in how they could be turned into practical advantages.
"I'll keep the biggest one with me to help with meditation." Aileen picked up the fist-sized piece of Cold Jade Marrow, unable to put it down. "As for the smaller ones... I could try grinding a little into powder and adding it to my herbal juice. Cold Jade Marrow has calming and nourishing properties. It might make the potion more effective, especially for easing mental fatigue and mana backlash."
Aileen was a woman of action,