Observation Stone

After Guang Chengzi finished speaking, he went to take Duobao's place.

Seeing Guang Chengzi leave, Bai Ze looked at the crystalline, jade-like leaf-shaped Magical Artifact, but did not rush to refine it.

Instead, he went to the edge of the Bone-Eroding Pool and took out a high-grade Magical Artifact he had refined from the Ring Space.

Carefully, he dipped the gold brick into a little of the black pool water.

The next moment, streaks of black patterns rapidly spread upward from where it had touched the black water.

The spiritual aura on the Magical Artifact rapidly dissipated as well. It decayed, then finally turned into powder.

Startled, Bai Ze hurriedly threw the Magical Artifact away. Yet before it could hit the ground, it turned to ash in midair, finally condensing into a drop of black water slightly larger than before.

Seeing this, Bai Ze swallowed hard. Then he took out the leaf-shaped Magical Artifact Guang Chengzi had given him and carefully lowered it into the pool.

This time, however, the leaf was not rapidly corroded. Instead, it bloomed with a warm white light, keeping the black water at bay.

Only then did Bai Ze relax slightly.

"Finished testing?"

Suddenly!

Guang Chengzi's voice came from behind him.

Bai Ze jumped in fright. Patting his chest, he looked at Guang Chengzi speechlessly.

"Dao Brother, people can scare people to death!

When did you get here?"

Looking at the Magical Artifact in Bai Ze's hand, Guang Chengzi said with a smile,

"I came over when you started using a Magical Artifact for your experiment."

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Bai Ze's face. He had deliberately waited until Guang Chengzi went to replace Duobao before testing it, yet he had not expected Guang Chengzi to return so quickly.

Seeing the faint teasing in Guang Chengzi's gaze, he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Dao Brother, didn't you go replace Senior Brother? Why did you come back so quickly?"

Guang Chengzi shrugged. "Junior Brother Duobao got addicted to fighting and told me not to interfere."

Then he looked at Bai Ze again. "So, are you reassured now?"

Seeing that he could not bluff his way through, Bai Ze awkwardly scratched his head and laughed.

"It's fine. I was just bored and trying it out for fun."

Seeing Bai Ze's awkward appearance, Guang Chengzi did not expose him. He merely nodded.

"You can play, but you've seen the power of that pool water. Do not touch it with your hands out of curiosity, or else..."

"I understand. This thing corrodes far too quickly. If I got some on me, I definitely wouldn't last until the Venerable came to save me.

I promise I won't touch it!

But Dao Brother, do you have any more Magical Artifacts that aren't affected by Bone-Eroding Water?"

Bai Ze asked, holding up the jade-like leaf-shaped Magical Artifact.

Guang Chengzi shook his head.

"I only have one as well. Master gave it to me before we set out.

What, do you want to take away some of this Bone-Eroding Water?"

Bai Ze nodded, admitting it without hesitation.

It was merely a pity. The Bone-Eroding Water was so poisonous, and he now had a Magical Artifact unaffected by it. Naturally, he wanted to collect some for unforeseen circumstances.

"I thought Dao Brother had quite a few. Since we were already here, I thought I might as well take some and gain another means of preserving my life.

But since Dao Brother doesn't have many either, forget it. Though this leaf is small, it can at least hold a pound or two."

Guang Chengzi could not help laughing.

"Junior Brother, this thing is so dangerous that everyone else avoids it like the plague, yet the moment you see it, you start thinking about how to take it away.

If I call you greedy for wealth, your usual nature is still cautious and meticulous, skilled at planning and calculation.

Junior Brother, I truly cannot make heads or tails of you."

Bai Ze smiled bashfully but did not explain. Instead, he focused on refining the leaf-shaped Magical Artifact.

As the blood and qi around him enveloped it, tiny veins gradually appeared across the emerald-green leaf.

Only once his blood and qi completely covered the entire leaf was the refinement considered successful.

Then, with a thought from Bai Ze, five slowly interlocking silver rings appeared behind him, and he stored the leaf-shaped Magical Artifact in the outermost ring.

Once he had finished all this, a strange fragrance drifted over.

Bai Ze followed the scent and looked over.

The roots of the transparent Dream Orchid had already turned red, and the color was continuously spreading upward toward the bud.

"Dao Brother, is it about to mature?" Bai Ze asked, turning his head toward Guang Chengzi.

"Mm, soon." Guang Chengzi nodded, staring fixedly at the Dream Orchid that was about to bloom. Even his breathing had grown much more rapid.

Though his breaths were light, Bai Ze still caught them, and surprise rose in his heart.

Is it really that important?

Guang Chengzi was steady in his conduct and rarely displayed such a loss of composure. For him to be like this now, this thing must be extremely important to him.

However, Bai Ze did not ask rashly. Once the Dream Orchid matured, he could use the Insight Divine Ability to investigate it and would naturally learn the answer.

Bai Ze sat cross-legged beside the pool, but did not enter meditation. Instead, he spread a thread of spiritual sense around himself.

While observing the Dream Orchid, he also watched the situation on Duobao's side, where he was keeping the Six-Winged Golden Cicada occupied.

At the same time, he checked the Observation Stones he had scattered along the way.

These Observation Stones were something Bai Ze had invented after being inspired by Venerable Lingbao, similar to surveillance devices from his previous life.

During the three hundred years he cultivated in the courtyard, aside from cultivation, he had researched how to combine a spying formation with the Primordial Concealment Formation.

The Observation Stones were the result of his research over these years.

They possessed both surveillance and concealment functions. Once activated, they could observe everything within a hundred zhang and blend into their surroundings.

Moreover, they could automatically absorb primordial spiritual energy to replenish themselves.

Their only drawback was that they were too fragile. Even a living being that had only just undergone Awakening Spirit could easily destroy them.

Ever since entering Cloud Dream Marsh, he had scattered one every hundred zhang.

But after entering a place like the Black Forest, where there was no primordial spiritual energy, he discovered another fatal flaw in the Observation Stones.

Originally, they could absorb primordial spiritual energy on their own to maintain operation. But in places like the Black Forest, where no primordial spiritual energy existed,

they could only rely on the spiritual energy originally stored within them. Once activated, they could only last one day.

Once the spiritual energy inside had completely dissipated, they would be no different from ordinary stones.

Now that the Dream Orchid was about to mature, Bai Ze felt that, to guard against any unexpected accidents, it would be safer to activate the Observation Stones.

As the formation disc in his hand was activated, all the dormant Observation Stones lit up with faint, barely noticeable glimmers, then blended into the surrounding scenery.

One light screen after another lit up on the formation disc in Bai Ze's hand.

The scenes displayed within were the landscapes they had passed along the way.

Guang Chengzi beside him was also drawn in by those scenes.

He stepped closer and asked curiously, "Junior Brother, what kind of Magical Artifact is this?"

"Dao Brother, this is called an Observation Stone. It can spy upon all things, though it still has some flaws, and the range it can observe is limited."

"But I can set up several more. So long as one holds this formation disc, everything within a thousand zhang can be seen.

It's just that the Observation Stones themselves are too fragile. Still, they are cheap."

Bai Ze patiently explained it to Guang Chengzi.