Spirit Herbs Secured, the Land God's Secret Legacy

The lingering heat had yet to fade after the black fire mist dispersed, and wisps of bluish smoke still rose from the scorched pit.

Chu Bai drew out his spell power through his fingertips, and three still-warm Azure Nether Pearls settled securely into his palm. Golden fragments of divine power swirled within them, dazzling to behold.

Just as Chu Bai was about to slip away and avoid the two Green-Furred Giant Apes charging toward him, the clay statue on his back trembled slightly. The little old man's muffled voice rang out again, tinged with weakness:

"Traveler... could you spare me something to eat? My belly is empty. After repaying you with directions, this old man can barely hold on."

Chu Bai paused and turned his head.

The eyes of the palm-sized clay Land God statue, which had lit up earlier, had now dimmed considerably. The dry cracks across his body showed signs of widening again.

He understood.

The Land God's remaining spiritual awareness was extremely weak. That precise Earth Vein Survey just now had taken an enormous toll on him.

Without replenishment, this living map would likely turn back into an ordinary lump of mud before long.

And the "food" he wanted was naturally the Azure Nether Pearls containing fragments of divine power.

These pearls are nourishment stripped from the divinity of this secret realm. To me, they grant merit; to him, they are medicine that keeps him alive.

Chu Bai glanced toward the distant clouds of dust and the roars drawing closer, then acted without hesitation.

Killing monsters for pearls was all well and good, but without the Land God's guidance, his search would become far less efficient in the Azure Nether Burial Palace, vast as an ocean and shrouded in killing intent that constrained spiritual perception. Sharpening an