27: Chapter 27 Tens of thousands of spirit stones! We're rich!

Jiang Yun squatted in front of the pile of Spirit Stones.

His fingertips picked up an ice attribute Spirit Stone glowing with a dark purple luster. A cold sensation came through, and there seemed to be a faint energy flowing within the Spirit Stone.

Thinking of the mountain of Vicious Beast skeletons in the cave, he instantly understood the origin of these Spirit Stones.

Among the skeletons he had seen at the cave entrance earlier, there were remains of Fire Wolves covered in flame patterns, Water Python skeletons with scales shimmering with water light, and eagle skeletons with thunder patterns on their backs; they were clearly Vicious Beasts of different attributes.

After these Vicious Beasts were hunted by the Netherworld Spider King, the residual elemental spiritual power in their bodies merged with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in the forest over a long period, eventually condensing into these Spirit Stones of different attributes within the cave.

And the Netherworld Spider King had collected them all into one place.

"It certainly benefits me."

Looking at the massive amount of Spirit Stones before him.

Jiang Yun couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He casually put the ice attribute Spirit Stone into his storage ring and turned to look at the Fire Dragon Fish; the fellow was currently plunging headfirst into the pile of fire spirit stones.

With its tail held high, it "crunch-crunched" its way through over a dozen stones.

Its crimson scales were reflected even brighter by the light of the Spirit Stones; clearly, it was eating with great joy.

"This fellow! What a glutton! It can't even move when it sees food..."

Jiang Yun shook his head helplessly.

Just then.

From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed three pairs of blood-red eyes slowly lighting up in the shadows deep within the cave.

It was the three Nether Spiders that had escaped into the cave earlier!

Their bodies were a size larger than the Common Nether Spiders, and their outlines were slightly visible; they were clearly hiding behind the pile of skeletons, waiting for Jiang Yun to be a Divided Soul to launch a sneak attack.

"As expected, it wasn't that simple."

Jiang Yun had been prepared in his heart.

After killing the Spider King earlier, he had sensed that the Spider King possessed unusual intelligence and there would surely be an ambush.

He immediately barked: "Little Fire, watch your back!"

The Fire Dragon Fish looked up abruptly, still holding half a fire spirit stone in its mouth. Its tail tightened instantly, and the flames on its body surged half a meter high.

At the same time.

Hearing the sound, the three Nether Spiders.

Suddenly lunged out from behind the pile of skeletons, all pouncing toward Jiang Yun together.

They clearly wanted to deal with the human, Jiang Yun, first.

The Nether Spider on the far left spat dark purple spider silk at Jiang Yun. The silk carried a pungent, fishy smell and traced an arc through the air, seemingly about to Entwine his wrist.

Seeing this, Jiang Yun hurriedly pulled an Elementary beast taming healing potion from his storage ring and smashed it hard against the spider silk.

The moment the potion bottle shattered, the light green liquid splashed onto the spider silk, actually making a "sizzling" corrosive sound. The spider silk instantly lost its stickiness and fell to the ground in several pieces.

Jiang Yun was startled.

"Good thing I reacted quickly; if I had been caught by this silk, I'm afraid I would have been corroded instantly."

Meanwhile.

The other two Nether Spiders had already pounced in front of Jiang Yun. One spat out spider silk while the other sprayed poison mist, attempting to kill Jiang Yun directly.

The Fire Dragon Fish let out a roar. The dark gold horn on its head flashed with a red light, and a domineering Bloodline aura was released from its body.

Clearly, the Fire Dragon Fish had independently used the Bloodline Suppression skill.

Although its effect on the black iron seventh tier Spider King was limited, it was more than enough to deal with these two Black Iron Fifth Tier Nether Spiders.

The bodies of the two Nether Spiders froze instantly, extreme fear flashing in their eyes, and even their silk-spitting actions stopped.

Seizing the opportunity, the Fire Dragon Fish whipped its tail. A wave of fire swept out, burning the spider silk and poison mist, while it turned and sprayed Flame Breath at the two Nether Spiders.

The crimson flames surged like a tide. Before the two Nether Spiders could even scream, they were enveloped by the fire. Their black shells were quickly carbonized and finally turned into two piles of charred ash.

Seeing this, the Netherworld Spider King immediately launched another attack.

Unfortunately, the combat power of the Fire Dragon Fish's fire attribute skills was too terrifying, plus the fire attribute counter.

A single Flame Breath instantly engulfed and killed the black iron seventh tier Netherworld Spider King.

Seeing the Netherworld Spider King dealt with.

Jiang Yun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked around cautiously once more, and after confirming there were no other hidden Nether Spiders, he began to clear the battlefield.

He took a dagger out of his storage ring.

The blade was sharp and could isolate elemental spiritual power; Jiang Yun had bought it specifically for harvesting the beast core of a Vicious Beast.

Jiang Yun first walked to the Spider King's corpse.

He crouched down and used the dagger to carefully slice open its abdomen.

Although the Spider King's shell was hard, it had become brittle after being scorched by the fire, and the dagger easily cut a slit.

He reached inside, felt a cold round object, and with a gentle pull, a dark purple beast core the size of a pigeon egg was taken out.

The interior of the beast core shimmered with a faint luster, containing rich dark attribute energy, even purer than Common dark attribute Spirit Stones.

"This beast core is worth at least fifty or sixty dark attribute Spirit Stones. I'll save it for my sister's Sky-Swallowing Rabbit to absorb."

Jiang Yun satisfiedly placed the beast core into his storage ring and proceeded to process the corpses of the other Nether Spiders.

Although the beast cores of the fifteen Common Nether Spiders were small, they made up for it in quantity, adding up to quite a bit of dark attribute energy.

There was also the Icefield Snake killed earlier; Jiang Yun specifically took out its corpse and extracted a light blue ice attribute beast core from seven inches below the snake's head. The interior of the beast core was swirled with ice mist, clearly another high-quality beast core.

After collecting all the beast cores, Jiang Yun began to count the Spirit Stones in the cave.

He found a clean skeleton to use as a "table" and sorted the Spirit Stones by attribute.

There were roughly over 1,200 dark attribute Spirit Stones, each one full and glowing with a uniform dark purple luster; they were the most urgently needed resource at the moment.

There were about 5,000 fire spirit stones, piled up like a small mountain, just right for the Fire Dragon Fish to use; they would surely last for quite a while.

There were also about 4,800 water spirit stones, ranging in color from light blue to deep blue. Their quality seemed slightly inferior to the fire spirit stones, but they were still enough for the Fire Dragon Fish to absorb.

Additionally, there were some special Spirit Stones.

There were about 800 thunder attribute spirit stones, a smaller quantity. The surface of the Spirit Stones had fine thunder patterns, and one could feel a faint electric current when touching them.

There were about 600 wind attribute spirit stones, completely transparent like crystal; holding them in one's hand, a faint sense of wind could be felt.

There were also about 3,000 earth attribute Spirit Stones and 2,500 wood attribute Spirit Stones. These two were the most Common attributes; although numerous, their value was not as high as the special attributes.

"Adding it all up, there are nearly twenty thousand Spirit Stones!"

Jiang Yun made a rough estimate of the number of Spirit Stones.

He couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

Even a Common Earth or wood attribute Spirit Stone could sell for 1,000 federal currency, so 3,000 stones would be 3 million; let alone special attributes like dark, thunder, and wind, which could sell for over 3,000 federal currency each!

This was not even counting the value of the beast cores and Vicious Beast corpses.

Jiang Yun was smiling so much he couldn't close his mouth.

This was truly becoming rich overnight!

He picked up a dark attribute Spirit Stone and couldn't help but think of his sister, Jiang Yunyun.

1,200 dark attribute Spirit Stones, plus the Nether Spider beast cores, are enough to let the Sky-Swallowing Rabbit rush directly from Black Iron First Tier to Bronze Rank.

I was worried about the lack of resources for Yunyun's Sky-Swallowing Rabbit before, but with these, I shouldn't have to worry for a short while. Moreover, after the Sky-Swallowing Rabbit awakens its attribute skills, it can devour other attributes and gain them, so the ways to improve its strength will become even more varied.

As for Little Fire, the fire and water spirit stones together amount to nearly ten thousand. With so many fire spirit stones, even if its appetite is large, I won't have to worry about resources for a short while. Once Little Fire reaches Black Iron Eighth Tier, I'll give it that Silver Rank spirit gathering flower to eat, raising it two levels directly to Bronze Rank to maximize the effect of the spirit gathering flower and save a lot of Spirit Stones.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yun also nodded with satisfaction.

On this trip, he had truly turned a misfortune into a blessing.

He had gained many benefits.

"Gurgle..."

Beside him, the Fire Dragon Fish, seeing Jiang Yun only busy with the accounts and not giving it any Spirit Stones, couldn't help but nudge his arm with its head. Its eyes were fixed on the pile of fire spirit stones, and its tail flicked gently, craving them intensely.

Jiang Yun smiled and patted its head: "Don't be greedy. I can't give you too many to eat right now. You just ate a dozen after your Breakthrough. If you eat more, you might fall into a slumber to recover again. This is the edge of the core area; without you by my side, I won't be able to deal with those high-Rank Vicious Beasts."

The Fire Dragon Fish seemed to understand. it let out a low, aggrieved cry, its head drooping, and the luster of its crimson scales dimmed a bit.

"Don't worry, once we go back, I'll let you eat your fill. As much as you want!"

Jiang Yun quickly comforted it. Once the promise was made, the Fire Dragon Fish's eyes immediately lit up, and its tail began to wag happily again.

By this time, the sky outside the cave had completely darkened.

Through the gaps in the vines at the cave entrance, only pitch blackness could be seen. Occasionally, the roars of Vicious Beasts came from afar, carrying a heart-palpitating aura of terror.

Jiang Yun knew that the Misty Forest at night was ten times more dangerous than during the day. Many Vicious Beasts were nocturnal, and their vision and attack power would increase significantly at night. Moreover, there were many high-Rank Vicious Beasts at the edge of the core area. Once he encountered a Black Iron Eighth Tier or even Ninth Tier Vicious Beast, even with the Fire Dragon Fish present, they might not escape unscathed.

"It seems I can only spend the night in this cave."

Jiang Yun sighed.

Although he had a signal flare.

He didn't dare to fire it.

If the signal flare didn't bring Coach Lin but instead attracted a group of high-Rank Vicious Beasts, it would be more loss than gain.

He figured Yunyun and Zhang Qiang must have already told Coach Lin about his disappearance. Right now, the most important thing was to preserve his strength and wait for rescue.

Jiang Yun let the Fire Dragon Fish return to the Beast Taming Space to recover first.

The rapid recovery characteristic of the Beast Taming Space would allow the Fire Dragon Fish to maintain its optimal state, just in case.

He himself found a spot near the cave entrance to sit down, leaning against the cold stone wall, intending to recover the depletion of his Beast Taming Power.

There is a resonance between a Beast Tamer and their beast. Only when one's own Beast Taming Power is strong enough can they better command the beast in battle. He had to maintain his Peak state.

The night grew deeper.

The cave was so quiet that only Jiang Yun's breathing could be heard.

Just as Jiang Yun was about to enter a state of meditation.

A sudden loud bang came from outside the cave, as if some giant creature had stepped on and snapped a tree trunk as thick as a bowl. The vibration traveled through the ground into the cave, causing dust on the stone walls to fall.

Jiang Yun was instantly wide awake, looking at the cave entrance alertly.

Immediately after, a low beast roar came from outside the cave. The sound was deep and violent, shaking the vines at the cave entrance.

The beast roar was also mixed with another sharp hiss, as if two Vicious Beasts were fighting.

Jiang Yun held his breath and quietly parted the gaps in the vines to look outside.

Outside was pitch black, and only two massive shadows could be seen fighting in the woods.

One of the shadows seemed to be a Bear-type Vicious Beast; every time it swung a paw, it could snap a tree. The other shadow was like a Giant Snake, its body Entwined around the Bear-type Vicious Beast, letting out "sizzling" hisses.

The commotion of the battle grew louder and louder. The sound of trees breaking, the cries of the Vicious Beasts, and the "drip-drop" of blood falling intertwined, sounding exceptionally terrifying in the silent night.

Jiang Yun could even smell the scent of blood permeating the air, so thick it was nauseating.

Before long, the roars of the Bear-type Vicious Beast gradually weakened and finally disappeared completely.

The shadow of the Giant Snake seemed to twitch with satisfaction, dragging the corpse of the Bear-type Vicious Beast as it crawled toward the depths of the forest, leaving a trail of blood.

But it wasn't over yet.

Not long after the Giant Snake left, another sound of "fluttering" wings flapping came from outside the cave, accompanied by a sharp eagle cry — clearly, an Eagle-type Vicious Beast was passing by and had discovered the blood on the ground. After circling a few times, it chased after the direction the Giant Snake had gone.

For the next several hours, it was never quiet outside the cave.

Sometimes there were roars of Vicious Beasts, sometimes the loud bangs of trees breaking, sometimes unknown creatures let out strange "wails," and once, a massive shadow even swept over the top of the cave, casting a shadow that almost covered the entire entrance, scaring Jiang Yun so much he didn't dare to breathe.

Jiang Yun used his Entry Manifestation ability to peek at several Vicious Beasts.

Seeing the information, Jiang Yun felt a chill.

Among those Vicious Beasts just now, every single one was Rank eight or nine, and there were even Silver Rank Vicious Beasts!

Jiang Yun leaned against the stone wall, his palms slightly sweating.

He finally understood why Coach Lin said coming into the core area was seeking death.

The Vicious Beasts here were not only high-level but also constantly fighting; the night was like purgatory.

He stared intently at the cave entrance, not daring to relax in the slightest.

"Fortunately, he was in this cave."

The Netherworld Spider King had been entrenched here for many years, and its scent remained in the cave. Common Vicious Beasts didn't dare to approach easily; otherwise, he would have been besieged by Vicious Beasts tonight.

He stayed in that state until dawn.

In this way, Jiang Yun endured the night in a state of alertness.

It wasn't until the horizon began to turn white that the commotion outside gradually subsided. He rubbed his somewhat sore shoulders and stretched.

There was only one thought in his mind now.

To leave this deadly place as quickly as possible!