88: Chapter 88 Dividing the Spoils
A dozen minutes later.
The alchemy furnace, like a thief who had successfully stolen something, "tiptoed" out of the cave using two Devil Vines.
When passing by the Tyrant Squid, it moved extremely slowly, terrified of disturbing this "host."
"Should we... not say hello to it before we leave?" Su Xiaoxiao asked in a low voice, her tone filled with trepidation.
"Let's just forget it, I'm afraid it might change its mind!" Lin Mo shook his head.
"That's true..."
Everyone echoed in agreement, vigilantly staring at the Tyrant Squid while tiptoeing toward the cave exit.
But just as they passed in front of the squid, a massive tentacle suddenly reached out and grabbed the alchemy furnace once again, pulling it before those giant eyes.
When it saw that Lu Mengmeng's four Devil Vines were coiled around twenty or thirty water vein spirit crystals.
Those vertical pupils clearly froze for a moment.
Immediately after, the pupils constricted sharply, as if it were getting angry.
The next second, the tentacle violently shook!
"Wah-lah wah-lah——"
"Roar!"
The six people inside the alchemy furnace were shaken until they were dizzy, as if they were on an out-of-control roller coaster.
The spirit crystals coiled on the vines fell to the ground with a clatter, and in the blink of an eye, only a single-digit number remained.
Only then did the Tyrant Squid stop its movements.
It scanned the remaining spirit crystals with eyes full of disdain.
Then, it impatiently flicked its tentacle, hurling the alchemy furnace out of the cave.
"Awoo——"
The Pill Furnace traced an arc through the water and stabilized only after slamming heavily against the cave wall.
"Damn it, this old thing is too stingy!" Lin Mo rubbed his dizzy head and couldn't help but complain, "What's the harm in taking a few more?"
"I told you to take a few and call it a day, but you wouldn't listen and insisted on grabbing as many as you could!" Teacher An Nuolan steadied herself against the furnace wall, looking at Lin Mo and Lu Mengmeng with a tone full of complaints.
These two little ones really thought those water vein spirit crystals belonged to them; she told them to take it easy, but they wouldn't listen.
"It's lucky it was just angry and didn't actually attack, otherwise we would all be done for today!"
"Tch, who knew this old thief was so stingy!"
Lu Mengmeng pouted and muttered softly, clearly still heartbroken over the dropped spirit crystals.
"Alright, seven left is not bad."
Lin Mo, having thick skin, immediately interrupted the complaints.
"We can 'visit' it again next time we have a chance. Let's surface quickly now; the oxygen is also consuming my Soul Power."
As he spoke, the Pill Furnace changed direction and slowly ascended toward the lake surface.
The darkness of the lake bottom was gradually replaced by the faint light from above, and the six of them looked back.
They could only vaguely see that pair of vertical pupils flash and disappear deep in the cave, as if silently warning them... don't be greedy again.
The water surface drew closer and closer, the sound of the current in their ears became clearer, and everyone felt a complex mix of emotions.
This trip to Moonlight Lake was truly thrilling and bizarre.
The moment the alchemy furnace broke through the water, the slightly warm moonlight shone on the lake surface, making it shimmer.
The previous bloodshed and undercurrents seemed to have been washed away.
Only a cool breeze carrying the scent of water remained, brushing against their faces.
"Phew—we finally made it out alive."
Niu Dachun clung to the edge of the furnace and took a deep breath; the feeling of his chest filling with fresh air was a hundred times more comfortable than holding his breath at the bottom of the lake.
Lin Mo steered the alchemy furnace toward the shore, his gaze sweeping over the remaining seven water vein spirit crystals.
Although it was less than half of what they expected, each one was lustrous and transparent, and the energy fluctuations were purer than those Young Master Li had brought before.
After all, these were dug out from the spring eye.
They were much better than those scraps.
The six of them left the lakeside and returned to the cliff campsite where they had first arrived.
Lin Mo placed the ten spirit crystals and the loot scavenged from Young Master Li and his mercenaries on the ground.
It piled up into a small mountain.
"Here we go, time to split the loot, everyone gets a share."
Regardless of gender, everyone looked at the pile of soul crystals, various materials, and valuables on the ground with excitement.
Lin Mo picked out all the medicinal herbs, stored them in his storage soul guidance device, and then began to divide the rest of the items into six portions.
After everyone took their share, only the ten water vein spirit crystals remained on the ground.
"In my opinion, these ten water vein spirit crystals should be kept by me for now. Once I find a way to research their effects, we can consider how to split them. What do you think?"
"I think Boss's proposal is good." Lu Mengmeng was the first to raise her hand in agreement.
"Me too." Niu Dachun naturally had no objections.
"I, I, I agree too." Su Xiaoxiao also weakly raised her hand.
She could now be considered half of Lin Mo's underling.
Only Teacher An Nuolan and Mu Liuli frowned slightly.
After all, these water vein spirit crystals were priceless.
Most importantly, they were divine objects capable of delaying aging.
But they also knew that without Lin Mo, they wouldn't have been able to gain such huge benefits from this trip to Moonlight Lake.
Just the share of loot they had received just now was worth no less than 100 million.
"Fine, I'll listen to you." Teacher An Nuolan readily agreed.
"Mm, then I have no objections either."
"Alright, it's settled. How about this: to compensate you, I'll promise each of you a bottle of Soul Pill and Body Tempering Pill, plus a Soul Skill awakening service. How about that?"
"Fine, it's settled!"
Teacher An Nuolan, Su Xiaoxiao, and Mu Liuli immediately agreed.
Seeing that everyone had no objections, Lin Mo carefully stored the ten water vein spirit crystals into his personal storage soul guidance device and said thoughtfully:
"The energy of these spirit crystals is more overbearing than I expected. If we absorb them directly, I'm afraid it will cause problems. We must refine them into pills to neutralize them first."
Upon hearing the words "refining pills," Lu Mengmeng's eyes instantly lit up: "Boss, you can also refine pills? Does that mean you can refine the spirit crystals into pills for eternal youth?"
"That is also possible."
Lin Mo knocked on her head.
"However, delaying aging is only a side effect; its true value is nourishing the foundation of the Martial Soul. Once I have studied it thoroughly, I guarantee you will be satisfied."
Once these words were spoken, even Teacher An Nuolan couldn't help but be moved.
A pill to maintain youth? This sounded incredibly magical.
If she could maintain her current appearance forever, wouldn't that mean...
The more she thought about it, the more excited she became.
The next day at noon.
A meteor landed in the forest north of Donghai City.
Not long after, six figures walked out of the forest with leisurely steps.
Since they didn't need to enter the city, they walked directly toward Eastern Academy.
"Man, it's been three days, we're finally back. Tonight I'm going to eat a good meal and have a good sleep!"
"Me too."
At this moment, Lu Mengmeng tapped open her phone and said:
"Boss, my old man wants you to come back with me tomorrow for dinner, and my mom will be coming back too."
"Fine, we'll talk about it tomorrow."
Lin Mo also had matters to ask the Lu Family for help with.
After all, that pair of electronic components was still gathering dust in the corner of his storage soul guidance device.
After walking for more than 20 minutes, they returned to Eastern Academy.
After submitting the mission, the five members of the squad each received 40 academic credits and 120,000 dragon soul coins.
Because of the python skins, he had made that mercenary squad hunt 100 of them, so he submitted them again.
As for how much Teacher An Nuolan received, he didn't ask further.
After all, the rewards for the team-leading teacher were different from those of the students.
Walking out of the mission hall.
Lin Mo caught sight of quite a few unfamiliar faces scanning their surroundings, and not paying attention to what was in front of him, he bumped squarely into someone.
Feeling guilty, he nevertheless reflexively jumped back and shouted, seizing the initiative:
"Hey! How bold! In broad daylight, you dare to bump into me!"
Before the words faded, the air suddenly froze.
When Teacher An Nuolan saw who it was, she gave a sheepish smile; the atmosphere was so awkward that her toes could have clawed out a three-bedroom apartment.
"Uh... Instructor, Instructor Luo, you're back?"
Because the person Lin Mo had bumped into was none other than the academy's famous gold-medal mentor, Instructor Luo Xueqing.
She was wearing a capable-looking black outfit with a long red trench coat over it.
Clearly, she had just returned from outside, and her face carried a hint of travel weariness.
At this moment, she was looking at Lin Mo with raised eyebrows, her eyes filled with a hint of mockery.
"Teacher An." Instructor Luo Xueqing first nodded toward Teacher An Nuolan on the side.
"Is this kid your team member?"