Chapter 414 - 273: Matchmaking Brother Xiong

Su Zhi followed Wang Baichuan’s gaze and turned his head, quickly noticing a glittering stone.

It wasn’t far from them—in fact, it was very close, right where they had killed the Earthquake Beast. Amidst all the dull, dark-colored metal, the glowing ore stood out as conspicuously as a die-hard fan in a crowd of haters.

"CHIRP!"

Shan Bao was the most excited. It circled the stone, repeatedly using Flash Gold Teleportation, then pressed up against it, rubbing itself back and forth.

Flash Gold Sparrows are naturally drawn to all sorts of brilliant, shiny objects, but almost nothing here glittered at all. Shan Bao had been holding back for nearly a full day since yesterday; it was on the verge of showing withdrawal symptoms.

Now that it had found such a treasure, it was naturally a hundred times more excited than usual.

"So this is the so-called Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone?"

Su Zhi looked at the glowing ore and asked curiously, "It doesn’t seem any different in form from the other metals here. This one just glows, while the others have a duller luster."

"Exactly, exactly."

Wang Baichuan nodded repeatedly. "My grandfather told me that all these stones used to be Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stones. But after the Earthquake Beasts appeared, more and more of them lost their glow and turned into worthless Waste Gold, until now, there are hardly any left."

"WOOF!" Yu Bao circled the stone once and looked at Su Zhi.

Dingzhen complete. Identified as Gold Element.

Su Zhi stroked his chin with interest. "Besides devouring soil, are the Earthquake Beasts also interested in Gold Element minerals?"

’Too bad this stuff doesn’t exist in the Current World; it must be a resource unique to the Secret Realm. Otherwise, I could ask Luo Sen about it when I get back. Maybe I’d uncover more clues.’

"I don’t think so. After all, these Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stones have only been transformed into another form; they don’t show any signs of being destroyed themselves."

Wang Baichuan was also a bit baffled. "I think it’s more likely their mere presence or actions affect the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stones, right? After all, I’ve never actually seen how one of these stones turns dull."

Su Zhi suddenly looked up. "Speaking of which, this stone is so close to us, yet we didn’t notice it just now?"

Wang Baichuan froze for a moment.

’He’s right. But I came here specifically to find this thing, how could I have been so oblivious and missed it?’

"Shan Bao didn’t notice it before either. Which means... this was just generated. Interesting."

Su Zhi looked at the yellow soil on the ground—the "drops" from killing the Earthquake Beast. The Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone was located right where this yellow soil had covered the ground.

A bold hypothesis surfaced in his mind.

’Tch, it’s just a bit of a waste of Earthquake Beasts...’

"ROAR!!!"

An enraged roar suddenly echoed from the distance, shattering their train of thought.

A commotion stirred in the woods. Perched birds took flight from the branches in a panic, a dark mass fleeing the forest.

Immediately after, the ground beneath their feet began to shake with increasing intensity.

"An earthquake! An earthquake is coming!"

Wang Baichuan’s eyes widened. He bent down to pull out the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone, but then he felt his body lighten as he was lifted off the ground.

"Worry about yourself first!"

Su Zhi plucked Wang Baichuan up as if he were a chick and took off running, his feet a blur.

"BANG! BANG!!"

The stone pillars of the forest came crashing down, landing exactly where the two had just been standing. Su Zhi ran a dozen meters in one breath, only stopping when he reached a relatively open clearing.

The earthquake continued for a good while before subsiding, but the overlapping roars continued to echo from the distant mountain forest, growing more intense.

Only when he could no longer feel any tremors did Su Zhi’s tense nerves relax slightly. His gaze fell on Wang Baichuan, and he gave him a light, exasperated punch.

"Is a rock more important than your life?"

Wang Baichuan bowed his head repeatedly. "S-Sorry!"

"...Forget it. You’re just desperate to save someone." Seeing his reaction, Su Zhi couldn’t stay angry. He finally let out a soft sigh. "As long as you’re okay."

Wang Baichuan stammered, "The... the stone..."

"Obviously, you can’t pull it out by hand." Su Zhi asked, "You said you saw your grandfather bring one back. Did he ever teach you how to collect it?"

Wang Baichuan was completely confused. "No, the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone my grandfather had was also a gift from a Beastmaster. We’ve never collected one ourselves..."

"Then forget it."

Su Zhi pondered for a moment, then looked up. "I’ll have Shan Bao take you back to the village first. Don’t worry about the stone; I’ll figure out a way to bring it back for you."

Wang Baichuan was taken aback. "H-How could I do that! What kind of person abandons their benefactor?"

Su Zhi laughed. "Besides helping you find the catalyst, I have my own things to do. I can operate more freely with just my Pet Beasts. Don’t forget, you’re an ordinary person, and I’m a Beast Tamer."

"I... I suppose so..."

Wang Baichuan stared blankly for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded. "Then you must be extremely careful!"

"Yes, you too."

"CHIRP!"

A flash of Golden Light flared, and Shan Bao took Wang Baichuan out of the Golden Stone Forest. In less than a minute, it flashed back.

"Chirp chirp?"

Su Zhi nodded. "Right, let’s go take a look first. Yu Bao, leave a clone here to keep watch."

"WOOF!"

Amidst a swirl of dust and sand, a clone of Yu Bao, identical to the original, quickly took shape and squatted down next to the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone.

Su Zhi exchanged glances with his Pet Beasts and they quickly set off in the direction of the roars.

’Logically, it’s better to avoid trouble when you can, especially with a bug-like existence like the Earthquake Beast. The correct approach would be to go around it...’

’But I need to find a way out of this Secret Realm as soon as possible, so I can’t pass up any chance to grab a clue.’

’And more importantly—Yu Bao told me that roar was a call for help to its teammates.’