Chapter 416 - 274: Blazing Gold: Opening the Vein

Su Zhi’s initial thought was to keep it simple—just pull it out by hand and be done with it.

After all, you couldn’t lump Beast Tamers and ordinary people together. Wang Baichuan couldn’t pull it out because he was a weakling. Su Zhi, of course, was no weakling, right?

So Su Zhi tried for ten minutes—

—and successfully cemented his title as Weakling Number Two.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF~" Yu Bao pointed at him, laughing mercilessly.

Su Zhi’s face was stern. "If you’re so good, you do it!"

’Now that I think about it, that was pretty absurd. How could a person just pull ore right out of the ground? My Constitution is just better than an average person’s, but I’m still human at the end of the day... I was totally led astray by Wang Baichuan’s way of thinking.’

But they didn’t have any mining tools. Without help from the Pet Beasts, all he had were his own two hands.

"WOOF!"

Yu Bao walked around him, went up to the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone, and sized it up.

At the same time, sand and gravel gathered and flowed around it, finally condensing into four slender, blade-like structures that pressed against the four sides of the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone.

Su Zhi asked curiously, "Is this the youth edition of the Golden Sand Battle Saber?"

"..." Yu Bao rolled its eyes at him.

’If you don’t know how to talk, then shut up!’

As the four Golden Sand Battle Sabers vibrated and dug, the rock around the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone was quickly cleared away, completely revealing the structure beneath.

Su Zhi was surprised to find that there was no clear boundary between it and the ground. Instead, it looked as if it had grown out of the earth, its entire lower half completely integrated with it.

To make a crude analogy, it was like a pimple that had just popped up on skin.

’No wonder I couldn’t pull it out... It’s basically part of the earth itself.’

Shan Bao tilted its head. "Chirp?"

So how were they supposed to get it?

"Woof!" After a moment of thought, Yu Bao manipulated the Golden Sand Battle Sabers, moving them toward the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone to try and cut it off.

Before the immense cutting power of the Golden Sand Battle Sabers, the ground connected to the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone seemed as brittle as paper. It was sliced open as smooth as silk, revealing a glittering golden cross-section.

Su Zhi’s eyes went wide.

The Furious Sand Blade was a powerful Output Skill. Yu Bao typically used it for straightforward Puncture attacks, mainly to strike high-armor, high-defense targets. As such, it didn’t require fine control, only guaranteed Power and accuracy.

And yet now, Yu Bao was actually using this Skill to perform a delicate ore-cutting operation.

In theory, it was possible, but the difficulty was immense. It was like trying to peel an apple with a Cyan Dragon Crescent Saber, or using a Fangtian Halberd to part Xiu’Er’s hair down the middle...

’To be able to pull this off, it means Yu Bao’s Energy Perception Ability has improved by a lot!’

"Woof." Yu Bao pretended to be completely focused on the task, but out of the corner of its eye, it caught Su Zhi’s expression. A hint of smugness appeared in its gaze.

’A true Wise One always flexes without anyone noticing~’

"Oof!" Wu Bao suddenly punched him, then anxiously pointed forward.

Having been hit for no reason, Yu Bao was about to flare up, but it followed the direction Wu Bao’s paw was pointing and its eyes went wide too.

After the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone was cut off, Golden Light began to rapidly leak from the severed surface, like juice from a sliced fruit. As it flowed out, the stone’s own luster grew dimmer and dimmer!

That was pure Gold Element Energy gushing away!

"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

Yu Bao panicked. It tried to force the leaking Energy back inside, but nothing worked. No matter what it tried—injecting its own Energy, sealing the cut surface, or anything else—it could only watch helplessly as the Golden Light drained away.

Finally, the flow of Golden Light stopped. The Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone had lost its luster, turning into nothing more than Waste Gold.

"..." Yu Bao froze on the spot.

"Chirp." Shan Bao gently patted its brother Yu Bao’s shoulder with its foot, offering a soft word of comfort.

*It’s okay, making a huge mess is also really impressive!*

"Hooo~"

Wu Bao flopped down in front of Yu Bao, sidling closer with a smug look on its face.

’I’ve always wanted to see this look on your face. The look of a failed flex~’

Yu Bao: "¥@#%"

"Alright, alright, calm down. You only broke one. Luckily, we got plenty of earth from killing that Earthquake Beast, and there are still lots of intact Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stones."

Su Zhi patted Yu Bao’s head, lost in thought. "It seems the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone has some kind of self-destruct mechanism. Trying to harvest it by force will just end in failure."

’So how are we supposed to collect them? We can’t exactly negotiate with the stones...’

The man and his three Pet Beasts stood motionless around the small stones, the scene suddenly turning into one of intense scientific inquiry.

"Chirp..."

Shan Bao really couldn’t figure it out and shook its head, exhausted from thinking.

Seeing Wu Bao and Yu Bao still looking like they were in the middle of a brainstorming session, Shan Bao couldn’t help but give them a look of adoration.

’They have both brains and brawn. My two brothers are amazing!’

*’You’re giving them too much credit, little Treasure. They can’t figure it out either; they just don’t want the other to know they’re stumped...’* Su Zhi, who could perceive his Pet Beasts’ thoughts, chuckled in spite of himself.

"Chirp chirp."

Shan Bao hopped over and jumped into Su Zhi’s arms.

’My brothers are the smart ones. I’m not smart, I’m just a noob. So I’m just going to quit.’

’Time to add a Point!’

Su Zhi smiled and raised an eyebrow. "How about I add some Points to your Intelligence, then?"

"Chirp." Shan Bao shook its head.

’Good Points have to be used where they matter most. Of course, they should all go to Constitution, to stick with her fine tradition.’

Su Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Alright, alright."

’She says she’s not smart, but she’s actually quite clever, understanding exactly where her core strengths lie. Not like Yu Bao, who wants both Perception and Intelligence. If all his Points went into Perception, he’d probably be powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth by now...’

As Su Zhi mused to himself, he fiddled with his phone and helped Shan Bao allocate her Points—

[Pet Beast: Shan Bao (Flash Gold Sparrow)