Chapter 417 - 274: Radiant Gold: Meridian Opening

[Power: 1.00

Agility: 1.05

Intelligence: 1.04

Constitution: 4.29—4.49

Perception: 1.02]

[Real-time Energy Value: 3800]

"CHIRP!" A Golden Light flashed around Shan Bao as it brilliantly powered up.

Unfortunately, she was already hard to begin with. Getting stronger just meant getting harder, which felt like nothing had changed at all...

Shan Bao was not happy.

’This won’t do. Allocating these points is so boring. I have to find a way to get more!’

"Is the cooldown on desire that short?"

Su Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He looked down and saw Yu Bao waddling over, all "Bling Bling."

"WOOF!" Yu Bao declared that it also wanted a massive point boost and stuck its head forward.

Su Zhi said, "Alright, alright."

[Pet Beast: Yu Bao (Yu Dian Farm Dog)

Power: 1.30

Agility: 2.26

Intelligence: 3.60—3.85

Constitution: 1.42

Perception: 4.39]

[Real-time Energy Value: 5995]

Su Zhi asked, "So, you put everything into Intelligence this time? Not a single point into Perception?"

"Woof."

Yu Bao indicated that it wasn’t a big deal; it would just dump everything into Perception next time. Right now, they had a problem to solve, and they had to use their resources where they counted most.

At the same time, Yu Bao shot a smug little glance at Wu Bao.

’I can get points added. Can you~?’

"Woof!" Wu Bao’s composure shattered. It stomped its foot and looked at Su Zhi with a pitiful, aggrieved expression.

’So when are you going to awaken your Tier Five Space? Am I not your Treasure anymore?’

Su Zhi broke into a sweat. "I’m working on it, I’m working on it..."

But awakening a Tier Five Space was easier said than done. Even a veteran head teacher like Zhou Shengfa was only Tier Five. If a high school student like him could also reach Tier Five, wouldn’t he basically be stealing Old Ban’s job?

"Alright, enough of that!" Su Zhi looked at Yu Bao. "So, have you figured it out? How are we supposed to dig up the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone?"

"Woof!" Yu Bao’s answer: Nope!

Su Zhi: "..."

’Then what was the point of adding all those stats?’

’Yu Bao’s Intelligence probably only shows up when it’s time to show off...’

However, not long after that thought crossed his mind, Yu Bao suddenly perked up, its eyes wide open.

It looked like it had just had a revelation.

A flicker of hope sparked in Su Zhi’s heart. "You have an idea?"

Yu Bao shook its head.

Su Zhi opened his mouth, then closed it again. He was just about to string together a few choice words for Yu Bao when a bush rustled nearby. Another "Yu Bao" came running over, carrying something that glittered with Golden Light in its mouth—it was the Sand Shadow Guard clone he had left behind.

Su Zhi’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "Is this a Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone?"

"Woof!"

The clone placed the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone on the ground.

Unlike the piece Yu Bao had forcefully cut off earlier, this one had a smooth, clean surface with no signs of external damage. Su Zhi couldn’t even see the cross-section where it had once been connected to the ground.

According to Yu Bao, this piece had "fallen off" the ground naturally.

"Chirp?" Shan Bao raised a foot.

’Is it like a fruit that falls from the tree when it’s ripe?’

Su Zhi blinked. "That’s a pretty fitting analogy. So Yu Bao’s earlier attempt was basically like trying to forcibly cut an unripe fruit off the branch? Yu Bao, what do you say... huh? Yu Bao?"

At that moment, Yu Bao was staring at the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone with wide eyes.

Its brain was spinning, processing countless bits of information—

That’s right. The Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone had been "fused" into the ground without a clear boundary. No matter how exquisitely Yu Bao controlled the cutting, there were only two possible outcomes: either it would cut off a part that belonged to the stone, or it would include impurities that didn’t.

Either outcome would result in the stone being "ruined."

But the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone brought back by the clone was uniform in texture, showing neither of the aforementioned issues.

The essence of this "ripening" was the separation of the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone’s own components from the impurities, allowing it to become a uniform whole and then naturally break away from the ground!

And the method of harvesting was Accelerated Maturation—simply speeding up this process of impurity separation!!

Su Zhi looked at Yu Bao in surprise. "But how would you do that? Could it be... by relying entirely on your own ability to control the elements?"

This was on a completely different level of difficulty from separating metal particles from sand. The former was essentially separating two distinct entities... while the latter involved a single entity that was a fusion of two elements!

The Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone was fundamentally a dual-Element resource of Earth and Gold. The impurities mixed in at the point of connection with the ground were also of the Earth Element, and the boundary where the impurities and the ore blended was in a state of pseudo-uniformity.

Trying to separate impurities with similar attributes from within the ore was, if not as hard as climbing to heaven, definitely a task of considerable difficulty!

Even the Divine Strategy Alliance would need a fully equipped laboratory to perform such an operation!

"Woof!"

Yu Bao just gave a slight smile and took a step forward.

’So what if it’s hard? Where there’s a dog, there’s a way!’

A dense Golden Light enveloped Yu Bao’s body. This was Thick Earth Golden Might, a skill Yu Bao had comprehended on its own. It could activate its own Earth and Gold Element Energy, thereby greatly enhancing its perception and control over these two elements.

After activating the skill, the Energy Veins inside the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone suddenly became unprecedentedly clear.

’That’s right, I can do this!’

Earth Element, Gold Element, impurities... Yu Bao allocated and directed them according to its intuition, with some manipulations reaching an almost molecular scale.

As it turned out, the difficulty of forced "Accelerated Maturation" was indeed considerable.

Even a being as powerful as Yu Bao, after working at it for quite some time, flopped to the ground with a THUD, panting heavily with its tongue out to dissipate the heat.

Wu Bao and Shan Bao had been watching nervously the entire time, not even daring to breathe too loudly. Seeing Yu Bao tired as a dog, they lowered their heads in disappointment.

’It still didn’t work, did it...’

"No, it worked!" Su Zhi exclaimed, looking at the ground in delight.

The Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone that Yu Bao had put through "Accelerated Maturation" began to glow with an ever-brighter light and tremble slightly.

[Assignable Attribute Points (Yu Bao)... 0.25]

Then, with a sharp CRACK, the sound of rock splitting echoed as a clean, flat fracture formed between the lower part of the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone and the ground, and the whole thing broke off.

"WOOF!" Yu Bao was instantly wide awake. It began to run in excited circles around the "fruit" it had "matured."

’Did this little golden nugget really think it could stump me, the Great Sage?’

Su Zhi’s eyes sparkled. "Master Yu! Great Sage Yu! Please mature all the other unripe nuggets too!"

"..." Yu Bao flopped back onto the ground.

Maturing one had nearly killed it. Maturing all of them? You might as well just kill it now.

"Alright, alright..." Su Zhi poked it, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "We have two pieces now anyway. Let’s head back to the village for today. Uncle Wang is still waiting for this stone to save his life."

"Woof!"

·

When Su Zhi returned to the village, he was greeted by villagers lining the path.

After hearing that Su Zhi had gone to the Golden Stone Forest alone, many of them had spontaneously gathered at the village entrance to wait for his return.

To the people here, a Beastmaster was a rare and important figure. Moreover, this young Beastmaster had helped protect their village, and they had long since come to see him as a pillar of support.

Su Zhi thanked the villagers and, without a moment’s delay, rushed to the home of Wang Baichuan’s three-generation family. He placed the Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone by the head of the bed.

"This humble one... kowtows in thanks, My Lord!" Wang Yichuan’s eyes were red and swollen, and tears streamed down the ravines of his wrinkles.

He struggled to prop himself up, trying to get off the bed to kneel, but he could hardly even sit up. His arms trembled uncontrollably.

"It was nothing, not worth mentioning! You were willing to offer me a roof for shelter, so I am willing to offer you the catalyst you need."

Su Zhi quickly helped the old man lie back down, then frowned at the father and son beside him. "What illness does the old sir have? Why is it so severe?"

Wang Shichuan cupped his hands. "Replying to you, My Lord, it’s Waste Gold Sickness, a common ailment in these parts. If an open wound comes into contact with Waste Gold, you can get infected. Unless you use a Radiant Gold Vein Opening Stone as a catalyst to brew a medicinal soup, the condition only worsens until it’s fatal."

"Grandfather fell accidentally last year and happened to land on some Waste Gold..."

Wang Baichuan sighed. "People die almost every day. Even if it’s not Waste Gold Sickness, it might be something else."

Wang Yichuan closed his eyes. "At my age, if it’s my time to die, then so be it. To have troubled you, Lord Beastmaster, is truly..."

"Now that we’ve found the catalyst, you should just focus on getting well. Don’t worry about anything else."

After settling the old man, Su Zhi turned to Wang Baichuan and made a few gestures with his hands. "Let me ask you something. Did the other Beastmaster have a bear-like Pet Beast, about this big?"

He thought his gestures might have been too abstract, but to his surprise, Wang Baichuan’s eyes lit up.

"That Lord Beastmaster’s Sub-Pet is indeed a Mud Rock Battle Bear named Fuyue! My Lord, could it be that you saw it in the Golden Stone Forest?"

’Holy shit, how could you tell that was a Mud Rock Battle Bear from... that?’ Amid his astonishment, Su Zhi also felt a thrill of excitement. ’It really is him!’

Just as he was about to ask Wang Baichuan for more details about the Beastmaster, an urgent bell suddenly rang out, echoing through the village.

·

·