Chapter 1177 Where Is John Doe?

“Woo, woo…”

The dark and secluded cave was located at the bottom of the lake. Because the formation blocked the underflow, Fang Qiu didn’t feel bleak in this cave’s damp environment. Better still, this place seemed very airy with gusts of wind blowing in it.

Lucky for Fang Qiu, he had night vision.

On his way down to the cave, he felt the space around didn’t get narrower or wider. It felt like an artificial underground passage straight from beginning to end. Therefore, while going through it, Fang Qiu felt as if the cave was not at the bottom of the lake but on flat ground.

Normally, if he walked along an underground cave which led downward, he would not be able to stand firmly.

However, Fang Qiu had been stepping on the stone wall of the cave as if he was on flat ground.

This cave should have changed its direction during his winding process underground.

Fang Qiu walked for a long time.

After he thought that he had walked for quite a long distance, there were finally some signs of change ahead.

He gazed in wonder at the scene before him.

Finally, he had almost reached the end of the pitch-black cave after walking for a long time.

Ahead was a ray of light.

It didn’t look like an exit because the light was faint, unlike sunlight at all.

“It shouldn’t be there.”

Fang Qiu raised his eyebrows and told himself.

Through his Divine Awareness, he could sense that the fluctuation of the Qi of Heaven and Earth came from a much deeper place, not the place where the glimmer of light was.

“Then what’s that light?”

An idea struck him.

Fang Qiu immediately sped up there.

When he got closer, he was utterly astonished to see a giant entrance to another cave. This immense space was like an intermediate node of the entire underground passage.

And those weak glimmers of lights were from a huge group of wood puppets!

The light from each wooden puppet was quite weak, but when they were grouped together, it formed quite a conspicuous ball of light. Although it was not bright, it attracted attention in the dark tunnel beneath the ground.

“So many puppets?”

Fang Qiu had a moment of panic.

Looking at the closely-packed ranks of wooden puppets, Fang Qiu, subconsciously rubbed the piece of jade glowing faintly in his trouser pocket and suppressed the shock in his heart with great effort and entered.

Like the ones outside, these wooden puppets remained deathly still. At least before Fang Qiu laid a finger on them, they were as good as dead.

The place was pretty huge. If this subterranean tunnel was compared to a huge underground water pipe, then this area was like a reservoir at the intersection of pipes!

There was plenty of space for Fang Qiu to pass through without touching these wooden puppets.

However…

That was not Fang Qiu’s plan.

These wooden puppets outside were treated as treasures. They were still fighting to grab one.

Now that there were so many of them, how could he let the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity go?

Moreover…

Fang Qiu had by now gotten the knack for handling these wooden puppets. Not only could he easily immobilize them all, but he could also take out all the jade stones in their bodies.

These jade stones could activate these wooden puppets, but he hadn’t yet figured out what they were. Anyway, they were not something ordinary!

“How about I take out all the jade stones before they start moving?”

A plan came to Fang Qiu in a flash of inspiration.

He smiled.

He had figured out how to take out the jade stones from these wooden puppets. Using these means, he could rely on his lightning speed to take out all the jade stones from their bodies before they even woke up.

Theoretically speaking, as long as he was fast enough, he could destroy some of the puppets before they were even activated.

Thinking of this…

Once again, Fang Qiu carefully examined the chests of these wooden puppets.

It was because he feared the wooden puppets here might not be the same as those he met outside, but after a round of careful observation, he found nothing different.

“Let me get on with it!”

He was certain that his plan would work.

Fang Qiu with a faint smile, readied himself and rushed straight to the first wooden puppet and thrust his hand into its chest. He then took out a small piece of shining jade. Then he shifted his position slightly and rushed to the next one.

“Swish, swish, swish…”

With great speed, Fang Qiu swiftly took out seven pieces of jade in a row before the other wooden puppets were activated.

As soon as the large group of wooden puppets was aroused, they turned around and charged ferociously at Fang Qiu in unison. This scene looked particularly scary!

“Whew…”

Fang Qiu heaved a long sigh and put away the few pieces of jade he had just gotten. Before these wooden puppets could surround him, he readied himself and dashed into the crowd of puppets first.

He worked at breakneck speed to grab the jade stones within the wooden puppets.

The reason being, that he was in deep underground space.

Since no one else was around, Fang Qiu didn’t need to hide his capabilities. At the very start, he concentrated all his efforts on exerting all his strength and achieving his highest speed.

These nine-class wooden warriors with one opened meridian did not even have a chance to attack Fang Qiu, who spared no effort to get what he wanted. One after another, they all fell.

Ten minutes later, a large group of wooden puppets collapsed to the ground, and the jade stones in their bodies ended up in Fang Qiu’s hands.

“So many jade stones! What a sumptuous treat!”

Looking at these trophies in his hands, Fang Qiu smiled with satisfaction.

“What on earth are these jade stones?

“They were the source of strength for the wooden puppets, which means they must contain abundant energy. If I carefully sense it, I can indeed feel the incomparably rich Qi of Heaven and Earth within it. However, this Qi of Heaven and Earth seems to be deeply buried in the stone and does not diffuse.

“So, if I use these jade stones to set up a terrain, how well would it work?”

A plan came into Fang Qiu’s mind.

His eyes suddenly brightened.

That was right!

He had been looking for a way to enhance the terrain for a long time, but he couldn’t find any. The Qi of Heaven and Earth outside was limited. No matter how good his terrain was, the amount of Qi of Heaven and Earth it could absorb was fixed. After the terrain was set, it would take in all the nearby Qi of Heaven and Earth. Once it absorbed all the surrounding Qi of Heaven and Earth, the terrain could only start the self-circulation mode. In such a situation, it was nearly impossible to increase the terrain’s effect.

However, these jade stones would make a big difference!

The Qi of Heaven and Earth in this place was vastly abundant.

If he could call forth the Qi of Heaven and Earth in these jade stones at the terrain, it would undoubtedly have an unexpected effect!

With this in mind, Fang Qiu lost no time building a mini terrain with a diameter of five meters.

Just as the terrain was formed, the Qi of Heaven and Earth around immediately surged over.

It was a small terrain, so it couldn’t attract the Qi of Heaven and Earth that was farther away. In the tunnel, the Qi of Heaven and Earth was minimal, so the terrain didn’t get much of the Qi of Heaven and Earth.

But…

Once Fang Qiu finished setting up the terrain with the jade stones, these stones began to constantly provide the terrain with the Qi of Heaven and Earth.

Within one minute, an astonishingly large amount of Qi of Heaven and Earth had gushed out of this terrain. It was even denser than that in the outside world. Such a surprisingly good result was entirely unexpected by Fang Qiu!

“Are these jade stones so fantastic?”

Fang Qiu couldn’t help exclaiming in his heart.

Originally, he was thinking about how to get the Qi of Heaven and Earth in these jade stones. To his great surprise, when the terrain was formed, the Qi of Heaven and Earth in them came out automatically.

After thinking it over, Fang Qiu immediately understood.

A jade stone was a battery, which could release electricity without being stimulated when placed in a suitable place. Likewise, there was nothing special in the wood puppet’s body, but if the jade stone was put in, it could come alive.

“There are such kinds of magical stones between heaven and earth!”

The astonishing effect of the jade stone amazed Fang Qiu!

It had never occurred to him that merely leaving a few jade stones in the terrain could work such miracles.

With these jade stones, his Desert Cistanche, Snow Lotus, and dendrobe would be many times more effective than the current ones.

As a result, the effect of any medical products mainly made from the three kinds of magic herbs would be significantly enhanced.

Most importantly…

In addition to the drugs, Heaven Dew would perform even better along with these jade stones. When Heaven Dew was buried in a terrain, its effect improved by 30% to 50%. Better than that, the appearance of these stones would mean a onefold, twofold, or even threefold increase in the liquor’s effect.

What did this mean?

Fang Qiu didn’t even dare to think about it.

“I don’t know if there are any more stones inside. If I find enough jade stones, I can make a huge terrain! Whether for cultivation or planting herbs, it will be as good as a treasure land for immortals.”

Thinking of this, Fang Qiu continued to feel the fluctuations of the Qi of Heaven and Earth in the depths of the cave. Somehow, he couldn’t help feeling thrilled in his heart.

“Perhaps, these jade stones are inside!”

He didn’t waste any time thinking.

Fang Qiu hurriedly removed the terrain, put away the jade stones, and rushed to the deeper part of the cave.

Outside, the few remaining wooden puppets had all been snatched up. Without any wooden puppet to fight for, all the masters returned to the hall of the pavilion, each with a puppet bound hand and foot, and started to observe them.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, someone brought up a question, “Where is John Doe?”

Everyone turned their heads to look around but didn’t see John Doe.

“This guy just took a puppet and ran away. Did he run out?”

“He must have run far away.”

“That brat is a coward. Does he think we old fellows would snatch his puppet?”

Everyone sneered at John Doe because they thought he had escaped.

After discussing John Doe’s whereabouts, everyone’s focus switched back to this magical place.

“There are so few things here.”

“Yes, except for these wooden puppets that we know little about, there is nothing else.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen such a poor ancient relic!”

“I don’t think it’s an ancient relic. Even if it is, it’s just a tiny remain and can’t be considered an ancient relic.”

“At least you got a puppet. See? We obtained nothing.”

Those who didn’t have a wooden puppet complained gloomily and immediately began to fit together the pieces of those broken wooden puppets they had gathered.

Fang Qiu had walked very far into a deep cave at the bottom of the lake. Although he could see with his night vision, he used the flashlight on his phone to light the way. After all, the cave at the bottom of the lake was excessively peculiar. Maybe there would be characters carved on the stone wall. It would be hard to see if he didn’t use the flashlight to light up the surroundings.