Qin Ming was very familiar with this area. He quickly found a pile of scattered stones in the snow, picked up a long, thin stone that looked very similar, and broke it with force before throwing it back to where it had been. Then, he swiftly disappeared into the dense forest.
He figured that only someone like him, a curious young newcomer, would come to check it out. The older folks wouldn’t bother because the stone skin from the mysterious resources was of little use.
The main reason was that the item taken out by the woman in the green dress was too dazzling to hide. It lit up the entire night sky in an instant, and all the high-level creatures and big organizations followed her in pursuit.
Who wants useless stones when rare treasures are in sight?
Even though the woman in green decisively absorbed that mysterious resource, her forehead was still glowing, almost like a guiding light.
After a while, some people indeed came looking for the abandoned stone skin.
This was the outer area of the mountain, with no real experts around. The older folks and the young ones were all hanging out in special spots.
Moments later, six or seven newcomers actually started fighting over the broken long stone.
This time, although Qin Ming's face was calm, he felt some waves of emotion inside. After all, the "scrap" he picked up came from the most mysterious resources in the mountain.
The phenomenon of ten-color light beams reaching the sky was unheard of, not even mentioned in books, and it even merged with the five-color mist.
He guessed that the big organizations and high-level beings that hadn’t rushed over earlier would be regretting it now.
Everyone had agreed that the celestial light that descended two years ago was the dimmest here, thinking it wouldn’t be a rich area, destined to be barren.
But now, the Black and White Mountain had actually "exploded"!
Especially since this could involve another kind of celestial light that had accumulated over two hundred years, the high-ups in the capital would probably lose sleep over it.
Back then, they had come in full force but ended up with very little, so angry they wanted to flatten the mountain.
Clearly, in just a few days, the name of Black and White Mountain, which had been quiet for many years, would spread again through the many colorful cities in the night mist.
Qin Ming stood in the dense forest, crushing the half of the stone that showed no reaction. Inside, there was indeed nothing.
He held the other half of the stone, feeling a bit hesitant. The commotion caused by the "main material" was terrifying, and even if the scrap was far less impressive, it likely wouldn’t be ordinary.
Even if there was no miracle, just a "flowing fire" appearing here could probably ignite the entire forest.
After all, the shallow night had ended, and under such deep, dark night, any anomaly would stand out.
Soon after, Qin Ming walked out of the forest and, following his usual practice, left the half stone in the mountain.
He wasn’t in a hurry. He calmed himself and decided to wait until the storm brewed before acting. The most mysterious resource in Black and White Mountain would surely be the hot topic, shaking everyone’s attention, and everything else would pale in comparison.
In fact, that most mysterious resource had already ignited the night sky, with everyone trying to stop the woman in green, and high-level creatures had already spilled blood.
“Faster!” urged a woman in a black fur cloak. She stood on the back of a giant black bird, her tall figure glowing, shielding her from the wind and snow.
The purple-eyed raven said, “Tang Jin, it’s easy for you to say. I’m flying so fast I’m about to run out of breath. That’s a Golden Roc; few can match its speed. The fact that I’m getting closer is already a miracle for a raven!”
“Wow, that woman is fierce! She’s making a high-level creature bleed in the night sky!” the purple-eyed raven exclaimed, slightly slowing down.
“Don’t be scared! While she’s blocked, let’s catch up!” Tang Jin urged, revealing a seemingly ordinary light yellow rope.
“You didn’t take the rope from your teacher’s beam, did you? Isn’t it tied to a…” the purple-eyed raven gasped.
“Not that one!” Tang Jin urged it to speed up again.
The raven flapped its wings and gradually got closer.
Ahead, the fastest red lightning bird caught up to the woman in green but was quickly severely injured.
Under the night sky, the woman on the Golden Roc turned the falling snowflakes around her into golden ones with some mysterious method. They danced in the air, moving a thousand times faster.
She stood on the Roc’s back, seemingly doing nothing, but the brilliant golden snowflakes traced many strange paths, slicing towards the red lightning bird from all angles, tearing through its outer light and leaving it covered in blood.
The high-level creature, the red lightning bird, was fierce, screeching loudly, its body seeming to burn with a large amount of red light exploding in all directions. It looked like a red sun shining in the night sky.
All the golden snowflakes melted in an instant, but frighteningly, they weren’t completely evaporated. Instead, the golden light suddenly surged, turning into an endless drizzle, and all the golden raindrops stretched infinitely, intertwining in the air.
A shrill cry came from the red lightning bird, which was cut into dozens or even hundreds of pieces under the dense lines formed by the golden raindrops.
Its flesh and richly spiritual feathers were severed, leaving no intact parts as it fell towards the dark ground.
The purple-eyed raven grinned, wanting to turn and flee, but Tang Jin on its back took action. The ordinary-looking grass rope glowed brightly, extending forward towards the woman in green.
“People from Flowing Light City?!” The woman on the Golden Roc recognized Tang Jin’s origins the moment she saw the rope.
“Can it work?” the purple-eyed raven asked, lacking confidence.
“Rush over immediately and hit her head! We must find a way to take half of that heavenly treasure!” Tang Jin urged, fully activating the glowing grass rope.
That night, Qin Ming slept soundly. He believed that those who are content are always happy. Even a small gain made him feel satisfied. The most mysterious resources were too far from him, and he didn’t wish for them, never even thought about them.
The next day, when he entered the mountain with Mu Qing, Cao Long, and Wei Zhirou, Qin Ming heard many explosive pieces of news.
“It’s terrifying! The night sky burned last night, and some strong members of big organizations and high-level creatures died, yet they couldn’t stop that woman in green.”
“The main issue is that there are too few flying creatures. If true experts could fly, it would be a different situation.”
“It’s said that the city lord of Ling City is so frustrated he nearly broke his thigh from slapping it, regretting not buying a super-fast flying mount, and he ran straight back to Chixia City in anger.”
People were discussing animatedly, with various messages coming in, making everyone entering the mountain feel uneasy, fearing the wrath of high-level creatures.
Someone even saw the usually calm and steady old yellow weasel running wildly through the mountains, carrying its donkey and shaking large areas of forest.
“It’s understandable. Anyone would be furious if they were intercepted like that,” Cao Long said, sitting on a giant bull.
“You’re right. I don’t even dare to go into the deep mountains now,” a creature on a tree branch spoke up.
Cao Long was startled. Who was talking in mid-air? He looked up sharply and saw the talking bird, instantly losing his composure, and threw the spear he was holding at the tree.
With a crack, the tree crown fell with a loud crash after the trunk was broken.
The talking bird traced a beautiful arc in the night sky and flew away gracefully.
Old Liu advised, “No need to get angry. Don’t worry, when early spring comes and it starts to breed, I’ll help you get your revenge. If we can’t catch it, can’t we catch its offspring?”
Cao Long clapped his hands and said, “Great! I want to raise a few talking birds, and it would be best to catch that one from earlier.”
For a moment, Cao Long and Old Liu chatted happily.
Soon, Old Liu casually mentioned, “There are limited special nodes in the mountain, and they’re hard to find. But there are other opportunities in the mountain, though they’re very dangerous. Some areas are inhabited by mutated creatures. Do you dare to go?”
Cao Long replied, “Are there still places like that left? Some old folks have already acted early. They were sweeping the mountain yesterday, so there probably aren’t many spiritual materials left in the outer areas.”
As for the deep parts of the mountain, he would never step in, even if he teamed up with Mu Qing and Wei Zhirou. That wasn’t a place for them to take risks.
Old Liu patted his chest and said, “There are! I know the mountain too well. There are places where others can’t find, but I know them like the back of my hand.”
Upon hearing this, Cao Long’s eyes lit up. “No problem! If we can get some good stuff, I’ll definitely share a portion with you.”
Mu Qing and Wei Zhirou nodded in agreement. Rather than searching for uncertain special nodes, it was better to head straight for areas with spiritual materials.
Qin Ming immediately realized where Old Liu wanted to take them. He had mentioned it to him that night while drinking.
The Fire Bat Cave, in a cavern leading deep into the mountain, had a deep path that required going in quite a bit. Inside, there were fire springs, and a large group of fire bats lived there, the strongest of which had already mutated three times.
The fire bats themselves didn’t have spiritual materials, but their droppings helped a kind of red grass grow nearby, which could aid in a second rebirth.
Qin Ming had been pondering that he could share the fire snake, which was no longer useful to him, with Old Liu and Lu Ze. He didn’t expect Old Liu to have his own means to obtain it.
The trip to the Fire Bat Cave had its ups and downs, with some youths getting injured among the three teams. However, with Cao Long, Wei Zhirou, and Mu Qing leading the way, there were no surprises. Other than leaving some grass seeds, all the red grass there was pulled out.
Old Liu was pleased, holding a cluster of glowing red plants. This grass was only three inches tall but contained rich vitality and spirituality.
Before the shallow night arrived, Qin Ming hunted a wild bull and found an opportunity to stuff the half stone into its belly. Then, he joined up with Cao Long, Mu Qing, and the others.
He hadn’t hunted in a long time, so bringing back a prey felt reasonable, especially since he had a very good relationship with this group now.
Even if someone was watching at the mountain’s edge, sizing up those coming out, they wouldn’t check Qin Ming and Old Liu, who were walking together with Mu Qing and Cao Long. They all smoothly left the mountain with their respective gains.
At night, Qin Ming didn’t even bother to eat dinner. After returning home, he started examining the half stone.
“What’s going on?” His heart sank. When he took the stone from the mountain today, he felt something was off; he didn’t sense any weak fluctuations.
Now, he focused and held it tightly, still feeling nothing special.
Since being eroded and adapting in the fissure, Qin Ming had developed an unusual perception of mysterious resources nourished by celestial light.
But now, he couldn’t feel anything inside.
He took a deep breath and began to carefully peel off the stone skin. If he could feel a fluctuation again, he might stop and wait a few more days to cut it open.
However, he had already crushed most of the stone, and there was still no sign of anything unusual.
Just as his heart sank further, he suddenly felt something mysterious inside, but there were no signs of any anomalies, not even a hint of the celestial light that should have remained.
“What is this?!” Even Qin Ming, usually calm, was startled enough to nearly jump up.