Chapter 15: Mountain Soul-Essence

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

“All matter has a spirit, all spirits can nurture a soul, all souls can develop a mind.

“We’re looking for the Mountain Soul-Essence, so we should first go to a location where spiritual energy converges.”

Xu Xiaolan was dressed in a white daoist robe and explained the situation to An Lin as she walked in front of him gracefully.

The gold and jade bells tied to her waist tinkled crisply and melodiously as she walked, sounding like the joyous chirping of birds.

“Then how are we meant to know at which location the spiritual energy converges?” An Lin asked.

“Your rank is too low right now, so you don’t have a direct perception regarding the differing concentrations of spiritual energy.

“You’re not able to learn this, so you still have to rely on me for this.”

Xu Xiaolan glanced at An Lin with a triumphant expression.

“I’m already at the Seventh Stage Dao Body and you’re only at the Ninth. What are you being so smug about?” An Lin was unwilling to yield as he saw Xu Xiaolan’s expression.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I already ranked up to the Tenth Stage Dao Body a month ago,” Xu Xiaolan squinted her eyes as she smiled at An Lin, who was too surprised to utter a word. “Don’t tell me that only you’re allowed to rank up and no one else is allowed to?”

An Lin was rooted to the spot and he suddenly felt an urge to cry.

Why was Xu Xiaolan always able to hurt him unintentionally…

It took An Lin three months to rank up from the Third Stage Dao Body to the Fourth Stage. Apart from this, all his other breakthroughs were thanks to the system hacks.

However, it only took Xu Xiaolan two months to go from Ninth Stage Dao Body to Tenth Stage?

One had to realize that the higher ranked one was, the harder it would be to rank up.

If An Lin cultivated normally, how long would it take him to go from a Ninth Stage Dao Body to a Tenth Stage?

Two years? Twenty years?

Thinking of this, An Lin felt a profound sense of malice coming from the genius…

He was in low spirits as he followed behind Xu Xiaolan, and a myriad of thoughts welled up in his mind.

Before he knew it, he had already arrived at a mountain stream under the guidance of Xu Xiaolan.

Clear spring water flowed through the stream and fiery red flowers blossomed in the surroundings. The air was filled with a unique fragrance.

An Lin breathed in a few lungfuls of this fragrance and his entire body felt languid, as if he couldn’t exert any energy.

“Is this flower poisonous?!”

An Lin exclaimed in fright as he came to his senses. He pointed towards the flowers which were freakishly red.

Xu Xiaolan rolled her eyes at him. “You don’t even recognize Fire Lotuses… Was the homeroom teacher responsible for your elixir lessons?”

Hearing Xu Xiaolan say this, An Lin finally recalled this plant.

Fire Lotuses were bright-red in color and looked like lotuses. Their fragrance was enchanting and breathing it in regularly could recuperate one’s health as well as aid in Spirit Gathering. It was an Eighth Rank Spirit Medicine.

Valuable medicinal materials were usually split into three categories: Spirit Medicine, Heavenly Medicine, and Godly Medicine.

Medicines of different categories could be used to refine pills of different ranks. For example, Spirit Medicines could be refined into Spirit Pills and Heavenly Medicines could be refined into Heavenly Pills.

First Rank Spirit Medicine was the most valuable and Ninth Rank Spirit Medicine was the least valuable.

Being an Eighth Rank Spirit Medicine, Fire Lotuses were ranked very lowly. However, they were still Spirit Medicines after all, and did still count as valuable medicines, no?

Thinking of this, An Lin squatted down and started his life as a gatherer…

Xu Xiaolan saw An Lin holding the Fire Lotuses in his lap as if they were extremely valuable and his expression was as if he had picked up treasures. It appeared as if he had completely forgotten what he was here for. “Good-for-nothing,” Xu Xiaolan whispered.

She stopped looking at An Lin, instead placing her hand on the rugged cliff and sensing the flow of energy in the veins of the earth.

“It should be fine over here…” Xu Xiaolan muttered.

Immediately afterwards, she drew a deep breath and shouted in a clear and crisp voice,

“Earth Grandpa, come out!!!”

An Lin, who was squatting on the floor, was startled by her loud voice.

Before An Lin could regain his senses, the earth suddenly started to tremor violently.

“E-earthquake?” An Lin had a startled expression. Soon after, he saw something even more astonishing.

A gigantic body composed of rocks slowly rose from the earth.

It was over three meters tall and a thick and heavy light flashed in its dim, yellow eyes. When it moved, it made a tremendous sound of rocks colliding together, making it appear extremely powerful.

When An Lin saw this massive rock creature, he couldn’t help but think of a character that he often came across in a game he used to play—Malphite, Shard of the Monolith…

To think that such a creature was now being referred to by Xu Xiaolan as… Earth Grandpa?

“Little girl, you’re calling me?”

The lava creature’s voice was deep but not loud and it gave people an indistinct feeling of pressure.

Xu Xiaolan nodded and said, “I came here in hope that Earth Grandpa could bestow upon us some Mountain Soul-Essence.”

Halfway through her sentence, Xu Xiaolan glanced backwards towards An Lin and raised her eyebrows slightly. “Ten grams is all I want,” she continued.

“Oh, Mountain Soul-Essence. I do indeed have a surplus of it. Who would have thought that there would still be people after this now? Here, a gift for you!”

The lava creature extended its arm out and a small earthly yellow ball slowly appeared in its palm.

Xu Xiaolan respectfully took the small ball and saluted at the lava creature.

Seeing this, An Lin quickly mimicked Xu Xiaolan’s action and expressed his gratitude towards the lava creature.

The lava creature nodded its head slightly, then started to melt slowly into the ground.

“Here, we’ve got the Mountain Soul-Essence. Hurry up and eat it.”

There was a hint of anticipation in Xu Xiaolan’s eyes as she placed the earthly yellow ball in An Lin’s hand.

“It was actually so easy to obtain, isn’t that way too easy?”

An Lin initially thought that searching for the Mountain Soul-Essence would be as difficult as looking for extremely rare treasures. Who knew that all it would take was for them to summon ‘Earth Grandpa’ and then request him to ‘bestow’ it upon them? This was completely different from his expectations!

Don’t I need to complete missions? Don’t I need to go treasure hunting?

Is this not a treasure? Why was it bestowed upon us so casually?

Xu Xiaolan chuckled upon hearing this. “What’s wrong? I’ve only seen people who are afraid of trouble. Who would’ve thought that you’d actually be afraid when things are too easy?”

An Lin didn’t know how to respond, and he laughed dryly. He didn’t hesitate any longer and put the Mountain Soul-Essence into his mouth.

The texture and taste of the Mountain Soul-Essence largely exceeded An Lin’s expectations. It melted the instant he put it in his mouth and tasted fairly similar to peppermint drops, having a sweet and refreshing flavor.

“Mmm, it tastes good,” An Lin nodded in admiration.

Xu Xiaolan forcefully held in her laughter. “How do you feel right now?” she asked expectantly.

“I don’t really feel anything. Should I be feeling something?” An Lin looked at Xu Xiaolan in surprise.

This time it was Xu Xiaolan’s turn to feel gloomy. She appeared to be disappointed that something she had been anticipating didn’t eventuate.

Suddenly, there was a ‘ding’ and a message appeared in the God of War System.

“Ten grams of Mountain Soul-Essence have been absorbed. Congratulations on learning an Elementary Rank God of War Immortal Spell—Mountain Quaking Fist!”

Immediately afterwards, all the information regarding the Mountain Quaking Fist rushed into An Lin’s mind: The concepts, activation mantra, effects and so forth.

After a moment, An Lin drew a deep breath, his eyes sparkling. It was clear that he had already grasped this elementary rank immortal spell.

He knew that if he could fully master the Mountain Quaking Fist, one punch would have the power to destroy a mountain!

An Lin started reciting the mantra for the Mountain Quaking Fist. A ball of golden light gathered in his fist and a raging energy was contained within it.

Xu Xiaolan sensed the golden light which had converged in An Lin’s fist and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

An Lin punched towards a mountain wall in the distance, and a dazzling gold light burst from his fist.

A faint three-meter halo of a golden fist surged from his fist and collided into the wall with a vast amount of power.

Boom! The mountain in front of An Lin trembled slightly, as crushed rocks exploded from the mountain wall.

Afterwards, he was astonished to see that on the towering mountain wall, there was an incredibly deep imprint in the shape of a three-meter large fist…