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80.12% Learning To Live As A Cultivator / Chapter 258: Chapter Fifty Eight - He discovers some secrets

Chapter 258: Chapter Fifty Eight - He discovers some secrets

Since it was a cave hidden behind a torrent of falling water, it was naturally damp and cold.  But that was just the entrance of the cave for it was far deeper than expected.

Velana and her fox braved the elements to return with wood to burn, however the elements had been unkind these past few days so even though the canopy was thick, rain had eventually permeated to the ground below.  Caelus used his water abilities to drawn the moisture from the damp wood before Pike produced enough of a flame to light a fire.  The wood was decent, did not produce much smoke and the yellow flames danced over the wood, consuming it contentedly as the warmth from them began to fill the cave.

Everyone released a comfortable sigh.

Outer robes, tunics and even an inner robe or two were removed to dry with socks, Velana disappeared to change completely, while those with spare socks quickly wrapped their cold feet once more.  Blankets covered some shoulders, Pike remained shameless, naked of upper body and Caelus dried his own clothes with magic. Leon took out his stove and kettle to brew a warming tea with ginger and gingseng, while Roman examined the rocks of the cave for their worth.  It was not long before the scent of herbs was overwhelmed by the scent of braised meat.

The dried vegetables that he had packed had quickly been consumed by the hungry stomachs surrounding him, so he could only rely on that which was hunted by the others.  He wasn't sure what beast had been cut down to provide the juicy red meat within the pot and he didn't really care either, but his taste buds missed having variety.  Fortunately, for their health, he had found some common herbs that were not only useful in many common pills, but were also edible.  He tossed these into the bubbling stew without regard.

Once the stew was ready, Leon dished it out in the few bowls and cups they'd bought with them and Pike handed him a couple of dry biscuits in turn.  They scooped out the meat with their dried rations or simply drank directly from the container.  In fact, Leon had packed one bowl, one cup and a spoon, but Pike only had a waterskin, intending to live off of dried food or roasted meat, while Velana's bowl had originally been intended for her fox.  It was the first time that Pike realised that his leadership lacked proper logistics and resolved to rectify this in the future.

Once bellies were full, they looked for the driest spots to rest, cultivate or sleep for a while.  Troy pulled on his boots to explore deeper into the cave for a while and Pike rested, but with a vigilant eye, by the cave mouth.  Fortunately, it would be tricky for most beasts to traverse along the narrow ledge that they had carefully slid along to discover this place, so for a good while they would all rest in peace.

The cave they rested in was the largest of the network with only the entrance being wide enough for a man like Caelus and tall enough for a man like Pike. But Troy was neither thick of waist nor blessed with height and could easily navigate the narrow cracks and small holes leading from one cavern to the next, all of which eventually drew him back in an interesting and not without dead-ends route back to that first cavern. He excitedly held a few items of intrigue in his bag, but as there was limited space in his pouch, it was not as much as he'd seen.

Roman was quickly drawn to the unusual stones and lone crystal, while Leon noticed and identified the mushroom.  His lips formed a slight curve and his eyes softened.  It was thanks to this valuable blue mushroom that he'd once hunted high and low for that he had been swept up into the drama that was Jin Li.  He couldn't really regret it now though, even if during that first meeting and for a short while after, he really had!

"D-did you find it b-b-by a sp-spring?" Leon asked and Troy nodded in agreement. 

"How did you know?"  Troy asked as a couple of others looked intrigued, others only frowned; wasn't it just a mushroom. 

This mushroom was sought, purchased and placed upon the dining tables of the wealthy or cooked and eaten by foodies experienced in foraging.  It was a high value, quality item with a firm yet silken texture and a flavour all of its own.  Their group was from mixed backgrounds so only half of them had even heard of this resource and only one had had the fortune to taste it.  Leon could only admit he'd harvested them before, but at that time, he hadn't known their value.

It was decided to harvest more, keeping most while tasting the delicacy at least once while they had the chance.  They weren't all foodies, but didn't mean they weren't willing to lose a few points for the pleasure of eating it now.  Besides, it had many nutritional benefits that could strengthen their health during this tough challenge.

As for the rocks, most were just pretty to look at, nothing special not worth anything more than toys for children.  The crystal happened to be a quartz called ametrine, a naturally occurring phenomenon in which amethyst and citrine formed as one. The crystal with its mixed shades of yellow and purple was lovely and might be worth a little money if nothing else, so it was not an uninteresting find. Definitely worth the time to lightly mine some more.

Otherwise there were two unassuming stones, one was a dark grey without any reflective qualities, while the other was as black as midnight, yet it reacted to the heat of Roman's fingers becoming a soft lemon-white with a smoky patterning. Troy took it back and the stone plunged back into its midnight state. "How strange," Roman's fingers twitched in excitement; he'd not come across such a crystal and was definitely interested in its properties. He gingerly claimed it back, holding it to his chest as the half-palm sized stone once more changed colour.

Intuitively, he encouraged Pike to hold it in the next breath. Pike took it between finger and thumb uncertainly and the rock became a bright mix of orange and yellow, with patterns that imitated flames. Roman laughed out loud, startling his comrades, who'd never heard more than a breathy chuckle from the unassuming man. "I think it actually reacts to our spiritual roots!" He was delighted, making them hold it each in turn.

As Velana held it, it turned an ethereal azure blue, while for Leon it once again was black, but coated in a miniature galaxy. Roman wanted to ask what their roots were, but understood that this would be impolite. Velana did volunteer that her roots were spirit roots, something particularly favoured by Beast Tamers and not looked down upon amongst Scholars either, though Leon remained nervously quiet. Then Caelus took it and the stone became a beautiful ocean blue, yet also had faint swirling patterns cast over it in lines of white, revealing a truth that he usual kept hidden; his root was not purely water.

He grumbled something about it being a silly toy, tossing it back to Roman who panicked as he almost fumbled catching it and held it close to himself for a minute afterwards, no longer willing to share. But the team would not fight him for it once they'd finished the challenge, so he reluctantly allowed them to put it into the team's interdimensional bag along with the mushroom and ametrine.

As for the dark grey rock, this really was the most surprising find of all...


Chapter 259: Chapter Fifty Nine - We go spelunking

The rock with the colour of a thundercloud at night was really not very large, no bigger that Leon's pinky nail. Troy had picked it up as it was roughly in the shape of kidney bean, which had amused him, but he was truly no expert in things like crystals or geodes. But Roman was.

"This is void stone," he announced with an air of awe as he examined the stone between his fingers. He'd only seen one once and that had been in the process of refining, but just inserting a slither of his spiritual energy after placing it down and he and the others could feel the minute changes in the air around the stone for a brief moment; void stone could warp the space around it. Fortunately this piece was small and the energy he fed it tiny, so it could not have a strong effect or their bones could be crushed or even pulled apart as the space altered!

His words and demonstration completely dumbfounded the team. It was not as if veins of valueable or even priceless materials had not been discovered in the isles before. It was even rumoured that there might be some extremely good veins in the floating roots of the islands, but no one would dare attempt to harvest them for the risk of death was too great. But Pike and the others could never have imagined finding a vein in this hidden cave. The last vein to be discovered was on one of the smaller isles some two hundred years ago and that had been of a rare metal called Mithril. No one had managed to find their way back to that island since.

Void stone was not as rare as Mithril, but it was still highly sought after. Without it, there would be no interspatial nor interdimensional products, no hidden dimensions or enlarged zones, such as the common herb fields within the outer alchemist school. In the network of caverns, however, Troy had found this stone in the farthest one, meaning only three individuals could traverse the slender crevasses and shallow gaps to get to it; Troy, Leon and Velana's Fox.

Pike handed over the interdimensional bag to Troy, who then guided Leon with excellent memory to the back of the first cave. This one had the most generous opening just up a steep and slightly crumbling step, their teammates could easily follow them into this cavern. It was smaller that the first, dryer however, but otherwise no different that the first. Caelus placed a Mage globe in the centre as they glanced around. To one side, there was a long, but thin fissure, almost unnoticeable at first glance.

Rubbing the small amount of stubble beginning to develop on his chin over the past few days, Pike made a slight plan. "Caelus, you can remain here, Velana and I will keep an eye on the entrance by the waterfall." Just because this cavern was empty of beasts now, did not mean that it had always been so. Also, there were other teams upon the island to be wary of. It was not unknown for teams to ambush and steal from others. While it was frowned upon, as long as it did not result in death, it was not against the rules. The Institute would not shield their students from harsh realities of being a Cultivator. Cultivators tended to be greedy and selfish after all and not too few would step on others whilst on their path to immortality.

"Roman, go with Troy and Leon as far as you can. See if there is anything else interesting inside," Pike continued and the tall, slender man nodded and followed the two smaller youths sliding through the crevice. Actually, Roman was eager to do so, hoping to find other crystals or stones of note. Even more of the reactive stone within his pocket as well.

The larger cavern beyond the crevice didn't have too much of note at first glance, however there was water slowly trickling down a small portion, carving the rock into interesting shapes beneath its gentle and persistent pressure. Above it and them, there were stalactites in varying lengths. They could only conclude that they must be directly under the river that fed the falls at that moment.

"I collected some of the worthless stones from around here," Troy mentioned. Roman nodded and placed a palm against the walls of the cavern. He was not an earth type Cultivator nor a metal type, so his senses were not sharp, but certain crystals would react to spiritual energy alone and there were not too few that favoured his light root, but he was not able to sense anything of interest here. He was slightly disappointed.

They moved to a section of the cave that curved around before narrowing then opening out once more to reveal a sizeable hole in the ground. Although it appeared to be one large opening, in fact it led into two different caves. "That side just leads into a tunnel like space with a dead end," Troy pointed out. The walls of that tunnel had been jagged and uneven as had the floors and ceiling of it. There might be something within it, but it was difficult to see and manoeuvre. They decided to leave it, deciding not to gamble and descended towards the other cavernous space instead.

This cavern was where the mushrooms were.

It was a large space and the walls in the light of their Mage globes were a mix of ochre and brown shades. The stalactites above them were less pronounced and the walls sometimes jagged and sharp and occasionally pockmarked and smooth. The floor beneath them was much the same, but traversable and lead to a decent sized and very deep spring fed lake. Surrounding which, growing upon damp and mossy rocks were the familiar mushrooms of varying sizes. One, that was towards the rear and unfortunately unreachable, happened to be as large as their heads.

Leon poked a finger into the water before tasting it with the tip of his tongue. "Salty," he murmured, with a knowing nod. It seemed that this type of mushroom favoured salty spring water, in dark, rocky caverns. With practiced ease, the alchemist began to harvest the mushrooms growing around the accessible portion of the lake, leaving the smallest ones and claiming those palm sized and larger. It was a very decent harvest, at least three times larger his first harvest at home.

Memories flickered before his eyes of when he and Russ used to pick wild edible mushrooms when they were most abundant in the woodlands beside the village. A fair few villagers used to supplement their diets this way or sell them in town when they had the time and inclination.

After the mushrooms had been gathered, Leon gave the lakes abundant treasures one last look before following Troy towards another rock fissure. This one did not have the height required for Roman to follow them nor the width that he could crouch down to do so. Roman was disappointed as he couldn't follow them to the cave in which Troy found the reactive stone and void stone.

"Take these," he urged them, passing a small chisel like tool and hammer to them. They would help them mine the vein a little, though if it was buried to deeply into thick rock, they would have to give up still. They thanked him and Troy advised him that they'd return shortly before disappearing into the next cavern.

Roman did not remain idle and decided to explore around this cave and the tunnel they had missed for a bit.


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