Book 10 Chapter 18 – The Stone Eggs of Despair
NOVEMBER 3, 2017 ~ EMILYEVELAN
Note: The chapter is funnier if you think of ‘egg’ as an innuendo. Especially in Chinese.
There is also a limit on the number of people that can go through the Hidden Gate at a time: the more people, the higher the price. This time, a total of twelve people is going through the gate. Guqi paid the price of Yin rings out of his own pocket, but Feng Chenzong was required to repay it sooner or later.
Some Monarchs can use just their Hidden Gate to obtain a large amount of materials, an example being Song Qiao. He worked alone and free, and the energy his Hidden Gate used wasn’t much. Sometimes, he worked together with larger sects to enter other outer worlds to find materials that he needed.
Guqi brought the group in front of his Hidden Gate.
There are several kinds of Hidden Gates. One kind is stationary and utilized the special spatial properties of a Hidden Dimension, and is also the cheapest kind to use. A downside of the stationary gate was that it wasn’t possible to transport it. The user must also create a sub gate connected to the main gate that can accompany the owner.
Another kind of Hidden Gate can be absorbed into the body directly. This kind of Gate is extremely limited and there are many locations it cannot reach. Most kinds of newly ascended Monarchs use this kind of Gate since it is cheaper to create, as well as being more convenient. This kind of Gate is what Xin Zhaolun is preparing to create.
Opening a Hidden Gate isn’t difficult, especially when the destination is an ordinary outer world. Guqi quickly opened the gate. “Go quickly, and don’t dawdle for too long there.”
Under Feng Chenzong’s lead, the group entered and disappeared through the Hidden Gate.
Practitioners relied on Hidden Gates to enter new worlds. Using their strength, they can often do whatever they want in these outer worlds. However, they’ll run into problems if they run into stronger natives or beasts. However, for the sake of resources, they were willing to explore these new worlds.
According to Lei Xinfeng’s understanding, these worlds and the world of his past are slightly different, but he didn’t put much thought into it; it was enough if he could take advantage of the resources here. He wasn’t a scientist or researcher that must know why; as long as something was reasonable, he was satisfied.
When he stepped onto the Great Stone Field, he jumped in surprise. “My heavens… no wonder!”
Stone eggs like the one Feng Chenzong showed him covered the floor. As far as he could see, stone eggs of all sizes littered the ground. The largest might be the size of a goose egg, while the smallest was the size of a quail egg. There were all colors of the rainbow.
Lei Xinfeng pointed at the floor. “Senior Brother… this…this…” He didn’t even know what to say.
Feng Chenzong grimaced. “Do you understand now? This sky crystal is hidden inside these rocks, but there are thousands, millions, billions of these stone eggs. Who knows which of them is right?”
Lei Xinfeng did understand now why Feng Chenzong spent seventeen years here, but couldn’t find a single sky crystal. He also understood why Feng Chenzong used picked up instead of mine. It really was picking up. There’s a whole field of stone eggs for you to pick up. However, is there anything more difficult than trying to find and pick up a stone egg containing a sky crystal?
Xin Zhaolun was also stunned. “How do we even deal with this? Leaving aside the little amount of time we have, even if we some hundred years, we might still not succeed. This is pure luck through and through!”
“Indeed,” Feng Chenzong said, sighing. “That’s why I asked Ah Feng to come. Since he has good luck, then I’m not willing to give up if he doesn’t try at least once.”
“Uh, this stone egg. We have to break every one of them? Or we won’t know which of them contains a sky crystal?” Lei Xinfeng asked.
“Correct. If you think there’s something inside, break it.” He winced. He had already broken countless eggs and he hadn’t found a single sky crystal. The broken stone egg he gave Lei Xinfeng was something he traded from elsewhere in order to see what kind of egg holds sky crystals. It was all useless in the end.
Everyone was dazed. No matter how many people came, it was still impossible to find a sky crystal. Stone eggs covered the ground without limit or end; finding an egg with a sky crystal in it is harder than finding a needle in an ocean. Everyone’s faces were pale.
Feng Chenzong could only comfort them. “Everyone, try your best. It’s normal to not be able to find anything. No pressure, haha!”
Xin Zhaolun picked up a stone egg. “Are these eggs considered materials?”
“These eggs are just normal stones without any special properties. Its only use is to carve it into some accessory for ordinary people. To us, it’s utterly useless.”
Then, Feng Chenzong explained their objective. When he mentioned the words Dijun Liquid Crystal, the guards jumped. This was something from legends. Even these guards that used Yin rings to ascend, originally they had no chance of even ascending, but if they could add a forty percent chance of success, and if, just if, they succeed in ascending, then it was all worth it.
After Feng Chenzong’s explanation, everyone knew what to do. The heavy mood lifted in an instant and everyone became excited.
Feng Chenzong laughed bitterly. Back when he first discovered the presence of stone eggs here, he was similarly excited. However, after so many years, he had long become numb. After searching for so many years without a single crystal to show for his efforts, he thought the chances of finding a crystal among these rocks might be ten million to one, or even a trillion to one. He had a glimmer of hope left, so he brought these people here, but that was only because he was one step short of giving up.
“A few more points. Stone eggs with sky crystals are slightly heavier than normal, and their shapes are average, not too big and not too small, like this,” Feng Chenzong said, picking up a stone egg, displaying to everyone. “Also, they’re not usually bright. Stone eggs containing sky crystals should be light gray, blue-gray, or purple. Pay attention when you pick those up.”
“Lastly, and most importantly, when a stone egg containing a crystal breaks, there will be a shock wave. Be on your guard. There will be people coming to steal it.”
Lei Xinfeng understood that this is the conclusion that Feng Chenzong came to after years of researching, or he wouldn’t say anything. However, he dismissed all the tips. If these tips really worked, then he’d probably have found at least one sky crystal. Since he did not, these experiences is of no use.
Although Jin Daya was excited, he understood that this sky crystal really was rare and hard to find, or he’d never get the chance to look for it in his life.
“Alright, let’s split up and work alone. If you think that a stone egg might contain a sky crystal, break it. I hope someone gets lucky,” Feng Chenzong said.
Everyone agreed.
Following that, Feng Chenzong’s eyes darkened. “No matter who it is, the first sky crystal we obtain must be handed to me. I won’t take it without giving you anything back; I will naturally compensate you for it. However, you must not hide it. If I find someone hiding it, then that person will be my enemy for the rest of my life. Besides, it’s impossible for you to hide the shock wave from the sky crystal.”
“Everyone hear? Give it up if you find one,” Xin Zhaolun said.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother. If I find one, I’ll give it to you,” Lei Xinfeng said. He didn’t want to offend Feng Chenzong here. He was also confident that if he found one, then he could find ten. With his eyes, he could definitely see the differences between the stone eggs.
Feng Chenzong nodded, satisfied, especially toward Lei Xinfeng’s attitude.
Lei Xinfeng paused and found that this place was extremely hot and dry. These boundless stone fields without a single plant or animal really were completely barren.
After changing his clothes, he took out his frost pearl. Instantly, fog drifted from the pearl. “This zeshe frost pearl is so useful, haha.”
Jin Daya, Fengying, and Shihu all took out their frost pearls and hung it from their neck. Cool air wreathed their body. The best thing was that the frost pearl actually managed to disperse the unease and hostility in their hearts. Lei Xinfeng realized that the frost pearl could counteract the slaughter instinct this place caused.
Xin Zhaolun also hung his pearl from his neck.
“From Hanya Castle?” Feng Chenzong asked.
“Yeah. Back then, we hunted quite a few zeshes. All of us got one. After putting it on, it feels much cooler. It’s hot here,” Lei Xinfeng said.
“Not bad,” Feng Chenzong nodded. “Alright, let’s disperse. Let’s see how lucky everyone is.”
The group split up and began to look for sky crystals.
At first, they were all filled with confidence. With the exception of Lei Xinfeng, they were all Ninth Ring super experts. A slight squeeze was enough to break apart a stone egg in their hands. After breaking a few dozens of stone eggs, everyone felt nauseous. There wasn’t anything aside from rocks except more rocks. What sky crystal?
Lei Xinfeng was alone. On his left was Fengying, around a hundred meters away. On the right was Shihu, and finally there was Jin Daya. They were all around a hundred meters apart. Each of them had their head down, time and time again breaking a stone egg, then continuing their search.
After walking some thousand meters, each of them felt the light of hope die away.
After breaking a few eggs, Lei Xinfeng stopped and began to stare, trying to find differences. He knew that his eyes were abnormal, so if he found an unusual egg, it will likely contain a sky crystal. He had much more confidence than Feng Chenzong.
Seven more chapters to go, I think.
I see so many dropped Chinese novels, but most of the good ones are published by Qidian. Urgh.