GDK 538: Harvesting
It was a feeling that could not be explained with words. As Han Shuo stood before the door, his death basegod soul attached to the skeletal staff had definitely sensed an unsettlingly familiar aura coming from an item inside. It felt almost unreal.
From the pressing tone of Han Shuo’s words, Jasper could tell that he was very excited. Although she was somewhat puzzled, she did not say a word before proceeding to the stone door with the authorization token Crosius placed in her hand. When she inserted the token into one of the grooves, the stone door started to rise slowly.
A wide, well-lit tunnel was revealed. There were lighted torches placed on the wall made of stone. There were four chambers connected to the tunnel, and two on each side of the tunnel. At Jasper’s indication, Han Shuo walked into the tunnel with her. She pointed at the stone chambers and explained, “This is War Demon Valley’s weaponry depot. There are also some unique and rare materials stored in here. You may have anything you wish.”
From the moment he entered the tunnel, Han Shuo only had eyes for one of the stone chambers. He rushed straight in as Jasper talked.
A round of clanking reverberated through the tunnel as Han Shuo rummaged through a bunch of curiously-shaped weapons. From a notch in the dust-coated stone wall, he dug out a bone tablet. The tablet wasn’t big, shaped like a brick, and it wasn’t obvious which creature’s bone it was created from. On the front side of the tablet was the pattern of a skull, while the back side was a Canopy of Necromancy magical matrix, emanating faint element of death.
Having completely unlocked all the secrets inside the skeletal staff, Han Shuo recognized that this bone tablet was the key to opening and operating a Cemetery of Death. The original owner of the skeletal staff had once received a bone tablet similar to the one Han Shuo was holding. It was given to him along with the Cemetery of Death. Later on in his career he had managed to memorize the imprint inside his bone tablet and transferred the imprint onto his own weapon – the skeletal staff. This had effectively rendered the bone tablet useless.
The fact that Han Shuo had found the bone tablet suggested to him that another Cemetery of Death was present in the Abyss Realm. Han Shuo gradually released his mental strength using his death basegod soul, allowing it to flow into the bone tablet. He discovered that the imprint within this bone tablet had been stripped off as well.
“Han Shuo, what are you doing?” Jasper approached, puzzled, as Han Shuo contemplated while fiddling with the bone tablet in his hand.
“This thing, where did it come from?” Han Shuo raised the bone tablet at Jasper and asked with a grave expression.
“I have no idea, but it looks like it’s been here for a while now. Probably some tribute offered ages ago. The thing is wrapped in a thick layer of dust, I doubt there’s anything special about it. Han Shuo, does it serve any sort of function?” Jasper was perplexed.
“Help me figure out the origins of this item. I need to know.” Han Shuo knew that Jasper was in charge of the arrangement and classification of some items inside the warehouse. This was also the reason that Crosius had appointed her to lead the way for Han Shuo.
“Sure. However, this thing is rather old and was certainly put here long before I was in charge of managing the warehouse records. It might take some time,” Jasper replied with a big smile. She seemed absolutely thrilled to be able to assist Han Shuo.
“Thank you,” Han Shuo answered. Finding this bone tablet had disentangled a big stone in his heart. The presence of this bone tablet indicated that a subordinate of the overgod of death must have, at some point, made a presence in this Abyss realm, and therefore a Cemetery of Death must also exist in this world.
After verifying his beliefs and finding its location, Han Shuo would finally be able to return to Profound Continent via the Cemetery of Death. Seeing that his chances of getting home were growing more and more promising, his heart flipped like a pancake.
“Relax! Give me some time and I will find out for you. For now, you may select the materials you require from the four stone chambers,” Jasper said with a graceful smile. After taking a glance around this musty room, Jasper continued, “This room is of the most ancient period and most things inside are of antiquity. I don’t think you will find many goods that would fit your needs. Perhaps you should start by looking at the other three rooms first.”
It was only after listening to Jasper’s words that Han Shuo remembered the reason he was there. After looking all around, Han Shuo discovered that the stone room was bigger than he imagined. The whole room occupied the size of a basketball court, and the goods were orderly and densely placed. There were some oddly-shaped weapons and armor, with all kinds of stone, bone and wooden materials of all colors, textures, and shapes. Han Shuo had never even seen the majority of items in the room.
Han Shuo was rather lacking in a certain knowledge of the Abyss realm. Most goods there were distinct to those on Profound Continent. However, Han Shuo believed that he could certainly find some shockingly good material in this miraculous Abyss realm given the power of his consciousness. He unhurriedly inquired Jasper about the properties and specific functions of the items and materials inside the room one by one.
Jasper’s extensive knowledge as a manager caught Han Shuo by surprise. She could describe the properties and specific uses of most materials in the room as though an expert. As Han Shuo listened to Jasper’s description, he examined each and every piece using his eyes and consciousness, not letting a single item slip by.
Over time, strange rays of light flashed across Han Shuo’s eyes, and his lips curved, revealing a pleasantly surprised smile. One after another, Han Shuo collected the items into his space ring. After just a short while, a hundred or so items inside the room disappeared out of sight.
Jasper was shocked at what she saw. “Han Shuo, what, what is that thing? A pocket? How can it store so many things? That’s, that’s unbelievable!”
“Oh, this is a space ring. It’s exactly like a pocket and is used to store things,” Han Shuo explained. He suddenly recalled that as cultivators of the eight elemental energies and four edictal forces in the Abyss realm had only been training the body, they did not have adequate knowledge about the soul and couldn’t sense the presence of mental strength. For this reason, it would be impossible for them to construct an item like the space ring.
“Space ring?” Jasper was at a loss. Soon after she turned extremely interested and asked, “How many things can it store?”
Han Shuo glanced at this stone chamber around the size of a basketball court before he replied, “Its capacity is around five times this stone chamber’s. That much.”
“…Han Shuo, you truly are magical. Why are there so many mysterious objects in your possession?” Jasper opened her little mouth wide for a long while before she finally said with shock.
“Here, I’ll give you one. This space ring is only one stone chamber big, but still it’s enough for you to store a lot of stuff,” Han Shuo casually withdrew a low-quality space ring and handed it to Jasper before he continued, “However, it will only become functional after you managed to sense the presence of mental strength.”
“It’s precious!” Jasper was delighted and quickly slid light-purple space ring onto one of her slender fingers.
“But nothing could be more beautiful than those two hands of yours!” Han Shuo said candidly as he reached out to grope her fingers. He thought, I’m going to take this girl down slowly. It wouldn’t be as much fun if I were to rush it.
Jasper’s pretty face blushed. She looked at Han Shuo with her bright eyes before clenching her teeth and whispering, “Naughty boy! You really know how to flatter a woman, don’t you!”
“It’s true. Who can deny that you are the most beautiful woman in War Demon Valley?” Han Shuo grinned. He was elated, but that happiness came from all the good stuff he had discovered in this Abyss realm. With Jasper’s explanations and his own examination, merely in this stone room, he had struck a goldmine of artifacts that Profound Continent lacked, many of them treasured materials that could refine demonic weapons.
Apart from that, some strange materials that were exceedingly difficult to obtain on Profound Continent and Earth were stored in large quantities in this warehouse. For example, black iron ore and black gold ore of the highest purity, and an assortment of blue-gold sand that was more precious than diamonds.
Hundreds of rare materials, as long as Han Shuo found them useful, were swallowed into his space ring with no trace of modesty. With so much good stuff on his hands, in addition to the Braingorge Raksha he had plundered before, Han Shuo could immediately set about refining dark dragon Gilbert a new body.
Furthermore, with these materials at hand, along with some extra time, he could refine demonic weapons just as useful as the Blood Seether. It would be a wonder not to be overjoyed by that.
“Have Hemanna and Sylph been deceived by you like this? Hmph, you lustful animal!” Jasper feigned anger coquettishly. But soon after, she let out an adorable giggle and whispered, “But still, in this Abyss realm, there hasn’t been a man who could talk so amiably and be so approachable with ladies like you. You are quite interesting!”
Any fool could tell that Jasper had feelings for Han Shuo. However, as he had proper business to complete, he did not rush to set about occupying her. He let out a mischievous laugh and said, “Alright, alright, let’s move on to the other three rooms… Hehe…”
As he spoke, Han Shuo deliberately got near to Jasper to sniff the refreshing fragrance from her body, putting on a punchable face as he relished her scent. As Jasper had feelings for Han Shuo to begin with, she only berated Han Shuo with a smile. She appeared most willing to be teased by Han Shuo. Later, she proceeded to introduce the materials in the other three stone chambers.
Han Shuo found even more materials that were extremely useful in the other chambers, not to mention equally rare on Profound Continent. Han Shuo couldn’t have been more thrilled harvesting those goods and continuously repeated, “This is good, this is useful, oh, this is useful too…”
Jasper was just speechless.