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“Anything at all?”
“Yes. Even a stone or a blade of grass—it can extract the spiritual energy from within and give it to you.” White Board, having had its spiritual energy absorbed, was still wary. “Just now, when I merely touched the pot, it absorbed one-tenth of my spiritual energy. This thing is vicious!”
Feng Miao Jun thought for a moment, then took out a spirit stone from her bosom and tossed it into the pot.
Dong, a dull sound.
And then, nothing happened.
The spirit stone lay at the bottom of the pot, completely motionless.
“It’s not digesting it?”
“Mistress, it’s still in hibernation and hasn’t awakened yet,” White Board coughed lightly. “Some high-level magical artifacts automatically enter a hibernation state after long periods of disuse to extend their lifespan.” This pot had been submerged at the sea bottom for who knows how long, and there weren’t many living creatures that swam into it to feed it. Only when the White Board tried to merge with it did it trigger its counter-absorption.
“This object seems to have existed for a very long time.” Feng Miao Jun stroked the edge of the pot and discovered several small indentations around the rim. “There are several slots on the edge, suggesting that the furnace was originally at least two pieces—this is just the bottom part and can’t truly be called Hong Lu.”
Even so, this object was quite extraordinary. It was rare for a magical artifact to retain its magical properties after being dismantled. From this perspective, the furnace was exceptional.
“Hmm, let’s call it the Spirit-Gathering Pot for now.” Feng Miao Jun lightly tapped the pot. “How do we awaken it?”
“This thing has been asleep for too long; its appetite is likely enormous,” White Board peered cautiously at the pot. “It would be best to use a blood sacrifice, preferably a living being with strong spiritual power. That would increase the chances of awakening it.”
Using living creatures for blood sacrifice? This method sounded quite sinister, but considering the inscription on the pot, it was a product of the Celestial Demons, so it was naturally extraordinary.
Though the White Board’s description was simple, she understood its remarkable power.
The pot’s ability lay in extracting all the spiritual energy from objects. All things created by heaven and earth, even plants and trees, possess at least a trace of spiritual energy, not to mention higher beings like demons and humans. Even ordinary people without any strength, from eighty-year-old women to newborn infants, possess a life force that sustains their physical actions, which is intricately connected to spiritual energy.
The Spirit-Gathering Pot worked in reverse, extracting the spiritual energy bestowed by heaven and earth, making it available for its master’s use.
In today’s world where spiritual energy is increasingly scarce, the pot’s usefulness is beyond doubt. White Board had mentioned that it condensed spiritual energy into liquid form, or “spirit liquid.” It was difficult for the human body to absorb free-floating spiritual energy from the air. Cultivators spent every day absorbing celestial essence and morning dew, working on this very task for decades or even a century, only to barely glimpse the gate of cultivation before reaching the stage of physical and spiritual exhaustion, forced to die with regret.
With the Spirit-Gathering Pot, things would be different. As long as she was willing to invest in it, there would be an endless supply of spirit liquid available to her.
The potential speed of cultivation was enough to make one’s mouth water.
That monster who sold Water-Feeding Pills truly possessed a treasure without knowing it. He was busy trying to scam people with fake snake fangs for a few dozen spirit stones, not realizing that if he had sent this Spirit-Gathering Pot to the Luo Fu Fishery Auction, he could have lived without worry for ten lifetimes.
However, how to awaken it? Ordinary pigs or sheep wouldn’t suffice. White Board suggested throwing in a large living monster, but Feng Miao Jun was still too softhearted.
If it were Yun Ya, he would probably use humans for sacrifice without a second thought, wouldn’t he?
Why was she thinking of him again? Feng Miao Jun sighed inwardly. Well, that was a matter for another time.
As the date of the Luo Fu Fishery Auction drew nearer, more and more ships arrived at the harbor. Of course, these were ships carrying land creatures. There were also large groups of sea tribes that didn’t need to come ashore at all; they simply swam directly into the underwater city of Luo Fu.
Luo Fu’s upper city had been peaceful these past two days. Jing Shun, Fu Ling Chuan, and the others seemed to have vanished into the sea of people, without a sound.
This made Feng Miao Jun vaguely worried as if it were the calm before a storm.
She specifically changed her appearance and made another trip to the marketplace, finding that the unscrupulous stall owner had been replaced by an unfamiliar monster, and the goods had been changed as well. When she asked about the previous stall owner, the new one merely said he didn’t know.
It seemed that Jing Shun had been quite ruthless—like a master, like a servant.
Feng Miao Jun suppressed her doubts and went to accompany Madam Xu for some recreation. Keeping her promise, she took her adoptive mother snorkeling.
This had been an activity she enjoyed in her previous life, and she hadn’t expected Spiral Float Island to offer it as well. Although this island shared by humans and monsters wasn’t large, its prosperity was no less than that of major human cities; the island even had casinos. The underwater tours were operated by sea monsters, but they charged in silver and had quite good attitudes, showing that wealthy people who arrived by boat often came for the experience.
The underwater environment of Spiral Float Island left Madam Xu dumbfounded.
It was completely natural and unpolluted; the clear seawater was like gemstones. The underwater city of Luo Fu was brightly lit, making the beautiful spiral structure appear transparent. The Jiao people paid great attention to the appearance of their city, transplanting various beautiful aquatic plants and decorating with colorful schools of fish, far surpassing the landscaping of human cities.
Watching a great white shark swim overhead, Madam Xu exclaimed in amazement: “It’s so beautiful.”
Having taken a Water-Feeding Pill, she could breathe freely underwater. Now sitting on the back of a turtle monster, touring the city of Luo Fu, she was completely mesmerized by the stunning scenery.
This was a breathtaking sight that ordinary people might never see in their lifetime.
After returning to shore, Feng Miao Jun gave the turtle monster an extra fifty taels of silver as a tip.
The monsters here were quite professional and very polite to paying customers, even if they were ordinary humans. This also showed how severely the decline of spiritual energy had affected the monster tribes. Feng Miao Jun had read in countless scrolls about how, before this era, monsters were superior beings who treated ordinary humans as slaves. Even in the early days of the Hao Li Empire, great monsters would devour entire cities of people. Who could have imagined today’s harmonious coexistence?
On the morning of the Luo Fu Fishery Auction, Lu Chuan Ying suddenly knocked on Feng Miao Jun’s door.
“Fu Ling Chuan’s subordinates have chartered several ships at the harbor these past few days,” he said. He hadn’t been idle either.
Feng Miao Jun frowned: “What is he planning to do?”
“I indirectly questioned a ship captain. He’s setting sail today.”
Strange. “He’s not taking our ship anymore?”
“It seems not.” Lu Chuan Ying lowered his voice. “Most sea travelers wait until after the Luo Fu festival to leave, so there aren’t many ships departing now. However, he paid a high price to charter a ship, which is raising its sails right now.”
Feng Miao Jun was puzzled: “He’s leaving now?” Fu Ling Chuan had come on the same ship as her; why was he suddenly in a hurry to leave?
Unfortunately, the ghost-faced spider nest had been taken by Jing Shun; otherwise, she could have sent it out to gather intelligence.
“No, it seems he just ordered the ship to depart,” Lu Chuan Ying shook his head. “He and Princess Chang Le went to Luo Fu’s underwater city.”
This fellow’s actions were very suspicious.
Feng Miao Jun stroked her chin and said: “We should be heading out too.”