What? Is it really that amazing?
Austin was glad and excited to hear this piece of information.
"Believe me, master. We should carefully store it for future use. You'll
never know when it might come handy," Violet urged.
"But I'm afraid that we must keep it in a bottle or a box made of jade,
for it has the cunning ability to escape other types of containers except
the ones I have initially mentioned,” she warned seriously.
Austin was again surprised with this fact. On second thought, this was
nothing strange since precious things always required extra care. So he
took out from the Space Ring a jade box and placed the fleece-flower
in it.
Beside them, the little beast who had been quietly watching the
unfolding events looked quite happy and satisfied, seeing that Austin
had caught the fleece-flower. It suddenly jumped up and down in front
of him, like a dog who suddenly got excited over a piece of bone.
Now, it was clear that this little beast had led them all the way here to
find this valuable herb. Austin wouldn't have been able to find this herb
if it weren't for the insistent little beast. If it were ever discovered by
other cultivators, they would definitely come scrambling for it like
hungry wolves out for sport, just like how they went crazy and
scrambled for the celestial energy ginseng found in the Grand
Desolation Mountain not long ago.
From Austin's point of view, this thousand-year-old fleece-flower could
actually be more valuable than the celestial energy ginseng.
After walking on air for a while, the little beast suddenly waved at
Austin again.
Austin got excited with the beasts action, but he thought twice and
asked it doubtfully, "What's the matter? Are you going to lead us to
another treasure?"
The little beast gave a smart nod in confirmation, then immediately
dashed towards another direction.
Pleasantly surprised, Austin and Violet chased after it again. Another
hour later, they came upon a waterfall. The scenery was simply
breathtaking. The waterfall seemed like a fine piece of silk from the
heaven flowing elegantly down, with its end touching a deep pool
which made splashing sounds. The sunshine projected a beautiful
rainbow through the spray from the waterfall
But when they gazed carefully at the pool, things became a bit strange
and thrilling. A few feet away from the waterfall, the pool was covered
by eerie vapor. And amidst the cloud of vapor, flashes of lightning were
bolting down, which were a bit hazy but clear enough for Austin and
Violet to see. The lightning sizzled and crackled, which was seriously
hard to ignore, thus catching their attention.
As they stood by the pool, they felt that waves of vapor were rushing
towards them. One could even get soaked, as if torrents of rain had
poured down of them, if they stayed in the area even longer.
When they were still observing their surroundings, the little beast
suddenly sprinted towards the pool and jumped into it. Before they
could even react, it disappeared under the water, leaving behind a little
splash
Both Austin and Violet were completely puzzled with what the beast
just did, but there was nothing that they could do about it, so they
instead waited by the water patiently.
Soon enough, the water rippled shortly followed by a sudden splash
The little beast shot out of the water and landed precisely in front of
them, like a bullet shot straight through the bull's eye.
There was a blackened stick in his paw, one that was no thicker than an
adult's arm.
Austin couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed. Compared to
what the little beast presented to him before, what it carried now
deflated his expectations. He had been expecting another valuable
object and not an ordinary dead stick. He actually felt like he had just
been duped by the creature.
So, the beast had led them to this mysterious pool only to see it fish
this charred stick, which seemed nothing like a valuable object but a
piece of half-burnt, deserted firewood?
The little beast was a naughty thing in nature, Austin thought to
himself, a bitter smile forming on his lips while he shook his head.
Perhaps it was only playing with us by showing us one of his toys,
Austin comforted himself.
"Hey, little friend. Just keep the stick for yourself. We shouldn't take
your favorite toy from you after all,” Austin nonchalantly refused when
the little beast handed the black stick to him. He was actually torn
between laughing and crying because of what the beast had brought to
him. It was as if he was expecting a jewel but ended up with a simple
rock.
But just then, a great cracking sound split the air. It sounded clear and
near even though it sounded like thunder surging in the sky.
To his utter astonishment, Austin realized after listening carefully that it
was the stick in the beast's hand that was making this strange yet
booming sound.
So Austin took a closer look at it, and to his surprise, he saw that flashes
of lightning were crashing at each other above the stick, along with
crashes of thunder.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Austin gasped.
He could tell for certain that all of these were caused by this
unimpressive stick. And he was indeed wrong about it because it was
certainly nothing even close to being ordinary.
He then quickly took the stick from the beast, and was momentarily
stunned when he felt its weight. Although it was thinner than an adult's
arm, it weighed tons!
Generally speaking, Austin could lift things weighing eight thousand
pounds with one arm now, so logically he could hold things weighing a
thousand pounds or so with great ease.
The black stick was surely something more than met the eye. Austin
could hardly carry it since he had underestimated how heavy it was.
But damn! It could be three to four thousand pounds!
Moreover, Austin felt a stream of electricity surging through him as
soon as he touched the stick, as if the energy of thunder and lightning
condensed in it was resonating with him. This resonance had produced
more thunder and lightning surrounding the stick, and had started
producing such lights around Austin.
He still had no idea what this stick could be and in what way he could
use it, but one thing was for sure--it was not just an ordinary toy, but
another rare and extraordinary treasure.
After racking his brains trying to figure out how to use the stick, Austin
finally decided to put it in the Space Ring. He promised to check it out
sometime in the future when he could get more information about it.
Having placed the treasure away, Austin turned and looked at the little
beast. It was almost dancing like it was quite pleased with itself because
of what it did for him.
“What on earth are you?" Austin was now eager to know more about it.
After all, no common beasts of his knowledge seemed to have a keen
nose for locating rare and powerful objects in this world.
"Well, master..." Violet suddenly said, "I might actually know what it is."
Violet fixed her eyes on the beast with her brows knitted together, as
though she was confirming her wild guess.
"Oh? What is it then?”
Austin asked anxiously after saying nothing in amazement for a while.
"It is probably a gnome!"