TL: Etude
Hidden Realm.
At this moment, Ye Tian was completely unaware that Yue Ling had contributed all of her Fire Spirit Talent Grass and six Soul Flowers to the family for an opportunity to break through to the King level. If he had known, he could only sigh. For him, reaching the King level was not difficult, as his cultivation talent had already evolved into the extraordinary level. His was even better than most ordinary extraordinary talents for cultivation, given that his talent was a fusion of both extraordinary and top levels.
"Eight hundred meters away, there's a 500-year-old polygonum multiflorum!"
Ye Tian's gaze penetrated through layers of space and fixed on a polygonum multiflorum plant nestled in a crevice 800 meters away. His expression shifted. This was an ability related to spatial awareness, enabling him to effortlessly locate medicinal herbs. Earlier, when Yue Ling was present, he had not dared to collect herbs so recklessly. Now that Yue Ling was gone, he had no reservations.
In the blink of an eye, Ye Tian arrived at the location where the polygonum multiflorum was growing. He carefully harvested the plant and placed it in a temporary wooden box, which he then stored in his personal space.
Continuing the search!
In the Hidden Realm, there were countless herbs that were hundreds of years old. Ye Tian could easily find them. To him, this realm was a natural treasure trove. The realm also housed a large number of high-level ferocious beasts, each of which could provide ample amounts of high-quality beast blood. Besides collecting herbs, Ye Tian's most crucial task was to collect this high-quality beast blood.
In the outside world, hunting high-level ferocious beasts was perilous; within a day, one could easily attract the attention of top-level ferocious beasts. However, things were different in the Hidden Realm. Here, the strongest creatures were only high-level ferocious beasts; top-level ones didn't appear.
In the past, Ye Tian had worried about how to carry all the high-level beast blood he collected, but now he had two storage bags and a personal space, sufficient for collecting large amounts of it.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this period, Ye Tian had been hunting high-level ferocious beasts and collecting herbs like a madman. Relying on his top-level healing talents, he had survived multiple deadly ambushes by various beasts. He didn't know how many high-level beasts had died by his hands; all he knew was that his personal space and two storage bags were almost full.
"I can't hunt any more high-level beasts; I've run out of room anyway!"
Ye Tian stopped hunting, but there were still many treasures in the Hidden Realm yet to be unearthed, especially underground. His mental power had difficulty extending underground, but his spatial awareness could perceive underground conditions with ease.
On several occasions, he had sensed the existence of mineral veins, although they were not veins of Qi stones but rather metallic veins like copper, iron, and silver. These veins were valuable in this world, but how much could he collect on his own? Even if he filled up his personal space, it wouldn't fetch much money. Far less than what he could make from high-level beast blood and medicinal herbs.
Therefore, he reluctantly gave up on these metal veins.
"I probably have about ten days left. Let's keep searching, focusing on Qi stone veins. If I can't find any, I'll just have to leave."
Ye Tian planned accordingly.
Based on his assessment, Qi stone veins were likely to be in places where the Qi was particularly rich. But the Hidden Realm was vast, and his sensing range was limited, making it difficult to determine where Qi stone veins were most likely to occur. Otherwise, he would have found them long ago.
After searching for two more days, just as Ye Tian was about to give up entirely on finding Qi stone veins, it seemed as if heaven couldn't bear to see him disappointed and granted him an opportunity.
"What is that..."
Ye Tian's gaze locked onto a rat 100 meters away.
The rat was purple all over, with a streak of golden fur between its brows, looking extraordinarily special. Ye Tian examined its talent and found that it was indeed very exceptional.
Species: Purple Gold Treasure Rat
Bloodline Talent: Top-tier
Treasure Hunting Talent: High
"Could it be? A purple-golden treasure mouse with treasure-hunting talent!"
Ye Tian felt as if the heavens were truly favoring him. He had discovered such an extraordinary treasure mouse.
High-tier treasure-hunting talent was extremely rare. Ye Tian wanted to replicate it, but his replication talent was still in its cooldown phase. The cooldown would be over soon, but by that time, he would have already left the secret realm.
Therefore, he had to capture this purple-golden treasure mouse, and furthermore, he wanted to use it to find treasures for him within the secret realm, preferably a vein of Qi stones.
Whoosh!
Ye Tian teleported next to the purple-golden treasure mouse.
The treasure mouse had been searching for treasures to enhance its own strength when it suddenly noticed Ye Tian's appearance. A sense of impending crisis descended upon it.
It tried to flee, but Ye Tian's large hand reached for it.
Boom!
Amplified by his strength talent and Yuan force, the sheer power in Ye Tian's hand reached the level of five elephants, and his speed far exceeded the treasure mouse's reaction time.
As a result, the purple-golden treasure mouse was seized by Ye Tian and couldn't escape no matter what.
"Little guy, if you submit to me, I won't kill you; otherwise..."
Ye Tian threatened.
Though it seemed a bit wrong to threaten a beast, especially such a cute one, humans and beasts were separate entities, with no need for moral courtesies.
"Squeak squeak squeak~~~"
The purple-golden treasure mouse kept squealing as if furious. However, once Ye Tian exuded a killing intent, it immediately quieted down.
Then, the purple-golden treasure mouse nodded its head repeatedly, seemingly saying: I am willing to submit!
"Recognize your master. You know how to do that, right?"
Ye Tian smirked.
The treasure mouse waved its tiny paws as if to say, "You scoundrel, you are so shameless..."
"Recognize your master!"
Ye Tian tightened his grip, a great force making the treasure mouse's body squeak as its bones shattered.
Now, the purple-golden treasure mouse was panicking.
It was no ordinary beast but a purple-golden treasure mouse that had consumed countless heavenly and earthly treasures, even ones that granted intelligence. Its wisdom was not inferior to humans.
It, too, feared death.
Seeing that Ye Tian was really willing to harm it, it hastily released its soul light, which flew into Ye Tian's soul sea.
When Ye Tian absorbed the soul light of the purple-golden treasure mouse, the act of recognizing a master was completed.
"Master!"
A voice akin to a young girl's appeared in Ye Tian's mind.
"Are you female?"
Only then did Ye Tian pay attention to the gender of the purple-golden treasure mouse.
He promptly flipped the mouse over to take a closer look, "Indeed, you are female!"
"Master, you big pervert!"
The purple-golden treasure mouse fumed in Ye Tian's mind.
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