novelraw Chapter 152 : The Source Crystal
Chapter 152 : The Source Crystal
152: The Source Crystal
Swish!
The silver light of Yuyin's longsword flashed, and a Gu Diao was pierced through the head from the side. This was the third alien beast Yuyin had killed, all within the short span of a few dozen seconds. Most of these Gu Diaos were in the Mid to Late-Stage of Spirit-Seeking Realm. In the face of Yuyin, they were truly no match. But even for someone with Yuyin's state of mind, it was her first life-and-death combat, and she couldn't help but feel nervous just now.
From the rear of the formation, came the heart-stopping, metallic tremor of a blade. Yuyin, panting, looked back. She saw a silver arc of light swiftly weaving and dancing through the mountain forest where the Rear Team was. A Gu Diao was struck several times in succession and died from its heavy wounds. Around it, there were several more corpses of Gu Diaos with similar knife marks.
The Moon Blade returned to Lan Lianyue's hand. Her posture was still graceful, her gaze like a deep, dim orchid. It seemed as if this slaughter caused not the slightest ripple in her.
"Senior Sister Lianyue..." This was also her first battle, but Lan Lianyue could be so calm. Yuyin couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. Senior Sister Lianyue was truly amazing...
Hua Yuanjing's long spear was also stained with the blood of alien beasts. She had been guarding by Lianyue's side. After all, she was still a bit worried about Lianyue's state and had not gone all out to kill the Gu Diaos.
At this moment, the battle on the Front Team's side had also ended. The Source Martial Practitioner squad quickly came to support the Middle Team. The few remaining Gu Diaos scattered and fled. On the ground lay the corpses of many Gu Diaos, and there were quite a few injured Source Martial Practitioner students, mostly concentrated in the Middle Team, which had been ambushed and had the highest number of people but the lowest average strength.
"Was there something wrong with my team division? No, this was formulated jointly by several department heads of the academy and reviewed by Dean Tong. It should be fine. But we had just entered the Prison Abyss for less than half a day and encountered such a large-scale Gu Diao attack. This has rarely happened in previous trials." Jiang Xue panted, her eyes a bit dazed, with a deep confusion in her heart.
Fortunately, no one had died.
"Teacher Jiang." A female student from the Medic Department came forward. "We have twenty-seven people with minor injuries and two with more severe injuries, but none are life-threatening."
"Tend to the wounded immediately." Jiang Xue snapped out of it. She had the teachers, the Source Martial Practitioner squad, and the fourth-year students spread out to the periphery to strengthen their defenses. She, along with a dozen or so female students from the Medic Department, went to treat the wounded. The injured students were gathered under a large tree.
The bodies of Source Martial Practitioner students were excellent. For minor injuries, bandaging, taking pills, and supplementing with Primordial Energy for healing would quickly stabilize the condition, and recovery was ten or even dozens of times faster than for ordinary people. And the Source Martial Practitioner students here were the best of the best among millions in Huaxia.
"Captain Wang, this location is less than ten kilometers from the Two Realms Gate. Could I trouble you to send people to escort our two seriously wounded back?" Jiang Xue said to the Source Martial Practitioner captain, a tall, resolute, short-haired man with a scar on his face.
"Mm, I'll send two capable team members to escort them." Captain Wang nodded.
"Teacher Jiang, all the Gu Diaos that were killed have been counted. There are thirty-five in total." Liu Xing came over to report, with Wang Xuezhang following beside her.
"Mm, fellow students, although we were ambushed on such a large scale the moment we set foot in the Prison Abyss, we successfully defeated and repelled this ambush! We have people who are injured. Two classmates are too severely wounded to continue the trial and will be sent back for treatment. But we, in turn, killed a full thirty-five alien beasts." Jiang Xue said.
"Among them, fourteen alien beasts were killed by you, who are third-year or below and on your first trial in the Prison Abyss. This is a very outstanding achievement." Jiang Xue said with some emotion. "This is not just a battle record, not just a trial, but also cultivation resources that you are accumulating for your own future."
"Regarding the distribution of spoils, if a kill was made by a single person, 80% belongs to the killer. If it was a group effort, the 80% will be distributed among the group according to their contributions. The remaining 20%, along with any that cannot be accounted for, will be pooled for all of us. It will be used to compensate the wounded at the end, and the rest will be distributed equally. For the specific accounting, the portion for the Lingdu Source Martial Academy students will be handled by the Student Council and reviewed by me and Teacher Chen Siguo." Jiang Xue announced.
Of course, no one had any objection to this rule.
Although this ambush was sudden and left the Lingdu Source Martial Academy team in a sorry state, the final result was still satisfying, and the losses were not great.
Among the Lingdu Source Martial Academy students, Lan Lianyue alone killed four Gu Diaos. Her illusionary arts combined with a Mid-Grade Law-Tier Artifact gave her a great advantage in killing these alien beasts.
Yuyin ranked second with three kills.
Hua Yuanjing had two kills.
Xiang Wu had one kill.
The rest were group kills.
However, Jiang Da was a bit dissatisfied. He had fought hard and was injured in multiple places, only for the alien beast to be killed by Yuyin's single strike. But Jiang Da had thick skin and strong flesh, and his body's recovery ability was extremely strong. Although the injuries were numerous, after some bandaging and a pill, he was mostly fine.
Captain Wang and a female Source Martial Practitioner began using short knives to cut open the heads of the Gu Diaos, prying out a crystal the size of a pigeon's egg from each.
"This is the Source Crystal, and it is usually the most valuable part of an alien beast." Captain Wang said in a deep voice. "A Source Crystal from a Late-Stage of Spirit-Seeking Realm alien beast is worth about three million Huaxia currency. The Huaxia government and various Source Martial sects will all purchase Source Crystals. It is one of the key materials for making equipment from the Prison Abyss."
Many of the students gasped. Such a small thing was worth three million. If one had the strength and wasn't afraid of death, it would indeed be easy to make a fortune in the Prison Abyss. Of course, if one was careless, dying in the Prison Abyss was also very easy.
"Three million?" Yuyin thought to herself. She had acted impulsively just now and killed three. After subtracting the equally distributed portion, didn't she still have 7.2 million Huaxia currency?
Under the guidance of the professional Source Martial Practitioners, many of the students also began to learn how to extract the Source Crystals themselves.
"The antlers of these Gu Diaos are also valuable. A complete pair is worth about 500,000 to 600,000. The antlers and the Source Crystal are the most valuable things on a Gu Diao." said the curvaceous female Source Martial Practitioner.
"Have the returning team take these antlers back." Jiang Xue said. "We still need to go deeper into the Prison Abyss for the trial. We can only carry the Source Crystals; we can't take such large items."
Although the scene had been horrifying for a time, the result made Jiang Xue quite satisfied with this first battle of the trial. Of course, they still needed to go deeper.
Jiang Xue looked at the many Source Martial Practitioner students. "Fellow students, after experiencing the battle just now, you must have truly realized what the Prison Abyss you are about to face is like. But I can tell you, this is only a very small part of the danger in the Prison Abyss. Besides the two wounded who cannot continue the trial, any other students who feel they are not suited for this kind of combat, not suited to face the Prison Abyss, can also choose to return with the team now. Everyone, if you don't go back now, once we continue deeper into the Prison Abyss, there will be little chance to turn back midway. Please consider this carefully."
Jiang Xue knew herself that, indeed, not everyone was suited for combat. Having unsuitable people participate in an elite combat group would instead be a burden to the team.
But she couldn't say this outright. That would be a huge humiliation for the Source Martial Practitioner students. She could only let them choose for themselves.
In the end, sixteen Source Martial Practitioner students chose to return.
This proportion was normal for every year after the first, rather brutal, battle of the trial. The proportion was not particularly high this year.
The wounded, under escort, began to turn back. The original path was relatively the safest to return on.
The remaining people, still guided by Captain Wang's Source Martial Practitioners, rested for a while and then continued to proceed deeper into the mountain forest.
"Senior Sister Jing, in your Rear Team, many of the male Student Council members are carrying such large packages. What's inside?" Yuyin asked.
At this moment, Hua Yuanjing was walking in the Middle Team's position to confirm the records of the spoils distribution with Jiang Xue and took the opportunity to come over and talk to Yuyin.
"That... you'll know when the time comes." Hua Yuanjing said with a mysterious air.
Materials from the Prison Abyss were very expensive. Even if they weren't afraid of the weight, they couldn't afford to exchange for so many things. What could it be? Yuyin was also puzzled.
In the mountain forests of the Prison Abyss, besides Demon Spirits and alien beasts, there were also ordinary animals like wild rabbits and roe deer. They saw some along the way. Affected by the Primordial Energy, they also grew very strong and plump.
Afterward, the team was attacked by a giant White Ape over three meters tall. The White Ape had suddenly descended from the sky, pouncing on Yu Minjie, but was surrounded and killed by several teachers.
This White Ape was at Perfection-Stage of Spirit-Seeking Realm.
Yu Minjie was injured again. The team stopped to bandage her. Now, even if she cried and screamed, it was impossible for her to turn back. The team had already gone more than twenty kilometers deep into the Prison Abyss, all through complex, rugged mountain roads. The sky was also beginning to darken.
Yuyin originally disliked Yu Minjie, thinking she was flirtatious and always trying to seduce boys. But now, she felt a bit of sympathy for her. She had been attacked twice, and she was the first to be ambushed both times.
Jiang Xue signaled the team to stop. She looked at the lantern hanging from her waist. Although it had not yet lit up, a spark had appeared in the wick. This indicated that it was around four or five o'clock in the afternoon.
"Fellow students, we need to prepare to camp for the night. In the Prison Abyss, the yin energy and demonic energy are more vigorous at night, which is very disadvantageous for us humans in combat."
Jiang Xue looked around and chose a campsite. She instructed the teachers and Source Martial Practitioners to cordon off the area and begin to stand guard and defend.
"Captain Wang, have you found a water source?"
"It's just ahead." Captain Wang's rough finger pointed in a direction in the mountain forest. In the Prison Abyss, the mountains and waters were indeed wonderful and ethereal. There were water systems everywhere, so there was basically no need to search deliberately.
"Xia Yuyin, come with me to check the water source." Jiang Xue said.
"Me?" Yuyin was a bit surprised. She wasn't actually very familiar with Teacher Jiang Xue.
Jiang Xue nodded. She knew of Yuyin's strength and had seen it in the recent battle. Her personality was also good. Bringing Yuyin along could be a great help to her, Jiang Xue felt.
Yuyin followed Jiang Xue. Following Captain Wang's direction, they didn't walk far before finding the water source. It was a clear, cool stream.
Jiang Xue walked up and tested it. "This water is very good. It's suitable for drinking and for bathing. Xia Yuyin, come over."
"Oh..." Yuyin obediently walked to the edge of the stream, standing beside Jiang Xue, who was about her height and had a Jiangnan charm.
"Xia Yuyin, let's bathe together here." Jiang Xue flicked her long braid, turned to look at Yuyin, and made the suggestion with a completely normal air, without a trace of blushing or a racing heart.