The two of them wore displeased expressions.
Wen Shuangbai found the situation utterly vexing, wiping her hands on her cyan dress as she turned away.
She instinctively glanced at the others.
Lu Jiayao, looking rather foolish, walked right past her and plopped himself in front of a pile of gemstones. Grabbing handfuls, he muttered, "So many gems… I’ll never run out in this lifetime. Maybe I don’t even need to cultivate anymore…"
Then he began giggling mindlessly, stuffing his pockets full—only for the gems to spill out unnoticed.
Wen Shuangbai frowned.
Lu Jiayao’s state was clearly abnormal.
She quickly scanned the area to check on the rest of their team. After a moment, she spotted their senior brother, Yin Xuan, curled up in a hollow within another gem pile.
Unlike his usual gloomy sleeping expression, Yin Xuan clutched a heap of gems, his face radiating blissful contentment.
"…"
Wen Shuangbai’s lips twitched.
Not far from Yin Xuan, the monkey companion was crunching on gemstones like snacks.
Though these two and the monkey seemed utterly deranged, their actions weren’t immediately dangerous—except for Shen Hefeng.
Shen Hefeng had secluded himself in a hidden corner of the cave, sitting cross-legged as spiritual energy from the cave surged into his bones. Alarmingly, he appeared to be attempting a breakthrough into the Enlightened Aperture Realm right then and there!
Wen Shuangbai’s own spiritual bones still pulsed with warmth, her meridians stirring restlessly. Had she not been lucid enough to recognize the danger and suppress the temptation of the overwhelming energy, she might have also recklessly tried to advance her cultivation.
Qingling Mountain, as Qingzhou’s foremost sect, was far from lacking in spiritual energy—it was more than sufficient for disciples’ cultivation needs.
But this place? The concentration here was a hundred times denser.
Too much of a good thing was harmful.
Attempting a breakthrough under such conditions was like yanking seedlings to hasten growth—it would severely damage one’s cultivation path, even risking the destruction of one’s meridians.
Xie Ziyin noticed this too. In a flash, he moved to Shen Hefeng’s side and sealed several of his meridians.
Shen Hefeng coughed up blood, collapsing to the ground in pain, his face drenched in sweat yet still dazed.
This Taihua Stone cave was clearly abnormal—everyone who entered had lost their senses the moment they stepped inside.
Wen Shuangbai had to admit, even she had momentarily faltered upon entering. But Xie Ziyin’s hand brushing against hers had jolted her back to awareness.
After a brief deliberation, Xie Ziyin turned to Wen Shuangbai. "They need Clarity Pills."
Why was he looking at her? She didn’t know alchemy.
Wen Shuangbai replied flatly, "That’s your job."
"…" Xie Ziyin chose not to argue. Over the past five days, they’d gathered plenty of spiritual herbs—some of which were perfect for brewing Clarity Pills. "It’ll take at least half an hour to refine them."
Wen Shuangbai raised a brow. "And?"
Xie Ziyin explained, "The spiritual energy here is too concentrated. During the refinement, I might succumb to its influence. You’ll need to keep watch over me."
"Fine." Wen Shuangbai understood the urgency. "Get to work, then."
Xie Ziyin settled onto the ground, straightening his plain robes. Before beginning, he added, "You’re not immune either. If you also lose control—"
"No, I won’t." Wen Shuangbai cut him off firmly. "Just focus on your task. Stop wasting time."
Xie Ziyin gave her a long look but said nothing more, starting the alchemical process.
Resisting temptation wasn’t easy, but Wen Shuangbai had the Yaoling Heart Technique.
She sat near Xie Ziyin and began circulating her cultivation method in reverse—the resulting pain would keep her sharp.
Whenever she sensed the man beside her wavering, she reached over and pinched him hard.
Xie Ziyin: "…"
Was this petty revenge?
---
After taking the Clarity Pills, the group gradually regained their senses.
Shen Hefeng shuddered in hindsight. "No wonder my divination showed ‘all conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows.’ It was warning me about this!"
Lu Jiayao still hadn’t discarded the gems in his pockets. "But… aren’t these real?"
Though not spirit stones, gems coexisting with Taihua Stones couldn’t be ordinary. They’d surely fetch a fortune outside. With this much, their earnings from this Qingzhou Mountain expedition might even surpass the sect’s usual rewards.
Wen Shuangbai studied the glittering stones, her gaze unenthused. "How can you be sure they’re real?"
She bent down, picking up a few to examine. "They all look identical. The only explanation for so many piled here is that they’re decoys—meant to hide the real Taihua Stone."
She turned to the monkey. "Was it like this when you came before?"
The monkey blinked blankly. "Y-Yeah! Aren’t these all Taihua Stones? I… I always eat them, then get kicked out! You should eat too—we only get seven days here!"
With that, it resumed munching on the stones.
Wen Shuangbai didn’t stop it. At worst, the beast would get an upset stomach.
She suspected that apart from the true Taihua Stone, everything else was just ordinary rock, glamoured by the stone’s influence to appear precious.
Yin Xuan flew around the cave on his sword before returning to report. "It’s the same everywhere—about five times the size of our courtyard."
"Thanks, Senior Brother." Wen Shuangbai nodded, then addressed Shen Hefeng. "What does your divination say now?"
Shen Hefeng stared at his turtle shell, grimacing. "Divination doesn’t work inside this cave!"
Lu Jiayao groaned. "Then how are we supposed to find the Taihua Stone in all this?"
The original text hadn’t specified the method—only the result.
After a long silence, Wen Shuangbai sighed. "Then we’ll just take all of them."
If they couldn’t identify the real one, they’d shovel every last stone into their spatial rings.
Five courtyard’s worth should fit, with each of them carrying a ring.
The others: "?"
But… it did make sense.
Wen Shuangbai wasted no time. She rummaged through her spatial ring, produced five shovels, and tossed them over. "Let’s get digging."
The group: "…………"
---
As the five toiled day and night, the elders watching through the illusion crystal ball frowned.
With the spirit rabbit gone, Lu Ying’s team couldn’t enter the Taihua Mountain cave.
Lu Ying and Bai Lijue glared at the healer with barely concealed murderous intent.
Lu Ying’s voice dripped venom. "Idiot."
Bai Lijue’s disdain was equally palpable. "You couldn’t even keep hold of a rabbit?"
Yu Xiaoxiao couldn't understand and froze for a moment. "Senior Brother, are you holding the rabbit too tightly? You might be hurting it."
The rabbit had been very docile and wouldn’t bite anyone.
The medical cultivator looked terrified, keeping his head down and not daring to meet their eyes. "I don’t know... It only bit me and ran away when Xie Ziyin’s monkey tried to charge at it..."
Yu Xiaoxiao, ever understanding, said, "Let it go. What’s done is done. There’s no point arguing over whose fault it is. Brother Lu Ying, Brother Bai Lijue, calm down. We’ll just find the rabbit again."
With that, the group chased after the direction the spirit rabbit had fled.
As long as Wen Shuangbai and the others were still in the Taihua Mountain cave and hadn’t obtained the Taihua Stone, they still had a chance.
The medical cultivator stood there, hesitating for a long while, but ultimately didn’t dare follow. He slumped down dejectedly.
The Medical Pavilion elder was furious. "What does this have to do with the team’s medical cultivator?"
"If he hadn’t lost the spirit rabbit, Lu Ying and the others might have made it inside in time."
"If it’s so important, they should’ve carried the rabbit themselves! Medical cultivators rely on their team’s protection—they’re not fighters. The rabbit may seem gentle, but it’s still a spirit beast. Instead of reflecting on their own mistakes, they just blame others?"
"Enough, enough! Stop arguing! Elder Qian, why can’t we see what’s happening in the Taihua Stone cave anymore?"
Elder Qian stared at the illusion crystal ball. "That’s a realm within a realm. The spiritual energy inside is too dense—the crystal can’t display it."
As he spoke, he took a sip of tea and thought to himself:
These disciples are clever, but they don’t realize that while the Taihua Stone itself isn’t aggressive, the cave isn’t without danger.
On the contrary, the danger lurks in the shadows, ensnaring people before they even notice.
Did they really think the sect’s greatest treasure would be so easy to take?
Where would that leave his dignity?
---
Digging for stones sounded like simple work, especially for cultivators.
But once they started, they realized it wasn’t easy at all.
The Taihua Stone had a spirit. The moment it sensed their intentions, the pile of stones suddenly became unbearably heavy—each strike of the shovel felt like hitting a thousand-pound hammer.
It was downright torturous.
"I can’t do this anymore..." Inside the cave, Yin Xuan hung limply from his shovel like a rapidly withering blade of grass, muttering weakly, "I’m hungry... and exhausted..."
Just as he slumped over the shovel to rest, someone approached and handed him two small pills—one green (a fasting pill) and one red (a stimulant).
Xie Ziyin’s expression was cold and unfeeling. "Take these. You’ll be fine."
Nearby, Lu Jiayao—who had taken the same pills three hours ago—had dark circles under his eyes and looked utterly miserable.
He felt unbearably sleepy, yet the pills kept his mind unnaturally sharp and restless, his hands twitching uncontrollably if he didn’t move.
Medicine should never be taken recklessly. Lu Jiayao wanted to cry.
Meanwhile, Shen Hefeng, who had taken the stimulant an hour earlier, had completely lost it. His face was twisted, his shovel swinging like a whirlwind as he chanted madly, "Dig, dig, dig you all up! Die! Hahahaha! I can do this! I’ll crush you! Stupid rocks, dig, dig, dig—!"
Yin Xuan: "......"
Today was another day he wished for death.
After delivering the pills, Xie Ziyin rolled up his sleeves and resumed his role as a gemstone miner for the third straight day.
Time flew. Six days passed, with everyone surviving on stimulants and barely resting.
Now, only one last patch of ground remained. Wen Shuangbai planted her shovel firmly and wiped the sweat from her brow.
Though exhausted, her eyes burned with an intense light, her entire demeanor different from a few days prior.
She had noticed it herself.
She’d been careful not to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy, but as she dug, traces of it naturally flowed into her spiritual bones, circulating through her meridians.
With every swing of the shovel, she felt her cultivation deepening—even sensing the faint stirrings of a breakthrough.
