Chapter 75: Exposed! You

"What is a Earth Spirit Spring?"

Xu Jingming blinked slightly upon hearing this.

In school, he had read more books on rare flowers and exotic herbs.

But he knew little about other heavenly treasures and earthly gems.

Of course,

even without knowing its name, an S-class heavenly treasure was enough to indicate its value.

"An Earth Spirit Spring is a liquid condensed from the earth's essence; for low-level adepts below fourth-rank, it is a miraculous healing remedy.

As long as they're still breathing, it can almost always save them!

For high-level adepts above fourth-rank, its effect may be weaker, but it still has powerful healing properties.

Hence, it is rated as an S-class heavenly treasure—extremely rare."

Jiang Chuxuan stepped to the spring's edge, her long legs moving gracefully.

She immediately knelt down, her silver-white hair cascading downward.

The fullness of her chest was squeezed into an exaggerated shape by her knees.

Yet she paid no mind, focusing intently as she extended her jade-like hand to gently pluck the nearest rare flower and exotic herb.

This rare herb resembled rice seedlings, its roots soaked in fresh, damp soil.

"The Earth Spirit Spring nourishes nearby flora, transforming them into rare flowers and exotic herbs.

In turn, these rare plants absorb the spring's essence.

This B-class Qingling Grass should emit a faint glutinous rice fragrance from its roots.

Yet now it gives off a fragrance as pure as the spring water—clearly, this is the Earth Spirit Spring.

Jiang Chuxuan brought the herb's roots close to her nose, sniffed its scent, and her beautiful eyes glowed faintly.

This string of remarks made Xu Jingming raise his thumb in admiration.

"Impressive—I didn't know you had such deep knowledge of heavenly treasures."

This was his genuine praise.

Though Jiang Chuxuan had merely identified the spring's origin and characteristics,

the knowledge required behind it was terrifying.

Otherwise, back in school, he wouldn't have merely skimmed the books on rare flowers and exotic herbs.

"Of course—I passed the Second-Class Alchemist Certification in school."

Jiang Chuxuan stood up, puffing out her chest like a proud rooster.

Few students at the Magic City Adept University managed to earn the Second-Class Alchemist Certification.

After graduation, just this certificate alone would make every faction and guild fight over her.

"Still, this small pool of Earth Spirit Spring can produce at least five doses of S-class healing elixir."

Jiang Chuxuan's eyes sparkled slightly.

S-class heavenly treasures are almost impossible to value in currency.

A spring capable of producing five doses of healing elixir? It's priceless!

Though the Earth Spirit Spring was immensely valuable, Jiang Chuxuan felt no greed.

Instead, she smiled gently at Xu Jingming and said softly:

"Senior, you can have all of this Earth Spirit Spring."

Xu Jingming was her savior; good things naturally went to him first.

"I'll take four, you take one. Also, we split the rare flowers and exotic herbs evenly."

Xu Jingming didn't refuse, assigning the share directly.

No one would ever turn down an S-class heavenly treasure like Earth Spirit Spring.

But it was Jiang Chuxuan who brought him here to find it.

Besides, without her, he wouldn't have recognized it as Earth Spirit Spring.

Giving her a share was only fair.

"Then thank you, Senior."

Jiang Chuxuan felt no injustice at this uneven split.

Instead, she beamed with delight that Xu Jingming had given her any share at all.

This reaction made Xu Jingming nod inwardly.

Her character was already better than most girls'.

After all, most girls had already turned and fled when he stepped forward to fight the Digging Earth Dragon.

They wouldn't have rushed in with Blood-Explosion Pills, trying to fight alongside him like Jiang Chuxuan did.

And this division of the Earth Spirit Spring proved her emotional intelligence was high.

"Earth Spirit Spring should be stored in jade vials—otherwise, its spiritual essence easily leaks away.

Luckily, I bought a batch of beautiful jade vials earlier; otherwise, I wouldn't have known how to handle it."

On Jiang Chuxuan's finger, as white as a spring onion, glinted a space ring.

The ring emitted a faint glow, and five jade vials—slightly smaller than mineral water bottles—appeared out of thin air.

"Senior, let's fill them together."

Just as Xu Jingming and Jiang Chuxuan each took a jade vial, preparing to fill them with Earth Spirit Spring,

voices and footsteps suddenly approached from the cave entrance.

"Captain, I'm not saying this, but what good stuff could possibly be in this cave?"

"Hehe, not necessarily—based on the droppings we saw just now, this should be the den of a third-rank Burrowing Earth Dragon."

"Oh? Really? A dragon-class beast's den—there might actually be some good treasures here."

"......"

Amid laughter, a group carrying military spotlights entered Xu Jingming and Jiang Chuxuan's line of sight.

There were five of them, men and women alike.

At their head was a middle-aged man, tall and broad, wielding a sword and shield, his aura at least third-rank upper tier.

This group was precisely Jiang Chuxuan's former bodyguard squad.

"Phew, it's Team Wang—you scared me half to death."

Seeing familiar faces, Jiang Chuxuan outwardly exhaled in relief, but her heart lurched sharply.

An elite third-rank ability team—if they discovered this S-class Earth Spirit Spring...

Even if they were her own bodyguard squad, things could become extremely troublesome.

Though worried inside, Jiang Chuxuan showed no sign of unease, and waved to Xu Jingming beside her:

"Senior, it's fine—they're all friends."

Team Wang, upon seeing Jiang Chuxuan, blinked in slight surprise.

But he quickly recovered, his face instantly lighting up with a smile:

"Young Lady Jiang, we've been searching everywhere for you—never expected to run into you here."

As he spoke, he swiftly scanned the entire cave, immediately spotting the pool of spring water and the dozen or so rare flowers and herbs within.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "But Young Lady Jiang, what exactly are you...?"

"Nothing much—we just met a fellow student from our school and happened to stumble into this cave."

"By the way, these rare flowers and herbs are quite high quality—let's share them fairly, all of us."

Jiang Chuxuan explained with a smile, proactively inviting them to share the rare flora.

Her tone sounded perfectly calm, revealing not a trace of panic.

Yet only she knew—facing such a powerful group of third-rank ability users...

If she showed even the slightest hint of unease, it would mean utter ruin...

As a third-rank upper-tier ability user, Team Wang was a seasoned veteran of the wilderness.

He and his squad had certainly committed murder and plunder before.

Of course, only if the profit was sufficient.

Moreover, with his vast experience, he had already recognized that these rare flowers and herbs were at most A-class.

A-class rare flora simply wasn't worth turning against Jiang Chuxuan, a video blogger with millions of fans.

After all, if she vanished under his protection, not to mention the Public Security Bureau's investigation...

Just dealing with her fanatical followers would be a nightmare.

So he kept smiling and nodded:

"Oh? Really? Then thank you, Young Lady Jiang."

Hearing this, Jiang Chuxuan secretly exhaled in relief.

Good—she'd fooled them.

But just then, a tall, slender man behind Team Wang suddenly spoke up:

"Captain, something's off—this pool of water in the middle looks suspiciously like the S-class healing miracle, 'Earth Spirit Spring.'"

"Oh?" Team Wang's eyebrows lifted.

This tall, slender man was the squad's support-type ability user.

He was also an expert in identifying rare flora and heavenly treasures.

If he said it was the S-class Earth Spirit Spring, it was almost certainly true.

His eyes narrowed again, a sly, half-smile playing on his lips as he looked at Jiang Chuxuan:

"Young Lady Jiang, it seems you're not being entirely honest."