Chapter 169: The Ingenious Use of the Treasure-seeking Compass

169. Chapter 169: The Ingenious Use of the Treasure-seeking Compass

Li Xuan and the Yellow Turban Warrior stood atop the canyon, overlooking the entire domain.

Originally, the Ande Family was stationed in Ladi Canyon, defending against the soul beasts from the Soul Beast Forest beyond the canyon.

But later, for unknown reasons, the land here grew increasingly barren, causing all the native plants to wither and die, and the once thriving Soul Beast Forest to wither to ruins.

With the forest gone, the soul beasts inside left.

What remained was a barren expanse; at first the infertile land covered only a few thousand mu, just enough to meet a baron's domain standard.

Remembering the Ande Family's generations of service guarding Ladi Canyon, the Star Luo Empire handed this parcel of land to the Ande Family.

Later, the barrenness worsened, and eventually the Ande Family possessed tens of thousands of mu, with the area still expanding.

However, despite the growing size, the land grew poorer year by year, crop yields plummeted until nothing could be planted, causing the inhabitants to abandon the area.

Standing on the canyon, Li Xuan gazed over it and also saw the barren land beyond.

The soil here was a gray‑white hue, looking utterly infertile, and the surrounding ground bore no vegetation, appearing starkly… bald.

"Immortal Master, you've also noticed the change in the soil, haven't you? This type of earth is unfamiliar to us; it isn't normal soil, and the land's fertility seems to have been siphoned away. We haven't identified the cause," the Yellow Turban Warrior said, frowning at Li Xuan.

"I didn't expect even a Warrior to be clueless; aren't you from the Immortal Realm?" Li Xuan asked, puzzled, looking at the Yellow Turban Warrior.

"It's true we came down from the Immortal Realm, but we are merely a fragment of the Yellow Turban Warrior above, lacking the Warrior's full experience and memory—only a portion of the operational instinct. We… are just spirits," the Yellow Turban Warrior said with a wry smile to Li Xuan.

"I see…" Li Xuan realized, then nodded.

Li Xuan refocused his gaze on the land ahead, seeking any unusual spots.

But Li Xuan is no geology expert, so he couldn't discern anything.

Staring at the ground, Li Xuan silently furrowed his brow and thought carefully.

"In that case, this is the only way—though I'm not sure if the system will allow a bug…," Li Xuan muttered, rubbing his chin.

"Immortal Master, you have a method?" the Yellow Turban Warrior exclaimed, eyes wide, surprised at Li Xuan's quick ingenuity within minutes.

"Just a shortcut," Li Xuan said with a smile, shaking his head, then pulled a Wooden Box from his pack.

Inside the box lay Li Xuan's prized item.

Treasure-seeking Compass.

It had been several months since the last time the Treasure-seeking Compass was used to locate a Bing Huo Liang Yi Yan; its cooldown had long refreshed, yet in the City of Slaughter Li Xuan never had a chance to employ it.

Now Li Xuan contemplated testing the Treasure-seeking Compass to probe the cause of the land's increasing barrenness.

Li Xuan's Fourth Soul Ring had already been secured, so he didn't need the Treasure-seeking Compass to find fire‑type Immortal Grade spirit plants for a while, allowing free use of the compass.

Before using the compass, Li Xuan retrieved from the Palm Sky Bottle's space a Flower Pot containing a Lucky Four-Leaf Clover and set it beside him.

He then took out the compass, and Li Xuan slowly fed a strand of soul power into it.

As Li Xuan's soul power entered the Treasure-seeking Compass, all its runes gradually lit up, and the moment the last rune ignited, the compass began to float slowly. "Creak…"

The three concentric circles inside the compass each started turning, and after a few seconds the center projected a golden circular Light Screen.

It was the familiar golden Light Screen.

"Compass, I want to find the treasure causing this barrenness!" Li Xuan said in a low voice to the compass.

Li Xuan was searching for a treasure, meeting the compass's criteria, meaning his bug exploit succeeded, and the Treasure-seeking Compass began to turn slowly.

Unlike last time, this rotation was at a normal speed, suggesting the target wasn't as valuable; unlike a Bing Huo Liang Yi Yan, it didn't require the Lucky Four-Leaf Clover's fortune to locate.

Soon, the golden Light Screen displayed a dozen or so black dots of varying sizes, scattered within a two‑kilometer radius.

"What's going on? Does the Treasure-seeking Compass come with a buy‑one‑get‑many service?" Li Xuan raised an eyebrow, muttering in confusion.

It was Li Xuan's first time encountering such a situation.

Under normal circumstances, the Treasure-seeking Compass can only display the nearest qualifying object to Li Xuan.

For example, when Li Xuan first used the compass to search for fire‑type Immortal Grade spirit plants, the only result was Filthy Flame Yin Lotus.

But now multiple items appear…

"Could it be a single entity? But what is this thing, so massive?" Li Xuan stroked his chin, forming a bold conjecture.

"Warrior, did you bring the map?" Li Xuan turned and asked the Yellow Turban Warrior.

"Naturally," the Yellow Turban Warrior replied, pulling a Scroll from his chest.

Li Xuan laid out a table and had the Warrior unroll the Scroll.

Li Xuan took out a pen and, following the map's indicators, began marking the positions of the black dots on the ground.

Soon, Li Xuan had marked every black dot without omission, then withdrew his soul power, and the Treasure-seeking Compass returned to its original state.

He packed away the Treasure-seeking Compass and called the Yellow Turban Warrior.

The Warrior approached Li Xuan and examined the map after Li Xuan's annotations.

"These are the lowest spots on the plain; the lower the terrain, the larger the black mark," the Yellow Turban Warrior said, frowning at Li Xuan.

"Could it be something underground? We won't know until we see it on site. Warrior, let's head to that spot first," Li Xuan pointed to the largest black dot on the map.

Hearing Li Xuan, the Warrior nodded, agreeing with the plan.

"Alright, Immortal Master, please board the carriage," the Yellow Turban Warrior gestured to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan boarded the carriage, and the Yellow Turban Warrior drove it, the two heading straight for the marked location.

(End of Chapter)