Chapter 29: 28. Gemstone Wealth (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

28. Gemstone Wealth (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Li Ang tossed the green gemstone in his hand into the gradually gathering dust.

The ordinary dust immediately began to take shape in coordination with these gemstones; the malachite became the core, the soil wrapped around it, and the turquoise was distributed on the surface, serving both as decoration and to stabilize the flow of magic within the rock-earth body.

Finally, a large emerald was embedded into the top of the earth elemental construct, its active spirit capable of amplifying the creature's combat intelligence.

This is Elemental Summoning, a skill that calls upon the four great elements to form them into a combat unit.

If one performs an upgraded casting based on the input magic power, one can also require it to generate a shape according to one's own will.

Li Ang mobilized 5th-tier magic power to shape it into a beast form; he hoped it would resemble a mustelid, utilizing the species' advantages when confronting enemies.

Standing before him was a rock-earth quadruped larger than a male lion, with slightly shorter limbs, a slender body, and a large tail that balanced its body well—in terms of physique, it was suited for rolling and exerting force when grappling with snakes.

Thanks to the adornment of green gemstones, its brownish-tan body suddenly became mysterious and noble.

Li Ang's summoning was not yet finished.

He gestured with his hand, and the elemental beast lay down and rolled; soon, the abundant gemstones in the surroundings were embedded into the soil on its surface and aggregated together by magic power.

With this, the construct, clad in a suit of gemstone armor, was finally complete.

[Earth Elemental Construct—Beast Form]

[A combat construct formed by the aggregation of earth elements via the Elemental Summoning spell; fearless and dauntless. Until the magic power input by the controller is exhausted, it will continuously replenish elements to repair its body and will not cease fighting.]

[Species: Elemental]

[Combat Intelligence: Tier 4]

[Servant: None]

[Energy Source: None]

[Body Strength: Rock-earth body, Tier 3. Gemstone armor, Tier 6.]

[Special Attack: Earth Fury Surge]

[Skills: Elemental Body, Beast Form]

[Combat Power Amplification: 8%]

"Truly extravagant."

Seeing its magnificent appearance, even Li Ang couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

The Newbis world is not lacking in minerals, so gemstones like diamonds and corundum cannot possibly be as priceless as they are on Earth, but they are still highly valuable; if compared using cars, it would be like dropping from a Lamborghini or Ferrari to a high-end non-sports car from the German luxury trio.

That there are so many here is purely thanks to the giant snake's golden blood. It is hard to imagine how abundant its spirit once was, that its death could draw forth such a massive amount of magic power, enough to shape so many gemstones.

High-value gemstones are, of course, excellent spellcasting materials; for instance, rubies and sapphires, besides their earth attribute, also possess fire and water attributes respectively.

The attributes of both magical creatures and materials are determined by their material structure; whichever element accounts for more than 50% within is considered that attribute.

Although the geological activity of Newbis is dominated and driven by the earth element, there is also lava and groundwater within the earth; these two integrate fire and water elements into the gemstones, forming rubies and sapphires that are fundamentally different from those on Earth.

Li Ang casually picked out a few pieces of corundum with better quality to keep, while handing a few diamonds to Zoe.

The brilliant diamonds caused the young girl, who was seeing real gemstones for the first time, to lose herself; she held them in her palms, blushing as she stirred them about.

"When you release Earth Elemental Arrows, call out to them; you will receive a stronger response."

Among the many gemstones, diamond is a spellcasting material filled with the earth element, usually at the 4th tier of the transcendent stage.

Normally, no one would do something as extravagant as using transcendent materials to release a 1st-tier spell.

But here, one must take the opportunity to experience such extravagance.

"Give it a try," Li Ang suggested to the girl.

Zoe pursed her lips, gripped a bright, pale-yellow diamond, and moved her lips silently, initiating communication with the elements.

The diamond bloomed with a high-intensity light, and then its surface instantly decomposed into sharp structures; they rotated and transformed, undergoing a process of material shaping that was practically like a Rubik's cube and a kaleidoscope. During this process, a massive amount of earth dust was attracted over, wrapping around the outside of the diamond.

Soon, a bright white rock-shuttle, a full meter in length, floated above Zoe's palm; it rotated and vibrated, and it seemed as if scorching matter was about to flow out from the cracks on its surface.

Zoe threw it forward, and it struck the glazed scales of the dead giant snake nearby, leaving a white mark.

Considering these are the scales of a super magical creature, the damage of this elemental arrow can be called quite considerable; Li Ang estimated it had the power of around the 4th to 5th tier, and thick city walls without magic-guided reinforcement might be pierced through by a few shots.

In the time that followed, the two walked a considerable distance around the giant snake's head and body; as they walked, Li Ang shared some combat thinking with Zoe.

"Later, if the enemy's close-range attacks are threatening, you pin them down from afar with elemental arrows; if it is more skilled at spells, you assist by hindering its casting, and I will use curses to strengthen you. And then there's..."

The girl nodded repeatedly. Though it was unknown how much she could remember.

If there were a calm and collected veteran here, it would be comfortable, but now Li Ang could only worry more.

Once the talk was mostly done, the two returned to the vicinity of the giant snake's head. Along the way, they discovered that it was not the entire body of the giant snake that had flowed out precious gemstones; it was mostly concentrated near the head.

There were also obvious signs of the gemstones having been moved, which obviously could only have been taken by the girl's parents.

They didn't take much, and the majority still remained in place.

If they were going to confront an enemy, wouldn't it be better to have sufficient funds? With their strength, it was impossible that they couldn't carry them away.

Li Ang estimated that the remaining precious gemstones could still buy an estate in a place as expensive as the Holy Capital Vitask; as for those native to the island core, they were common on other island cores and not worth much.

But if he were to spend money, he would use it to commission a top-tier airship.

He was silently contemplating the future when Zoe touched her forehead and tugged at his sleeve.

She pointed into the distance, to a corner of the island core's hollow.

Standing on the snake's back and looking out, one could discover something resembling a building.

"Shall we go take a look?" the girl said softly.

Since there was no sign of a reborn Star Soul for the moment, they could indeed go and investigate first.

Li Ang took his notebook and walked in that direction with Zoe, while the elemental beast accompanied them, guarding against any potential situations.

They passed through the Storm Trace blasted out by Zoe's father with the Wind-Breath Sword; there was no debris here, only fly ash, and it was very flat. The area ahead was clear at a glance, and occasionally some footprints could be seen, which should belong to a wolf-type magical creature.

Zoe looked around and asked, "Can Li Ang strike out such a large trace?"

"I can't right now, but I could if I had a high-tier treasure," Li Ang spread his hands.

Newbis is not a high-martial world where great power resides in oneself; the strong need equipment and energy sources to perform powerful destruction through professional skills.

What's more, his role is support; isn't it a bit excessive to expect support to destroy the world? Although there were a few times in the past when the pressure was high and he still stepped up.

"Your father killed this snake at the cost of the spirituality within the Wind-Breath Sword."

Li Ang explained to the girl that because energy is infused into treasures, there is also spirituality within them. Just as a person will die of mental exhaustion from excessive spellcasting, her father squeezed the spirituality of the treasure to over-excite the storm, ultimately causing it to fall into a slumber.

This actually inspired Li Ang; he felt that if he studied it, he might be able to do something similar.

However, he had never owned his own treasure, so how could he bear to do such a thing?

After finishing the story of the Wind-Breath Sword, Zoe drew her short sword and examined it carefully, as if recognizing it for the first time.

"Can it be changed back?"

"We'll have to ask the most knowledgeable equipment craftsman."

Or wait until I level up my equipment manufacturing, maybe I'll know, Li Ang thought to himself.

As they advanced, the outline of the building in the distance gradually became clear.

It was a ruin that only half remained, as if some kind of temple had been sliced in half by a single blade; one half had fallen here, and it was covered by mountain rocks, basically merging with the mountain wall.

Its main body was built of stone, with an ancient style that gave Li Ang, who had been to many ruins, an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

In front of the two, two dark shadows circled out from behind the ruins.