Chapter 27: Unexpected Harvest

Xianghong hurriedly said, "Lord, what should we do?"

The two giant ants had already fled, Li Bucai said, "Never mind, let's first find the Sand Spring and discuss after we regroup with the others."

"Lord, what is this?" Wan'er was sweeping the battlefield and found a rolled piece of bark on a giant ant's corpse.

Li Bucai came over at the sound and saw a piece of Luo Ping Tree bark rolled into a tube, tied with a thin rope. When unrolled, it bore the three large characters "Wind‑Assault Stab" and, in smaller print, detailed practice methods for the "Wind‑Assault Stab," specifically noting that it must be activated with the Martial God Mantra.

"It's a Lord Skill."

Wu Zhuoran was also surprised; he hadn't expected a Lord Skill to appear on these white ants, and hurriedly said, "Let's keep looking, see if there's anything else."

The girls split up to search.

"Lord! Lord! Come quickly, come quickly!" Fang Ling'er suddenly shouted in a high voice, her tone so agitated that it was hard to tell whether she was sad or happy.

Li Bucai hurried over; Fang Ling'er remained standing there, both hands covering her gaping mouth, staring blankly at the corpse before her.

"What's wrong?"

"Magic… Magic Crystal…!"

Everyone heard her words, startled simultaneously, and gathered here at once.

"Magic Crystal?"

"It… it should be…" she had only heard stories about Magic Crystals from the elder and had never seen one herself, so she dared not be certain.

Wu Zhuoran drew his sword and pried the blue, translucent spherical piece from the giant ant's tail, wiped it clean with a handkerchief, and saw the crystal emit a blue glow. He said delightedly, "Exactly, it is indeed a Magic Crystal." Holding it out to Li Bucai, he added, "Congratulations, Lord, this is a high‑grade blue Magic Crystal."

"Oh?" Li Bucai took it and examined it closely. He had heard a bit about Magic Crystals in recent days; such items can be smelted into weapons or armor to enhance their quality, and they come in four colors: green, blue, purple, and yellow.

Li Bucai said, "I thought Magic Crystals were divided into two types? The ones that strengthen weapons are rod‑shaped, those that forge armor are blade‑shaped. Why is this one spherical?"

"Because this kind of Magic Crystal is meant to be ingested."

"Ingested?"

"Yes. I once heard my grandfather say that Sky City originally had no distinction between nobles and commoners. The reason nobles appeared is that, long ago, someone ingested this round Magic Crystal, gained extraordinary abilities, rose to prominence, and was eventually treated with noble privileges. This blue variety is extremely rare."

Li Bucai understood; this round Magic Crystal is specifically used to enhance human capability. He asked, "So your ancestors also took it—what color did they consume?"

Wu Zhuoran nodded, "Yes, green."

"So, if you ingest a Magic Crystal, will your descendants inherit noble blood because of your genetics?"

"In Sky City that's the belief, but as ages pass, the Magic Crystal's bloodline weakens, so we can only compensate with continual training, yet still cannot reach the original ability."

Li Bucai asked again, "I see. If one first consumes a blue one and then a green one, would that cause the person to be demoted?"

"A person can ingest only once in a lifetime; if their descendants later take a lower‑grade Magic Crystal, it indeed results in demotion."

Among second‑tier manpower, nobles of green Magic lineage are worth 1 gold, blue 20 gold, purple—talents of ministers and generals—worth 100 gold. Li Bucai couldn't fathom what height the most elite yellow Magic Crystal could raise a person to; could it even turn commoners into ones capable of kingly or imperial talent? When he asked them, they said they didn't know.

Now that he could turn anyone into a marshal‑level talent at any moment, Li Bucai felt very fortunate. Who should he reward this Magic Crystal to? After pondering, he decided to keep it for now and discuss rewards after returning.

Finding nothing else, and since Li Bucai had no side weapon, he took a bronze sword from his belongings, discarded the rest, and the group continued forward to search for the Sand Spring.

Around noon, a stretch of beach appeared ahead, roughly the size of several football fields. In the center of the beach lay a crescent‑shaped clear pool, its three bubbling springs bringing deep underground water to the surface and lifting copious sand at the same time. Over time this formed a sizable beach—the Sand Spring, one of the few drinkable springs in Luo Ping Hai.

The beach was completely empty; no traces of anyone's passage were found, only Li Bucai and his companions arrived there.

Rui Dan said, "It's already noon, they haven't arrived yet. Lord, why don't we rest here for a while? I'll go collect some dry firewood."

"Fine, we'll eat while we wait. To avoid accidents, you all go together, don't wander too far, and whatever you encounter, come back and call me." The giant ants they'd faced earlier were only first‑rank, with only the leader ant being second‑rank; such ants couldn't wipe out tens of thousands of Sky City's people. Luo Ping Hai must hide far more powerful exotic beasts, so Li Bucai wouldn't let them act alone.

The girls answered and left.

Li Bucai sat on the ground, took out the bark, and began studying the "Wind‑Assault Stab" technique. While he was looking, faint hoofbeats echoed from the forest; the girls were still in the woods behind and hadn't returned. The sound came from opposite him, resembling horse hooves.

Soon, as the hoofbeats grew nearer, a tall, fine horse bearing three people arrived at the edge of the beach.

Among the three on the horse, the middle rider was a burly man clad in brass plate armor, a short‑handled battle axe hanging from his waist, looking hefty, and bearing a fine bronze round shield on his back—clearly a Lord who practices the Vajra Mantra.

In his front arm's embrace was a girl who seemed only seventeen or eighteen, beautiful, and from her attire appeared to be a first‑tier manpower of noble blood; behind him, another girl clutched her bear‑sized waist, holding a Short Sword in the hand before her waist, also a second‑tier manpower of noble lineage.

He was Pu Fengtian, the Grand Lord of Qian Cang whose territory borders the northwest of Li Bucai's Territory; Qian Cang is the name of his domain, meaning "the dragon before the horse, the sky before the man."

He was the only other outlier at this early stage besides Li Bucai and the school‑uniformed girls; Li Bucai's servants were all martial, the school‑uniformed girls all literary, while Pu Fengtian invested all his money in Lord Skills. The skills weren't expensive: beyond the three primary skills, adding another cost a 10‑silver permit fee; each subsequent addition doubled the previous fee. Adding three extra skills would cost 70 silver.

Thus he had three more skills than other Lords, used the remaining silver to buy a warhorse, and among his servants only two nobles introduced by the administrator, whom he kept with him everywhere; with few people, food and lodging were easy, and he spent all remaining time practicing skills, because he was also ambitious, and what he sought differed entirely from others.