Chapter 46

PS: Boys, send over the Sanjiang votes!

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At the very bottom of the large pit, a gem-like object the size of an egg, emitting a faint green glow, suddenly appeared before Ye Zhen's eyes. Especially on the surface of this green glowing gem, a small section of a stalactite was still connected, and at this moment, a thin stream of green liquid was seeping out from both the stalactite and the green gem. The remaining section of the stalactite was also faintly showing signs of stone marrow spirit liquid seeping out.

Seeing this, Ye Zhen was almost certain that the egg-sized, green-glowing gem in front of him was the source of the stone marrow spirit liquid. The effects of the stone marrow spirit liquid were already miraculous, so the gem that could produce it must be even more extraordinary.

Suddenly, Ye Zhen's expression changed drastically. After the gem that produced the stone marrow spirit liquid was exposed to the air, the faint water marks on its surface gradually dried up, and the remaining section of the stalactite instantly lost all its moisture, turning into a pile of fine sand and falling off. The egg-sized green gem slowly shrank, looking like a wrinkled egg.

As the moisture disappeared, the luster gradually faded, and in an instant, the gem that had previously glowed like a divine object turned into an ordinary-looking pebble.

Ye Zhen became anxious and hurriedly buried the stone marrow pearl with the sand and soil from the area. "Stone marrow pearl" was the name Ye Zhen gave to this miraculous gem that could produce stone marrow spirit liquid.

However, no matter how hard Ye Zhen tried, even if he buried it with more sand and stones, the stone marrow pearl still lost all its luster and moisture, showing no signs of recovery.

After waiting for two hours, Ye Zhen completely lost hope that the stone marrow pearl would recover. Moreover, he couldn't wait any longer; in another two hours, it would be daylight.

He had to take the stone marrow pearl with him. Ye Zhen believed that the stone marrow pearl was definitely an extraordinary treasure, and it must have some unknown uses.

The stone marrow pearl was extremely heavy, and it was hard to imagine that an egg-sized green stone could have the weight of a watermelon-sized stone. However, what made Ye Zhen think the stone marrow pearl was extraordinary was another discovery he made.

Just as he was about to give up, Ye Zhen, still somewhat reluctant, had a sudden idea and tried to send a tiny thread of true essence from his body into the stone marrow pearl.

A terrifying thing happened. The moment the fine thread of true essence entered the stone marrow pearl, it was like a lit powder keg, and a terrifying and violent force suddenly surged out from within the stone marrow pearl.

Ye Zhen's thread of true essence was instantly shattered by the violent force inside the stone marrow pearl, and the residual force of the counterattack even caused his palm and meridians to be severely injured.

However, strangely enough, the moment Ye Zhen's thread of true essence was completely destroyed, the violent force inside the stone marrow pearl instantly calmed down, becoming as calm as an ordinary stone.

After the incident, Ye Zhen was extremely frightened. Fortunately, he had been cautious and only sent in a very fine thread of true essence. If he had sent in a larger amount of true essence, the residual force of the violent counterattack from the stone marrow pearl could have easily shattered his arm, or even cost him his life.

"This stone marrow pearl is definitely an extraordinary treasure. I must keep it well; it might be useful in the future!"

After securing the stone marrow pearl, Ye Zhen looked at the large pit that Gu Duozhi had split open, feeling somewhat melancholic. The extremely miraculous stone marrow spirit liquid was now gone.

However, losing something in one place and gaining it in another, perhaps this stone marrow pearl was an even more extraordinary treasure?

Before leaving, Ye Zhen had to deal with Gu Duozhi's corpse. He at least had to bury it. Of course, before burying it, he wouldn't let go of the valuables on Gu Duozhi's body easily.

Gu Duozhi didn't carry much with him: a bottle of half-formed true essence pills, a lower-grade human rank cultivation technique called "Little Heavenly Star Sword," and a hundred gold leaves, each worth one tael. The most valuable items were ten banknotes from the Black Water Bank, each worth a thousand taels.

In addition, there was a long sword and an identity jade token representing Gu Duozhi's status as an outer sect disciple.

After careful consideration, Ye Zhen took only the bottle of half-formed true essence pills and the hundred gold leaves. The ten thousand taels in banknotes, after careful comparison, were found to be identical to the banknotes he already had, with the same marks and even random serial numbers, so he kept them.

As for the most valuable lower-grade human rank cultivation technique "Little Heavenly Star Sword" and Gu Duozhi's long sword, Ye Zhen honestly buried them with Gu Duozhi's corpse.

Ye Zhen knew what he could touch and what he couldn't. Even though Gu Duozhi had mentioned valuable medicines and even more valuable treasures in his room, Ye Zhen didn't entertain any foolish thoughts about going to Gu Duozhi's room.

When he was young, Ye Zhen enjoyed reading novels and biographies, and there were many examples of people who had money but no life to spend it.

Finally, Ye Zhen stared at the identity jade token in his hand, unsure of how to handle it. Each outer sect disciple had an identity jade token, which was extremely magical. It could record the disciple's contribution points to the sect and even interact with the Earth Rank. It was said to have many other unknown magical functions.

Ye Zhen didn't know what other magical functions the identity jade token had, so he didn't dare to dispose of it rashly. Any mistake could cost him his life.

In the Qi Yun Sect, those who harm their fellow disciples are executed without mercy!

After much thought, Ye Zhen suddenly remembered a gossip he had heard in the dining hall. It was about an outer sect disciple who was usually quite reclusive and died in the back mountain for half a year without being discovered. His identity was only confirmed through the remaining identity jade token.

If this gossip was true, it meant that a complete identity jade token did not notify the sect of the holder's life or death.

With this confirmed, Ye Zhen just needed to confirm one more thing to cover up Gu Duozhi's death for a period of time.

Carefully removing all traces from the secret cave on the cliff, Ye Zhen left quietly with Gu Duozhi's identity jade token.

Ye Zhen left Bai Song Peak without disturbing anyone. When he reached Dong Lai Peak and saw Gu Duozhi's name still shining brightly on the Earth Rank, he finally relaxed.

As long as the identity jade token was intact, the name of the outer sect disciple would not disappear from the Earth Rank, so the sect would not discover Gu Duozhi's death in the short term.

The later the sect discovered it, the safer Ye Zhen would be.

The next day, Ye Zhen informed Liu Zhisshi at Dong Lai Peak and left Qi Yun Sect, heading home with his backpack.

Qi Yun Sect was located in the Qi Yun Mountains, about four thousand miles away from Ye Zhen's hometown, Wuan County in Jin Cheng Prefecture. The road was rugged, and if he walked, it would take at least a month to get back, which would be a huge waste of time.

Fortunately, in the small town at the foot of Qi Yun Sect, there were horses that could traverse mountains as easily as flat ground for sale. Spending two thousand taels, Ye Zhen bought a white silver-horned horse with a unicorn-like horn to help him travel.

The silver-horned horse was a type of horse with extremely rare demon beast bloodline. Over thousands of years, humans gradually tamed this powerful, mountain-traversing silver-horned horse.

However, the silver-horned horse was not only expensive but also required a lot of money to feed, with nearly one tael of silver needed per day for fodder, which was not something an ordinary person could afford.

Of course, for the current Ye Zhen, this was no problem at all.

Ye Zhen hurriedly traveled during the day but still took time to practice in the morning and evening, never letting up.

One day, Ye Zhen rode the silver-horned horse to the banks of the Black Water River, which stretched for thousands of miles. Looking at the river, which was as dark as ink and had surging waves, Ye Zhen suddenly had an idea and threw the identity jade token he had carried for several days into the turbulent Black Water River.

This dangerous item that he had carried for four or five days floated and sank in the dark water, drifting away. Sometimes it was pushed to the bottom by a wave, sometimes it collided with a hidden reef, and sometimes it hit the riverbank. Finally, after countless collisions, cracks slowly appeared on the identity jade token.

Two days later, a wave hit, and the identity jade token finally shattered into countless pieces, which were carried away by the Black Water River.

Almost at the moment the identity jade token shattered, Gu Duozhi's name on the Earth Rank at Qi Yun Sect's Heaven and Earth Cliff began to flash rapidly and then disappeared from the Earth Rank.

Ye Zhen's name on the Earth Rank flickered slightly and then took the first place. Hong Bao, who had been beaten to third place by Ye Zhen, reclaimed his second place.

Liu Zhisshi of Dong Lai Peak, sensing something, rushed to Gu Duozhi's room to check and ask. His face changed drastically, and he hurriedly ran to the main peak of Qi Yun Sect, Qi Tian Peak!

"What? The first place on the Earth Rank, Gu Duozhi, died unexpectedly? He was a disciple I had my eye on."

In an instant, the main peak of Qi Yun Sect was in turmoil, and several true disciples who had not been seen for a long time, including Fan Chuyu of Ling Jian Peak, came down the mountain!

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PS: I am fortunate to have been selected for the Sanjiang promotion, but there is an important data point for Sanjiang. If I can be the top in Sanjiang votes for a week, I can enter the Sanjiang Academy.

I hope all my brothers and sisters can lend me a hand and cast a Sanjiang vote for me.

A reminder: Sanjiang votes are claimed. In the upper right corner of the Sanjiang category channel, you can claim and then cast your vote!

I bow to all my brothers and sisters in advance!

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