CHAPTER 376: CHAPTER 21: TREASURE MINE ATOP THE MOUNTAIN

Under the starlight, there was a lake-shaped crater, which, according to Yue Jinghua’s visual estimation, spanned an area about ten times the size of Fengdan Lake.

Just as Yue Jinghua had learned earlier from the residents of Five Saints Town, the heavenly pit at the summit of Mazaro Mountain was formed when a meteor from outer space struck and shaved off the peak, creating its current appearance.

The crater was generally funnel-shaped and didn’t appear very deep, but when Yue Jinghua tried to probe downward with her spiritual power, she could distinctly feel her spiritual power being repelled, as if something beneath the pit was hindering her spiritual exploration.

With just a visual estimate, various plants had already overgrown the crater walls, and any trace of the meteor impact had completely vanished, with evident signs of low-level crawling Dark Insects and Dark Beasts thriving in the vicinity.

"Rustle--"

The faint sound of grass moving.

With Yue Jinghua’s vision, she could clearly see the clumps of grass filled with spider webs drenched in night dew.

Looking through the clusters of grass, Yue Jinghua was surprised to find that the size of the plant species here, and a few crawling spiders she encountered, were much larger than those elsewhere on Mazaro Mountain.

For example, the dwarf rat fern by her foot was three times the size of a normal plant, and not far from there, a low-level Ghost-faced Spider as big as a football crawled out of a cave.

Luckily, the abnormalities were only among some low-level First and Second Rank spirit wood and Dark Insects.

If there had been a high-level Dark Beast, it would have been catastrophic.

Yue Jinghua felt a tingling sensation on her scalp. She did not rashly enter the interior of the heavenly pit but walked a few steps around the large crater instead.

She quickly discovered that the closer she got to the heavenly pit caused by the meteor, the more she felt an unprecedented, ocean-like surge of Dark Power emerging continuously from inside the crater.

This feeling was very similar to when Yue Jinghua previously discovered a segment of a Spirit Vein in Feng Wanwan’s alchemy room at Lie Family Mansion, yet it seemed much more powerful than that segment of Fire Spiritual Vein.

Since spiritual power was ineffective, she had to rely on external help.

For caution, Yue Jinghua first summoned the Giant Winged Mosquito King.

After undergoing the purification of Death Spring water and several battles, the Giant Winged Mosquito King, leading about a hundred Giant Winged Blood Mosquitoes, formed a dense cloud around Yue Jinghua like a cautious mushroom cloud.

The hexagonal Star Light twinkled, looking extraordinarily conspicuous at night with its zebra pattern.

"Oh oh," the summoned Gold Eater Worm was about to grumble a few complaints, but soon, its sesame-sized eyes lit up. Humping its fleshy body, it crawled towards the pit: "It’s a Star Falling Ore Vein, soil’s ugly, this time you’re going to strike it rich; below this crater, there might be a tremendous reserve of Star Falling Ore Vein."

"Star Falling Ore Vein?" Yue Jinghua was exceedingly curious.

Unlike modern times, the Canglong Continent is vast, and its mineral resources are not extensively developed by people, nor are they state-owned like in modern times.

Here, mining is allowed by civilians, provided they pay a portion of the taxes.

In addition to common circulating gold and silver, there are many types of minerals, including stone, Fei, Nao, jade, crystals, many of which Yue Jinghua had never even heard of.

Star Falling Ore is one of the rarer types among them.

Upon mention of Star Falling Ore, Yue Jinghua immediately thought of the "Soft Finger" in her hand.

The "Soft Finger" on the finger is as thin as a strand of hair, yet it boasts good attack power and flexibility, crafted from the exceedingly rare Star Falling Iron.

The formation of Star Falling Mine is somewhat similar to that of Star Falling Iron, yet different; both are a result of celestial anomalies.

Star Falling Iron originates from meteorites falling from outer space, which are rich in iron. Through refining, the meteorite and iron are separated to obtain it.

Star Falling Mine, on the other hand, forms due to meteor phenomena causing mutations in the mineral deposits originally stored underground.

Depending on the grade, Star Falling Mine has several varieties, the most basic being a white crystal called Star Fall Salt, a salt-like white crystal, which is a favorite material of Spiritual Chefs for cooking dishes with unique flavors.

Next is Star Falling Stone, which has life-prolonging effects, legend has it that it can slow down physical aging, and for Dark Practitioners, it can rejuvenate the Dark Power within the body and speed up the recovery of Dark Power, similar in function to the Nanhuang Pearl that restores spiritual power.

The highest grade is Star-falling Crystal, a rare crystal similar to a diamond. It’s said that only one Star-falling Crystal can be mined from a mile of Star Falling Mine.

Its brilliance could make the stars in the sky look dim, and a piece of jewelry made from a nail-sized Star-falling Crystal is enough to make the women of the Royal Family and Nobles chase after it fiercely.

The crown of Emperor Long Teng of the Dragon War Empire is currently adorned with a ping-pong-ball-sized Star-falling Crystal.

The Gold Eater Worm inherently has the talent for treasure hunting, if it says so, then in all likelihood, there’s a Star Falling Ore Vein stored at the mountain peak.

However, this Star Falling Ore Vein is much more difficult to handle compared to the Blue Snow Field.

Not to mention the mysterious force that hinders Yue Jinghua’s soul from probing deeper, just the location of this mine itself is quite thorny.

Mazaro Mountain is not within Fengdan County’s jurisdiction, if we truly want to develop it without the outside world knowing, it’s a big challenge in itself.

Yue Jinghua pondered, then felt she was thinking too far ahead, better first ascertain the scale of the Star Falling Mine here and what that obstructive mysterious force is.

From the grass clumps beside her, a night-foraging Ghost-faced Spider crawled out, Yue Jinghua’s Divine Sense shifted, and the sharp "Divine Stab" quietly struck the spider.

"Hiss--" The basketball-sized Dark Spider froze instantly, the powerful lethality of Divine Stab shattered its soul directly.

With its legs up in the air, from the round belly of the Dark Spider, a green liquid flowed out, and inside its stomach, Yue Jinghua indeed discovered a rice-grain-sized crystal.

Apart from the Dark Spider, Yue Jinghua also found similar crystals in the nearby lichen moss clumps.

It appeared to be Star Fall Salt; could it be that long-term consumption of this Star Fall Salt can alter the physiological structure of Dark Beasts?

Beneath this Heavenly Pit lies a vast field of Star Fall Salt?

After Blue Snow Field, has she incredibly stumbled upon another Star Fall Salt Field by sheer dumb luck?

If nothing unusual happens, the Dark Insects and vegetation in the mountain peak area mutated only after inadvertently consuming this type of Star Falling Mine.

Just as Yue Jinghua was attempting to approach the center of the lake, wanting to check for more Star-falling Crystals hidden in the pit.

Suddenly, Yue Jinghua felt the vegetation around her come to life, stones at her feet tumbled, and the soil started to crack.

A large number of spiders and crawling Dark Beasts escaped as if fleeing for their lives, and the ground, like an earthquake, trembled incessantly.