Chapter 164 Treasures!

"How did you…?"

Feng Yan looked at the dead beast with a wide O of his mouth. A dreaded Steel Beast had died just like that, with a single Attack from Ikasa!

The old man looked at his young employer with admiration and amazement. Just when he thought he had gauged Ikasa's powers, the young man exposed a new level, proving him wrong.

The Dead Steel Beast was the best example.

Feng Yan thought Ikasa brought him along because he alone could not handle the beast. It seems he was wrong. He just didn't want to expose his full range of abilities!

Complex emotions flashed through his old and experienced eyes.

'May be… He may be the best candidate for Xin Ruo!'

Seeing Feng Yan look at him with stars in his eyes, Ikasa shivered.

'What is this old man thinking of now?'

Ikasa wondered as he simply smirked in response to Feng Yan's admiring eyes. Even though he did not know how and why his Serrated Sun Disc was so powerful against the Beast, he was happy with the result. He only hoped to be able to replicate the results against other Steel Beasts.

Still, he could worry about that later. Right now, it was time to harvest his gains!

"Old Man, if you have rested enough, should we go? The Prime Gold Ores are waiting for us!"

—----

The Absolutes watched Ikasa struggle against the Steel Beast. They sat on the edge of their seats when the Beast charged at Ikasa at the end. When he took out the Serrated Sun Disc, the Absolutes became alarmed.

The other Absolutes turned toward the Absolute of Earth and the Absolute of Fire to see their reactions.

The Absolute of Earth was rock faced in literal and figurative sense. She looked at the Absolute of Fire. The giant reddish orange Flame flared up a little upon seeing the Disc.

Absolute of Earth stoically asked,

"The weapon we created and bestowed upon your blessed also ended up in his hands.  What are you going to do?"

The Flame flared once more and then diminished as if sighing with resignation.

"The bloodline I blessed no longer exists in this world. It is his fate to have obtained my artifact, he may as well use it."

The Absolute of Water narrowed her eyes. She noticed the carefree and nonchalant attitude of the flame when it spoke.

The Absolute of Fire she knew was a possessive person. He should not be reacting so calmly to the news about his artifact. The humanoid water elemental felt something was wrong.

She looked closely as Ikasa removed the Serrated Sun Disc from the Beast's head and cleaned it. The scene caused her eyes to widen and she understood the reason behind the non caring attitude of the Absolute of Fire.

"Aha! So that's why you don't care anymore! The artifact's spirit has already been extracted or extinguished!"

The Absolute of Water exclaimed, exposing the hypocrisy of the Flame. It turned slightly purple at having been exposed but it still maintained its holier than thou attitude.

"So what if it does not possess the artifact spirit anymore? It is still a weapon that I had blessed in the past."

The Absolute of Water snorted at his hypocrisy. She did not hesitate to expose him.

"Without your blessing and the artifact spirit, that Serrated Sun Disc is only a slightly sharper piece of metal. How can you even call that an artifact? No wonder you were willing to give it up so easily."

The Flame flickered violently, agitated by the Water Elementals words. He tried to defend himself.

"As I said, it is fate. If fate brings him to the Sun Fire Festival, I will not only restore my blessing and artifact Spirit, I will also bestow upon him one of the sources of fire."

Absolute of Water smirked, as if she had trapped the Absolute of Fire. The Absolute of Fire changed into a humane face as he had a bad premonition.

He immediately took measures to prevent the Absolute of Water's interference.

"If you or any of the other Absolutes guide him to the Festival, then it is no longer a predestined meeting. I will not fulfill my word."

The Absolute of Flame warned, his fiery face scrunched into a frown.

The Absolute of Water was not deterred by his threat. She still smiled wickedly and solemnly warned,

"Remember, this is what you said; when time comes, don't renege on your promise."

—-----

Ikasa and Feng Yan reached the place guarded by the Steel Beast. The two men discovered a huge tree. They did not discover it from afar because it shone with the same golden light as the Prime Gold Ores!

"This must be the Golden Bell-fruit tree!"

Feng Yan exclaimed. Ikasa raised his eyebrow at the old man. Due to limitations of the Spiritual Vision his gesture went unnoticed.

Ikasa then voiced his question.

"Golden Bell-fruit?"

"Yes. When I was injured, Elder Yi mentioned it. He said that this fruit tree grows only on large deposits of Prime Gold or other Spiritual Gold ores. It has the ability to make a person recover from his injuries instantly."

Ikasa's eyes shined upon hearing the fruit's characteristics. He could see 11 tiny green energy spots on the Golden Tree. This was equal to having eleven lifelines in this Rift!

"This Fruit also rejuvenates the body and strengthens muscles and bones by two times."

This effect made Ikasa salivate. If he ate this fruit, wouldn't his body be as strong as Gu Dan and Feng Yan?

Even though they cultivated the same Top Grade Technique, Ikasa did not perform many physical labors. Hence, his body was stronger than other Sense Trainers but could not match Gu Dan or Feng Yan yet.

And this Golden Bell-fruit would not only act as his lifeline in the rift, it could even strengthen his body when eaten over time!

Ikasa's mouth salivated as he looked at the pear-shaped energy dots hanging on the tree.

"Too bad, the fruit decays within a few days after being separated from the tree."

Feng Yan continued, making Ikasa's plans to save them redundant.

The fruits could only be used inside the rift. If he decided to use them after going out, the fruits probably would have decayed.

Still, if he did not use them all while inside, he could also sell them to other desperate survivors and make a fortune!

Ikasa did not hurry to gather the fruits. There was nobody in the vicinity except for himself and Feng Yan. So, he could afford to take his time.

He turned his attention to the treasure that attracted him here in the first place. The ores of Prime Gold!

Ikasa began to survey the ground for the locations of the ores. He discovered something that made his job easier.

The entire peak was a steep slope riddled with cracks with uneven surface and the fissures exposing the treasures hidden underneath. The golden light of the ores was exposed through these cracks.

The light was so dense and bright that he had to avert his eyes, lest he lose his sight.

Ikasa took out a pickaxe and began to mine for the ore. He picked at one of the cracks, one hit after another. A few minutes later, a blinding ray of light hit his face. The ore inside had been unearthed!

A smile bloomed on his face as he picked up the fist sized golden ore.

"Whoa! This nugget alone must be around one kilogram!"

Ikasa exclaimed with joy. His eyes surveyed the area and saw many more golden ores hidden under the first layer of the mountain.

"Old man, what are you waiting for, let's start digging!"

Ikasa shouted at Feng Yan who still had not moved away from the tree.

A few hours later, Ikasa straightened his back with a cracking sound. He wiped the sweat rolling down from his forehead and looked at the broken pickaxe in his hands.

"This is my limit. I can't add anymore to my storage device."

Ikasa muttered, looking at the small pile of ore gathered near the tree. Excluding the small pile near the tree, Ikasa had mined 60 Kgs of ore. It means he had gathered 60 One Star Spirit Coins in just a few hours!

That was equal to the entirety of the Spirit Coins in his possession!

And he had plenty more, waiting to be mined. The only problem was how to carry them outside. There was no more space in his Storage device. Except for his printer and limited rations, his entire Storage Space was full of ores.

Ikasa looked above and saw the fruits hanging on the tree. He suddenly had an idea.

'Why should I be the one to excavate the ores? Can't I just get others to carry it out and then get it from them?'

The idea began to sound very much plausible. The Prime Gold ores were only precious to those factions who dealt with merchants from the Furnace Fire Empire. To individual cultivators or smaller powers, they were no different from the gold coins.

Now the only question was how to lure them over. The fruits hanging on the tree solved his dilemma. He could lure people over using the recovery fruits as bait!

Ikasa smiled a devious grin. He immediately ordered Feng Yan to abandon his mining work.

"Old Man, take 10 fruits and leave one on the tree. We will sell information about this tree and find workers to excavate the Prime Gold buried here."

However, they had to do one more thing before they spread information about this place; they had to clean up the other precious goodies!