Book 2: Chapter 29: Treasure-Hunting Mouse

Vol 2 Chapter 29: Treasure-Hunting Mouse “Could it be the blessing of the Glazed Immortal Eyes?” The treasure-hunting technique taught by Mr. Cao still involved "seeing" with one's eyes. Thus, it was possible that a treasure-hunting talent was related to some kind of ocular ability. After the Pine Leaf Mouse mutated into a rare beast, its unique ability was also eye-related. This was Lin Jing's best guess. "Take me to the nearest spot," he said after some contemplation, grabbing the Pine Leaf Mouse. Before long, the two arrived at the foot of a mountain. The Pine Leaf Mouse pointed at a broken, ordinary-looking tree, indicating that a beam of ancient treasure light had originated from there. "Dig," Lin Jing instructed, feeling quite fond of this treasure-hunting activity. After digging for about three or four meters, they unearthed a chamber pot with no spiritual energy fluctuations. The chamber pot was carved with dragon and phoenix motifs, giving it a mysterious and ancient appearance. It seemed extremely old. “What the h*ll!” Lin Jing cursed, kicking the chamber pot back into the pit with frustration before covering it up again. "Is this what Mr. Cao referred to as the ancient artifact placed here?" He began to suspect that the remaining antiques were all of a similar nature. "Sigh..." The Pine Leaf Mouse gestured toward another direction. They quickly headed there and unearthed a stone stele. Just as Lin Jing thought they might have found something valuable, the text engraved on the stele left him speechless. It was a tombstone. [Grave of Immortal Li Tiangang, a cultivator during the Qi Refinement Stage.] [He perished from severe injuries after slaying a demonic pig that attacked the Li family village.] Once again, it was a tombstone without any spiritual energy. “May the deceased rest in peace. My apologies for disturbing you, Senior,” Lin Jing muttered as he buried it back again. No wonder Mr. Cao had so generously said that they were free to take whatever ancient items they found. Honestly, even if it were gifted daily, Lin Jing wasn’t particularly interested. "Are all these beams of ancient treasure light the same?" The Pine Leaf Mouse shrugged, indicating that most of the beams were indeed faint and unremarkable—except for a particularly dazzling one in the distance. "Let’s leave these ordinary relics to others. Let’s go directly to the one you mentioned," Lin Jing said. With those words, he rose into the air with Qi Manipulation, soaring toward the mountain peak where the most brilliant beam of treasure light shone, guided by the Pine Leaf Mouse. As he flew, Lin Jing noticed that many other cultivators' talents in treasure hunting were better than his. Many had already mastered the technique. However, they too were unearthing piles of useless junk, with no real value. “This stone sword…” Outside a mountain cave, Lin Jing happened to encounter Yuan Jing, who held an ancient stone sword. Just as Yuan Jing imbued it with sword intent, the sword crumbled into dust. The young swordsman’s face darkened with disappointment at the so-called ancient treasure. “Lin Jing?” Yuan Jing also noticed him. The two exchanged polite nods before continuing on their own paths. After flying for nearly an hour, Lin Jing finally arrived at the destination. Here, the ancient treasure light was particularly dazzling—obviously different from the other relics they had encountered. Lin Jing took a deep breath and was about to start digging when a powerful aura suddenly descended. “Young man, I discovered this first,” said a voice. The newcomer was a youth with three eyes, clad in an elegant blue-green robe, exuding an aura of sophistication like an immortal descended to the mortal world. “Late Foundation Establishment!” Lin Jing observed. This person was likely a senior student. Clearly, he had also noticed the unusual brilliance of the treasure light here. “We arrived first,” Lin Jing replied firmly. Although the treasure hadn’t been unearthed yet, he had no intention of giving it up. Apart from the two eyes on his face, the youth had a third eye on his forehead, suggesting some kind of special constitution. “Qi Refinement Stage 10…” The three-eyed youth remarked, “I’ve been in seclusion for so long, and to my surprise, this year’s academy freshmen are quite impressive—not only reaching the tenth stage of Qi Refinement themselves but even their companion beasts are at the same level.” “This item is ominous. Would you consider giving it to me? With your cultivation, obtaining it may bring more harm than good,” the youth added. “Senior, I happen to like ominous things,” Lin Jing replied, unmoved. Seeing that Lin Jing had no intention of yielding, the three-eyed youth shook his head and said, “Very well, then. You can have it. My name is Liu Yu. Consider this a friendly gesture. If you’re interested, you can seek me out after this area closes. The ‘Eye Alliance’ I’ve established is currently recruiting. It’s not a sect but a temporary organization among academy students, where members help each other. Unlike me, others might not be so easygoing. Joining a group will make it easier to cultivate the Hidden Dragon Arts, and the results will be much better.” With that, he glanced into the distance and flew away. Lin Jing and the Pine Leaf Mouse had expected a fight over the treasure but, seeing Liu Yu leave so easily, they resumed digging without hesitation. Searᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. “Liu Yu, the three-eyed cultivator—he’s ranked thirty-first on the Human Ranking of the Genius Rankings.” While digging, Lin Jing recalled the man’s identity. If they had truly fought, unless he unsealed the Ice Soul Gu, there was no way he and the Pine Leaf Mouse could defeat Liu Yu on their own. “This guy also has an exceptional treasure-hunting talent!” “But why did he say this item was ominous?” As they continued digging, they finally unearthed the ancient treasure at this location. It turned out to be an old wooden box. However, the so-called treasure wasn’t the wooden box itself, but the item inside! At the urging of the Pine Leaf Mouse, Lin Jing opened the wooden box. Inside was a tattered, blood-stained marriage certificate! The certificate was badly damaged, with most of the text illegible. Only a faintly visible "Double Happiness" character remained. Despite its age, the certificate still emanated spiritual energy—though this energy was extremely cold, with a chilling aura reminiscent of Ghostfire. “Mr. Cao, are you there?” Lin Jing, holding the wooden box, fell into deep thought and called for Mr. Cao. “Hahaha…” Moments later, a projection of Mr. Cao materialized in the air. He glanced at Lin Jing and the Pine Leaf Mouse and said, “I didn’t expect you two to display such talent in treasure hunting.” “I thought the one with the greatest talent would be that three-eyed Liu Yu. Yet, it turns out to be you two. If you were both at the Qi Refinement stage, I doubt even he could have discovered this wooden box.” Mr. Cao studied Lin Jing and then looked at the Pine Leaf Mouse. Puzzled, he asked, “Could it be that this little one has the bloodline of the Treasure-Hunting Mouse? After all, the treasure-hunting technique itself was originally created by the ancient demonic Treasure-Hunting Mouse Clan and later taught to their followers.” “Eh?” The Pine Leaf Mouse pointed at itself in confusion. “Me?” Lin Jing nodded but thought it was more likely due to the Glazed Immortal Eyes. He didn’t want to delve too deeply into the matter and instead lifted the wooden box to ask Mr. Cao, “Mr. Cao, what is this? Why is it so different from the other ancient items? Is this something you placed here as well?” Mr. Cao chuckled. “Indeed, I placed three spiritually-infused ancient treasures here for destined students to find. This marriage certificate is one of them.” “This certificate was something I stumbled upon by chance. Its origin is unknown, but I can roughly infer its backstory… In ancient times, wars were frequent. This certificate exudes a chilling and resentful energy, likely because a woman’s fiancé died in battle before they could be married. The lingering grief and resentment condensed into this object.” Lin Jing fell silent. No wonder Liu Yu had called it ominous—it truly was. With his powerful ocular abilities, Liu Yu must have sensed it. “Mr. Cao… what’s the purpose of this marriage certificate?” Lin Jing asked. Mr. Cao looked up at the sky and replied, “It doesn’t have much use. I just tossed some useless ancient items from my storage bag here to help you all practice treasure-hunting techniques. If you don’t like it, feel free to discard it.” “However, if you insist on finding a use for it, the energy within this certificate is extremely cold and filled with resentment. For ordinary people, possessing it would bring misfortune and illness. But for cultivators, it can be used to temper one’s resistance to such energy! In the future, if you encounter demonic cultivators from the Yin Corpse Sect or the Nether Hall, this could help you better handle their attacks.”