Rummaging through all his Space Rings, Austin selected the elixirs that could speed up his vital energy
replenishment, and then he put the others back in his Space Rings.
Ever since he entered the premium stage of the Earth Realm, the size of the light ball in his elixir field
had expanded a lot. At the moment, the inner diameter of the light ball had reached about half feet
long, which was a remarkable achievement for Austin.
Once Austin transmitted his intent to the light ball, the light ball in his elixir field began to glow with
warm, soft light. Then, within seconds, the light ball moved and came slowly out of his body and
stopped right above the elixirs. As if the light ball was magnetic, it started to absorb those elixirs into its
body. Every time it swallowed a pill of elixir, its color became brighter than before.
All these elixirs that Austin had gotten were not precious, valuable things. Their level was pretty low
and they contained very little vital energy inside. In a short while, all the elixirs that were placed in front
of him had been absorbed by the light ball.
Once it was done, Austin returned his light ball to his elixir field. He could now feel that the volume of
the vital energy in his body had increased. However, it was still far from enough. He sighed helplessly.
To replenish his vital energy quickly, he now needed to use his refining formula to absorb the vital
element of heaven and earth from the nature and in order to do that, he would consume more of the
vital energy that was left and that would wear him out.
He didn't have much of a choice. So upon assessing the situation he was in, he decided to give it a try.
Sitting down cross-legged, he put his Golden Sun Scripture into action. In a short while, a gust of chilly,
piercing vital energy wind blew through the cave and started to warp Austin in its circle.
Feeling the wind, his veins tightened and his pores swelled. After a moment, the vital energy wind that
was generated from nature bored into Austin's body. He could only compare the feeling to a person
who had finally got water to drink after being lost in the desert for several days. Austin felt a remarkable
effect. The vital energy went right down to his feet and the sensation provided him with full strength and
clarity.
Once Austin recovered and regained his energy, he was more aware of his surroundings. He started
noticing that the spiritual energy contained in the cave was unnaturally abundant and the volume of
vital energy was noticeably dense.
He remembered the cultivation room of the Energy-gathering Array in the Sun Sect. The vital energy
contained in that room was also notably abundant. But in comparison, the vital energy in here was at
least ten times more than that in the cultivation room.
Austin realized that the whirl of vital energy completely surrounded him, and his body could absorb
them easily with no effort.
He regretted a little for not detecting the vital energy before wasting his elixirs.
But there was no taking back his actions. He diverted his attention from the elixirs and tried to
investigate the source of the vital energy.
There was something abnormal about the cave. He could feel it, but he could not tell precisely what
was abnormal about it.
With no one present to consult with, he called Violet.
"Violet, come out and feel this cave. The vital energy in this cave is astoundingly abundant," Austin
said.
Upon receiving his call, Violet came out from the Illusion Bead. Being a fox, her sensitive nose caught
the smell of the thick vital energy in an instant.
"You are right, master. This cave is really strange. But with so much vital energy present, you could just
replenish your vital energy easily," said Violet with great pleasure.
Austin was not as excited as Violet. He had his suspicions about the place. "Do you think that they
have set up another Energy-gathering Array here?" he asked guardedly.
Violet did not reply. Like Austin, she knew nothing about the place. Out of curiosity, Austin started to
explore around the cave, trying to find some clues to his speculation while Violet followed him.
However, contrary to what he had expected, they didn't find any trace or proof that any other human
had visited this place before. Guessing from the state of the cave, Austin should be the first human to
have ever entered this cave.
That being said, there was no Energy-Gathering Array in this place.
'If that was the case, where did all the vital energy come from?' Austin wondered.
Suddenly, Austin noticed something glinting at a distance.
They hurried to see what it was and found that the light was coming from something buried behind the
stone wall of the cave.
To satisfy his curiosity, Austin activated his eight thousand pounds punch force. With a dull thud, Austin
thrust his hard fist into the stone wall. Immediately, clattering and roaring sounds followed as layers of
stones fell to the ground and the entire mountain shook.
Along with the stones, several shining, bright objects also fell off the cracked wall.
Austin picked up one and studied it. To his surprise, it was a vital energy crystal.
Upon examining it more carefully, he realized that it was not just an ordinary vital energy crystal. The
brightness, gloss and smoothness, were far superior as compared to an ordinary vital energy crystal.
And to top it off, there were so many of them.
Discovering so many highly qualified vital energy crystals, Austin could not contain his excitement and
his heart pounded violently with delight.
He remembered his own vital energy crystals and took a few out of his Space Ring to compare them
with the one he found in the cave.
To his amazement, the vital energy crystal in the cave was a replica of those from the Space Ring. The
vital energy crystals that were in his Space Ring once belonged to Steward Meng of the Medicine Sect.
Austin took them after defeating him in battle.
Since most of the features of the vital energy crystals differed from the ordinary vital energy crystals,
Austin had done some research on them afterwards and learned that those crystals were known as
superior vital energy crystals.
From his research, he realized that the ordinary vital energy crystals were no match for the superior
vital energy crystals. Superior vital energy crystals could be used directly in the cultivation process to
replenish vital energy while the ordinary vital energy crystals needed to be refined in advance before
use and one could only use the ordinary vital energy crystals as currency between fighters.
The market value of the superior vital energy crystal was far higher than that of the ordinary vital
energy crystal. It was said that one superior vital energy crystal could be exchanged for a thousand
ordinary vital energy crystals, which explained why the superior vital energy crystal was so rare and
hard to get.
They had not expected that this inconspicuous, smelly cave could contain so many superior vital
energy crystals in the wall. Austin could not help clapping and laughing with glee.
"Violet, we are filthy rich now," exclaimed Austin blissfully like a child who had just been rewarded with
a handful of candies.
"Come on, let's dig the treasure!" Austin cried joyfully.
Together, Austin and Violet started digging the superior vital energy crystals out one by one from the
gap between the stones.
At first, they were in a highly boisterous mood as they imagined how powerful they would become once
they had many superior vital energy crystals. Every time they dug out a superior vital energy crystal,
they fondled it and put it into the Space Ring carefully in the fear that they would drop it accidentally on
the ground and crash it.
Hours passed by and the digging did not stop. The number of the superior vital energy crystals soared
up to dozens of pieces and the dark cave was all lit by the shining light the superior vital energy
crystals emitted.
Having gotten this many superior vital energy crystals, Austin and Violet were still not satisfied. They
continued their treasure digging. To their surprise, the amount of superior vital energy crystals hidden in
the wall was far greater than they had originally anticipated. By sunset, they had already dug out nearly
a thousand vital energy crystals.
Every once in a while, Austin would use his Overlord Body-refining Formula and hit the solid wall with
his strong, powerful fist. Every time a lot of superior vital energy crystals fell off along with the smashed
stones.
They were so engrossed in their digging that they dug so deep into the wall without being aware that
they had actually dug a small tunnel of about ten feet long.
Luckily, they had plenty of Space Rings to store the superior vital energy crystals they dug out.
Later, as the number of vital energy crystals continued to soar, the original excitement they felt
gradually faded. The repeated motion stiffened their muscles and they began digging out the vital
energy crystals and putting them into the Space Ring more mechanically than intentionally.
"I am so exhausted, master," murmured Violet, pouting her lips.
She rubbed her ridged wrist and drew a deep breath.
"I know, Violet. Just hold on a little longer. You know we will make a big fortune. Let's dig all the vital
energy crystals out of the wall. I believe there are few left now," Austin consoled Violet in a soft voice.
In all honesty, he was as tired as she was and dying to have a rest.
They continued digging, without taking a break, until when they dug about another five feet further, the
superior vital energy crystal was no longer available. They seemed to have dug out all of them.
However, as they reached the end, a circular cave of about two feet in diameter suddenly appeared in
front of them.
When they peeked, they saw a small pile of fist-sized crystals lay on the ground, emitting a soft, holy
light. A stream of dense spiritual energy of heaven and earth filled the atmosphere. Once Austin and
Violet got close to the cave, they breathed in the spiritual energy and suddenly, the heavy weariness
they had felt for so long vanished in an instant and they were as strong and energetic as they were
before.
"What are these?"
Austin and Violet cried out simultaneously in awe and amazement. The crystals were bigger in size
than the ones they had been digging so far and as for the volume of vital energy, these crystals
seemed to contain vital energy greater than the superior vital energy crystals.
Both Austin and Violet were excited and confused.
'Could these be a more valuable type of vital energy crystal than the superior vital energy crystal?' they
wondered.
It was the first time they had seen such big crystals, so they did not understand what exactly these
crystals were.
They however, looked like they were more valuable and precious. So they took them all and put them
into the Space Ring.
Austin counted as he put them into the Space Ring one by one. There were about a hundred of these
big crystals, and now they were Austin's.
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