Flawless Crystal
At his words, Wu Youren gave a decisive wave of his hand. "Then this one's yours."
"But as for the next one—sorry, I can't make any promises yet."
He truly didn't need this gentle spirit stone right now, but who could say what the future held?
"I'll trade you something for this one!" the horned owl answered without hesitation. "I was planning to leave it for you anyway."
Seeing the youth about to refuse, it added another line. "Guess what the most wasteful way to use a flawless crystal is."
Wu Youren thought for a moment, then ventured a guess. "Absorbing the resentment built up inside the body?"
"Exactly!" Chen Quanxu answered without hesitation. "As for whether it can root it out completely, I'm not sure... no one's ever that extravagant."
Flawless crystals were extraordinarily rare. Even when an ordinary ability master got hold of one, they almost couldn't bear to use it.
Ability masters didn't take part in combat often. The common understanding was that resources were scarce and that some of those involved were simply timid.
But the real reasons went far beyond that.
When builders, artifact smiths, and the like cast their abilities, the process was controllable—if they couldn't keep it up, they could simply rest. But once they entered combat, there was no resting; when necessary, they had no choice but to use resentment crystals, which took a toll on themselves.
No matter who it was, once they obtained a flawless crystal, they would most likely hold on to it and use it only when they most needed to save their own life.
Use this thing to cleanse the resentment accumulated in the body? To put it bluntly... which ability master didn't have resentment built up inside?
The horned owl had already begun mulling over how it would use this flawless crystal.
"I can use it to absorb a little resentment, but... I can't overuse it!"
"A crystal with a bit of a flaw... no need to sell that one either. I'm not short of that kind of money—I'll keep it for a crucial moment later!"
The next moment, it thought of a very important question and asked anxiously.
"Tell me—the next orange seed, once its aura disperses, will it still be a flawless crystal?"
A matter like this, and you're asking me? The youth was truly at a loss. "You're the senior; you've been through more than I have."
"You're the one who's Xiao Ha's owner," the horned owl answered without hesitation. "Besides, it hasn't been long since I got out of the Hostage Manor either!"
The youth always took him for a seasoned old hand, yet Chen Quanxu was still young. Back in Jin, he had devoted himself entirely to cultivation; not long after entering Liang, he had fled the Hostage Manor, and it had been less than ten years in all. He, too, was someone whose identity couldn't be brought to light—how much of the world outside could he really have known? The only reason the youth felt he knew so much was that he had fought in a great many battles, and much of what he knew had been gleaned from his enemies.
"Its owner?" Wu Youren shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Then let's observe it together."
The ways of this world truly could be inexplicable at times.
Before, he had been so cautious, desperately hiding his tracks, barely able to lie low in the Rust Belt for a few days at a stretch. But now, he was "living in seclusion" here in the open; Red Pine not only didn't interfere, but even sent instructors to deliver food. Even the New Army knew his location, yet didn't send anyone to harass him. Now, he could even invite forbidden figures to come stake out the finale of Xiao Ha's second season.
The hostage was still the same hostage, but times truly were different from before—and what was rare was that Chen Quanxu was also willing to trust him.
Still, tomorrow and misfortune truly did seem to take turns arriving.
The next day, a band of barbarians passed by, and the grand knight in their group actually discovered that someone was living here.
This barbarian party numbered fewer than twenty in all, yet actually had a grand knight. The party was heading toward the Wasteland and had brought some supplies along, but they really did drift over.
"Let's take them out," the horned owl said without hesitation. "I hate Liang natives, but do these things even count as people?"
What Chen Quanxu grumbled about most was that Liang natives at most slept with their own sisters, while barbarians really did practice backcrossing and reverse pairing!
This band of barbarians was utterly ignorant of the rules—they actually launched an attack in broad daylight!
Right now the snow hadn't melted, so daytime and nighttime weren't all that different, really. But there was still a difference after all—robbing in broad daylight surely involved a bit less reverence than robbing at night.
The barbarian grand knight was rather offhand, because he could sense that only one person lived in that dilapidated house. That person's aura was a bit strange—like an apprentice knight, yet also like a knight. But that didn't matter; the key point was that the other party was alone.
So he sent two knights and four apprentice knights to "requisition" some supplies—after all, they had come to help the Liang natives kill ghosts. He simply stood at a short distance, arms crossed, watching.
The six barbarians who went forward directly brandished their blades to "requisition." This lone fellow was living quite comfortably—not only did he have a tent, but there was a small snow harrier perched on his shoulder; clearly he was well-off. But the other party was clearly frightened; the moment he saw people approaching, he simply turned and ran.
"Carrying a sword and all," a barbarian knight snorted contemptuously. "Liang natives really have only this much guts."
He waved a hand and ordered three apprentice knights to give chase. "If you can take him alive, try your best to take him alive." The other party, in such circumstances, still possessed a certain amount of supplies; perhaps he had some channel—see if you can dig it out by following the lead.
Barbarians grew up in bitter, freezing lands and understood the terror of the white disaster best; although two snows had already fallen this year, winter was still long.
After a pause, he shouted loudly once more. "That snow harrier... I want it alive!"
The other party's tent wasn't very big—five or six square meters—but for one person, it was already quite roomy. One knight stepped inside for a look, and his eyes lit up. "He actually has an oil stove—this fellow really lives well."
There weren't many supplies in the tent, but a certain standard of comfortable living couldn't be concealed. For most barbarians wintering over, having livestock dung to burn—enough to last until spring—was already considered good. There was very little fuel oil in the tent, but beyond doubt, if he could afford to run an oil stove, there had to be more oil!
Another knight also ducked in for a look. "The felt's thick, too—a rich man! Maybe I should join the chase too..."
Before he'd finished speaking, a tremendous boom erupted beneath his feet, and then—there was no more "then."
"Damn it!" The barbarian grand knight, who had been glancing around, flew into a rage at the sight. "My warriors!"
He had brought a total of six knights and twelve apprentice knights, and now two of his knights had been blasted straight into the sky.
"After them!" he bellowed in fury. Of the remaining four knights, three led the other apprentice knights in pursuit. The one left behind was his bodyguard, along with two other apprentice knights.
"That bastard!" the bodyguard noticed something was wrong. "That guy... he can ski!"
The lone figure racing ahead wasn't slow at all; the three apprentice knights chasing behind watched themselves fall further and further behind. But even so, as this fellow ran, he suddenly did a flip. By the time he landed, a pair of skis had appeared on his feet, and two ski poles in his hands. Riding that momentum, the figure swiftly glided away into the distance.
"That snow harrier... grab it tight," one barbarian apprentice said, his focus completely off track.
A dark look flashed through the grand knight's eyes. "You lot follow as well!"
The next moment, he flashed forward in pursuit.
Among the barbarians there were also those who could ski, but those were mostly from tribes that lived by roving and hunting; this grand knight wasn't very good at it. But he knew very well that in a long-distance chase, gliding was much less strenuous than running.
The key was that the opponent had actually buried explosives beneath the tent where he lived—clearly a ruthless man! The grand knight had originally thought that a few of his own knights could finish the opponent; now it seemed he had to act himself. The more vicious a Liang native was, the less he could be spared—otherwise it would bring trouble to his own tribe.
His pursuit speed far surpassed the others'; in just a few bounds, he overtook his companions, closing to within five hundred meters of his quarry. At this distance, a gun wasn't very reliable, but if he threw the short spear on his back, as long as it hit, it could basically guarantee death or injury. It was just that the little brat ahead was extremely erratic in his movements, making him hard to aim at. But it was only a matter of a couple more steps—a cold sneer tugged at the corner of the grand knight's mouth.
Originally, he had planned to torture the location of the other supplies out of him and then kill the brat, but now... if he didn't torture this fellow severely, how could he face the two knights who had died?
Suddenly, the figure—who had been zigzagging back and forth—darted straight forward, kicked off the skis, and charged toward the brush ahead.
A straight-line acceleration... wasn't that courting death? The grand knight sped up as well.
At the very instant of the straight pursuit, he vaguely sensed that something was amiss. But he had no time to think further—the next moment, the ground beneath his feet quaked, and a tremendous shockwave surged up.
This explosion was far fiercer than the last one—three blast points detonated at once, with an enormous charge. If the last one had been the equivalent of five grenades, this time each blast point equaled at least twenty.
The grand knight was blasted straight into the sky, and even Wu Youren, three hundred meters away, dropped flat. The three knights chasing from behind, startled, forced themselves to a halt and dropped forward to the ground as well.
The moment the shockwave passed, the youth ahead sprang up, turned, and pounced back, incredibly fast.
During the pursuit, the grand knight had been somewhat on guard and had used battle qi to shield his body. But deep down, he hadn't considered this to be all that dangerous. Moreover, closely following behind him were the warriors of his own tribe. If the others saw that he had to fully muster battle qi to shield himself just to chase down a tiny ant, wouldn't he be a laughingstock?
He truly hadn't expected that along the opponent's escape route there would be more explosives—and that their power would be far from ordinary. With that explosive yield, even had he fully mustered his battle qi, his injuries wouldn't have been light—let alone since he'd also been looking down on his opponent.
His injuries were extremely severe; his head was ringing, and for a moment he simply couldn't react. Yet he knew, after all, that he had fallen into a trap, and instinctively tried to gather his strength and flee. Unfortunately, his two legs simply couldn't exert any force. Before he even realized it, one of his legs had been blasted off, and the other was broken. Even the rest of his body was badly wounded.
Wu Youren's counterattack was seen by the three knights closely following the grand knight; for a moment their eyes nearly split with fury. "You bastard—how dare you!"
Chapter 211