Ashen God
Chapter 568 - 567: Holy Emblem

Chapter 568: Chapter 567: Holy Emblem

But in such a desolate place, there were two Yin Yang Mother-Child Trees growing right in the very center. Any normal person could tell that these trees were far from ordinary.

Zhang Yanhang looked at the thick roots of the Yin Yang Mother-Child Trees intertwining within the rock layers and felt that simply pulling them out wouldn’t be wise, as it might damage the roots. Once the roots were damaged, it could result in a decrease in the effectiveness of the trees. Therefore, Zhang Yanhang thought that it would be best to handle this with Alchemy.

Just as Zhang Yanhang was about to use Alchemy, he suddenly realized something very important—his Energy Value had been completely drained. This meant that just considering the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree option had exhausted all of his Energy Value.

"Judging by the extent of Energy Value consumption, if I were to convert it, this Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree must at least be an item of Dark Purple Quality, or even possibly Light Golden Quality. Otherwise, how could my Energy Value possibly be depleted entirely by a single option?"

Considering just this consumption alone, Zhang Yanhang felt that he absolutely had to swindle an item of Light Golden Quality from Zhou Muxi. Otherwise, it would be a total waste of his Energy Value.

"No wonder I felt a bit weak out of nowhere, it turns out that all my Energy Value was used up. To restore my Energy Value now, it’s going to cost me twenty-seven bottles of Medium Magic Recovery Potion.

After the increase in my Energy Value limit, with the three thousand bottles of Medium Magic Potion I have on hand, that would barely allow for a hundred or so restorations."

Although it took a large number of Medium Magic Recovery Potions to restore his Energy Value once, Zhang Yanhang still unhesitatingly guzzled down twenty-seven bottles of Medium Magic Recovery Potion one after the other, refilling his Energy Value to full.

After all, the Energy Value consumption for using Alchemy next was minimal, but the issue was that, besides needing to use Alchemy, he had to continue trying to activate other options to obtain more Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

If he could exchange Energy Value for Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that were useful to him, then it wouldn’t just be worth spending two thousand seven hundred Energy Value, but even twenty-seven thousand Energy Value would be worthwhile.

Of course, this was all dependent on the amplification effect being significant; if it was something trivial like a 0.5% or even 0.1% increase, then forget it. If it was only to that degree, it would be better to save the Energy Value for manufacturing Thermo-baric Bombs+7.

After refilling his Energy Value to full by continuously taking Medium Magic Recovery Potions, Zhang Yanhang immediately activated his Alchemy.

An Alchemy Array spanning several dozen meters appeared on the mountaintop rock layer and quickly delved layer by layer into the depths, reaching the gnarled, twisted, and thick roots that had even formed an abnormal growth resembling a spherical burl.

Although the child tree and mother tree of the Yin Yang Mother-Child Trees on the ground merely appeared to be adjacent, underground their roots had already intertwined and were transferring nutrients to each other. They could be considered a plant version of a symbiotic relationship, which is why Zhang Yanhang was concerned that forcefully pulling them out could decrease the effectiveness of the Yin Yang Mother-Child Trees.

Moreover, compared to the surface parts, the underground parts of the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree, particularly the root system, actually spread much further than those above ground. The bare rock at the peak of this mountain, spanning several dozen meters, was internally riddled with dense, thick roots going at least twenty meters deep.

If these two Yin Yang Mother-Child Trees took root on the Nameless Mountain which was only eighteen meters in height where the Sky Demon Orange Crystal Grass was found, the entire mountain wouldn’t have been tall enough. The Yin Yang Mother-Child Trees would have pierced through the entire mountain top and then buried their roots deep into the subterranean part at the bottom of the mountain.

According to Zhang Yanhang’s estimation, though the above-ground parts of the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree, the trunk, may have taken up only around seventy cubic meters, including the roots would easily surpass one hundred cubic meters.

It might even reach one hundred and fifty cubic meters, considering that the volume of the underground part could be even greater than the part above ground.

"It feels like this is going to be a huge project," faced with the prospect of an alchemy project that involved digging out a third of a small mountain of several tens of meters in width and twenty meters in depth, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but describe it as a major undertaking.

Fortunately, alchemy had been upgraded, and the rock layer on the mountaintop was nothing but an ordinary stone from the Main World, not the Crimson iron ore from the Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu which was difficult to refine.

Hence, despite slowing down the pace slightly because he wanted to ensure every section of the root of the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree remained intact, much like digging up ginseng, Zhang Yanhang managed to excavate the two, or rather one whole, Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree from the bedrock in a matter of minutes.

However, due to the large size of the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree, it couldn’t fit into his waist bag. Zhang Yanhang eventually had to retrieve a storage box with more grid slots from his waist bag to store the whole Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree.

The Storage Box +3 had a total of eight hundred slots, meaning it could hold up to eight hundred cubic meters of items. There was naturally no issue in storing a Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree of just around one hundred cubic meters; even four or five additional trees could be accommodated without a problem.

It should be noted that the majority of woods are less dense than water, some only half or even a quarter of the density of water. This is precisely why wood floats on water.

Ancient people capitalized on this to save transportation costs and expedite the transfer of lumber by tossing it into the river upstream and receiving it with a net downstream.

Though the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree is a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, its density is similar to ordinary trees. While Zhang Yanhang couldn’t lift a hundred-plus cubic meters of the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree with one hand, he could manage with both. Otherwise, it would have been quite difficult to extract the tree from the pit and stuff it into the storage box had he not been able to lift it.

After lifting the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree with both hands and forcibly stuffing it into the storage box, Zhang Yanhang finally felt relieved. After all, the tree, which was over a dozen meters tall, was too conspicuous before. It would have been troublesome if by some chance, an Insomniac Awakener out for a night run stumbled upon it.

Having dealt with the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree, Zhang Yanhang sighed as he looked at the mountaintop rock layer, now as soft as sludge after smelting, because he still had to continue using alchemy to restore it, hardening it back to its original state.

After spending a bit more time re-hardening the summit’s rock layer back to its initial state, Zhang Yanhang surveyed the local environment and the trend of the mountain. It didn’t take long for him to reach a conclusion that this Lou Mountain Forest Park was most likely a branch of the Lao Mountain Range.

"""

However, it should not be part of the Wushan Branch, but instead it likely belongs to the West branch of the Jufeng Sub-Branch, given that Lou Mountain is located close to Chengyang District and Lao Mountain District and is very near to the Lao Mountain Range.

"Although it’s not the same as the Sky Demon Crystal Grass that is unique to the southwestern subsidiary ridges of the Lao Mountain Range, the Yin Yang Mother-Child Tree still originates from a sub-branch of the Lao Mountain Range. The Lao Mountain truly is impressive, even though all the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures within have been picked clean by the Lao Mountain Taoists," he mused.

After briefly surveying the landscape from the summit of Lou Mountain, Zhang Yanhang immediately set off towards the North City District to collect the two Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures he had previously discovered: a rotten peach and something that looked like a peach pit.

......

October 22nd, fourteen days after the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays had ended and also the second day since Zhang Yanhang left the Ashen World, at 1:15 AM in Chengyang District, Maodie Workshop, Nameless Mountain.

Looking at the Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure in front of him, which resembled a peach pit, Zhang Yanhang felt that it was likely not a leftover eaten by someone, but naturally grew in that shape because there was no trace of fruit flesh fibers.

Its appearance gave the impression more akin to an exquisite kernel carving that had "killed off" several old men, with a shiny, lustrous appearance. When he first received it, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t even help but fiddle with it a few times.

Then, Zhang Yanhang promptly broke the peach pit and ate the almond inside. According to his previous scan, the outer layer was just for show, and the almond inside was the important part.

Zhang Yanhang had initially thought that eating this almond might enhance some strange ability, but it turned out to simply be the most common defensive power increase, though the increase was minimal. From Zhang Yanhang’s experience, it was probably only about a 2%-3% boost.

After eating the almond, Zhang Yanhang took out another Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure from his waist bag that he had found atop a small hill in the North City District—an item that looked like a rotten peach. Zhang Yanhang felt he had some psychological barriers to overcome before he could eat it.

Fortunately, although the peach’s exterior was cracking as if rotten, at least Zhang Yanhang’s scan showed no maggots or similar creatures inside, just an exterior that appeared a little worse for wear.

When dealing with such a battered-looking Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, Zhang Yanhang took some extra precautions. He first washed off the mud stuck to the peach, then peeled a bit of the skin with a knife before swallowing it whole.

There was no way he could swallow this dirty, mudball-like Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure as easily as he did the Sky Demon Crystal Grass by just shaking off the dirt. Even though selling such an item in a supermarket with the name "explosion peach" might fetch a higher price than regular peaches, he really couldn’t bring himself to accept it.

After eating this battered Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, Zhang Yanhang briefly felt the warm current inside his body, only to discover that this rotten peach had an effect similar to the previous almond, with an increased defensive power, but with a slightly higher percentage, around 3%-4%.

"Two free Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures helped increase my defensive power by nearly 6%, not bad at all."

Although the increase was not as significant as the ones obtained from triggered options, these two Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were after all found accidently, and one cannot complain about something acquired for free not being good enough.

Moreover, in reality, a 6% increase was quite considerable, equivalent to One Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass. From any perspective, it was very commendable.

"So, the question now is, what issue should I use to continue triggering the options?"

Zhang Yanhang briefly thought and felt maybe the previous question could be used again; after all, coming up with a new question was not only troublesome but also not guaranteed to trigger options related to Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. At this time, being direct might indeed be better.

"Choose! Where should I go next to acquire Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures?"

Zhang Yanhang immediately tried to trigger the options. As expected, the options were successfully activated, and Time Pause descended once again on Qin Island City. However, the issue was, after Zhang Yanhang carefully viewed all three options, he found that they didn’t seem very reliable.

Moreover, whether it was due to the abundance of Fierce Ghosts in Qin Island City, Zhang Yanhang encountered another ghost-related option: a Starving Ghost that had died from eating Guanyin Soil and being overfed. Zhang Yanhang wasn’t particularly interested in this and planned to hold onto it and report it to Zhou Muxi later.

Speaking of this ghost, one couldn’t help but mention the comprehensive scan Zhang Yanhang conducted during his last Time Pause. Whether by Luck or misfortune, although Zhang Yanhang only found two Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures atop various hills, he discovered a large number of Fierce Ghosts, enough to form a football team.

And if all went as expected, adding the previously found Fierce Ghosts and the potentially new ones discovered from triggering options, he reckoned he might be able to find enough to form two Fierce Ghost football teams to play a match against each other tonight.

Speaking of football teams, Zhang Yanhang remembered that Hong Kong had shot a movie about this last century. Its name was direct, called "Fierce Ghosts Football Team," and surprisingly, it was a comedy film.

Aside from the ghosts, the other two options were normal Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, neither of which Zhang Yanhang needed.

The first was a Holy Emblem situated a hundred meters beneath Saint Michael’s Cathedral in Qin Island City, which seemed to be made from coalesced Power of Faith. It appeared that using it would grant one access to a large amount of Holy Light Power and also provide a basic Earth Spirit Protection ability similar to an Earth Spirit Protection.

However, compared to the previous Earth Spirit Protection, the protective abilities provided by this Holy Emblem were undoubtedly much stronger.

"""