Chapter 100: Chapter 29: Treasure-Seeking Mouse
"Could it be the blessing of the Glazed Immortal Pupil?"
The treasure-seeking technique taught by Mr. Cao still involves using "eyes" to see...
So the treasure-hunting talent could possibly be a talent in pupil techniques.
After the Pine Needle Mouse mutated into a Treasure Beast, its divine technique was related to its eyes. Lin Jing could only speculate this way.
"Take me to the nearest place." He pondered slightly, grabbed the Pine Needle Mouse, and soon they arrived at the foot of the mountain.
The Pine Needle Mouse pointed at a seemingly ordinary broken tree, claiming that a light from an ancient treasure shot out from there.
"Dig." Lin Jing quite liked this treasure-seeking feeling. After digging about three to four meters deep, they unearthed a chamber pot without any spiritual power fluctuation.
It was engraved with dragon and phoenix patterns, which looked quite eerie, and seemed extremely ancient.
"What on earth!" Lin Jing was furious and kicked the chamber pot back into the pit, burying it again.
"Is this what Mr. Cao said was the ancient relic placed here?" He suspected the remaining antiques were all similar things.
"Squeak..." The Pine Needle Mouse pointed in another direction, and they quickly went over, then dug out a stone tablet.
Just when Lin Jing thought they had unearthed some treasure, the text on it left him silent. It was actually a tombstone.
[Tomb of Qi Cultivation Stage Immortal Li Tiangang.]
[Killed the Pig Demon that invaded Li Family Village, died from mortal wounds.]
It was still a tombstone without any spiritual power fluctuation.
"Rest in peace, departed one, sorry for the disturbance, senior." Lin Jing buried it again. No wonder Mr. Cao said so generously that it was okay to give the ancient relics to them once found.
To be honest, he wasn’t very interested, even if given freely.
"Are most ancient treasure lights like this?"
"Squeak!" The Pine Needle Mouse shrugged. Most ancient treasure lights were very dim, except for that glaring one in the distance.
"Let’s leave these ordinary relics for others, and directly go for that one you mentioned." With those words, Lin Jing soared into the air, and under the guidance of the Pine Needle Mouse, swiftly flew towards the mountain peak where the most dazzling ancient treasure light shone.
During the flight, Lin Jing noticed that many cultivators had better talent than him. At this moment, they were already initiated into the treasure-seeking technique...
However, they also unearthed a pile of rubbish, completely worthless.
"This stone sword..." Outside a cave, Lin Jing also encountered Yuan Jing. The ancient stone sword in his hand, upon just instilling sword intent, turned to flying ash. This sword hero was immediately highly disappointed in the so-called ancient treasure.
"Lin Jing?" He also noticed Lin Jing, but both parties merely nodded as a greeting. After roughly flying for an hour, Lin Jing finally arrived at his destination.
The ancient treasure light here was extraordinarily dazzling, clearly different from the earlier relics. Lin Jing took a deep breath, about to dig, when suddenly a powerful aura descended.
"Dear student, I too discovered this item early on."
The newcomer was a young man with three pupils, donned in a simple, elegant azure robe, with his sleeves fluttering like an immortal descending to the mortal world.
"Late-Stage Foundation Establishment!" Lin Jing looked over. This person seemed to be a senior student, also perceiving the extraordinary light from this ancient treasure?
"We were here first." Although the ancient treasure had not yet been unearthed, Lin Jing had no intention of yielding it.
Besides his two eyes, this young man had a pupil at the center of his brow, appearing to have some special physique.
"Qi Cultivation tenth level..." The three-eyed youth spoke, "Having secluded myself for so long, I didn’t expect the new students this year to be so formidable, reaching the Qi Cultivation tenth level themselves, and even having a pet beast of such cultivation."
"This object is ominous; would you mind if I had it? Given your cultivation level, obtaining this item might not be beneficial."
"This senior brother, I just like ominous objects." Lin Jing remained unmoved.
Seeing Lin Jing reluctant to give it up, the three-eyed youth shook his head, saying, "Very well, then it’s yours. My name is Liu Yu, let’s form a good bond. If you’re interested, you may come find me after this place closes. The ’Pupil Alliance’ I’ve established is recruiting. It’s not a sect, just a temporary student mutual aid organization in the academy. Unlike me, others may not be as understanding; joining an organization provides some support, practicing Secret Techniques together will yield better outcomes."
Having said that, he looked into the distance, then directly flew away.
Lin Jing and the Pine Needle Mouse initially thought they would have to compete for the ancient treasure, but seeing him leave directly, they continued to dig.
"Liu Yu, the three-eyed one, is ranked thirty-first on the Talented List." During their excavation, Lin Jing recalled his identity. If it came down to a fight, unless he unleashed the Ice Soul Gu’s seal, he and the Pine Needle Mouse alone probably couldn’t defeat him.
"This person also possesses an exceptional treasure-seeking talent!"
"But why did he say this object is ominous?"
As they continued to dig, they finally unearthed the ancient treasure in the area. The exterior was an ancient wooden box, but the so-called ancient treasure should be the content inside the box!
At the urging of the Pine Needle Mouse, Lin Jing opened the wooden box, finding inside a torn blood-colored marriage certificate!
The marriage certificate was severely damaged, with the writing on it barely discernible, only a faintly visible character for "joy." This marriage certificate was extremely aged, lingering with spiritual power, yet this power was... exceedingly eerie and cold, bearing a resemblance to the Netherworld Ghost Fire.
"Is Mr. Cao here?" Lin Jing, holding the wooden box, fell into contemplation, calling out to Mr. Cao.
"Hahaha..." Moments later, Mr. Cao’s apparition formed, looking at Lin Jing and the Pine Needle Mouse, saying, "I didn’t expect you two to possess such a talent in treasure hunting."
"I originally thought the most gifted would be the three-eyed Liu Yu, but it turned out to be you two. If you were both at the Qi Cultivation Stage, he might not have discovered this wooden box."
Mr. Cao glanced at Lin Jing, then at the Pine Needle Mouse, quizzically asking, "Could it be that it carries the bloodline of the Treasure-Seeking Rat? The treasure-seeking technique was created by the ancient demon tribe, the Treasure-Seeking Rat Race, and then taught to their followers."
"Squeak?" The Pine Needle Mouse pointed at itself, was it referring to it?
Lin Jing nodded, but speculated that it likely had more to do with the Glazed Immortal Pupil. Not wanting to delve deeply into the matter, he picked up the wooden box and asked Mr. Cao, "Mr. Cao, what is this item, and why is it entirely different from the other relics, was it placed here by you?"
Cao Zhiwei chuckled, "Indeed, I placed three ancient treasures containing spiritual power here, for students with the affinity to find. This marriage certificate is one of them."
"This marriage certificate was unintentionally obtained by me, and its origin is unknown, but I can roughly infer... during times of war in ancient times, this marriage certificate was saturated with a chilling and resentful power, possibly because a lady was engaged, and before the wedding could take place, the man died in battle, leading to such power gathering upon the certificate."
Lin Jing remained silent, no wonder the three-eyed one said this item is ominous, it truly is. The opponent’s pupil technique was remarkable. He asked, "Mr. Cao... what use does this marriage certificate have?"
Mr. Cao looked towards the sky, saying, "It doesn’t have much use. I merely discarded some useless relics from my storage bag here for you to practice treasure-seeking techniques with. If you dislike it, feel free to dispose of it later."
"But if you were to insist, the power upon this item is extremely chilling and resentful, and if an ordinary person obtained it, they might be plagued with illnesses. However, for a cultivator, it can be used to enhance resistance to such attribute spiritual power! In the future, if encountering Demon Cultivators from the Yin Corpse Sect or Nether Hall, they can respond more effectively."