What? Is it really that amazing?
Austin was glad and excited to hear this piece of information.
"Believe me, master. We should carefully store it for future use. You'll never know when it might come
handy," Violet urged.
"But I'm afraid that we must keep it in a bottle or a box made of jade, for it has the cunning ability to
escape other types of containers except the ones I have initially mentioned," she warned seriously.
Austin was again surprised with this fact. On second thought, this was nothing strange since precious
things always required extra care. So he took out from the Space Ring a jade box and placed the
fleece-flower in it.
Beside them, the little beast who had been quietly watching the unfolding events looked quite happy
and satisfied, seeing that Austin had caught the fleece-flower. It suddenly jumped up and down in front
of him, like a dog who suddenly got excited over a piece of bone.
Now, it was clear that this little beast had led them all the way here to find this valuable herb. Austin
wouldn't have been able to find this herb if it weren't for the insistent little beast. If it were ever
discovered by other cultivators, they would definitely come scrambling for it like hungry wolves out for
sport, just like how they went crazy and scrambled for the celestial energy ginseng found in the Grand
Desolation Mountain not long ago.
From Austin's point of view, this thousand-year-old fleece-flower could actually be more valuable than
the celestial energy ginseng.
After walking on air for a while, the little beast suddenly waved at Austin again.
Austin got excited with the beast's action, but he thought twice and asked it doubtfully, "What's the
matter? Are you going to lead us to another treasure?"
The little beast gave a smart nod in confirmation, then immediately dashed towards another direction.
Pleasantly surprised, Austin and Violet chased after it again. Another hour later, they came upon a
waterfall. The scenery was simply breathtaking. The waterfall seemed like a fine piece of silk from the
heaven flowing elegantly down, with its end touching a deep pool which made splashing sounds. The
sunshine projected a beautiful rainbow through the spray from the waterfall.
But when they gazed carefully at the pool, things became a bit strange and thrilling. A few feet away
from the waterfall, the pool was covered by eerie vapor. And amidst the cloud of vapor, flashes of
lightning were bolting down, which were a bit hazy but clear enough for Austin and Violet to see. The
lightning sizzled and crackled, which was seriously hard to ignore, thus catching their attention.
As they stood by the pool, they felt that waves of vapor were rushing towards them. One could even
get soaked, as if torrents of rain had poured down of them, if they stayed in the area even longer.
When they were still observing their surroundings, the little beast suddenly sprinted towards the pool
and jumped into it. Before they could even react, it disappeared under the water, leaving behind a little
splash.
Both Austin and Violet were completely puzzled with what the beast just did, but there was nothing that
they could do about it, so they instead waited by the water patiently.
Soon enough, the water rippled shortly followed by a sudden splash. The little beast shot out of the
water and landed precisely in front of them, like a bullet shot straight through the bull's eye.
There was a blackened stick in his paw, one that was no thicker than an adult's arm.
Austin couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed. Compared to what the little beast presented to him
before, what it carried now deflated his expectations. He had been expecting another valuable object
and not an ordinary dead stick. He actually felt like he had just been duped by the creature.
So, the beast had led them to this mysterious pool only to see it fish this charred stick, which seemed
nothing like a valuable object but a piece of half-burnt, deserted firewood?
The little beast was a naughty thing in nature, Austin thought to himself, a bitter smile forming on his
lips while he shook his head. Perhaps it was only playing with us by showing us one of his toys, Austin
comforted himself.
"Hey, little friend. Just keep the stick for yourself. We shouldn't take your favorite toy from you after all,"
Austin nonchalantly refused when the little beast handed the black stick to him. He was actually torn
between laughing and crying because of what the beast had brought to him. It was as if he was
expecting a jewel but ended up with a simple rock.
But just then, a great cracking sound split the air. It sounded clear and near even though it sounded like
thunder surging in the sky.
To his utter astonishment, Austin realized after listening carefully that it was the stick in the beast's
hand that was making this strange yet booming sound.
So Austin took a closer look at it, and to his surprise, he saw that flashes of lightning were crashing at
each other above the stick, along with crashes of thunder.
'You have got to be kidding me!' Austin gasped.
He could tell for certain that all of these were caused by this unimpressive stick. And he was indeed
wrong about it because it was certainly nothing even close to being ordinary.
He then quickly took the stick from the beast, and was momentarily stunned when he felt its weight.
Although it was thinner than an adult's arm, it weighed tons!
Generally speaking, Austin could lift things weighing eight thousand pounds with one arm now, so
logically he could hold things weighing a thousand pounds or so with great ease.
The black stick was surely something more than met the eye. Austin could hardly carry it since he had
underestimated how heavy it was.
But damn! It could be three to four thousand pounds!
Moreover, Austin felt a stream of electricity surging through him as soon as he touched the stick, as if
the energy of thunder and lightning condensed in it was resonating with him. This resonance had
produced more thunder and lightning surrounding the stick, and had started producing such lights
around Austin.
He still had no idea what this stick could be and in what way he could use it, but one thing was for sure-
-it was not just an ordinary toy, but another rare and extraordinary treasure.
After racking his brains trying to figure out how to use the stick, Austin finally decided to put it in the
Space Ring. He promised to check it out sometime in the future when he could get more information
about it.
Having placed the treasure away, Austin turned and looked at the little beast. It was almost dancing like
it was quite pleased with itself because of what it did for him.
'What on earth are you?' Austin was now eager to know more about it. After all, no common beasts of
his knowledge seemed to have a keen nose for locating rare and powerful objects in this world.
"Well, master..." Violet suddenly said, "I might actually know what it is."
Violet fixed her eyes on the beast with her brows knitted together, as though she was confirming her
wild guess.
"Oh? What is it then?"
Austin asked anxiously after saying nothing in amazement for a while.
"It is probably a gnome!"
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