The cave wasn’t large. If it wasn’t for that, Wen Hanshan wouldn’t have doubts about the origin of the stalactite liquid.
Lou Xingyao hadn’t seen the appearance of the cave due to the obstruction of the stalactites.
Before Wen Hanshan left, his sword intent crushed these stalactites into powder.
Now in Ye Hantian’s eyes, there was only one ordinary cave left. It was empty, and everything could be seen immediately.
Even if Ye Hantian hadn’t seen the actual stalactite liquid, he could know that there had at least been a liquid.
Now, apart from the dust on the ground, where was there any liquid?
Ye Hantian didn’t find what he was looking for. He found the culprit as soon as possible and asked it, “System, come out!”
Don’t look at how the system usually pretended to be dead. It didn’t dare act like that once Ye Hantian was really angry.
It quickly responded, “I’m here.”
“Didn’t you say there was stalactite liquid here? Where is it?” Ye Hantian asked.
“……” This time, the system wasn’t playing dead. It was really speechless.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Ye Hantian had already seen the comprehensiveness of the system’s functions, he would’ve almost doubted whether this stalactite liquid existed at all.
Perhaps it was all a lie that the system tricked him.
Seeing that Ye Hantian’s expression was getting uglier, the system had no way to continue remaining silent. It hurriedly reassured him, “Please wait.”
Immediately afterward, there was a mechanical notification sound in Ye Hantian’s ears.
Ye Hantian wasn’t a stranger to this sound. It was the movement of the system as it scanned the surrounding environment.
This made him wonder in his heart, “Aren’t you out of energy?”
“Yes,” the system replied quickly.
“Then why are you still scanning now?” Ye Hantian asked.
“The system can be on credit.” The system once again gave an explanation.
“Didn’t you say that you can only put it on credit once?” Ye Hantian had a very deep impression of this clause.
If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t have ended up cornered by that fourth-grade demon beast back when he took the spirit cleansing grass, to the point where he had nowhere to hide.
If he remembered correctly, the system had already recorded a debt. He even clearly remembered the amount, which was minus 35 spirit beads!
“I said before that you are allowed to make one purchase on credit on your own account.” The system seemed to know that Ye Hantian couldn’t clearly distinguish between the two cases, so it gave a more detailed explanation. “This means that both the host and the system have separate accounts, with each one allowed one credit purchase. The 35 spirit beads just now were charged to the host’s account.”
“I got it already! Do you think I am an idiot?” Ye Hantian hadn’t understood the explanation at first. Then he became somewhat angry and embarrassed after hearing the system’s detailed explanation. “Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“You didn’t ask.” The system once again used the same excuse it had used countless times.
Ye Hantian almost died from frustration.
Fortunately, Ye Hantian already had a deep understanding of the system’s shameless nature. He quickly adjusted his mood and brought the topic back on track. “Then do you see anything now?”
Listening carefully, it wasn’t hard to distinguish the coldness in Ye Hantian’s voice.
Clearly, he wasn’t going to let it go easily if the system couldn’t give him a reasonable explanation.
Fortunately, at this time, the system’s scan had a result. “Move forward.”
Then a map appeared in Ye Hantian’s mind. The picture on the map was the cave in front of him.
There was a red dot flickering in the center of the map.
Ye Hantian followed the guidance of the system and quickly walked to the position marked by the dot of light.
“Cast a water condensation spell right under your feet,” the system said again.
Ye Hantian looked down. Aside from a thin layer of white dust, there didn’t seem to be anything there.
However, thinking of the system’s past record of being annoying yet reliable, he decided to follow its instructions and cast the water condensation spell.”
The moment the spell took effect, there was a trembling, translucent white droplet in front of Ye Hantian.
Ye Hantian stared at the precariously trembling droplet and had a bad feeling. “What is this?”
The system was silent for a moment before giving the answer that Ye Hantian didn’t want to hear. “Stalactite liquid.”
“What does this thing have to do with the stalactite liquid you described?” Ye Hantian suddenly became furious.
In the system’s description, the stalactite liquid was milky white and viscous as milk. It contained a very rich aura that was comparable to immortal dew elixir.
Then what about this little droplet?
The color was light, and the aura contained in it was very weak.
If it wasn’t for Ye Hantian feeling it carefully, he would’ve thought that this was an ordinary drop of water!
“It is diluted stalactite liquid.” The system apparently also found a loophole in its own answer and corrected it.
“What do you mean?” Ye Hantian was stunned.
“I mean that stalactite liquid used to exist here, but it doesn’t any longer.” The system was quick to come to a conclusion.
“No more? Then why did you want me to come here? Isn’t it in vain?” Anger suddenly rose in Ye Hantian’s heart.
This type of thing once existed, but he didn’t have the opportunity to get it. Then it was better not to tell him at all.
How was it any different from discovering that the money in his pocket had mysteriously disappeared?
“Before we set off, I suggested refreshing the map.” The system immediately clarified, refusing to take the blame for this.
What Ye Hantian had right now was the scanned map from when he came to the Endless Forest to pick the spirit cleansing grass.
Nearly two years had passed. In the words of mortals, the daylilies had gone cold now.
It was normal for some sudden changes to occur.
It was okay when the system didn’t say this, but once it did, Ye Hantian’s anger increased instead of decreasing. “Do I not want to refresh it? Tell me how many spiritual beads you collect when refreshing the map?”
“2,000.” The system gave a direct answer before correcting it. “No, to refresh the remaining areas of the map now, it only takes 1,500 spirit beads!”
This tone was like an advertisement for a supermarket promotion and had the meaning that he couldn’t miss it.
“Do you think I look like I have 1,5000 spirit beads?” Ye Hantian gritted his teeth angrily at the system’s charging standards.
Now that the stalactite liquid was gone, he couldn’t get it back even if he fought with the system.
In the end, Ye Hantian could only take a hard look at the place where the stalactite liquid originally existed. Then he turned around and walked toward the entrance of the cave that he had come from.
The only thing that relieved Ye Hantian was that after he came out of the cave, the fifth elder and He Wanqing were still in the same posture as when he had left.
They didn’t seem to have noticed.
Ye Hantian thought this and sat directly on the ground.
Unexpectedly, the system’s voice sounded again in Ye Hantian’s mind in the next moment. “I suggest you go and get the metal essence grass right now.”
“Why?” Ye Hantian asked but his butt that touched the ground was as motionless as a mountain.
He went to look for the stalactite liquid just now but found nothing. This made Ye Hantian feel extremely bad. Now he didn’t want to continue to move at all.
The system was silent for a while before finally saying, “Judging from the state of the diluted stalactite liquid, the stalactite liquid here was just taken away.”
“What?” The back that was half leaning against the wall made a rubbing sound as Ye Hantian stood up.
This drastic move naturally also attracted the attention of He Wanqing and the fifth elder.
However, Ye Hantian now had no intention of paying attention to the actions of these two people. He quickly asked, “How long ago?”
“It was less than three hours,” the system replied.
No matter how stupid he was, he had to know what the system meant.
For the cave where the stalactite liquid existed, the entrance meandered downward to a depth of nearly 20 meters, and it was very secretive. Ordinary people couldn’t find it at all.
Even if they found it, they wouldn’t want to enter it.
But the person who took away the stalactite liquid still found such a secret place. This showed the person’s insight.
The place where the metal grass was located wasn’t far from this cave.
What if the other person even found the metal essence grass?
How could Ye Hantian sit still after thinking this?
He immediately felt like there were pins and needles under his button, and he shot straight up.
This time, he very clearly saw the puzzled gazes of He Wanqing and the fifth elder.
He hurriedly said, “I’m almost done resting here. Let’s keep going!”
From the perspective of the two of them, ever since Ye Hantian came to this cave, he headed to the deepest part and did an unknown thing. It didn’t look like he had rested at all.
But the two of them wouldn’t question him at this time.
They just followed the other person’s meaning to leave the cave.
Then He Wanqing and the fifth elder found that Ye Hantian’s next move was even more confusing.
It was as if he was extremely familiar with the Endless Forest and already had a destination in mind. He headed straight toward a certain place.
In the beginning, Ye Hantian was still afraid to expose the system, so when he chose the path, he would put up a few smoke bombs from time to time. He would also choose the next direction of action after discussing it with the two of them.
Now Ye Hantian was only obsessed with the metal essence grass and couldn’t take care of this type of disguise.
He was afraid that if he was one step too late, the metal essence grass would be like the stalactite liquid and disappear.
But sometimes, once a person started heading down a path of misfortune, even drinking cold water could get something stuck in their teeth.
At the same time, the more he didn’t want it to happen, the more it happened.
By the time he hurried to the location of the metal essence grass on the map, Ye Hantian quickly found that there was none here.
All that remained was a pit that looked very fresh.
Avid fan of danmei novels! If you want access to advance chapters, you can subscribe on Patreon. Thanks!
https://www.patreon.com/WhiteLily476
