Chapter 2662 — The Energy Stone Again

"Oh, right!" Yu Dake nodded, then said, "I rose from the lowest rung of cultivators all the way to a mid-Earth Rank expert. True, in return for serving the You family, I was rewarded with some elixirs and rare natural treasures for cultivation, but that was only a small part of it. If I hadn't already been an early Earth Rank expert back then, the You family wouldn't have taken me in. And my early Earth Rank came not from elixirs, nor from burying my head in bitter solitary cultivation, but from another method entirely!"

"Another method?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback.

"This thing right here." Yu Dake pulled an antique little box from his pocket, carefully opened it, took out a small white stone, and handed it to Wei Zhao. "Mr. Lin, have a look..."

"Oh? A white energy stone?" After taking what Yu Dake handed him, Wei Zhao was briefly stunned—because this object in Yu Dake's hand was the same kind of thing as the great treasure he and Sun Jingyan had found in the Wulonghaote Mountains!

"Oh? Mr. Lin knows what this is?" Yu Dake was startled for a moment, then it dawned on him. "No wonder—Mr. Lin must have one of these too, otherwise your cultivation speed couldn't possibly be so rapid..."

"Not exactly. A friend of mine has one, but it's already used up." Wei Zhao said, "Yours should be used up too, shouldn't it? The great treasure you're giving me—it's this?"

Wei Zhao could not sense any true qi fluctuation within the energy stone, so it seemed it was like Sun Jingyan's, its energy already spent. What puzzled Wei Zhao was what use Yu Dake giving him this thing could possibly have.

"No, that's not it. This one of mine has been used, but I know a place where there should be some unused energy stones of this kind!" Yu Dake said.

"Oh? There's actually a place that produces these energy stones?" Wei Zhao's heart stirred. Though this energy stone was of little use to him for the time being, it should be of some use to other cultivators—at the very least, it could fetch a high price and be traded for some good things, so Wei Zhao was still quite interested.

"Indeed. Years ago, I obtained this little box in a cave. Inside the box was an energy stone, and also a treasure map. The location marked on that treasure map is said to hold a great many energy stones..." Yu Dake said. "But I went there once and couldn't find it. That place is simply too vast—endless desert as far as the eye can see. I couldn't pin down the coordinates and location on the treasure map..."

"So that's how it is..." Wei Zhao nodded. "This is that treasure map you mentioned before, the one you wanted to give me?"

"Yes. I know this treasure map is rather illusory—if you can't find the place, it's no better than a sheet of waste paper. But the most important and precious thing I have to offer is only this..." Yu Dake spread his hands somewhat helplessly and said with a bitter smile, "This is also the only way I have to repay you for saving my life."

"Heh, in that case, I'd be disrespectful to decline." Wei Zhao smiled, took the map Yu Dake handed over, and glanced at it. He found that this map was drawn very similarly to the one Sun Jingyan had held back then. He hadn't expected that these cultivators all liked to draw their maps so vaguely, marking no specific place names, only sketching a shape and then dotting the treasure's location on it. "This sketchy?"

"Isn't it..." Yu Dake nodded and sighed. "When I was searching back then, I put a great deal of effort into this map. Comparing it against satellite maps online, I spent a good half year analyzing it before I reached any concrete conclusion. But only after I got there did I discover it was an endless great desert. In the desert there's not a single landmark to speak of, and I simply couldn't determine the location on the treasure map! Unless one could fly high enough to take in the whole desert at a glance—but the helicopter I chartered was no use for that... I compared the coordinates from the online maps and went there using satellite positioning, but found nothing at all. This map must be over a thousand years old. Even the overall shape of the desert may have changed drastically, so I'm not even sure whether the new coordinates I fixed are still the old ones! Even if there's an error of a few kilometers, I'd still never find it..."

Wei Zhao looked at the map and nodded in deep agreement. Back in the Wulonghaote Mountains it had been somewhat better—the terrain there had distinctive features, not all identical, and there was a highest point at the mountaintop from which one could take in the whole scene. But a desert was different. Even if the shape of the desert were drawn out, standing in an endless desert it would still be very hard to determine an exact position.

"Many thanks. I'll accept this map." Wei Zhao said, "Where is this desert located? What is it called now?"

Whether or not he could find it, this treasure map was a token of Yu Dake's sincerity. He had brought it out of a heart full of gratitude, so Wei Zhao naturally could not bear to refuse. Though it was a bit hard to find, Wei Zhao could go take a look when he had free time.

"Wow, Brother Arrow, let me see the treasure map!" Shen Yushu took the treasure map from Wei Zhao's hand and began looking it over. But in a fleeting, barely noticeable instant, Shen Yushu's expression shifted slightly, then immediately returned to normal. "This place... this desert must be awfully hot..."

"This desert is now called the Hakunamata Great Desert—almost no one goes there! It's indeed extremely hot. They say there's a region of volcanoes at the far end of the desert, and since the desert itself is already arid and scorching, that only makes it hotter still. If you're interested, Mr. Lin, I can take you there. Whatever treasures are found will all belong to you, Mr. Lin—I won't take a single thing." Yu Dake said, "Of course, that kind of heat is still bearable for cultivators like us."

Of course, when Yu Dake spoke of how he came by this map and how he had searched for the location, he held a little back. But it was nothing important—it concerned only Yu Dake himself and had little to do with Wei Zhao or the treasure—so he did not go into detail.

"We'll see." Wei Zhao noted the name of the desert. It was indeed no common place; probably not many adventurers or tourists went there—it was a very desolate region.

"All right..." Yu Dake could roughly tell that Wei Zhao's interest did not seem very high, so he said nothing more and merely continued, "Then..."

He trailed off there, looking at Wei Zhao as if hesitating over something.

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