“A creature wrapped in rock?” “What kind of spirit beast uses rock to wrap itself during a battle?”
A hint of doubt arose in Qi Ping’s mind. For a moment, he couldn’t recall which type of spirit beast would envelop itself in rock while fighting.
“How strong are they?” Qi Ping continued asking.
“Buzz buzz. (Two humans at the second level, one at the first level. Judging from the fight, they’re much weaker than you, Boss.)”
“Buzz buzz. (Also, that creature wrapped in rock is also at the second level. It’s not fast, but its defense is incredible!)”
Hearing that the enemies weren’t as strong as him, Qi Ping felt a bit more at ease.
“Not fast, but strong defense?”
“Buzz buzz. (Yes, Boss!)”
“Could it be…”
A sudden answer popped into Qi Ping’s mind.
Stone Essence!
Or perhaps, Stone Spirit!
“No way…”
If it really was a Stone Essence, Qi Ping would have hit the jackpot.
But based on what the scout bee described, only a Stone Essence fit the bill perfectly.
Stone Essences are spirits formed from primordial minerals, and their rarity far surpasses even that of awakened spirit plants.
The distribution of a Stone Essence’s bloodline rank is also quite ambiguous, usually determined by the quality of the mineral it originated from.
However, breaking through bloodline ranks is somewhat easier for Stone Essences compared to ordinary spirit beasts. As long as they have enough precious minerals, their bloodline rank and strength can increase rapidly.
For cultivators, Stone Essences are also quite rare as either spiritual pets or excellent forging materials. They can be nurtured into powerful beast companions, or forged into a highly adaptable life-bound spirit treasure.
For Qi Ping, naturally, he was most interested in the talents Stone Essences possessed.
Regardless of the type, a Stone Essence’s main talents usually include super defense, extremely high Metal-element talent, and an incredibly long lifespan. These talents would be hugely beneficial to Qi Ping, and some special Stone Essences even possess even more powerful abilities.
Coupled with the Stone Essence’s naturally easier path to improving its bloodline and strength, it made for an excellent choice as an animal companion.
“Let’s go see and find out. If it really is a Stone Essence, I’ll do my best to rescue it.”
“As for the cultivators fighting it… from what I can tell, with my current strength, I should be able to handle them. If communication is possible, I’ll offer them some spirit stones as compensation.”
Qi Ping didn’t want to resort to lethal force against someone he hadn’t even clashed with. After all, it’s best to avoid making enemies unless absolutely necessary.
After deciding, Qi Ping immediately used Wilderness Transformation to turn into a second-level scout bee.
Scout bees possessed concealment and perception abilities, making them perfect for gathering information.
After completing the transformation, Qi Ping followed the scout bee that had reported the news to the battlefield.
Before long, Qi Ping spotted the two sides fighting deep within a large canyon.
“It really is a Stone Essence!”
The moment Qi Ping saw the encased figure, he instantly recognized it as a Stone Essence.
The Stone Essence had securely wrapped its true body in layers of hard, colorful minerals, piecing them together into a rocky monster. Fighting against the Stone Essence were two cultivators in the early Foundation Establishment stage. Their hair was slightly graying, and the vitality in their physical bodies was starting to decline into old age.
Behind the two Foundation Establishment cultivators stood a young man dressed in magnificent, treasure-like robes, holding a precious scroll used for contracting spirit beasts.
However, after observing the fight in the canyon clearly, a trace of surprise welled up in Qi Ping’s heart.
“How dare these two old men, not even at their peak, take on an early second-level Stone Essence?”
“Could they think this Stone Essence is weakened and they can defeat it?”
After thinking it over, Qi Ping could only come up with this reason.
But this seemed a bit too overconfident.
Although this Stone Essence had clearly just awakened after a long time in the mortal realm and was somewhat weakened, it was definitely not something these two old men could easily handle.
This weakness of the Stone Essence was also related to its inherent habits and characteristics.
Stone Essences have long lifespans, low intelligence, prefer stillness over movement, and lack a strong desire to grow stronger. They are very zen-like creatures.
Sometimes, regardless of whether a location is good or bad, they’ll find a mountain range and sleep for hundreds or even thousands of years.
[Correct version from 69 Book Bar! Read the original novel on 69 Book Bar First. 69 Book Bar]
But Qi Ping, looking at this Stone Essence that had clearly slept in a mountain range within the mortal realm, couldn’t help but think this was taking ‘zen-like’ a bit too far. It could have at least found a mountain range with a spirit vein.
However, considering cultivators’ unique fondness for Stone Essences (for forging growth-type life-bound treasures), their low intelligence might not be a bad thing in the mortal realm. The chances of being discovered by cultivators here would be much smaller. Unfortunately, it had still been found by these cultivators now.
Nevertheless, Qi Ping wasn’t worried about the Stone Essence’s safety. Although it was zen-like, its combat strength was definitely among the best at its level, certainly not something the two old geezers opposite it could contend with.
The current battle situation in the field proved this point.
The two old men had been fighting the weakened Stone Essence for a long time. Aside from breaking some rocks, they hadn’t caused any damage to the Stone Essence’s true body at all. Instead, they had suffered considerable internal injuries from its counterattacks.
The only problem was the Stone Essence’s lack of agility. Coupled with its weakened state from the long slumber, it couldn’t deliver a fatal blow to the two Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The subsequent fight confirmed Qi Ping’s judgment.
After a prolonged and arduous battle, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators finally couldn’t hold on. Severely injured and spitting out mouthfuls of blood, they immediately grabbed the young man waiting behind them, ready to forcefully contract the beast, and fled.
“Let’s retreat for now! This Stone Essence has nothing here to help it recover. Once we take some pills to restore our spiritual energy and heal our injuries, we’ll come back and settle the score slowly! It won’t be able to run far!”
“If you fail to contract it then, you can still forge it into your life-bound treasure!”
Seeing the two who had been harassing it for so long trying to leave, the Stone Essence immediately gave chase. But its lumbering body was far too slow compared to Foundation Establishment cultivators. After running for a while, it could only watch helplessly as they escaped.
The Stone Essence, a bit dazed, maintained its rocky monster form for a while. Sensing the danger had passed, it then dispersed this state.
Without the Stone Essence’s power sustaining it, the seemingly extraordinary rock monster instantly crumbled into ordinary rocks that tumbled to the ground.
“The rocks that could block Foundation Establishment attacks were just made of ordinary stone?”
Witnessing this, a look of amazement appeared in Qi Ping’s eyes. The Stone Essence’s abilities were truly magical.
A moment later, the pile of scattered boulders suddenly shifted a few times, and then a small, coal-ball-like figure—the Stone Essence’s true body—emerged from within.
It was at this moment that Qi Ping finally got a clear look at the Stone Essence’s true form.
Its main body was a blackish stone, about two or three times the size of a fist. It looked somewhat like a coal ball, dark and round…
Its limbs, however, were made of several pieces of colorful stone. Its little feet pressed down lightly, and it nimbly hopped out of the rock pile.
