Chapter 28: Discovery

After Shaoke finished his meditation, the soldiers had already taken care of most things, leaving only the mage's alert wards to be set up. Holding makeshift torches, the soldiers helped Shaoke deploy sufficient wards around the camp, which would reduce their burden.

The cave had been tidied up, with several thick wooden planks pieced together to form a temporary bed, covered with a thick layer of animal skins to serve as a resting place for the mage. The soldiers had dug up a long, meter-thick stone slab from some corner, roughly polished it, and laid a black feather velvet blanket over it to act as the mage's desk.

By the time Shaoke finished his work, the soldiers, on the captain's suggestion, had already cooked the meat of the third-rank snow tiger as tonight's dinner.

As everyone ate, they discussed the recent battle with the magical beast, each exclaiming over how close a call it was. Shaoke listened quietly to their discussion and, as always, remained calm in response to their praise, simply telling the soldiers that it was what he should do.

Since the mage still had some work to do, the soldiers living in the cave temporarily stepped outside to chat with those in the tents. Only a few people inside the cave stopped talking, as they had to give the mage some quiet. This was perhaps the price of living in close proximity to mages!

Shaoke hunched over the temporary stone desk and began writing his spell record for the day. He’d only cast spells in such dangerous conditions a handful of times before, and none as perilous as today's. Such experiences were quite important to Shaoke. His quill slowly filled the spell record with paragraphs of insight.

Time passed slowly. When Shaoke was about to begin his meditation, the soldiers sleeping in the cave, at the captain's request, all hurried back. They needed to rest because the mage was about to meditate, and during this time, the mage disliked people walking around or talking near him. After all, it was no longer a time for battle.

The light points in the mental space flowed continuously within the pattern of the three-pointed star. The repeated, meticulous control was rather tedious. Fortunately, after prolonged study and the influence he had undergone, as well as the mental comfort brought by meditation, Shaoke was able to meditate repeatedly without interruption. If his mind allowed, Shaoke would have liked to continue meditating like this, perhaps for eight or ten years, only to awaken as a magister. Unfortunately, this was merely an impractical thought.

With each round of meditation, Shaoke devoted all his mental energy, except for a small portion reserved for observing the outside world, to feeling the slowly growing mental power in his mental space. Before long, he noticed something unusual about this meditation session. It turned out that the mental light points in his mental space were circulating within the three-pointed star at nearly twice their usual speed. According to past experience, the faster the circulation, the greater the mental control required. Yet this time, Shaoke felt that he hadn't expended much more mental energy than usual in controlling it, even though the speed had increased.

At first, Shaoke wondered if it was because he was close to advancing in rank, causing his mental energy to strengthen. But that couldn't be right—he had never heard of mental energy strengthening before a rank advancement; that only happened after advancement. Shaoke couldn't help but feel a bit panicked. Could something be wrong with his mental space?

After careful inspection, Shaoke still found nothing unusual in his familiar mental space. He stopped and restarted his meditation several times. After repeated attempts, he discovered that during his meditation, a cool aura always entered his mental space from in front of him, causing the mental light points to circulate rapidly.

After several more brief meditation sessions, Shaoke finally confirmed that the cool aura was emanating from the stone desk in front of him. "A lucky find" was the first thought that came to his mind. "Could it be that I, like a transmigrator, am finally starting to get lucky? It's been a long time coming—over twenty years!" Shaoke didn't dwell on it. He immediately tore off the black feather velvet blanket covering the stone desk, even knocking down his well-maintained spell record in the process. The fallen candle also went out, but Shaoke paid no attention to these details. "A lucky find" was something every transmigrator hoped for.

Shaoke's behavior immediately surprised the soldiers around him who hadn't yet fallen asleep. They had never seen Mage Xueye so discomposed: Shaoke's pale, slender hands kept feeling the stone slab the soldiers had brought, while he muttered something softly under his breath. Then, he slapped the stone slab in frustration, shouted a few words in a strange language, sighed lightly, and sat silently in the shadows where the candle had gone out.

It turned out that after removing the covering from the stone desk and examining it carefully, Shaoke realized that this stone was a rare type of ore. "Hollow Stone," as the name suggests, was hollow inside. Depending on the size of the stone, a hollow space of varying size formed at its center, filled with a peculiar liquid. This liquid was known to mages as "Hollow Liquid." Hollow Stones over ten thousand years old would also contain a "Hollow Pearl," a precious natural magic item. Based on his inspection and the effects he felt, Shaoke believed that the Hollow Stone before him contained a Hollow Pearl.

Initially thinking he had obtained at least a super treasure, Shaoke felt frustrated by his earlier loss of composure after confirming the item's identity. Unable to help himself, he cursed under his breath in the language of his previous life. However, at least his loss of composure in front of the soldiers wasn't entirely in vain. After all, these items were still quite valuable to mages, especially the Hollow Pearl. Shaoke estimated that, if all went well, he would only be able to afford a Hollow Pearl after becoming a grand mage. Obtaining one now without spending a single common gold coin was no small help to him.

At this moment, the captain approached and inquired about Shaoke's earlier situation: "Mage Xueye, what happened just now? Are you dissatisfied with the living conditions?"

"No, Captain, it's not about the accommodations. I simply lost my composure." Shaoke then quietly explained his recent discovery to the captain. He knew that obtaining the contents inside would require the captain's assistance. Moreover, given the captain's seasoned experience, it would be easy for him to deduce what Shaoke had just found on the stone slab.

As it turned out, the Void Essence Shaoke discovered was a type of auxiliary medicinal material commonly used by genuine mages. Its effect was that after consuming a single drop, it would form a small vortex within the user's mental space, purifying spiritual energy. However, its potency varied depending on its age. The Void Essence Shaoke found was preliminarily estimated to be over ten thousand years old. Based on Shaoke's knowledge from books, its purifying effect could last nearly ten magic hours, with a potency roughly half that of the meditation he currently practiced. The possible Void Pearl within was even more astonishing. Even among naturally formed items known to mages, it held a superior position. If worn on the body, it would accelerate the flow of spiritual light points within patterns formed by various meditation techniques, without consuming extra mental energy. Such a treasure was typically worn by mages at the Great Mage rank until they found a better substitute or advanced to the rank of Magister.

Although the conversation between the mage and the captain was hushed, nearby soldiers who were still awake overheard and began passing along the reason for the mage's earlier loss of composure. Soon, even the soldiers spending the night in tents outside learned the news. While they didn’t fully understand the uses of the discovered items, they gathered from the conversation that these things were quite valuable.

"Hey! Just think, buddy—the mage said that even a single drop of that stuff inside the stone could sell for a common gold coin! Holy cow, how much would that be? A common gold coin—I’ve never even held one!" one soldier exclaimed enviously to his companion, sharing the latest news. "Really? Wow, if that’s the case, I bet Lord Mage Xueye will give us even more silver coins. That’s how it’s been before," the companion replied, already fantasizing about a reward. "Come on, back then we found materials together as a group, so the mage distributed the proceeds. This time, the mage discovered it alone. Why would he toss his own gold coins into our pockets?" another retorted. The soldiers around them began discussing various possible outcomes.

The materials Shaoke discovered were indeed as valuable as the soldiers had heard—extremely expensive. However, when explaining to the captain, Shaoke did not reveal their full worth, stating it at only a tenth of its true value. Partly, he felt it unnecessary, and partly, it would have been too complicated to explain in detail. Even when diluted tenfold with ordinary plant sap, a single drop of this Void Essence could still fetch a common gold coin. We won’t delve into further specifics here.

In the end, Shaoke and the captain decided that since this discovery was entirely due to Shaoke's extensive knowledge, the captain initially suggested not distributing any rewards to the soldiers—not even a single copper coin. However, Shaoke believed they shouldn’t let the soldiers’ excitement go unrewarded, lest some grow resentful or demotivated. After all, not everyone was as upright and disciplined as the captain. Finally, the captain announced Shaoke’s decision to the soldiers: "Listen up, men. Lord Mage Xueye has decided that upon our return, each of you will receive two gold coins. This includes those soldiers who remained at the other camp."