Yet it was that woman's mystery who had always been appearing whenever Ning Tao entered the state of allergic response to the Ancestor-seeking Elixir, watching him, in silence.

She was clearly not a part of the Feminine-moon people, and had no reason to be there. Yet, she had still ended up there anyway. Standing in between the two rows of the Feminine-moon warriors, her aura was outstanding; her outfit was a brilliant fiery red.

She and the image of the Feminine-moon people in the past had overlapped with each other, yet it did not appear incongruent. In fact, no matter where she appeared, she would exude a certain “artistic” vibe, making one fall deep in thought, to be left enamored.

“Who exactly are you? What do you wish to tell me?” Ning Tao could not help but try speaking to her, even though he clearly knew that she did not exist.

The lady stood still, silently looking at Ning Tao.

A second later, her lips seemed to have moved slightly.

The slight movement which seemed illusory had suddenly left Ning Tao feeling limitlessly hopeful!

If she had wished to communicate any message to him, she would certainly be the one conveying it!

However, the red-clothed lady had merely moved her lips slightly, and did not say anything. In fact, even she had said anything, Ning Tao could not hear it at all. After all, it was only a deficient Ancestor-seeking Elixir. His visions were purely brought about by chance. He could not hear any sounds during the specific time frame of the past.

In an instant, the prosperous town had vanished. The red-clothed lady had also vanished. The ancient ruins, as well as the darkness, had reappeared before Ning Tao.

“Hehehe… One day I will find your grave, and I will dig you out to see whether that body of yours in the coffin is really this beautiful… Hehehe…” Ning Tao suddenly blurted those words out.

A slight derangement.

After adding the content from the new prescription, the elixir power of the Ancestor-seeking Elixir which he had produced had been substantially strengthened. The side effects had acted up very quickly!

The force field of spiritual power shook. Malicious intentions had been eliminated instantly. Ning Tao then placed the deficient Ancestor-seeking Elixir back into the small porcelain bottle, and stuffed the wooden cork back. The side effect of the deficient Ancestor-seeking Elixir had rapidly vanished, but the mysterious red-clothed lady was still on his mind.

After s.p.a.cing out for a while, Ning Tao had finally calmed down. He picked up the herb-collecting rope, charging it with spiritual power; he then threw it out towards the black soil.

Crack!

The rope was capable of even piercing through a rock, so stabbing into the soil was as easy as stabbing a pike into a piece of tofu. With just a stab, it went in two meters deep.

Bam!

A dull sound came from within the soil.

The rope could have hit something like a stone slab. It was empty below!

Ning Tao had initially thought of only giving it a try but little did he expect to get such an impressive effect. He was instantly excited, pulling the rope back out. He charged it with spiritual power and stabbed again. That time, he had pierced into the same hole. The rope was able to reach the bottom without any interruption.

Bam!

Another more audible dull sound could be heard from below the layer of black soil. The ground had suddenly caved in.

Ning Tao launched himself upwards, away from the collapsing black soiled ground.

Boom!

The whole patch of black soil had caved inwards, revealing a cave of pitch dark obscurity.

Ning Tao raised his phone and activated the torchlight function. He then carefully looked around.

At the bottom of the pit was a secret chamber. There could be a secret pa.s.sage, but it was not there.

Ning Tao collected all his items then jumped right into it. He landed on the black soil which had fallen in earlier on, and used his phone's torchlight to light up his surroundings.

It was a squarish s.p.a.ce. At the bottom of one side of the wall was an underground pa.s.sage, but it had been sealed shut. The Soil-seeking Inkstone had pointed to the nearest route, which was usually upwards or downwards. After all, it was a magic tool, not a navigation tool.

The Soil-seeking Inkstone was a magic tool specifically made for searching spiritual soil. Ning Tao had gone there according to its directions, but there was no spiritual soil there. There was only a stone pedestal of about half of a person's height in that empty s.p.a.ce. The pedestal was also empty. Apart from it, there were only the soil and the stone slabs which had fallen in during the process. There was nothing else in that vast s.p.a.ce.

“What's going on?” Ning Tao felt perplexed. He had never failed in finding spiritual soil with the Soil-seeking Inkstone. He had not expected such an outcome.

The ink in the Soil-seeking Inkstone had suddenly created ripples towards the 12th point grading. The direction of the ripples was pointed exactly towards the stone pedestal of about half a person's height.

Ning Tao went to that direction. The light of his torchlight was cast on the pedestal. He noticed a piece of ore, and his gaze was instantly fixated on it.

The ore was as black as ink, and was only the size of a fist. It seemed to have gone through millennia of erosion. Its surface was full of holes like a beehive. Its material looked brittle, and not hard at all.

Ning Tao had suddenly recalled a type of ore which Ma Tongtong had told him about. The cloudy ore.

The ink in the Soil-seeking Inkstone had vibrated more intensely. It also had the same reaction when it was close to spiritual soil, but even if it were right beside the spiritual field in the House of the Sword Pavilion Cave, it had not been that intense. It was easy to guess with just the reaction of the Soil-seeking Inkstone, that the piece of black rock was the legendary cloudy ore!

Ning Tao subsequently activated his power of sight and smell. He saw shreds of spiritual energy emerging from the black ore, and it were extremely rich. His nose had also detected an odd smell, which was an indescribable pleasant smell mixed with honey.

Ning Tao reached over to grab the black ore. It was heavy, but its structure was soft. Some powder was crumbling away. The piece resembled a beehive coal that could be smashed to the ground with just one throw. What good would that do?

“Wait…” Ning Tao suddenly recalled something; his heart was filled with elation. “I've seen the crescent motif on the foreheads of the Feminine-moon people, which was drawn with a type of black pigment. Could the pigment be the cloudy ore? Ma Tongtong had mentioned that the Feminine-moon people had the technology of cultivating the cloudy ore. This piece of ore is probably the raw material, and would still need to be processed further. I'm wondering what I would produce if I cultivated it with my delicate perfumed tripod?”

Ning Tao placed the cloudy ore carefully into the small medicine chest. He glanced at the ore powder left behind on the stone pedestal. He hesitated for a moment, then spit some saliva on his fingers, subsequently picking up some of the powder left on the pedestal, and smeared it on his forehead. With a prompt movement of his fingers, a simple crescent motif had appeared on his forehead.

Just when his finger was lifted off his forehead, a cooling energy spread from the skin of his forehead, pervading his entire head. His “second immune system”, which was his spiritual power force field, had no reaction. That meant that this cooling energy was safe. He did not feel any discomfort so he had simply let it be.

The cooling energy continued to pervade him. His head felt clearer than before; his thinking was even more acute. He said in surprise, “Ma Tongtong mentioned that the Feminine-moon people were able to realize non-verbal communication through the cloudy ore. All the Feminine-moon people I've seen had this crescent motif drawn with the cloudy ore on their foreheads. In that city of the Feminine-moon people, the Shennongjia wild men clearly had the status of slaves. “Since I currently have a crescent motif, I wonder… could I communicate with the Shennongjia wild men non-verbally?”

The time displayed on his phone was 12:11 p.m. Before he had realized, it had already been over ten hours since he had left the archaeology team's campsite.

Jian Mi had to be very worried, right?

However, Ning Tao did not return to the campsite. Instead, he made a blood lock by drawing blood from his finger. Then he opened the blood lock to gain access back to the Sky Clinic. He placed the cloudy ore into the delicate perfumed tripod, then opened the convenient door back to the forest above the Feminine-moon City.

Due to it being noon, the sunlight in the forest was substantial. He could see far away without extra lighting.

A Shennongjia wild man was plucking moss beside a hot spring stream. Ning Tao watched it stuff itself a mouthful, munching on it. The milky white moss liquid flowed from its mouth, which it then wiped off with its hands, then sucked off its fingers, not bearing to waste one bit.

The Shennongjia wild men were exceptionally powerful. Could it be due to their diet of that spiritual moss?

Ning Tao suddenly entertained such a possibility. He bent down to pick up a rock then launched it at the wild man who was bent down while picking moss.

Splas.h.!.+

The rock fell into the hot spring, creating a splash.

The Shennongjia wild man turned over instantly, and noticed Ning Tao. It was stunned for an instant, then stood up subsequently, immediately roaring angrily. “Roar—roar ah!”

It was like the roar of a human.

In that instant, heavy footsteps were heard from outside the forest. It resembled that of a huge army troop charging over.

Ning Tao's hand was grabbing onto a piece of prescription slip with a blood lock drawn on it, and he had the clinic keys in his other hand. He had only returned to test whether the cloudy ore could enable a non-verbal communication. If the situation were amiss, he could leave immediately whenever.

Ning Tao lifted his hair which was covering the crescent motif, and faced directly towards the moss-picking wild man. He tested the waters. “Do you see it? I'm from the Feminine-moon people, kneel before me!”

That moss-picking wild man stared fixedly at Ning Tao's forehead; a shocked and vexed expression appeared on his hairy face.

It was taking effect!

Ning Tao then tried to inject a shred of spiritual power into the crescent motif, and a miracle happened. That cooling energy and spiritual power had instantly reacted with each other, establis.h.i.+ng communication. He could feel that the crescent motif drawn on his forehead was no longer a mere image, but an open window to souls. His thoughts could be extended through that window, and it was very effective!

The cloudy ore was indeed not an ordinary object!

There was only a piece of it the size of a fist, hidden in the secret chamber under the royal palace of the Feminine-moon City. That proved how precious it had to be!

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The drum-like footsteps were approaching. A group of King Kong-like Shennongjia wild men charged over. They were holding stones, clubs, and a number of random weapons in their hands. They looked like they were about to throw anything they had in their hands at Ning Tao anytime soon.

Ning Tao did not speak, but opened up the “spiritual window” with his heart's intent. “I'm a Feminine-moon person. Are you thinking of revolting!?”

All the Shennongjia wild men suddenly stayed still.

Just in that moment, Ning Tao's “spiritual window” had suddenly received a message…