Chapter 36: It’s Actually Waste Stone!
“Little Lion?!!!” The group couldn’t believe it.
But that little Furball tried hard to paw at it with its little claws, pushing with its head, and after exerting a great deal of effort… it still couldn’t get that pot of Mint out.
“Awoo?” The little Furball poked its head out from among the green plants, looking at Shi An’an aggrievedly.
Shi An’an stepped forward and squatted down. “You were the one following us all the time yesterday, right!”
“Meow~” The Little Lion tilted its head and let out a milky, soft meow.
The meow melted the hearts of everyone present. Combined with the Little Lion’s fluffy, adorably milky appearance, it instantly captivated them.
Shi An’an looked at the little Furball before her, her eyes full of vigilance. Even in the Cultivation World, encounters with such little Furballs were rare, let alone in this Interstellar Era where animals and plants were on the brink of extinction.
“Meow~~~” The little Furball meowed ingratiatingly at Shi An’an, then suddenly flopped over, cutely exposing its soft belly.
“Huh, it’s showing goodwill and even exposing its fatal weak spot…” Sheng Rong looked in surprise at the little Furball that kept acting cute.
The group curiously gathered around the little Furball, but the little Furball only had eyes for Shi An’an.
No matter how the others teased it, it didn’t spare them a glance.
Shi An’an didn’t know where this Little Lion had come from or what its purpose was in staring at her.
She wouldn’t naively believe she had some special luck that made the Furball like her.
“You guys pick. Do it before the Instructors arrive, or there won’t be any left in a bit.” Shi An’an ignored the Furball pretending to be dumb and silly.
The group came back to their senses. Sheng Rong immediately picked a pot of Mint. No other reason—it had a huge effect on his Mental Power.
Lin Jinmo looked around, then looked at Shi An’an somewhat embarrassed. “An’an, my Grandmother’s birthday is next month. I want to give her a pot of green plants. Help me pick one.”
“I can pay!” Lin Jinmo quickly added.
Shi An’an glanced at Lin Jinmo. She hadn’t expected this guy to be so filial. With a grand wave of her hand, “Pick one you like first. I’ll check later if there are other seeds and pick a separate Gift for your Grandmother!”
“Thanks, An’an!” Lin Jinmo was thrilled and eagerly picked a pot of Rose.
“………”
“………”
Shi Anxin facepalmed. “Don’t pick the same one as me. Pick one you like!!! Hurry up, don’t waste time!”
“But…” Lin Jinmo was a bit unwilling.
In the end, Shi Anxin directly grabbed a pot of Rosemary and swapped out the Rose in Lin Jinmo’s hands. “This one!”
“Good! Whatever you pick, I like it!”
“………”
“………”
“………”
Shi An’an and the other two watched Lin Jinmo’s worthless display and couldn’t bear to look.
“Ahem.”
He Rui, monitoring from behind, glanced at Lin Xi and quietly gave him a thumbs up. “Your brother is pretty good at chasing girls!”
Lin Xi’s gaze shot over sharply, and He Rui immediately looked away and sat properly.
An Yi watched the Lin Family kid fawning over his eldest niece with a face full of disgust.
Meanwhile, Shi An’an picked a few more stones containing Larva and began absorbing the Spiritual Energy inside, while also giving a sip of Spiritual Energy to the green plants they had just selected.
On the other side, every student received the order to stay put. The Instructors quickly and safely brought the students back to Base one after another and activated the Protective Shield.
This series of operations left the students at a loss, not knowing what had happened to interrupt the Competition.
Yet Shi An’an and the others, who had discovered the Insectoid Race, remained there. This was An Yi’s order.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one had arrived yet, Shi An’an hurriedly absorbed a few more Spirit Stones, taking the chance to boost her own Cultivation Level.
The fact that this Planet had Spirit Stones was Shi An’an’s biggest surprise since arriving here.
“Strange, I’ve scanned many times, but there’s no energy in these stones like An’an mentioned.” Lin Jinmo looked puzzled at the stones on the ground.
Shi An’an had already stopped. She’d absorbed a bit too aggressively just now, and now her Meridians were faintly aching from being stretched. She’d need time to digest it later.
“Can’t detect it?” Shi An’an was puzzled. Such dense Spiritual Energy couldn’t be detected?
Lin Jinmo nodded. “Yes, these stones are just ordinary waste stones to us. My family used to operate a few Abandoned Mines. The stones mined from them had no energy at all—money-losing and labor-wasting, so they were all abandoned.”
Hearing Lin Jinmo’s words, Shi An’an’s eyes lit up. “Can I see pictures?”
“Sure.”
Lin Jinmo pulled up pictures of every type of Ore his family had collected, zoomed them in, and showed them to Shi An’an.
“Obsidian!” Sheng Rong and Shi Lele exclaimed.
Lin Jinmo said proudly, “This is the most valuable Ore my family has.”
“This is definitely the most valuable Ore…” Sheng Rong’s eyes gleamed.
“Star Domain Stone!!!” Sheng Rong shrieked again.
“Oh, that’s one my Grandpa collected.”
“Goldstone!!!”
“Purple Wave Stone!!!”
……
The precious Ores finally turned the page, and Sheng Rong and Shi Lele’s throats were already hoarse.
Shi Anxin and Shi An’an remained unmoved. The former because she had seen plenty with Lin Jinmo since childhood and wasn’t surprised.
The latter because she didn’t recognize a single one!
Until… Lin Jinmo flipped to the last picture: a rundown box filled with a messy pile of dirty stones.
“This!!!”
Shi An’an’s eyes widened. Spirit Stones! She didn’t even need to sense them—she knew they were Spirit Stones because they looked exactly like those from the Cultivation World.
“These are the waste stones produced from those Abandoned Mines. My Grandpa was going to throw them out, but since money had been invested, he just dumped them all in a box. He told the miners that if they saw these kinds of stones, they shouldn’t mine them.” Lin Jinmo looked at the stones in the photo, then at the ones on the ground.
“Could these be the same kind?”
Shi An’an suppressed her excitement and nodded vigorously. “Yes, these aren’t waste stones at all!” They were Spirit Stones!!!
“Are those Abandoned Mines for sale? I want to buy them!” Shi An’an asked urgently.
With these Spirit Stones, her Planet could be planted full of plants and flowers…
However, Lin Jinmo looked apologetically at Shi An’an. “Selling is definitely possible—no, I could even give them to you. It’s just… whether by coincidence or not, all those Abandoned Mines have been occupied by Star Beasts.”
“My Grandpa figured they weren’t worth anything inside anyway, so he didn’t send anyone to protect them. Over time…”
“!!!” Shi An’an plummeted from Heaven to hell, and at that moment, she gradually understood.
“So, in the Interstellar Era, these stones are considered worthless waste stones with no energy!” Shi An’an’s mind cleared.
“Yes.” Lin Jinmo nodded.
“But do you know? These stones are probably the source of energy for these Star Beasts or even the Insectoid Race!” Shi An’an stated firmly.
