Chapter 122: Water Element Rune Stone

Ye Da waved his hand grandly and declared, "I'll take them all!"

"What?" Chu Ping thought he had misheard.

He had believed that he would have no hope of clearing his trading stall in this lifetime. After all, having been reduced to a subordinate, he hardly had any spare time to chop wood himself. Of course, if he were lucky, he might be able to sneak in a tree or two when he had the chance to head out, but even then, he had no idea how many days it would take to redeem his stall. Furthermore, he still needed to upgrade his own wooden cabin, and he had to worry about food, water, and equipment.

All of this required money. While Long Yi would give them a share of the materials, those were barely enough for upgrading the cabin and basic sustenance; there was never any surplus. As for the cash Long Yi had promised, it was a significant amount, but that would only be worth anything if they could actually return home.

But now... The Long brothers, Long Yi and Long Er, had met with an untimely death. Even if Chu Ping were to return to the real world, he wouldn't dare ask the Long family for money. If he did, the charge of failing to protect his masters would be more than enough to ensure he wouldn't even have a place to be buried. Therefore, to Chu Ping, the death of the two brothers was something he would have to take to his grave. He would act as if he had never met them. As for the money—well, you needed to be alive to spend it!

"I'll take everything you've listed on the trading market," Ye Da said, not caring at all about those meager materials. "It’s just two units of superior wood, isn't it? Look at how much you're worrying over it."

"Just?" Chu Ping was shocked. "My Lord, are you serious? Two units of superior wood are equivalent to two hundred units of inferior wood. That's half a day's work just for chopping! 'Just'? My Lord, you are far too generous."

"Half a day? Does it really take that long?" Ye Da laughed upon hearing this. "When I have some free time, I'll take you out to chop some wood."

With that, Ye Da pushed the door open and entered the house, with Chu Ping quickly following behind. Ye Da did not notice that Chu Ping's loyalty had increased by another 0.5%, pushing it right to the 97% mark.

"Clatter!"

One unit of superior stone and ten units of superior ice! Ye Da dumped the materials onto the workbench. He had originally expected the superior ice to be as large as the superior stone, given that one hundred cubic units of snow were required to synthesize a single unit of superior ice. According to the principle of equivalent exchange, no matter how much you compressed one hundred cubic units of snow, the volume shouldn't be that small. However, when Ye Da took the superior ice out of his backpack, he discovered that both its color and size were different from what he had imagined.

The superior ice was extremely small—even smaller than a common brick—and it possessed a deep, azure blue hue, much like the color of the ocean. It was incredibly pure and translucent. If not for the wisps of cold air it constantly emitted, which caused a thin layer of frost to form on his fingers the moment he touched it, making them turn red from the cold, Ye Da would have genuinely thought it was a natural piece of blue crystal.

It was simply too beautiful! But this beautiful superior ice was also genuinely freezing. Even with his palms covered in a layer of stone skin, Ye Da dared not touch it for too long. It was just too cold!

[Discovery of water-elemental rune stone materials. Proceed with crafting?]

[Yes!]

Ye Da had gone out to collect ice specifically to craft water-elemental rune stones. Now that he had the materials, there was no reason not to. Fortunately, the bulk of the requirements for the water-elemental rune stone was ten units of ice rather than ten units of superior stone; otherwise, the meager amount of stone he had on hand wouldn't have been enough to make even two rune stones. As it happened, there had been a heavy snowfall outside, and while he had nothing else, Ye Da had managed to collect twenty units of superior ice in one go.

[Crafting successful!]
[Water-elemental rune stone +20]
[Water-elemental rune stone: Can extract ten liters of pure water from the air every hour.]
[PS: The water-elemental rune stone can also serve as a primary material; it is an essential component for crafting water-circulating protective suits.]

Having produced twenty water-elemental rune stones in one go, Ye Da looked at his stone house and suddenly realized it lacked a water storage tank. He wondered if the stone house could be upgraded to include one. He opened the property panel of the stone house.

[Name: Top-tier Stone House (Mist World Level 6 Shelter)]
[Fireplace: Constructed]
[Pharmacy Table: Constructed]
[Workbench: Constructed]
[Alchemy Furnace: Not constructed]
[Bedroom: Obtained (Expandable)]

"There is no option for a water storage tank." Ye Da frowned. Was it because the stone house was too small to accommodate one? He clicked on the information for the next level of the stone house and took a look.

[Name: Top-tier Stone House (Mist World Level 6 Shelter)]
[Top-tier Advancement: 500 units of superior stone, 50 units of superior wood, 10 units of high-quality mud, 100 units of glass. Can be upgraded into a Top-tier Siheyuan (also known as: Mobile Courtyard. After upgrading, you can build a yard, a second-story structure, a water storage tank, a warehouse, a stable, and a latrine...)]

It was just as he thought! When Ye Da saw the requirements for the Siheyuan upgrade, he could only sigh helplessly. Getting a water tank and a toilet was truly difficult! However, the moment Ye Da remembered that the late Long Yi had left him a mine, he felt a bit relieved. Tomorrow morning, he would have Chu Ping lead him to Long Yi's mine, lest any complications arise.

"Ugh!"

Just as Ye Da was pondering what to use to store the water from the rune stones, he suddenly heard Chu Ping retching. Ye Da immediately turned around, only to see Chu Ping vomiting a large mouthful of black blood. Before Ye Da could ask what was wrong, he noticed that Chu Ping's lips were a dark, bruised purple, and his face was as pale as paper, with a faint, deathly pallor underneath. These were clearly symptoms of deep-seated poisoning.

Ye Da quickly used his Analysis Glasses to check Chu Ping's status, and his heart sank at the results.

[Level 1 Subordinate: Chu Ping]
[Loyalty: 97% (A loyal servant to the Lord; although he has a few small personal thoughts, it does not hinder his devotion to the Lord.)]
[Status: Poisoned. If detoxification treatment is not administered within 2 hours, he may die!]

"What the hell!" Ye Da exclaimed in shock when he saw that Chu Ping had only two hours left before he reached the deadline of death. Didn't he have a twelve-hour treatment window before? Although Ye Da knew that Chu Ping’s use of the Life Potion to repair his injuries by stimulating his vitality carried a risk of accelerating the toxicity in his body, he had expected at least half the time to remain. How had it suddenly dropped to just two hours?!

"I'm fine, My Lord, I'm fine." Hearing his master's exclamation and fearing that he might be abandoned, Chu Ping waved his hands repeatedly. "I think I just ate too quickly and felt a bit nauseous. I'm fine, I'll be better after a short rest."

"There's no time to rest. We're leaving." Ye Da didn't have time to explain slowly. They had to reach the fields of the Giant Macrophage Pitcher Plants quickly and kill those flowers to obtain the materials for the antidote!