Bai Sinan found a relatively safe place to spend the night.
A bonfire burned on the ground, and the bones from her recently finished meal were casually tossed aside.
Bai Sinan lay on a tree branch, closing her eyes to rest and recover.
Rustle...
A very faint rustling sound, as if something was darting through the grass.
Bai Sinan remained motionless, her breathing steady as if she were fast asleep.
A squirrel stood under the tree, staring at Bai Sinan for a long time, and concluded that she was truly asleep.
It secretly climbed the tree, its paws quietly reaching toward Bai Sinan's storage ring.
"Got it!" said the squirrel.
"Caught you!" said Bai Sinan.
Just as the little squirrel was rejoicing that its theft had gone unnoticed, Bai Sinan grabbed it by the tail and lifted it up.
"Ouch, ouch! You human actually played possum! Despicable!" The squirrel flailed its paws and claws, unleashing a torrent of angry squeaks at Bai Sinan.
Bai Sinan paid no attention to the little squirrel's attack and asked curiously, "You can actually speak? A lord-class Spirit Beast? A stupid rat? I don't believe it."
The squirrel raged, "Ouch, ouch! You're the stupid rat! Your master is a Gold-Seeking Rat! A divine beast! Not one of those weakling Spirit Beasts! You despicable human, let go of your master!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. And you claim you aren't stupid, spilling all your secrets just like that. Aren't you afraid I'll sell you off? A divine beast... a Gold-Seeking Rat... must be worth quite a bit..." She feigned deep thought, scaring the Gold-Seeking Rat half to death, making it truly believe she was going to sell it.
The squirrel panicked. "No! You can't sell me! I can help you find treasures!"
Bai Sinan raised an eyebrow. "So you're selling yourself to me?"
"?" How on earth did it just sell itself?
Bai Sinan looked at it with disdain. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What an idiot." With that, she casually tossed the Gold-Seeking Rat away.
As the name suggested, the Gold-Seeking Rat was an existence defying the heavens. It could sense the location of treasures within a radius of ten miles, making it an invaluable opportunity for any spiritual practitioner.
Due to frantic hunting by humans, Gold-Seeking Rats were now nearly extinct. However, Bai Sinan felt this wasn't entirely due to human greed, because this Gold-Seeking Rat... was truly stupid.
Although she could forcefully form a contract with the Gold-Seeking Rat, she disliked such forced relationships.
The Gold-Seeking Rat was thrown into a daze. What was wrong with this human? Normally, if a human knew it was a Gold-Seeking Rat, they would have long since enslaved it to hunt for treasures. Yet this human had actually thrown it away? What, was its reputation as a Gold-Seeking Rat really that worthless now?
The squirrel was puzzled, but it figured the human simply didn't understand the value of a Gold-Seeking Rat. Once she realized it, it wouldn't be able to escape.
The Gold-Seeking Rat ran off. Bai Sinan didn't mind either, continuing to lie back and rest with her eyes closed.
The next day, Bai Sinan ventured deeper into the area.
The Spirit Beasts she occasionally encountered along the way were easily dispatched by her casual strikes.
Right now, she had her eyes on a five-star high-grade spiritual plant ahead. This plant was one of the materials needed to refine an Energy Recovery Pill.
This was truly effortless; the Star-Sky Grass was the only missing ingredient for the Energy Recovery Pill, and she had been worrying about where to acquire it.
Look at that, wasn't it right before her eyes?
Bai Sinan hid in a tree, scanning the surroundings of the Star-Sky Grass to assess the situation.
Rustle, rustle, rustle...
The familiar sound rang out, and Bai Sinan raised an eyebrow.
True to its name as a Gold-Seeking Rat, this treasure-hunting ability was truly extraordinary.
The Gold-Seeking Rat poked its little head out, and seeing no movement around, it darted toward the Star-Sky Grass in a flash.
Hehe, even though it hadn't managed to steal anything from that human yesterday, didn't it find a new treasure today? Hahaha, as expected of it!
The Gold-Seeking Rat grabbed the Star-Sky Grass and tried to run, but it couldn't budge it.
? What was going on?
Rumble...
An earthquake-like sound echoed. The ground beneath the Star-Sky Grass split open, and a rock monster crawled out from underground, with that exact Star-Sky Grass perched right on top of its head!
"Huh?" Before the Gold-Seeking Rat could figure out what was happening, the rock monster's fist came swinging toward it.
Frightened out of its wits, the Gold-Seeking Rat shrieked, "Aah, help!"
The fist stopped abruptly just as it was about to land. The Gold-Seeking Rat squeezed its eyes shut and waited for a long time, but never felt the blow that would crush it to death. It tentatively raised its head to see what was going on.
A cold voice came from above it: "You stupid thing, are you still not going to get lost?"
Bai Sinan was utterly speechless. That this creature had managed to live this long was truly a gift from the heavens.
Hearing the familiar voice, the Gold-Seeking Rat felt an inexplicable sense of relief and leaped straight onto Bai Sinan's shoulder.
"Humph! Considering that you saved your master's life, your master will forgive your impoliteness yesterday!" the Gold-Seeking Rat chirped.
? Idiot.
Bai Sinan ignored it, flashing forward to attack the rock monster.
This rock monster was a Tier 4 Spirit Beast. The Star-Sky Grass was essentially its beast core, and its weak point was obvious—she just needed to slice off the Star-Sky Grass on its head.
However, Bai Sinan was only a Rank 4 Grand Spirit Master. The attacks and defense of this Tier 4 Spirit Beast were formidable to her, making it extremely difficult to get close.
Bai Sinan gave it a sideways glance. "You really stirred up a huge trouble."
Bai Sinan fought for a long time without managing to land a single hit on the rock monster, while she herself had already been grazed by the monster's spiritual energy, leaving several cuts on her body.
Bai Sinan closed her eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
Her eyes snapped open, and her spiritual energy surged violently. Transparent spiritual qi swept across the surroundings like a gale.
Visible to the naked eye, the leaves surrounding Bai Sinan stood on end along the branches like razor-sharp blades.
With a wave of her delicate hand, the dense mass of leaves shot forward like bullets. The speed of the leaves reached an extreme, slicing the surrounding air apart.
Seen from afar, it looked like a massive green tidal wave sweeping across the area.
Though the rock monster possessed strong defensive power, it could not withstand the assault of hundreds and thousands of leaves.
Gradually, cracks began to appear visibly across the rock monster's body, and scattered chunks of stone fell to the ground.
Blood spilled from the corner of Bai Sinan's mouth, and a stabbing pain began in her Dantian.
Her spiritual energy was running out!
Bai Sinan clenched her teeth and hurled the dagger in her hand with all her might. The dagger flew toward the stem of the Star-Sky Grass like an arrow released from a bowstring.
The rock monster sensed the danger, but the leaves continued their relentless assault on its body, restricting its movement.
Swish!
The Star-Sky Grass was severed, and the spiritual energy within Bai Sinan's body was completely exhausted.
The rock monster crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
Deprived of the reinforcement of spiritual energy, the leaves drifted down one after another like a dreamlike, ethereal shower of foliage.
"Actually... pretty..."
Bai Sinan muttered softly as she looked up at the sky, before finally losing consciousness and passing out.
The Gold-Seeking Rat had been standing on her shoulder, and her sudden collapse almost crushed it to death.
"What's wrong with you? You're not dead, are you?"
The Gold-Seeking Rat patted Bai Sinan's face with its large tail. Seeing no response from her, it panicked.
"Although you're a very cunning human, you saved your master's life after all. You can't die... Just wait, master's treasures surely have something that can save you."
Just as it scurried away, a man materialized out of thin air and stood before Bai Sinan.