Sacred Souls: Genesis

Chapter 107: Chapter 106: The Ore Spirit

“Quite certain,” the Earth Mother Goddess nodded, her face expressionless, neither joyful nor mournful, “Whether they are followers of mine or of other gods, once humans discover this island and set foot upon it, they will disrupt the balance of all things. Devouring God, have you heard of the theory of the balance of nature?”

“I guess what you’re trying to say… should be the ecosystem?” Jiang Qiao couldn’t help but interject.

“Ecosystem?”

“Please, continue.”

The Earth Mother Goddess then used twigs to construct a human figure.

“Right now, the humans in our world are constantly pursuing great powers, and we have provided them the space to grow… That is magic, but for a human to master great magic power, they need to go through a long period of study. This allows them to possess the mental capacity that matches their power, whereas this island will destroy this balance.”

“Go on.”

Jiang Qiao took a sip of green tea that Hai Lan handed over. This cup of green tea was actually bottled green tea that could be bought for three yuan, but this goddess, for appearances’ sake, still poured it into a cup before handing it to Jiang Qiao and the Earth Mother Goddess.

“That island would grant my children excessively powerful strength; they will lose themselves in this strength and destroy the existing balance in this world, only leading to greater disasters,” the Earth Mother Goddess said after taking a sip of the tea handed to her by Hai Lan, surprised.

“There’s more than just plant twigs and leaves in here; there’s something else.”

“Of course, there is more than just tea leaves in a mixed beverage… I am quite intrigued by your request, but I need to explore that island in person before considering whether or not to accept it,” Jiang Qiao said, setting down his green tea.

The Earth Mother Goddess’s task was simple: to get players to move bricks on the island of Brande. The bricks on the island consisted of very fierce creatures, minerals, and plants.

As for NPCs attempting to hinder the players from moving bricks, or stop them altogether, the Earth Mother Goddess’s advisory was to ‘kill·kill’ them all.

Jiang Qiao was not some kind of demon, so of course he would not lure players into killing innocent NPCs. However, for invaders like the Annihilation Legion, Jiang Qiao would show no mercy.

In summary, as the foreman, Jiang Qiao still needed to inspect the ‘construction site’ in person to ensure players would have a better brick-moving experience.

“As you wish, Agent,” the Earth Mother Goddess conjured deep green magic inscriptions in her hand. After the magic inscriptions vanished, a deep green portal appeared behind Jiang Qiao.

“Is it a perk of being a planner to scout out every new map myself?”

Jiang Qiao stood up and performed some simple warm-up exercises. After warming up, he summoned the Fire Spirit and Water Spirit and approached the deep green portal.

“Agent, before you leave, I wish to know if your master, the Devouring God, is… unwilling to show themselves?”

The Earth Mother Goddess, holding her teacup, had a very positive impression of Jiang Qiao, a humble and upright young man. Yet, she had come to meet the Devouring God herself, and the Devouring God was unwilling to appear in person to speak with her…

“Ah? The Devouring God you’re talking about has always been by your side,” Jiang Qiao pointed to Hai Lan, who was carrying a tray, and at that moment, Hai Lan’s eyes met the Earth Mother Goddess’s gaze.

When the Earth Mother Goddess learned that Hai Lan was the true incarnation of the Devouring God, the teacup in her hand shattered… The tea did not spill and floated mid-air.

“I never expected… the Devouring God’s disguise to be so formidable,” the Earth Mother Goddess still tried her best to maintain a kind and amiable appearance.

But in that instant, Jiang Qiao captured an emotion called fear on the face of the Earth Mother Goddess.

A god-level BOSS of an unknown level was actually afraid of Hai Lan? What unforgivable deeds had Hai Lan done in the past?

“I’m not in disguise!” Hai Lan said somewhat dissatisfied, “It’s Jiang Qiao whose divinity surpasses mine!”

“How could an agent’s divinity be higher than the Devouring God? You must be joking,” the Earth Mother Goddess replied with calmness.

“I… Jiang Qiao!” Just as Hai Lan was about to pull Jiang Qiao over to argue her case, Jiang Qiao’s figure had already disappeared into the portal.

……

“This is another world.”

Jiang Qiao stepped into a truly different world for the first time, one that wasn’t just a Plane Fragment but a completely intact alternate world.

“Do the sacred spirits’ game rules still apply here?” Jiang Qiao glanced at the water and fire spirits following by his side, which seemed unaffected.

At that moment, Jiang Qiao found himself in a scene akin to a tropical island. The landscape of the island wasn’t entirely crystallized, as the Earth Mother Goddess had described, and the surrounding trees were lush and verdant.

But that was all just a facade.

Jiang Qiao crouched and grabbed a handful of soil, within which he found dozens of shiny, pure white crystals, each no larger than half the size of his little finger.

“Grabbing a handful yields diamonds… this place must be a brick mover’s paradise,” Jiang Qiao thought as he tossed aside the excess crystals in his hand, only keeping the largest one, which was the size of his little finger.

Jiang Qiao cast a scouting spell on that crystal.

‘Magic Power Crystal

Consumable item

Description: A crystal formed from pure condensed magic power.

Effect: Restores 5MP after being crushed.’

“Such a lackluster effect, but it would be troublesome if something picked up so casually was too powerful.”

After discarding the crystal, Jiang Qiao prepared to explore other parts of the island when… a dark shadow pounced directly toward him.

The fire spirit beside Jiang Qiao was ready; she thrust her hand into the air, and a wall of fire composed of flames rose in front of Jiang Qiao.

The dark figure collided with the wall of fire, which quickly spread over its body. It let out ‘squeak squeak squeak’ shrieks but didn’t stop moving; meanwhile, the adjacent water spirit had already formed frost and instantly froze the figure into an ice sculpture.

It was then that Jiang Qiao got a clear look at the dark figure—a magical beast resembling a pangolin. Per his usual practice, Jiang Qiao cast a scouting spell on it.

‘Name: ???, Level: 7, Mutated creature, Type: Rodentia·Crystal Variant, Description: A creature that evolved after devouring countless crystals, its shell has completely transformed into hard metal.’

The description wasn’t much to look at, and after casually naming this creature the Gold-swallowing Rat, Jiang Qiao used his Magic Wand to shatter the frozen Gold-swallowing Rat into pieces that fell into the soil. At the same time, a sparkling crystal fell among the dirt.

“Could this be some kind of Demon Core or something?” Jiang Qiao picked up the crystal, and its data soon appeared before his eyes. The object wasn’t a magical beast’s Demon Core, but its usefulness was a hundred times greater!

‘Iron Ore Mother Crystal (Inferior Quality)

Other·Construction Item

Description: A mother crystal containing trace iron elements and impurities.

Effect: When placed in the manor’s soil for a period, it can generate a small amount of iron ore that still needs to be mined by the player.’

“A seed that can grow iron?” Once he understood the function of the mother crystal, Jiang Qiao really felt like wholesaling a bunch and selling them to the country.

Basically, it was a seed for iron ore—plant a mother crystal in the spring, and by autumn, there would be lots and lots of iron ore to harvest!

“Should I say this is apt for a map where minerals come to life?” Jiang Qiao pocketed the mother crystal and summoned a wind spirit, sending it into the sky to further scout the island’s condition.