Chapter 2051 — The Inner Core of a Spirit Beast

"Hmm... you're right. I'll send Uncle Qing another message and ask!" Hearing Gu Mengyao's suggestion, Wei Zhao immediately thought it workable, and so he sent another email to Uncle Qing.

This time, Uncle Qing didn't write back. He called instead.

"Uncle Qing!" Wei Zhao picked up.

"Little Yi, this thing you sent me... it does seem familiar. There used to be something like it in my old sect's treasure vault, but there was so much in that vault, and anything useless for my cultivation I never paid much mind..." Uncle Qing hesitated, then said a little sheepishly, "Back then there were people in the sect to handle such matters. All I had to do was cultivate..."

"Oh? There's something like this there too?" Wei Zhao was somewhat surprised. If his old sect's treasure vault held such a thing, then it truly couldn't be worthless.

"Yes... if my master were still around, he might recognize it, but I..." Uncle Qing said. "I really can't recall what this is, offhand..."

"Never mind, it's all right. If you don't remember, there's no rush." Wei Zhao didn't dwell on it. "Uncle Qing, go about your business. I'll keep looking into it myself."

"All right. My sincere apologies for being of no help!" Uncle Qing had always been grateful to Wei Zhao and had long wanted to do something for him—especially since Wei Zhao had helped not only him but Granny Sun as well, a kindness Uncle Qing could never repay. Yet Wei Zhao had never had anything to ask of him. Now that the chance had finally come, he had failed to be of use...

"It's fine." Wei Zhao smiled faintly.

After hanging up, Wei Zhao went on fiddling with the round bead in his hand. Since Han Jingyi had not yet woken, and he had nothing else to do, he naturally kept studying this treasure.

"That lion has run with the Thunder Pig and General Weiwu for so long—his eye can't be that bad..." Xiaoshu muttered. "Looks like this really is a fine treasure. We just don't know what it's for!"

The Thunder Pig? Wei Zhao's eyes lit up! The mention of the Thunder Pig had given him an idea—a way to test whether this thing was truly valuable!

"Xiaoshu, go bring the Thunder Pig here!" Wei Zhao said.

"Huh? The Thunder Pig?" Shen Yushu blinked, but she rose and went out through the villa's back door, and before long she returned carrying the Thunder Pig.

"Thunder Pig, have a look—is this thing a treasure?" Wei Zhao set the round bead on the floor, right in front of the Thunder Pig.

The Thunder Pig's ability to identify treasures was no ordinary thing. It was formidable at it—whether something was valuable or worthless, the creature could tell at a glance!

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu suddenly understood Wei Zhao's intent: he meant to use the Thunder Pig to appraise this thing's worth!

"Squeak, squeak!" At the sight of the round bead on the floor, the Thunder Pig gave two excited cries, scooped it up with both forepaws, and clutched it to its chest, unwilling to let go—as though it had found a rare treasure.

"So it really is a good thing!" Wei Zhao nodded. The Thunder Pig's reaction said it all. If it weren't valuable, the creature would never have responded this way—after all, ordinary treasures were beneath this little thing's notice.

"Squeak, squeak!" At Wei Zhao's words, the Thunder Pig nodded.

"Thunder Pig, from the look of you, you must know what this thing actually is?" Wei Zhao pointed at the round bead in the Thunder Pig's arms.

"Squeak, squeak!" The Thunder Pig nodded.

"Then what is it? What's it used for?" Seeing the Thunder Pig nod, Wei Zhao asked quickly.

"Squeak, squeak—" The Thunder Pig gestured a couple of times with its paw, then pointed at the solid wood floor of the villa and shook its head.

"Oh? You mean you can't write on this floor?" Wei Zhao suddenly recalled that, back on the snow-and-ice spirit mountain of the Ice Palace trial, the Thunder Pig had been able to write with its paw to communicate with him.

"Squeak, squeak!" The Thunder Pig nodded hurriedly.

"Let's go to the backyard!" Wei Zhao naturally didn't want the front courtyard—it could be seen from outside. If anyone saw a little pig writing on the ground to converse with a human, they'd be scared to death.

The backyard, however, was private ground. With its high walls, no one could see in unless they climbed over them.

Though Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had heard from Wei Zhao that the Thunder Pig could write, this was their first time seeing it, and they couldn't help but find it curious.

"So what exactly is this thing?" Wei Zhao pointed at the round bead in the Thunder Pig's arms and asked.

"..." With its forepaw, the Thunder Pig wrote in the soft soil of the backyard flower bed: "Spirit beast essence inner core."

"Spirit beast essence inner core?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. "What's that?"

"High-tier spirit beasts form inner cores within their bodies, and the inner cores of earth-tier and above spirit beasts are called essence inner cores," the Thunder Pig wrote.

"You mean this is the inner core of an earth-tier spirit beast?" Wei Zhao asked in astonishment.

"Squeak, squeak!" Clutching the round bead, the Thunder Pig nodded.

"What's this thing used for?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Spirit beasts can use it to cultivate. Humans can use it to refine pills," the Thunder Pig wrote.

"Cultivate? Oh—you can just cultivate through me. You don't need this thing!" Wei Zhao said, and snatched the round bead back from the Thunder Pig's arms.

"...Squeak, squeak..." Looking rather aggrieved, the Thunder Pig wrote: "Even for cultivation, most spirit beasts wouldn't use it..."

"Wouldn't use it? Even better." Wei Zhao felt rather relieved at the Thunder Pig's words. Good thing most spirit beasts wouldn't use it—otherwise, if that lion had used it himself, it would never have gotten around to offering it to Wei Zhao!

"Then whose inner core is this, exactly, and what tier?" Wei Zhao asked.

"My cultivation is too low. I can't determine that," the Thunder Pig wrote.

"Then how is it used in pill refining?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I don't know," the Thunder Pig wrote honestly.

"Zhang Liju doesn't know either?" Wei Zhao was surprised. Even the Thunder Pig didn't know.

"Maybe he knows, but he never told me." The Thunder Pig shook its head.

"I see. All right, then!" Wei Zhao put the round bead away. Though the thing seemed useless for now, it might yet prove greatly useful someday.

Watching the treasure being taken back by Wei Zhao again, the Thunder Pig looked somewhat helpless—but it didn't dare cross Wei Zhao. After all, the claim that the inner core could be used for cultivation was only a legend, and the specific method of cultivation was something even the Thunder Pig didn't know!