Gemstones, because of their stable crystalline phase, vivid colors, and crystal clear texture, were an expensive luxury before the war. But after the war, they were given a whole new meaning in the wasteland.

Most of the substances constructed with psionic energy are similar in physical and chemical properties to the original substance, and at most the hardness, tensile strength and even corrosiveness are much stronger than the original substance.

But gems are different, and the matter created by the spatial lattice of gems constructed by psionic particles does not bear the slightest resemblance to gemstones. They may be extremely explosive, they may be able to absorb large amounts of heat instantly, or they may be able to heal lives.

These characteristics caused the price of various gemstones to skyrocket, and soon became unmarketable. Even the industrialists of the new Linfen only wear cheap artificial gemstones.

In the darkness of the night, the two walked out of the room and walked down the quiet street. The Great Elder walked in front and told Li Mei the story of the past.

"My father, your great-grandfather, was one of the founders of the Brotherhood of Freedom."

She groaned, turning the old memories out of her mind.

"When I was a little girl like you, he used to touch his head and tell me about his past sufferings. When he was still in Zhongzhou, he was just an ordinary peasant, because he borrowed usury and was unable to repay, he was sold to a smuggler by the creditor and sent to the Deccan Gaoyuan to work as a miner. ”

As she said this, a hint of hatred flashed in her eyes.

"The Nanyang Trading Company and the smugglers have never treated them as human beings. The cramped cabin was stuffed with people, hot and humid, and the only food to eat was the leftovers of the crew. Most of the miners died of illness at sea, and your great-grandfather was so skinny when he disembarked that he couldn't even stand on his feet. ”

"But in the eyes of those jackals, the lives of the miners are worthless, and they can still pull them from Zhongzhou one by one. Only those glittering micas can make them live the luxurious life of a wine pond meat forest. ”

If this continues, he will end up with just an ordinary corpse lying dead in the mine. But while he was digging the rock wall, he found an artifact stone, which changed his fate and helped him change the fate of all the miners. ”

As they spoke, the two of them walked to the bank of the dark river and waded up the river. The water in the dark river was a little cold, reaching the calves.

"What kind of stone is that?"

Li Mei asked with some curiosity.

"It's not just words, you'll know when you see it."

The Great Elder bent down and hunched into the cavern of the upper reaches of the Dark River.

This dark river is a tributary of the Godavari River, which over time has carved out a complex network of channels in the hard underground rock formations. Even the people of the Brotherhood of Liberty are unaware of all the forks in the river.

The two of them didn't know how long they had been walking in the river, and after countless forks and turns, Li Mei had no idea where she was at all. Only the aquatic plants in the dark river still emit light, illuminating the way ahead.

"This should be it."

The Great Elder finally stopped at a bend in the river, and as she spoke, she reached out to grab the rock wall, and after the river washed away, the extraordinarily hard and smooth rock wall was as soft as tofu in her hands, and a large piece of it fell under her claws when she grabbed it. It wasn't long before a dark iron box appeared inside the rock wall.

"I didn't think I'd dig it out one day"

She was a little distracted.

"Meimei, don't you want to know what kind of stone it is, open it and take a look."

Li Mei nodded, the iron box was not locked, she pulled out the latch and opened the iron box.

A brilliant light shot out from the iron box, and even though the Great Elder didn't know how many times he had seen it, he still held his breath because of its beauty.

It was a polished, round gem, like the rising sun from the sea, and the surface reflected the flowing fire. Like the purest lake, deep and clear. It has a mysterious magic that attracts everyone to look at it distractedly, losing the ability to think.

"When my father first dug it, it was a lap bigger than it is now, and when he and I were promoted to the fourth level, they consumed it a lot. It's probably enough for five people to advance to the fourth level, so you can leave it to your future children. If that Li Mu wants to use it, give it to him too, but don't agree to him too easily. ”

"Child."

Li Mu's resolute face suddenly appeared in Li Mei's mind, and her heart panicked inexplicably, and her face was very hot.

"And what's the name of this stone?"

"You can call it the Heart of a Thousand Lakes, my father was a farmer, he didn't know a word, he couldn't come up with a nice name."

After the Great Elder finished speaking, his face became a little serious, and he pressed his hands on the girl's shoulders.

"You are here to perceive the core of the heart of a thousand lakes with your spiritual power, don't go out, I will send food every day."

Even in the stronghold, she still couldn't guarantee that no other Elder's subordinates would infiltrate. They have coveted the power of the Heart of a Thousand Lakes for a long time.

Li Mei nodded, but was a little overwhelmed.

"I don't know what to do."

"Don't panic, mental power exists in everyone's instinct, and using it is as simple as breathing. If you can persist in using bullets for so long, your mental power has already reached the requirements of the second energy level, and the rest is just a matter of course. ”

As she spoke, she brushed her bangs that were a little messy for Li Mei.

"Remember the twelve words, there is no reason outside the heart, there is nothing outside the heart, and there is nothing outside the heart."

In Sword of Dawn, NPCs cannot rely on the system to check their stats and levels. They don't even have a concept of hierarchy, and only rely on rough energy levels to measure strength.

They measure whether they have the strength to impact a previous energy level, and they can usually only rely on estimates and intuition with very large errors, so the success rate of impact is not very high. The fifth energy level is upgraded to the fourth energy level, and there is about an eighty percent success rate; The success rate of the fourth energy level to the third energy level is only one percent.

And since most NPCs are forcibly promoted when they are less than level 20, they have a few levels less attribute points than the player. So except for a few Celestial Prides, most of the NPCs are a little weaker than players of the same level.

Their only advantage is that they don't need a lot of experience to level up like players, and their strength will naturally improve with training, experience, and combat.

After previous battles and offline, Li Mei's level has long surpassed Li Mu, and the level of the Gun and Sword Ranger has been raised to level 20, because of the sharpening of bullet time, her will and intelligence attributes have both exceeded the limit of the Gun and Sword Ranger.