Even Wyden had to admit that Rezar's words had some merit in them. If the most obvious places do not contain the water stones, then perhaps they indeed have to search in the area they don't normally think to search.
Wyden basically already scanned the area surrounding the lizardmen's tribe, except for one place that actually should have been more obvious at the start.
"The river. That's the only area around the lizardmen's tribe that I haven't tried searching for water stones yet!" Wyden said, after some thinking, and he couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable.
Butterfly Nymphs have wings. While they can't fly high or long distances using their wings, they can still use their wings to fly at least a meter above ground for a bit of time.
Creatures with wings, aside from some exceptions, typically don't want to dive underwater, as they wouldn't be able to use their wings if they get too wet.
However, since the river is the only area that Wyden hadn't searched yet, he can only steel himself, intending to dive down and search.
Even Rezar had a not-so-good look on his face after hearing about the river, and it was not just because he didn't want to make his wings wet.
His wooden sticks are smeared with substances that would dissolve in water. He definitely cannot take his weapons with him, and that makes him unwilling to enter the river since it makes him feel insecure.
Unfortunately, for the sake of their tribe's growth, their sentiments had to be ignored.
With ashen faces, the two nymphs returned to the lizardmen's camp, and at the side of it was a river.
The river might not be that deep, but it at least has a depth taller than the nymphs.
Rezar reluctantly left his wooden sticks at the riverside, only taking his pole weapon with him before he and Wyden jumped into the river.
As soon as their bodies were submerged in water, they immediately sensed their wings getting heavy. They cannot even move their wings at all.
Fortunately, as Transcendents, they have great control over their bodies. It doesn't matter if a Transcendent hasn't tried swimming before; they would immediately learn it as soon as they jump in the water.
The two nymphs held their breath while scanning the area. They see fish and other river creatures swimming around. This time, they were not disappointed.
It didn't take long before they saw a fish that had a water stone on its forehead.
"Did the water stones come from these fish?" Wyden thought while the two of them swam towards the fish.
Perhaps, sensing the danger, the fish with a water stone in its forehead actually used the water stone.
Its body lightly glowed before it swam away. Its speed was astonishing. From the looks of it, only high-level Transcendents can catch up to that fish, and it was not even that easy.
"Is this the reason why the lizardmen only have one water stone? Just obtaining one requires the involvement of a high-level transcendent!"
"In the lizardmen tribe, only the chief was a high-level transcendent, and he was the only one that has a chance of obtaining a water stone."
"Besides, he might not want anyone to threaten his rule, and he didn't catch a fish to take another water stone to give to his people."
Just by seeing the fish's speed, Wyden now had an idea why the lizardmen only had one water stone when they could have obtained more.
While the fish with water stones aren't as common as the other type of fish in the river, they are also not too rare.
At the very least, Wyden can see three of them around, and there might even be more in other areas. The problem was that they are hard to catch.
Even if he can explode with the power of a high-level Transcendent, he also cannot guarantee that he can catch one in time.
It seems like obtaining water stones will not be easy, but Wyden is not that disheartened. As long as they could catch a few fish and help one mid-level Transcendent in the tribe to reach the high-level, things would be easier.
A high-level Transcendent nymph equipped with a Morningstar Mushroom can temporarily have the power of a peak-level Transcendent.
At the very least, peak-level Transcendents shouldn't face that much hardship when trying to catch these fish.
Since the two were underwater, they could not talk, and Wyden opted to give Rezar a signal.
Wyden conveyed his intention to the Morningstar Mushroom residing in his heart. Soon, the power contained in the mushroom's [Energy Sac] was released.
The temperature of Wyden's blood rose until it boiled. His realm went from mid-level Transcendent to high-level Transcendent.
Rezar also did the same thing, but his aura only rose from early to mid-level Transcendent, but, it doesn't matter. After he used his innate magic [Accelerate], his speed exploded, and his speed was not inferior to Wyden's.
With a tacit agreement despite the fact that the two didn't speak with each other, Wyden swam towards another fish with a water stone.
Sensing Wyden's intention, the fish immediately swam away with the former chasing it.
The two at most have the same speed, and Wyden cannot catch up. Fortunately, he doesn't really plan on catching the fish by himself.
He currently has a helper!
After minutes of chasing, the fish finally fell into a trap. Wyden deliberately tried to chase it towards a rock with only one opening.
As expected, the fish entered the rock, but when it exited the rock, Rezar was already waiting.
Without hesitation, Rezar swung his wooden pole at the fish, causing it to pass out. After that, he hurriedly grabbed the fish's body and deactivated the blood boil state before he and Wyden swam back to the surface.
"Huff!"
"Huhh!"
The two nymphs gasped for air. As Transcendents, while they could hold their breath for a few minutes, at the end of the day, they are still not from an aquatic race. They cannot stay in the water for long since they still need to breathe.
After some time, the two finally recovered their breath, and they stared at the fish with joy. A water stone! They finally obtained another water stone!
"With our speed and the energy reserves of our Morningstar Mushroom, we could at most catch two fish" Wyden judged.
The energy reserves of the Morningstar Mushrooms are finite. With the time they can catch one fish, the energy reserves can at most last them enough to catch two fish.
If the fish were smart enough or didn't enter the rock, they might only be able to catch one.
As for using their own blood and vitality to enter the state of blood boiling… they didn't even bother entertaining that notion.
While they can recover from the side effects, it would take days or even weeks, depending on how long they remain in the blood boil state.
While suffering from the side effects, even enemies a realm lower than them could easily defeat them.
It was not worth the risk at all.
It's just too bad that in a short time, they wouldn't be able to gather a lot of water stones.
Aside from Wyden and Rezar, the only ones that could catch these fish were the other two mid-level Transcendents in the tribe.
Considering that the Morningstar Mushrooms take around a week to fully fill their [Energy Sac], it means that they can only obtain at most four water stones every week.
Still, this was a start. As long as the tribe nourished a high-level or even a peak-level Transcendent, things would be a whole lot easier.
Wyden first removed the water stone from the fish's forehead and stored it in his pocket. As for the fish itself, they could catch a wild animal later to check if it was edible.
If it was not edible, then it was a pity. If it were edible, then even better. The tribe will definitely hunt more of these fish in the future. If the meat is edible, they wouldn't need to waste the whole fish.
While they prefer to eat plants, they still do eat meat from time to time. Not to mention, nymphs prefer the meat of fish compared to wild beasts.
After storing the fish's body at the riverside, the two dived down into the river again, intending to catch another fish that had a water stone on their forehead.
Fortunately, their second operation was fruitful. Just before their blood boil state ended, they managed to catch another fish, and they triumphantly returned to the riverside.
"Great! We just need to find a few common herbs in the forest, and we would have something to aid our cultivation and increase our mana!" Wyden said happily.
The cultivation method for Transcendents was easy and straightforward. They just need to accumulate enough mana to reach the next realm.
The Transcendent Realm is basically just the realm of increasing mana reserves and being familiar with one's innate magic or even other skills.