"Hard to say." Coppelia naturally didn't believe the Moonlight Stones would simply vanish on their own.
Those stones in the Archon's Abode in Chenyu Vale remained even after staying with Abyss power for so long; the stones dropped here certainly couldn't dissipate so quickly.
"Let's look for clues around here." She walked around with her head down, checking the sandy soil at the bottom and edges of the crater under the bright sunlight. "They might have been taken by some monsters."
Columbina floated up, wandering the perimeter, attempting to sense any traces of Lunar Momentum that might exist on the ground. Even the slightest bit would be perceptible to her now.
Coppelia found only a network of tiny gullies left by heavy rain washing the soil, with large amounts of silt piled at the edge of the grass. Even if monsters had left tracks like footprints, they had long been washed clean.
She observed the area again using Elemental Sight. Apart from the Dendro on the grass, and faint traces of Geo and Hydro in the soil, there were no suspicious clues.
"No traces of Lunar Momentum were found nearby..." Columbina floated back.
"I didn't find anything either." Coppelia deactivated her Elemental Sight. "We can't tell much from just one pit. Let's go to the next location."
The two proceeded south, cruising between the islands surrounding the great lake. In total, they found over twenty bleached areas. Most of the Moonlight Stones had inexplicably gone missing without leaving any useful clues.
Coppelia attempted to locate potential monster nests, but on land, she hardly saw a single monster.
Fortunately, they eventually found five locations where they successfully recovered some fragments of power.
The final target area was a remote beach located at the southwesternmost side of the High Sea. A few dozen meters further southwest, the lake water of the High Sea plummeted off a cliff, forming a hundred-meter-tall waterfall that merged into the long, narrow waters below. Directly opposite lay the northern desert of Sumeru.
By the time Coppelia and her companion arrived, it was already evening.
Upon landing, Coppelia reminded Columbina, "Don't drain all the stones later. Leave three for me; I have a use for them."
"Okay," Columbina agreed.
She felt the attraction transmitted through the sand. With a gentle wave of her right hand, the sand covering the Moonlight Stones floated up, tracing a silk-like trajectory before falling into the flowing water nearby.
Subsequently, the Moonlight Stones floated up one by one, circling around Columbina. She deliberately picked out three and handed them to Coppelia, then drained all the power from the remaining stones.
Coppelia accepted the three strange stones radiating moonlight and shared her findings. "The five locations where we found Moonlight Stones have one thing in common: they are all far from the great lake, requiring one to cross a mountain. Additionally, almost no monsters can be found on land."
"Does this mean the monsters that took the stones live inside the great lake?" Columbina guessed.
"Correct." Coppelia affirmed her guess. "We just don't know exactly what kind of monster it is yet."
"There must be some meteors that fell into the lake as well." Coppelia gazed at the stretch of river water in the distance. "Since those monsters are interested in the Moonlight Stones, they definitely would have collected the ones that fell into the water too."
"Could they have already eaten those stones?" Columbina couldn't help but worry. She knew the energy of the Moonlight Stones was toxic to most monsters, but monsters that collected them would certainly be exceptions.
"That is why we need to speed up." Coppelia laid out her plan. "Later, I will place these stones on the shore of the great lake to lure out the aquatic monsters that pick up this kind of stone, and then we'll follow the monster back to their nest."
"You're going underwater?" Columbina asked.
Coppelia nodded and said, "Of course. Don't worry, this water won't drown me."
"Let's go tomorrow. The lake water looks so dark. Will you be able to see clearly down there?"
"Fontaine's water visibility is very high..." Speaking of this, Coppelia remembered that this wasn't a game, so she probably couldn't dive like in the game. It was unclear if the underwater visibility was actually high. "Alright, I'll listen to you. We'll go into the water tomorrow."
The sky turned completely dark. At Coppelia's suggestion, the two flew northeast over a mountain peak and set up camp on a small hill at the edge of the great lake.
After settling Columbina's dinner, Coppelia took the three Moonlight Stones to the shore of the great lake and planted them in the sandy ground as bait. She then returned to the top of the hill where their camp was located, which served as an excellent vantage point for observing the bait.
"Didn't you say we'd do it tomorrow?" Columbina asked.
"I'm worried this type of monster only leaves the water at night," Coppelia explained.
"I'll just wait on the side to get a look at what kind of monster it is. I'll stay on the shore with you."
Having said that, she drilled into the nearby bushes, lying prone on the ground to monitor the bait through the gaps in the leaves with an unblinking gaze.
"Then I'll wait with you." Columbina also crawled into the bushes and lay beside her.
"Go to sleep. I can handle this alone," she urged. Seeing the girl beside her unmoved, she didn't persuade her further and silently watched the beach.
Eventually, Columbina couldn't stand the long wait and didn't want to disturb Coppelia. She silently left the bushes and went into the tent to sleep.
Coppelia crouched in wait until the latter half of the night. Her pupils, which usually emitted a green glow, had turned red due to low energy.
Throughout the process, she only saw groups of large crabs coming ashore occasionally.
Those monsters were initially curious when they saw the Moonlight Stones and gathered around, but upon getting closer, they were frightened by the Primordial Elemental Power inside and quickly stayed away.
Groups of crabs came and went, but the monster that would pick up the Moonlight Stones never appeared.
Coppelia was somewhat disappointed. Having stayed up all night, she was mentally exhausted and felt a dull ache in her brain.
She grew bored from staring, so she plucked the leaves from the bush hiding her one by one, using her fingernails to mince the leaves bit by bit to relieve her boredom.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of water reached Coppelia's ears. She threw away the half-minced leaf in her hand and looked alertly toward the bait.
A Hydro Vishap climbed onto the shore. Its body structure was obviously ill-suited for walking on land; its short limbs drove its body to wiggle toward the bait, its sharp dorsal fin and broad tail swaying rhythmically.
Coppelia activated Elemental Sight to observe the elemental power on this Vishap, finding it slightly different from common Hydro. She made note of some detailed characteristics to aid in the subsequent search.
The Hydro Vishap opened its mouth to clamp onto a Moonlight Stone, then turned and wiggled back into the water. Once in the water, it twisted its body like a fish and swam rapidly, much faster than on land. In just three or four seconds, it swam a dozen meters away. It dipped its body and dove underwater.
A Vishap? What do they want with this kind of stone?
Coppelia rose from the bushes, staring in the direction the Vishap had left. After thinking for a while, she understood the reason.
Vishaps were creatures of Light Realm Power. Lunar Momentum also counted as a type of Light Realm Power. While toxic to ordinary monsters, it should be usable for Vishaps.
At least I have a search target now... Coppelia breathed a sigh of relief. She left the bushes, quietly returned to the tent, lay down on the mat, and soon closed her eyes.
____
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