Chapter 101: Earth Spirit Crystal

Chapter 101: Earth Spirit Crystal

After spending a lot of time with Chu Ning, Ling Xiaobai could now understand and communicate quite a lot using divine sense, much more than when they first met.

From Ling Xiaobai's intermittent messages, Chu Ning finally got a rough idea of what happened.

Ling Xiaobai said that when it came out of the mountains a few days ago, it was chased by these two demons.

So, when it saw Chu Ning's breakthrough in strength, it invited him to take revenge on its behalf.

The little guy said that there was an even more powerful creature, and that they should wait until their strength had increased before going to find it.

Chu Ning, who had just been squatting by the Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape's corpse, had his eyes flicker a few times as he heard these words. He turned to Ling Xiaobai and asked, "Did you come from the Qingxia Mountains? Which part?"

Ling Xiaobai barked a couple of times, vaguely confirming Chu Ning's guess, but it couldn't say exactly where.

At this moment, Chu Ning finally confirmed that the previous beast disaster was indeed related to this little guy.

The powerful creature mentioned by Ling Xiaobai was most likely the one Lin Changqing had talked about, a demon beast with the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage.

This further confirmed Chu Ning's judgment that Ling Xiaobai was indeed extraordinary.

Chu Ning didn't ask any more questions at this point, figuring that he would be able to figure it out later.

He now turned his attention back to the Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape's corpse in front of him.

This kind of high-level first-tier demon beast hadn't yet formed a demon core, so the most valuable parts were some of its body parts.

And the most precious part of the Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape was undoubtedly its single horn.

Next would be its hide, which offered decent defense.

But when his gaze fell on the horn, he frowned slightly.

The Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape had tough skin and thick flesh, which made it difficult to extract the valuable parts.

This could be seen from the fact that his spells had landed on the demon beast without causing any significant external injuries.

With this in mind, Chu Ning began to try cutting it with spells.

However, whether he used the Blade Spell or the Azurewood Sword Art, he was unable to cut the horn from the ape's head.

Frowning, he looked towards his storage bag.

There were a few magical artifacts inside, such as the thorny whip of the effeminate young man and the short spear of the man with the yellow face, but they didn't look very sharp.

As expected, Chu Ning took them out and tried them, but to no avail.

Finally, his attention turned to the small, pitch-black dagger that belonged to the old man, Sun. He took it out of his storage bag.

These items had been put into the storage bag since the last time they were used, and Chu Ning hadn't taken them out since.

At this moment, when he took out the black dagger, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

The dagger, which had originally lost its spirituality, now seemed to have returned to normal.

Just by holding it, Chu Ning could feel that it was of a high grade and that he could sense the flow of magic power within it.

"Could it be that after being stored for a period of time, this black dagger can be used again?"

With this thought in mind, Chu Ning tried to gather magic power in his hand and channel it into the black dagger.

Unlike the last time, when the dagger had resisted his attempts to infuse it with magic power, his magic power now easily entered the small dagger.

Immediately, the black dagger trembled and let out a humming sound, as if it was about to fly out at any moment.

Chu Ning quickly withdrew his magic power, and the black dagger immediately returned to normal.

"So it really is like that," Chu Ning thought happily.

He had just been able to clearly feel that as long as he continued to infuse it with magic power, he would be able to fully activate the dagger's potential.

Moreover, the black dagger gave him a sense of great lethality and the need for a considerable amount of magic power.

"It seems that this is indeed a rare treasure, but there are significant limitations to its use. I'm not sure if it's because it was damaged or for some other reason.

No wonder the old man, Sun, never used it before."

Chu Ning held the black dagger and tried to cut the base of the Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape's horn.

To his surprise, he easily cut off the horn.

"This dagger is so sharp!"

Chu Ning held the horn of the Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape in one hand and the black dagger in the other, feeling delighted.

He directly made a cut on the body of the Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape, and a bloodstain appeared. Soon, a patch of fur was peeled off.

Without using any magic power, the black dagger was able to easily cut through the ape's fur.

This made Chu Ning marvel at its sharpness.

If he were to infuse it with magic power and make it attack a target, it would indeed be extremely lethal.

Chu Ning put the horn of the Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape into his storage bag. Then, he peeled off the intact hide and stored it away as well.

The freshly peeled hide looked a bit creepy, but it wasn't a big problem.

Chu Ning simply cast a cleaning spell, and the hide became clean and fresh.

After storing the hide, Chu Ning walked over to the female Blood-spotted Unicorn Ape's corpse.

He repeated the process, cutting off the horn and peeling off the hide to store away.

At this time, Chu Ning glanced at the cave where the two demon beasts had lived.

After thinking for a moment and using his divine sense to scan the area, he found no other creatures inside.

Only then did he call out to Ling Xiaobai and enter the cave.

Since he had killed both of the Blood-spotted Unicorn Apes and no other creatures had appeared, he figured there wouldn't be any danger in entering their lair.

However, he had never actually seen the lair of a demon beast before.

As he entered the cave, a putrid odor, typical of demon beasts, assaulted his nostrils.

Chu Ning frowned slightly and glared at Ling Xiaobai, saying, "You can't be this smelly in the future. Otherwise, you can't stay with me."

Ling Xiaobai whined pitifully, indicating that it wouldn't be like those beasts.

Chu Ning looked around and indeed found no other demon beasts inside.

Among these remains were some demon beast materials that could be sold directly.

For example, there were iron-clad ox horns, wild spirit boar tusks, and more, although these materials weren't particularly valuable.

But Chu Ning didn't mind, and simply decided to collect whatever he could sell.

After all, his storage bag was big enough, and there was no harm in picking up some extra spirit stones.

At this moment, Chu Ning also discovered that the cave had a surprisingly dense concentration of spiritual energy.

After thinking for a moment, he continued to collect the remains while releasing his divine sense to carefully scan the area.

He wanted to see if there was anything else of value.

Soon, his gaze landed on an area that was clearly where the two demon beasts usually rested.

He used the Clearing Technique to remove the debris on the surface.

Immediately, a yellow crystal the size of a fist was revealed.

Chu Ning walked over to take a closer look and instantly felt the dense spiritual energy emanating from it.

He observed it for a while, then suddenly thought of something and happily crouched down.

"Is this an Earth Spirit Crystal?"

The so-called Spirit Crystals were similar to Spirit Stones, both formed by the long-term condensation of spiritual energy.

However, the Spirit Stones commonly used by cultivators were without attributes.

On the other hand, Spirit Crystals usually referred to those Spirit Stones that contained pure attribute spiritual energy.

For example, the Earth Spirit Crystal was imbued with pure earth-attribute spiritual energy.

This type of Spirit Crystal was much more effective than Spirit Stones for cultivators practicing earth-attribute techniques, and it was also needed for crafting special earth-attribute artifacts, making it highly sought-after in the market.

Chu Ning didn't know the exact value of this Earth Spirit Crystal, but he guessed that it wouldn't be cheap.

Once again, Chu Ning took out the pitch-black dagger and carefully dug out the Spirit Crystal from the ground.

As he fully excavated it, the smile on his face grew wider.

Previously, he had only seen the portion of the Spirit Crystal that was exposed, which was about the size of a fist.

But as he dug further, he discovered that the Spirit Crystal was actually elongated.

The fist-sized portion of the Earth Spirit Crystal was nearly eight inches long.

"No wonder these two earth-attribute demon beasts chose to make their lair here. It turns out that there's such a large Earth Spirit Crystal here.

Looks like the earth spiritual energy here is relatively denser."

Chu Ning smiled as he put the Earth Spirit Crystal into his storage bag.

After taking one last careful look around the cave to make sure he hadn't missed anything, Chu Ning finally exited the beast's cave.

He called out to Ling Xiaobai and, riding the Chase Wind Shuttle, they flew back the way they came.

"Little White, when I become stronger, you should take me to the place you came from," Chu Ning said to Ling Xiaobai as they soared through the air.

"Whine!"

Ling Xiaobai responded with a whine, as if it, too, was looking forward to it.

The Chase Wind Shuttle flew all the way out of the mountain, but Chu Ning didn't return directly to Fang City. Instead, he landed at the Spirit Fields.

Upon entering the Spirit Fields, Chu Ning cast the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art on the Golden Primeval Fruits.

After gauging the growth of the Golden Primeval Fruits, Chu Ning smiled.

"In about half a month, the Golden Primeval Fruits will be ripe.

By then, the number of fruits will be so abundant that they might even believe me if I say I planted twenty acres' worth."

Although he had only planted ten acres of Golden Primeval Fruits, his harvest might not be any less than someone who had planted twenty acres, thanks to the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art that he, a Yin Wood Spirit Body, could perform. He didn't even need Ling Xiaobai's help to ripen the fruits.

As for the ten acres of Spirit Fields next to it, since he no longer needed to plant Purple Crystal Bamboo, they were left empty for now.

Chu Ning let the Golden Primeval Fruits grow slowly under the influence of the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art, and then he rode the winds back to Fang City.

Upon arriving at Fang City, just as Chu Ning was about to enter, Gu Xiaoqin from the opposite house seemed to have heard the movement and came to the door, calling out to him.

"Chu Ning's back. Elder Lin came by earlier to collect the spirit plants.

You weren't here, so he asked me to let you know that he'll be coming again tomorrow morning. He's been busy selecting disciples from the various Immortal Families lately."

"Immortal Families selecting disciples?"

Chu Ning was immediately intrigued and asked Gu Xiaoqin, "Senior Sister Gu, what's the selection process like for disciples from Immortal Families to enter the sect?"

Chu Ning was indeed curious about this.

He had been selected through the mortal cities, so he didn't know much about how disciples from Immortal Families affiliated with Qingxi Sect were chosen.

Gu Xiaoqin smiled and explained, "The selection process for Immortal Families is similar to the sect's selection of mortals. It's just that the various sects send out stewards or elders to the Immortal Families to test their spiritual roots and talent.

Then, based on their talent, they're assigned to different places."

"Of course, there are also some differences..."

As Gu Xiaoqin explained, Chu Ning gained a general understanding.

It turned out that the various Immortal Families affiliated with the sect had stewards from the External Affairs Hall assigned to them to maintain contact.

So, normally, there wouldn't be large-scale selections.

These stewards would visit the Immortal Families from time to time to assess their descendants' aptitudes and roots. If they found any with excellent roots, they would bring them back to the sect.

As for those with Four Spiritual Roots or Five Spiritual Roots, they generally wouldn't be brought to the sect.

After all, they could cultivate within the family and take on tasks like spirit plant cultivation.

"If that's the case, why is Elder Lin making a special trip for selections this time?"

Chu Ning asked, puzzled.

Gu Xiaoqin also seemed unsure as she replied, "I'm not too clear on that either, but I did hear Senior Brother Du mention something about it the other day.

This selection seems to be different from the usual ones. The disciples being selected from the various Immortal Families this time are all at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement or the fifth layer with the potential to reach the sixth layer.

Lin Changqing's usually cold face softened slightly as he saw the two piles of spirit stones. Instead of taking all of them, he took out 40 spirit stones from the 500 and returned them to Chu Ning.

"Recently, fewer people have come from the various immortal families, and there aren't many people in Fang City. Given your low cultivation base, we'll give you a slight discount on the spirit stones."

Chu Ning accepted the 40 spirit stones back and expressed his thanks. Then, remembering what Gu Xiaoqin had mentioned the day before, he asked out of curiosity:

"Elder Lin, I heard that the sect is currently selecting a large number of disciples from immortal families. May I ask why?"

Lin Changqing glanced at Chu Ning and pondered for a moment before answering:

"It's still because of the previous sect mission. This time, the sect sent out too many people, and after a few months, it was discovered that many places were unable to function properly. Therefore, the sect decided to select some cultivators from the immortal families to join."

After a brief pause, Lin Changqing continued, "It's not just the immortal families, though. The sect also plans to adjust the selection of mortals to once every two years.

Well, these matters don't concern you much. Since you're the only one in charge of this area and you've been submitting the monthly dues on time, the sect won't assign anyone else here."

Chu Ning nodded in understanding and then casually asked, "Elder Lin, when I was in District Ding, I received guidance from a senior brother named Zhuang Yunde. Before he left to participate in the sect mission, he said he would come to see me when he returned. I wonder if he's back yet."

"Zhuang Yunde? I know him. He went on the sect mission..." Lin Changqing shook his head as he spoke. "Most likely, he hasn't returned. Usually, those who go on such missions take at least a year or two to come back, and some even take up to a decade. Moreover, if he does return, he'll be an inner sect disciple, and it might not be that convenient for him to visit you."

Chu Ning was about to ask another question, but Lin Changqing waved his hand to stop him.

"I know you want to ask about the sect mission, but you're asking the wrong person. Even we executors don't know much about it. Only the elders and the sect master are likely to have that information. Asking me won't get you any answers."

With that, Lin Changqing took his leave.

Chu Ning shook his head. He was surprised that even Lin Changqing, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, didn't know about the sect mission. He wondered why the sect was keeping it so tightly under wraps. Perhaps it was best not to pry further.

In the following days, Chu Ning focused on his cultivation. He continued to temper his body with the Nine Refining Body Technique and consolidate his cultivation at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Of course, he didn't neglect his mental cultivation with the Refining God Technique.

At the same time, he intensified his nurturing of the Golden Primeval Fruits in the spirit fields. After all, they were nearing harvest.

Chu Ning also contemplated visiting Fengxia Fang, as he had done several times before. The main reason was that there were almost no buyers for high-grade pills in Yanji Fang, so Gu Xiaoqin only had Gathering Origin Pills, which were suitable for the Qi Refining stage.

Now that Chu Ning had reached the late Qi Refining stage, the pills were still effective but not as dramatically as they had been during the middle stages. It would be ideal if he could find a low-grade, high-level pill suitable for the late Qi Refining stage, as it would greatly accelerate his cultivation.

Additionally, after experiencing the benefits of body tempering, Chu Ning wanted to see if there were any body-tempering items for sale.

His Iron Stem Orchids had already borne fruit, but they were still a month or two away from maturity. Previously, he had been unable to make the trip due to his daily body tempering sessions at the underground spirit spring.

Now, with the Golden Primeval Fruits also nearing maturity, Chu Ning decided to wait until after the harvest before making the journey.

During this period, something unexpected happened that slightly surprised Chu Ning. Ling Xiaobai quietly advanced to become a high-level first-tier demon beast.

What astonished Chu Ning even more was that Ling Xiaobai had been sleeping in the courtyard while he cultivated the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art. When he finished, he found that Ling Xiaobai had advanced from a mid-tier to a high-tier first-tier demon beast.

Chu Ning could only marvel at Ling Xiaobai's effortless progress, feeling that the little guy's cheats were even bigger than his own.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end