Chapter 222: The Two-Headed Armadillo
Chapter 222: The Two-Headed Armadillo
"Well, it's been good knowing you, but now we must part ways. Until we meet again," Lu Chen said with a fist salute to the Wood Spirit.
No sooner had he entered the Langyue Blessings than he replenished his depleted Greenwood Source Energy, lifting his spirits considerably.
The Greenwood Source Energy was incredibly useful to him as a Spirit Herbalist.
It enhanced his physical body's self-healing abilities and his affinity with spirits. But most importantly, it accelerated the growth of spiritual plants.
He had previously used it to force-ripen the Water Glow Grass, greatly shortening its growth time and quickly identifying the type of light sphere reward it would yield.
While it felt great to use, replenishing it was extremely troublesome as it required the absorption and transformation of a vast amount of plant spirit energy. Lu Chen had not found a suitable opportunity to do so until now.
As Lu Chen was about to leave, the Wood Spirit, whose facial features were blurred, mumbled something to him. Having gone through the experience of feeding it, Lu Chen instantly understood what it wanted.
The Wood Spirit's blurred features suddenly disappeared, and soon, a deep black branch drilled out from dozens of zhang below the ground, holding several deep greenwood heads. It quickly flew towards them.
"Is this a gift for me?" Lu Chen asked curiously.
The Wood Spirit's features merged with the branch, nodding in response.
Lu Chen's spiritual power took the five deep greenwood heads, and the surface of the wood glowed with spiritual light, with rings at the bottom indicating their age.
"Thank you," he said, scanning the wood with his spiritual power before placing them in a spare storage bag.
Then, bidding farewell to the Wood Spirit, his figure turned into a wisp of green smoke, slipping through the towering trees.
The Wood Spirit followed closely behind, its blurred features appearing on different branches, its dark green eyes filled with reluctance.
It had stayed in this ancient forest for a long time, but this was the first time it had encountered a cultivator who fed it such delicious spirit energy.
The Wood Spirit's behavior made Lu Chen feel a slight sense of guilt, but it vanished as soon as it appeared.
"It's just a matter of mutual benefit," he thought to himself, waving to the Wood Spirit following him.
"I'll come visit you next time."
"And replenish my plant spirit energy while I'm at it," he added inwardly.
Before leaving, he asked the Wood Spirit for directions and, with its guidance, ran in one direction.
"Finally, I've left that forest," Lu Chen said, standing outside the ancient forest and looking at the dense and lush trees before him.
Along the way, he encountered a few more vague thoughts probing at him, likely from Wood Spirits in other areas of the forest.
Having replenished his Greenwood Source Energy and with no interest in challenging the Wood Spirits in their domain, Lu Chen left without hesitation.
He chose a random direction and sped through the trees for several dozen li before finally encountering two fellow sect members, one of whom he had met before.
"Senior Brother Qian, please wait!" he called out to a short youth from a distance.
The youth, named Qian Dinghong, was also at the early Qi Refining stage, having broken through two to three decades earlier than Lu Chen. Their respective peaks were only a few dozen li apart, so they were considered acquaintances.
"It's Junior Brother Lu," Qian Dinghong said with a smile as he and the other cultivator waited for Lu Chen to approach.
"This is Deng Yi, Senior Brother Deng. He's about to break through to the middle stages of Qi Refining," Qian Dinghong introduced his companion.
"And this is Lu Chen, Junior Brother Lu. He's extremely skilled in the ways of spirit plants," he continued, introducing Lu Chen to Deng Yi.
"I never expected to see you, Junior Brother Lu, when we gathered at the sword array," Qian Dinghong remarked after some small talk.
"I was fortunate to obtain a sword token by chance, so I came to join in the fun and see if I could find any rare spirit herbs," Lu Chen replied.
"Yes, I was unlucky enough to fall into that forest, but fortunately, I only landed on the outskirts and didn't venture too deep," Lu Chen replied.
"I encountered a Wood Spirit on my way out, but I didn't want to linger and dealt with it briefly before leaving," he added nonchalantly.
"You made the right choice, Junior Brother Lu. Those Wood Spirits are incredibly tricky. They often hide and flee into the ancient trees, and their natural advantage in the forest makes them difficult to deal with," Qian Dinghong said.
"Only on rare occasions will fellow sect members venture deep into the forest to capture one for cultivation purposes. It usually takes a few Qi Refining cultivators at the early stage or a single cultivator at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment or higher," he continued.
"In addition, ancient wood hearts can occasionally be found in the old trees, which are quite good materials for refining artifacts," Deng Yi explained to Lu Chen in detail.
The two senior brothers glanced at each other and seemed to come to an unspoken agreement.
"Junior Brother Lu, do you have any urgent matters to attend to at the moment?" Qian Dinghong suddenly asked.
"I go with the flow. I'll just wander around and try to find one or two spiritual herbs," Lu Chen replied casually.
"Then how about you join us in hunting a type of beast?" Deng Yi proposed. "It's a three-star beast called a Two-Headed Armadillo. It has a tough hide that can be used to forge defensive artifacts."
"This Two-Headed Armadillo is extremely adept at earth escape techniques. If you're not careful, it will burrow into rocks and mountains. Moreover, its scales are as hard as iron, making it difficult to breach with conventional means," Qian Dinghong elaborated.
"The reason we came here is that we spent a considerable sum to obtain information from a senior brother at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment about the Two-Headed Armadillo's location. We want to try and hunt a few to forge some high-quality armor," Deng Yi explained.
"We even borrowed a special artifact and talisman to restrain the beast's earth escape abilities, but the artifact requires constant control by one person, which weakens our offense. That's why we wanted to invite you, Junior Brother Lu, knowing that you are a skilled and reliable fellow sect member. We thought we could join forces and then split the spoils equally afterward," Qian Dinghong said, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
"This Two-Headed Armadillo is skilled in earth escape techniques. How do you plan to capture and hunt them?" Lu Chen asked, intrigued.
"The Two-Headed Armadillo feeds on pure iron ore and usually dwells in areas with rare spirit soil, nourished by earth spirit energy. This time, we've prepared a fourth-grade spirit mine and will set up a trap around it, hoping to lure out the armadillos," Deng Yi explained.
"You mean they usually live in areas with rare spirit soil?" Lu Chen asked, his eyes narrowing as he picked up on the crucial information.
"In other words, the place where these Two-Headed Armadillos reside is filled with large amounts of rare and precious spirit soil?" he thought to himself, his interest piqued.
As he cultivated increasingly higher-grade spiritual plants, their growth requirements became more complex. For example, the fifth-grade Saint Infant Fruit he had obtained previously needed to be grown in yin-attributed spirit soil to ensure optimal growth.
Hearing about the Two-Headed Armadillo's habit, Lu Chen's interest heightened.
"Alright, since you two have invited me so warmly, I shall join you in luring and hunting these Two-Headed Armadillos," Lu Chen agreed after learning the specific information about the beasts.
The three of them hurried on their way and soon arrived at a desolate area filled with towering rocks and boulders.
"This is the place," Deng Yi whispered, taking out a pale purple ore the size of a fist from his storage bag.
(End of Chapter)
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