Chapter 263: Liuli Sand
Chapter 263: Liuli Sand
After getting a clear look at Lu Chen's unfamiliar appearance, more than a dozen White Jade Spiders became restless and continued to engage in the chaotic battle.
"A bunch of mischievous little spiders," Lu Chen sighed. The insect whistle could only control these spiders for a short time, and without Zhang JingShan's presence to calm them, they were a bit too active.
His spiritual energy stirred, and strands of clear and misty spiritual light fell upon the white jade spiders in the insect chamber.
Derived from the Qingmiao Spirit Tea, the Cleansing Chant could expel impurities, desires, and greed, bringing about a state of tranquility and contentment.
As the spiritual light descended, all the battling white jade spiders suddenly stopped and remained still, their bodies glowing with a soft, holy light, appearing serene and peaceful.
"If only they had calmed down earlier!"
"We're all family, it's better to love each other. Why fight and hurt our harmony?" Lu Chen said with a kind smile, his eyes narrowed.
He took out some exotic insects from his storage bag and fed them to the huge spiders with white jade-like bodies in the insect chamber.
With his mind focused, information about the White Jade Spiders emerged in his mind.
White Jade Spiders, third-grade demon insects. Extremely fast, with blade-like legs and an iron-hard body. They spin silk that is both strong and resilient, making them a primary material for refining protective spiritual artifacts.
After spinning silk, the White Jade Spiders enter a state of frenzy for a period, becoming aggressive and often fighting with their own kind.
"So, it's a post-spinning syndrome," Lu Chen muttered to himself as he continued to tend to the more than a dozen White Jade Spiders.
These White Jade Spiders were naturally gregarious, so Zhang JingShan hadn't prevented them from fighting each other and had instead created a separate insect chamber for each spider.
Most of the time, they remained peaceful, but after spinning silk, they would enter a frenzied state, becoming violent and aggressive.
Once a White Jade Spider entered this frenzied state and attacked its fellow spiders, it would easily provoke a counterattack, leading to a massive battle.
Taking advantage of their feeding time, Lu Chen cast one cleansing chant after another on the white jade bodies until he felt that all the White Jade Spiders had calmed down. Only then did he move on to the other insect chambers.
In the third insect chamber, the spacious floor was devoid of any strange insects, except for a few small mounds of dark red sand.
Lu Chen probed with his spiritual sense and discovered a hidden world within the small mounds.
Countless crisscrossing ravines formed a complex underground maze, with faint charred marks on its surface.
As the insect whistle sounded, faint movements came from the depths of the underground maze.
Soon, countless fist-sized dark red ants emerged from different tunnels, gathering together and stacking on top of each other.
Before long, they formed a bizarre existence with a height of two Zhang, its surface constantly spewing dark red flames.
These dark red ants were called Yin Fire Ants, second-grade demon insects with some flight capability. They could spit a venomous flame that stuck to their enemies like a festering sore, refusing to dissipate.
While a single Yin Fire Ant was easy to deal with, hundreds or thousands of them together presented a formidable challenge.
Zhang JingShan had been rearing this colony of Yin Fire Ants to practice a type of insect armor technique. By controlling the ants, he could transform them into various forms, especially a unique set of armor that was extremely defensive and could continuously replenish the Yin Fire Ants.
The talisman paper he had given Lu Chen recorded a simple sacrificial refinement method for this insect armor technique.
Lu Chen's curiosity was piqued as he watched the growing pile of Yin Fire Ants in the insect chamber.
This form only lasted for a little over two breaths before the entire body began to crumble and collapse with a loud crash.
"It collapsed," Lu Chen remarked.
After all, this was just a crude application of insect-controlling techniques, and since Lu Chen was using it for the first time, he couldn't maintain even a human form for long.
The countless Yin Fire Ants that fell to the ground were unaffected and began crawling around the insect chamber.
Lu Chen tossed a large piece of dark red spirit ore into their midst. Immediately, all the ants swarmed over, cutting the ore into countless small pieces with their slender flaming knives and dragging them into the underground maze.
This spirit ore was the very same one that Zhang JingShan had left for Lu Chen to feed the colony of Yin Fire Ants.
Through his spiritual sense, Lu Chen perceived that the ants had collected all the shattered ore deep within the maze and were now dividing it up according to their strength and rank.
After feeding the Yin Fire Ants, Lu Chen proceeded to the next insect chamber.
Within this chamber were seven or eight strange insects that resembled ladybugs from his past life. Their backs were a pale white, adorned with seven deep white marks that formed a pattern akin to seven connected stars.
These insects were known as Seven Star Liuli Beetles, third-grade magical insects. After absorbing sufficient spiritual energy, they could produce a peculiar substance called Liuli Sand.
This Liuli Sand could be used to refine several rare pills, making it quite valuable.
"Well, to put it bluntly, it's the feces of the Seven Star Liuli Beetles," Lu Chen commented.
He watched as one of the beetles' backs glowed with spiritual light, one of the marks shining brightly. Soon after, its tail slowly pulled out a bead-like object that resembled Liuli Sand.
It was crystal clear and luminous, with wisps of white mist rising from it—a combination of heat and its own spiritual light.
Lu Chen's task was not only to raise these Seven Star Liuli Beetles but also to collect the Liuli Sand they produced and store it in special containers to prevent the loss of its medicinal power.
He entered the insect chamber and used the insect whistle to keep the beetles at bay while he collected the grains of Liuli Sand one by one.
"It does have a subtle fragrant scent," Lu Chen remarked, his nostrils flaring slightly in appreciation.
"I never thought that after joining the Celestial Sword Sect, there would come a day when I'd be picking up such things..."
"No, I mean picking up Liuli Sand..."
Lu Chen searched every corner of the insect chamber, placing all the Liuli Sand into a dark incense wood box.
Once everything was inside, he carefully sealed the box with a talisman.
Despite Liuli Sand being a third-grade rare treasure and with him being the only one in the insect chamber, or even the entire Insect Valley, Lu Chen had no thoughts of greed.
While he might occasionally take small advantages, like drawing blood from the dragon in Thousand Dragon Lake for tests, he conducted himself with integrity and had never stolen anyone else's treasures.
Furthermore, Zhang JingShan was a true disciple of the Celestial Sword Sect, so one could only imagine the treasures and abilities he possessed. The production of the Seven Star Liuli Beetles was relatively stable, so it would be difficult to take a few grains of Liuli Sand without him noticing.
In a sense, all the magical insects in the Insect Valley were his eyes and ears.
Lu Chen saw no reason to incur the immense risk of offending a true disciple for such meager gains.
His time would be better spent planting one or two more spirit herbs; the light orbs they produced would likely be more rewarding than the Liuli Sand.
(End of Chapter)
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