https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-60-The-Alienated-Spirit-Gnawing-Insect/12543730/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-62-Reserving-the-Green-Water-Viper-s-Blood/12543732/
Chapter 61: The Serpent Catcher
Chapter 61: The Serpent Catcher
"A mature Red Cloud Pine of the first grade bore three pine cones, yielding the Fire Sword of the second grade, the Basic Manual of Seals and Talismans, and the Red Silk Needle of the second grade."
"Both the Sword Grass and the Dark Marrow Fungi are of the second grade and not as common as the Red Cloud Pine. The luminous orbs they yield upon maturity will surely not disappoint."
Lu Chen thought to himself.
Over the next two to three days, he activated the Misty Concealment Array to carefully observe the real-time status of the numerous spirit herbs, ensuring that no alien Spirit-Gnawing Insects had invaded.
The remaining twenty-six Spirit Firefly Herbs matured during this period.
Among them, nine were of good quality, thirteen were of superior quality, and the remaining four were of perfect quality.
After harvesting the Spirit Firefly Herbs, twenty-six white orbs of light appeared.
Six of them granted cultivation bonuses: three for six months, two for nine months, and one for a year, giving Lu Chen a total of four years' worth of cultivation progress.
The spiritual energy within his meridians and dantian surged like raging waves, taking a long time to gradually settle down.
Gaining four years of cultivation out of thin air pushed Lu Chen's strength forward significantly, bringing him close to the seventh level of Qi Refinement.
Twelve of the white orbs also yielded twelve first-grade talismans, mainly Sword Qi Talismans and Exorcism Talismans, along with a couple of other talismans like the Blazing Flame Talisman.
With the increasing collection of first-grade talismans in his storage bag, Lu Chen guessed that casting them all at once would be no weaker than a full-powered strike from a high-level Qi Refinement cultivator.
Additionally, there were four first-grade Peiyuan Pills, two skill experience packages for the Earth Drawing Art and the Wood Birth Art, and two white orbs left.
Lu Chen absorbed them, improving his understanding of the two arts.
The last two white orbs yielded a recipe for the first-grade Peiyuan Pill and a drop of Plant Spirit Primal Essence.
Lu Chen dripped the essence into the grass golem's head tumor.
"Let's celebrate your full recovery. From now on, you must continue to guard the spirit fields diligently!"
Soon, the gray tumor on the grass golem's head turned green, and it began a new round of patrols in the spirit fields with renewed vigor.
With the boost from the Plant Spirit Primal Essence, Lu Chen felt that the golem's steps were more robust and energetic.
A few days later, the serpentine beast blood he had ordered from the Wanbao Tower arrived as promised.
Lu Chen spent another four spirit stones, in addition to the three he had paid as a deposit, to obtain a bottle of snake blood.
According to the delicate-looking young girl, this bottle of snake blood was freshly obtained and still relatively fresh. The blood came from a type of serpentine magical beast called the Double-winged Golden Scale Snake, a first-grade beast.
The blood was stored in a transparent jade bottle, and one could see the golden gleam within the vibrant red liquid, like a sunset reflecting on a sea of blood.
Lu Chen took the transparent jade bottle and approached the Coiling Vine.
He uncorked the bottle and poured the golden-flecked blood onto the vine.
Instantly, the vine seemed to come alive, gently twisting and turning like a snake as the golden blood slowly seeped into its body.
After absorbing all the blood, Lu Chen noticed that the vine's surface had developed golden veins, creating bizarre patterns on the deep black coiling vine.
Lu Chen focused his mind on the vine.
"I've waited so long for this day!"
"Finally, I get to taste even more delicious and robust snake blood!"
The coiling vine, adorned with golden veins, continued to writhe slowly, seemingly immersed in the joy of absorbing the blood of the Double-winged Golden Scale Snake.
It took about half an hour for the golden veins on the vine's surface to gradually fade, returning it to its original state as a withered and twisted vine.
"Last time, after absorbing the blood of a non-graded Black Line Snake, I don't recall the coiling vine exhibiting any changes. But this time, after absorbing the blood of the first-grade Double-winged Golden Scale Snake, these golden veins appeared. I wonder if the quality of the snake blood also influences the different growth states of the coiling vine?"
With all one hundred Spirit Firefly Herbs now mature, he planned to get more seeds from the Hundred Grass Hall and start a new round of planting.
Although the Spirit Firefly Grass was not particularly valuable and the luminous orbs it yielded were not as impressive as those of other first and second-grade spirit herbs, Lu Chen had only discovered that it provided cultivation bonuses so far. Thus, he had to cultivate a certain quantity to ensure his progress in cultivation.
The Spirit Firefly Grass was his volume-based strategy, while the Blood Jade Ginseng and Clearwonder Spirit Tea balanced quality and quantity. As for the Sword Grass, Dark Marrow Fungi, and the Phantom Smoke Fruit obtained from the unknown spirit seeds, he focused on quality over quantity. With this three-pronged approach, he aimed for a balance of both.
As soon as he stepped out, Lu Chen spotted the Wu-surname cultivator from the neighboring house.
The other cultivator also noticed Lu Chen and immediately called out to him.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, where are you off to? Come and try some of my newly brewed spirit alcohol."
Lu Chen couldn't very well refuse his neighborly offer and followed him into his house.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, try this spirit alcohol."
As soon as they sat down, the Wu-surname cultivator brought over a pot of deep yellow spirit brew and poured a cup for each of them.
"I noticed that you set up a second-grade defensive array outside your courtyard in the past few days, Fellow Daoist Lu. You're really spending a lot on this, aren't you..."
Lu Chen took the cup from him and sipped the brew, finding it rich and lingering on the palate.
"Wonderful brew!" he exclaimed, setting down his cup.
"Fellow Daoist Wu must be aware that the city has become increasingly dangerous, with aberrant cultivators appearing more frequently. One even infiltrated the neighboring city's patrol leader, Wang Shan," Lu Chen said.
"Moreover, I encountered an intruder in my spiritual fields some time ago, and my entire net worth is tied to these spirit herbs. Thus, I had no choice but to spend a fortune to protect my assets," he added, casually deflecting the topic.
The Wu-surname cultivator nodded in agreement. "That's true. It's always better to be cautious."
"Come, let's continue drinking. This spirit alcohol is brewed using the bones and gallbladders of serpentine magical beasts. It's a rare treat that you don't come across often," he said, refilling their cups.
"Is that so?" Lu Chen picked up his cup, but his hand paused in mid-air. "Alcohol brewed from the bones and gallbladders of serpentine beasts... that would require a large number of those beasts. Where would one get so many gallbladders and bones?"
A thought occurred to him, and he asked directly, "Fellow Daoist Wu, may I ask where you obtained the serpentine gallbladders and bones for this brew? Was it from Wanbao Tower, another shop, or perhaps the loose cultivator market?"
"None of the above," the Wu-surname cultivator replied with a shake of his head. "It's hard to collect a significant quantity of the same species of serpentine beasts in the loose cultivator market, and the ones in Wanbao Tower are a bit too expensive, not really worth it."
"These ingredients were actually given to me by a good friend," he continued.
"A friend?" Lu Chen's eyes lit up.
"Indeed, a friend I've known for many years. His family possesses a secret technique that gives them an uncanny ability to find and capture serpentine beasts. Even at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, he can hunt down second-grade serpentine magical beasts with this technique."
"May I trouble you to introduce me to him, Fellow Daoist Wu? I urgently need a certain material from serpentine beasts," Lu Chen asked.
"Of course," the Wu-surname cultivator agreed readily.
(End of Chapter)
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