Chapter 85: The Invisible Spirit Cloak
Chapter 85: The Invisible Spirit Cloak
After tiring out four Iron Crab youngsters to the point of exhaustion, Lu Chen finally allowed them to rest, their pincers hanging limp and weary.
Tossing them into the Spirit Spring Pond, he threw in some spirit rice as a reward.
"These Iron Crabs are much more energetic than Red-Whiskered Carps. It's good to keep them busy and tire them out a bit."
Lu Chen smiled, gazing at the exhausted Iron Crab youngsters lying motionless at the bottom of the Spirit Spring Pond.
He scattered the fine fragments of spirit iron ore near the Copper-boned Bamboo, letting them absorb it to their heart's content.
Moving on to the four Blood Jade Ginseng plants that he had kept for seeding, Lu Chen noticed that the thin outer layer, resembling a stone wrapping around jade, seemed on the verge of bursting as the ginseng plants grew larger.
Hurriedly, Lu Chen carefully peeled off the spiritual seeds that had formed on the four Blood Jade Ginseng plants. After a bit of processing, he placed the seeds into a specially crafted jade box.
From the four plants, he obtained twenty-eight spiritual seeds, each one full and plump like a drop of blood jade.
However, Lu Chen felt a slight twinge of disappointment when he harvested the ginseng after collecting the seeds, as he did not receive any light sphere rewards.
"Perhaps the process of seed formation consumes a large amount of the mature Blood Jade Ginseng's wood spirit energy, rendering it ineffective and unable to be harvested in its normal state, thus forfeiting the light sphere reward," Lu Chen speculated. Nonetheless, he was quite satisfied to have obtained twenty-eight Blood Jade Ginseng seeds.
What pleased him even more was yet to come. As he went to check on the growth of the second-grade Anmarrow Herb, he was surprised to find that it had entered the fully mature stage.
"After more than a year of careful cultivation, I've finally succeeded in growing my first second-grade spirit plant."
Lu Chen's heart was filled with mixed emotions. Spirit plants of no grade had growth cycles ranging from several months to a year, while first-grade spirit plants took around a year, and second-grade spirit plants took twice as long.
Back when he was still in the northern courtyard of Fang City, he had already planted the Anmarrow Herb and the Sword Grass. It had been over a year since he moved to the new courtyard, and with his meticulous care and the small Wood Birth Technique realm accelerating their growth, the plants had finally matured.
Within the dense network of dark red fungal threads, the Anmarrow Herb plant hid, bathed in the dark red, viscous liquid flowing through vein-like passages.
Lu Chen focused his attention on the mature Anmarrow Herb, and instantly, he knew that it was of good quality.
"The concentration of spirit energy in the spirit field is average, and the Anmarrow Herb is extremely sensitive to light. It's challenging to completely shield it from light, and it's difficult to obtain high-quality decayed spirit wood. Under these conditions, it's already quite remarkable to cultivate a good second-grade spirit plant."
Lu Chen sighed with emotion.
He channeled his spiritual energy through the countless dark red fungal threads, causing them to split open automatically, revealing the Anmarrow Mushroom within.
With great care, he harvested the plant and immediately placed it in a wooden box wrapped in black cloth, storing it in his storage bag.
The second-grade Anmarrow Herb could be used to refine certain body-tempering elixirs or consumed directly to enhance a cultivator's physique. For now, Lu Chen had not decided how to use it.
His focus at the moment was on the light sphere reward that came with the Anmarrow Herb.
Full of anticipation, Lu Chen turned his gaze to the spot where the Anmarrow Herb had been in the wooden shed, and there, a white light sphere the size of a fist was flickering softly.
He reached out gently and touched the surface of the light sphere.
Instantly, countless tiny specks of light, like a galaxy in motion, flowed into Lu Chen's body.
A thought flashed through his mind.
Harvested one Anmarrow Herb and obtained a third-grade magical artifact, the Invisibility Cloak.
As the thought passed, a garment as thin as a cicada's wing appeared in his hand.
The cloak was a dark golden color, with translucent silken threads appearing on its surface from time to time, only to vanish in the blink of an eye.
Lu Chen's heart leaped with joy. This was the second third-grade treasure he had obtained, the other being the Spotless Jade.
And its effects were even more remarkable.
Having increased his cultivation level to the seventh layer of Qi Refining with average talent in a short time, Lu Chen was naturally cautious about revealing his true strength in familiar surroundings.
And as his cultivation level continued to rise, encountering more and more high-level Qi Refining cultivators, he felt the Concealment Technique he had learned before might not be enough to hide his true strength.
But the Invisible Spirit Cloak more than made up for that. Being a third-grade artifact, it was already in the realm of Foundation Establishment, so even if a cultivator in the early or even middle stages of Foundation Establishment probed him, it would be difficult for them to detect anything amiss.
Lu Chen quickly took off his clothes and draped the dark golden cloak over himself, channeling his spiritual power into it.
Instantly, a tremendous suction force emanated from within the Invisible Spirit Cloak, causing a large portion of Lu Chen's spiritual power to vanish in an instant.
The translucent silken threads on the dark golden cloak began to writhe and move, their speed increasing with each moment, and after a few breaths, Lu Chen felt as if a thin layer of something special had veiled his eyes.
The world before him seemed somewhat distant and unreal.
Lu Chen walked over to the Spirit Spring Pond and peered in.
At the bottom of the pond, four young Iron Crab beasts lay motionless, their pincers limp with exhaustion. The water was clear, with tendrils of spiritual energy rising gently.
But on the surface of the water, there was no reflection of Lu Chen.
Not far away, the Cloud-Walking Lynx, usually so graceful and aloof, stood rooted to the spot, a rare flicker of emotion in its emerald green eyes as it looked around in confusion.
"Roar..."
It let out a low growl, its voice filled with urgency.
Lu Chen quickly deactivated the invisibility effect and walked over to the lynx, tugging playfully on the tufts of grayish-white fur on the tips of its ears.
The lynx, named Yun Lynx, regained its composure and shot Lu Chen a cold glance before walking away.
Lu Chen, meanwhile, reflected on his experience of using the third-grade Invisible Spirit Cloak.
"The artifact can conceal my entire body, but its range is limited to the area around my physical form."
"The rate at which it consumes spiritual power is too fast. It's a bit of a stretch for someone at the seventh layer of Qi Refining to wield a third-grade artifact meant for the Foundation Establishment stage."
"Nevertheless, the effect is quite remarkable. Being able to hide my physical form will allow me to avoid certain risks."
A smile played at the corners of Lu Chen's mouth as he felt a strange sense of familiarity with the act of hiding his physical form.
"What's this about an invisible cultivation world..."
He quipped, not immediately putting away the Invisible Spirit Cloak, but instead leaving it draped over his shoulders, covered by a blue shirt.
The Invisible Spirit Cloak was as thin as a cicada's wing and felt weightless, almost imperceptible when worn.
"The second-grade Dark Marrow has matured, and I suspect the second-grade Sword Grass isn't far behind."
Lu Chen glanced at the plain and unassuming Sword Grass nearby, its sword-like blades standing tall and straight.
At that moment, the Sword Grass was indistinguishable from an ordinary sword, about three feet in length, pitch-black in color, standing erect with its tip pointing towards the sky.
"It's almost ready."
Lu Chen focused his mind on the Sword Grass, his eyes fixed on the progress bar below it, filling up rapidly, and his heart was filled with anticipation.
He surveyed his spirit field once more, and in the Spirit Firefly Grass region, he found that out of the 120 Spirit Firefly Grass plants, a significant number had entered the rapid maturation stage. After a careful search, he discovered 15 fully mature Spirit Firefly Grass plants.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
