Li Yan quickly replanted these Mowang Bamboos in their original spot. It was just that this particular patch of Mowang Bamboo was noticeably brighter in color than its peers, a sign of more complete nutrient absorption.
In the days that followed, Li Yan applied this Fragmented Poison to all several dozen mu of the bamboo forest, causing the entire forest to mature and darken in color at an accelerated rate. Li Yan then inspected the mature or nearly mature bamboo forests watered by others. After making a comparison, he was delighted to find that his method, which should have originally taken about eighty-one days to complete the ripening and watering, could now be finished in about sixty-three days. This saved about eighteen days of time. By this calculation, he was saving a great deal of time. He could either use the extra time to earn more Spirit Stones or to cultivate.
At the same time, as he manipulated his spiritual power and the Snow Dusk Crystals while adding the Fragmented Poison, it was far from a simple matter of just making the Mowang Bamboo grow faster. As he performed the spiritual power manipulation more and more, he began to consciously add more control. Li Yan could now feel a faint, heavy, adhesive sensation on his spiritual power each time it passed through a body of Fragmented Poison. After this spiritual power left his body, he could even feel strands of silk-like spiritual power moving in the air, winding and pouncing on their prey. And upon contact with the prey, it would instantly form an encircling formation. This gave him a sense of looking down upon all living beings from the heavens. He could even make the Fragmented Poison gather or scatter, move closer or farther, not by controlling it with his Divine Sense, but simply through the changes in his spiritual power.
Li Yan gazed at the dozens of mu of Mowang Bamboo, a sense of accomplishment welling up in his heart. He decided that after turning in this fifty-mu batch of Mowang Bamboo today, he would continue to take missions from the Spirit Plant Garden. The missions here not only allowed him to earn Spirit Stones but were also another form of cultivation for him. Compared to his previous solitary, bitter cultivation, the effects were different but equally beneficial. Solitary cultivation led to faster growth in spiritual power, but the practical application of his immortal arts was poor. Taking missions from the Spirit Plant Garden slowed his spiritual power growth slightly, but his immortal arts gained a degree of practical application. And through the tempering of use, his spiritual power, though growing slower, became more refined, pure, and easy to control.
Li Yan flew his spirit artifact toward the yellow mist of the Spirit Plant Garden. When he arrived, he was somewhat stunned. From a great distance, he could see that the yellow mist in that area had vanished. The courtyard and house were exposed, unshielded. He couldn't help but wonder why his Sixth Senior Sister had done this today.
Li Yan landed and walked into the courtyard. The scenery within was the same as always, but the door to the house was tightly shut. A person was sitting cross-legged on the ground not far in front of the house. Seeing this person made Li Yan freeze.
The person had clearly heard Li Yan's arrival and slowly opened their eyes. Seeing it was Li Yan, a trace of surprise flashed in their eyes before it vanished, returning to a look of indifference.
Li Yan looked at the cold young man sitting before him; it was his Third Senior Brother, Yun Chunqu. He smiled and said, "Li Yan greets Third Senior Brother. May I ask if Sixth Senior Sister is here?"
Yun Chunqu's impression of Li Yan was that this junior brother, though having entered the sect late, was progressing at a rapid pace. But after learning of Li Yan's aptitude, he also believed that Li Yan had no hope of attaining the Great Dao in this life. Coupled with his own reclusive personality, he had basically never spoken a word to Li Yan. But seeing Li Yan's arrival, he could guess his purpose.
"If you're here to submit a mission, just give it to me." He didn't answer Li Yan's question, speaking directly with a blank expression.
Li Yan was taken aback. "Sixth Senior Sister isn't here?" But Yun Chunqu just looked at him expressionlessly, as if to say, 'Why can't you understand what I'm saying?'
Seeing this, Li Yan gave a helpless smile and walked forward, taking out his token.
…
After leaving the Mission Hall, Li Yan thought for a moment and then headed back down the mountain toward his bamboo courtyard. He wanted to rest for a day before entering the Spirit Plant Garden again. For the past several dozen days, he hadn't had a proper night's sleep, constantly alternating between watering in the Spirit Plant Garden, meditating to recover, watering again, and meditating again. Although he could now recover his stamina through meditation, it was still no complete substitute for sleep.
As he walked down the mountain, he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. When he came out today, he had noticed that there were far fewer people in the Mission Hall than usual. He could also feel it on the way down the mountain; this stretch of bamboo path was noticeably less crowded than usual. So, as he neared his bamboo courtyard, he hesitated for a moment and then continued walking toward the main hall ahead.
Li Yan left the main hall amidst Li Wuyi's gentle smile. Only Eldest Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, and himself were left on Little Bamboo Peak. If he had come a little later, Eldest Senior Brother would have already gone to the Spirit Beast Garden, and the three Qi Condensation disciples would have gone to the Spirit Food Garden to relieve Second Senior Brother. All the other senior brothers and sisters had formed teams and gone out for training to prepare for the upcoming Sect Selection Tournament.
Originally, Third Senior Brother had also wanted to go out with Sixth Senior Sister and the others, but in the end, Sixth Senior Sister had simply said coldly that since there was no one to take over managing the Spirit Plant Garden, she wouldn't go. In the end, he had to take over matters in the Spirit Plant Garden.
Tens of thousands of li away from the Malevolent Spirit Sect lay a vast, dense forest stretching as far as the eye could see. This was a place teeming with low- and mid-level demonic beasts. The number of first- and second-tier demonic beasts was immense, with no fewer than tens of thousands of species.
At this moment, at the junction of a dense forest and the foot of a mountain, four people were locked in a fierce battle with three second-tier Earth-Armor Tigers. There were three men and one woman. The young woman had a head of short hair, was dressed in a tight-fitting black outfit, and wielded a nine-chi-long, green halberd, fighting one Earth-Armor Tiger alone. The other three young men had surrounded the other two Earth-Armor Tigers and were engaged in a running battle. (TN: A chi is a Chinese unit of length, roughly one foot.)
The short-haired young woman was tall and slender, wielding the nine-chi green halberd with an elegant and fluid motion, showing no sign of its weight. With wide, sweeping movements, she created a ring of green light, forcing the Earth-Armor Tiger to roar in frustration. It tried several times to use its powerful defense, comparable to a Mid-grade Spirit Artifact, to break through the green light ring and escape. But after several head-on collisions, two deep, bloody gashes had appeared on its back, and it no longer dared to charge recklessly. It could only use its innate abilities to fight against the young woman.
On the other side, explosions rang out incessantly. Fireball Arts, Wind Blade Arts, and Ice Pellet Arts were unleashed one after another, provoking the two Earth-Armor Tigers into a frenzy. They charged left and right, continuously spewing columns of yellow light from their mouths to meet the dense web of immortal arts from the three men. They actually seemed to have the upper hand, putting the three men in a rather difficult position.
The Earth-Armor Tiger, an earth-attribute vicious beast. An adult can advance to a second-tier demonic beast, with a length of two to three zhang, comparable to a human Foundation Establishment cultivator. Its defense is extremely strong among its kind, able to withstand a full-power strike from a High-grade Spirit Artifact. Its offensive attacks include the innate abilities Mountain-Splitting Wind, Heavy Peak Pounce, and Golden Armor Ring.
Seeing the critical situation on the other side, the short-haired young woman frowned. She freed one hand and slapped her waist. A red light flashed, and in the next moment, a small golden axe shot out. Her other hand, holding the halberd, flared with an even brighter green light. The golden light flashed and disappeared into the green light, becoming silent amidst the brilliant green glow. The Earth-Armor Tiger had just executed a futile Heavy Peak Pounce and was turning in mid-air. It opened its massive maw, and a column of yellow light, twice as thick as those of the other two tigers, roared out, shooting toward the large swath of green light with astonishing momentum. It intended to pierce the green light and directly kill the person behind it. But just as the massive yellow light column left its mouth, the small golden axe had already shot out from the green light and collided with it right at its mouth. An earth-shattering boom echoed as a blinding golden light exploded in front of the Earth-Armor Tiger, leaving the massive beast dizzy and disoriented. Its innate ability, Mountain-Splitting Wind, instantly collapsed. The golden axe, its momentum barely diminished, directly sliced halfway into the Earth-Armor Tiger's neck. The pain caused the great tiger to let out a heaven-shaking roar. Its ferocity surging, it unleashed all its spiritual power, crashing toward the young woman with its innate ability, Golden Armor Ring. This Golden Armor Ring, normally used for defense, was the best means to resist a full-power attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If it were to crash into a mountain peak, even a hundred-zhang-tall one, it would instantly be reduced to dust and rubble.
Seeing this, the short-haired young woman let out a cold snort. She drew a semicircle of green light with her halberd in one hand and sidestepped, dodging the Earth-Armor Tiger's frontal attack. Her other long leg whipped out like a lash, creating a "whoosh" sound from the friction with the air. The next moment, with a loud "BOOM," her leg struck the Earth-Armor Tiger's neck, smashing it viciously into the ground.
Amidst a cloud of dust, a massive crater appeared on the ground. Inside, the Earth-Armor Tiger struggled to its feet, its four limbs trembling. It swayed a few times and then collapsed back into the crater, silent.
It turned out that the young woman's kick had struck the back of the golden axe, driving it completely into the Earth-Armor Tiger's neck. The small axe seemed to have a spirit of its own; upon tasting blood, it began to rotate with great effort. From a difficult spin at the start, it soon began to churn rapidly like a windmill, nearly severing the Earth-Armor Tiger's massive head from its body.
Seeing that the battle here was decided, the other two Earth-Armor Tigers were filled with fear. Their attacks and defenses lost their earlier ferocity. A few breaths later, one of them was carelessly bound by a cultivator's Wind Binding Art. The next moment, the immobilized tiger had a sharp ice cone pierce through its eye, sending a shower of blood splattering. The ice cone penetrated deep into its brain, and it was clearly dead.
After retrieving her golden axe, the short-haired young woman did not join the battle. She just stood quietly to the side. Experience is always gained through blood and battle.
A dozen or so breaths later, the last remaining Earth-Armor Tiger also let out a final, mournful cry amidst a flash of colorful light and explosions, and fell to the ground, motionless.
The three young men, their clothes somewhat disheveled, walked over. One of them, a tall and thin young man, smiled, revealing a set of white teeth. "Sixth Senior Sister, it's a good thing you killed that male tiger. It made these two females lose heart. Otherwise, it would have been hard to say for our side."
"Yes, yes, Senior Sister Gong is truly amazing. We are quite ashamed," the other two young men said sheepishly. Both were dressed in long, dark green robes. One had an emblem of a ferocious beast roaring at the sky, spitting out a golden tripod, embroidered on his sleeve. The other had a golden compass embroidered on his.
"Daqiao, you lost your composure several times in the fight just now, casting immortal arts randomly. Not only did you waste spiritual power, but you also lost the initiative," the short-haired, cold beauty said.
This cold beauty was none other than Little Bamboo Peak's Gong Chenying.
"Yes, yes, yes, Sixth Senior Sister. I've only just reached Foundation Establishment and this is my first time hunting demonic beasts of this level. Faced with such power, I couldn't help but panic a little," Lin Daqiao said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. For a newcomer like him, very few teams were willing to take him to such a dangerous place. Only Second Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Brother, and Sixth Senior Sister would. But Second Senior Brother had to take care of Fourth Senior Sister this time, and he was unwilling to follow Fifth Senior Brother. Although Fifth Senior Brother would definitely save him in a crisis, he would also likely be the one to make him suffer the most. So, following Sixth Senior Sister was the best choice. This made Fifth Senior Brother, who was supposed to take him for training, give him a meaningful look before leaving, which had left Lin Daqiao feeling uneasy ever since.
"Alright, let's clean up the Beast Cores and flesh of these three Earth-Armor Tigers and leave immediately. The spiritual power fluctuations just now will likely attract the attention of other demonic beasts soon. Although we are still a hundred thousand li from the core area, there's no guarantee a third-tier demonic beast won't pass by here. Also, from now on, we can use our respective poison arts. After this period of tempering, it's time we used our own specialties," Gong Chenying said, brushing a strand of black hair from her ear. She then strode with her long, slender legs toward the Earth-Armor Tiger.
Lin Daqiao naturally had nothing to say. He, along with the two Foundation Establishment cultivators from Lord Lao Peak and Four Symbols Peak, exchanged a look. Glancing at their tall, violent junior sister, they gave a wry smile and walked toward the other two Earth-Armor Tigers. But the thought that they would no longer have to suppress their poison arts for the sake of tempering brought a smile to their eyes. For the Malevolent Spirit Sect, poison was their foundation.