Chapter 503 - 501: Consuming the Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass

They split into two groups. Lü Hongyi let Luo Tian pick his people first, clearly intending for him to lead the other team.

Luo Tian’s first pick was the golden-haired man.

The Thief King’s Treasure Land was filled with powerful experts, including over a dozen at the Half-step Celestial Pool Realm.

’My team will definitely need someone at the Half-step Celestial Pool Realm to hold the fort.’

"Stop calling me Brother Jinmao! I have a name! It’s Hu Yuefeng!"

The golden-haired man, Hu Yuefeng, couldn’t help but retort angrily.

At the same time, he looked at Lü Hongyi and said with some dissatisfaction, "Miss Lü, letting someone at the Peak of Earth Element Realm Fifth Layer lead a team is probably a bad idea."

"For the safety of the team and to ensure the mission goes smoothly, I believe it would be better if I led."

Hu Yuefeng nominated himself.

No one present questioned him. Hu Yuefeng’s cultivation was at the Half-step Celestial Pool Realm, and he had already formed his own team before by relying on his own abilities.

Lü Hongyi said nothing, instead looking at Luo Tian to let him handle it.

"Brother Jinmao, it seems you haven’t had your fill of my little song!"

Luo Tian said with a half-smile.

Hu Yuefeng found Luo Tian extremely disagreeable, but the moment he heard the word "song," a shiver ran through his entire body.

"How about this? I’ll call the Ugly Bird back and have it accompany you for the rest of the journey."

Luo Tian asked nonchalantly.

"Captain Luo, I don’t understand music and can’t appreciate your song. Let’s just forget it."

Hu Yuefeng immediately changed his tune. Having that Ugly Bird follow him around would be a punishment straight from Hell.

But he seethed internally, vowing to get revenge on Luo Tian the first chance he got.

Next, Luo Tian picked another eight people.

Including the golden-haired man and himself, the team had ten people in total.

He took out his Void Ship. After everyone boarded, they began searching Thief King Island.

Luo Tian stayed in his room to inspect his spoils of war, leaving the task of searching for intel to Hu Yuefeng.

From his Storage Space, Luo Tian took out one treasure after another. They were all from the Red Palace, and he hadn’t had a chance to examine them closely yet.

’This piece of jade feels so cool...’

Luo Tian observed a piece of warm, white jade. A cool current washed over his entire body, making him feel comfortable and refreshed.

’This birdcage is unusual... Could it have something to do with the Flowing Gold Illusionary Finch?’

Luo Tian picked up a birdcage.

After consulting the Celestial Book, he learned that this birdcage had the ability to tame Demon Beasts. Even enormous Demon Beasts could be locked inside it.

’Lock the Ugly Bird inside? Better not...’

Only a supreme treasure of heaven and earth like the Celestial Book could contain the Crow.

’This cage is nice, but it probably wouldn’t be very effective at containing the Crow. And it certainly wouldn’t shut that mouth of its.’

’This Wooden Wine Flask... Is there still liquid inside?’

After inspecting it, Luo Tian took a small sip. He immediately felt a fiery sensation inside him, and his whole body grew warm.

Immediately after, the True Essence in his Qi Sea Primordial Pool began to circulate on its own.

’Cultivating on its own?’

Luo Tian was surprised. Although the effect was very weak, he wasn’t doing anything—his Primordial Pool was cultivating by itself.

’I wonder how long this will last...’

Luo Tian made a mental note to check on it later.

After that, he continued to inspect his other treasures.

Overall, the treasures from the Red Palace were either of little use or just strange oddities.

Perhaps the Void Thief King had simply found these items ornamental or interesting and decided to keep them in his bedroom.

Of course, there was one treasure that was extremely useful to Luo Tian.

The Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass!

This Spiritual Material could be consumed directly to strengthen one’s constitution, and to nourish or even improve one’s Martial Vein.

It was rumored to even have a chance of improving one’s Martial Vein Talent!

Of course, the lower the original Martial Vein’s Tier, the higher the probability.

In addition, the Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass could also be added to many Spirit Pills during refinement to enhance their medicinal effects and quality.

BUZZ! BUZZ!

The Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass floated in mid-air like a faint blue Flood Dragon, emitting a soft blue glow.

Luo Tian plucked off a few scale-like leaves and swallowed them.

A majestic Medicinal Power erupted within his body, raging and crashing like a great river’s tide.

It was accompanied by an excruciating, tearing pain that wracked his entire body.

Luo Tian could feel his meridians, bones, and flesh all absorbing the Medicinal Power of the Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass and slowly transforming.

NNGH!

A faint dragon’s roar suddenly echoed from his Nether Dragon Divine Vein as it absorbed hair-thin strands of blue light from the Medicinal Power.

’As expected, the Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass can nourish the Martial Vein.’

Moreover, the quality and age of Luo Tian’s stalk of Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass were both excellent, making its Medicinal Power particularly potent.

An hour later.

When the Medicinal Power weakened slightly, Luo Tian plucked a few more leaves and consumed them.

The excruciating pain assaulted him once again.

Luo Tian activated the Celestial Furnace Treasure Body to strengthen his physique and enhance his absorption of the Medicinal Power.

He could feel the pure, dense essence of the Medicinal Power integrating into every inch of his body. His meridians, bones, and even his blood began to radiate a bright, faint blue luster!

「Three days passed.」

One of the stalks of Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass had already had half of its leaves consumed by Luo Tian.

BUZZ!

Luo Tian’s silver, crystal-like physique suddenly flared with a brilliant, dazzling luster. His entire being seemed to have transformed into a piece of flawless, perfect crystal!

CRACK! CRACK!

He moved slightly, and the bones throughout his body let out a crisp cracking sound. An incredibly heavy pressure emanated from his physical form.

"Celestial Furnace Treasure Body has reached Fifth-Layer Perfection!"

A look of joy appeared on Luo Tian’s face.

Under the influence of the Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass’s Medicinal Power, his Body Refinement Technique had smoothly broken through in just a few short days, resulting in a massive improvement.

Furthermore, Luo Tian could faintly sense that his Incomplete Divine Vein had been restored a fair bit, spurred on by the Medicinal Power of half a stalk of Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass.

It seemed he had also touched some kind of bottleneck, which caused the subsequent medicinal effects to weaken.

Luo Tian wasn’t clear on the specifics.

The room was too cramped for him to test it out properly.

He put away the Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass and paused his Cultivation.

Just then, he took out the Wooden Wine Flask from before.

’One small sip, and my Primordial Pool can cultivate on its own for a day!’

This was the conclusion Luo Tian had reached during his earlier Cultivation.

And now, observing the Wooden Wine Flask again, he discovered that the amount of liquid inside had increased slightly!

’It can regenerate on its own?’

Luo Tian was greatly surprised.

’This is a great item. A small sip every day allows me to cultivate automatically. And the liquid in the Wooden Wine Flask can even regenerate on its own.’

Its use and effect weren’t particularly astonishing, but over time, the results would be significant.

"Luo Tian!"

Hu Yuefeng’s voice came from outside the door.

"Little Brother Jinmao, address me as Captain."

Luo Tian barked.

"...Captain!"

Hu Yuefeng said through gritted teeth.

"What is it?" Luo Tian asked, opening the door and stepping out.

"There’s a huge lake up ahead with many Martial Artists gathered nearby. There might be a secret or a treasure hidden there!"

The golden-haired man said.

"Let’s go take a look!"

Luo Tian nodded slightly.

The main objective at this stage was to search for clues or intelligence related to the Treasure of the Thief King.

But that didn’t mean he should ignore other opportunities.

Luo Tian’s attitude toward the Thief King’s true treasure was that it could only be found by chance, not sought out.

’Perhaps no one has the good fortune to obtain the Thief King’s treasure this time, and we’ll all have to wait for the next opportunity.’

Arriving on the deck, Luo Tian gazed into the distance.

Near the enormous lake, dense Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi shrouded the area like smoke and clouds.

Luo Tian could vaguely see that the lake was filled with lotus flowers and leaves.

And on the edge of the lake, a chaotic battle was unfolding.

On one side of the battle were the Martial Artists who had entered from the outside world. On the other were the powerful Demon Beasts living in the lake, the Dark-Scaled Two-Headed Pythons!

"Luo... Captain, we should get in on the action too."

The golden-haired man was eager to join.

"No rush."

Luo Tian said calmly.

The golden-haired man showed a trace of contempt. ’Luo Tian is such a coward. Without Lü Hongyi around, he doesn’t even dare to join a battle of this scale.’

Luo Tian’s gaze was fixed on the center of the lake. As they drew closer, he finally got a clear view of the treasure within.

It was a moon-white lotus. Each of its petals bloomed like a crescent moon.

"A Purifying Moon Lotus!"

Luo Tian’s heart skipped a beat.

This was another Four-star Spiritual Material, corresponding to the Celestial Pool Realm.

This Spiritual Material could cleanse one’s mind and consciousness, dispelling impurities and distracting thoughts.

The Purifying Moon Lotus could even grow into a Five-star Spiritual Material, the Purifying Moon Sacred Lotus. After consumption, it could form an invisible layer of Defense on the surface of one’s Soul, effectively resisting damage on a spiritual level.

A Purifying Moon Sacred Lotus was the stuff of legends.

Even as it was, the Purifying Moon Lotus was valuable enough to make a Celestial Level Martial Artist green with envy.

Then, Luo Tian took another look at the situation in the lake.

There were six Dark-Scaled Two-Headed Pythons in total! One of them, the Python King, had reached the Celestial Level!

As for the nearby Martial Artists, there were two large groups—the Celestial Song Thief Gang and the Tai Yuan Sect—with a few scattered Martial Artists remaining.

The leader of this Tai Yuan Sect team was He Yuan, the fifth-ranked True Disciple, whose cultivation was at the Half-step Celestial Pool Realm.

The leader of the Celestial Song Thief Gang was an elegant man, also at the Half-step Celestial Pool Realm, who held a White Jade Long Flute.

The two of them had joined forces with another Half-step Celestial Pool Realm expert to fight against the two-headed Python King.

The remaining Martial Artists were clashing with the other Dark-Scaled Two-Headed Pythons!

The entire area around the lake was a chaotic mess.

Luo Tian was surprised to spot two acquaintances, He Yunkong and Yue Linfei, who were also fighting the Dark-Scaled Two-Headed Pythons.

"Captain, if we charge in now, we can definitely get a share of the profits!" Hu Yuefeng said.

"Let’s not be hasty. The Dark-Scaled Two-Headed Pythons should be able to hold them off for a while longer."

Luo Tian said after observing the situation.

"Captain, don’t tell me you’re hesitant to act because you see your fellow sect members!"

Hu Yuefeng sneered.

He watched Luo Tian closely. If Luo Tian were to defect from Lü Hongyi’s team, he would definitely inform her at the first opportunity.

"Enough of your nonsense. Are you itching to hear that song again?"

Luo Tian snapped impatiently.

The golden-haired man chuckled, certain that Luo Tian had something to hide, but he didn’t say anything more.