Chapter 104 - 96: Astray

Chapter 104: Chapter 96: Astray

He nodded in satisfaction. "It’s reasonably well-maintained. It should still be worth about thirty Spirit Stones."

Chen Jianghe then took out the Eight-Character Moustache’s Storage Pouch. He sent his Divine Sense inside, and his expression instantly darkened.

Inside were only some clothes and miscellaneous items. There wasn’t a single Spirit Talisman or Spirit Pill. "I took a massive loss."

Four offensive High-Grade Spirit Talismans, two High-Grade Protection Talismans, seven High-Grade Five Elements Escape Talismans, and five Qi Recovery Pills.

A total of one hundred and ninety-nine Spirit Stones. Yet, that Tribulation Cultivator only had a Middle-Grade Flying Sword, worth thirty Spirit Stones at most. That was a net loss of one hundred and seventy Spirit Stones. Wait, no.

"Although this Storage Pouch only has a space of one cubic meter, it’s still worth a hundred Spirit Stones. Calculated this way, I only lost seventy Spirit Stones."

At this thought, a smile returned to Chen Jianghe’s face.

"Master, did we strike it rich?" Little Black poked his turtle head over, grinning widely and squinting his beady Doudou eyes.

"Strike it rich? I took a massive loss. The only good thing is this Storage Pouch... Wait, oh no! Little Black, run!"

Chen Jianghe immediately jumped onto the turtle shell, tossed the Storage Pouch away, and urged Little Black to flee at top speed.

Seeing the drastic change in Chen Jianghe’s expression, Little Black lost all mood for joking. He immediately darted through the river with all his might.

"Don’t enter the main river channel. Turn whenever you see a distributary or tributary. As long as the general direction is west—actually, forget it. Any direction will do!" Chen Jianghe frantically sent a voice transmission.

Little Black didn’t ask questions. In moments like this, he was incredibly obedient and well-behaved, not defying Chen Jianghe’s orders in the slightest.

Chen Jianghe took out two Spirit Stones and sat cross-legged on Little Black’s turtle shell, absorbing the Spiritual Qi from the stones to recover his Magical Power. Little Black considerately condensed his Magical Power into a Gang Qi shield, enveloping Chen Jianghe within it so he wouldn’t be affected by the rushing water currents as they swam at high speed.

Half an hour later.

The small underwater cave where Chen Jianghe and Little Black had previously stopped suddenly exploded. A massive thirty-meter blade gleam sliced through the swift tributary, exposing the riverbed cave completely.

WHOOSH!

The Storage Pouch that Chen Jianghe had thrown away flew up and landed in the hands of the bearded Tribulation Cultivator boss.

"He’s cautious enough."

"Boss, what do we do?"

"Forget it. By throwing away the Storage Pouch, he made us lose his trail."

"But what about Sixth Brother?"

"Dead is dead. In our line of work, you must be prepared to perish at any moment."

At this moment, a petite female Tribulation Cultivator chimed in, "If he couldn’t even handle a Seventh-Layer Qi Refining Cultivator, Sixth Brother deserved to die."

"Boss, where did you get the intel? There actually were fat sheep on that big ship this time," another asked.

"Yeah. The old Seventh-Layer Qi Refining Cultivator that Eighth Sister killed actually had over thirteen hundred Spirit Stones in his Storage Pouch, as well as a Demon Cultivation Technique."

"Even the Ninth-Layer Qi Refining guy only had a bit over seven hundred Spirit Stones in his Storage Pouch, along with a High-Grade Flying Sword and a Middle-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact. The total value barely scratches a thousand Spirit Stones."

"Boss, can you give me a Body Refining Technique and a High-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact this time?" The female Tribulation Cultivator looked at the bearded Tribulation Cultivator boss with longing eyes. "If we sell that Demon Cultivation Technique in the Black Market, it’ll fetch at least fifteen hundred Spirit Stones. Combined with the thirteen hundred-plus Spirit Stones in the Storage Pouch, I contributed nearly three thousand Spirit Stones to the stronghold this time."

The bearded Tribulation Cultivator boss glanced at the Female Cultivator, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes, and said with a smile, "Don’t worry, Eighth Sister. Once we get back, I will personally request a reward for you from the Village Chief. Getting you a Body Refining Technique is practically guaranteed. As for a High-Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact? I will do my best to fight for it on your behalf.

"Let’s go. Back to the stronghold.

"Consider that guy lucky!"

***

"Little Black, where exactly have you carried me to?"

Chen Jianghe had consumed four Spirit Stones to recover his Magical Power to Perfection, but four hours had also passed. The bright moon hung high in the sky while the stars retreated.

At the bottom of an unknown river, Little Black was still swiftly carrying Chen Jianghe forward. With their lives on the line, Little Black hadn’t dared to slack off in the slightest. As long as Chen Jianghe didn’t say stop, he would keep pushing forward using his sheer physical stamina even if his Magical Power was completely depleted.

"Two-Legged Beast, you’re finally awake! I’m about to die of exhaustion," Little Black complained, though his short little claws were still paddling through the river water with all his might.

"Little Black, open your mouth." Chen Jianghe took out four Spirit Stones and tossed them into Little Black’s mouth.

Spirit Beasts could also devour Spirit Stones to recover Magical Power. According to records in the "Yun Family Magazine", it was said that Spirit Beasts with high-tier bloodlines could directly elevate their Cultivation by devouring Spirit Stones. Once, in the Celestial South Domain, a Spirit Beast had swallowed the source of a Tier Two High-Grade Spiritual Vein in a single gulp.

The exact tier of the Spirit Beast and the grade of its bloodline were not clearly documented in the "Yun Family Magazine". It might also just be a rumor. After all, how could something directly elevate its Cultivation by devouring Spirit Stones, let alone swallowing an entire Tier Two High-Grade Spiritual Vein?

"Has the danger passed?"

The Spirit Stones became jellybeans in Little Black’s mouth, crunching crisply as he chewed.

"I don’t know. You focus on recovering your Magical Power, I’ll drag you along as I swim."

As Chen Jianghe spoke, he got off Little Black’s back, swam to his plastron, and used his Magical Power to pull the turtle’s underside, swimming rapidly forward. Little Black had continued to carry him forward even after exhausting his Magical Power. This truly moved Chen Jianghe a little.

"Haha! Two-Legged Beast, now I really look like your master."

His feelings of being moved vanished instantly. He wanted to put Little Black into the Spirit Beast Circle, but inside the Spirit Beast Space, even though they could communicate via the Spirit Platform, the beast’s physical body would enter a state of deep slumber. He wouldn’t be able to recover his Magical Power.

Chen Jianghe had no choice but to continue dragging Little Black along the riverbed. Sensing that Little Black’s aura had steadied and he had begun recovering his Magical Power, Chen Jianghe didn’t say anything more to disturb him. Instead, he would occasionally poke his head above the water to survey their surroundings, seeing if he could spot any signs of human habitation.

Four hours of deep meditation had caused him to completely lose his way. Although he could distinguish the cardinal directions, he didn’t know the direction of the Youxian River. Without returning to the Youxian River, it would be difficult for him to reach the Qinghe Marketplace.

When the Tribulation Cultivators ambushed them, they were still about a thousand miles away from the Qinghe Marketplace. Afterwards, he fled west for a few hundred miles. He was probably still six to seven hundred miles from the Qinghe Marketplace, but he didn’t know which direction Little Black had carried him towards later on. This made it difficult for him to gauge how far away the Qinghe Marketplace actually was now.

Even if he continued straight west, he still needed to follow the Youxian River westward.

"If I’ve reached the borders of the Qinghe Marketplace, there should definitely be Cultivation Towns around here. Even if I’m not near the marketplace itself, there should at least be signs of human life."

Two hours later.

Chen Jianghe had lost count of how many tributaries he had switched between, but his overall direction remained west. He had probably swum another hundred miles or so. The danger should have passed, but he was also thoroughly lost.

Looking at his surroundings, flanked by towering Gao Feng peaks hundreds of meters high on both sides, he realized he had entered a canyon river.

SCREECH!

Suddenly, the cry of an ape rang out, exceptionally clear in the dead of night. At this moment, Little Black snapped his eyes open. With a quick flip, he lifted Chen Jianghe onto his back. He activated his Petrification Divine Technique, causing his turtle shell to emit a dim golden-grey glow.

"Little Black, what’s wrong?" Chen Jianghe asked, revealing a gratified smile as he saw Little Black wake up and carry him on his back.

"There’s a Spirit Beast! A Late-Stage Tier One Spirit Beast!" Little Black hurriedly sent a voice transmission. Then, he shot forward rapidly like a loosed arrow, darting through the river water.

"A Late-Stage Tier One Demon Beast?" Chen Jianghe was startled. In this desolate wilderness, where would there be any Spirit Beasts? It was undoubtedly an untamed Demon Beast. Demon Beasts were far more ferocious than Spirit Beasts. A Late-Stage Tier One Demon Beast would be even more difficult to deal with than that Eight-Character Moustache Robber Cultivator.