Novel Full Chapter 152 - 149: Bloodthirsty Vine
Chapter 152: Chapter 149: Bloodthirsty Vine
Ji An pondered for a moment, then asked:
“How effective is the Top-Grade Earth Spirit Fruit in replenishing the Primordial Qi of the Golden Spot Spider?”
Liuu Suyun gently shook her head and said:
“My Golden Spot Spider, which I’ve raised, has already reached the seventh-layer Foundation Establishment Stage demon beast. The top-grade spirit fruit can only be considered a delicacy, slightly increasing its silk production, but almost negligible in restoring the primordial qi.”
Saying this, she summoned her beast from the spirit beast bag.
A grinding stone-sized spider appeared on the ground, covered in earth-colored hard bristles, with gold coin-sized golden spots on its back.
The late-stage Foundation Establishment demon qi spread within the cave, startling the Spirit-Seeking Rat, causing its fur to stand on end, and it dashed to its owner’s feet, performing the Earth Element Technique.
The strong demon qi made Ji An feel uncomfortable, and he hurriedly activated his magical power to resist.
The six dark red eyes of the Golden Spot Spider spun around and, upon discovering the Earth Spirit Fruit, let out a few excited screeches before swiftly darting toward the fruit.
After devouring the spirit fruit originally collected by the Golden Fur, it crawled next to the spirit tree and remained motionless.
Whether it’s a cultivator or a demon beast, when encountering a spirit fruit tree bearing fruit, they usually wait for the fruit to fully mature and fall off before picking it up, if circumstances allow.
The higher the tier of the spirit fruit, the more this holds true. Even if it’s only a few double hours away from maturing, picking it prematurely results in a slight difference in effect.
It is said that when the spirit fruit is fully mature, it carries a special spiritual resonance, which has unique effects on high-tier cultivators or demon beasts.
“My Golden Spot Spider is fully tamed. Although it looks fierce, it is actually quite gentle and rarely attacks proactively.”
Liuu Suyun placed the beast back into the spirit beast bag and said:
“I wish to stay here until the top-grade fruit is fully matured before leaving, if that is okay?”
She sensed the joyous emotion coming from the Golden Spot Spider, realizing that the Earth Spirit Fruit here was much better in potency than those she cultivated.
As she spoke, another fruit dropped from the tree.
Seeing that there was no danger, the Golden Fur used its talent technique, the Earth Element Technique, to dart beneath the tree to catch the fruit, then stood up on its hind legs, cradling the fruit with its forepaws as it returned to its owner.
It raised the spirit fruit high above its head, letting out a pleasing sound:
“Chirp chirp.”
Liuu Suyun, observing Golden Fur’s behavior, exclaimed in surprise:
“Junior Brother, this Spirit-Seeking Rat of yours is one of the most spiritual ones I’ve ever seen. Its bloodline must be quite pure.”
Demon beasts value pure bloodlines greatly. Cross-bred bloodlines, while having other advantages, often result in thicker-skinned, less spiritual, more brutal, and foolish breeds.
“Acquiring Golden Fur is indeed my fortune.”
Ji An replied offhandedly. He understood that most of Golden Fur’s current prowess was attributable to the Beast Taming Secret Technique passed down by his father.
Although he never learned to refine elixirs, he had a fair understanding of the properties of various spirit plants, essential knowledge for cultivation.
The Spirit Feeding Pills configured for Golden Fur served to purify its bloodline through a unique path rather than enhance its demonic power.
He used the Object Control Technique to grasp the mature Earth Spirit Fruit in his hand and handed it to Liuu Suyun:
“Senior Sister can stay as long as you wish, you are warmly welcome.
Let’s return to the surface, Golden Fur will stay here. When the top-grade spirit fruit matures, it will inform me.”
The two left the cave and came to a stone house by the Cold Pool, where Xia Yuhuan and her sister served unique specialties for tasting.
Upon tasting the top-grade pine nuts, Liuu Suyun repeatedly praised:
“Truly superb, not only are the pine nuts more delicious, they also contain richer spiritual qi.
For cultivators practicing Fire Element Techniques, long-term consumption might yield unexpected benefits.”
After a while, she spoke again:
“Junior Brother, according to the agreement, each fruit tree requires a tribute of 30 fruits to me. By this count, I received 21 extra top-grade spirit fruits.
The price of the top-grade Earth Spirit Fruit fluctuates around 80 Spirit Stones, while the top-grade spirit fruit fluctuates around 50 Spirit Stones.
Let’s calculate the account according to these prices, how does that sound?”
“I have no objections,” Ji An smiled. The price fluctuation was within one or two Spirit Stones, not worth overthinking.
He paused, then said:
“However, I need to retain 10 top-grade spirit fruits, as Senior Sister saw, my Spirit-Seeking Rat is quite greedy for the spirit fruits.”
“Of course, that is your prerogative, Junior Brother. As per our agreement, an elevation of the spirit tree to top grade results in a reward of half a pound of Tier One top-grade spider silk per tree, and an elevation to superior results in two pounds of top-grade spider silk per tree. These rewards would be yours after two years.”
For Liuu Suyun, obtaining the top-grade fruits was most crucial; the top-grade ones were merely extra.
“I don’t have much use for the top-grade spirit silk right now, could we convert everything into Tier Two lower-grade spirit silk, including the profit from the spirit fruits?”
Liuu Suyun pondered for a moment, nodded, and agreed:
“Alright, that’s no problem.
Five pounds of top-grade spirit silk and 2480 Spirit Stones can be exchanged for one pound and two taels of Tier Two lower-grade spirit silk.”
Ordinarily, she exchanged Tier Two lower-grade spider silk for other spiritual objects, but considering how quickly the other party could cultivate top-grade spirit trees, giving this face was due.
“Is one pound of spider silk sufficient to weave an apricot yellow Banner face?”
“Approximately three taels short.”
“Senior Sister, once the Golden Spot Spider resumes spirit silk production, how long will it take to gather this one and a half pounds of Tier Two spider silk?”
Ji An asked again. He needed to calculate the time node accurately and gather the other materials before then without delaying the refining process.
“It will take about a year. If the Top-Grade Earth Spirit Fruit I planted matures and is enough to restore the Golden Spot Spider, the earliest you could get the flag face would be two years later, Junior Brother.
With the materials, I can weave the flag face in a little over a month.”
Ji An nodded slightly. Two years was enough time.
“Senior Sister, how much is the remaining cost? I’ll pay you altogether.”
First, pay the Spirit Stones to pre-order, to avoid accidents halfway through.
“Three taels of Tier Two Spider Silk cost 900 Spirit Stones, weaving fee is 1000 Spirit Stones, totaling 1900 Spirit Stones.”
Ji An clicked his tongue inwardly, wondering how many Spirit Stones it would take to refine the apricot yellow Banner.
He pointed out a sufficient number of Spirit Stones, placed them on the table, and pushed them toward her, saying:
“Please count them, Senior Sister.”
…
Ye Changqing looked down at the mulberry field with the blue waves of the Cold Pool rolling nearby, and said:
“If every Foundation Establishment Spirit Farmer had Junior Brother Ji’s capabilities, the sect wouldn’t worry about not surpassing Luofeng Valley.”
In a few months of absence, the Jade Leaf Mulberry had grown much better, and the plants were even sturdier.
Wei Songnian shook his head with a smile:
“Senior Brother’s expectations are too high. I think this is more challenging than having another Sunrise Stage Cultivator.”
He could say he had witnessed Ji An’s growth all along. In all these years, he had interacted with at least four to five thousand Spirit Farmers, but Junior Brother Ji was unmatched.
“Ah,” Ye Changqing sighed deeply, not refuting. How could he not know the truth?
The flying ship descended slowly, and Ji An was slightly surprised to see two people jumping out. To his knowledge, those two hardly had any interaction.
Ye Changqing chuckled and said:
“Junior Brother, your luck has come. The sect has issued an urgent task. If completed on time, not only will there be Contribution Points, but also 10 Small Merits. Such opportunities don’t come often.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother, for always thinking of me with good opportunities.”
Ye Changqing waved his hand and said seriously:
“We’re all working for the sect. You’re one of the best-suited candidates, so of course, I have to consider you.”
His priority is always capability, then affinity. If the other party wasn’t capable enough, he wouldn’t have come.
Ji An reached out to invite them: “You two, let’s talk inside.”
The three entered the stone house, and Ye Changqing was surprised:
“Junior Sister Liuu is here too?”
He winked and smiled:
“When did you, Junior Brother, become so socially well-connected?”
The other was previously jokingly referred to as the Stone Turtle Cultivator. He couldn’t fathom how two people so distanced could get involved with one another.
“What are you implying, Senior Brother Ye? Can’t I be here?”
“Of course not, but knowing Junior Brother Ji doesn’t like going out, I can’t fathom how you two met.”
“I approached Senior Brother Zhao Lei to refine a Spiritual Artifact and needed a kind of Spider Silk, which led to me meeting Senior Sister Liuu.”
Ji An invited everyone to sit and briefly explained the situation.
Ye Changqing clapped his hands lightly and sighed:
“For production-type Demon Beasts, a High-Tier Spirit Farmer holds greater significance.”
After some small talk, Ji An asked:
“Senior Brother, what exactly is this urgent task?”
“The sect needs a batch of Blood-sucking Vine Seeds, the more, the better, and of higher quality. It will be needed in about half a year.
Because the Spiritual Qi environment here in Junior Brother Ji’s place isn’t suited for planting, we’ve requisitioned Junior Brother Wei’s valley. Still, for large-scale planting, a High-Tier Spirit Farmer is needed, hence we found you.”
The Blood-sucking Vine has thumb-thick vines with many backward thorns. If a blood-flesh creature passes by, it will bind tightly until it drinks its fill of blood before releasing.
These vines are extraordinarily tough, able to withstand several chops from ordinary Magical Artifacts. The plants could secrete special oil that resists fire but cold could decrease its activity.
Blood-sucking Vine seeds lose their activity in months unless soaked in fresh blood, so they are planted intensively when they’re in high demand.
Ji An nodded slightly. The Blood-sucking Vine could be used to refine Pills that supplement blood Qi and is frequently used by Body Refining Cultivators. He pondered:
“Senior Brother, for such Spirit Plants to thrive, merely relying on Planting Techniques isn’t enough. They need to be irrigated with fresh blood and fertilized with blood-flesh compost.”
The Blood-sucking Vine isn’t purely a Wood Element Spirit Plant, regardless of whether it is the Thick Earth Returning Origin Spell or the Evergreen Wood Skill; they didn’t exert much impact. Only paired with Demon Beast blood-flesh could they be significantly effective.
He could do his best to stimulate the Spirit Plant’s activity and enhance the soil’s ability to decompose debris to make the land more fertile.
“No need to worry about Demon Beast blood-flesh, Junior Brother. That’s the sect’s concern. You only need to cast a round of Planting Techniques every two or three days to ensure the Blood-sucking Vine can absorb more blood-flesh.”
Ji An relaxed. He hated trouble, and this approach was best as the small valley was just five or six hundred acres large, not leaving much delay.
“Then I have no problem. When should we begin planting?”
Wei Songnian chimed in:
“In about four or five days, when the Spirit Grain and Talisman Grass I have planted will start being harvested, then I will inform Senior Brother.”