Li Changsheng turned and looked toward the center of Beast Valley.
Although it was just a single wolf’s howl, it had startled many people.
At this moment, groups of people could be seen gathering in twos and threes along the road. He couldn’t see their faces, but from the way they were scurrying about, he could tell they were nervous.
Li Changsheng’s beast pen was in a remote location, yet for some reason, a faint sense of crisis lingered in his heart.
’Thinking about it is useless. I’d be better off improving my own strength. That way, I’ll be ready to face any crisis that comes.’
Li Changsheng took one last deep look at Beast Valley, then turned and went back to his room.
He opened the box at the head of his bed and took out the heavy bundle.
He guessed that the bundle contained all the worldly possessions Mu Feng had managed to take with him.
’Let’s see what’s in here.’
With a look of anticipation, Li Changsheng opened the bundle.
There were only four items inside.
Besides some dried meat, the most obvious item was a fist-sized, jet-black stone covered in silver specks. There was also a pile of lustrous Spirit Stones and a yellowed book.
Li Changsheng counted them; there were a hundred and three Spirit Stones in total. As expected of a veteran disciple.
He then picked up the book and flipped through it briefly.
A look of delight appeared in Li Changsheng’s eyes. The book detailed a First-rank Middle-grade Technique: the "Spiritual Eye Technique."
Once mastered, not only could one see a thousand meters away with the clarity of reading the lines on their own palm, but they could also vaguely perceive the auras of the Cultivation Techniques and Magic used by other Cultivators.
It was a very practical support technique.
However, cultivating the Spiritual Eye Technique required washing one’s eyes with Spirit Water, so he wouldn’t be able to learn it for the time being.
Putting the book down, Li Changsheng reached out and picked up the silver-flecked ore.
The ore appeared to be only the size of a fist, but it was incredibly heavy in his hand, weighing over three hundred pounds by his estimation.
"Huh..?"
Li Changsheng hadn’t noticed before touching it, but upon picking it up, he discovered the ore contained a considerable amount of Spiritual Qi.
And stones that contained Spiritual Qi had a universal name: "spirit ore."
Li Changsheng tried to channel his Spiritual Power into the ore. Although the flow was somewhat sluggish, his Spiritual Power successfully seeped into it.
Under the perception of his Spiritual Power, he found that besides Spiritual Qi, the silver specks on the ore’s surface also contained a sharp, cutting aura.
Li Changsheng said joyfully, "It’s a piece of raw ore. I just don’t know how Mu Feng got his hands on it."
The silver specks on the spirit ore’s surface were the essence of this raw ore; the rest was just rock that contained a bit of Spiritual Qi.
Li Changsheng didn’t bother wondering how he had obtained it. He took the spirit ore and walked out into the kitchen.
Looking at the notched blade of the kitchen knife, Li Changsheng hesitated for a moment before putting it down and drawing the blade he wore at his waist.
SCREECH...
An ear-piercing scraping sound then filled the room.
Time slowly passed as black particles, mixed with faint silver glimmers, fell into a wooden basin.
Compared to the previous rock, the spirit ore was undoubtedly much harder to process. Its toughness had increased several times over.
Fortunately, the blade in his hand was incredibly sharp. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t have been able to handle the spirit ore.
It took a full ten minutes to scrape the fist-sized stone completely into powder, and the effort left him quite exhausted.
HUFF...
Li Changsheng took a ragged breath and casually tossed the ruined blade aside.
He rested for a moment.
Then, Li Changsheng proceeded to the next step.
He crushed thirty Spirit Stones in a row, poured in some oil, and began to stir.
In no time at all,
a puddle of silver-gleaming slurry was formed. The quantity just seemed a little too small; he wasn’t sure if it would be enough.
Li Changsheng carried the wooden basin out the door, glanced at the insect swarm, and then turned to enter the beast pen.
He once again gave Xiaohua a "massage."
But this time, the resulting enhancement was a little different.
After he had finished smearing on all the slurry, Xiaohua suddenly stood up and let out a ferocious roar.
Xiaohua’s dark fur began to move on its own, without any wind, as the surrounding Spiritual Qi surged into its body. At the same time, its menacing tusks began to gleam with a faint silver light.
The strange phenomenon lasted for A Cup of Tea’s Time.
When the phenomenon ended, Xiaohua’s bristles had grown a bit longer and now shimmered with a metallic luster.
The most obvious change, however, was its tusks. Not only had they more than doubled in length, but one could also feel a sharp aura emanating from them.
Li Changsheng stared intently at Xiaohua.
[Target: Xiaohua]
[Race: Tusked Pig (Male)]
[First-rank Middle-grade: 3%]
[Innate Magic: Steel Armor.]
[Status: Healthy.]
’Hard Armor has become Steel Armor.’
Li Changsheng focused his gaze on the Magic column.
[Steel Armor: Transforms its fur into a thick layer of armor comparable to refined steel.]
[Magic Enhancement: Unable to be improved.]
’It can’t be improved any further...’
Li Changsheng paused for a moment, muttering to himself, "Is it because Xiaohua’s realm is too low, or has the enhancement reached its limit?"
He felt it was likely the former; otherwise, the word "unlimited" wouldn’t have appeared before.
But there was no way to verify it now. He would have to wait until Xiaohua advanced to the First-rank High-grade to find out.
"Xiaohua, use Steel Armor..."
Li Changsheng stopped overthinking it. He walked over to Xiaohua and looked at it with anticipation.
OINK OINK...
Xiaohua turned its head, its bright yellow pupils giving off a dopey air.
"Steel Armor..."
Li Changsheng tirelessly tried to guide it into using its innate magic. After all, with a crisis looming, it would be a huge help if he could get Xiaohua to obey him.
Just as he was training Xiaohua...
「At the exit of Beast Valley, on the top floor of the Scripture Tower.」
BANG...
Jin Fang slammed both hands on the table and roared, "What are you doing? Why hasn’t Blood Wolf made its move yet?"
"Don’t you know the sect’s Steward is almost here?!"
Tan Hu had no reaction to the first sentence, but the second one made him jump to his feet.
"He’s almost here?! Where is he? How much longer until he arrives?" Tan Hu asked urgently, having stood up.
"Heh heh..."
Jin Fang sneered at him. ’So now you’re worried. What were you doing before!’
From Tan Hu’s reaction, he knew the man was definitely hiding something from him.
Seeing him stay silent, Tan Hu cupped his fists and said with an obsequious smile, "Senior Brother, my old friend, please don’t be silent. When is the Steward arriving?"
Jin Fang still didn’t answer, instead looking at Tan Hu seriously. "What exactly have you been hiding from me? You’d better tell me."
"Otherwise, even if the Steward discovers that I slaughtered the Beast Slaves and I get punished by being sent to the frontier, I’ll accept it."
With that, he ignored Tan Hu, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.
Tan Hu’s expression flickered between cloudy and clear. After a long hesitation, a smile returned to his face.
"Oh, Senior Brother Jin, how could I dare hide anything from you? The timing just wasn’t right. I was planning to tell you, Senior Brother, once it was."
Jin Fang sneered inwardly, his gaze remaining impassive as he looked at him.
Tan Hu hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "To be honest with you, Senior Brother Jin, I accidentally found an unripe Spirit Vein Fruit."
Jin Fang was stunned for a second, then exclaimed in the next, "A Spirit Vein Fruit?"
"The kind of Spirit Vein Fruit that can give a Cultivator an additional elemental Spirit Vein when consumed?"
Tan Hu nodded seriously. "Yes, that’s the one."
Jin Fang hurriedly pressed, "What element is it? And what are its characteristics?"
Tan Hu answered truthfully, "It’s Metal-element. Because it isn’t ripe, I’m not sure about its characteristics..."
HUFF...
Hearing this, Jin Fang’s eyes went wide, and he took a heavy, ragged breath. "Junior Brother Tan, just say it. What price must I pay?"
His own Spirit Vein was already of the Metal element. If he consumed a Metal Spiritual Vein Fruit, it would surely make his Spirit Vein broader and more powerful, and his bottlenecks smaller.
Most importantly, it could even grant his Spirit Vein a second characteristic.