Chapter 340: Limited Edition Insect Armor |
Some time later...
“Damn it! Just a little more! I was so close!”
The frenzied roar of the Jade-Faced Rakshasa echoed through the cave.
Her curses continued for a long time before she finally calmed down. Her gaze turned toward the cave’s entrance, a glint of murderous intent flashing in her eyes.
“Half the medicinal power of the Heaven-Defying Pill wasn’t enough to advance me to the peak-grade talent. The other half is in the hands of that Burial Demon Old Ghost. He must’ve consumed it immediately, just like I did.”
Narrowing her eyes, she said coldly, “If that’s the case, I’ll have to refine him into a Human Pill and absorb the rest of the medicinal power myself.”
...
Meanwhile, in another cave...
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! My talent didn’t improve! Just a little more, and I could’ve reached it! This is torture!”
After his outburst, he finally quieted down, panting heavily with a terrifyingly twisted expression.
“If half the Heaven-Defying Pill’s power isn’t enough, I’ll have to figure out a way to seize the other half.”
“But the Jade-Faced Rakshasa must’ve already consumed the pill. Why would she keep it?”
“No! There’s still a way. I can refine her into a Human Pill and forcefully absorb the remaining power.”
His gaze toward the cave entrance grew colder and more murderous.
...
Meanwhile, in another cave...
Long Xuan stood on Wood Island, gazing with delight at a giant tree with crescent-shaped leaves.
Since reuniting with his clone, he had immediately transplanted the Moon Tree to Wood Island. Under the meticulous care of the Medicinal Gu, the tree had successfully taken root in just a few days.
The Medicinal Gu truly had the ability to revive dead or withered plants.
Not only did it revive the Moon Tree, but it also successfully grew a new Earth Spirit Tree by planting a fruit seed underground.
The Earth Spirit Tree was notoriously difficult to cultivate. The Teng clan of Gu cultivators had harvested countless Earth Spirit Fruits and acquired numerous seeds, but to date, they had managed to grow only one tree.
This demonstrated how challenging it was to cultivate an Earth Spirit Tree.
Yet the Medicinal Gu, with its power to accelerate the growth of spiritual herbs, seemed capable of cultivating almost anything. This greatly delighted Long Xuan.
So far, his herb garden boasted eleven types of rare spiritual herbs, all above the tenth grade: the Moon Tree, Earth Spirit Tree, Fire Dragon Fruit Tree, Divine Dragon Wood, Living Wood, Demon Flower, Soul-Nourishing Wood, Mandrake Grass, Heaven-Mending Tree, World Tree, and Rabbit Herb.
These eleven top-tier herbs continuously produced spiritual energy, allowing the Heaven-Devouring World Toad to grow stronger by the day.
The difference between living and dead treasures was their ability to endlessly generate spiritual energy, making the Heaven-Devouring World Toad’s potential far surpass that of the Three-Legged Golden Toad.
After admiring his collection of rare herbs, Long Xuan returned to the main island.
With the Moon Tree successfully transplanted, he now planned to develop a Eye of Heavenly Secret, eye drop Medicine using its leaves as the main ingredient.
He had already decided on the name of the medicine: Tears of the Moon.
The evolution path of the Eye of Heavenly Secret involved collecting various eye drop medicines. The earlier Dragon Tears Eye Medicine had already rendered the Eye of Heavenly Secret resistant to its effects. However, prolonged use of Dragon Tears had granted it exceptional dynamic vision.
Long Xuan anticipated that regular use of Tears of the Moon would grant the Eye of Heavenly Secret the ability to see through all illusions, a prospect he eagerly awaited.
...
Half a month later...
Long Xuan gazed at the completed recipe for the 'Tears of the Moon' and nodded in satisfaction. After marking it with the signature “ Written By Long Xuan,” he folded the paper and placed it into a nearly full small box.
It had taken him half a month to develop the recipe successfully.
The Tears of the Moon Eye Medicine was ten times stronger than the raw juice of Moon Tree leaves. Using the leaves alone could only make one immune to illusions of the same level.
However, using Tears of the Moon could make one immune to illusions even from higher realms.
When used with a Eye Gu, the effects would be even greater, enabling the Eye Gu to undergo a Evolution.
For now, the materials required for the Eye of Heavenly Secret’s evolution were resolved. He only needed to let the Medicinal Gu continue accelerating the growth of the Moon Tree and patiently wait for more leaves.
The recipe called for 500 types of rare materials, which would take time to gather.
With no alternative, Long Xuan decided to return to Sin City to collect the necessary materials.
---
One day later, Long Xuan arrived at Sin City and headed to Master Song’s Insect Armor shop to resume his business.
During his absence, his puppet army had crafted a vast number of Insect Armors. He planned to sell them all at the shop to replenish his dwindling supply of spirit stones.
Just as he reached the shop door, Master Wei from across the street greeted him enthusiastically, “You’re finally back!”
“You’ve been gone for so long. Gu cultivators looking to order Insect Armor couldn’t find you and came to me for your whereabouts. They’ve been pestering me nonstop.”
Long Xuan casually replied, “I was out collecting materials for refining Insect Armor. It took a bit of time.”
“By the way, what’s the situation in Sin City now? Who ended up with the Heaven-Defying Pill?” Long Xuan took the opportunity to inquire about recent events.
“No idea. The Gu Kings outside the city fought fiercely, only to discover the pill they fought over was fake. So many died for nothing. Ha, they were furious.”
“Meanwhile, the Rakshasa Sect and Ghost Sect fought in another location over the real Heaven-Defying Pill. During the battle, both the Jade-Faced Rakshasa and the Burial Demon Old Ghost vanished. No one knows who has the pill now.”
“The real pill is likely with one of them. Many Gu cultivators are scouring the world for their whereabouts.”
“Even if they find them, it’s pointless. Anyone with half a brain would’ve consumed the Heaven-Defying Pill immediately. There’s no way they’d keep it. Those people are wasting their efforts.”
“Among them, the Gu cultivators from the Qian Clan Chamber of Commerce are searching the hardest. Heh, they lost their fourth young master in that battle, only for the Heaven-Defying Pill to fall into his hands at the bidding. Things are about to get interesting!”
Long Xuan, after failing to hear any valuable information, lost interest in continuing the conversation and said, “I need to return and craft insect armor, so I won’t chat with you any longer. Let’s talk next time.”
With those words, Long Xuan walked into Master Song’s insect armor shop and headed upstairs.
Watching Long Xuan’s departing figure, Master Wei’s smile disappeared, and his face turned somber.
“Song Qian didn’t take that Foundation Stabilizing and Vitality Nourishing Pill. Was it for some other reason, or did he discover something?”
Master Wei’s expression alternated between cloudy and clear as he contemplated, eventually returning to his own shop.
Upon returning to his store, Long Xuan arranged a large quantity of insect armor crafted by puppets on the shelves, leaving a clone to handle sales.
Meanwhile, he went to the third floor to continue his secluded cultivation.
Since advancing to the Spiritual Sea Stage as a Gu cultivator, Thousand Flower Pills had become completely ineffective for him, slowing his spiritual power growth. Thus, he decided to develop the Ten Thousand Flower Pill as quickly as possible.
His Hundred Flower Pill was the best spirit-boosting pill of the Spirit Gathering Stage, and the Thousand Flower Pill held the same position in the Marrow Cleansing Stage. Similarly, the Ten Thousand Flower Pill was expected to be the top spiritual-boosting pill of the Spiritual Sea Stage.
If he were to create a spiritual-boosting pill recipe, it had to be the strongest one of its tier; otherwise, he might as well just purchase spiritual-boosting pills from the market without the trouble of crafting his own.
However, after seeing the pills sold by Master Wei, he now had a psychological shadow. He dared not easily buy pills made by other alchemists anymore.
Not every trick or trap could be detected, and he wasn’t that arrogant.
To ensure safety, Long Xuan decided to refine his daily medicinal needs himself and avoid relying on external sources.
Developing the Ten Thousand Flower Pill, which required ten thousand different materials, was bound to be time-consuming. He planned to dedicate all his time to researching its recipe.
As for gathering materials for Gu insect evolution, that task could be entirely delegated to his clone.
He intended to craft some 'limited-edition insect armor' and place it in the shop, with a rule that they could only be exchanged for specific materials. This way, all the material collection would be handled by customers, and his clone wouldn’t even need to run errands.
Long Xuan believed that by simply sitting in the insect armor shop, people outside would gather nearly all the materials he needed.
A lazy but clever approach.
Long Xuan then entered an extended period of secluded cultivation. Meanwhile, he continued running his shop and living the life of a small business owner, interacting with various people daily. His secluded cultivation was not boring at all.
By interacting with more Gu cultivators, his experience and perspective grew, and his mental state unknowingly improved significantly.
Secluded cultivation alone was not the right path. It was essential to engage with the world and continually refine one’s mindset.
No one had ever stayed in one place and cultivated their way from a Spirit Gathering Gu cultivator to a Gu King purely through isolation—not even a heavenly-grade genius. That was the importance of mental state.
Running a shop could also be considered engaging with the world, and Long Xuan’s actions were serendipitously on the right path.
Unknowingly, Long Xuan had already been running his shop in Sin City for a year.
One day, a Gu cultivator with a scar running across his face walked into Master Song’s insect armor shop. His gaze was fixed on a limited-edition insect armor displayed on the shelf.
The armor was entirely silver, covered with hedgehog-like spikes, and exuded a bold and domineering aura.
It was designed specifically for beetle-type Gu insects and matched their size perfectly.
Most importantly, this was a limited-edition insect armor released by Master Song’s shop, with an extremely restricted quantity.
Naturally, limited-edition insect armor differed greatly from standard versions.
The array formations engraved on limited-edition insect armor were far superior to those on ordinary ones.
The shop even claimed that the formations on the limited-edition armor were flawless. If anyone could find a single flaw, the store would compensate them tenfold.
Such a bold statement naturally attracted the interest of countless Gu cultivators, who flocked to purchase the limited-edition insect armor in hopes of finding flaws in the formations and claiming ten times their value.
Creating an formation without any flaws was extraordinarily difficult, and only a handful of formation masters could achieve this feat.
Precisely because of this challenge, many Gu cultivators refused to believe the claim and came to test their skills.
Numerous formation masters, drawn by the arrogance of the shop owner, also arrived to attempt to crack the formations on the insect armor.
The final result left everyone stunned. Whether it was ordinary Gu cultivators or formation masters, no one could find any flaws in the limited-edition Insect Armor. Everyone had no choice but to accept its perfection.
Thus, the limited-edition Insect Armor from Master Song’s Insect Armor Shop became a sensation, gaining fame even in other regions.
Currently, the limited-edition Insect Armor is immensely popular in Sin City. Other Insect Armor craftsmen wanted to imitate it but simply couldn’t, as not everyone has the ability to design flawless formation patterns.
However, Master Song’s limited-edition Insect Armor does not accept Spirit Stones as payment. Each piece requires specific items to be traded instead.
This forced Gu cultivators who desired the limited-edition Insect Armor to search far and wide for the required items, an extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive endeavor.
After six months of effort, he finally found the required item for one of the Insect Armors.
This particular design of the limited-edition Insect Armor is only crafted once a year. Both its appearance and the formations on it are unique in the short term, making its rarity immensely appealing to him.
“Shopkeeper! I’ve brought the Netherwater. Give me the No. 3 Insect Armor!”
As soon as the man entered the shop, he shouted impatiently.
Hearing this, Long Xuan, who had been dozing off at the counter, immediately perked up. Someone had finally found the Netherwater? He had been waiting so long for this.
All his efforts in using his “golden finger” ability to craft a large number of flawless Insect Armors had finally paid off.
“Place the Netherwater on the counter. You can retrieve the No. 3 Insect Armor yourself,” Long Xuan said, maintaining a calm and composed demeanor despite his inner excitement.
The man hurriedly placed a large bottle of Netherwater on the counter and quickly walked toward the No. 3 Insect Armor.
After admiring the spikes on it with great fondness, he glanced longingly at the other limited-edition Insect Armors before reluctantly leaving with the No. 3 piece.
Once the man left, Long Xuan could no longer hold back his excitement. He immediately retrieved a storage bag he had purchased at an auction, opened the bottle of Netherwater, and carefully dripped it onto the seal of the storage bag.
Netherwater, a black liquid, is a type of Spiritual Water.
In this world, there is Spiritual Fire with various formulas, Spiritual Earth with different recipes, and naturally, Spiritual Water with unique concoctions.
Most Spiritual Water recipes are used to accelerate the growth of Spirit Herbs, but a rare few possess special effects.
For instance, Netherwater is a unique Spiritual Water with ban-breaking properties.
The recipe for Netherwater is not publicly available, and the limited quantities circulating on the market make it extremely rare and expensive, with a high acquisition difficulty.
It had taken him an entire year of running his shop to finally collect this Netherwater, which speaks volumes about its rarity.
Before long, the seal of the storage bag softened under the influence of the Netherwater. When Long Xuan sensed that the restriction on the seal had loosened, he was overjoyed.
He quickly opened the storage bag and sent his soul sense into it to examine the treasures inside.
However, when he discovered a pile of women’s undergarments, his expression froze.
He suddenly recalled that this storage bag originally belonged to a female Gu cultivator. Or rather, it might not even be a beauty—perhaps a rather unattractive one. It wasn’t unusual for personal items to be stored inside.
Taking a deep breath, Long Xuan removed the garments covering the treasures and quickly took inventory of the contents.
He had long suspected that this was no ordinary storage bag. Otherwise, why would he have spent so much to acquire it? He often came across storage bag, such as those from Song Qian and his companion, which contained some decent items.
However, even though Song Qian was a well-known Insect Armor craftsman, his wealth couldn’t compare to the owner of this storage bag.
When Long Xuan finally saw the items inside, his eyes lit up with excitement.
This storage bag did not disappoint him—it was worth every bit of time and effort he spent collecting the Netherwater.