Chapter 343: Master Wei’s Pill |
“What exactly is the spirit beast you want us to deal with? Can you tell us now?”
“You better not say it’s a Sea Flood Dragon. If that’s the case, I’m leaving right now. Forget about the Breaking King Pills,” said Madam Yue sternly.
“How could it be? Dealing with a Sea Flood Dragon isn’t something a group of Spiritual Sea Stage Gu cultivators can pull off. I’m not that reckless,” Master Wei replied.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke, “Fine, you’ll see it soon anyway. I might as well tell you now.”
“The spirit beast is a Black Giant Salamander. Rest assured, it’s only at the early stage of Grade 4. It’s not that hard to handle.”
As soon as these words left his mouth, everyone’s expressions changed dramatically.
“Not that hard to handle? Not that hard, my ass!” Old Fifth Mei, the most short-tempered of the group, was the first to shout angrily. “This is a powerful spirit beast that’s been extinct for years, with terrifying combat strength! If you’d told us earlier it was a Black Giant Salamander, we wouldn’t have come!”
“If we’d known, the five of us brothers wouldn’t have bothered. How can we deal with a Black Giant Salamander with just this group?”
Even Long Xuan’s face shifted slightly.
The Black Giant Salamander was notoriously tough. As an amphibious spirit beast, it had extraordinary regenerative abilities. No matter which part of its body was cut off, it could regenerate quickly—even vital organs.
Essentially, this creature was nearly unkillable. Only a few forces of the same grade could kill it. Anyone a major level below it wouldn’t stand a chance.
A group of Spiritual Sea Stage Gu cultivators could potentially hunt other Grade 4 spirit beasts, but hunting a Grade 4 Black Giant Salamander was suicidal. No wonder Old Fifth Mei lost his temper upon hearing about it.
Taking on a Black Giant Salamander with so few people was tantamount to throwing their lives away.
However, great risk often comes with great reward. The Black Giant Salamander was valuable from head to tail, especially its flesh and blood, which could be used to craft the legendary Regeneration Pill.
The Regeneration Pill could make lost limbs regrow and even regrow a heart if it had been removed.
The price of such a miraculous pill was astronomical.
Long Xuan immediately deduced that Master Wei’s goal in organizing this hunt was to craft Regeneration Pills.
No wonder he was willing to offer over ten Breaking-King Pills as payment. If they managed to kill the Black Giant Salamander, the gains would far outweigh the costs.
Even so, the value of the ten Breaking-King Pills paled in comparison to a Black Giant Salamander.
Master Wei sighed with a bitter smile, knowing full well the reaction he’d receive upon revealing this.
He explained, “It’s not that I meant to hide this from you all. As you know, the blood and flesh of a Black Giant Salamander can be used to craft Regeneration Pills. Such pills can restore any part of the human body and are worth a fortune on the market.”
“If word got out about the Black Giant Salamander, it would attract countless Gu Kings to hunt it. At that point, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“To prevent leaks, I had no choice but to keep this information secret. I hope you can understand.”
“The Black Giant Salamander is priceless. I promise that once it’s captured, I will only take 50% of the beast materials. The rest will be divided equally among all of you.”
“To show my sincerity and apologize for the secrecy, I’ll give each of you a Grade 3 Healing Pill as compensation. I hope this satisfies you.”
With that, he retrieved eleven white pills from his storage ring and distributed them to the group.
The others’ anger subsided somewhat as they received the pills.
Grade 3 Healing Pills were rare treasures that fetched high prices at auctions. Master Wei’s gesture was no small matter.
Long Xuan caught the pill flying toward him, his expression shifting slightly.
Among the eleven Grade 3 Healing Pills, ten were normal. However, the one in Long Xuan’s hand had been tampered with.
This pill emitted a faint, nearly undetectable scent—something only an experienced alchemist or a spirit beast with a keen sense of smell could notice.
Although harmless to humans, this scent would excite spirit beasts and draw them to attack.
Spirit beasts had exceptionally sensitive noses and could detect scents from great distances that humans couldn’t perceive.
Long Xuan instantly saw through Master Wei’s scheme.
By giving him this tampered pill, Master Wei ensured that the Black Giant Salamander would focus its attacks on Long Xuan during the hunt.
Master Wei likely believed that once the Black Giant Salamander targeted a low-level Spiritual Sea Stage Gu cultivator like Long Xuan, his death would be certain.
Long Xuan smirked internally. This was a petty trick at best.
Little did Master Wei know that Long Xuan was not only a Gu Master but also an accomplished alchemist who could detect such subtleties.
Who would suspect that the number one Insect Armor Master of Sin City treated Gu armor crafting as a side hobby? His true expertise lay in alchemy, a fact no one could have guessed. If they had known, Master Wei would never have dared to pull this stunt.
Feigning ignorance, Long Xuan pocketed the tampered pill without removing the scent. He decided to play along and turn the tables.
Perhaps this scent might even lure the Black Giant Salamander to the shore, making it easier to capture.
After everyone collected the expensive healing pills, their emotions eased slightly. Although they had learned they would face the Black Giant Salamander, no one in the crowd withdrew at this moment.
This was because the Black Giant Salamander was immensely valuable; every part of its body was a treasure.
For wealth, people risk their lives, just as birds do for food. The value of the Black Giant Salamander was enough to make many willing to take the risk.
Old Mei put away the healing pills, his expression unchanged, and continued questioning, "Do you understand how troublesome the Black Giant Salamander is to deal with?"
"Firstly, with our collective strength at the Spirit Sea stage, it’s absolutely impossible to kill the Black Giant Salamander, which possesses regenerative abilities. We can’t inflict any effective damage on it."
"In other words, it would only be attacking us while we couldn’t retaliate. How would we even fight it?"
"If we can’t hurt it no matter what, wouldn’t we just be delivering ourselves as food?"
Everyone stared intently into Master Wei’s eyes, waiting for his explanation.
Master Wei smiled wryly and patiently explained, "Of course, I understand that we cannot kill the Black Giant Salamander with our strength alone."
"I’ve already mentioned that I have a powerful formation disk that can trap the Black Giant Salamander completely. Once trapped, it cannot escape."
"This formation is called the 'Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation.' The complete version of this formation can even trap a Divine Dragon. You should be familiar with its reputation."
"My plan is to use the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation to trap the Black Giant Salamander. While we can’t kill it, we can still work together to extract some of its blood and flesh."
"Using its blood and flesh, we can amass enough wealth to break through to the Gu King stage. Once we’ve reached the Gu King stage, we can then kill it."
Master Wei clenched his fists, his face revealing excitement. Suddenly, he turned to everyone and warned:
"Don’t even think about keeping it alive to harvest its blood and flesh endlessly. While the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation can trap it temporarily, it won’t hold it forever."
"When the formation becomes severely damaged, we’ll still have to kill it."
"Otherwise, even if it cannot defeat us, it can retreat into the water. Once it returns to the water, there’s no way we’ll ever find it again."
"I’ve calculated that the Dragon-Sealing Heaven and Earth Formation can trap it for roughly one year. In that time, at least one of us should be able to break through to the Gu King stage."
"And once someone achieves the Gu King stage, I’ll have a way to take the life of this Black Giant Salamander," Master Wei’s eyes flashed with a chilling light.
At this point, everyone appeared deep in thought. It was true that, as Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators, killing the Black Giant Salamander was impossible. However, merely extracting some of its blood and flesh before escaping was achievable.
Just a little bit of its blood and flesh would bring unimaginable wealth. Such wealth would allow this group of Spirit Sea pinnacle Gu cultivators to quickly break through to the Gu King stage.
Unsurprisingly, everyone seemed tempted.
Only Long Xuan’s gaze carried a trace of contemplation, and he sneered internally.
He recalled Master Wei once telling him that transactions between low-realm and high-realm individuals were taboo. Master Wei didn’t dare directly ask a Gu King to kill the Black Giant Salamander. For absolute safety, he only dared to hire Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators.
But now, Master Wei intended to wait for this group to break through to the Gu King stage before killing the salamander. What then? He didn’t trust other Gu Kings, but he trusted these newly ascended ones?
Was he not afraid that someone, after breaking through to the Gu King stage, might develop thoughts of monopolizing the salamander and eliminate those who hadn’t yet advanced?
The value of the Black Giant Salamander was immense, enough to make such betrayals highly probable.
It was clear that Master Wei himself would never be the first to break through to the Gu King stage, as he was only at the Mid-Spiritual Sea stage. It would take him at least another ten years to advance.
Where did he get the confidence to negotiate with a group of Gu Kings while still at the Mid-Spiritual Sea stage?
This scheming, overweight man must have a hidden plan.
Suddenly realizing something, Long Xuan hurriedly used his Heavenly Eye to inspect the others.
As the Eye of Heavenly Secret continued to evolve, its clairvoyant abilities had grown increasingly powerful.
At this moment, he clearly saw that, apart from himself and Master Wei, everyone else had a strange insect with many tentacles attached to their brain, like an octopus tightly gripping their brain matter.
Good heavens! No wonder Master Wei wasn’t afraid of these Gu Kings. The spiritual pills he had sold to this group must have contained these insects.
No wonder Master Wei sought out this group. Not only were they highly skilled, but they had all purchased his pills and could now be controlled by him.
In other words, even if this group broke through to the Gu King stage, they would still be under Master Wei’s control. Otherwise, he would never dare to trust them enough for such a risky transaction.
At this moment, Long Xuan was deeply shocked. Master Wei had managed to control so many Gu Kings with such a method.
What did he intend to do with so many Gu Kings under his control?
How many others in the city had also purchased his pills? How many people could he control in total?
Master Wei’s ambitions were far from small!
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