The passage beneath Toad Back had clearly been carved out only recently.
The marks left by the excavation above were still fresh.
It seemed the Liu Family had indeed only just developed the Exotic Beast formula.
Lu Changfeng peered into the passage, his heart stirring faintly with excitement.
Once he obtained the Exotic Beast formula, his cultivation speed would surge again.
Hopefully, there really is something I want down there.
After descending for more than ten meters,
a stench drifted over.
A several-dozen-square-meter Underground Chamber appeared before Lu Changfeng's eyes.
"Who are you? This Forbidden Area can only be entered by the family head!"
There were two old servants inside the Underground Chamber. Seeing Lu Changfeng and the other man, they immediately demanded answers.
Zhou Feng could not be bothered with words. He stepped forward and killed one of the old men with a single palm strike.
After Zhou Feng struck one man to death, the remaining old servant no longer dared to speak out of turn. He answered every question obediently.
Lu Changfeng, meanwhile, looked toward the center of the Secret Chamber, where three writhing objects lay.
Lu Changfeng walked forward.
Inside a stone cave, three snow-white, writhing creatures were gulping down some kind of medicinal herb.
Every so often, they would produce a lump of eggs from their rear ends.
"These are the eggs of the Silkworm Seed. After fifteen days of cultivation, they'll grow into adults and can be made into Exotic Beast Meat jerky."
"We call this kind of Exotic Beast Meat Silkworm Meat."
The old man beside them removed the eggs and placed them into medicinal liquid held in a ceramic basin.
Lu Changfeng's heart stirred. "How do the effects of Silkworm Meat compare with Earth Dragon Meat?"
"You mean the Wang Family's Earth Dragon Meat? Its effects are roughly seventy percent as strong as Earth Dragon Meat's. Of course, that's compared against top-grade Earth Dragon Head."
"The Earth Dragon Meat the Wang Family sells outside is all the lowest grade. It can't compare with our Silkworm Meat."
"Moreover, the eggs produced by the Silkworm Seed are extremely stable. Basically, every batch is of relatively consistent quality."
The old man explained this with a hint of pride.
"Just how did you find such a treasure?" Lu Changfeng pointed at the three half-meter-tall Silkworm Seeds.
The old man replied, "These are the three we managed to cultivate by luck after our Liu Family spent more than a hundred thousand taels of silver. Only the family head knows the origin of the ancient formula for cultivating them."
Lu Changfeng held out his hand. "Bring me the ancient formula. Let me take a look."
The old man was quite straightforward. He immediately took a booklet from the wall to one side and handed it to Lu Changfeng.
Lu Changfeng opened it and glanced through it. The book seemed to have come from the Near Ancient Era.
This world's history was divided into the Primordial Ancient, Ancient, and Near Ancient eras.
The Near Ancient Era generally referred to the period around ten thousand years ago.
The book recorded how to use medicinal herbs to cultivate Silkworms, as well as the method of using insect-cultivation techniques to raise them into Silkworm Seeds.
The success rate was only around three percent.
What the old man had said about the Liu Family spending more than a hundred thousand taels of silver to cultivate three Silkworm Seeds was probably true. They had already been extraordinarily lucky.
Lu Changfeng tossed the cultivation method to the old man. "Immediately make a copy for me. How are the two of us supposed to divide them?"
The old man said nothing more. He picked up his writing brush and booklet and began copying.
Lu Changfeng looked at the Silkworm Seeds again. Zhou Feng took the initiative to speak. "Junior Brother, your innate foundation is much better than mine, and you need more Exotic Beast Meat than I do. Of these three Silkworm Seeds, you take two and I'll take one."
"This..." Lu Changfeng furrowed his brows slightly.
According to the information recorded in the ancient booklet, one Silkworm Seed could satisfy his cultivation needs through the fourth and fifth levels of Blood Tempering.
But Lu Changfeng did not intend to advance to the Muscle Tendon Realm immediately after reaching the sixth level of Blood Tempering.
He was still young. He wanted to see how far he could cultivate in the nine levels of Blood Tempering.
"All right, it's settled. Besides, without you taking action, we couldn't have killed Liu Hong. This is what you deserve." Zhou Feng added.
Lu Changfeng no longer refused and nodded.
The two of them then took three cages from the room and placed the three Silkworm Seeds inside.
"We still have to keep the Silkworm Seeds confidential."
"To the Liu Family, we'll say that we only obtained one."
"Externally, we can't leak the slightest bit of information. You should know that the other three Martial Arts Schools in the Outer City don't have an Exotic Beast formula." Lu Changfeng spoke.
Zhou Feng nodded. "You're right. I'll be careful."
Lu Changfeng lifted the cages. It seemed that after returning, he would have to move back into his own Small Courtyard.
Meanwhile, the old man had finished copying the Silkworm Seed formula.
Lu Changfeng took the booklets, dividing them so that he and Zhou Feng each had one.
The old man, however, made a move that took Lu Changfeng by surprise.
While Lu Changfeng was not paying attention, he took a dagger from beside him and plunged it into his own chest, killing himself.
The old man must have guessed what had happened to the Liu Family and chosen to accompany them in death.
Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng searched the Secret Chamber once more. After taking some processed Silkworm Meat with them, they left.
The back of the Toad Stone Carving opened again, and Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng emerged from inside.
With Silkworm Seeds on them, the two did not want to run into anyone from the Liu Family.
They climbed over the courtyard wall, then climbed over the walls of the Inner City.
The Inner City's walls were seven or eight meters tall. They could stop ordinary soldiers, but to the two men at the fourth and fifth levels of Blood Tempering, they were nothing.
After returning to the Outer City, Lu Changfeng parted ways with Zhou Feng.
Lu Changfeng returned to the Small Courtyard where he had not lived for a long time.
After more than a year, the Small Courtyard was still fairly clean. Chun Zhu was sentimental and came by to clean it every so often.
It also prevented vagrants from breaking in.
Lu Changfeng put down the Silkworm Seeds and went to the kitchen beside the main room.
Taking out a hoe, Lu Changfeng began digging.
After half a day, Lu Changfeng had dug a small cellar that could be used to secretly raise the Silkworm Seeds.
The physical strength and power of Blood Tempering Realm Martial Artists were terrifying. If used for farming, they would certainly be perfectly suited to it.
After finishing the cellar, Lu Changfeng placed the Silkworm Seeds inside.
He then went to the street and bought medicinal herbs.
These herbs were food for the Silkworm Seeds, and their price was completely within Lu Changfeng's means.
The medicinal dregs could also be made into medicinal liquid for hatching Silkworm Seed eggs.
He did not know about Earth Dragon Meat, but the source of Silkworm Meat truly offered enormous profits for minimal investment. The two- or threefold profit Lu Changfeng had imagined earlier had still been limited by his imagination.
Of course, if the Liu Family's initial cultivation expenses were included, it was not something ordinary people could afford.
After settling the Silkworm Seeds, Lu Changfeng returned to the Martial Arts School and told his master that he and Chun Zhu would be moving out.
The Martial Arts School had too many people and too many prying eyes. It was clearly unsuitable for cultivating Silkworm Seeds.
Zhang Desheng did not mind. He merely assumed that Lu Changfeng wanted more private space with Chun Zhu.
Lu Changfeng brought Chun Zhu back to the Small Courtyard.
Chun Zhu seemed extremely happy, thinking that Lu Changfeng wanted to arrange the Small Courtyard because he had some other intentions.
When Lu Changfeng brought Chun Zhu into the cellar, she was stunned.
"When I'm busy in the future, you'll have to help me take care of these two Silkworm Seeds."
"With these two Silkworm Seeds, not only can I break through to the Muscle Tendon Realm—you can too!"
After her shock, Chun Zhu obediently nodded. The moment she realized that Lu Changfeng was sharing even such a top-level secret with her,
she immediately threw herself into Lu Changfeng's arms, her tenderness flowing like water.
The next day, Lu Changfeng, Zhou Feng, and Liu Ye tacitly met at the Martial Arts School.
After having a lavish meal at a restaurant, they each returned to attend to their own affairs.
One busied himself with putting his household in order.
Another secluded himself to focus on cultivation.
For a time, the three True Disciples of Changle Martial Arts School gradually appeared less and less often on the Training Ground.
Changle Martial Arts School became even more desolate.
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