Silkworm Seed

The passage beneath the Toad Back had clearly been dug out just recently.

The chisel marks above were still quite fresh.

It seemed the Liu Family had indeed only just developed the exotic beast formula.

Lu Changfeng's gaze probed into the passage, and his heart stirred with a trace of excitement.

If he could get his hands on the exotic beast formula, his cultivation speed would once again surge dramatically.

He hoped there really was what he wanted down there.

After descending more than ten meters.

A rank smell wafted over.

An underground chamber of several dozen square meters appeared before Lu Changfeng's eyes.

"Who are you people? This forbidden area can only be entered by the family head!"

Inside the chamber were two old servants, who questioned Lu Changfeng and the other upon seeing them.

Zhou Feng couldn't be bothered with idle talk; he stepped forward and struck one old man dead with a single palm blow.

After Zhou Feng killed one man with a palm strike, the remaining old servant dared not speak unprompted and obediently answered every question.

Meanwhile, Lu Changfeng's gaze fell on the center of the chamber, where three writhing masses sat.

Lu Changfeng walked over.

In a stone cavity, three snow-white, writhing creatures were devouring some kind of medicinal herb in large mouthfuls.

Every so often, eggs would drop from their rear ends.

"These are the eggs of the Silkworm Seed. After fifteen days of incubation, they grow into adults and can be made into exotic beast jerky."

"We call this exotic beast meat Silkworm Meat."

The old man beside them removed the eggs and placed them into a ceramic basin filled with medicinal liquid.

Lu Changfeng's heart stirred: "How does Silkworm Meat's effect compare to Earth Dragon Meat?"

"The Wang Family's Earth Dragon Meat? Its effect is about seventy percent of Earth Dragon Meat, of course compared to the top-grade Earth Dragon Head."

"The Earth Dragon Meat the Wang Family sells in the Outer City is the lowest grade, not as good as our Silkworm Meat."

"Moreover, the eggs laid by the Silkworm Seed are extremely stable; the quality of each batch is essentially consistent."

The old man explained with a hint of pride.

"How did you even find such a treasure?" Lu Changfeng pointed at the three half-meter-tall Silkworm Seeds.

The old man replied: "Our Liu Family spent over a hundred thousand taels of silver to luckily cultivate these three. As for the origin of the ancient cultivation manual, only the family head knows."

Lu Changfeng extended his hand: "Let me see the ancient manual."

The old man was straightforward; he took a booklet from a wall shelf and handed it to Lu Changfeng.

Lu Changfeng opened it and saw that this book should be from the Near Ancient era.

This world's history was divided into the Primordial Ancient, the High Ancient, and the Near Ancient.

The Near Ancient generally referred to the era around ten thousand years ago.

The book recorded methods for cultivating Silkworms with medicinal herbs, then raising them into Silkworm Seeds using the art of raising Gu.

The success rate was only about three percent.

The old man's claim that the Liu Family had spent over a hundred thousand taels to cultivate just three Silkworm Seeds was likely true, and they were already extremely lucky.

Lu Changfeng tossed the cultivation method back to the old man: "Copy me a duplicate immediately. How do we split these three?"

The old man didn't argue; he picked up a brush and began transcribing.

Lu Changfeng then looked at the Silkworm Seeds. Zhou Feng spoke up: "Junior Brother, your bone structure is far better than mine, and you need more exotic beast meat. Take two of these three Silkworm Seeds; I'll take one."

"This..." Lu Changfeng frowned slightly.

According to the ancient manual, one Silkworm Seed could sustain his cultivation through Blood Tempering Fourth Level and Fifth Level.

But Lu Changfeng had no intention of advancing to Sinew Transformation at Blood Tempering Sixth Level.

He was still young and wanted to try for Blood Tempering Ninth Level—to see how far he could push.

"Alright, it's settled. Besides, if you hadn't acted against Liu Hong, we couldn't have killed him. This is your due." Zhou Feng added.

Lu Changfeng didn't refuse any longer and nodded.

The two then took three cages from the room and loaded the three Silkworm Seeds into them.

"We still need to keep the Silkworm Seeds secret."

"To the Liu Family, we'll say we only got one."

"To outsiders, we can't leak a single word. Remember, none of the other three major martial halls in the Outer City have exotic beast formulas." Lu Changfeng said.

Zhou Feng nodded. "You're right. I'll be careful."

Lu Changfeng lifted the cage. It seemed that after returning, he would have to move back to living in his own small courtyard.

On the other side, the Old Man finished copying the Silkworm Seed formula.

Lu Changfeng took the booklet and distributed one copy each to himself and Zhou Feng.

The Old Man then did something that caught Lu Changfeng off guard.

While Lu Changfeng wasn't paying attention, he grabbed a nearby dagger and stabbed it into his own chest, committing suicide.

The Old Man must have guessed the Liu Family's fate and chose to die with them.

Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng inspected the Secret Chamber once more, took some of the prepared Silkworm Meat, and left the place.

The Toad Stone Carving's back opened again, and the two of them stepped out.

Carrying the Silkworm Seeds, it wasn't convenient for them to run into the Liu Family.

So they vaulted over the courtyard wall, then scaled the Inner City wall.

The Inner City wall was seven or eight meters high, enough to block ordinary Troopers, but it was nothing for two people at Blood Tempering Fourth Level.

Back in the Outer City, Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng parted ways.

Lu Changfeng returned to his Small Courtyard, which he hadn't lived in for a long time.

After more than a year, the Small Courtyard was still fairly clean, because Chun Zhu was nostalgic and came over every so often to tidy up.

It also kept some Vagrants from breaking in.

Lu Changfeng set down the Silkworm Seeds and went to the kitchen at the back of the main hall.

He took out a hoe and started digging.

In half a day, Lu Changfeng had dug a small Cellar, which could be used to secretly raise the Silkworm Seeds.

The physical strength and power of a Blood Tempering Realm Martial Artist were terrifying—if used for farming, they'd certainly be well-suited.

After the Cellar was dug, Lu Changfeng placed the Silkworm Seeds inside.

Then he went to the street to buy medicinal herbs.

These herbs were food for the Silkworm Seeds, and the price was well within Lu Changfeng's means.

The leftover dregs could also be made into a liquid medicine to hatch the Silkworm Seed eggs.

He didn't know about Earth Dragon Meat, but the source of Silkworm Meat was a surefire profit—his earlier thoughts of two or three times the profit had still been limited by his imagination.

Of course, counting the Liu Family's early investment in cultivation costs, it wasn't something ordinary people could afford either.

After settling the Silkworm Seeds, Lu Changfeng returned to the martial arts school and told his master that he and Chun Zhu were moving out.

The martial arts school had too many people and prying eyes, clearly unsuitable for raising Silkworm Seeds.

Zhang Desheng didn't mind, just assuming Lu Changfeng wanted more private space with Chun Zhu.

Lu Changfeng brought Chun Zhu back to the Small Courtyard.

Chun Zhu seemed very happy, thinking Lu Changfeng wanted to fix up the Small Courtyard for some other reason.

When Lu Changfeng led Chun Zhu into the Cellar, she was stunned.

"When I'm busy, you'll have to help me take care of these two Silkworm Seeds."

"With these two Silkworm Seeds, not just me, but you can also break through to the Muscle Tendon Realm!"

After her shock, Chun Zhu obediently nodded. The moment she thought that Lu Changfeng would share even this top-tier secret with her, she melted into his arms with tender affection.

The next day, Lu Changfeng, Zhou Feng, and Liu Ye met at the martial arts school by unspoken agreement.

After a big meal at the tavern, they each went back to their own business.

Some sorted out their family affairs.

Others focused on closed-door cultivation.

For a time, the three True Disciples of Changle Martial Arts School gradually appeared less and less on the Training Ground.

Changle Martial Arts School grew even more desolate.