Mantis Demon Shrimp

"Indeed!"

Shopkeeper Ding told him that the Qingyun Sect had discovered a hidden spiritual land in the Savage Plains, which contained one Third-grade Spirit Vein and several Second-Rank Spirit Veins.

However, the area surrounding that hidden spiritual land was inhabited by a vast number of Yao Birds and Yao Beasts.

This land reclamation mission was essentially a campaign to exterminate the Yao Birds and Yao Beasts surrounding the hidden spiritual land.

A Third-grade Spirit Vein!

This was a high-level cultivation site suitable for a Core Formation True Person.

As expected, high returns usually come with high risks!

Shen Xuan pondered to himself.

A Third-grade Spirit Vein would very likely be occupied by a Third-Order Yao King.

That was a terrifying existence comparable to a Core Formation True Person!

In the eyes of a Third-Order Yao King, a Qi Refining Cultivator wouldn't even count as a side dish.

At most, they were a tiny bean sprout, not even enough to get stuck between its teeth!

The terrain of the Savage Plains was complex and teeming with Yao Beasts, and it was perpetually shrouded in a poisonous mist that obstructed Spiritual Sense.

Therefore, the Qingyun Sect needed a large number of Rogue Cultivators to enlist for Corvée Labor, acting as cannon fodder to explore and pave the way for them.

Thinking of this, Shen Xuan immediately dismissed the idea of participating in the land reclamation.

Returning home.

Shen Xuan sold twenty High-grade Spring Return Talismans to Zhao Chunsheng at a discount.

He only charged fifty Spirit Stones.

He gave up a ten Spirit Stone margin, allowing Zhao Chunsheng to make a profit.

After the transaction was completed, Zhao Chunsheng's face lit up with joy.

"Talisman Master Shen, will there be more next month?"

"There will be."

"That's good!"

Zhao Chunsheng smiled particularly happily.

"To be honest with you, Talisman Master Shen, these High-grade Spring Return Talismans were already spoken for. If there weren't any in the future, I wouldn't even dare to step outside."

"You, really!"

Shen Xuan shook his head: "Take it easy! Don't make too many promises."

After seeing Zhao Chunsheng off, Shen Xuan changed his attire, cast the Breath Concealment Technique, and disguised himself as a young Qi Refining Level 3 cultivator to go out for a stroll.

He wandered around the Marketplace but didn't find any Water Attribute Yao Beasts that moved him.

Later, he walked into a bookstore.

This place sold Cultivation Methods, Spell Jade Slips, and various Cultivation Classics.

These included various cultivation legends, travelogues, Cultivation Insights, and so on.

However, these Cultivation Classics were not guaranteed to be authentic and were cheap, selling for only one Spirit Stone per volume.

Shen Xuan flipped through them, but they were all common goods not worth spending Spirit Stones on.

"Customer, you've been looking for a long time, is there anything you fancy?" the Shop Assistant asked in a low voice as he stepped forward.

"These are too ordinary." Shen Xuan found a reason to brush him off.

Why spend Spirit Stones to buy them when he could read them for free!

The shop owner came over personally to attend to him.

"This fellow Daoist, what do you need?"

"Do you have any classics that introduce various Yao Beasts?"

"Naturally, I do."

The shop owner took a jade slip from the bookshelf.

Shen Xuan took the jade slip and saw the name on the cover.

Savage Plains Yao Beast Illustrated Guide.

The place where the Qingyun Sect was conducting land reclamation was called the Savage Plains, a place rarely visited by humans.

It spanned hundreds of thousands of miles, featuring swamps, forests, deserts, wetlands, barren mountains, and more, with harsh environments and volatile weather.

But more importantly, it was home to all kinds of Yao Beasts, Yao Birds, Yao Insects, spiritual plants, spiritual flowers, spiritual herbs, Cultivation Ore, and more.

For cultivation sects whose resources were becoming increasingly scarce due to over-exploitation, it was undoubtedly a treasure trove rich in resources.

Every year, the Qingyun Sect organized Rogue Cultivators for land reclamation, searching for hidden spiritual lands and purchasing Yao Beast meat, spiritual flowers, spiritual herbs, various ores, Artifact Refining Material, and other supplies at low prices to scavenge for cultivation resources.

This Savage Plains Yao Beast Illustrated Guide was filled with pictures and text, introducing the characteristics and abilities of the various Yao Beasts discovered in the Savage Plains.

"How many Spirit Stones?"

"Four Spirit Stones."

"Three Spirit Stones."

Shen Xuan bargained instinctively.

"Sorry, this shop does not haggle."

"I want to examine it first."

"Very well!"

Shen Xuan pressed the Jade Slip to his forehead, sweeping his Spiritual Sense through the contents.

He had only seen the descriptions of a dozen or so Monster Beasts before being blocked by the restrictions on the Jade Slip.

"Four Spirit Stones! I'll buy it, but throw in a book on Cultivation Insights!"

The shopkeeper reluctantly agreed.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. These Cultivation Insights aren't guaranteed to be authentic. Read them if you like, but whatever you do, don't practice them blindly! Don't blame me if you suffer from Cultivation Deviation!"

"Thank you for the warning, boss!"

Shen Xuan picked out the book with the most prominent title.

True Person Qingxu's Essays.

A True Person!

Only cultivators who have reached the Core Formation Realm are qualified to be called a True Person!

Shen Xuan flipped through it; there were no Cultivation Methods or techniques inside, nor were there any Cultivation Insights. Instead, it was filled with leisurely prose.

"I'll take this one!"

Regardless, this was the work of a Core Formation True Person!

Returning home, Shen Xuan couldn't wait to flip through True Person Qingxu's Essays.

Most of it recorded his anecdotes and reflections.

"Regarding Wealth, Companions, Dharma, and Place, I believe Place is the most important. Without an Innate Spirit Land, a cultivator is like water without a source, unable to make any progress!"

"The Xuan Yuan Continent was once a whole, but later split for various reasons. The Innate Spirit Lands broke into countless smaller spirit lands, each developing its own spirit veins and radiating spiritual energy."

After reading True Person Qingxu's Essays, Shen Xuan gained a general understanding of the cultivation world.

The most important thing for a cultivator is to absorb spiritual energy and turn it into their own use.

The source of spiritual energy is inextricably linked to spirit veins.

All the Major Sects occupy the high-grade spirit veins of the Xuan Yuan Continent.

The remaining Small and medium Sects divide up the mid-grade spirit veins.

The remaining low-grade spirit veins are occupied by various Cultivation Families.

The entire Xuan Yuan Continent has formed a pyramid structure with distinct ranks.

The number of Rogue Cultivators is the largest; they live at the very bottom, working like beasts of burden for the cultivators above them.

The higher a cultivator's Cultivation Realm, the more they need high-grade spirit veins to supply spiritual energy.

When a High-grade Cultivator enters the mortal world, their cultivation will rapidly decline. They become a source of spiritual energy themselves, and the surrounding rocks and trees may benefit, becoming spirits.

Therefore, there is a reason why Monster Beasts like to devour the bodies of cultivators.

In the eyes of a Monster Beast, a cultivator is a walking source of spiritual energy.

The essence is also the plundering of the cultivator's spiritual energy.

It is not just cultivators.

Dharma Treasures also need to be nourished by spiritual energy.

No matter how powerful a Dharma Treasure is, if placed in a land devoid of spiritual energy like the mortal world, its spirituality will dissipate, eventually becoming scrap metal.

Spirit Pills, Talismans, and so on, all follow the same principle.

That is why special medicine bottles and Jade Boxes are needed for storage.

Just like the principle of a Spirit Gathering Array, they confine the spiritual energy within a certain range.

True Person Qingxu believed that spiritual energy is the foundation of a cultivator, and spirit veins are the foundation of spiritual energy.

Whether it is a cultivator or a Monster Beast, they are actually spirit bodies that harvest spiritual energy.

The denser the spiritual energy in the body, the higher the Cultivation Realm.

Spiritual power, demonic power, and so on, are all external manifestations of spiritual energy.

The entire collection of essays is actually True Person Qingxu's reflections on spiritual energy.

The logic is very simple.

"No wonder it only sells for one Spirit Stone!"

For ordinary cultivators, reading it is the same as not reading it at all.

Shen Xuan had a sudden realization, piercing through the fog to reach the core of the matter.

In his view, the Mysterious Jade Talisman's act of plundering talents was essentially plundering the hidden spiritual power within the Yao beast's bloodline, turning it into his own use to strengthen his own spiritual power and amplify the effects of his techniques.

The principle is the same as how cultivators use Yao beast inner cores to refine Spirit Pills to boost their own Cultivation Realm.

Devilish Cultivators devouring Essence Blood and extracting souls to refine them is, in fact, also treating cultivators as spiritual bodies that can be absorbed.

The True Person Qingxu's Essays only contained about ten thousand words, so he finished reading it quickly.

Shen Xuan then flipped open the Savage Plains Yao Beast Illustrated Guide.

It recorded over three thousand common Yao beasts of the Savage Plains, ranging from Tier 1 Low-grade to Third-Order Yao King, covering a vast variety of species.

"Water Attribute, First-Order Middle Grade, possesses a special Bloodline Talent, preferably numerous in population, and the price cannot be too expensive."

These were the requirements Shen Xuan had for the Yao beast whose talent he wanted to plunder.

Finally, he found a suitable target beast.

The Mantis Shrimp, a Demon Shrimp that delivers critical strikes with its punches underwater!