Jade Cloud Ganoderma

Through the mist of the black night, Wei Suo emerged from the valley where the Teleportation Array stood and saw, dimly visible among the distant mountains, many ruined buildings and swaying lights.

The dilapidated ruins scattered through those mountain forests were relics left behind from ancient times. They were extremely old, many weathered beyond recognition. Among the five or six mountain ranges of Sheep Bone Mountain, there were countless remnants of damaged buildings; in ancient times, this place must have been either a great city or an important stronghold. The swaying lights among the mountains were likely the lamps within Tianyi Sect's Refining Crystal mine.

Refining Crystal was a unique kind of crystal. With just a little scorching flame, it would melt, yet once the melted Refining Crystal solidified again, not only could it endure far greater heat and become much harder to melt, it also became sturdier than many refined metals. Because it was easy to shape and exceptionally durable, Refining Crystal was widely used in crafting magic artifacts, especially defensive magic shields.

There was only one Refining Crystal mine near Lingyue City, located in Sheep Bone Mountain and controlled by Tianyi Sect. Tianyi Sect generally had experts of the Circulation Realm or above guarding this vein, while many low-level cultivators and ordinary mortals worked inside day and night, mining for the sect.

Although Wei Suo also found Tianyi Sect's conduct in monopolizing the entire mine rather shameless, even if the whole Refining Crystal vein were laid before him, it would have been useless. Before melting, the semi-transparent white Refining Crystal, and after melting, the black Refining Crystal, existed only in small pieces embedded within massive chunks of mixed rock. Only vast manpower could mine enough of it to matter. Still, those swaying lights brought some comfort to Wei Suo as he stood amid the pitch-black wilderness mountains.

After making his way through the dark mountain forest for more than half an hour, Wei Suo finally reached the entrance to the Stone Maggot Cave that Nangong Yuqing had mentioned.

It was a limestone cave with a flat entrance, several yards wide on its own. It looked like a gigantic beast opening its maw, ready to swallow people whole in a single bite.

Seeing no sign of Nangong Yuqing near the entrance, Wei Suo did not panic. He immediately took out one of the three communication jade talismans on him. As a hazy purple stream of True Essence flowed into it, all three communication jade talismans on his body emitted brilliant light. Only moments later, Nangong Yuqing, clad in that tight red soft armor, hurried out from the cave.

"You're pretty clever, knowing to use this method to let me know you'd arrived." The instant Nangong Yuqing saw Wei Suo at the entrance, she said, "I already sent you several messages with the communication jade talisman. I really couldn't wait any longer, so I rushed here first. Why did you only arrive now?"

"Was there something urgent? Looking for me at a time like this?" Wei Suo cast a somewhat regretful glance at Nangong Yuqing's soft armor, for he discovered that every tear in it had been repaired. There was practically no trace left, much less anything else to see. Seeing the slight anxiety on Nangong Yuqing's face, he swiftly explained, "I went to Qingming Mountain today. We were probably too far apart, so I couldn't see the messages you sent through the communication jade talisman."

"How many Fireball Talismans do you have on you?" Nangong Yuqing asked directly.

Wei Suo found that a little strange and glanced at her. "Around eighty, I think?"

"Around eighty?" Nangong Yuqing apparently had not expected Wei Suo to possess so many Fireball Talismans, and she froze for a moment. "Time is tight. Let's talk as we walk." Yet she immediately turned around and led the way. For some reason, although Wei Suo had kept her waiting for quite some time, and although she had feared he would not arrive in time and had found a way to notify Tie Ce's other members to come as well, she had never believed that Wei Suo would deliberately fail to come.

"What? Jade Cloud Ganoderma?" Wei Suo followed Nangong Yuqing into the Stone Maggot Cave. Strange stalactites filled the cave, and the air was extremely damp. Yet after Nangong Yuqing had said only a few words, Wei Suo was utterly startled.

The reason Nangong Yuqing had urgently sought Wei Suo out was that she had chased a level-three Five-Colored Centipede all the way into this Stone Maggot Cave, only to discover, in one of its side passages, a Jade Cloud Ganoderma that was about to mature.

There were many rare treasures of heaven and earth that could only be harvested within a certain period, lest their spiritual energy dissipate. If one missed the moment after they matured, their spiritual energy would completely vanish in a very short time. Jade Cloud Ganoderma was one such treasure. It was a white ganoderma, crystal clear and translucent, and it even emitted a jade-like radiance at night. The greatest effect of this spiritual medicine was that it could allow demonic beasts below level five to advance!

In other words, if a demonic beast below level five swallowed a mature Jade Cloud Ganoderma, it could immediately advance one level, just as cultivators below the Mind Splitting Realm immediately advanced one level after taking the Void Merging Pills refined by Ji Ya.

This spiritual medicine was also immensely significant to cultivators. Many sects now, such as the Golden Vulture Palace where Li Honglin belonged, could raise and tame demonic beasts. If one had tamed a peak level-four demonic beast and fed it a Jade Cloud Ganoderma, allowing that peak level-four beast to advance into a level-five demonic beast, it would be equivalent to greatly increasing that cultivator's own strength. After all, even a mid-level-four Unicorn Thunder Viper had already made Wei Suo feel as if he were in heaven one moment and hell the next.

To such sects and cultivators, this spiritual medicine was priceless. Moreover, because it was inherently rare, its maturity period lasted only one day and one night, and it would immediately wither and lose all spiritual energy once that period passed, Jade Cloud Ganoderma had no fixed value at all on the Tianxuan Continent. One thing was certain: it was absolutely worthy of being consigned to Golden Jade Pavilion for auction at a major sale.

"There are two of them." As though she felt Wei Suo had not been shocked enough, Nangong Yuqing, who was hurrying ahead, added another sentence.

"Damn!" Wei Suo was truly stunned this time. Two Jade Cloud Ganodermas—did that not mean that even if one had tamed a mid-level-four demonic beast, feeding it two Jade Ganodermas in succession could immediately let it advance two levels and become a level-five demonic beast? But Wei Suo also knew very well that powerful demonic beasts were bound to lurk around treasures like this, which were like Void Merging Pills for demonic beasts. Demonic beasts ranged far more widely than cultivators, went into every filthy place imaginable, and possessed senses of smell and sensitivity to the aura of spiritual medicines that far surpassed those of cultivators. So Wei Suo hurriedly asked, "What level is the demonic beast guarding the Jade Cloud Ganoderma?"

"A peak level-four Wind Spirit Howler," Nangong Yuqing answered swiftly.

"No way, another level four!" Wei Suo instantly let out a miserable cry. The Wind Spirit Howler was a strange beast that looked somewhat like a giant eagle, except it had four claws and a long tail like a monkey's. Not only could it unleash extremely sharp wind blades formed from astral winds, but its feathers could also fall away and shoot out like sharp arrows. Most importantly, a peak level-four demonic beast like this could clearly spit out a demonic core to scare people, just like the Unicorn Thunder Viper.

Nangong Yuqing seemed somewhat puzzled by Wei Suo's use of the word "another." She turned slightly and glanced at him. "Don't worry. Leave this Wind Spirit Howler to me when the time comes."

"Mm-hm." Nangong Yuqing's exceptionally calm expression made Wei Suo immediately think of the Magic Treasure Fragment on her body, capable of effortlessly killing level-three demonic beasts. He nodded in understanding, but moments later, he could not help asking, "Since you can handle that Wind Spirit Howler, why did you call me along? Did you think the long night was too lonely and empty by yourself?"

"Lonely and empty, my ass! You can still joke at a time like this?" Nangong Yuqing glared fiercely at Wei Suo. "Besides us, there are also around thirty Ice Snow Mantises interested in those two Jade Cloud Ganodermas. They only dared not enter because of that Wind Spirit Howler, so they're currently locked in a standoff with it in a cave outside."

"Damn, big sis, are you joking with me? Around thirty Ice Snow Mantises? How many pieces are you trying to have me sliced into?" The moment Wei Suo heard this, he nearly turned around and ran.

After spending so much time with the Green Robe Old Man, Wei Suo now knew that the Cultivation World had not contained so many demonic beasts tens of thousands of years ago. Later, two great ancient powers had fought, and one of them deliberately drew down many stars, shattering numerous spatial passages and bringing down countless varieties of demonic beasts. These demonic beasts had later all been named by cultivators. Ice Snow Mantises, for instance, were ice-element demonic beasts that resembled giant mantises more than half a person tall, hence their name. But these Ice Snow Mantises were genuine peak level-three demonic beasts. Not only could they spray freezing cold breath, their forelimbs, shaped like two great blades, were also deadly tools for killing, dismembering, and erasing all traces. Handling one or two would certainly not be a problem, but if over thirty of them swarmed forward at once, Wei Suo figured he would only have the choice of obediently taking the blade.

"What are you afraid of? Do you think I called you here to send you to your death?" Nangong Yuqing glared at Wei Suo. "I've checked several times already. Those thirty-odd Ice Snow Mantises have been confronting the Wind Spirit Howler inside from a cave outside where the Jade Cloud Ganoderma grows. That cave is not small, but neither the passage leading from it to the cave where the Wind Spirit Howler and the Jade Cloud Ganoderma are, nor the passage leading outside, is very wide. The two of us should be able to block them. And ice-element demonic beasts are naturally weaker against fire-element techniques. As long as we block the exit and you keep activating Fireball Talismans, they should have only two choices: either be burned to death inside by your Fireball Talismans, or charge inside and fight the Wind Spirit Howler to the death."

"You should've said so earlier. You scared my poor little heart into pounding all over the place." Wei Suo gave a chuckle. "Firing Fireball Talismans and the like is what I'm best at."

Just as Wei Suo said this to Nangong Yuqing, the Teleportation Array on Sheep Bone Mountain flashed with spiritual light, and two cultivators emerged from it. One was a young male cultivator in a red robe, with a trace of helplessness on his face. Beside him stood an enchanting young girl whose face was filled with excitement. This excited girl wore silver magic robes, and she was none other than Han Weiwei, from whom Wei Suo had stolen two Stone-tailed Wall Lizards.

(At the suggestion of some readers, the schedule for the three daily updates will change slightly starting tomorrow. The first update will be at ten in the morning, the second at five in the afternoon, and the third at nine at night. Any extra update will be around midnight. Three consecutive updates—everyone, please cast more red votes in support!)