Three Ancient Books, priced at 10 Academic Credits.
People had already started mocking the post below.
[Have they gone mad trying to earn Academic Credits? They want to sell three worthless books for 10 credits?]
[Those cultivation manuals that claim to be immortal cultivation secrets only sell for two Academic Credits, right? And you want 10 for some medicinal herb compendium?]
[What idiot would buy this kind of thing?]
Zhou Lu did not even look at the comments. He placed the order without hesitation.
As the 10 Academic Credits entered the third-party platform established by the school, Zhou Lu also entered a private chat with the seller.
Zhou Lu: [Senior, how are we making the trade? Do we need to find a meetup location? Do we need masks?]
Senior: [???]
Zhou Lu: [Could it be that you have an even more secret trading channel, Senior?]
Senior: [Cafeteria entrance in half an hour. We're not trading anything illegal...]
Fine. The classic university student meetup spot: the cafeteria entrance.
Zhou Lu had thought that these Ancient Books, which recorded the evolution route of a demonic spirit beast destined to destroy the world in the future, would be mysterious artifacts with some special power.
But when Zhou Lu got his hands on them, he found they were merely several compendiums of ancient medicinal herbs, and incomplete ones at that.
However, when Zhou Lu accepted the Ancient Books from the senior's hands, the system displayed a task completion notification.
That meant these three tattered old books truly were the Ancient Books that recorded Huohuo's Special Evolution route.
With a trace of curiosity, Zhou Lu returned to the dorm.
"What?! You spent 10 Academic Credits on three crappy books?" Upon hearing Zhou Lu's explanation, Xiao Xi's eyes widened. "Are you insane?"
As she spoke, she snatched the books from Zhou Lu's hands and flipped through them. "Let me see whether the paper is made of gold, or the words are written in gold."
The moment her words fell, Xiao Xi frowned when she saw the text in the books.
"How is it?" Zhou Lu asked cautiously.
Xiao Xi did not answer. Instead, she glanced at Huohuo, who was playing with marbles beside Zhou Lu.
"Did you buy these because you knew what was inside?" Xiao Xi asked sternly.
Zhou Lu did not answer, only fell silent.
But silence was also an answer.
Xiao Xi sighed. "You're playing with fire. Still, I never expected Dream Rain Flower to be able to undergo Special Evolution and become Nine Lives Immortal Grass."
"Huh? Isn't it Endless Rose?"
"What kind of name is that?" Xiao Xi wore a puzzled expression.
Zhou Lu coughed twice and changed the subject. "Is there something wrong with this Nine Lives Immortal Grass?"
"It's a main ingredient of the Foundation Establishment Pill..." Xiao Xi stopped halfway through and looked at Zhou Lu warily. "Why should I tell you that?"
After a pause, she shook her head. "Even if you know, it's useless. There can no longer be immortals in this era anyway."
"Why?"
"Nine Lives Immortal Grass has already gone extinct." Xiao Xi looked at Huohuo, who was playing with marbles, then tossed the book into Zhou Lu's arms. "And even if you know its Special Evolution route, it's still useless. All the materials it requires have either gone extinct or vanished."
"Otherwise, why do you think those Beast Slaves who grew medicine and raised beasts for immortals were able to become the new rulers? Because no new cultivators were being born anymore. They only needed to wipe out the existing immortals."
"Huh? Is that something you can say?" Hearing Xiao Xi's words, Zhou Lu's heart stirred. "And you're not charging me?"
Xiao Xi had flown halfway forward when she heard him. She could not help glancing back at Zhou Lu, then smiled. "An intelligence trade. I learned Dream Rain Flower's Special Evolution route, and I told you this useless information. That way, I don't have to give you Fairy Coins."
"Damn! You're so sinister." Zhou Lu wore a pained expression.
"I'm sleepy. I'm going back to sleep." Xiao Xi seemed to be in a somewhat worse mood as she flew toward her room.
When the wall had been repaired for the second time, she had deliberately left a small door in it so she could come and go whenever she wanted.
There was no helping it. Otherwise, Huohuo would wedge her into the door crack every day, and she did not want to experience the embarrassment of having her butt stuck in a door crack again.
After Xiao Xi left, Zhou Lu immediately opened the compendium.
Turning to the entry for Nine Lives Immortal Grass, he saw a short note: Grind Sky Profound Stone, Life Begging Grass, and Nine Thunder Candle Grass into powder and mix them with Ghostly Phosphorus Powder. Stir in Vermilion Bird Manure Soil, plant Dream Rain Flower on top, and let it be rained on in the Extreme Ice Land for seven days. The Dream Rain Flower can then transform into Nine Lives Immortal Grass.
The moment Zhou Lu read those words, his head began to ache.
What the hell are all these materials? I got full marks in Spirit Beast Compendium class, didn't I? Why does it feel like I've never even heard of a single one?
With a sliver of hope, Zhou Lu searched online.
There were absolutely no records of Sky Profound Stone or Ghostly Phosphorus Powder. There were some clues about the Extreme Ice Land, though—it should be inside a C-Class Secret Realm.
There were records of Life Begging Grass and Nine Thunder Candle Grass—but they were freaking fossils!
Vermilion Bird Manure Soil was even more absurd.
Wasn't the Vermilion Bird some bird from myth and legend?
Vermilion Bird Manure Soil... So divine birds took dumps too?
With those complaints in mind, Zhou Lu opened the system.
The moment he did, the system gave Zhou Lu a task:
Optional Task Eight: Seize Vermilion Bird Manure Soil Task Description: Vermilion Bird Manure Soil is a required material for Dream Rain Flower's Special Evolution. It is located within the C1422 Secret Realm. Please obtain this material before Zhou Lu does and prevent the birth of Endless Rose. Task Reward: Select any Spirit Beast Skill Card (B-Class) *3
Seeing this System Task, Zhou Lu was immediately overjoyed.
So Vermilion Bird Manure Soil really existed!
But when he saw that there were no other tasks afterward, his heart sank again.
Just one material was not enough for Huohuo to undergo Special Evolution...
So, he turned his attention to the task reward.
System Optional Task Two: Obtain materials related to Endless Rose's Special Evolution first Task Complete. Task Reward: Select any Spirit Beast Evolution Material *5
Could it be...
With that faint fantasy in mind, Zhou Lu opened the system reward.
A material selection interface immediately popped up.
Sky Profound Stone, Life Begging Grass, Nine Thunder Candle Grass, Ghostly Phosphorus Powder...
All the materials Zhou Lu had either failed to find before or found only as fossils were actually present in this material selection interface!
At that moment, Zhou Lu suddenly began to doubt what this system was really made of.
Was it here to harm me, or help me...?
Why worry about that now!
Zhou Lu gritted his teeth and directly closed the system interface.
He would wait until he found Vermilion Bird Manure Soil and headed to the Extreme Ice Land before redeeming all these materials at once.
Come to think of it... did it really rain in the Extreme Ice Land? And for seven straight days?
Xiao Xi definitely knew about this. But without Fairy Coins or another intelligence exchange, she absolutely would not tell him.
Zhou Lu took two deep breaths and quickly reined in his thoughts.
Sitting down at his desk, he opened the study guide for the Exploration Permit exam.
No matter what, he had to pass the C-Class Exploration Permit exam first!
Before you continue