Perilous Forage

Chapter 20: Danger While Foraging

A month passed by in total silence.

Throughout this month, Luo Mu absorbed one Snake Eye Fruit every day as usual. Although the process was excruciatingly painful, Luo Mu's astonishing willpower allowed him to persevere.

All of Luo Mu's efforts were rewarded yesterday morning, just as he had hoped, allowing him to successfully break through to the third level of the Qi Refining stage! To advance from the second level to the third in just one month—even Luo Mu himself found this speed shocking.

Overjoyed, Luo Mu grew more confident in his cultivation. However, to his immense frustration, he discovered today that the Snake Eye Fruit, which had enabled his breakthrough, had suddenly lost its original efficacy; the results were no longer as significant as before.

In the end, Luo Mu had to begrudgingly admit that after his realm improved, the amount of Poison Spirit Power required by his dantian had increased. Although the Snake Eye Fruit was a top-grade poisonous fruit and provided a fair amount of power, Luo Mu, having tasted the sweetness of rapid advancement, was no longer satisfied with the status quo.

Over the past month, the Snake Eye Fruit consumed by Luo Mu, combined with what the three Octagonal Spikes had devoured, had depleted more than half of his supply. Now, only about twenty remained.

Because Luo Mu felt it was too extravagant to feed the Octagonal Spikes Ink Crow Grass, he had switched them to the same Snake Eye Fruit he used himself, while saving the Ink Crow Grass. Now that the Snake Eye Fruit was no longer effective for him, Luo Mu did not hesitate to set his sights on the Ink Crow Grass in his storage bag.

Just as Luo Mu was about to take action and retrieve the Ink Crow Grass to test its effects, his brow furrowed, his mouth twitched, and finally, he revealed a bitter smile.

He quickly patted the two Spirit Beast Bags on his right side. With two flashes of green light, the three Octagonal Spikes and five White Jade Ants appeared before him. As soon as the little creatures emerged, they began crawling about chaotically in front of Luo Mu, their moods appearing somewhat unstable.

Luo Mu sighed and, with a pained expression, took out three Snake Eye Fruits and placed them before the three Octagonal Spikes, then retrieved several large chunks of meat from his storage bag and tossed them out.

It turned out that Luo Mu had just sensed the restlessness of the little ones in the Spirit Beast Bags. Having become well-acquainted with their habits, he immediately concluded that they must be hungry. That was why the scene just now had occurred.

The three Octagonal Spikes each claimed a Snake Eye Fruit and began devouring them ravenously; it seemed they were truly famished. The five White Jade Ants were even more exaggerated; in the blink of an eye, the large chunks of meat had been swallowed into their bellies.

It appeared that not only were the three Octagonal Spikes starving, but the five White Jade Ants were no better off. The Octagonal Spikes were still relatively well-off; although they were never full, Luo Mu at least fed them graded poisonous fruits, which had allowed the three little guys to grow slightly larger over the month.

As for the five White Jade Ants, the situation was far less optimistic. Aside from the first day when they ate a meal of spirit-rich monster beast meat, the five White Jade Ants had never again had the fortune of tasting such a delicacy, because Luo Mu had no way, no time, and certainly no financial resources to hunt monster beasts to feed them.

What they had were the more common wild beasts found in the mountains. Since he had been busy absorbing the poison of the Snake Eye Fruits during this period, Luo Mu had barely left the house, and this wild beast meat had been purchased with spirit stones in town.

Although the meat seller was always incredibly surprised by the large quantities Luo Mu bought, Luo Mu could not spare the time to hunt beasts himself for the sake of his cultivation, so he simply mumbled vague excuses to brush off the townspeople's confusion.

Because of this, the five White Jade Ants had not lived very happily under Luo Mu's care.

Looking at the scrawny five White Jade Ants before him, a sense of guilt suddenly welled up in Luo Mu's heart. At the same time, he lamented that without spirit stones, it was truly difficult to raise these spirit insects.

"Forget it, I won't bother with the Ink Crow Grass today. I'll take these little guys out for a feast first!" After saying this, Luo Mu collected the little ones into their respective Spirit Beast Bags, then patted the third bag and muttered to himself.

That third Spirit Beast Bag contained thirteen juvenile Plum Blossom Snakes!

The Plum Blossom Snake was of a lower grade and could not compare to the White Jade Ants or the Octagonal Spikes. Under the Blood Pact formation, these thirteen snakes had successfully hatched in just three days.

Fortunately, these thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes were young and not as gluttonous as the White Jade Ants. Although they were the most numerous, they had the smallest appetite of the three types of spirit insects. All thirteen little ones combined did not eat as much as a single White Jade Ant. This made Luo Mu feel even more strongly that those five White Jade Ants were bottomless pits!

Shaking his head, Luo Mu sighed about the difficulty of raising spirit insects while walking out the door of his clinic.

Closing the door and hanging up the "Closed for Business" sign, Luo Mu headed out of town. He greeted the residents he met along the way very cordially, and when someone asked where he was going, Luo Mu replied with a smile that he was heading into the mountains to gather herbs.

However, seeing that Luo Mu didn't even carry a medicine basket, the residents couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious, though they didn't ask any further questions.

Once he was a fair distance from Dragon Gate Town, Luo Mu took out his flying artifact, mounted his Giant Sword, and flew toward the deep mountains, for that was where wild beasts were most densely populated.

Upon arriving in the deep mountains, Luo Mu released his divine sense and, seeing no humans around, immediately relaxed. Hearing the faint, distant roars of beasts, a smile appeared on his face.

He patted the three Spirit Beast Bags in succession, and the five White Jade Ants, three Octagonal Spikes, and thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes appeared one by one before him.

The purpose of this trip was mainly to let the White Jade Ants and Plum Blossom Snakes have a full meal. As for why he released the Octagonal Spikes, Luo Mu simply wanted them to get some fresh air.

After giving the three Octagonal Spikes an order to move freely, Luo Mu had the five White Jade Ants and the Plum Blossom Snakes lead the way while he followed closely behind.

A moment later, Luo Mu finally discovered the first batch of prey for the trip: two large black bears. Luo Mu was delighted, not expecting to find prey so quickly. However, before he could issue the order to attack, the starving little ones pounced.

The five White Jade Ants, in particular, moved with a speed that left Luo Mu speechless. He saw the five little ones turn into streaks of afterimages, appearing instantly on the body of one of the black bears.

Before the black bear could even react to what was happening, a heart-wrenching, agonizing pain surged through its body. On the other side, the thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes had also bitten into the other black bear, injecting the venom from their Poison Fangs into its body.

Although these two black bears looked exceptionally formidable, they were, after all, only wild beasts and could not compare to monster beasts. After screams erupted from the mouths of the two bears, one was poisoned to death by the Plum Blossom Snakes, black, foul blood flowing continuously from its nose and mouth—a truly miserable end.

However, compared to the other black bear, the one that died of poison was considered lucky. Under the devouring of the five starving White Jade Ants, in just a moment, the black bear was reduced to a pile of scraps; not even the bones remained, all swallowed into the bellies of the White Jade Ants. This scene made Luo Mu's hair stand on end.

Sensing the message from the five White Jade Ants that they were still not full, Luo Mu's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

The Plum Blossom Snakes on the side had poisoned their bear to death but were unable to consume it. The White Jade Ants, still hungry, had just rushed over to help finish off the carcass, but upon sensing the faint toxic aura radiating from the bear, the five little ones actually suppressed their hunger and stopped in their tracks.

Luo Mu discovered this only then: the White Jade Ants did not eat poisonous items. This was something not mentioned in the Insect Control Technique, and Luo Mu secretly made a note of it.

Seeing that the thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes had been unable to finish the bear carcass for a long time, Luo Mu lost the patience to keep waiting. After issuing an order for the Plum Blossom Snakes to hunt freely as well, he let the five excited White Jade Ants continue to lead the way while he followed closely behind them.

After all, the main task today was to ensure these five bottomless pits were well-fed. Although the quality of the food wasn't great, adhering to the principle of not complaining about having meat to eat, Luo Mu had to let the five little ones make do.

By the time the sun set in the afternoon, the five White Jade Ants still didn't seem full, which gave Luo Mu a massive headache. Along the way, wherever the White Jade Ants passed, there was absolutely no sign of life; any beast with flesh and blood had, without exception, become food in the bellies of the White Jade Ants.

Even so, it hadn't satisfied the five tiny White Jade Ants. Looking at their unchanged size, Luo Mu truly doubted whether these beasts had actually been swallowed into their stomachs. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it.

There was nothing to be done about them not being full; it was getting late, so Luo Mu prepared to head back first and bring these little ones out to forage again tomorrow.

Just as he was about to communicate with the Octagonal Spikes and Plum Blossom Snakes to head home, Luo Mu's brow suddenly furrowed, and a cold, grim expression appeared on his face. With a wave of his hand, the five White Jade Ants were retracted into his sleeves, and Luo Mu stepped onto his flying artifact, speeding off in one direction.

Just a moment ago, as Luo Mu was planning to recall the Octagonal Spikes and Plum Blossom Snakes, he had suddenly received a distress signal from the Octagonal Spikes in his heart. Shocked and furious, Luo Mu immediately sensed their location. In his urgency, he didn't even think twice and steered his flying artifact toward where the Octagonal Spikes were.

These little ones were the apple of Luo Mu's eye, especially the three Octagonal Spikes, which had consumed quite a few of his poisonous fruits. Luo Mu did not want to see them suffer even the slightest mishap, which would cause all his hard work to go down the drain.