Blood-Colored Valley

Chapter 44: Blood-Colored Valley

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Luo Mu slowly calmed his mind. After an hour, his heart was utterly still, free of joy or sorrow. He devoted himself completely to the Jade Slip, carefully pondering and studying the Poison Spirit Art. Another hour passed, and a faint green glow began to shimmer around him as he entered a state of cultivation.

Luo Mu had entered cultivation, but the spirit insects around him weren't idle. They lay in wait, motionless, like lifeless things. Before he began cultivating, Luo Mu had given them a strict order: keep a close eye out for the Female Ghost from last night, and wake him immediately if she appeared again.

Until he found the Female Ghost, Luo Mu couldn't quite put his mind at ease.

Time passed, one second at a time. Night gave way, and the sun lifted its head from the dawn. Luo Mu slowly opened his eyes and ended his cultivation.

The Female Ghost hadn't appeared again last night, which struck Luo Mu as strange. Still, it was a good thing for him. If she showed up, he would have to force himself out of cultivation, and that would seriously affect his progress.

It was best that she hadn't appeared. Luo Mu didn't care to guess at the reason. As soon as he got up in the morning, he headed straight for the nearest large restaurant. He wasn't going there to eat or drink; his thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes and five White Jade Ants needed a great deal of monster beast meat.

They'd already missed a meal, and Luo Mu didn't dare let the little things go hungry any longer. If they starved to death, all his efforts would be for nothing. The Plum Blossom Snakes were one thing, but he had no idea where he could find another clutch of such precious White Jade Ant eggs...

Tiandu Restaurant wasn't the finest establishment in the Northern City, but it was still a major one, among the oldest and most famous restaurants in the area. Its chefs made dishes that were said to be unrivaled in the Northern City.

Here, you could sample every kind of delicacy: things that flew through the skies, ran through the mountains, swam in the waters, and burrowed underground. And if you had spirit stones, you could even taste dishes made from monster beast meat.

That was precisely why Tiandu Restaurant was so wildly popular. Not only did mortals with some money to their name like to dine there, but cultivators who had already set foot on the path to immortality would also stop by every so often to satisfy their cravings.

Er Gouzi was a waiter at Tiandu Restaurant. Because of his spiritual root, he couldn't cultivate, and his chance at immortality had been cut off since childhood. Once he came of age, Er Gouzi had worked at Tiandu Restaurant just to make a living. Compared with others in the same line of work, he earned quite a bit more each month, and the conditions were better, too. Over the years, he'd done well there and was quite satisfied, so he worked all the harder.

Sure enough, though dawn had barely broken, the other restaurants hadn't opened yet, and the rest of Tiandu Restaurant's staff were still asleep, Er Gouzi had already dragged himself out of bed. He planned to give the restaurant a thorough cleaning. Maybe if the manager saw him, he'd raise his monthly pay by a few spirit stones.

Just as the front doors opened, a youth in a Jinxiu Academy uniform and wearing a black mask appeared in Er Gouzi's sight. From the looks of it, he'd been waiting for a while, as if he'd come specifically to catch them opening.

To a mortal like Er Gouzi, students of Jinxiu Academy were genuine immortal masters, figures mortals could only admire. Seeing Luo Mu, Er Gouzi's heart leapt. He wouldn't dare slight him in the least, and hurried forward to greet him.

"May I ask what brings you here, immortal master? We've only just opened, so the dishes may take a while, but I can bring you wine right away." Er Gouzi spoke with the utmost respect, though he seemed fairly composed. It appeared that over the years at Tiandu Restaurant, he'd seen plenty of cultivators. So even with one standing right in front of him, he didn't lose his composure.

"I didn't come here today to sample your restaurant's dishes. I have something to discuss with your manager." As he spoke, Luo Mu walked into the restaurant.

"Please wait a moment, immortal master. The manager should be up by now. I'll go fetch him." Having heard why Luo Mu had come, Er Gouzi didn't hesitate. He went to call the manager, leaving Luo Mu alone.

With nothing better to do after Er Gouzi left, Luo Mu found a seat and curiously looked around the restaurant.

He'd already noticed how luxurious the place was when he first came in, but only on closer inspection did he realize that "luxurious" hardly did it justice. In Luo Mu's eyes, it was downright extravagant.

Every table and chair was made of precious Iron Wood. Iron Wood was not only valuable but extraordinarily hard; ordinary blades and swords could scarcely scratch it. A mortal couldn't possibly turn it into furniture. A cultivator must have done the work.

Having a cultivator make furniture for them—Tiandu Restaurant certainly had deep pockets!

The walls of the restaurant were studded at regular intervals with Moonlight Stones. That startled Luo Mu even more.

Moonlight Stones were just as precious as Iron Wood. By day, they looked no different from ordinary stones, but at night, they glowed softly like a host of full moons. Luo Mu had nearly overlooked the Moonlight Stones around him at first.

So far, Luo Mu hadn't even been willing to buy one Moonlight Stone. Even in his own shop, he used ordinary oil lamps. But Tiandu Restaurant had them set all around the walls. That showed just how deep its pockets were.

Luo Mu couldn't help feeling a little envious amid his astonishment. It was only human nature.

"Heh heh... Fellow Daoist, what brings you here so early this morning?" A hearty laugh rang out, cutting into Luo Mu's thoughts as he marveled at the restaurant's wealth.

A tall, middle-aged man came into view. He was the one whose words had interrupted Luo Mu.

Luo Mu's heart skipped a beat, and his expression shifted. The middle-aged man before him was a cultivator, and his cultivation was a little higher than Luo Mu's.

"Please forgive my abrupt visit, Fellow Daoist. I did come to your restaurant early this morning because there's something important I'd like to discuss with the manager." Luo Mu didn't dare act presumptuously. He quickly rose from his chair and spoke with a serious, respectful expression.

"Oh? May I ask your surname, Fellow Daoist?" The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow. Luo Mu's words had clearly piqued his curiosity. Still, rather than asking what the matter was, he asked Luo Mu's name.

"Luo," Luo Mu replied honestly, without hiding it.

"Oh, so you're Fellow Daoist Luo. A pleasure, a pleasure. I'm Shao Ke. You look unfamiliar, Fellow Daoist Luo. I take it you don't come to Tiandu Restaurant very often?" Shao Ke said with a slight smile, exchanging pleasantries.

"Fellow Daoist Shao has a sharp eye. This is indeed my first time at your restaurant," Luo Mu said with a smile.

"Heh heh... There's nothing wrong with that. Just remember to come by often from now on. Er Gouzi, go brew a pot of tea. Fellow Daoist Luo and I will have a good chat." Shao Ke laughed, then spoke to Er Gouzi beside him before taking a seat opposite Luo Mu.

"If today's business goes well, I really will come by often," Luo Mu said with a smile, lightly tapping his fingers on the table after Shao Ke had settled in.

"Oh? Now you've made me curious. What exactly is this matter you mentioned, Fellow Daoist?" Shao Ke asked, puzzled.

"It's like this..."

An hour later, Luo Mu walked out of Tiandu Restaurant, turning a Jade Slip over in his hand with a thoughtful look. A moment later, his gaze sharpened, and he strode away.

Another hour passed, and Luo Mu appeared at the Northern City gates. As soon as he left the city, he immediately took out his Flying Artifact and shot off in one direction.

Luo Mu had gotten up early and rushed straight to Tiandu Restaurant because he wanted to buy some monster beast meat. If the price was right, he'd planned to buy it regularly and save himself a lot of time and the worry of finding meat for his spirit insects.

But he hadn't expected monster beast meat to be so expensive. It wasn't as costly as the materials used to make artifacts from monster beasts, but it still commanded a high price.

Tiandu Restaurant truly was a major establishment, with deep pockets and plenty of monster beast meat. They had everything from first- to third-level beasts, and Shao Ke had said that they sometimes even managed to buy meat from fourth-level beasts. Luo Mu had been delighted to hear it, and confidently explained why he'd come—only for the price of the meat to make him back down.

The monster beast meat had been bought by Tiandu Restaurant. Once they cooked it, they could make quite a profit. Luo Mu could buy some from them, but only if he had plenty of spirit stones. He was short on spirit stones as it was, so he had no choice but to give up on the idea.

At the time, Shao Ke had also been curious about why Luo Mu wanted to buy monster beast meat, and had asked him about it. Though Luo Mu was young, he wasn't a fool. He certainly wasn't going to tell the truth, so he'd made up an excuse and brushed off the question without arousing suspicion.

In the end, Shao Ke had seen that Luo Mu was young yet already had such cultivation, and had wanted to befriend him. As a gesture of goodwill, he gave Luo Mu a Jade Slip recording the places around Jinxiu City where large numbers of monster beasts could be found.

Luo Mu had accepted the Jade Slip with a wry smile. He'd wanted to cultivate in peace, but now he still had to hunt monster beasts to feed his spirit insects.

After thanking Shao Ke, Luo Mu left Jinxiu City and headed in a certain direction.

Now Luo Mu rode atop his Flying Artifact, looking thoroughly vexed. If he'd known, he should have hunted some monster beasts in the Ten Thousand Snake Mountain Range before coming to Jinxiu City. Now look at him. There was still a month before the academy year began, and his spirit insects needed food. He couldn't just stand by and watch them starve to death.

Luo Mu had considered returning to the Ten Thousand Snake Mountain Range. After all, it was teeming with monster beasts, so hunting there should have been much easier. But Jinxiu City was a long way from the range, and the round trip alone would eat up a great deal of his time. He couldn't afford to waste that much.

Besides, the monster beasts in the Ten Thousand Snake Mountain Range were extraordinarily powerful. Given Luo Mu's current situation, going there to hunt them would be nine chances out of ten a death sentence. Whether he would hunt the beasts or the beasts would hunt him was still anyone's guess.

As for the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Snake Mountain Range, monster beasts were scarce there. Luo Mu was even less likely to hunt a large number of them in a short time.

After weighing his options, Luo Mu still chose a place mentioned in the Jade Slip called Blood-Colored Valley. At that moment, he was riding his Flying Artifact toward that very valley.