Flying Ant

By the time he returned from that mountain hollow, it was already deep into the night.

Li Jun lay on his bed, replaying the conversation between those two over and over.

Thanks to Liu Yan's rambling bits and pieces, he had obtained quite a lot of valuable information from him.

For instance, Zhao Wenjie really had been worried at first that Li Jun would tell Shen Xiyue about the oak leaves.

And they had indeed made thorough preparations. Even if they were exposed, they would still be able to find a scapegoat.

The reason Zhao Wenjie had not acted against him was because he had received Yao Yuzhi's orders.

The goal was to wait until he had gone through alchemy a few more times, then bind him directly and force him to reveal the matter of the Purple Foundation Pill.

What they had not expected was that after Shen Xiyue appeared that day, she never appeared again.

And the magical artifact Yao Yuzhi was preparing to refine had already been put on the schedule.

"No wonder I always felt there was an echo beneath Oak Garden before. Could Zhao Wenjie have dug a cellar underneath and stored the best batch of oak down there?"

The most valuable part of an oak tree was its trunk.

As a second-tier wood-attribute spiritual plant, the trunk of an oak tree was widely used in the crafting of magical artifacts.

"Good oak trees all come from natural mutations. If Yao Yuzhi wants to forge a top-grade second-tier magical artifact, what she needs must be a mutated oak tree."

Li Jun sorted through his thoughts and found that many things suddenly made sense.

No wonder Zhao Wenjie had caught Yao Yuzhi's eye. So it was for the sake of the oak.

Oak Garden was very important. Precisely because of this, none of the Azure Cloud Sect's four peaks had gained control over it.

The elder in charge of the sect's spiritual materials had also been in seclusion for a long time, which instead gave Yao Yuzhi an opportunity to take advantage of.

"This Yao Yuzhi is probably not simple either. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to go this far."

Li Jun fell into deep thought. This enemy was probably even stronger than he had imagined.

If the other party was truly dead set on killing him, then unless Shen Xiyue protected him, he would likely find more ill than good.

As for running away, that was even more impossible.

The Azure Cloud Sect's encampment was located in the inner region of the Hundred Thousand Mountains. As a minor cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining, once he left the sect, he would probably become a demonic beast's meal before long.

"Since I can't avoid it, I might as well make this matter huge—huge enough that everyone knows about it."

Li Jun's eyes shone. Although this was dangerous, he was exceptionally calm at that moment.

"Yao Yuzhi needs oak to refine a magical artifact in two weeks. What if the oak just blows up?"

He got straight up and went directly to the storeroom.

After picking out several kinds of herbs, he went to the cowshed and collected some cow dung, then hurried toward the cliff where he had previously grazed the cattle.

Back then, he had already thought that if Zhao Wenjie wanted to make a move against him, he would find a way to destroy Oak Garden.

All four peaks of the Azure Cloud Sect needed oak trees. If something happened to Oak Garden, even if Zhao Wenjie had Yao Yuzhi backing him, he would inevitably be dealt with.

Now that Yao Yuzhi wanted to butcher him, too, he had nothing left to worry about.

Li Jun arrived at the edge of the cliff, made a cage out of bamboo, then mixed the medicinal herbs with cow dung to make bait.

After obtaining Fusang Hand, a great deal of information about spiritual materials and spiritual beasts had appeared in his mind.

Among them, a first-tier demonic beast called the "Flying Ant" caught Li Jun's attention.

This demonic beast was about the same size as an ant and loved wood-attribute spiritual plants the most.

Once this kind of demonic beast came into contact with a wood-attribute spiritual plant, it would burrow into the plant and lie dormant.

They would suck dry the essence of the wood-attribute spiritual plant, thereby evolving a pair of fleshy wings and becoming true "Flying Ants."

And the fleshy wings of Flying Ants had a unique function.

When they met fire, they would produce a violent explosion. This was the Flying Ant's means of self-preservation, and also the great gift Li Jun planned to give Yao Yuzhi.

"I sensed demonic beast auras down below from time to time before. I hope there are Flying Ant larvae here."

Li Jun took out a rope and tied it to a huge rock at the cliff's edge, then used the rope himself to feel his way down the cliff.

According to the records, Flying Ant larvae loved living by cliffs the most. As long as there was special bait, there was a high chance of catching them.

Li Jun slid down along the cliff for fifty meters and finally saw a platform.

He came onto the platform and, sure enough, saw densely packed holes.

"This is a Flying Ant nest? Looks like my luck isn't bad."

Li Jun was delighted. He then placed the cage over there, while he himself followed the rope back to the meadow.

Three nights later, Li Jun took advantage of the darkness and once again came to that platform.

He reached out and beckoned, and the cage beside the nest flew into his hand.

Inside the cage were a full ten small golden fleshy worms.

They were none other than Flying Ants!

Oak Garden, underground kiln cave.

Zhao Wenjie opened the stone door and walked inside with a torch in hand.

"My lord, I've checked it over carefully, every inch. Ten mutated oak trees—not one more, not one less."

Behind him, Liu Yan followed closely, reporting on the situation here.

Zhao Wenjie came to the center of the kiln cave. Looking at the mutated oak trees that appeared before his eyes, the anxiety in his heart eased a little.

"A full ten years, and we only managed to get this many oak trees. These mutated oaks really are hard to find."

Zhao Wenjie sighed with feeling.

Over these ten years, he had been cautious and meticulous. Under Yao Yuzhi's maneuvering, quite a few stewards had been secretly eliminated.

All these years, he had racked his brains and moved between the four peaks, deftly achieving a kind of balance.

All four peaks felt they had gained extra benefits from Oak Garden, but none of them knew that the one who had gained the greatest benefit was none other than Yao Yuzhi.

Once these ten mutated oaks before him fell into Yao Yuzhi's hands, there was a high chance she could craft a top-tier second-grade magic artifact.

Yao Yuzhi and Shen Xiyue were evenly matched in strength. If the two sides wanted to fight for the position of junior sect master, they had to put effort in elsewhere.

A magic artifact that fit the hand was undoubtedly the place most worth investing in.

"For the next few days, take your men and sleep here. Absolutely nothing can go wrong."

Zhao Wenjie gave the order.

"Yes, my lord! This lowly one will defend this place to the death!"

Liu Yan seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he still agreed.

Zhao Wenjie looked at Liu Yan, and only after a long while did he speak in a drawn-out voice:

"Liu Yan, you've followed me for ten years now. To be honest, neither you nor I have much talent in cultivation. If this matter goes smoothly, I'll ask Senior Sister Yao for a batch of spirit stones. When the time comes, take the spirit stones and follow an Azure Cloud Sect caravan, then find any place you like to retire!"

Liu Yan froze. Why had Zhao Wenjie suddenly gotten so sentimental?

He thought for a moment, then hurriedly said, "My lord, are you trying to drive me away? This lowly one doesn't want to leave you. These past ten years, this lowly one has lived very happily. This lowly one doesn't want to leave the sect, and only wants to stay by your side and handle matters for you."

Zhao Wenjie glanced at Liu Yan and sighed. "I'm not trying to drive you away. Once this matter is over, I don't want to stay here either. No one knows how many people will die in the fight for the junior sect master position. If we stay, we'll only be cannon fodder."

Liu Yan was stunned for a moment and wanted to say something, but the latter waved his hand.

"Enough. Go call more people over. There absolutely cannot be any problems with these oaks."

"Yes, my lord!"

Liu Yan quickly withdrew. Zhao Wenjie glanced at the oaks, then also left directly.

And in the instant the two left the kiln cave, a black shadow slipped in along the wall.