First Pickings

First Pickings

She had considered the Immortal Cultivation Realm's cruelty, but only in terms of conflicts between cultivators. Just as she had not shown herself earlier, setting aside whether she even had the ability, why should she save someone whose good and evil were unclear?

But she had never imagined that battles between cultivators and demon beasts would be so bloody, leaving no corpse intact. No wonder cultivators believed every demon beast deserved to be slain...

She now had a more concrete understanding of the Immortal Cultivation Realm's brutality.

She was alone, with nothing but caution upon caution. She absolutely could not become another cultivator's stepping stone.

Only...

Sometimes, when one was in the martial world, one could not help oneself. Her desire to remain cautious had gone like water spilled beyond retrieval, and besides, the group around her would not let her keep a low profile...

After a long while, the two demon beasts left leisurely once they were full. Only after some time had passed, when she sensed no other demon beasts nearby, did Jiang Lu jump down from the tree and approach the heap of rags.

Only the cultivator's head remained there, a sight too ghastly to behold. Fortunately, the face was not turned toward her. Otherwise, she truly could not guarantee that she would not vomit.

She used a branch to push aside the clothes and saw a backpack on the ground. Opening it, she found several scrolls and a dozen or so spirit stones inside.

She opened the scrolls. One contained the Cleansing Technique, one the Fireball Technique, and another the Rainmaking Technique—three basic spells.

Fortunately, she could understand them.

Jiang Lu left the area and went several miles away, where there was no one around.

Following the incantations and hand seals described in the spells, she tried several times. Although the three spells were basic, she had no foundation at all. It was like crossing a river by feeling for stones.

She practiced until nightfall before barely learning the Cleansing Technique.

By then, she had long forgotten hunger. Whenever she was hungry, she picked a few spirit fruits that birds and beasts had eaten and consumed them.

After a month in the forest, she had finally learned all three spells through her own fumbling. Still, if she wanted to use them proficiently, she would need constant practice.

She let out a breath. After more than a month, she had accidentally entered the Qi Refinement First Layer and had felt rather pleased with herself. Yet these three spells had taken her a whole month to learn. Others probably learned them much more easily.

All cultivators: They had never thought it was easy! Slander! Naked, blatant slander!

Looking at the fireball in her palm, she no longer needed to worry about lacking the ability to fight if she encountered demon beasts. These two spells would also let her contend with them for a while.

Perfect. It would also give her a chance to temper herself properly.

She stored the scrolls and spirit stones in her space and hurried away.

She then headed in the opposite direction from where the two demon beasts had gone, her departing figure concealed by enormous leaves.

After walking for a long time, she spotted a tree hollow. All around it were tangled vines, glowing with a faint green radiance.

Usually, the brighter and more beautiful a plant was, the more dangerous it was. But she had no idea what this thing was.

She clutched her clothes tightly, wrinkling them in her grip. She felt like an illiterate now, unable to recognize anything.

Damn it!

At that moment, she deeply agreed with cultivators joining great clans and sects. Ordinary people simply had no access to resources. Even if some treasures were delivered right before them, they would not be able to identify them.

Given the chance, she would join some faction as well and learn to recognize every spirit plant and demon beast in the Immortal Cultivation Realm. She secretly made up her mind.

Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly laughed out loud. She had space!

Who cared whether it was poisonous or not, precious or worthless? She could plant it in her space first. Once she learned what it was in the future, she could take it out again.

With that thought, she stared fixedly at the vine. She felt certain it was something good.

She walked over, but before her hand could touch the vine, it vanished before her eyes.

She froze where she stood.

She looked around again and again, blinking repeatedly. Where had such a huge vine gone?

Then, sensing something, she flashed into her space and saw that the vine had already been planted in the soil not far from the spring.

Could the space plant things automatically?

She walked over but could not see anything different. The space was bound to her soul, so there should not be any problem.

It was a good thing regardless. Did that mean that as long as she got a little close to spirit plants in the future, the space would automatically take them in!?

She would test it again when she had the chance. With that thought, she flashed out of the space.

At the request of our many readers, we now offer VIP membership with ad-free features.

Click to view

After she left, a tiny ball of light emerged from the spring, secretly watching Jiang Lu depart.

It then flew out of the spring and headed toward the vine. With a flash from the light ball, a small nest appeared in the vine.

It trembled a few times, then lay down inside in peace. The soft glow around its body showed just how happy it was now.

Hehe~

Its home would soon return to how it had been before. The little ball of light trembled, wondering why its master had not come looking for it. Then it considered that perhaps she was simply too embarrassed.

If so, then so be it.

It would spoil its master!

After the vine disappeared, Jiang Lu saw the cave that had been revealed and carefully walked inside.

"You stinking dragon, compensate me for my divine power!"

On the ground was a round, red creature, its wings flapping nonstop. The three golden feathers atop its head stood straight up in fury.

Its sharp golden beak nearly twisted with rage.

Across from it, a little yellow snake lay coiled on the ground, its head drooping.

Hearing this, it immediately flicked out its tongue, stretched out its body, and glared with unconvinced golden eyes.

"Why should I? It was clearly your fault! My divine power is gone too!"

"Your fault!"

"Your fault!"

As they argued, the two began grappling. The snake's body tightly wrapped around the bird.

"Cough, cough! You stinking dragon, let me go! Are you trying to strangle me to death?!"

The red bird's tongue was beginning to stick out as it hurriedly cried.

The yellow snake gradually loosened its body, coiling itself up again and dropping its head to the ground.

"What do we do now? Without magic power, how are we any different from ordinary Spirit Beasts? No, ordinary Spirit Beasts still have magic power. The two of us have nothing at all. We might even get caught and stewed into soup."

"What can I do? This is still the Lower Realm."

"Don't tell me to go back. Otherwise, I'll definitely make that stinking thing that ambushed us learn how formidable we are!"

The red bird spoke with a vicious gleam in its eyes.

Hearing that, the snake nodded in agreement. That was right, it was all because of that thing!

What did their fight have to do with it? Just wait until they had a chance to go back.

"What do we do now?"

The yellow snake asked. The red bird thought for a moment, then stepped forward with one claw.

"Now, we can only find a way to contract with humans and make them serve us!"

A contract!

The snake's eyes lit up, and it slithered before the bird in a flash.

"You mean?"

"The humans of the Lower Realm are not very strong. We can find an opportunity to contract with them. As their strength increases, ours will naturally gradually recover. When the time comes, we can simply cancel the contract. The people of the Lower Realm are weak anyway, so even if we cancel it, there will not be any serious backlash..."

"Kehehehe—"

"Then let's hurry and find some sucker!"

The snake and bird exchanged a look and let out a burst of strange laughter.

Suddenly, a sound came from outside the cave. They looked at each other and immediately hid.

Jiang Lu looked at the pitch-black cave, where only a few crystals emitted a faint glow.

"Why is there nothing here? Such a hidden cave should have something good in it according to game rules!"

She muttered as she held a branch and continuously poked around in search of something. Suddenly, she saw a red and a yellow figure rushing toward her.

When everyone encounters advertisements such as "Are you a True Person?", there is no need to pay attention. Simply close them. Do not scan codes or send text messages!