Chapter 102 - Is Anyone There?Time pa.s.sed in a flash as months flew by. Bai Xiaochun had become quite familiar with the inner sect disciples" region on the Scented Cloud Mountain, and along with it, the thrill of becoming an inner sect disciple had similarly faded.
On a usual day, he was usually inside his immortal cave. He was either cultivating or concocting spirit medicine in the Medicine Refining Room, including many Aphrodisiac Pills.
He was very happy to pa.s.s the days like this. To him, cultivation was for the sake of achieving immortality, and by increasing his cultivation, he could increase his lifespan.
On the other hand, refining spirit medicine was where his interests lay. His dream was to refine an immortality pill, and for that ambitious goal, he continuously refined spirit medicine. But only a few months later, Bai Xiaochun discovered that reality was cruel as he agonizingly realised that he was out of herbs.
Even though he had the first prize reward of ten thousand Spirit Stones from the Heaven’s Chosen War, the materials needed to refine a Grade Three spirit medicine couldn"t be purchased in the market outside of the sect, and even if he were to commision those cultivation clans, their prices would still be very high.
The best method was for one to have enough Contribution Points and exchange them for the whatever material they need with the sect.
“Contribution Points…” Bai Xiaochun sat inside his immortal cave, frowning. The thing that he lacked the most was Contribution Points. After hesitating for a moment, he resolutely walked out of the immortal cave and headed for the inner sect disciples" Mission Monument.
The people gathered here were different from the outer sect’s Mission Monument. There weren"t many inner sect disciples in this place, and the ones present were all arriving or leaving hastily; as though every moment was precious. Bai Xiaochun swaggered to the Mission Department and stopped there to inspect the mission stone tablet, pondering which mission to choose.
“I don’t want the dangerous ones!”
“I don’t want the ones awarding little Contribution Points!”
“I don"t want missions that would take up too much time either…” Bai Xiaochun muttered softly to himself. In the end, his gaze fell on a certain mission issued by a sect Elder. It requested cores of the Life Leeching Beast, with each core worth the high price of a thousand Contribution Points!
Furthermore, the location where the Life Leeching Beasts roamed about was in an overgrown mountain range, not too far away from the Spirit River Sect. Bai Xiaochun stopped to think for a moment. These Life Leeching Beasts had been introduced in the fourth spirit beast volume. Accurately speaking, the Life Leeching Beast wasn"t a type of monstrous beast, but a mysterious being that parasitised to exist.
It would pick a monstrous beast as its host, causing it to appear as though it has an extra head. When that head completely formed, the host would be drained of its strength and die, releasing the mature Life Leeching Beast which would then transform into the Nine Day Bird.
The most peculiar thing was that while parasitising off a monstrous beast, the beast would have a huge medicinal value. But if it matures, breaks free from the head and transforms into a Nine Day Bird, the body would no longer have any value worth mentioning. The Nine Day Bird itself would only last for nine days, and the only goal in its existence was to once again pick a monstrous beast parasitise off before it died.
Quite similar to reincarnation…
In some sense, this Life Leeching Beast was a rarely seen beast that could live forever. It could exist through eternity in an endless cycles of reincarnation.
When Bai Xiaochun had memorised the fourth spirit beast volume back then, this Life Leeching Beast had left a deep impression on him.
“The difficulty of this mission is in finding the Life Leeching Beast... The overgrown mountain range is enormous, searching them one by one would be very troublesome and will consume a lot of time. As a result, the sect Elder is willing to give out so many Contribution Points.”
Bai Xiaochun took a closer look at the overgrown mountain range and discovered that although the area was very big, most of the monstrous beasts were below the Foundation Establishment stage, and those comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage were rarely seen.
After a long consideration, Bai Xiaochun accepted this mission. However, he didn"t immediately set off for the mission, but returned to his immortal cave first and tried to prepare everything. Afterwards, he stepped onto the Golden Crow Sword and shot towards the horizon.
The overgrown mountain range wasn"t far from the Spirit River Sect. With Bai Xiaochun’s speed, he could reach the overgrown mountain range in a day of continuous flying. The only problem was that his cultivation was insufficient for that, so he had to alternate between flying and running. Four days pa.s.sed in this manner before he finally arrived at the overgrown mountain range.
The overgrown mountain range was enormous. If one looked into the far distance, they wouldn"t be able to see the end of the undulating hills. A verdant sea formed a dense forest, from which resounded the cries of birds and beasts.
Bai Xiaochun didn"t immediately begin searching for the Life Leeching Beast, but wandered around the overgrown mountain range. Half a month later, he finally discovered a valley in the overgrown mountain range that formed a bottleneck in the forest. Bai Xiaochun sat on a big tree inside the valley and surveyed it, his eyes lighting up.
“Using the normal method would consume too much time and is completely reliant on luck. Even if my luck is good, I can"t be sure that I would find a single Life Leeching Beast. And If my luck isn"t good, I estimate that it"d be difficult for me to come across even one in a whole month.”
“It’s the time for me, Bai Xiaochun, to make use of my wisdom.” Bai Xiaochun raised his chin, and in a flash, his body abruptly shot into the distance.
One day later, Bai Xiaochun was on a hill, checking the wind’s direction. Just as he was about to take out an Aphrodisiac Pill, he suddenly thought of something and shouted out loudly.
“Is anyone there? Are there fellow Spirit River Sect members here?” His sharp voice resounded. It sounded like a cry for help.
A figure in a distant forest was currently battling a monstrous beast. That person’s expression was cold and proud, wearing the the Spirit River Sect"s long inner sect disciple robe. As that person heard Bai Xiaochun’s distant shout, scorn surfaced in his eyes.
“Here comes another disciple that overestimated his capabilities and came without sufficient cultivation. What use is there for him to be shouting now? Only the strong ones should come to this overgrown mountain range.” Disdain hung on his face without even the slightest thought of offering his a.s.sistance. In the end, even if the sect emphasised on unity, there would still be a couple people who were naturally more distant. Such a thing was hard to avoid.
Bai Xiaochun shouted for quite a while, and after receiving no response, he was set at ease and quickly threw out a handful of Aphrodisiac Pills. All of these medicine pills burst with m.u.f.fled explosions, turning into powder and riding the wind as they soared into the distance.
Soon, all of the monstrous beasts in the area, regardless of what they were previously doing, sniffed the powder carried by the wind. Their bodies trembled, eyes turned red and their breathing quickened. Soon, roars filled the air.
As those roars spread, Bai Xiaochun suddenly heard the flapping of wings from behind, so he quickly bolted away.
Behind him, in the area he hadn’t taken notice of, the cold and indifferent disciple still had a disdainful expression on his face. Suddenly, the wind howled and the monstrous beast nearby that were fighting suddenly trembled. Both their eyes immediately turned red as they let out a crazed roar before it actually pounced onto the disciple with reckless abandon. Shocked, the inner sect disciple hurriedly dodged.
However, just as the disciple dodged, roars from the nearby monstrous beasts rose, and they rushed over one after the other, similarly, their eyes were red and they were driven mad. The disciple was aghast as he ran for his life with lightning speed. Many more monstrous beasts roared out and began chasing after him, making him frightened to the point that he was crying for help.
Only, Bai Xiaochun was already too far away to hear him…
Three hours later in a drafty region, Bai Xiaochun once again shouted out and waited. After receiving no response, he threw another handful of Aphrodisiac Pills.
Roaring quickly arrived from all over that area.
Bai Xiaochun did not stop doing this. In the following two days, with that valley as the center, he threw around Aphrodisiac Pills in all of the neighboring areas. All these area were connected to one another. The Aphrodisiac Pill’s medicinal powder shrouded all around him, causing all of the monstrous beasts within the region to go insane. The roars were even more intense as they turned even more violent in their rampage.
When Bai Xiaochun saw that the situation was about to go out of control, he quickly returned to the valley which he had chosen earlier. In there, both his eyes were burning brightly as he brandished his Golden Crow Sword and cleaved a path. Afterward, he took out a handful of Female Fragrance Pills and crushed them to pieces before scattering them on the cleared path. The fragrance gradually became extremely thick.
Bai Xiaochun was very careful as he cautiously left the area, and after quickly backing away, he even changed into a new set of clothes. Only after making sure that none of the Female Fragrance Pill powder had stuck onto him did he hide himself above the valley, gazing at the small path below him.
“Good monstrous beasts… come here, quickly.” Bai Xiaochun hummed a tune as he waited excitedly.
Time pa.s.sed as the Female Fragrance Pill"s aroma gradually spread. The monstrous beasts in this huge area which had gone insane due to the Aphrodisiac Pill’s effects suddenly let out thunderous roars. After sniffing the female scent, they would hastily bolt towards the valley. Soon, more and more monstrous beasts were madly traversing their path towards the valley, forming a stampede that shook the ground.
After a long time, the first wave of monstrous beasts arrived. Bai Xiaochun immediately stood up and looked below him with rapt attention. In the blink of an eye, many different monstrous beasts dashed past the small path inside the valley, letting out all kinds of cries. Bai Xiaochun’s opened his eyes widely as he stared at the countless monstrous beasts below him. Both his eyes suddenly flashed as he formed a hand seal with his right hand. Pointing with his finger, the Golden Crow Sword immediately flew out and shot straight for a tiger beast among the crowd of monstrous beasts.
Shockingly, there was a second head on this tiger beast’s back. A golden light flashed as the second head immediately exploded. The core flew out, and under Bai Xiaochun’s control, it was soon in his grasp. After throwing it inside his storage pouch, the golden light shot out once again, heading into the distance, towards a monstrous beast that similarly had a second head.
This beast tide continued flowing in for a whole hour. Even the valley itself shook as though it was going to crumble underneath the monstrous beasts’ rampage. Bai Xiaochun’s eyebrows danced in glee as the flying sword he manipulated continuously flashed around until the beast tide gradually dissipated. He was overjoyed to discover that he had actually gathered ten Life Leeching Beast cores.
“I, Bai Xiaochun, am so smart.” Bai Xiaochun looked at the cores inside his storage pouch, pleased with himself. His body disappeared in a flash as he left that huge area, heading off into the next one.
Long after Bai Xiaochun left, a young man walked step by step with difficulty, his clothes tattered from head to toe. He looked extremely miserable as his body shuddered. He wanted to cry but had no tears as his eyes stared dully.That appearance of his seemed to somewhat resemble Beihan Lie"s…
“What happened to this overgrown mountain range… What happened to this world...The monstrous beasts here have actually stopped eating humans, instead… I… I…” He broke down in tears.
Day after day pa.s.sed in this manner. Relying on the Aphrodisiac Pill, Bai Xiaochun rampaged through the overgrown mountain range. Countless monstrous beasts would go crazy wherever he pa.s.sed, and before he threw out those medicine pills, he would first loudly shout out a couple times, checking if anyone was here.
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Translator: NatNat
From XianxiaWorld