Chapter 170: The Giant Ape
No wonder that Golden Core cultivator dared to take a risk. It turns out this is a third-grade Spiritual Object, the Golden Ganoderma!
Golden Ganoderma, one of the main ingredients for refining the Gold Core Formation Pill, but taking it raw could also improve the chances of Core Formation by ten percent!
Besides, it can be used to refine third-grade Essence Pills that enhance the mana of Golden Core cultivators, making it an extremely precious Spiritual Medicine.
However, now, these dozen or so Golden Ganoderma of various sizes all belonged to Li Zhirui!
Regrettably, the oldest of these Golden Ganoderma was only a bit over two hundred years old, decades away from maturity. Li Zhirui would later need to use Spirit Stones to hasten their ripening.
To avoid harming the Golden Ganoderma, Li Zhirui used his Spirit Sword to dig up the surrounding soil and, after sending them into his space, he hastily scattered perfume powder to muddle the scent and ran in another direction.
About half a quarter of an hour later, the Devil Beast returned. Staring at the sudden pit in front of it, it paused before letting out a howl towards the sky. Terrifying pressure poured forth, and nearby ordinary creatures dared not make a single move.
Li Zhirui, who was by then far away, also trembled all over and simultaneously increased his pace, seeking to escape as swiftly as possible.
Since he was running in the opposite direction, instead of a wasteland, he emerged to see a series of low mountains and hills.
Before Li Zhirui had a chance to enter his space to plant the Golden Ganoderma, a dark shadow rushed towards him, and clusters of white clouds activated by the Water Cloud Pearl burst forth, with points of Spirit Light sparkling at his fingertips. Vines shot up from the ground attempting to bind the shadow.
Hiss!
It was only then that Li Zhirui got a clear look at his attacker: a large black-scaled python with second-grade power.
As the python got caught by the vines it stopped abruptly, then suddenly opened its mouth wide and spat out a stinking cloud of poison fog that swiftly spread.
"This is bad!"
While the Water Cloud could fend off attacks, the poisonous fog was pervasive. Merely by accidentally inhaling a breath of it, Li Zhirui felt slightly dizzy and nauseated. He quickly took out a second-grade Detoxification Pill and swallowed it.
After temporarily suppressing the toxins in his body, Li Zhirui could not afford to delay any further. He summoned the Corrosive Water Gourd to transform into a Water Dragon to fight it off while using vines to entangle and disrupt it until it was pierced through its vital spot by an ice arrow.
With the mindset of not wasting anything, Li Zhirui collected the python's carcass into his space and subsequently entered it himself.
Li Zhirui first cleared the toxins from his body, and then carefully planted each Golden Ganoderma in the Spirit Field, watering them with Spirit Water.
Seeing that he had finished his tasks and was about to leave again, Da Qing and Xiaoqing, who were nearby, spoke up to remind Li Zhirui not to forget about them and that they could help too.
"I know, I'll call you if there's a need," Li Zhirui said with a smile, nodding before he flashed away.
He had slain the black python in a hurry to deal with the Golden Ganoderma and had yet to collect the Spiritual Medicine it was guarding. He hoped no one else had found it first.
Following the trail left by the python, Li Zhirui quickly found its lair: a very deep cave!
As soon as he stepped inside, a thick, rancid smell hit him in the face, forcing Li Zhirui to retreat, only to proceed inside after sealing off his sense of smell.
Half a quarter of an hour later, Li Zhirui found a second-grade Spirit Ginseng. It was also quite precious, and although he had collected some previously and had several in his space, it could still be used for trade with the Profound Ice Sect.
——
Screech!
Watching the Spirit Bird in the sky battling with Xiaoqing, Li Zhirui couldn't help but frown, for Xiaoqing was no match for the opponent.
Under the relentless attacks, Xiaoqing's defenses grew weaker until a ray of golden light was about to pierce through its chest.
Seeing this, Li Zhirui could no longer stand idly by. He quickly cast a spell to dissipate the golden light and then helped Xiaoqing defeat the Spirit Bird.
As of today, I have been in the Secret Realm for seven or eight days. During this time, Li Zhirui has been searching for Devil Beasts in the hills. First, to cultivate Xiaoqing by leveraging the Devil Beasts to enhance his combat skills and awareness, and second, to collect a batch of Spiritual Medicine to replenish his nonexistent supplies.
The most important thing was that the Secret Realm was far too dangerous!
There were already quite a few third-tier Devil Beasts within the Secret Realm, not to mention the third-tier beasts and Golden Core Cultivators from outside. As a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator, it was better not to join the excitement, lest he invites trouble upon himself.
So he hid in these hills, making use of the abundant second-tier Devil Beasts here to temper his own Mana.
After all, Li Zhirui had already obtained the Golden Ganoderma, and he wouldn't mind if this trip to the Secret Realm came to an end.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Li Zhirui was destined not to settle down in peace!
In the depths of the hills, where a great number of second-tier Devil Beasts were gathered, there loomed a snow-white, incredibly massive third-tier ape above them.
"Why are there so many Devil Beasts missing?" the White-haired Giant Ape asked in a cold voice.
He would call upon his subordinates every half year, demanding they come to offer tribute. This was a way to protect the smaller Devil Beasts and also an effortless method to collect a large number of Spiritual Objects.
The Giant Ape valued his subordinates quite a bit, and now that Li Zhirui had used them for target practice, killing quite a few, the ape noticed immediately.
However, since these Devil Beasts had low Spiritual Intelligence, none could provide an answer.
"Could it be that one from the forest has come out?" mused the Giant Ape to itself.
Although its strength was somewhat inferior, it didn't wish to lose too many subordinates. If it came to it, it would just have to fight!
But before that, it had to go to the border to see what exactly was happening.
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"What's going on? I can't find any second-tier Devil Beasts today!" Li Zhirui was quite puzzled.
Following the tracks, he found a patch of Spiritual Medicine, expecting to have a fight with a Devil Beast, only to find none nearby; he smoothly took the Spiritual Objects.
Initially, Li Zhirui thought the Devil Beasts had gone hunting, but after visiting several Devil Beast lairs and finding the same situation with no beasts guarding the Spiritual Medicine, he grew suspicious.
There must be a demon at work when things are abnormal!
Suddenly alert and sensing something amiss, Li Zhirui was about to retreat when he detected an oppressive force.
Turning around, he saw an immensely large White-haired Ape advancing towards him with agile movements.
"A third-tier Devil Beast!" Li Zhirui was struck with terror. He immediately threw out several Talismans, with smoke billowing and various Spells striking at him.
"Fly with all your might!" he advised Xiaoqing, then turned to use Spells and Talismans to disrupt the Giant Ape, hoping to slightly slow down its speed.
The reason Li Zhirui didn't enter the space on the spot was that if someone waited for him on the outside, he would be in danger the moment he emerged.
"A human race cultivator from the legends!?" roared the Giant Ape: "You killed so many of my subordinates, don't think you can escape!"
Although it had never seen a human before, it had the appearance of humans in its inherited memory.
As for why a human suddenly appeared, the Giant Ape didn't think too much about it. Right now, all it wanted was to shred Li Zhirui to pieces to avenge its fallen subordinates.
Boulders condensed in the palm of its hand, one after another thrown at the sky in rapid succession, intending to knock Li Zhirui down from the air, and the Giant Ape did not stop its pursuit.
Fortunately, because of its attacks and the entanglement with Li Zhirui, its speed had diminished significantly, allowing Li Zhirui to breathe a sigh of relief.