Chapter 97 “Farsight Ability”
Taking extra precaution, Ling Yue sprinkled some extra powerful animal repellant powder around the camp site. This concoction was a recipe left behind by Mr. Red Mist and would deter any spirit beast of the third rank or lower, meaning the majority of the spirit beasts making the marsh their home would be affected.
Once done and ready, Ling Yue and Lan Caier confidently went into the deeper parts of the marsh together and left behind only Feng Shen and Big Yellow as his bodyguard in the camp.
Watching the figures disappearing into the greenery, Feng Shen for the first in his life felt a tinge of frustration over his own inability.
If it was “him” right now then protecting Ling Yue shouldn’t be an issue.
Casually bored in front of the tent, Feng Shen was destined to be sleepless tonight while he stirred the crackling bonfire.
Unlike the relative safety of the day, the pitch-black darkness of the night in this Dream Cloud Marsh was vastly different. Under normal circumstances one would find it difficult making out their surroundings using only their eyesight; however, Ling Yue was different. Already capable of utilizing the ability of a three cauldron alchemist, she’s able to use her spirit force as a sensory to probe ahead and get a clear image of anything within a five hundred radius of herself.
Like his mistress, Little Squeak was exceptionally lively right now as he scurried those big blue eyes. In fact, they were like two little lanterns in the darkness, making him particularly eye-catching to the wild animals lurking in the night.
As Ling Yue continued to stroll through the marsh with Lan Caier by her side, she suddenly came to a full halt when she noticed something off about their surroundings.
Instead of pitch black darkness, the marshy swamp was now a beautiful rainbow world in her eyes! No matter where Ling Yue looked, the greenery around herself would be either green, red or blue.
After obtaining the elemental jade carving from ancestor Nameless, Ling Yue now knew every animal and plant life in this world had their own personal affinity to the elements.
Based on this knowledge, Ling Yue figured these colors are the representation of the plants personal affinity to nature. Best thing of all, she seems to be capable of determining the approximate age of the plants based on the intensity of the elements inside their body.
This wasn’t new to Ling Yue. Back when she first learned how to inject her spirit smoke into an object for investigation, she had long known it’s possible to achieve this. What’s so surprising here though wasn’t the fact that she’s able to see the affinity, but rather she’s able to do so using only her spirit force to probe and not rely on her cauldron’s spirit smoke!
Is it because the cauldron swallowed the jade carving containing the knowledge about the elements?
Unbeknownst to Ling Yue, the jade carving left behind for her didn’t just contain some information, there’s also a special skill called the “Farsight Eye” hidden within.
Using this ability, one can not only distinguish the elemental affinity of a thing, they can also detect if there’s a core inside an animal or plant with just one look.
Clever as Ling Yue was, it didn’t take long for her to figure out how to take advantage of this magical ability.
While Ling Yue was overjoyed inside right now, Lan Caier on the other hand wasn’t so fine. To an outside, her sudden maneuver only looked like a signal of finding danger nearby.
Then without indication, Ling Yue suddenly stretched her hands out and crushed a nearby plant. From inside the fruit that she nabbed, a fiery red core popped out.
“It’s a core, Ling Yue, your luck is too good!” Lan Caier definitely became surprised by this. Though it’s only a level one core, but things like these don’t come easy and can be easily sold for a few coins.
Certain now she’s equipped with the ability to perceive if a thing has a core inside their body, Ling Yue played it quiet and didn’t make a scene. Instead, she turns to face Lan Caier to have a look. From the girl’s body, a radiant yellowish glow was oozing out of her body, a clear sign of someone in the upper celestial realm.
As the two continued forward after that little incident, Ling Yue soon became disappointed by her findings. Aside from the first plant core she found, there’s practically no other animal or greenery in this area capable of producing a core of her liking.
By this time it was already late into the night when the two girls stepped into a relatively swampy terrain that met their bill. Crouching down in the thickness of the bushes, they slowed their breathes to a crawl while they waited for their prey.
Eerily silent, there were no other noise aside from the occasional bubbling of gas surfacing from under the murky water. Then with prior warning, a series of rustling sound alerted the girls to a incoming presence.
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“It’s here, that’s the female ghost spider.” Following the guidance of Lan Caier’s finger, a hair raising giant spider appears from the front.
In honest to god, Ling Yue never in her life expected to see something so creepy. Aside from the huge size of its leg, those thickly bristled legs were massive and long, giving it a light and bouncy appearance as it crawled through the swampy surface with ease.
None of that really mattered in truth because that’s everything a spider should have. What did catch Ling Yue’s eye was the face on that belly. Like a howling woman, the pattern was the reason why this thing was named Female Ghost Spider.
Not waiting, Ling Yue hurriedly sent her spirit senses out for probing. From within the spider’s abdomen area, she can see a gathering of a reddish energy mass swirling about, likely the equivalent of a lower celestial martialist in human terms.
“I wonder if there’s a core inside this one.” Lan Caier murmurs to herself. Unlike Ling Yue who has a cheating ability, it’s in fact very difficult for one to figure out if a creature has a core inside their body without first dissecting it.
“Sister Lan, let me first give it a try!” Ye Ling Yue never ambushed an enemy before so it’s natural that she would like to give it a try.
Nodding at the suggestion, Lan Caier retreats to one side with her body slightly hunched in wait. If Ling Yue couldn’t handle this spider than she will step in at the last moment. Thankfully her worries were for naught.
In the next moment, a gleam of cold light broke the silence of the darkness by shooting through the air at the spider.
“Grrreeeaaa!” Discovering the disturbance through its keen senses, the female ghost spider bends its furry legs and propels itself into the air by several feet like a jumpy cord.
Practically at the same time too, a web of gummy spider silk was spewed out of its mouth in retaliation to the flying dagger.
“Peng” Upon contact, the weapon that’s capable of slicing through rock were immediately repelled without trouble.
By now the female ghost spider was well aware of both girl’s whereabout.
Irritated, it began spewing out another set of silk like bullets at its attacker.
Jumping out before the impacting webs could land on them, both girls were confident they can handle this one in open combat. Yet, things don’t always go as plan. Upon landing in the swampy terrain, their feet immediately began to sink deeper into the muddy water, thus causing their fighting capability to drop significantly.
Knowing things are bad, Ling Yue takes advantage of this opening and instantly sent her Dragon Saliva Needles out and landed a direct hit on the spider’s body.
Hissing in excruciating pain, the female ghost spider became immobilized by the sneak attack, thus giving Lan Caier the much needed opportunity to sway through the muddy water and pierce her blade into the spider’s belly.
Shivering slightly like a reflex action, the grotesque spider eventually succumbed to the wound and lost its final breath after making one final howl.
Not minding the dirtiness of the job, Lan Caier then got down to slicing open the belly for signs of a core. Sadly, nothing showed up.
“There’s no core, we wasted our efforts then.” Lan Caier shrugs her shoulder.
This came as no surprise to Ling Yue because she already knew from the start the spider was empty inside. What did surprise her though was the difficulty in dealing with a single one of these things.
Technically this would be Ling Yue and Lan Caier’s first time cooperating together for a kill, so they are both panting heavily due to over exerting themselves. A bad sign for any hunter.
Then in the next moment, Ling Yue stepped forward to pluck her Dragon Saliva Needles out of the spider’s body. This startled Lan Caier greatly because she never even noticed the attack.
“Ling Yue, this is your family’s unique needle technique?” Lan Caier asks because she didn’t expect this move to work equally well on a female ghost spider like it would on a human.
“Don’t mind it, we got plenty of time tonight to hone our teamwork.” Ling Yue casually changes the topic and retreats to the side.