Chapter 265 “Guardian Spirit Beast”
Just then, a series of gasping sounds came from behind. It was Xia Hou Hong and his people who came out from the barrier.
Without deviation from the norm, they were all shocked and overwhelmed by the field of spirit herbs before them. And considering the look they were making – those glowing eyes – it’s obvious they would love nothing more than to rush up and bag everything up.
Even in the royal treasury, there wouldn’t be this much inside!
If they can take just one, just one, that’s all they need to make a killing outside.
Now that the Brilliant Star Astrolabe’s been damaged, plus Lady Yao’s eye are still injured, it’s been some time since he gained the attention of the king. As such, Xia Hou Hong’s been brooding over on how to win his father’s favor again. If he can snatch this field up and bring them all back, it’s undoubtedly a great merit on his end.
Looking over on the side, a devious snicker escaped the prince after seeing it’s only Ling Yue and Bo Qing over there. “This field is mine from now on. You over there, fuck off! Otherwise the death penalty awaits you both!”
“I say, how shameless can you get? Do you think this is the back garden of Da Xia, what gives you the right to claim ownership?” Flaring up with her temper, Bo Qing raises her sleeves, ready to duke it out with a brawl.
“Forget it Bo Qing, we will go ahead.” Shaking her head, Ling Yue drags the girl away without looking back.
With the “pests” out of the way, Xia Hou Hong’s men promptly jumped into the field and began gathering the herbs like a frenzied mob.
As high and mighty these people make themselves out to be in public, none are immune to the allure of wealth. Just one of these plants would be worth a fortune, or if it’s the right one, enough to propel a martialist’s cultivation to a whole new level. Therefore, Marquis An and her daughter An Ming Xia didn’t hesitate at all and pounced at the stuff like greedy snobs.
“How could this be!” the prince suddenly exclaims.
In his hand, the Thousand-Year Ganoderma began to dry up and withered away before he could even place it into the jade box for storage.
Note: Ganoderma is a type of mushroom that grows on wood. Usually found in asia and is said to hold a ton of good benefits inside. Slightly dark red in color from what I remember on the tv commercials.
It’s not just the prince who faced this situation, the others also encountered the same thing.
Regardless of it being a ginseng or a ganoderma, everything would dry up and become a husk of its former self prior to plucking.
“Wahhh! I say Thirteen, did you already know it’s going to be like that, hence the reason why you didn’t pick any?
Ling Yue nods to answer: “Birds have their own habitat to survive on and plants have their own types of soil to grow on.”
She controls the Red Mist Sky and the Rainbow Creek, there’s no way she wouldn’t know the importance of the soil quality to the animals and plants.
After over a millennium in this place, these herbs had adapted to the environment far too well, making them unsuitable for transplanting or removal. As soon as it leaves the ground, the outcome can only be death for the plants.
Therefore, these marvelous herbs may appear seemingly precious on the outside, but in truth, they are worthless. That’s not to say there’s no workarounds. One only needs to gather the seeds and replant the stuff outside. Though the method was time consuming and labor intensive, but it’s still far better than nothing. Which was exactly what Ling Yue did earlier, she gathered a pile of the seeds for herself.
So long as she can find some Hollow Crystals on this trip, she will be able to grow a batch of the herbs that wouldn’t lose out to the mother plant here inside the Tai Yi School.
“The best part is still coming up.” Just as Ling Yue and Bo Qing were watching from afar, those from the Fire Wielder Sect was also doing the same.
For some unknown reason, that suspicious sixth-junior suddenly exposed an unnerving smile without indication.
Tap~ Tap~ Tap~ Tap~
From the side forest, several strange creatures abruptly popped out of the greenery.
They are about the size of a bull with the body of a bull, however, that head was a lion with flames acting as its mane. Then there are those green spooky eyes, it’s constantly leaking out a faint green light.
“Not good, it’s the legendary guardian beast of the Tai Yi School, Jade Eyed Stone Beast!” Marquis An cries out the name without thinking at all. He’s too surprised by this because he didn’t expect the place to still hold such ancient creatures around.
The Jade Eyed Stone Beasts had long been considered extinct in the world, or at least very close to it anyways. For an adult version of this creature that’s ranked at the sixth level, they are capable of wielding powers equal to a Dan realm master, making them a powerful adversary for any foe.
After the fall of the Tai Yi School over a millennium ago, these creatures somehow managed to survive despite being closed off from the outer world. In fact, they are thriving here by using the water source and the spirit herbs as food source.
For Xia Hou Hong and his goons to be picking the herbs here, wouldn’t that be stealing the animals food? Doesn’t take much to guess why these Jade Eyed Stone Beasts are so angry right now.
Not hesitating in the least, the creatures all pounced into the field, their eyes shooting out beams of green all the while.
Since the attack came so suddenly, one of the guards weren’t so lucky and couldn’t dodge in time. Once the light came into contact with the man’s feet, it started to petrify that spot with signs of quickly expanding upward.
As per its name implies, these animals are inherently equipped with the ability to “petrify” its target using those green light beams from its eyes. Like poisons, it will infect the victims skin and gradually turn them into stone.
Watching the wailing guard slowly becoming a statue before their very eyes, Xia Hou Hong and the rest were so scared that they promptly dumped the herbs and made a run for it.
“Quick, protect His Highness.” After saying this, a terrifying amount of energy erupted from Marquis An’s body. Like a sharp blade, he thunders out and instantly slayed one of the attacking animals.
“Father, help me!” An Ming Xia’s voice carried distress and fear in there.
Earlier she had wanted to go pick one of the spirit flowers by herself, therefore it was very easy for the Jade Eyed Stone Beasts to surround her.
“Ming Xia, don’t fear. Hurry and bring out those Thunder Seeds I gave you!” Fortunately Marquis An remembered to be on the cautious side and handed his daughter those grenade like armaments.
Hearing the instruction, An Ming Xia rushed to pull out the weapons and tossed one right in front of the pursuing animal.
In the next second, a massive explosion shook the ground and sent a couple of the stone beasts flying out from the shockwave. The smell of flesh and blood filled the air.
Now that she’s free again, An Ming Xia’s old habit was starting to act up again when she took notice to Ling Yue and Bo Qing not far away.
Seeing the lively appearance of the pair there, a sinister and cruel idea popped into her head.
Without warning, she ran towards Ling Yue and Bo Qing’s location, clearly an attempt to drive the animals’ attention to their side.
“Damn woman, how dare you try to harm us.” Flickering a cold light in her eye, Bo Qing was ready to pull Ling Yue away with her to avoid the battle circle.
Just as An Ming Xia was about to succeed in her attempt to lead the pursuers onto her target, several figures suddenly blocked in front of her path. “If you don’t want to die then scram!” Since Fire Granny was absent from the group, An Ming Xia didn’t even both to take into account who her blockers were or their strength.
“It seems it’s a mistake to leave you your life the last time.”
This sound, it’s the voice which An Ming Xia would never forget for the rest of her life.
“Wu…” Before she could finish the name, a ghostly figure had already sent a palm strike into her chest, knocking the girl way back into the mouth of one of the stone beasts.
Likely realizing Wu Cheng was a being not to be trifled with, the stone beast in question didn’t idle and swiftly returned into the forest with its victim firmly in its jaw.