Chapter 172: The Demoness’ Sharp Eyes
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He looked at the bruised spirit beast.
Jiang Hao felt that it would be better to leave it unconscious on the ground than to hang it up like that.
“Senior,” he said and bowed respectfully.
This time, he was fully prepared. The tea leaves and the stone tablet were all in order.
“What cultivation realm are you?” asked Hong Yuye as she touched the leaves of the flower gently.
“The middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm,” said Jiang Hao.
Hong Yuye got up and looked at him. “Middle stage of the Foundation
Establishment Realm? I think it’s the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. What do you think?”
A terrifying aura surged. It was capable of turning everything to dust. Jiang Hao felt as though he would fall apart at any moment. He lowered his head. “Senior, your eyes are sharp. I am indeed at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.”
Jiang Hao made it so that he looked like he was at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Hong Yuye didn’t say anything more about it. “Did you find anything about the stone tablet?”
“I only know that three people frequently talk in that reality. They are Gui, Liu, and Xing. I go by the name Jing.”
“Is that all?” she asked.
“That’s all for now.”
Jiang Hao felt a bit anxious. He understood how much patience was needed to become an undercover agent. Liu Xingchen and Ming Yi were like that too.
He suddenly thought of something. Now that he was in the Primordial Spirit
Realm, he might get some more information if he used the Daily Appraisal on Hong Yuye. However, she might detect his use of divine ability very easily. He had no choice but to wait for her to bring it up.
Jiang Hao wasn’t sure that he had reached a level where he could use his ability without being detected.
“How many words have you exchanged with them?” asked Hong Yuye.
Jiang Hao lowered his head. “Quite a few.”
“Is “quite a few” equivalent to three words only?” asked Hong Yuye.
“Pretty much.” Jiang Hao nodded.
Hong Yuye chuckled. “Find out who’s behind the stone tablets. You won’t be helping me free. When the time comes, it’ll be worth it. However, if my patience runs out…’”‘
A ray of sunlight fell in the courtyard, and Hong Yuye dissipated in the light.
Jiang Hao breathed a sigh of relief. He had barely escaped a disaster. It would be extremely difficult to find the person behind the stone tablets.
He needed to take it slow. He would appear distant and mysterious to the others so that they were curious about him, instead of coming off as suspicious.
If new people joined during that time, it would be even better. If he was no longer a newcomer, he might be accepted more willingly into the group.
As for Hong Yuye’s patience, he didn’t dare think about that.
There was the Immortal Peach Tree and the Heavenly Fragrance Dao Flower to take care of, so he might not be killed that easily. It’s just that he didn’t have the freedom to do as he pleased.
While Jiang Hao thought about it, he heard the wail of the spirit beast. Jiang Hao untied it from the tree branch and placed it on the ground.
“Master, did you provoke someone? Why do they keep beating me up?”
“Yes.” Jiang Hao nodded. “I provoked a demoness.”
“Master, you need to work hard and be careful. The more amiable you are, the more friends I will make.’
Jiang Hao chuckled. He then let the spirit beast go to the Spirit Herb Garden. He then thought about his next course of action.
‘After refining my cultivation, I need to update my Reappearance of the Hidden Spirit Ability. I also need to store two attacks in my wrist guard. After that, I’ll start learning the spells of the Hong Meng Heart Sutra.’
At noon, Jiang Hao absorbed the remaining cultivation points to refine his cultivation. He hid two attacks in his wrist guard and stored his power in the Reappearance of the Hidden Spirit ability.
After doing all that, he spent half an afternoon recovering his strength. He then headed to the Spirit Herb Garden to collect bubbles.
‘I still need to confirm how many days it takes for the Heavenly Fragrance Dao Flower to spawn bubbles.’
After returning from the Spirit Herb Garden, Jiang Hao tried to study the techniques he could learn in the new cultivation realm. He still did not know what spells and techniques were open to him.
The learning difficulty was ridiculously high.
The learning difficulty was off the charts, mainly because the form of the technique was somewhat different from the ones he had encountered before.
Days passed in this manner. As expected, the Heavenly Fragrance Dao Flower didn’t give any more bubbles.
On the fifth day, two bubbles appeared near it.
[Cultivation +1] [Lifeblood +1]
Jiang Hao heaved a sigh of relief. If bubbles appeared steadily at similar times, he could advance to the next stage in a year and a half.
However, his cultivation was pitifully low now.
[Lifeblood: 5/100 (cannot be cultivated)]
[Cultivation: 4/100 (cannot be cultivated)]
Two days later, Jiang Hao asked the people from the Candlelight Pill Pavilion to inspect the Black Lotus seedlings.
The one who had visited for inspection was a senior in the peak of the Golden Core Realm. He was shocked when he saw the seedlings.
“So fast?! How did you achieve this, Junior Brother?”
Lian Daozhi looked at Jiang Hao.
“I just got lucky,” said Jiang Hao. Naturally, he couldn’t tell Lian Daozhi that he had spent around a thousand spirit stones to make the seeds sprout.
“Strong people always credit their achievement to luck,” said Lian Daozhi with a smile. “I’m Lian Daozhi, by the way. And you are?”
“Jiang Hao.”
“Junior Brother Jiang, I still have dozens of Black Lotus seeds here. I wonder if your Spirit Herb Garden will accept them…”
Jiang Hao shook his head apologetically. “I’m sorry, but we can’t. This time, it was really luck. These flowers can’t sprout within two months. I hope you understand, Senior brother Lian.”
He wasn’t interested in planting more Black Lotus for now. He didn’t have enough spirit stones for that, and he was leaving for the Devil’s Den soon.
If anyone else took over this task, it’d only be trouble.
“Is that so?” said Lian Daozhi, deep in thought. “Then… will you be willing to take such orders in the future?”
“I am,” said Jiang Hao. “But it depends on the situation.’
When planting difficult herbs, they needed to be approved by the one managing the Spirit Herb Garden. If the garden accepted it and the herbs didn’t turn out well, then there would be unnecessary trouble.
No one dared to take full responsibility in such cases. Jiang Hao was willing to spend his own spirit stones in raising the seeds solely for the bubbles.
“Alright. I will have some juniors deliver the orders next time,” said Lian Daozhi. He was very pleased with the outcome. He thought Jiang Hao might have a talent when it came to planting the spirit herbs.
“There won’t be any delay in payment, so you can rest assured,” he said.
Since more than fifty alchemists from the Candlelight Pill Pavilion had been attacked and robbed because of their debt, they needed to establish their credibility once again. The other Spirit Herb Gardens were willing to accept simple orders but refused to plant the more expensive and difficult kinds of herbs.
The Candlelight Pill Pavilion was facing a crisis and wanted a reliable and simple transaction regarding spirit herbs. Golden Core alchemists didn’t lack spirit stones, so they preferred to do reliable and simple business. Those in the lower realms, like the Foundation Establishment alchemist, lacked spirit stones, so they often tried to find a cheap way out. It ended up causing trouble for everyone..