At the entrance of the Inspection Courtyard.
Although it was not as busy as before, there were still many people queuing to be tested.
Only those who passed the secret technique cultivation could enter the Inspection Courtyard.
Under the nearby shade of the trees, there was still a gathering of many people.
As soon as Chen Mu approached, he heard a short and frail man sigh and say, “I don’t know if I can make it.”
“I heard that the Inspection Courtyard has suffered a lot of damage recently and is short of hands. The chances of getting through should be pretty good,” a bald fat man said hopefully.
“I practice the Void Cloak Technique, and I can just run fast, so it’s hard to say,” the small man shook his head.
“If you really can run fast enough, it would actually be easier for you to get through,” said an old man in his fifties.
“Scouting, messaging, and transporting materials, fast runners are indispensable.”
The frail man was immediately overjoyed.
“Don’t get too happy too soon,” the old man continued, “Messaging or transporting materials is okay. Scout work, on the other hand, is extremely dangerous.”
“Because you might encounter exotic beasts first.”
“One moment of carelessness could mean death or injury.”
However, the frail man didn’t care, “Danger is everywhere; even staying in the Lower Courtyard is not safe.”
“Not only have people been devoured by exotic beasts in the medicinal field area, but on the outskirts of the Lower Courtyard, some have also been attacked and killed.”
“Rather than waiting to die, I might as well join the Inspection Courtyard and take a chance!”
The people under the shade of the trees all couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
So brave? Chen Mu quietly backed away and left.
These people were at most at Jade Seed Perfection, having cultivated one or two secret techniques.
If they encountered a white-scaled strange snake, a single sweep of its tail would leave none of them alive!
Cannon fodder…
…
Three days later.
On the Ling Boat, at the Imperial Goods Pavilion.
Chen Mu, carrying a large wrapped bundle and wearing a disguised face, sold the Calming Pills as usual, but he didn’t hurry to leave.
The fair-faced middle-aged man looked at Chen Mu with surprise.
For three months, Chen Mu had always sold the Calming Pills and then immediately left.
What’s different this time…
The middle-aged man, curious, asked, “Is there anything else the customer requires?”
“Boss Le, I have a piece of exotic beast skin that I would like to deal with,” Chen Mu placed the large bundle on the counter and pushed it towards the other party.
“Earth Stripper?” The fair-faced boss, Le Yang’an, raised his eyebrows, “Quite intact.”
“Is the tongue still there?” Le Yang’an asked.
The tongue? Is that thing valuable?
“Gone.” The Five Ghosts Yin Spirit had eaten it.
“What a pity,” Le Yang’an said regretfully, “the Earth Stripper’s tongue can detect Earth Spirit Vital Energy.”
“It can be made into a Magic Artifact to detect earth veins.”
“It’s the most valuable part of the Earth Stripper.”
Chen Mu instantly felt a twinge in his heart.
I’ve missed out!
“This skin is intact, and it’s highly likely it can be made into a Five Poisons Sha Qi Banner. Hmm… I can give you sixty pieces of White Jade,” Le Yang’an said.
“Okay,” Chen Mu nodded.
He didn’t know the market prices for exotic beast materials, and he wasn’t too concerned about the price, he just wanted to deal with it discreetly and swiftly.
“Boss Le, do you know of anything that can isolate Earth Spirit Vital Energy?” Chen Mu asked.
“That depends on what you want to use it for,” Le Yang’an chuckled.
“If you’re thinking about using it on a medicinal field, then forget it.”
“The area is so large, the cost is too high, it’s not worth it.”
So there is such a thing? Chen Mu was thrilled, “What about isolating a small area?”
“Yin Sha Forbidden Qi Talisman, Qi-Gathering Banner, and Seven-Segment Bug Swarm could all do it,” Le Yang’an thought for a moment and answered.
“And all of these are things you have in Jilong Road’s Lower Courtyard. Of course, they are not cheap.”
Chen Mu was clueless. In the Lower Courtyard? He hadn’t even heard of them!
And even if Jilong Road had them, they weren’t something a mere laborer in the Lower Courtyard could touch or obtain.
“Isn’t there a more common method?” Chen Mu wasn’t willing to give up.
“The simplest is Sealing Stone and Heaping Soil. But you wouldn’t be placing the medicinal field inside a mountain, would you?”
“Um… If it’s for individual medicinal herbs that adapt to dark environments, it might work.”
Chen Mu’s eyes lit up.
“Digging tunnels? That’s my specialty!”
He instantly frowned and, pointing at the Earth Stripper, expressed his doubts, “But this thing just burrowed up from underground.”
“Stones and soil can’t completely block the spread of Earth Spirit Vital Energy, can they?”
“As I’ve said, the simplest…” Le Yang’an shrugged his shoulders.
Chen Mu nodded helplessly.
It’s a crude method, it works, but it’s not that reliable.
“Although Earth Strippers are skilled at underground travel, they also need to surface for food and air,” Le Yang’an said with a smile.
“Jilong Road’s Lower Courtyard is permeated with Earth Spirit Vital Energy, especially the Medicinal Field area where the concentration is even higher. It’s no wonder that it detected it.”
…
In the courtyard of Low Mountain, twenty meters below ground.
Chen Mu stood in an underground secret chamber, five meters in length, width, and height.
The ceiling, the floor, and the walls around him were all made of one-meter-thick rectangular stone blocks. Continue your adventure at empire
Even the three pathways to the surface were constructed from hollowed giant stones pieced together to form stone tunnels.
This secret chamber was excavated using the Five Ghosts Moving technique.
“It can only be this way for now.”
Chen Mu quickly scurried to the surface through one of the passages.
Under the wooden shed.
Chen Mu set a half-meter-thick square stone slab into the entrance and arranged a rocking chair on top.
He stretched lazily and lay comfortably in the chair, holding a cup of cold tea in his hand, letting his thoughts drift.
“Yin Sha Forbidden Qi Talisman, I guess it’s also in Director Song’s hands,” he muttered.
“Forget it, my Spiritual Light Technique is not yet mastered. Even with the Talisman Jade Slip, it’s highly unlikely I could use it.”
The Spirit Armor Technique can also absorb Earth Spirit Vital Energy. But it is different from the Spiritual Light Technique after all.
It may not be possible to use it for casting talismans, or a unique method might be required.
Suddenly catching a glimpse of the well out of the corner of his eye, a flash of inspiration struck him.
“The well water itself contains Earth Spirit Vital Energy, so why did the Earth Stripper surface to attack the White Jade Plate first?”
“Shouldn’t it have discovered the underground water veins and spirit springs first?”
“This well… there’s something about it!”
Chen Mu’s eyes suddenly shone brightly.
“Can the well, or the entire underground water vein, block the Earth Spirit Vital Energy?!”
“If I cultivate within the water vein, wouldn’t that be even safer!”
“Or perhaps, discover the secret of how the well blocks Earth Spirit Vital Energy!”
…
An hour later.
Chen Mu sat under the wooden shed, holding a palm-sized brown Vine Net.
The mesh was about as thick as a finger, the twine about the diameter of a pen refill, and it was quite sturdy and solid.
Poked twice with a finger, the vine tendrils would slowly contract and twitch like an animal!
Just now he had dug down through the well.
He found that the exterior wall of the underground well and the surrounding rock of the water vein were all covered with this rootlike vine.
“Jilong Road would never cover the water vein with this stuff for no reason,” Chen Mu’s eyes lit up.
“It must be used to block the Earth Spirit Vital Energy!”
“If I can cultivate it successfully…” Chen Mu’s mouth curled up at the thought of his Third Rank Planting Skill on the grey wall.
…
Half a month later.
Chen Mu pulled out a stone the size of a human head from a rectangular cultivation tank under the wooden shed.
At this moment, the stone was completely enveloped by brown, rootlike Vine Net.
“Success!”
He just needed to smear a special trait-guiding medicine on the outside of the underground secret chamber and transplant a piece of the Vine Net after activation.
It would then follow the trail of the medicine, slowly enveloping the target.
“With the Vine Net wrapping it and being deep underground, I can finally use the White Jade Plate with peace of mind,” he said to himself.
Glimpsing the well again, Chen Mu’s mind raced: “Perhaps I can even connect the entrance of the secret chamber to the well!”
Since he had mastered the cultivation method for the Vine Net, he wasn’t afraid of disrupting the state of the well.
It would make entry and exit even more discreet and safe.