“Oh... oh my goodness. You know, the human race is truly capable. I was wondering how they managed to build such a tall building. Standing up here and looking down, you can see the whole city clearly. I must say, it’s quite a sight, eh...”
Hu Ban'er was scared half to death. Standing in the whistling wind, he clung to the carved decorations and offered a flattering smile.
“Mountain Lord, do you enjoy the scenery here?”
“The human race has always known how to enjoy themselves better than the demon race. Even though they cannot fly, they still find every possible way to look at the view from high places.”
Nan Zhi sat on the edge, her tiger palms resting on the marble ledge. She casually tossed something toward him.
“I have seen your loyalty to the demon race.”
She threw it carelessly, and Hu Ban'er instinctively reached out to catch it. He nearly slipped and fell, but fortunately, he still had a large tail. Using it for leverage, he hopped and huddled back with the object in his arms.
It was a porcelain bottle the size of a thumb. Although the mouth was plugged with a wooden stopper, it couldn't hide the faint medicinal fragrance emanating from within.
With a gentle shake, he could feel something rolling around inside.
“!!!”
P-pills? Alchemy pills?
The kind that the big golden mouse ate?!
Hu Ban'er's eyes widened. He instinctively wanted to ask if they were real, but remembering who he was talking to, a smile immediately spread across his furry fox face.
“Many thanks, Mountain Lord! Being able to lead the way for the Mountain Lord is this little demon's honor! Although this little demon once helped the human officials, deep down, I understood perfectly. Humans and demons walk different paths; in the end, we demons are one family.”
“It is good that you know.”
Nan Zhi shifted her golden eyes, her face expressionless.
“As long as you serve me faithfully, you will not lack for rewards. I am tired; we will find the next location tomorrow.”
After saying this, she slightly lowered her eyes, appearing bored. She crossed her legs and began to meditate, not sparing another glance at the old fox, as if she had forgotten he was even there.
It was as if the things she had casually given away were nothing more than roadside weeds or pebbles—nothing of consequence.
Hu Ban'er was very perceptive. He bowed twice to Nan Zhi and then quietly tiptoed to a corner.
Like a thief, he opened the stopper and poured out three round, fragrant pills.
Sure enough, they were exactly the same as the ones he had seen in the Mountain Lord’s cave dwelling.
If these things were to be found outside and people knew about them, forget the officials—even the Taoists on Longhu Mountain would be tempted.
Fresh, with their medicinal power fully intact. These were definitely not some dregs dug out of a tomb or passed down from ancestors that were less effective than a raw sweet potato. These were real alchemy pills.
Who knew how to refine pills nowadays?
The techniques for refining pills and compounding medicine had long been lost. Many of the spirit herbs and spirit fruits listed in ancient pill formulas had gone extinct eight hundred years ago.
Even for a true Taoist physician, anything refined according to those formulas would at most be a pile of ash from burned weeds.
Only a few famous sects still had a few promising disciples left. As for the rest, let alone seeing one, eighty percent of people didn't even know what a Taoist physician was.
If he kept these on him, he wouldn't be able to protect them.
With a single glance, Hu Ban'er made his decision. He opened his mouth and swallowed all three pills at once. He rubbed his belly happily, waiting for the effects to kick in. But before he could even smile for long, he felt his stomach swell, his limbs flush with blood, and his vision was covered by a layer of crimson...
These pills!
How is the medicinal power of these pills so intense!!
How was that golden mouse fine after eating them?
What kind of breed is that mouse to be so tough?!
This was the only thought that flashed through the old fox's mind before he lost consciousness.
Thus, when Nan Zhi finished her meditation and opened her eyes, what she saw was a half-dead fox with a belly swollen like a ball and limbs so flushed they looked ready to burst.
He had already fainted, his belly so round that if you tied a string to him, you could use him as a balloon.
Nan Zhi: “...”
This was the result of swallowing three Qi-Supplementing Pills?
Corn could eat these things like snacks!
A miscalculation. She really hadn't expected the demons of the modern world to be so weak.
She still had to save him, though. Otherwise, she wouldn't have a guide.
...
...
One month later.
【Congratulations, Cultivator, for killing the Level 15 red-named monster “Flying Head.” You have gained Upgrade Experience ×100, “Flying Head Spirit” ×1, Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket ×2, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Large) ×1, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Small) ×5.】
【Congratulations, Cultivator, for killing the Level 26 red-named monster “Pipa Ghost.” You have gained Upgrade Experience ×200, “Pipa Ghost Spirit” ×1, Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket ×3, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Large) ×2.】
【Congratulations, Cultivator, for killing the Level 30 red-named monster “Human-Faced Night Bird.” You have gained Upgrade Experience ×300, “Human-Faced Night Bird Spirit” ×1, 《Basic Formations》 (Green Quality) ×1, Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket ×6, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Large) ×5, Rejuvenation Pills ×5, Qi-Augmenting Pills ×5.】
【Congratulations, Cultivator, for killing the Level 28 red-named monster “Xuyu.” You have gained Upgrade Experience ×200, “Xuyu Spirit” ×1, Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket ×5, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Small) ×5.】
【Congratulations, Cultivator, for killing a Level 17 yellow-named monster “Skin-Shedding Ghost,” a Level 15 red-named monster “Skin-Shedding Ghost,” and a Level 17 red-named monster “Skin-Shedding Ghost.” You have gained Upgrade Experience ×600, “Skin-Shedding Ghost Spirit” ×3, Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket ×3, 《Encyclopedia of Spirit Herbs》 (Green Quality) ×1, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Small) ×3.】
【Congratulations, Cultivator, for killing...】
...
Nan Zhi spent an entire month wandering the Southwest region without rest. Almost all the high-level red-named monsters in this area had been killed by her, their spirits turned into nourishment for the Witch Corpse.
The divine ability extraction progress bar had moved forward by a significant margin, reaching a heartening 69.1%.
She had also accumulated thirty-three Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Tickets, enough to start another round of ten-pull draws.
Perhaps the power of the 【Mountain Lord’s Curse】 had weakened, because among the kill rewards, several items that Nan Zhi happened to need had actually dropped.
A set of basic defensive formation flags—though simple, consisting of only three flags, they were surprisingly practical. With just a small amount of spiritual energy, they could create a defensive formation within a five-hundred-meter radius capable of withstanding a single strike from the mid-stage Qi Refinement stage.
Nan Zhi had tested it; she could use spiritual energy clusters to activate the formation. In an undamaged state, the formation could be deployed three times before the spiritual energy was exhausted and it turned to ash.
There were also ancient books related to cultivation, such as the 《Encyclopedia of Spirit Herbs》, 《Spirit Plant Cultivation Guide》, 《Beast Taming Sect Notes》, 《Encyclopedia of Formations》, and 《Alchemical Insights》. Nan Zhi was severely lacking in common cultivation knowledge, so these books were a godsend.
Aside from these, there was also a very unsettling cultivation manual.
——《Great Freedom Joy Spirit Absorption Art》.
This was a random reward that dropped after she killed Li Dapeng. However, after skimming through its contents, she planned to destroy it.
This 《Great Freedom Joy Spirit Absorption Art》 was actually a demonic cultivation manual.
According to the book's introduction, this manual was created by someone called the “Great Freedom Joy Auspicious Holy Mother.” The method of cultivation was different from other immortal cultivation techniques, emphasizing “spirit roots” and “aptitude.”
According to the manual, humans were born into different ranks. Based on the level of their spirit roots, the top talent was the Heavenly Spirit Root, which was a single-attribute root. This was followed by double roots, triple roots, quadruple roots, and quintuple roots.
——If one did not possess a spirit root, then no matter how hard they practiced, there was no hope for cultivation.
It was absolute nonsense.
With an expressionless face, Nan Zhi set the manual on fire.
Rate on N.U.
