Chapter 16: Bamboo Killer

Not long after, Lin Jing left the Mission Hall holding the mission scroll.

With this item, he could harvest spirit bamboo in Jin Zhuyuan at will; without this proof, he would be arrested for the crime of "destroying sect resources."

"That senior brother said that harvesting spirit bamboo with ordinary Flying Leaf Art is extremely strenuous, but I don't know how the Red Flying Leaf will perform."

Regarding the Mission Hall senior brother's statement, Lin Jing and Long Li didn't care; what did the ordinary spirit beast Long Li have to do with their rare beast Long Li?

Since Elder Yu had entrusted them with this heavy responsibility, even if they didn't eat or drink, they had to cut down enough spirit bamboo to send to Elder Yu.

Lin Jing and Long Li rushed to Jin Zhuyuan without stopping, afraid of wasting too much time; after all, cutting ten fewer stalks meant one less spirit stone in reward.

After showing the mission scroll to the sect senior brother guarding the bamboo forest, he brought Long Li into the bamboo sea.

Walking into the bamboo forest, they looked up; the bamboo leaves blotted out the sky and sun, and each towering spirit bamboo exuded a deep, vibrant green, making Long Li drool uncontrollably.

"Squeak..."

"You are a squirrel, not a bamboo rat," Lin Jing corrected, then patted the cloth pouch hanging at his waist. Long Li immediately took out the precious Red Flying Leaf from it and held it to its chest.

However, before it used the Red Flying Leaf, Lin Jing bent down, picked up an ordinary bamboo leaf, and handed it to it.

"Let's compare them exactly to see how much difference there is in destructive power against the spirit bamboo between using an ordinary bamboo leaf and using your Red Flying Leaf for the Flying Leaf Art."

Hearing this, Long Li nodded. It took the green bamboo leaf in one hand and the Red Flying Leaf in the other, its gaze sharpening as it looked at the nearest spirit bamboo!

"Squeak!" Its spiritual power surged. With a flick of its small hand, it first threw the bamboo leaf. With a *swish*, the green light collided with the spirit bamboo; the bamboo stalk swayed slightly, and the leaf only left a negligible little nick on the bamboo before exploding.

Seeing this, Long Li frowned. This spirit bamboo was indeed hard. Harvesting it normally, it feared that even if it stayed here for a day, it would be very far from getting rich.

It and Lin Jing exchanged a look, and this time, it switched to using the Red Flying Leaf to launch the Flying Leaf Art.

"Squeak!" Long Li leaped from Lin Jing's shoulder and threw the Red Flying Leaf. A red flash passed, and with a *crack*, the Red Flying Leaf passed straight through the bamboo stalk. Immediately after... the tall bamboo fell with a crash!

And this wasn't the end. Accompanied by Long Li's control, the Red Flying Leaf was still flying very quickly. With just a few thoughts from Long Li, the Red Flying Leaf had already severed several spirit bamboos. Such efficiency made Lin Jing and Long Li's eyes light up.

From this, it could be judged that the lethality Long Li could cause by controlling the Red Flying Leaf was definitely much higher than that of a third-layer Qi Condensation Long Li, and in terms of the flexibility of the Flying Leaf Art, it was even more incomparable to ordinary Long Li!

"We're going to be rich!" Lin Jing said.

"Squeak squeak!!" Long Li was also extremely excited. Although controlling the Red Flying Leaf was very tiring, thinking that these spirit bamboos would eventually turn into its storage bag, it erupted with intense enthusiasm, its fatigue swept away, and it was very motivated.

"We won't go back. Let's just live here for the time being," Lin Jing suggested.

"I heard the sound of a stream earlier; there is a water source in this bamboo forest, which means there are fish. I'll eat grilled fish, and you eat bamboo leaves. Let's see what our limit is!"

Long Li was startled. It had just been told it wasn't a bamboo rat, and now it was being told to eat bamboo leaves! But eating was eating; the leaves of this spirit bamboo were much more nutritious than the tree leaves in the courtyard.

Lin Jing and Long Li's eyes... shone again!

One week later!

The senior brother responsible for guarding the bamboo forest suddenly felt something was wrong. He was sitting in the bamboo hut cultivating when he remembered something.

"I seem to remember a junior brother entering the bamboo forest for a harvesting mission a few days ago? Why haven't I seen them come out for several days in a row?"

"They are truly diligent," he sighed, looked at the pastries on the table, and decided to visit this junior brother. Being able to receive Elder Yu's mission meant this junior brother's talent and potential were extraordinary, and being so diligent in executing the mission meant his future was immeasurable; he was worth befriending.

He carried the pastries and began to enter the bamboo forest. As he went deeper, the senior brother's eyelids twitched. The roadside was bare, completely different from the bamboo sea in his memory.

In its place were piles of spirit bamboo bundled up on the ground, pile... after pile... after pile.

"What happened!" He was stunned. He clearly remembered that he had only let in one junior brother and his Dragon Carp a few days ago. With this posture, it looked like the Dragon Carp clan from Songlin Peak had come to reclaim the land collectively.

"Junior brother, where are you!" He had wind swirling around his feet, the Wind Walk Art activated, and he instantly became as light as a swallow, beginning to search for Lin Jing and the others. Not long after, he found Long Li, who was eating bamboo leaves... and Lin Jing, who was massaging it.

"This senior brother... is something the matter?" Lin Jing looked up, stopped the Spirit Nourishing Art in his hands, and looked at the bamboo-guarding senior brother, whose mouth was twitching.

"Did you harvest all of these?" He was incredibly incredulous, looking at the exhausted Long Li, who was only at the third layer of Qi Condensation but had eyes full of light, and he didn't believe it at all.

"Yes," Lin Jing said, looking exhausted.

"This..." The bamboo-guarding senior brother fell silent for a moment and said, "Did Elder Yu say... how many spirit bamboos he needed?"

Lin Jing shook his head. "Elder Yu didn't say, but the Ascension Dragon Festival is such an important holiday, surely the more spirit bamboo, the better, right? Only then can more mechanical bamboo dragons be made to make the festival more lively."

"I'll go ask Elder Yu for instructions..." The bamboo-guarding senior brother really couldn't rest easy. He scratched his head and turned to leave. He was truly afraid that if he let Lin Jing stay in the bamboo forest for a while longer, the bamboo sea here would disappear.

And as the bamboo-guarding senior brother left, Lin Jing and Long Li acted as if they were facing a great enemy and accelerated their harvesting.

Outer Sect, Mechanism Workshop!

Although Elder Yu of the Outer Sect mainly cultivated the Beast Taming Dao, he was also a mechanism fanatic who loved studying mechanisms.

Outside the workshop, there was a plaque that read, "Mechanical beasts are also beasts."

At this moment, he was drinking tea and chatting with another elder. If Lin Jing were here, he would recognize him as Elder Mo, who had been away from the sect for several days.

"I just returned to the sect and hadn't even flown to Lotus Peak before you intercepted me. Is there something important?" Elder Mo took a sip of tea and looked at the other person.

Elder Yu laughed heartily, stroked his beard, and said, "A month ago, you put the rare body you found into the Outer Sect and asked me to take extra care of him. I've been very attentive, even customizing a sect mission for him to harvest spirit bamboo. Shouldn't you thank me? One spirit stone for every 10 spirit bamboos; for an Outer Sect disciple, this is a pie falling from the sky!"

"Heh! You want thanks for such a trivial matter? Stop it. With their cultivation, how many spirit bamboos could they possibly cut?" Elder Mo snorted.

"Do you think I don't know your stinginess?! Tell me, which resource from my collection have you set your eyes on?"

"What stinginess? I'm just saving some... for the sect to study mechanical beasts." Before Elder Yu could finish his sentence, a crane landed outside the workshop and delivered a letter.

Elder Yu opened it, his expression changed instantly, and he said, "Are you sure the rare body you brought back is a rare body, and not a Wood God body?"

"What's wrong?" Elder Mo was puzzled.

"The bamboo-guarding disciple said that the disciple executing the spirit bamboo harvesting mission has already almost cut down the outer bamboo forest!" Elder Yu felt his scalp go numb.