Chapter 123

After the grandfather and grandson finished discussing serious matters, they brewed a pot of Green Jade Spirit Tea in the main hall of the cave abode, and Grandfather began to talk about his travels to various markets.

He carefully told Lin Zhangqing about his experiences selling Vermilion Fruit, as well as the things he had seen and heard while out and about.

Because he himself had never formally traveled in the cultivation world, Lin Zhangqing listened very attentively; after all, this was his grandfather's care for him, and it was packed with practical knowledge.

The two chatted for two hours, and the Green Jade tea had already been changed twice. Fortunately, since the Lu Youqiang family took over, the yield of this Green Jade tea had become more stable.

Lin Zhangqing always had them prioritize the care of important spirit herbs and plants, and the second-grade Green Jade tea trees were also within the scope Lin Zhangqing had designated.

After chatting with his grandfather, Lin Zhangqing returned to his room and sat there, playing with the Three Treasures Spirit Beast Bracelet he had just obtained today.

Thinking of the one hundred portions of ice crystals he had obtained from Senior Chen Jieyi, Lin Zhangqing decided that from now on, he would let the little ones gnaw on one portion every other day.

Today, while changing the new home for Chu Yi and the others, he remembered that he had a little mouse captured in the secret realm.

At that time, while still in the space, he had even let Lu Youqiang cast a few Returning Yang Techniques on it. He didn't know how it was doing now after so many days of ignoring it.

There was also Wan Youxin's Swift Wind Thunder Leopard, which he had also captured. Since Wan Youxin had left the secret realm alive, this Thunder Leopard definitely couldn't be kept! Otherwise, who knew if one day Wan Youxin would follow the connection of the contract and come knocking, and that possibility wasn't small! He checked his surroundings and then entered the space, where the Lu Youqiang family quickly surrounded Lin Zhangqing.

Lu Xiaoling even burrowed straight into Lin Zhangqing's arms; the Lu Youqiang family was very enthusiastic now.

Lin Zhangqing hurriedly stroked and smoothed the fur of each one to reward his good employees. After a while, he fed them all Spirit Nurturing Pills and let them go off to play.

After considering it, he decided to deal with the Swift Wind Thunder Leopard in the spirit beast bag first. Moreover, Lin Zhangqing wanted to conduct an experiment: throw the Thunder Leopard directly into the deep pit to see what the consequences would be.

On a whim, he summoned Lu Youqiang and Lu Xiaoling over, then took the Thunder Leopard out of a spirit beast bag.

Having been ignored for so many days and having suffered such heavy injuries without receiving any treatment, it was now on the verge of death.

Even if he ignored it, it would probably die on its own after a while if it couldn't hold on, so now it could be considered making use of waste.

He signaled for Lu Youqiang and the others to watch carefully, then lifted the Thunder Leopard and tossed it into the deep pit. It sank straight into the pit and disappeared. Two seconds later, after a few miserable cries, there was no more movement.

Lu Youqiang and Lu Xiaoling were so scared they retreated again and again. This time they had seen the fate of falling down, and they would be even more afraid to approach this place in the future.

Lin Zhangqing's business here was done, but Wan Youxin, far away at the Yuling Sect, was pitted miserably by Lin Zhangqing.

As soon as he returned to the sect, he exchanged for precious medicine specifically for treating backlash and immediately went into seclusion.

By taking the precious medicine, he treated the backlash brought about by the death of his spirit beast, and he had been suppressing the backlash in the secret realm through secret methods.

Now that he was in seclusion, all the backlash erupted. Fortunately, with the protection of the sect's precious medicine, he had finally managed to hold on.

Lin Zhangqing killed his Swift Wind Thunder Leopard in the space, and another wave of backlash struck immediately. With a "pfft," a large mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out, and then he hugged his head and wailed and rolled on the ground.

This time it wasn't just as simple as all his previous efforts being wasted; it was adding insult to injury. It would be impossible to recover without three to five years.

And while the backlash on his body was easier to recover from, the injuries to his soul would not be so easy to heal.

Of course, Lin Zhangqing, far away in the Qingyun City market, knew nothing of this.

Having dealt with the Swift Wind Thunder Leopard, Lin Zhangqing asked Lu Youqiang again how that white mouse from last time was doing—was it dead?

Unexpectedly, after Lu Youqiang let out two "Yo-yo!" sounds, he led Lin Zhangqing to the vicinity of the center of the alfalfa field and then let out two more cries toward a small hole.

Lin Zhangqing understood that the little mouse should be inside. He probed with his divine sense to check the situation and found a listless little mouse lying on the ground in the hole resting.

Because this hole hadn't been dug very deep, Lin Zhangqing easily caught it and placed it in his palm.

The little mouse had clearly been raised by a cultivator since it was young and wasn't too afraid of strangers; it just let out two weak cries toward Lin Zhangqing and then lay there motionless.

It seemed that the little mouse had already survived the backlash brought about by the death and fall of its master.

It was just that this kind of backlash was more at the soul level, and this injury had never been treated, which was why it appeared so listless.

Lin Zhangqing carefully observed this little white mouse. Its body size wasn't very large, just a little bigger than a palm, about the same as a small kitten.

Its whole body was flawless white, and now it was curled into a ball, looking like a white fur ball.

Lin Zhangqing really couldn't determine what kind of spirit beast it belonged to. Currently, he only had the Spirit Insect Catalog gifted by Wanbao Pavilion and the Strange Insect List that came with the insect cultivator inheritance; his knowledge about spirit beasts was still what he had seen in the family's Scripture Pavilion. However, just because Lin Zhangqing didn't know didn't mean others didn't; at the very least, its master definitely knew what kind of spirit beast this was.

He took out a storage bag; this one was specifically for storing the miscellaneous items captured in the secret realm. The cultivation notes and such of those cultivators should all be here.

He poured everything out. There weren't too many cultivation notes, only about ten or so in total. Searching through them one by one, he finally found the answer Lin Zhangqing wanted in one of them.

Spirit-Seeking Rat, a wind and earth dual-attribute spirit beast. The highest record in the Yuling Sect was growing to the third stage. It had quite strong intelligence and could understand human nature.

They often lived attached to powerful demonic beasts, searching for various spiritual objects and spirit veins for these high-grade demonic beasts, while these high-grade demonic beasts provided them with shelter, allowing them to survive within their territory.

Spirit-Seeking Rats are omnivorous spirit beasts; basically, anything with spiritual energy can be eaten, but what they like to eat most are various spirit fruits containing spiritual energy.

Their talent is being adept at finding various spiritual objects and spirit veins; they are the best helpers for cultivators exploring and treasure hunting in the wild.

And as a wind and earth dual-attribute spirit beast, although it has no attack power, its life-saving ability is first-class. Now, at the first-stage mid-stage, it already knows the Earth Travel Technique.

Once it advances to the second stage, it will also comprehend the Wind Escape Technique, and by then, it will be even harder to catch.

There are quite a few Spirit-Seeking Rats; the Yuling Sect raises over a hundred of them, specifically for renting to sect members and disciples in need, to facilitate their going out to search for spiritual objects and such.

Just based on its abilities, it can be considered a very practical spirit beast! Understanding this, Lin Zhangqing made a decision in his heart: he intended to subdue this Spirit-Seeking Rat, though of course, it would also depend on whether it was willing itself!

Knowing that the Spirit-Seeking Rat understood human nature, Lin Zhangqing said directly to it: "I know you can understand me. I have a way to heal the injuries on your soul, but you must submit to me. If you agree, cry three times, and then roll over in my palm.

If you don't agree, that's fine too. Anyway, I won't raise you for nothing. You also know I raise a Golden Winged Bird; whether you can escape from under its claws by then will depend on your own ability!"

Upon hearing this, the Spirit-Seeking Rat trembled all over. A wise rat doesn't fight when the odds are against it, so it could only let out three weak cries toward him and then struggled to roll over in Lin Zhangqing's palm.

Lin Zhangqing saw this and thought, sure enough, it's clever and understands human nature. Seeing it struggle so much just to roll over, he knew he had to hurry and treat it.

He first cast a Spirit Light Shield on himself to avoid getting the fragrance of the Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine on his body later.

Then he took out the Xuan Yuan Heavy Water Bottle and, considering the size of the Spirit-Seeking Rat, only extracted a tiny bit of spirit wine.

The Spirit-Seeking Rat felt comfortable just by smelling the fragrance and immediately became convinced that this thing was of great help to the injuries on its soul.

It immediately sat up and eagerly let out two cries toward Lin Zhangqing.

Lin Zhangqing knew it would be like this, so he didn't waste time and hurriedly delivered the spirit wine into its mouth. The Spirit-Seeking Rat took the spirit wine and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

At this moment, even greater trouble followed. The Lu Youqiang family rushed over again and surrounded Lin Zhangqing, crying "Yo-yo" non-stop.

Especially Lu Xiaoya, who was even more excited; she kept crying and licking Lin Zhangqing. Lin Zhangqing estimated that if he didn't give it some Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine this time, he wouldn't be able to leave!

He first comforted the family, then asked it through the contract whether it had confirmed that the Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine it took last time had been fully digested and absorbed. He received an affirmative answer from Lu Xiaoya.

Lin Zhangqing then told it through the contract the principle that continuously improving cultivation in a short time through spirit herbs and spirit wine consumes one's own potential, making it more difficult to advance in the future.

Unexpectedly, it actually told Lin Zhangqing through the contract that it hadn't continuously advanced; last time it had only consolidated its cultivation.

Lin Zhangqing carefully recalled it, and it seemed that was indeed the case. When he first met it, it was already at the first-stage late stage; later, to treat the injuries on its soul, he gave it the Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine, which consolidated its cultivation to the late stage perfection.

It indeed hadn't continuously improved its cultivation. Lin Zhangqing considered it and decided to give it resources to let it advance to the second stage, so it could help Lin Zhangqing better manage the space.

He told it this decision, and Lu Xiaoya was so happy and excited that it scurried all over the space. Fortunately, it still had its wits about it and didn't step on the flowers and plants, otherwise Lin Zhangqing would have given it a piece of his mind.

After being happy for a while, Lu Xiaoya returned to Lin Zhangqing's side and, learning from Lu Xiaoling's manner, burrowed straight into Lin Zhangqing's arms. Lin Zhangqing laughed out loud; fortunately, the female deer had no antlers, otherwise Lin Zhangqing would have been injured.

After stroking and smoothing its fur for a while and confirming that Lu Xiaoya had calmed down, Lin Zhangqing cast a Spirit Light Shield on himself and then took out the Xuan Yuan Heavy Water Bottle.

He extracted a portion of Hundred Flowers Drunken Soul Wine about the same size as the portion Lu Youqiang had taken at the time and let Lu Xiaoya swallow it in one gulp. Then it cried out "Yo-yo!" happily toward Lin Zhangqing, quickly became drunk, and fell into a deep sleep.

By the time it woke up after a while, it should be a second-stage spirit beast.

It was not easy to comfort Lu Youqiang and Lu Xiaoling, promising them delicious food next time, before he finally managed to escape.

Sigh! Really, it's not easy being a boss these days!

(End of chapter)