Chapter 67: Deliciously Addictive, the Mountain Cat Leaves the Nest

It was now the second morning of climbing Dengshan to gather spiritual essence, and Zhao Xing was in no rush to head to the Mountain God Temple.

While keeping an eye on the cave, he gathered materials on the spot, preparing for his "lure the tiger from the mountain" plan.

If the fierce beast inside the cave went out to forage, that would be ideal—he could sneak in, steal it, and make a run for it.

If it didn't come out, then he'd lure it out.

Fortunately, his Grass and Trees All Soldiers had reached the fourth revolution; this mountain lacked other materials, but there were plenty of vines and willow branches, so he had no shortage of materials for straw figures.

Zhao Xing had no plans to deploy the Mighty Vajra; Vajra Bamboo was hard to replenish in the short term.

Facing a strange beast, he also couldn't match it with magic power, so what Zhao Xing needed to supplement now was the 【Divine Stride Straw Figure】.

"Go bring me some stones."

Zhao Xing gave the order to the Binding Straw Figure.

"Go catch some wild rabbits, mountain rats, and wild boars."

Zhao Xing then gave the order to the Mighty Vajra.

Swish, swish, swish~

The straw figures began carrying out the orders.

Next, Zhao Xing retreated, putting more distance between himself and the cave.

He found a patch of soil.

From the Asparagus Fern Box, he took out two kinds of seedlings.

The Asparagus Fern Box had been given by Xue Wenzhong and Chen Shijie two days before entering the mountain; Zhao Xing had spent some time cultivating some of the seeds inside into seedlings.

Now that he needed them, he could pull them out and use them right away.

"If this strange beast eats meat, I'll prepare some meat bait."

"If it eats plants, these Vine-Fragrance Berries and Hundred-Fragrance Grass should be able to draw its attention."

Both types of plants were second-grade, lower quality.

The Vine-Fragrance Berries and Hundred-Fragrance Grass had just one main effect: deliciously addictive!

They held considerable attraction for plant-eating strange beasts.

Looking at the bones in the cave, Zhao Xing felt it was more likely the strange beast ate meat, but the Vine-Fragrance Berries and Hundred-Fragrance Grass also had some effect on meat-eating strange beasts—just a weaker one.

"Moving Clouds!"

Zhao Xing's Moving Clouds had reached the ninth revolution; after breaking through to the sixth stage of Qi Gathering, his control had greatly improved.

Now this Moving Clouds was fully the size of a bed, and its height could be kept quite low; the vital essence condensed without dispersing, and wouldn't cause any disturbance.

"Spread Rain!"

Pitter-patter~

Rainwater began to water the seedlings.

"Grow Strong!"

The max-level Grow Strong caused the seedlings to begin transforming.

The spiritual mountain's earth power was sufficient, so Zhao Xing didn't use Earth Vein Essence Convergence; these two plants already had short growth cycles, so once they entered the growth period, he could just cast Wild Growth—there was no need to waste vital essence casting Earth Vein Essence Convergence.

One hour later, both the Fragrance Berry Vines and the Hundred-Fragrance Grass had entered the growth period.

Zhao Xing opened his eyes and began casting spells.

"Wild Growth!"

The two plants began growing at a speed visible to the naked eye; the Fragrance Berry Vines quickly flowered and bore fruit, emitting a faint fragrance.

"Rise Wind!"

Zhao Xing condensed a ring-shaped wind wall around the area, controlling the fragrance so it wouldn't spread and attract other wild beasts to spy on them.

After all this was done, he waited quietly for the two plants to mature.

At the same time, he kept close watch on any movement at the cave entrance.

"I hope this strange beast is hungry and goes out to find food on its own…" Zhao Xing prayed inwardly.

If that happened, it would be best—he wouldn't have to waste straw figures or time.

Time slowly passed.

By nearly noon, the Hundred-Fragrance Grass had long since matured, and the berries had produced a second wave, yet there was still no movement at all from inside the cave.

"What kind of strange beast is this lazy? Sleeping shouldn't keep it asleep until noon, right?" Zhao Xing complained, "Could it be that it forages at night and sleeps during the day?"

Even so, Zhao Xing continued to wait patiently.

"As long as I get to the Mountain God Temple before midnight, that's fine."

"If I get a good haul today, I can compete for the first incense."

"If the haul isn't too great, I'll compete for a spot in the top ten incense."

Every spiritual mountain has a Mountain God Temple; climbing a spiritual mountain to gather spiritual essence, everything is uncertain.

Where is the spiritual essence? How does one gather it? Everything is unknown.

Just searching blindly, relying on luck alone, probably very few people would actually get any harvest.

Even if one found the place, one might not be able to gather it.

For instance, that expert riding a bamboo horse—Zhao Xing had already watched him bouncing around the mountain stream for most of the day.

And as for now, the spiritual essence inside the cave was guarded by a strange beast.

To ensure a harvest, the first thing a Dengshan climber needed to do was go to the Mountain God Temple, burn incense, and pray for guidance.

Every day after midnight, the True Lord within the temple would manifest and tell the climbers where the spiritual essence was and how to obtain it.

The first incense was the best, offering the highest chance of obtaining spiritual essence.

The effects diminished in order thereafter, and one would also face the True Lord's trials.

On the first night, Zhao Xing did not go compete for the incense.

On the second night, he intended to take part.

But it was still early before the Hour of the Rat, having only just passed noon, and he was in no rush.

"Just how long is that senior going to keep us here? Could it be that as long as he doesn't leave, we just stay here too?" Fang Jie muttered quietly.

"Scared?" Zhou Gang asked.

"Scared!" Fang Jie admitted honestly. "That senior's cultivation is profound—he was able to escape with his life from a strange beast's jaws, but we might not be so lucky. If we keep staying here…"

Zhou Gang thought about it and agreed, so he nodded and said: "I'll go ask."

But the moment he rose, he saw the straw figure beside him turn and leave, and at the same time a voice came on the wind: "There will be quite a commotion next. You two may leave on your own. If fate allows, tonight at the front of the temple."

"Many thanks, senior." Zhou Gang and Fang Jie were overjoyed and immediately hurried away.

As the time approached the Hour of the Shen, Zhao Xing, who had plenty of patience, finally could not hold back any longer.

He strongly suspected that strange beast hunted at night and slept during the day.

Continuing to wait would be a waste of time, so he began his "lure the tiger from the mountain" plan.

First, he paired the two Swift-Step straw figures into a group, had them approach the cave two by two, and began taking turns throwing stones, the small animals he had captured, and rattan-fragrant berry fruits into the cave.

When he threw stones, there was no reaction; with the small animals, also no reaction.

But when he threw the rattan-fragrant berry fruits, there was finally a reaction from inside the cave.

A black shadow darted out at top speed, charging straight at the straw figure that had thrown the things.

It was still fast enough to leave an afterimage, but Zhao Xing, watching from afar, finally managed to catch a glimpse of the strange beast's appearance.

"It's actually… a mountain cat cub?"

A mountain cat was small in size—completely unfit for the identity of a cave's master.

But the plan continued.

The two groups of Swift-Step straw figures had not run a few steps before they were destroyed by the mountain cat.

After confirming that the rattan fruit worked on it, Zhao Xing decisively gave the order, having the second group of straw figures, a hundred meters away, stand up and throw fruit in the mountain cat's direction.

"Swish~" Sure enough, the mountain cat charged at the second group of straw figures. It didn't even charge at people—merely while snatching the fruit, its paw lightly brushed a straw figure and the figure crumbled apart.

But it didn't matter—soon a third group of straw figures stood up not far away and continued to draw it.

Just like that, in the blink of an eye, the mountain cat had already appeared three li away.

Three li away was the limit of the straw figures' control range.

But Zhao Xing was not anxious. Along the way over there, he had transplanted hundred-fragrance grass, linking them in a line to lure it to walk farther, the ultimate goal being to draw the mountain cat to the area where the rattan-fragrant berry fruits were planted.

"That's about right—move!"