Chapter 60: The Ten-Day Pact

Lu Fang leaned in to examine the scorpion; its entire body was ice-blue, with pincers at the ends of its chelicerae resembling scissors, their carapace densely covered with granular spines, and its tail curved into a hook glowing with a blue luminescence.

Heteromorphic beasts differ from demons.

Their intelligence is limited.

Except for a few exceptions, they almost all follow their animal instincts, making them extremely difficult to tame or enlighten; they typically dwell in the most dangerous and uninhabited places.

Special regions have given rise to various heteromorphic beasts, and precisely because of these extreme environmental factors, they have grown powerful.

“How strong is it?”

Lu Fang asked.

Wang Teng’s face still glowed green; half of it was frozen stiff, the other half twisted in pain, his words slurred:

“It’s slightly stronger than an ordinary seventh-rank Confucian scholar—mainly because its carapace is too hard. I struck it several times with a war-poem-formed hammer at full power, and only then did I manage to injure it.”

“Its front pincers are immensely powerful—they can crush stone into powder. Imagine what would happen if they clamped down on human flesh and bone.”

“The hardest thing to deal with is its scorpion tail poison. I was stung once; at first, my whole body went slightly numb, but it wasn’t obvious.”

“Now, even after taking an antidote pill, half my body is stiff—I doubt I’ll recover in less than a while.”

He Zixuan joked: “Wang Teng, aren’t you always bragging when you drink that no Confucian scholar has a body stronger than yours? Even this little scorpion poison can’t be endured?”

Wang Teng rolled his eyes. “You get stung by this scorpion, and you’ll understand why. Can the toxins of a heteromorphic beast be compared to ordinary ones? Lord Wenguan, please give me another antidote pill—I’m in agony.”

Lu Fang nodded, pulled out a porcelain vial of antidote pills from his storage pouch, and tossed it over—but Wang Teng’s stiff hand failed to catch it, a clear sign of the scorpion tail poison’s potency.

The bubbles had vanished again.

Lu Fang paused, then said: “Everyone, when you enter the next bubble, be doubly cautious. This time it was the ice-blue venomous scorpion; next time, who knows what danger we’ll face?”

The talented woman Tao Yidie covered her mouth and laughed: “Next time we find a bubble, I suggest the strongest among us enter first. That way, even if we encounter a powerful heteromorphic beast, the danger won’t be too great.”

With Wang Teng’s misfortune as a warning, everyone nodded in agreement.

Half a cup of tea passed.

They found another bubble, clearly much larger; unlike the previous transparent ones, this one was semi-translucent, as if coated with a thin layer of frost.

Everyone looked at each other, none willing to enter first.

“I’ll go.” Lu Fang summoned his Black Armor to cling to his body, with Yan Chixia beside him, and stepped forward to touch the bubble.

In an instant, a tremendous force yanked him violently inside.

It was a rocky area, roughly three training grounds in size, with a small bubble sunken deep into the ground, its exposed half-radius empty inside.

“Is the hetero-herb underground?”

Lu Fang circled the small bubble, reached in, and pulled out a handful of pebbles—confirmed they were all ordinary stones.

A thought struck him!

The Fluorescent Moon Sword plunged straight down, spinning like a drill to dig into the earth.

He dug a pit half a man’s height deep and still saw no hetero-herb—just as he was about to give up—

Ding!

A metallic clang rang out.

Lu Fang retracted the Fluorescent Moon Sword and found, at the bottom of the pit, a disc-sized piece of Huang Gang Stone—an excellent grade-two material for forging.

This big!

He stored the Huang Gang Stone in his pouch, saw the small bubble shatter, casually searched the area for anything unusual, and then stepped out of the bubble.

“Lord Wenguan, what’s inside?” All eyes turned to Lu Fang.

Lu Fang made no secret of it—he pulled out the Huang Gang Stone. Instantly, gasps and murmurs of envy erupted around him.

Grade-two materials are far rarer than grade-one; selling such a large piece of this would bring a substantial profit in silver taels.

Thus, they moved through over a dozen locations; most people gained substantial rewards and began to discern patterns.

For instance, the heavenly treasures within the bubbles, so far recorded, include hetero-herbs, heteromorphic beasts, and rare minerals.

The size and color of the bubbles, ranked by difficulty, rarity, and danger, are transparent, semi-translucent, and white.

Entering a white bubble is most dangerous if a heteromorphic beast is encountered.

As long as one touches the bubble again promptly, one can escape immediately to avoid risk; with a little caution, there’s virtually no life-threatening danger.

He Zixuan had just obtained a grade-two Flame Herb and grinned broadly:

“This is truly a fengshui treasure land. The ancient traces have turned into ten thousand streams of light flying everywhere. Sticking together like this wastes time—we should split up and seek our own fortunes.”

“If you run into trouble, use a message talisman to contact each other. If anyone finds a bubble with a heteromorphic beast, share the information.”

“What do you all think?”

Lu Fang nodded with a smile. Waiting for one person while the rest stood by was indeed inefficient. The bubbles held danger, but it could be avoided.

The demon barbarians couldn’t possibly sneak into this ancient human land to ambush—even if the suppression here was minimal, they wouldn’t arrive anytime soon.

It’s highly likely the demon barbarians are also exploring the bubbles in their own territories.

“I fully support it!”

Wang Teng’s scorpion poison had fully cleared; he raised both hands dramatically, his face beaming with anticipation.

“I support it!”

“I support it too!”

“Use message talismans to stay in touch.”

Everyone looked eager to go.

Lu Fang declared: “Since no one objects, it’s settled—we’ll regroup at the northern point a hundred kilometers ahead in ten days, to guard against a demon barbarian ambush.”

“See you in ten days, Lord Wenguan.”

Wang Teng dashed off first.

Everyone bid farewell and flew off in all directions—even Luo Sha and Shui Yao departed; though they faced slight restrictions in this ancient human land, it didn’t greatly hinder them.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

Lu Fang looked at the only one left—He Zixuan.

He Zixuan grimaced. “I forgot you don’t have a message talisman. Otherwise, I’d go with you.”

Lu Fang smiled and shook his head. “No need. This area isn’t small, but it’s not huge either—there are people everywhere. If I want to find you, it won’t be hard. Go seek your fortune without worry.”

He Zixuan thought it over—indeed, it was true—and chose a direction and left.

Lu Fang took flight at the same moment, heading toward a distant area—being alone was far freer; he could act as he pleased without considering others.

He didn’t rush into the nearby transparent bubbles; instead, he planned to use his speed to quickly locate larger ones.

Bubbles formed from ancient traces?

Interesting—could there be ancient divine arts inside?