Chapter 72: Tiger-Striped Golden Wasp

“Stop, stop, stop…”

The group of people digging for bamboo shoots were abruptly stopped by Zhao Linger.

“What is it, Senior Sister?” Tian Xiaoqing asked. “Are we not digging anymore?”

“Look!” Zhao Linger turned and pointed behind them.

The others turned and saw a large pile of Immortal Bamboo Shoots already piled up behind them.

Zhao Linger continued: “Each of us only has two Treasure Pouches—can we really use them all just to carry Immortal Bamboo Shoots?”

The group’s faces darkened instantly.

That’s right!

We all came here to seek treasures—you fill two pouches with Immortal Bamboo Shoots? Honestly, even if one pouch is full, it won’t sell for more than fifty spirit stones.

Immortal Bamboo Shoots are a special kind of spirit herb.

When refining the [Qi-Condensing Pill], you don’t need an entire Immortal Bamboo Shoot.

Put it this way: one Immortal Bamboo Shoot is enough for dozens of batches of [Qi-Condensing Pills].

If all four of us bring back two pouches each, won’t our Master scold us to death?

“Enough…” Zhao Linger said. “We’ve taken enough—let’s divide this, and leave the rest.”

Then the four began dividing the shoots.

Each received ten.

Ten Immortal Bamboo Shoots filled half of each Treasure Pouch.

“Let’s go!” Zhao Linger said after dividing the shoots. “Next time we find a Grade-One spirit herb, don’t harvest so much—just take a little!”

“The key is Grade-Two spirit herbs!”

“Those are the valuable ones!”

He Pingsheng nodded.

Spirit herbs work this way—a single grade difference means a sky-high difference in value.

For example, ordinary [Qi-Condensing Pill] materials, being Grade-One, even ten portions together sell for only seven spirit stones.

This is a Grade-One spirit herb.

What about Grade-Two?

Take the pollen of the [Sunfire Flower]—even the lowest quality, a single vial sells for a hundred or more spirit stones.

The gap between Grade-One and Grade-Two is truly enormous.

They left the bamboo grove.

Tian Xiaoqing asked: “Where do we go now?”

He Pingsheng raised his hand and pointed to a towering peak in the distance. “There’s a high mountain—we can climb it and take a look!”

“From the summit, we might determine our exact location within the secret realm!”

Zhao Linger nodded. “That’s a good idea!”

Xu Kunlun also nodded. “I have no objections.”

“Then let’s go!” He Pingsheng led the way forward.

Half an hour later, the four reached the summit of the high mountain.

“What a view!”

Standing atop the peak, He Pingsheng couldn’t help but sigh.

From his vantage point, distant mountain ranges stretched like a winding line across the horizon.

Countless green plants covered them in patches of orange-red, golden-yellow, lush green, and fresh emerald.

Behind them loomed a hundred-zhang cliff.

Mountain spring water cascaded down, forming a waterfall at the cliff’s edge, which pooled below into a deep emerald-green lake.

Sunlight struck the lake, making its surface shimmer brilliantly in all directions.

“Bring the map—let’s see where we are,” Zhao Linger said to Xu Kunlun.

Xu Kunlun hurriedly pulled out the map and handed it to Zhao Linger.

But after staring at it for a long time, she still couldn’t make sense of it.

They still couldn’t determine their exact location.

Buzzzzzz…

At that moment, a buzzing sound, like that of ordinary bees, suddenly filled the air.

At first, none of them paid attention.

But after a few breaths, the buzzing grew louder.

Zhao Linger spun around and saw two golden wasps, the size of two fingers, hovering in midair, staring at the four of them.

“Cut—”

Without hesitation, Zhao Linger drew her sword and slashed swiftly.

Her speed was astonishing.

One flash of blade light—and the sword was already back in its scabbard.

In midair, one golden wasp was cleanly split in two and fell to the ground.

“Cut—”

Xu Kunlun also raised his hand and struck out.

Unfortunately, he didn’t use a flying sword—he used palm force.

Perhaps due to poor control of his power, his strike didn’t kill the wasp—it merely gave it a boost to fly away.

“Damn it!” Xu Kunlun leapt up in rage, his fat body trembling like a spring. “How dare a damn wasp challenge me?!”

While Xu Kunlun was cursing angrily, Zhao Linger knelt down, staring at the dead golden wasp on the ground, her brow furrowed.

She said: “This… this is a Tiger-Striped Golden Wasp!”

The other three gathered curiously around.

“Senior Sister, what’s a Tiger-Striped Golden Wasp?” He Pingsheng asked.

Zhao Linger replied: “It’s an extremely dangerous spirit wasp…”

“Its body contains lethal poison—if pierced by its stinger, even a Qi Refining Stage Twelve cultivator would die… How could this thing be here?”

“We should leave quickly?”

“If we encounter a swarm of these, we’ll be dead here!”

“Let’s go…” Tian Xiaoqing said. “Then we shouldn’t delay!”

“But!” Zhao Linger said. “No need to rush—though the Tiger-Striped Golden Wasp is terrifying, the honeycomb paste it produces from gathering spirit herb nectar is a top-tier heavenly treasure!”

“Drinking it instantly replenishes a Qi Refining cultivator’s dantian energy!”

“Legend says that even if your dantian is completely drained, a single drop can restore it fully!”

“That powerful?” He Pingsheng’s brow twitched. “Then this is a supreme heavenly treasure?”

According to the [Miscellaneous Records of Cultivation], anything that instantly restores internal spiritual power is an exceedingly rare heavenly treasure.

Though this is low-grade, it’s still extremely rare.

“It’s even more than that!” Zhao Linger said. “This [Tiger-Striped Golden Wasp Paste] has two other uses!”

“First, it can neutralize poison—and most kinds of poison at that!”

“Second, it can serve as a blending spirit liquid in alchemy!”

He Pingsheng nodded.

Alchemy—he was familiar with it.

Especially for low-level disciples: they can’t directly roast herbs in the cauldron, or they’d instantly turn to ash.

What do they do?

Add water.

Boil them in water.

But adding water is the worst method—the best blending medium isn’t water, but various spirit liquids.

If you use spirit liquids instead of water in alchemy, the success rate of the pills improves, and their quality rises significantly.

But for He Pingsheng, this was somewhat useless—he didn’t need it, since he had the Treasure Basin to directly enhance pills.

“So, the value of this Tiger-Striped Golden Wasp Paste is extremely high!” Zhao Linger continued. “If our sect learns there’s Tiger-Striped Golden Wasp Paste here, they’ll send a massive force to harvest it!”

“So, younger brothers and sisters!” Zhao Linger’s face bore an unprecedented gravity. “I suggest we search for the hive—find out exactly where it is!”

“If we can harvest it, it’s a stroke of heavenly fortune!”

“If we can’t, at least record its location!”