Chapter 21: The Mysterious Mystic Beast

  This is a secluded valley, with birds singing and flowers fragrant, surrounded by white mist. A half-foot long piece of tender green grass, dotted with dew drops, like pearls rolling in tears. A woman in white clothes lies lightly on it, her pale face slightly sinking into the emerald green grass.

  Chilly condensation, absolute beauty, the sky's morning sun lightly gilds, a woman sleeps exceptionally sweetly.

  "Hmph—"

  After an unknown period of time, Ling Wushuang gently rubbed her eyebrows with her finger belly, opened her sleepy eyes, and suddenly became vigilant. She abruptly turned over and got up. Where was she?!

  Taking a clear look around her surroundings, Ling Wu Xiang let out a breath of relief. It should be Lu Ri Sen Lin (Dusk Forest).

  Ling Wushuang stood up, patted the grass dust off her body, and slightly raised her gaze to look upwards. There was a steep cliff, as if cut by a divine sword. Looking down, clouds and mist swirled, and the bottom of the valley was not visible. It seemed that she had fallen onto a naturally formed precipice in the middle of the mountain cliff.

  Ling Wushuang slightly tilted her neck, moved her hands and feet, and didn't find anything unusual, not even any pain. Suddenly, she was perplexed - two peak experts had self-destructed in such a destructive explosion, and she had been blown away from the cliff, falling down. Logically speaking, she shouldn't have survived without severe injury or death, but somehow she emerged unscathed. What's going on here?

  Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and a pair of dark pupils emerged in her mind, deep and bottomless, like an ancient black whirlpool. It was that man, no mistake, it must have been him who helped her out. Ling Wushuang felt a suffocating sensation, gritted her teeth, clenched her fists tightly, and a faint light flickered in her eyes. In this world, her strength was still far from enough.

  After a while, Ling Wusuo shook his head and stopped thinking about it. The road had to be walked step by step. It seemed that the Purple Cloud Divine Bamboo and the Heavenly Crimson Zhu Fruit couldn't be found for the time being either. He might as well go back first. As he turned around to carefully observe his surroundings and look for a way out, Ling Wusuo suddenly saw something, and his clear eyes widened in an instant.

  No, isn't it? She's encountered such a good thing?

  All that can be seen is a warm spring, not far away, which overflows from the cracks in the mountain rocks, presenting a milky white color, gathering into a shallow beach about one zhang wide, with clear visibility to the bottom, less than three inches deep, surrounded by thin mist, lush and verdant all around, butterflies fluttering, and it's actually full of heavenly treasures!

  Ten thousand years of jade-like beauty, imperial snake spirit grass, shadowless grass, ancient wisteria vines, red blood lotus flowers... densely packed, in shades of cyan, white, red and green, a kaleidoscope of colors, surrounding the pool, an aura of wonder, like a paradise.

  Every stalk of spiritual grass, every strange flower, if taken out, would be enough to cause a commotion outside, but here, they are as common as weeds, covering the ground and blooming everywhere. Even Ling Wu Shuang couldn't help but stare with wide eyes, her forehead furrowed in amazement. Can this be considered a blessing in disguise?

  If she had known earlier, why would she have risked her life to grab food from the snake's mouth? The value of even a single sprig of grass here is worth more than Long Snake Orchid. However, medicines are categorized by type, and even the simplest herb must have its own value, just like how medicine for a cold can't cure epilepsy. Ling Wu Xiang comforted herself this way.

  Ten steps away, the green moss on the bluestone is tightly attached to the mountain cliff. A few stalks of bamboo are growing vigorously, as tall as a person, with distinct joints and purple sheen. The gentle breeze blows by, causing the light purple bamboo leaves to rustle and quiver.

  "Zi Yun Shen Zhu, it's really worth all the hard work." Ling Wu Shuang happened to glance over and walked to the edge of the cliff, his face filled with joy, but also couldn't help feeling puzzled. He sighed, "What kind of place is this, that can nurture so many heavenly treasures?"

  "Wú Huā Guǒ" Suddenly, Ling Wu Shuang let out a cry of surprise and hastily walked to a short tree in front of her. Even someone as calm and collected as she was couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "This thing actually exists!"

  The dwarf tree is about half the height of a person, with diamond-shaped branches and leaves that are lush and dense. At the top, three fruits hang, egg-sized, plump and full of juice, bright red and almost dripping, in the misty air, the fragrance of the fruit flesh faintly seeps through.

  The fig without flower or seed, once in a hundred years. It also has another name, the sacred fruit. As the name suggests, one fig can make someone a saint! The strong ones of the sacred stage, the giant head of the East, overlooking hundreds of millions of people, only two exist. It is said that Li Tianyi, the Sword Saint of the Guardian Temple, was lucky enough to get one and rose to fame overnight. The preciousness of the fig can be seen from this, and it's not an exaggeration to call it a priceless treasure.

  "Great!" Ling Wu's red lips curled up, and her clear eyes sparkled brightly.

  The old man is now at the peak of Tian Xuan, and if he gets a Wu Hua fruit, he will be able to break through unimpeded in a short period of time and enter the ranks of the Sealed Saints. Fourth Uncle's Dan Tian is recovering well, relying on her Dan medicine foundation and his original strength as a Tian Xuan ten years ago, within a year, he will definitely make a breakthrough!

  With joyful heart, Ling Wushuang carefully stretched out her hand, ready to pick, allowing no damage.

  "Hmm..."

  "Boom——"

  In the blink of an eye, a flash of fire suddenly appeared!

  Ling Wushuang swiftly dodged to the side, a red shadow almost brushing against his nose as it passed by. The intense heat was like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he could feel the sweat on his forehead evaporating instantly. Ling Wushuang's body quickly avoided the attack, his slender legs rapidly retreating as he performed several swift backflips, landing several meters away. He dropped to one knee, supporting himself with one hand on the ground, and looked up, "What kind of ghostly thing is this?"

  The morning glow fills the sky, a mysterious red object, crimson like blood, spreads across the horizon, a bright red shadow, in mid-air like flames, rapidly flashing, jumping and darting, completely unclear what it is.

  "Will fire move too?" Ling Wu Xuan was shocked, damn it, she really didn't know whether to cry or laugh, what kind of thing had she encountered now.

  "Whoosh——"

  A crimson figure, as if descending from the heavens, landed beneath a fig tree. Ling Wu Shuang fixed her gaze on it, her eyes twitching slightly at the corners. What a commotion had been stirred up, yet unexpectedly, it was just this small, insignificant thing.

  Under the emerald green dwarf tree, there is a lovely little creature, palm-sized, all over fiery red, resembling a small weasel, with crimson eye corners and fiery red marks like knife cuts, flying into its ears, narrow and long like a fox, four adorable short legs covered in fiery red fur, sharp white claws protruding from the plump little paws.

  The little creature's head slightly tilted, its fluffy ears perked up, and its watery eyes seemed to be trembling as it stared at Ling Wu Shuang, black as gemstones.

  "Chirp, chirp", "Squeak, squeak"

  The little thing continued to jump up and down, baring its teeth and making a chirping noise, as if venting its discontent.

  Ling Wushuang's red lips pursed, she stood up, her eyes slightly dimmed, but didn't dare to underestimate the small thing in front of her. That speed was not simple, and just now that body of flames was even more bizarre. Was she supposed to give up this easily obtained Wu Hua Guo?

  "This... brother sable" Alright, although I don't know if this little guy is male or female, what breed it is, Ling Wushuang hooked his lips and smiled shallowly, and actually had a businesslike tone: "These spiritual medicines are useless for the Xuan beast, aren't they? Why not give some to me instead?"

  Ling Wushuang couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth, while her face smiled harmlessly, like a child trafficker. She secretly despised herself, what was she doing, actually haggling with a mysterious beast, it felt like she was bullying a kid.

  The Xuan beast will only begin to open its spiritual wisdom and understand human language when it reaches the Xuan beast level of the Holy Domain. Ling Wu Xiong secretly glanced at its small body, which was less than two taels in weight, and wondered if it could be a first or second-grade Xuan beast. Could it really understand? However, its speed was so fast, perhaps it was a variant Shadow Mink?

  Who would have thought that as soon as Ling Wu Shuang finished speaking, the little guy's silver teeth were bared, seemingly intentionally provocative. His short, fluffy legs stretched out and he casually pulled out a stalk of wild green onion, his four small paws hugging it tightly as he began to crunch away, his mouth bulging like a bun, seemingly somewhat disdainful of the flavor.

  Ling Wushuang spat out blood, that thousand-year-old green bamboo, was worth at least 100,000 taels of gold. If refined into medicine, its value would double or more. Heaven's wrath, this thing, actually swallowed 200,000 taels of gold in one mouthful, like eating a big white radish, and still had an expression of deep resentment!

  Looking at the little guy with a sulky face, Ling Wushuang felt like punching it hard.

  Suddenly, her eyes sparkled slightly, the corners of her mouth curved upwards, like ripples on water. She took a few light steps forward, and with a look of disdain said, "This grass, fruit and whatnot, is there anything good to eat? The things in my hands are far better than this stuff."