Chapter 1168 - 408: Is This Also Love Luck?
Lu Changsheng’s eyes were bright and penetrating, cutting through illusion as he continuously observed the spiritual mechanisms within the mountains.
The more he looked, the more he realized that this mountain range was not simple.
Each peak was like a section of the Azure Dragon’s spine, connected together, as if a dragon lay coiled.
“According to the Dragon Seeking Art, such terrain belongs to a dragon vein, there must be a large Spirit Vein here, or perhaps even rarer Heavenly and Earthly Treasures!”
“However, such a Spirit Vein, why hasn’t it been occupied by a Demon King?”
Lu Changsheng, observing the terrain before him, furrowed his brows, feeling that something was amiss.
He took out the jade slip map of Venerable Huxiao to compare, and this area did not have any special marks on it.
“What’s going on here?”
Perplexed, Lu Changsheng’s eyes flowed with a golden light as he looked around, yet he saw no danger in this terrain.
After pondering for a moment, he arrived at one of the peaks and released the Seeking Spirit Mouse.
“See if there are any treasures or dangers here,”
Lu Changsheng told the Seeking Spirit Mouse.
This kind of treasure-seeking mouse was not only keenly sensitive to the qi of Heavenly and Earthly Treasures but also very alert to danger.
If there was danger, it would be the first to sense it.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak—”
Upon hearing the words, the Seeking Spirit Mouse nodded and bowed, then sniffed around and dashed in one direction.
Lu Changsheng followed distantly behind.
After traveling more than ten li, he saw ahead a valley filled with many spiritual fruit trees and a group of pitch-black furred monkeys.
“What kind of monkeys are these?”
Lu Changsheng did not recognize these monkeys and wondered what kind of Demon Beasts they were.
But he roughly made out that their strength was mostly at the First Grade and Second Rank, belonging to herd-living Demon Beasts.
The Seeking Spirit Mouse looked at the distant monkeys with fear and didn’t dare to approach.
After carefully observing for a moment, Lu Changsheng decided not to attack the monkeys.
After all, once he made a move and caused a commotion, the Demon King chasing him would detect it and come here immediately.
He let the Seeking Spirit Mouse continue to search for other treasures and Spirit Vein qi.
Wandering through the mountain range, although he did not encounter the Demon King, he saw many Demon Beasts and Lu Changsheng gradually felt at ease.
After all, the presence of Demon Beasts living here indicated that there was nothing wrong with this mountain range.
If it were silent, without a single Demon Beast, he would turn and leave immediately.
Several days later, the Seeking Spirit Mouse arrived in front of a cave entrance.
It indicated that there was a rich spiritual mechanism inside, but also a dangerous aura.
Lu Changsheng, using his Fire Golden Eye and Origin Spirit Pupillary Art, immediately saw a surging spiritual mechanism in the cave before him.
He released the Thousand Faces Puppet Fox to enter the cave with him.
Upon reaching the depths of the cave, Lu Changsheng saw many wild beast skeletons and a Dark Gold Treasure Tree entwined with flame vines.
“Is this… the Golden Fire Vine Tree?”
After studying Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Plants for a long time, Lu Changsheng immediately recognized the treasure tree before him and was overjoyed.
Unexpectedly, not long after he had acquired a Fire Mulberry Tree, he now encountered a Golden Fire Vine Tree.
He really had immense fortune!
However, the next moment, he heard a faint sound.
Many black ants, the size of soybeans and shimmering with a black firelight, emerged from beneath the skeletons and the Golden Fire Vine Tree, flying towards him.
“Iron Fire Ants!?”
Seeing these ants, Lu Changsheng’s expression shifted from surprise to delight.
Iron Fire Ants were a type of gregarious odd insect that liked to live in scorching environments, feeding on metal ore stones.
On ordinary days, a few or even dozens of them were insignificant and could be easily killed by Energy Refining Cultivators.
However, these odd insects became imposing when swarming in numbers reaching thousands, which could be extremely fierce.
Banded together, with their terrifying attack power, penetrating strength, fire poison, and solid defense, they were practically comparable to fire attribute Magical Treasures.
Even Nascent Soul Immortals would find it troublesome to deal with such swarms of Iron Fire Ants.
Besides, Iron Fire Ants were also famous for one thing—they could be refined into a rare material called ‘Refining Crystal.’
When Refining Crystals were added in small amounts to Magical Treasures, the items would become much more durable and hard to destroy or wear down.
Apart from Magical Treasures, structures like palaces and spirit boats and Spiritual Vessels also could contain this Refining Crystal.
“Iron Fire Ants require very harsh living conditions. These Iron Fire Ants must be surviving thanks to this Golden Fire Vine Tree,”
“This swarm of Iron Fire Ants could be collected and raised by Chensha, which would come in handy when I refine my Magical Treasures, as the Refining Crystals could be useful.”
Lu Changsheng, looking at the swarming thousands of Iron Fire Ants before him, emanated the Yin Yang Mysterious Divine Light all around him, enveloping his whole body tightly, and then reached out with his hand.
The Yin Yang Energies transformed into a hand as light as mist, sweeping up all the Iron Fire Ants in a rolling motion, and slowly gathering them into a Yin Yang Small Ball.
“Hum, hum, hum—”
Nevertheless, as soon as the One Qi Grand Capture imprisoned the Iron Fire Ants, many chose to self-destruct, emitting a destructive fire poison that made the Yin Yang Small Ball tremble.
“It is said that Iron Fire Ants are difficult to tame, and will choose self-destruction when faced with a threat to their lives, which can only be raised and bred from their eggs….”
Seeing this, Lu Changsheng realized that it was impractical to try to take these Iron Fire Ants back for cultivation.
He immediately invoked his mana, extinguishing the life force of the ants within.
After all, if these Iron Fire Ants self-destructed, he would end up with nothing.
By actively subduing them, he could later refine some ‘Refining Crystal.’
“I wonder if these Iron Fire Ants have eggs…”
After subduing all the Iron Fire Ants, Lu Changsheng turned his gaze to the pile of bones on the ground and began searching.
But after clearing all the bone piles, there was nothing but many remnants, or exoskeletons shed by the Iron Fire Ants, with no ant eggs to be found.
“Sigh, there’s a reason why Refining Crystals are so rare and precious….”
Lu Changsheng sighed and then set about slowly extracting the Golden Fire Vine Tree.