Mortal Alchemy

Chen Ping felt that this Gold-Furred Treasure Seeking Sable was unusually clever. In the past, it had stolen his spirit herbs three times, and each time Chen Ping had to relocate to different islands.

"Is this guy targeting me? Only eating my herbs?"

Unfortunately, Chen Ping was not yet a Foundation Establishment cultivator and did not possess divine sense. He couldn't project his spiritual consciousness outside his body; otherwise, he could scan the area and catch it.

Chen Ping prepared some iron cages and went to a spot he had scouted out in advance where spirit herbs grew.

He used the Golden Light Art to dig a circle of large pits, placed the iron cages inside, covered them with a layer of soft soil, and then set up a restriction.

This restriction was useless against the Gold-Furred Treasure Seeking Sable, but it could help Chen Ping open the iron cages.

The structure of the iron cages was like a fish trap, allowing entry but not exit.

Then, he pretended to stick a few talismans on them.

After setting up all of this, Chen Ping turned and left the place.

He suspected that the treasure-seeking sable was nearby, and if it saw Chen Ping appear, it would follow him.

He found a place nearby to sit and cultivate, quietly waiting.

The vast spiritual power within the pills was refined by Chen Ping, compressing his Qi vortex and purifying his spiritual power.

"In another six months or so, I can try to break through to the thirteenth level of Qi Refining again."

A wisp of spiritual power in his Dantian had already begun to change from a gaseous state to a misty state, which was a sign of the thirteenth level of Qi Refining.

When spiritual power transformed into a liquid state, that would be Foundation Establishment.

In terms of combat power, Chen Ping felt that his own had increased by a little over 10%.

After consuming two Yuan Qi Pills, Chen Ping still hadn't heard any movement, which made him wonder:

"Could this little thing have seen through my arrangement, realized there was danger, and decided not to come this time?"

"Since I'm guarding a tree stump waiting for a rabbit, I'll have to wait a little longer and be more patient."

Chen Ping continued to close his eyes and cultivate, taking out a Spiritual Sense Pill and a Body Tempering Pill.

A hundred meters away, in a tree, a pair of bright black eyes were observing Chen Ping and the place with spirit herbs next to him.

The little thing had only smelled the scent and followed it here not long ago.

Chen Ping was patient, and it was no less so, quietly waiting.

Three days later.

Chen Ping opened his eyes and glanced at the spirit herbs within the restriction: "Huh? Still hasn't moved?"

"Could it really have been discovered by that little thing?"

This made Chen Ping a little disappointed. He wondered if his skills were so bad that he couldn't even fool a spirit beast?

"Forget it," Chen Ping shook his head and stood up:

"It's time to go back. It's not good to be out alone for too long. If Zhao Han and Hong An find out, it will arouse their suspicion."

Chen Ping summoned his flying gourd and slowly piloted it away.

Half an hour after Chen Ping left, there was a soft rustling sound from the tree branch a hundred meters away.

A silver-white sable head poked out.

The little thing observed the surroundings, then climbed down the tree and entered Chen Ping's restricted trap with extreme speed, almost leaving afterimages.

As in the previous times, the restriction and talismans were not triggered.

The little thing immediately ate the safe and sound spirit herbs inside, having another full meal.

Its small eyes showed a human-like look of satisfaction, and then it prepared to leave leisurely.

Just at this moment.

"Zzzzt!"

The time limit for the restriction Chen Ping had left behind was up, and it began to trigger automatically.

The little thing was startled by the noise and scurried around. The restriction and talismans couldn't stop it, but they weren't meant to stop it either.

After running dozens of steps, its four small paws stepped into empty air, and it fell into the iron cage that Chen Ping had set up as an ambush.

"Clang--"

The iron cage closed, and the little thing made angry whimpering sounds, trying to get out, its four small paws exerting great force.

A moment later, a flying gourd slowly appeared in the sky and then landed.

The little thing became even more agitated, its four small paws scratching wildly, trying to escape.

Chen Ping saw the silver-white four small paws and a smile appeared on his face:

"Hahaha, little thing, trying to fight me."

He had squatted for a few days, and when this little thing hadn't appeared, he guessed that it was already nearby.

It was going to be like the previous two times, only going up to steal after he left.

Chen Ping landed and saw the silver-white treasure-seeking sable in the iron cage, his eyes burning:

"Little thing, you've stolen my spirit herbs several times. I've finally caught you."

The treasure-seeking sable immediately bared its teeth at Chen Ping, looking fierce.

Chen Ping wasn't afraid of it. This little thing was just a spirit beast, and didn't even have any cultivation.

Opening the iron cage, Chen Ping pinched its neck and tail, tightly controlling it.

The treasure-seeking sable clawed at Chen Ping, but Chen Ping was already in the late stage of the first level of Body Tempering, and it couldn't even break his skin.

Holding the sable in one hand and controlling the flying gourd with the other, Chen Ping finally returned to the market town this time.

Chen Ping's heart was pounding. The Gold-Furred Treasure Seeking Sable was exceptionally precious. Once the news got out, it would probably cause a bloodbath.

As soon as Chen Ping returned home, he locked it up in an iron cage, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

This Gold-Furred Treasure Seeking Sable was unusually troublesome. Because its fur was of the absolute spirit type, ordinary beast control techniques were ineffective, and it couldn't be put into a storage bag.

He couldn't force it to acknowledge him as its master, he could only tame it slowly.

And he absolutely couldn't expose its existence, otherwise Chen Ping couldn't protect it, nor could he protect his own life.

Chen Ping came to the iron cage and took out a spirit herb: "Little thing, acknowledge me as your master, follow me, and I'll let you eat spirit herbs and spirit medicines every meal, how about it?"

The Gold-Furred Treasure Seeking Sable bared its teeth and even hissed at Chen Ping, rejecting Chen Ping's feeding.

Chen Ping frowned slightly, it seemed he could only take it slowly.

The old rural methods were to tame cats, dogs, and eagles, by starving them for a few days.

When they were starved to the point of being unable to bear it, they would naturally obediently lower their heads to eat and acknowledge their master.

This kind of spirit beast without cultivation, even if it was very clever, its intelligence wouldn't be too high.

Chen Ping closed the door and put an additional layer of restriction on the house.

Walking around in the market town, he saw Zhao Han familiarly heading towards the brothel to find a familiar female cultivator.

Chen Ping couldn't help but shake his head. Every time Zhao Han earned money, he would go straight to the brothel if he had any spirit stones on him.

He didn't consider improving his cultivation, or finding a Dao companion to marry.

He went to the brothel to find female cultivators about twice a month, either giving them money or giving them his Yuan Yang, letting the female cultivators gather Yang to replenish Yin.

So this Zhao Han was both poor and physically weak.

Chen Ping walked around in the market town, mostly to increase his knowledge, rarely buying things, and occasionally setting up a stall to sell some Body Cleansing Pills, Qi Recovery Pills, and other pills to make a show of making a living.

After wandering around, Chen Ping returned to his home, preparing to carry out his daily cultivation, and happened to run into Hong An returning from closing his stall.

Hong An's face was ruddy, and he cupped his hands with a smile:

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Tang."

Chen Ping probed without showing any signs: "I just saw Fellow Daoist Zhao going to the brothel again to find a female cultivator. Fellow Daoist Hong, your face is also ruddy, what good thing have you encountered?"

Hong An said something that shocked Chen Ping's heart: "I don't know where this local tyrant young master came from, but he's actually spending five spirit stones to buy Flame Blade Spirit Fish."

"These past few days, Old Zhao and I have caught a few more spirit fish, earning a quick buck."

Flame Blade Spirit Fish were considered to be on the expensive side among spirit fish, usually selling for forty or fifty spirit sand each, but now someone was spending five spirit stones to buy them.

Could it be that the news of the Jade Marrow Mushroom has leaked?