38: Chapter 38 Trial of Return

The fifteenth day in the canyon; the morning mist had not yet dissipated.

Lin Xuan stood at a fork in the road, his gaze fixed on the narrower, grayer path to the left—this was one of the few routes back to the entrance, and also the most remote.

Deacon Wu's notes had mentioned that there might be "Yin Marrow Grass" on this path.

He needed this Spiritual Plant.

Cultivating the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art required Body Tempering with thunder, and over time, the thunder Qi in his body became excessive; while beneficial, it also required the balance of Yin and Yang.

Yin Marrow Grass was extremely Yin in nature, yet it could neutralize the dry heat of thunder and fire, making it a rare medicinal ingredient for refining harmonizing Medicinal Pills.

More importantly, according to the notes, this grass often grew alongside thunder-struck wood—for Lin Xuan, who possessed the Thunder-Light Bug and the thunder-attracting vine, this could lead to unexpected gains.

"Go this way." Lin Xuan decided on the direction, but did not move immediately.

He communicated with the spirit control tower through his thoughts and summoned the Thunder-Patterned Pangolin.

The Thunder-Patterned Pangolin appeared on the ground, its body size a circle smaller than before—this was a natural contraction after a severe injury, which facilitated recovery.

The dark golden thunder patterns on its grayish-brown scales were still dim, and many wounds were scabbed over with dark red crusts, but its aura was much more stable than two days ago.

Its dark golden slit pupils looked toward Lin Xuan, carrying the obedience brought by the contract.

"Test your talent." Lin Xuan transmitted his thoughts through the contract, "Perceive the underground and tell me where there are dangerous hollows and where the soil and rock are solid."

The Thunder-Patterned Pangolin let out a low growl in response, slowly lying down on the ground, pressing its head close to the earth, and closing its eyes.

Lin Xuan also closed his eyes, attempting to receive the information perceived by the Thunder-Patterned Pangolin through their contractual connection.

If he were to share the Thunder-Patterned Pangolin's talent, there would naturally be no need for such trouble, as he could cast it himself.

However, sharing slots were precious and required careful consideration; the next shared slot would ideally be a talent that could enhance combat power or defense.

Auxiliary talents like detection and perception could be vaguely utilized with the help of the slave contract, but talents that enhanced combat power and defense could not be used through the contract.

At first, it was a blurred "buzzing," like countless tiny vibrations mixed together.

But soon, as the Thunder-Patterned Pangolin focused, some clear "patterns" began to emerge in Lin Xuan's consciousness—

Three zhang to the left, about two feet underground, there was a bowl-sized hollow with rustling sounds inside, appearing to be an insect nest;

Five zhang directly ahead, deep within the soil layer, came the continuous vibration of flowing water—it was a tributary of an underground river, and the soil layer above was relatively thin;

The ground to the front right looked solid, but six feet underground there was a huge, irregular hole with rough edges, like the old lair of some large creature, now empty...

This information was like a ripple map on the water's surface; although not detailed, it was sufficient for warning.

Lin Xuan opened his eyes, pleasantly surprised. "Earth Perception... it really is practical!"

He avoided the insect nest and the weak soil layers, choosing the most solid route to advance.

The Thunder-Patterned Pangolin followed at his heels, its gait still somewhat unsteady, but it would stop every so often to re-perceive the ground and then transmit new information through the contract.

One man and one beast thus advanced slowly and safely along the remote path.

In the afternoon, they entered a shaded valley.

The light here was dim, the mist was grayish-black, and the temperature was noticeably lower.

The vegetation in the valley was sparse, mostly shade-loving moss and ferns. The air was permeated with a faint scent of humus mixed with some kind of cold Spiritual Qi.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse poked its head out from Lin Xuan's embrace, its nose twitching, and it let out two "squeaks" toward the depths of the valley.

"There is a Spiritual Plant." Lin Xuan understood and carefully moved forward.

In the deepest part of the valley, at the base of a rock wall that never saw sunlight all year round, he saw his target—three Spiritual Plants, about half a foot tall and dark blue all over.

The stems were as slender as hair, the leaves as thin as cicada wings, with tiny serrations on the edges; silvery-gray luster flowed within the veins, emitting a refreshing, cool aura.

"Yin Marrow Grass, and the age is quite good." Lin Xuan took out a jade box and a jade knife.

He scanned his surroundings, looking for the "thunder-struck wood" mentioned in the notes.

Soon, about two zhang away from the Yin Marrow Grass, a piece of withered wood, charred black like charcoal and long devoid of life, came into view.

The withered wood was about the thickness of a wrist, its surface covered in cracked patterns from being scorched by thunder; although ninety percent of its Spiritual Qi had been lost, the wood itself remained hard, and one could vaguely sense a trace of extremely faint residual thunder Qi.

"It really is a symbiotic relationship." Lin Xuan walked over and reached out to touch the thunder-struck wood.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the wood—

"Gu... Gua!"

A muffled, drum-like strange cry exploded from the shadows behind the withered wood! Immediately after, a dark green, viscous water arrow shot through the air, heading straight for Lin Xuan's face!

Lin Xuan was already prepared! He activated the Wind Control Technique, his figure floating back three feet; the water arrow grazed his robe on his chest, and with a "chi-la" sound, the edge of the robe was corroded with several small holes, emitting green smoke!

He looked closely.

From behind the withered wood, a dark green toad the size of a millstone crawled out slowly.

Its skin was covered in pustule-like bumps, its eyes were blood-red, and its huge throat sac expanded and contracted; the corrosive water arrow just now had been spat from its mouth.

"Yin-Corrosion Toad, Low Grade Peak of the First Rank, equivalent to Qi Refining Level 3." Lin Xuan recognized this Yao Beast, but felt no fear in his heart.

If he hadn't had his Breakthrough, he might have chosen to avoid the fight. But now...

Seeing that the attack had missed, the toad's scarlet eyes grew even more ferocious.

It kicked its hind legs, and its bulky body pounced with surprising agility, while its throat sac swelled again, clearly intending to spit continuously!

Lin Xuan advanced instead of retreating!

He shifted his footsteps, his figure like a willow catkin in the wind, nimbly dodging the pounce. His left hand had already finished forming the incantation seals—

"Lightning Strike Technique!"

A beam of pale purple lightning, solid as an arrow, shot out and accurately hit the toad's swollen throat sac!

"Pi-pa!"

The lightning exploded! The toad let out a miserable howl; its throat sac had been hit by the lightning, and the venom that was ready to be spat exploded inside its mouth! Dark green juice overflowed from the corners of its mouth, corroding the ground with a "zi-zi" sound.

It rolled in pain, its scarlet eyes staring fixedly at Lin Xuan, and suddenly it opened its big mouth—

It wasn't spitting venom, but rather releasing ripples of grayish-white sound waves, visible to the naked eye, spreading out like ripples!

A sound wave attack! It struck directly at the Divine Soul!

Lin Xuan felt his head swim and his ears buzz. But the Divine Soul he had cultivated through the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art was already more condensed than those of the same rank, and coupled with his Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 2, this sound wave only left him briefly dazed.

He bit the tip of his tongue hard, the sharp pain dispelling the dizziness. When his eyes cleared, the toad was taking the opportunity to pounce again, a fishy wind blowing in his face!

"You're courting death!"

A cold light flashed in Lin Xuan's eyes; his right hand drew the qingyun sword, and he infused it with Thunder Spiritual Energy!

Purple light flared on the sword! He did not dodge or evade, but met the pouncing toad and thrust his sword straight forward!

His target—its pair of scarlet eyes!

"Pu-chi!"

The sword tip accurately pierced into the left eye and exited through the brain! Thunder Spiritual Energy exploded inside the skull!

The toad's body shuddered violently, its pouncing momentum stopped instantly, and it crashed to the ground, twitching a few times before becoming still.

The battle ended in less than ten breaths.

Lin Xuan sheathed his sword and slightly steadied his breathing. After reaching Qi Refining Level 2, his Spiritual Qi was more abundant, and his endurance for continuous spellcasting and combat had significantly improved.

He quickly processed the battlefield: he carefully harvested the three Yin Marrow Grass plants and placed them into a jade box;

he collected the entire piece of thunder-struck wood; he peeled off the most intact piece of skin from the toad's back and removed the poison sac; as for the flesh, he only cut off a few pounds of the most essential parts, burying the rest in the Beast Taming Space to add Spiritual Qi to it.

The injured Thunder-Patterned Pangolin had been hiding in the distance and only now slowly moved over.

Lin Xuan stroked its cold scales and fed it a small piece of crushed Qi-Recovery Pill. "Let's go, we're almost out."

He continued on his way.

On the way, Lin Xuan looked inside the Spirit-Taming Tower Space.

The Thunder-Light Bug was still lying on the leaf of the thunder-attracting vine, diligently "Thunder Gathering."

With it as the center, the Thunder Spiritual Energy in the space became increasingly docile and orderly.

The Thunder-Patterned Pangolin lay beside the vine roots; faint golden thunder-pattern light flowed around the scabs of its wounds, as it slowly absorbed the pure Thunder Spiritual Energy gathered there and the vitality emitted by the thunder-attracting vine.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse was curiously circling the Thunder-Patterned Pangolin, occasionally touching its scales with its claws before quickly jumping away.

"Earth Perception is practical, and if Thunder-Patterned Armor recovers, it would also be an excellent defensive talent..." Lin Xuan pondered the allocation of the second shared slot.

"But the Thunder-Patterned Pangolin's injuries have not healed, its talent is damaged, and Thunder-Patterned Armor is more inclined toward passive defense, and the defense is not strong enough yet. The second slot... needs to be considered more carefully."

At dusk, Lin Xuan approached the canyon exit.

The mist gradually thinned, and he could already vaguely see the glimmer of the Restriction light curtain in the distance.

There were more and more Disciples encountered along the way, most of them in a hurry, with faces showing weariness or excitement; they all carried injuries to varying degrees, some had bundles on their backs, and the Storage Pouches at their waists were bulging, looking like they had gained quite a lot.

When several teams met, they would guardedly keep their distance from each other, their eyes sweeping over the bundles on the others, assessing gains and threats.

Lin Xuan withdrew the Herb-Seeking Mouse and the Thunder-Patterned Pangolin into the space and quietly blended into the crowd.

His robe was covered in dust and stains, looking no different from most ordinary Disciples. The qingyun sword hung casually at his waist, and his Storage Pouch looked unremarkable.

No one gave him a second glance.

This was exactly what he wanted.