38: Blood Puppet

Mu Feng found a spot and buried three ironwood seeds.

He watered them.

He would wait for them to sprout before doing anything else.

As for whether to use the essence of vegetation to accelerate their growth, it would depend on how much essence of vegetation he collected later.

Also, whether the upgrade Materials for the Puppet were complete.

Otherwise, he would prioritize using the essence of vegetation for other spiritual plants.

After planting the ironwood seeds, Mu Feng was not in a hurry to leave.

Instead, he walked towards the area where the xueyang rice was planted.

The last time he checked, the xueyang rice seeds were almost sprouting.

After so long, Mu Feng estimated they should have sprouted by now.

He wanted to go and check the situation.

"They've finally sprouted!"

As soon as he arrived, Mu Feng saw several xueyang rice seeds sending out new sprouts.

Unlike other seeds, the sprouts of xueyang rice were not green.

Instead, they were a somewhat transparent white.

Their shape was a bit like bean sprouts, but they were several times larger and a snowy white color.

["Snow Sun Rice Sprout: Snow Sun Rice Sprout can grow into xueyang rice after absorbing a large amount of Spiritual Qi. Long-term consumption can improve Physique and increase the speed of Spiritual Qi absorption."]

["At the current Spiritual Qi concentration, it will take ten days to mature."]

["xueyang rice is a special spiritual plant and cannot be accelerated using the essence of vegetation."]

Several red prompts popped up from the xueyang rice.

"Ten days is too slow."

Mu Feng shook his head.

He couldn't wait that long.

"Cannot be accelerated using the essence of vegetation."

"I wonder if activating the Intermediate Spirit Gathering Array would speed it up?"

He had over three hundred Spirit Stones on hand.

Spending a hundred Spirit Stones was acceptable to him.

A higher Spiritual Qi concentration in the Immortal Cave would also benefit his Cultivation.

After reaching Qi Refining Level 9, he needed a higher concentration of Spiritual Qi.

When he was at Level 6, even without actively running his Cultivation Technique in the Immortal Cave, his body would automatically absorb Spiritual Qi for Cultivation.

Now that he was at Level 9, although his body would still automatically absorb Spiritual Qi for Cultivation, the speed was pitifully slow, less than one-tenth of what it was before.

No sooner said than done, Mu Feng returned to the Spirit Gathering Array in the main hall.

He placed all one hundred Spirit Stones into the Spirit Gathering Array.

["System Reminder: Intermediate Spirit Gathering Array activated successfully!"]

Boom!

The moment the System reminder appeared, a massive surge of Spiritual Qi emerged from the Spirit Gathering Array.

In a short while, it filled the entire Immortal Cave.

"Such rich Spiritual Qi!"

Mu Feng felt that the Spiritual Qi concentration in his Immortal Cave had increased by at least three or four times.

"If I can maintain this Spirit Stone concentration, I probably could advance to Qi Refining Level 10 in just a day or two."

"Indeed, expensive things have no flaws except for being expensive!"

"I also don't know how long it will take for the xueyang rice to grow at such a high Spiritual Qi concentration."

Mu Feng quickly returned to the medicinal field.

["At the current Spiritual Qi concentration, xueyang rice will mature in eight hours!"]

"Nice! It's shortened to eight hours!"

The previous ten days were too long.

Eight hours was completely acceptable to Mu Feng.

This way, he could eat it by tomorrow at the latest.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot about this!"

Mu Feng slapped his head and opened the Workshop.

He pulled out the fertilizer manufacturing blueprint he had received earlier.

["fertilizer: essence of vegetation 1/3, qingfeng grass 2/8"]

He had already collected all the Materials.

Previously, because the spiritual plant's value was too low, he was reluctant to use the essence of vegetation to make fertilizer.

Now, however, he could make some to see the effect.

["System Reminder: Do you want to manufacture fertilizer?"]

"Manufacture!"

Mu Feng nodded.

["System Reminder: essence of vegetation -1, qingfeng grass -2"]

["System Reminder: fertilizer x5"]

["fertilizer Effect: Fertilizing spiritual plants can improve their quality, thereby increasing yield."]

["fertilizer Usage: Apply one portion at a time."]

Mu Feng put the finished fertilizer into a wooden bucket.

He didn't know if it was because the raw material used was the essence of vegetation, but this fertilizer not only had no foul smell but instead had a faint fragrance.

Its color was also a deep green.

It looked more like a spice than fertilizer.

Mu Feng reached out and grabbed a handful.

The texture was somewhat rough.

"One portion at a time, right?"

Mu Feng successively sprinkled fertilizer into the breathing earth where the Snow Sun Rice Sprouts were planted.

["System Reminder: fertilizer -4"]

"I wonder how effective it will be."

"Unfortunately, I'll only see the results tomorrow."

After sprinkling the fertilizer, Mu Feng watered it again.

Then he took the remaining fertilizer into the main hall.

There were no spiritual plants that needed fertilizing for now.

He planned to put the remaining fertilizer in the main hall and use it as a fragrance.

After everything was done, Mu Feng took out the Treasure Trove map and continued his treasure-hunting journey.

Now he was only three squares away from the Treasure Trove.

This meant that after exploring three more Immortal Caves, he could enter the Treasure Trove map.

This made him a little excited.

Following the location hints provided by the Treasure Trove map, Mu Feng began to check the information within.

["Oh, someone has already gotten a head start in the Immortal Cave Secret Realm ahead. They are currently entangled with the monster inside, but their strength is a bit lacking. In less than ten minutes, they will all be finished."]

"Someone has already gotten a head start?"

"Ten minutes?"

"Alright, then I'll wait for them to die before going in."

He could afford to wait ten minutes.

As for going in to save people? Mu Feng hadn't even considered it.

Wouldn't it be better for him to go in and loot after they died?

In principle, he didn't want to kill anyone.

However, he had no psychological burden whatsoever about picking up leftovers.

["My suggestion is that you'd best go in now, because the monster inside is a bit special. If it absorbs human blood, its strength will greatly increase, and you will have a harder time dealing with it."]

"Hmm?"

"There's even this kind of Yao Beast?"

"Could it be a monster similar to a vampire or a zombie?"

Mu Feng guessed.

["You'll know when you go in. They are already injured, don't drag it out too long."]

The prompt appeared again.

"Already injured? So weak!"

Mu Feng had originally wanted to wait a bit longer, let the people inside exhaust the Yao Beast's power, and then he would go in for the harvest.

Now it seemed, if he didn't go in soon, the people inside would be finished.

"Little Lizard, don't sleep, there's work to do!"

Mu Feng called out.

The Puppet Lizard shook its head and followed him into the teleportation gate.

A flash of white light, and the scene changed.

This was a somewhat eerie Secret Realm space.

It was filled with skeletons, large and small, piled up at the entrance.

Mu Feng held the Qingming Bell in his left hand and condensed a sword light in his right.

The Cloud Stepping Boots on his feet were also activated.

He vigilantly observed his surroundings.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

Just as Mu Feng was searching for the monster's figure inside, a chilling scream came from within.

The voice sounded like a woman's.

Following the sound, Mu Feng led the Puppet Lizard to investigate.

Soon, he saw the situation on the battlefield.

On the scene, three men and two women, a total of five people, were gathered together, jointly dealing with an ugly, humanoid, upright monster.

This monster was emaciated, covered in chains, with many skulls hanging from the ends of the chains.

The monster was very fast and could also emit a red blood mist.

Anyone touched by the blood mist would temporarily lose control.

Therefore, even with all five people working together, they couldn't gain an advantage over the monster.

Instead, the monster, relying on its speed, continuously harassed and charged at the group.

If the five people hadn't huddled together, they probably would have been killed one by one.

However, they couldn't hold on for much longer. As the monster's charges increased, they all had more or less wounds.

The scream Mu Feng heard came from the yellow-clothed woman among the five.

Among the five, she was the weakest, and she had the most wounds.

Facing the monster's repeated charges, she gradually began to falter.

Her face was filled with despair.

The situation on the field was getting worse and worse.

However, Mu Feng was not in a hurry to act.

Instead, he first focused his Divine Sense to investigate the monster's information.

Knowing oneself and one's enemy leads to victory in every battle.

["Name: Blood Puppet"]

["Realm: Qi Refining Level 11"]

["Description: A mutated Puppet in the Cave World, fast with slightly weaker attacks. It likes to feed on fresh blood. Each time it sucks blood, it enters a berserk state, greatly increasing its speed and strength. Very dangerous."]

["Abilities:"] Blood Mist, Charge.

["Weaknesses:"] None.

......

View skill details.

["Blood Mist: The Blood Puppet releases a cloud of red blood mist during battle. Anyone touched by it will temporarily lose their mind. The stronger the Divine Sense, the shorter the duration of the disorientation."]

["Charge: The Blood Puppet will perform multiple-stage charges forward, extremely dangerous."]