17: Chapter 17 Giant Poisonous Insects

Xia Shaoxin continued to walk along the edge of the barrier.

It was easy to determine the edge; it would emit light whenever he touched it.

After walking a long distance, he saw another gravel disk.

Stepping onto it, a circular light rose up around him.

Suddenly, he saw a glimmer of light not far outside the disk. Stepping forward to look, it turned out to be a spirit talisman, which he hurriedly picked up.

It was drawn with some strange lines.

Touching it with his hand, it was smooth as jade and very brand new, as if it had been made just yesterday.

"Could an immortal have come here yesterday?"

He recalled the two prescriptions he had obtained previously; they had also looked new, but had actually been sitting there for decades.

Could it be a prescription?

He had heard that such prescriptions were created by Sect Alchemists who condensed the knowledge they had mastered onto talismans to pass on to Disciples or for trade.

Each prescription consumed an Alchemist's power, so they were hard to obtain.

The Alchemists of the Yue Kingdom were under the jurisdiction of the imperial court and had the obligation to create prescriptions, while earning some money on the side, which was why Xia Shaoxin was able to learn how to make two types of pills.

The incantations and formulas were universal; the only threshold was Aptitude.

He attempted to follow the method taught by the medicine shopkeeper, forming the hand seals and reciting the incantation, doing exactly as instructed.

The talisman paper did not react.

Refusing to give up, he tried it again using the hand seals and incantation for the strength pill.

The talisman paper was burned away from the center by yin fire, and rays of light shot into his brow; he had actually learned the method for making the "seven gu detox pill"!

New knowledge rapidly surfaced in his mind: medicinal ingredients, production procedures, processing methods for ingredients, incantations...

The core ingredients were seven types of Poisonous Insects, combined with ten types of warm herbs, refined through special techniques and incantations that a Mortal could chant.

Consuming it could neutralize the toxins of snakes, scorpions, toads, spiders, centipedes, and other common Poisonous Insects!

The duration of the effect was related to one's own constitution and the strength of the toxin.

Xia Shaoxin was both surprised and delighted. One pill could neutralize a whole type of Poisonous Insect?

As expected of a Sect, the prescription was much more Advanced.

Why didn't they give it to Bug Catchers to use? After careful thought, just those seven types of Poisonous Insects were worth a fortune.

Even the miasma-repelling pill wasn't economical, let alone the seven gu detox pill!

He sighed inwardly, thinking that Bug Catchers like them were not worthy of using such pills.

Even for Sect Disciples, using them was a losing business.

But he was different.

Hehehe, he never expected to pick up a prescription in the depths of Dawu Mountain, inside the barrier.

It must have been lost here by some Alchemist Senior a long time ago, when this place still belonged to the Sect.

Xia Shaoxin bowed to the sky: "I do not know if you are still alive, Senior, but this Junior thanks you."

A prescription like this started at a value of ten thousand, so he had truly stumbled upon a windfall.

He couldn't make it for now, so he would deal with it later.

Dawu Mountain was huge; walking along the edge would probably take more than a month to finish. Looking into the depths, he thought, wouldn't there be more treasures inside?

So, he walked inward.

Not far away, a gust of wind suddenly arose from the front left, and he saw something dark and blurry rushing over from the distance.

Hidden by weeds, he could see it was a large black rat.

He hurriedly swallowed a strength pill.

The large rat rushed to within three zhang of him, saw Xia Shaoxin, slammed on the brakes, stood upright, and bared its teeth.

Xia Shaoxin had gripped his sword tightly, ready to fight, but the large rat veered to the side with extreme speed. After running only a few steps, it suddenly stopped, collapsed to the ground, and black blood flowed from its mouth.

This was a sign of poisoning.

Just then, another gust of wind came from the grass in the distance, and the weeds flattened one after another. It was actually a scorpion larger than a foot!

A Five-colored Scorpion was only the size of a fist, had five colors on its body, and its tail needle was incredibly poisonous.

This scorpion, about the size of a kitten, had more than five colors on its body and was speeding along the grass that the large rat had trampled.

Xia Shaoxin's hair stood on end immediately.

The poisonous rat, which was as big as a dog, had clearly been stung by this large scorpion and had already died from the poison.

He was not necessarily stronger than this "Dawu Mountain black rat."

The large scorpion had originally been chasing the large rat, but upon seeing Xia Shaoxin, it actually stopped. After hesitating for only a second, it rushed toward him rapidly.

Sweat immediately broke out on Xia Shaoxin's forehead. He hurriedly reached into his carry-bag, pulled out some medicinal powder, and sprinkled it forward.

Having just eaten a strength pill, he threw the medicinal powder further than before, hitting the large scorpion directly. However, the large scorpion paused on its six legs and actually leaped into the air, quickly pouncing in front of him.

Xia Shaoxin aimed at the large scorpion and slashed down fiercely.

Clang!

The large scorpion's shell was extremely hard; he only knocked it to the ground, and there wasn't even a mark on its shell.

Xia Shaoxin was shocked. This scorpion was both hard and poisonous; it would probably be extremely difficult to deal with.

He backed away, walking toward the edge of the barrier, intending to use the barrier to maneuver around the scorpion.

Unexpectedly, the scorpion, having been struck by a sword, did not chase him. Instead, it turned its body around, rushed to the large rat, drove its pincers in, dug out a piece of the large rat's flesh, and stuffed it into its mouth.

Xia Shaoxin steadied his mind.

The previous strike proved that he had the strength to deal with the large scorpion, but his sword was too poor and couldn't break the scorpion's shell.

He thought that this scorpion's shell might even be harder than the armor worn by the archers brought by the Gu Bureau that day.

This should be a new breed, and he didn't want to give up.

If he retreated, he would at least lose one strength pill.

So, he stepped forward again and threw a large handful of medicinal powder.

He didn't know how effective the medicinal powder was, but he threw it anyway.

The large scorpion was furious; some other creature had actually interrupted its meal!

It dropped the large rat, its six legs sprang, and it flew up again. Xia Shaoxin's sword was already raised. When the large scorpion was halfway through the air, it suddenly whipped its body, and its tail hook struck directly toward his face.

He flicked his wrist and cut straight at the tail hook. The tail hook was deflected, and the large scorpion traced a strange arc in front of him before landing on the ground.

Looking closely, there wasn't even a trace left on the tail hook.

He couldn't help but gasp. This large scorpion was immune to blades, and the medicinal powder wasn't strong enough either?

The scorpion, having taken two sword strikes, was extremely agitated. At a distance of one zhang, it stood its body up, curled its tail hook, and continuously sprayed black gas from its mouth.

As a Bug Catcher, engaging in a head-on confrontation with a Poisonous Insect like this was not qualified.

He should use bait, traps, anesthetics, and the like; that was the true nature of a Bug Catcher.

Xia Shaoxin faced the large scorpion, moved his feet gently, and shifted toward the large rat.

His idea was to snatch the large scorpion's food and use it as bait to attract the scorpion's attention.

Unexpectedly, the scorpion's biological instinct detected his intention. Protecting food was its nature, which made the scorpion even more furious. It rushed a few steps and pounced over.

Xia Shaoxin retreated quickly with a few small steps, aimed at the large scorpion's abdomen, and stabbed fiercely with his sword.

He only heard a clang, as if he had stabbed a wall.

The scorpion's abdomen was supposed to be the softest place, but the sword tip only sank in a little bit and couldn't pierce it.

Xia Shaoxin retreated several steps. Fortunately, the scorpion only went to snatch the large rat; once it got it, it gnawed on it twice and did not pursue him.

The previous strike had been very forceful, and he felt that he was just a little bit short of piercing it; his sword was just too disappointing.

He remembered the dagger given by Zhang Yan.

This dagger was sharper than the sword, but it was very short, and he would almost have to make close contact with the scorpion, which made him feel a bit apprehensive.

He never imagined he would have to fight a Poisonous Insect like this. He wished the opponent was a person; it would be even better if it were the Rebirth of Li the Toad.

The bamboo basket on his body swayed, reminding him of the Poisonous Insects he had caught along the way. Since this scorpion was so protective of its food, perhaps he could use a Poisonous Insect to lure it.

So, he pulled out a live earth Dragon, pierced it with the tip of his sword, hung it up, slowly approached the scorpion, and dangled it toward it.

The scorpion was indeed attracted, dropped the large rat from its mouth, and flew up fiercely.

No sooner said than done, Xia Shaoxin also rushed over, and the dagger flashed with a ray of light, sinking into the large scorpion's abdomen.