Chapter 46: Food Spirit

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Food Spirit

BUZZ.

In an instant, the Magic mark inside the strange insect blossomed with specks of spiritual light, spreading across its entire body. It was on the verge of successfully taking root. Just then, specks of blackish-red light suddenly surged from within the insect, fiercely resisting the erosion of the Magic mark.

SCREECH.

The strange insect let out a shrill cry. Its body, wrapped tightly into a ball by the Cowgrass, squirmed incessantly. The two opposing streams of spiritual light used the insect’s body as a battlefield, chasing and clashing in a relentless tug-of-war.

SCREECH!

The strange insect shrieked continuously, spewing large mouthfuls of dark green blood. Instantly, a foul stench filled the hall.

Li Changsheng watched it. Though his expression was grave, he made no move to intervene. After activating the insect mark, there were only two possible outcomes: either the insect would submit, or it would resist so fiercely that the Magic mark would shatter, killing the creature.

Time slowly passed.

Under the steady erosion of the Magic mark, the blackish-red light inside the insect gradually failed to hold its ground, retreating to a small corner of its body.

Watching this, Li Changsheng thought, "It’s a good thing its Magic was broken and it suffered severe injuries, otherwise I really wouldn’t have been able to subdue it."

Eventually, the very last speck of blackish-red light was completely extinguished.

SCREECH.

The strange insect let out a weak hiss and went completely limp. The Magic mark instantly seized control of its entire body. A spot of black and gray mottling appeared on its skin, spreading across its body at a rapid pace. In just a few breaths, the mottled pattern covered it from head to tail.

BUZZ.

As the pattern completely enveloped it, the insect’s body vibrated for a moment. The surrounding Spiritual Qi rushed to pour into the markings. Amidst the flickering spiritual light, the creature’s body did not expand; instead, it shrank.

Li Changsheng clapped his hands and laughed. "It’s done!"

Then, he felt a momentary wave of dizziness. It was as if a heavy stone had been pressed upon his mind, leaving him lethargic.

"To put this much pressure on me, it must be at least a first-tier Middle-Grade Spirit Insect..."

Li Changsheng took a few breaths to recover. He looked at the strange insect, a joyful expression on his face.

A moment later.

A strange insect, covered in black and gray mottling and only as thick as a chopstick, came into view.

SCREECH.

The insect let out a sharp hiss. It slithered over to Li Changsheng, reared up its upper body, and aimed its fang-filled maw at him.

Li Changsheng reached out and picked it up. Feeling the mental connection he now shared with the insect, he gently rubbed its head. Its skin felt warm, smooth, and slightly elastic.

Li Changsheng focused his gaze.

[Target: Slave Insect]

[Species: ***]

[First-Tier Middle-Grade: 79%]

[Innate Magic: Food Spirit]

[Status: Lightly Injured]

"Food Spirit..."

Li Changsheng focused on the Magic column.

[Food Spirit: Devours the essence of a Spirit Plant to nourish itself, absorbing its properties to form a special spiritual light.]

Based on this, the blackish-red light the insect had used was the result of feeding on the Snake Saliva Spirit Tree, using its properties to form a Protective Spiritual Light similar to Snake Scale Armor.

Li Changsheng observed it for a few seconds, but the column for Magic amplification did not appear before his eyes.

"Is it impossible, or are the conditions just not met?"

Li Changsheng frowned and shifted his gaze to its cultivation column.

[Cultivation Requirements: Ten pounds of flesh and blood rich in Spiritual Qi (Daily), three drops of Snake Saliva Spirit Tree Juice (Daily)]

Li Changsheng smiled. "It’s actually quite easy to feed."

He couldn’t provide the flesh and blood for now, but he could just let it hunt for itself. As for the Snake Saliva Spirit Tree Juice, that wasn’t a problem at all.

Li Changsheng looked at the two mutated Red-winged Blood Bamboos and the strange insect. He pondered for a moment before saying softly, "From now on, you’ll be called Big Bro, Little Bro, and... Xiaohai."

The two mutated Red-winged Blood Bamboos had absolutely no reaction, but Xiaohai seemed to possess a bit of intelligence, letting out a soft screech.

Li Changsheng didn’t rush to test Xiaohai’s strength. Instead, he turned and went into the kitchen to busy himself. Having too many little creatures to raise wasn’t entirely a good thing.

Two hours passed in a flurry of activity.

After feeding Big Flower and Xiaohua, he also fed the delicate Little White Jade Fox and the two Red Foxes.

"Sigh, I’m almost out of Jade Grass and Blood Essence Grass. I wonder if the other senior brothers have any..." Li Changsheng sighed and stepped out the door.

Walking over to Xiaohua, who was resting in the courtyard, Li Changsheng patted its head, grabbed his Rune Hoe, and climbed onto its back.

"Let’s go, Xiaohua."

GRUNT.

Xiaohua grunted as it stood up and strode out of the courtyard.

Like loyal guards, the two mutated Red-winged Blood Bamboos, Big Bro and Little Bro, led dozens of ordinary Red-winged Blood Bamboos, their wings buzzing as they circled in the air above.

They entered the weed-filled mountain forest and traveled for about a Cup of Tea’s Time.

The man and his beasts arrived at a grove filled with numerous ironwood trees.

With a mere thought from Li Changsheng, the insect swarm, led by Big Bro and Little Bro, spread out into the surroundings, diving into the grass and flying into the dense canopies. Various insects of different shapes and colors were rooted out and devoured by the swarm, and several brightly colored small birds were also surrounded and killed.

Unfortunately, there were no large beasts within a Fang Yuan of a hundred meters. Li Changsheng’s hopes of eating some fresh meat were dashed.

Hopping down to the ground, Li Changsheng shifted his thoughts. A black shadow shot out from his sleeve like an arrow, slamming directly into an ironwood tree as thick as a palm.

BANG.

With a soft thud, the black shadow darted back and landed in Li Changsheng’s hand, revealing its true form.

The black shadow was Xiaohai. Only the thickness of a chopstick and just over ten centimeters long, it was covered entirely in black and gray mottling. Its maw full of hideous fangs made it look incredibly ferocious.

Li Changsheng walked over to the palm-thick ironwood tree. He saw that a large patch of beige wood had been exposed on the tree trunk. Below it lay a piece of freshly torn bark.

"Not bad!"

Li Changsheng nodded in satisfaction and then proceeded to test Xiaohai’s Protective Spiritual Light. Compared to before, the shrunken Xiaohai had more than doubled in both speed and the intensity of its spiritual light. Although it still couldn’t bite through Xiaohua’s steel armor, Xiaohua couldn’t catch up to Xiaohai’s speed either.

Well, it could barely be considered a draw.

After the tests were concluded.

Li Changsheng glanced around, found a tree as thick as an adult’s thigh, and walked over.

THWACK.

Holding the Rune Hoe, he struck the trunk forcefully twice. A five-centimeter gash appeared on the ironwood trunk.

"Tsk, Steward Ye really is a good man..." Li Changsheng sighed in admiration once more before resuming his chopping.

Building two beast pens required far more than just one or two ironwood trees. He had his work cut out for him.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Inside the Spirit Field Hall.

Dong Xing’s wailing caused the faces of the two men talking at the head of the room to twitch. The refined young man stood up, nodded to Steward Ma, and left his seat.

"I will see you out, young master." Steward Ma stood up, forcing an awkward smile onto his rigid face.

As the young man walked past Dong Xing, he gave him a curious glance.

Steward Ma escorted the young man all the way out of the hall. He watched as the youth mounted a giant eagle and flew away. After standing there for a moment, he returned inside.

When he returned to the room, Dong Xing was still maintaining his bowing posture.

Steward Ma glanced at him, sat down in his seat, and said in a stiff tone, "What is it?"

Dong Xing straightened up and said urgently, "Steward, there’s an insect plague in the Spirit Field!"

Steward Ma’s eyes narrowed slightly. He said in a deep voice, "What insect plague? Explain in detail."

Dong Xing immediately recounted his discovery of the Black Blood Moths in the Spirit Field, particularly emphasizing that it wasn’t just on one or two plants, but spread across entire patches.

Steward Ma’s expression darkened slightly. He continued to ask, "Have any been found in the other Spirit Fields?"

"This lowly one only saw the Black Blood Moths in my own Spirit Field and hasn’t asked the others. But considering there are so many in mine, the other Spirit Fields must surely have them as well."

Dong Xing bowed again, pleading urgently, "Please intervene, Steward! Otherwise, this season’s Spirit Rice harvest will be completely ruined."

Steward Ma didn’t speak. He tapped his fingers on the table, falling into deep thought.