The Invincible Supreme Medical God-Chapter 1172 - 617: Spirit Wings (2)
"Merit points..." As he sat in his Immortal Cave, he thought, frowning. What he lacked most were merit points. After some hesitation, he left his Immortal Cave and headed to the Mission Stele reserved for Inner Sect disciples.
Back in the Outer Sect, the mission office was always crowded, but the Inner Sect was different. The Inner Sect disciples were very busy and valued their time highly. Only a few people could be seen in the area. Yan Xiaobao strolled over and stood in front of the stele, attempting to pick a mission.
"That one's too dangerous!" he muttered. "That one doesn't offer enough merit! I don't want any long-term tasks..."
Finally, his gaze settled on a mission assigned by a parish elder, which required the use of the Lifestealer cores. For each core provided, 1,000 merit points would be rewarded.
It even provided the most common location to find Lifestealers, situated in the Wildweed Mountain Range, not far from the Spirit Stream Sect. Yan Xiaobao muttered to himself, recalling the description of Lifestealers in the Fourth Volume Soul Creatures. In reality, they were not beasts but magical parasitic life forms.
They would choose a host, a certain type of beast, and then grow a second head. When the second head was fully formed, the beast would wither and die, and the matured Soul Eater would transform into a Ninedays Finch.
During its parasitic stage, it was very useful as an ingredient in various medicines. However, once it matured and exploded from the second head, becoming a Ninedays Finch, it was completely useless. Moreover, Ninedays Finches only lived for nine days before dying and producing a new Lifestealer. Then, the Lifestealer would choose a new host and the process would begin anew.
It was almost like a cycle of reincarnation...
Lifestealers were very rare, and in some ways, they lived forever, reincarnating endlessly.
Yan Xiaobao clearly remembered how deeply impressed he was when he first read about the Lifestealers in the Fourth Volume Soul Creatures.
"The difficult part of this mission is actually finding the Lifestealers. The Wildweed Mountain Range is too vast. Trying to find them one by one would be too tedious. Accumulating merit in this way is a waste of time."
After researching the Wildweed Mountain Range, he confirmed that despite its vastness, most of the animals belonged to a basic infrastructure level.
Ultimately, he decided to accept the mission. However, he didn't set off from the Sect immediately. First, he returned to his Immortal Cave to make some preparations. Finally, he leapt onto the Golden Crow Sword and shot off into the distance.
Wildweed Mountain Range wasn't far from the Spirit Stream Sect. Considering his speed when using the Golden Crow Sword, it would only take a day's travel to reach there. Unfortunately, due to his current cultivation base being too low to fly for long periods, he had to alternate between flying and running. Four days later, he finally reached the Wildweed Mountain Range.
A majestic sight spread out before him, the lush vegetation-covered mountains stretching in all directions like an endless jungle, from which erupted the cries of various birds and beasts.
Instead of immediately seeking out Lifestealers, he explored the mountain range for about half a month until he found a valley that served as a natural passageway between two main parts of the jungle. There, he settled on a high branch, gazing down into the valley below.
"Using ordinary search methods would waste time and rely on blind luck. Even if luck were on my side, I might only find one. If I weren't lucky, I might not find one in a month.
"Now's the time to show how clever I am." He jutted out his chin, blurring as he shot into the distance.
The next day, he stood atop a mountain peak, feeling the direction of the wind. Just as he was about to produce an aphrodisiac pill, a thought struck him, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Is anyone around?! Any disciples from the Soul Sect?!" His tone, loud and pleading, almost sounded like a cry for help. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
In the distance, a figure could be seen in the jungle, battling with a beast. It was an icy, arrogant young man dressed in the robes of the Soul Sect's Inner Sect. When he heard Yan Xiaobao's cry, a hint of disdain appeared in his eyes.
"Another low-foundation disciple overestimating himself, now in a rush to call for help. Only the strong should enter the Wildweed Mountain Range." Arrogantly, he chose not to attempt to help. While the Sect emphasized teamwork, some people were naturally unsociable, which was unavoidable.
After crying out a few times but receiving no response, Yan Xiaobao felt somewhat relieved. Shortly thereafter, he discarded an aphrodisiac pill. Moments later, when the pill exploded, there was a pop, transforming into a fine powder carried away by the wind.
Soon enough, animals in the surrounding area, whatever they were doing, caught the scent of the powder in the wind and began to tremble. Their eyes became bloodshot, and they started howling at the top of their lungs.
A howl echoed, and two wings suddenly appeared behind Yan Xiaobao, propelling him forward with speed.
The previously arrogant disciple suddenly found the beast he was fighting had started trembling. Its eyes turned red, howling, it lunged at him. The young man was terrified and began to flee.
Unfortunately, no matter what he did, the beast continued to howl and chase him. Its eyes were crimson, as if it had gone mad. In shock, the young man fled for his life until he had no choice but to cry out for help.
By that time, Yan Xiaobao was already too far away...
Six hours later, in another windy area, Yan Xiaobao cried out a few times, waited a moment, saw no one respond, and discarded another aphrodisiac pill.
Soon enough, the howling of beasts rose again.
For the next two days, he constantly walked the perimeter of the valley he'd chosen, casting aphrodisiac pills. He quickly covered a large area where all the animals went crazy, howling at the top of their lungs, roaring furiously.
Seeing he'd reached a nearly uncontrollable state, Yan Xiaobao flew back to his chosen valley. His eyes gleamed, and he wielded the Golden Crow Sword, cutting a path through the trees, then took out a heap of pheromone pills and crushed them. Soon, a scent began to spread.
He was extremely careful not to get any powder on himself, even stepping back and changing into a new set of clothes just to be safe. Then he perched above the valley, overlooking the path he'd created.
"Come on, you cute beasts... hurry up," he said, humming a little tune as he eagerly waited.
Time flew by. The scent of the pheromone pills slowly dispersed, and the beasts affected by the aphrodisiac pills gradually became increasingly frantic. Howling, they began to charge toward the valley at full speed, more and more of them coming like a surging tide causing earthquakes.
Soon, the first wave of beasts was closing in, and Yan Xiaobao stood, fully focused, looking down into the valley. In the blink of an eye, a huge mass of strange beasts could be seen rushing toward the path he had created. Seeing so many creatures, Yan Xiaobao's eyes widened. Then, his eyes sparkled, and his right hand flashed in a spell gesture. The Golden Crow Sword flew instantly toward a fierce tiger.
Shockingly, a second head was growing from the tiger's back. Golden light flashed, and the second head exploded. A core flew out, and Yan Xiaobao skillfully caught it and tossed it into his pouch. Next, the golden light flashed toward another double-headed creature.
The great flood lasted about two hours, during which the valley was nearly completely destroyed. Yan Xiaobao was overjoyed. His sword flashed again and again, and by the time the horde of beasts dispersed, he was delighted to find he had collected 10 Lifestealer cores.
"Yan Xiaobao's cunning strikes again!" Looking extremely pleased, he securely stowed the cores in his pouch, then blurred as he moved to another part of the Wildweed Mountain Range.
Shortly after he left, a young man could be seen emerging in the jungle. His clothes were tattered, and he appeared to be in a very pitiful state. He was trembling, even struggling to walk. A vacant look could be seen in his eyes, very similar to what had appeared in Beihan Lie's eyes not long ago...
As he mumbled, "What happened in the Wildweed Mountain Range...?" Tears streamed down his cheeks. "What happened to this world...? The beasts here don't eat people, they... I... I..."
Days flew by. Yan Xiaobao used aphrodisiac pills to turn the Wildweed Mountain Range into complete chaos. Every place he went became frenzied. Of course, before casting the pills into the air, he would always call out to ensure he was alone.
...
