Mortal: The Path to Immortality

In the days that followed, Lu Nanzhu continued to tend to the herb garden as usual. Because the spiritual energy here was thin, he did not need to put in too much effort to handle the monthly sect duties. If all else failed, he would use "spirit moss" to accelerate the ripening of the herbs.

He devoted the rest of his time to practicing the Everlasting Spring Technique and began to study the making of some basic talismans.

Ever since he consumed the "Wind Spirit Sacred Fruit," he could always sense something unusual during his cultivation. Whenever spiritual energy flowed into his dantian, his originally heavy wood-attribute magic power would subtly exhibit a lightness, as if he were carrying a gentle breeze with every move he made.

"Ninth level of Qi Refining...almost there."

Only when Lu Nanzhu reaches the late stage of Qi Refining will he be qualified to formally begin cultivating the first level of the "Legend of Fuyao". Now, his body has already laid a solid foundation under the baptism of the Sacred Fruit.

Unfortunately, the "Wind Spirit Sacred Fruit Tree" that he had planted withered and died quickly after bearing that one and only fruit, turning into a pile of rotten wood ash, leaving not even a seed or a piece of living branch behind, as if it had spent its entire life just to bear that one fruit.

After finishing the trivial matters in the herb garden, Lu Nanzhu finally remembered the "golden-haired captives" who had been locked in the spirit beast pouch for a long time.

He took out his spirit beast pouch and probed it with his divine sense, observing it carefully. Although these mice couldn't be considered demonic beasts, they possessed many strange characteristics. Some had eyes that were an eerie dark purple, and others exhibited spiritual energy fluctuations far more intense than their kind.

What puzzled Lu Nanzhu even more was that when he got closer and sniffed, these little creatures actually emitted a faint, familiar fragrance.

"Looks like these little guys have been stealing quite a few herbs!"

Lu Nanzhu frowned. In his view, this Abandoned Spirit Valley had been deserted for decades, so naturally no one would raise spirit beasts here, especially since these rats weren't even considered demonic beasts.

"I was overthinking it." Lu Nanzhu's heart stirred slightly. Since there was no one to take the place, he would not stand on ceremony.

Then another thought came to him: if the small inkstone can deduce spiritual plants, what about living things?

Thinking of this, Lu Nanzhu took out the golden-haired rat with the most abundant spiritual energy from his spirit beast pouch and placed it steadily in the recessed center of the octagonal inkstone. As his magical power slowly flowed in, the dark blue light once again pulled his consciousness into the secret realm.

It was still the familiar spirit tree, laden with familiar transparent fruits. Lu Nanzhu activated his divine sense, examining each of the transparent fruits one by one, and before his eyes flashed rapidly changing forms of living beings:

A golden rat suddenly grew larger, its body covered in sharp, steel-like bristles, and was wrestling hand-to-hand with a giant python. Although fierce, it lost its agile earth-遁 (earth-escaping) ability and was ultimately swallowed whole by the python.

"They have plenty of brute force, but lack intelligence." Lu Nanzhu shook his head and continued the search.

After an unknown amount of time, upon examining a dark golden fruit, Lu Nanzhu finally found a satisfactory deduction result:

A golden rat was darting swiftly hundreds of feet underground, its pupils glowing with a faint green light, easily piercing through thick layers of soil to see directly into the spiritual eyes buried under mud and rocks. The scene shifted, and the little creature suddenly stopped, its golden fur trembling slightly, blending seamlessly with the surrounding spiritual energy fluctuations. Though clearly right before its eyes, it was difficult to detect with divine sense.

"It can burrow underground, sense spirits, and even conceal its form..." Lu Nanzhu nodded repeatedly as he listened. He decisively picked the fruit.

Then, his consciousness exited the secret realm, and the scene before him astonished Lu Nanzhu.

The golden rat on the inkstone let out a short, mournful cry, and its flesh began to melt and collapse, eventually turning into a fist-sized, translucent, milky-white ball of flesh, within which an embryo could be vaguely seen swimming.

"A spiritual embryo!?"

Lu Nanzhu picked up the warm ball of flesh with some surprise. According to records, this kind of "spiritual fetus" could only be barely made by cutting open the abdomen of a pregnant female beast and using secret medicines and special techniques. It was extremely cruel and had a very low survival rate.

Not only can the spirit embryo be safely stored in the storage bag, but its vitality is also incredibly abundant. More importantly, the spirit beasts conceived in this way are naturally connected to their masters' minds. Even without any profound beast-taming techniques, they can be controlled with perfect ease, without any fear of backlash.

"It's a pleasant surprise."

Following the method taught in the ancient text, Lu Nanzhu dripped a drop of his essence blood into the spiritual embryo. He did not rush to hatch it. If the spiritual embryo wanted to hatch successfully, it needed to be nourished with spiritual energy from time to time to replenish the innate spiritual energy it lacked in the mother's body.

After storing the spirit embryo in his storage bag, Lu Nanzhu began to examine the dozens of golden-haired rats in the spirit beast bag, his brow furrowing.

Although these golden rats contain a trace of spiritual energy, if we were to use them for alchemy? Their flesh and blood are so mixed that they can't even condense a single demon core. If they were put into the furnace, they probably wouldn't even produce any medicinal residue. If we were to use them for weapon crafting? Their slender skeletons and rotten fur probably wouldn't even be enough to make the scraps for the lowest grade of magic boots.

"What should we do with these rats? After obtaining that spiritual embryo, these rats are no match for us. We can't use them for alchemy, and we can't just release them rashly. They're truly tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away." Lu Nanzhu shook his head, somewhat undecided.

"Alright, let's just keep them like this for now. I still have plenty of low-quality medicinal herbs to feed them, so let's protect them for the time being."

On this day, Lu Nanzhu had already spent a full month in the valley. Counting the days, he figured the senior brother sent by the sect to collect the herbs would arrive soon. He had already carefully arranged the bundles of dried spiritual herbs and several mature Smilax glabra plants, neatly stacking them on the stone platform in front of the bamboo house.

In the herb garden, apart from the portion handed over to the government, most of the ridges were planted with medicinal herbs for personal use by Lu Nanzhu. In places like this where spiritual energy is scarce, planting "Black Soil Root" and "Big Bitter Leaf" is most suitable. Although these herbs are inconspicuous, they are commonly used auxiliary medicines in elixirs.

He sat in the attic with his eyes closed, the Everlasting Spring Technique circulating rapidly within his body. Since consuming the "Wind Spirit Sacred Fruit," he felt his cultivation had become somewhat stagnant. Now, having increased the dosage, he had barely managed to reach the bottleneck of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"That fruit... can it really help me in my cultivation?" Just as he was pondering this, a bird's cry came from above the valley.

Without hesitation, Lu Nanzhu left the pavilion and came to the stone platform. There, a huge bird landed steadily in the valley, and a person stood on its back. The person was dressed in a plain blue robe, with a jade belt around his waist. He had a handsome face, exquisite features, and a heroic air between his brows.

"My divine sense can't detect their presence? Could it be... that seizing medicinal herbs requires the intervention of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!?" Lu Nanzhu's heart sank slightly.

"Disciple Lu Nanzhu greets Senior." Lu Nanzhu quickly stepped forward, bowed his head, and clasped his hands in greeting.

The man leaped down from the bird, flicked his sleeve to collect it into his spirit beast pouch, then walked past Lu Nanzhu and headed straight for the stone platform, slowly speaking:

"Are these the spiritual plants for this month?"

"Reporting to Senior, the thirty bundles of Seven Star Grass and ten catties of Smilax glabra that should be paid this month are all here. Please take a look." Lu Nanzhu bowed slightly.

The man stood before the stone platform, fiddling with the bundles of withered Seven Star Grass. Seeing that the herbs were fine, he began to survey the valley. Seeing that the herb garden was well-managed, he turned to examine the newly recruited disciple.

"This medicinal herb garden is well-managed. The rhizomes of the black ginseng are straight, and the leaves of the bitter ginseng are large. It seems you have put a lot of effort into this medicinal herb garden."

"You flatter me, senior. I was just doing my duty," Lu Nanzhu replied, but a warning bell was ringing in his heart.

"Lu Nanzhu," the man suddenly called out his name.

Lu Nanzhu's heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

"I've heard that demonic beasts often roam this place. You've been guarding this place for a month, have you... encountered any living creatures?" As he spoke, the man's gaze was fixed on Lu Nanzhu's face.

In just a few breaths, Lu Nanzhu seemed to have guessed something, and quickly untied the spirit beast pouch from his waist and handed it to the man:

"Previously, the herb garden was often plagued by rats. In order to protect the herbs, I managed to catch those strange rats, but I didn't know what to do with them. Now, thanks to your presence, senior, I humbly request your advice."