Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 95: Acquisition of a Storage Bag and Unrecognized Treasures

Inside the Spirit Artifact Cave.

Worried about being attacked by magic again, Fu Shuai took out a golden talisman from his storage bag and held it in his palm, ready to use it at any time.

Suddenly, he heard strange noises around him.

"Crack~~"

It sounded like loose soil being compressed.

"What?"

An invisible sense of oppression made Fu Shuai feel as if he were facing a formidable enemy, and he did not hesitate to use the golden light talisman in his hand. Golden light enveloped his entire body.

Almost simultaneously.

"boom--!"

A deafening roar, like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting open, followed instantly by terrifying high-frequency vibrations.

The entire cave was shaking, and the thick spirit iron walls emitted a piercing, resonant echo.

"Click~"

In an instant, the protective golden light shattered.

Fu Shuai's ears were ringing, the world was spinning before his eyes, and he felt as if his bones and muscles had been shattered, his internal organs and even his dantian and dantian had been severely damaged, and his spiritual energy was in disorder.

Even the second-tier Yama Vine couldn't withstand this earth-shattering tremor, and a large number of vines snapped with a "bang".

This was no ordinary earthquake; it was a terrifying spell that was about to shatter the heavens and earth. The immense destructive spiritual energy contained within seemed to be about to kill all living beings in the world!

"Pfft" 6

Fu Shuai coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, his breath weak.

His tendons and bones were broken, his dantian and sea of ​​qi were shattered, his spiritual energy flowed backward, and even his soul was almost shattered, leaving him with only his last breath.

"If you're going to kill me, why go to all this trouble?"

He couldn't understand why a powerful being with unfathomable cultivation would resort to such a strange method to kill him.

On his deathbed, he suddenly realized that the spiritual energy fluctuations of these two spells were very similar to insect repelling spells.

"Trying to kill me with insect repellent? Do you really think I'm an ant? Cough cough~~"

He coughed up another mouthful of blood, and amidst his resentment and confusion, his life force rapidly faded away.

"That was tough to kill, but I finally got it done."

Liu He's cautious nature made him wait a moment to confirm that Fu Shuai was really dead and not faking it before he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Soil loosening technique".

He restored the ground of the ant nest to its original state and then let the ant colony dig the nest again.

"That's strange. I'm usually very careful, so what secret did Commander Fu discover about me?"

"It's a pity he's already dead; there's no chance to ask him now."

Liu He did not regret killing Fu Shuai. Regardless of what Fu Shuai discovered, as long as there was even the slightest possibility that Liu He's secrets would be exposed, he had to eliminate them completely to prevent future troubles.

"Even a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining is so difficult to kill in an ant nest; it's time to make some preparations."

He had not made any preparations beforehand, so he was helpless even when he brought the ninth level of Qi Refining into the ant nest, resulting in the loss of thousands of ants.

If the enemy is at the Foundation Establishment stage, he would probably find it even more difficult to deal with.

"There's also the issue of the source of spirit stones. Choose one of alchemy, talisman making, or weapon crafting to add some means of earning spirit stones, so that we can explain the source of our spirit stones to outsiders."

He can't stay so low-key forever; he has to gradually reveal his talent.

Now that you've broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining so quickly, what will happen in the future?

Alchemy and talisman making, these two cultivation techniques, require not only talent but also extensive practice and trial and error. Liu He may lack talent, but he has the Ant Nest to amplify resources, so he doesn't have to worry about resource shortages when practicing.

As dawn broke.

With the concerted efforts of tens of millions of ants, the brand-new ant nest was completed.

The Spirit Artifact Cave remains underground in the very center of the ant nest, serving as the heart of the entire nest.

With a single thought, Liu He traversed into the magical artifact cave.

The worker ants had already cleaned the place up, even taking away Fu Shuai's body, leaving only the treasures on his body.

A robe that had been through a major battle and was severely damaged.

A used, high-grade spirit sword: a sandalwood spirit sword. Although it has been used, it is estimated to be worth three hundred spirit stones.

The second-tier spirit plant, Yama Vine, has lost its vitality and turned into a dead vine.

The Yama Vine is a spirit plant carefully cultivated by Commander Fu and controlled by the "Plant Control Technique". Its relationship with Commander Fu is more like that of a contracted spirit beast: when its master dies, the spirit plant will also die.

And the most precious item: storage bag.

Liu He picked up the storage bag and saw that it was made of bluish-gray brocade, with a simple and plain design. The bag was covered with intricate lock-in runes, and its appearance was understated.

After Fu Shuai's death, the storage bag became ownerless, and the divine soul imprint was slowly dissipating.

To retrieve the items inside, they need to be refined before they can be used.

"I heard that storage bags are graded according to their internal size. I wonder how big this storage bag is?"

Liu He knew that even the lowest-level storage bag cost a thousand spirit stones, and its interior was a square space of one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

The storage bags used for Foundation Establishment major repairs, which can hold flying boats, cost thousands or even tens of thousands of spirit stones to buy.

He didn't rush to refine the storage bag, but instead went out of the spirit artifact cave to check on the ant nest.

"Woof!"

As soon as he stepped out of the cave, Bahuang rushed towards him, wagging its tail and rubbing against Liu He affectionately.

Bahuang was very worried about his master because of the huge commotion he caused in order to kill Fu Shuai.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Liu He rubbed Bahuang's head.

Jiuyou watched from afar, not worried about Liu He. It knew how "powerful" its master was; his face, which blotted out the sky, was forever etched in its memory.

In its mind, Liu He was invincible.

Liu He then went to the miniature plant garden.

Because the miniature spiritual plant garden was located on the edge of the ant nest, more than ten feet away from the spiritual artifact cave, it was not affected and everything remained normal.

More than a dozen purple apple trees were laden with freshly ripened, mouthwatering purple apples.

Inside the Spirit Artifact Cave.

Liu He began refining the storage bag, only to find it wasn't so easy; the refining process was much slower than when he had refined the obsidian bead.

In terms of quality, the storage bag is at least a first-grade high-quality spiritual artifact, worth thousands of spirit stones.

Storage bags are typically used by late-stage Qi Refining cultivators and Foundation Establishment cultivators; very few mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators use them.

"It will take at least five days to completely refine this storage bag."

He made an estimate.

Around noon, Huang Shideng from the neighboring forest area came looking for him.

"Junior Brother Liu, have you seen Senior Brother Fu yet?"

Huang Shideng had just returned from gathering information outside and was searching for Marshal Fu everywhere.

"No, what's wrong?"

Liu He pretended not to know anything, but he was a little uneasy, worried that someone would find out about his affair with Fu Shuai.

Huang Shideng lowered his voice, raised his eyebrows, and had a gossipy look on his face: "Didn't the garden master arrest Steward Pang yesterday? I heard that Steward Pang colluded with people from the outer sect to line their own pockets, and quite a few people were involved."

I just heard from outside that several people tried to escape from the sect last night, but they were discovered. One of the inner disciples, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, resisted and was killed on the spot, while the others were captured.

I wonder if Senior Brother Fu is —

"What? Is Senior Brother Fu also involved?"

Liu He feigned surprise.

"Possibly. I don't know where he went. I hope nothing bad has happened to him."

Huang Shideng outwardly expressed concern for Commander Fu, but inwardly he secretly hoped that Commander Fu would die outside. He didn't care whether Commander Fu escaped from the sect or died, as long as he wasn't captured alive; he didn't want to be expelled from the sect.

In the following days, Liu He refined the storage bag while inquiring about various news.

He soon learned that the sect had investigated Pang Qing's matter thoroughly, uncovering the truth behind it all, and punished more than twenty inner and outer disciples in the Spirit Wood Garden.

Apart from a few individuals who were killed on the spot for resisting, the most severe punishments for the rest were having their cultivation abolished, their spirit stone resources confiscated, and being expelled from the sect.

At best, they would be fined two hundred spirit stones and expelled from the sect, but their cultivation would not be abolished.

It is worth mentioning that Pang Qing was not a descendant of the He family, a small Foundation Establishment family, as initially thought. Instead, he fell in love with a female Foundation Establishment cultivator from the He family and they became Daoist partners.

When the two first got together, the female cultivator was only at the Qi Refining stage.

With Pang Qing's help, the female cultivator from the He family broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage and had three children with Pang Qing.

In order to reclaim the sect property that Pang Qing had embezzled, Zheng Pingyu personally led a group to the He family to demand it, which inevitably led to a heated debate: the He family naturally denied it.

Under pressure from the powerful Qian Yuan Holy Sect, the He family had no choice but to hand over 20,000 spirit stones to quell the matter.

As for Commander Fu, whose whereabouts are unknown, the sect believes that he is too cunning and has fled in fear of punishment using extremely secretive means.

Therefore, the sect issued a wanted notice with a reward of 500 spirit stones for finding Fu Shuai.

This wanted notice and reward is more of a deterrent to the sect's disciples.

It is not uncommon for the Qian Yuan Holy Sect to issue wanted notices and bounties. Over the years, many people have escaped from the sect or offended it, and most of the bounties have failed to find the people.

Now Liu He was completely relieved, as no one connected Fu Shuai's disappearance with him.

No one could have imagined that Fu Shuai, a Qi Refining Stage 9 cultivator, would die silently and insignificantly, like an ant, in an ant nest in the Spirit Wood Garden.

Liu He wasn't the only one who was fortunate; Huang Shideng and Tan Linong were also among those who were fortunate.

Because of Fu Shuai's disappearance, it was impossible to trace them and allow them to escape and remain in the sect.

The ant nest is located in the magical artifact cave.

With Pang Qing's matter settled, Liu He could finally focus on refining the storage bag and taking stock of his gains.

A few days later, he successfully refined the storage bag.

"Finally, we can take stock of our harvest!"

He couldn't wait to send a wisp of spiritual energy, along with his divine soul, into the storage bag to check.

This is a low-level storage bag, with an interior space of about one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) square.

The spirit stone pouch containing spirit stones, the porcelain bottle containing spirit pills, and the unknown spirit wood box were all taken out of the storage bag by Liu He using spiritual energy.

"How many spirit stones are there?"

He opened his spirit stone pouch and counted the stones; there were a few mid-grade spirit stones, and the rest were ordinary spirit stones.

"Over 1,100 spirit stones, that doesn't seem like much."

It was less than Liu He had imagined. A thousand spirit stones was a huge sum for him, but he thought that Commander Fu, who followed Pang Qing, should have a lot of spirit stones.

This sum of over a thousand spirit stones was earned by Fu Shuai before he left, when he was driven by greed and extorted over eight hundred spirit stones from Tan Linong, Huang Shideng, and a few others. Otherwise, he would have had his savings of three hundred spirit stones.

"There are many empty porcelain bottles containing elixirs. The remaining elixirs are all ordinary elixirs that restore spiritual energy, and they are not worth much."

Elixirs that restore spiritual energy are the least valuable, costing only a few or a dozen spirit stones.

After taking stock, only the last unknown treasure remained: a box made of spirit willow wood, one foot long and half a foot wide.

These willow wood boxes are often used to store spiritual plant resources, which can seal in spiritual energy to reduce leakage and extend storage time.

Liu He opened the box and saw a small, exquisite Ganoderma lucidum inside.

The Ganoderma lucidum is about three inches tall, about the size of a palm, and its entire body is clear and smooth, with a hazy, gauze-like silvery-white moonlight halo that slowly flows with soft light.

The surface of the cap is not a solid color; it is covered with natural ring-shaped fine lines, layered and evenly spaced, like the rings of a tree formed by the accumulation of time.

Liu He only needed to smell a hint of coolness to feel calm and composed.

"What kind of treasure is this?"

His knowledge was limited, and he couldn't tell what kind of Ganoderma lucidum it was for a moment.

"Go to the Gongfa Pavilion to inquire."

The sect's cultivation method pavilion contains thousands of books; as long as it's not something extremely rare or unusual, you can find it in the cultivation method pavilion's books.

He was just about to travel back to reality when he realized something was wrong and left the storage bag inside the spirit artifact cave.

"I'm only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, so I don't need a storage bag. I'll just put it in the ant nest to avoid attracting attention."

he thought.

Then they were transported back to reality.

"Junior Brother Liu He~"

Liu He was on his way to the Kung Fu Pavilion on Wangyue Peak when he ran into another senior brother from the neighboring forest area: Li Zhi.

"A handyman disciple is looking for you outside Lingzhi Peak. He says his name is Ma Guanming and he's your friend."

Li Zhi returned from outside Lingzhi Peak on business and happened to run into someone looking for Liu He, so he came to deliver the message.

According to the rules of Lingzhi Peak, any non-disciple of Lingzhi Peak is considered an "outsider" and is not allowed to enter Lingzhi Peak without authorization.

Ma Guanming?

"Thank you, Senior Brother Li. I'll go right away."

Liu He thanked him and hurried to the outside of Lingzhi Peak, wondering why Ma Guanming wanted to see him.

When he was working as a handyman at the Waishan Forest Farm, he lived on Qixia Peak and was a neighbor of Ma Guanming.

He leaves early and returns late every day, and occasionally he runs into Ma Guanming and they chat for a few words. They are friends who see each other all the time.

Outside Lingzhi Peak, at the foot of the mountain.

Ma Guanming had been waiting here for a long time.

He waited here for most of the day in search of Liu He, and finally met Li Zhi, who was willing to pass on a message for him.

The senior brothers and sisters he had met before rejected him, partly because he was just a menial disciple, and partly because they didn't know Liu He and were too lazy to go to the Spirit Wood Garden to ask someone to pass on the message.

"Ma Guanming, you were looking for me?"

As the voice came, Ma Guanming saw Liu He float down in front of him from a distance.

He respectfully cupped his hands in greeting: "Senior Brother Liu, it's been a long time."

Seeing the mid-grade magic robe on Liu He's body, he thought to himself, "As expected, people who come to the Spirit Plant Peak improve their cultivation quickly; he's already at the fourth level of Qi Refining."

Unlike him, who was only at the third level of Qi Refining last year, with the fourth level of Qi Refining still a long way off.

He couldn't sense Liu He's cultivation level and assumed he was at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

"It's been three years since we last met. The last time was at Qixia Peak."

Liu He is on Lingzhi Peak, and Ma Guanming is on Fulu Peak. The two have no connection and therefore do not meet.

"Senior Brother Liu, it's me~~"

Ma Guanming stammered, unsure how to begin.

Before coming, he thought that he and Liu He had been neighbors for three years and would see each other all the time, so Liu He would probably not refuse a small favor.

Upon meeting, the sense of estrangement from not seeing each other for so long, as well as the difference in their status and cultivation, made it difficult for him to speak.

His talent was actually quite ordinary. The reason he was able to break through to the Qi Refining stage and become a formal handyman disciple so early was entirely because his family was very wealthy. He managed to buy two Meridian Opening Pills with a spirit stone for a thousand taels of silver.

After being promoted to a regular handyman, he discovered that his meager wealth was insignificant when it came to cultivating immortality.

Having lost his greatest asset, the drawback of his mediocre talent became apparent. Even among the menial disciples with inferior spiritual roots, his talent was unremarkable.

He also signed up for the Spirit Plant Peak selection three years ago, when he had just reached the second level of Qi Refining. Unsurprisingly, he failed to be selected.

Three years later, the selection process at Lingzhi Peak has begun again, and he, at the third level of Qi Refining, has a greater sense of hope.

"Just tell me what's wrong. I won't refuse to help if I can, and don't blame me if I can't."

Liu He spoke frankly, guessing that the other party had come to ask for help.

"I do need to help you a little, Senior Brother Liu."

The selection of miscellaneous disciples for Spirit Plant Peak is about to begin, isn't it? I've never been to Spirit Plant Peak before, and I've only seen pictures of many spirit plants or processed materials.

One of the selection criteria is identifying spiritual plants. Visiting the Spiritual Plant Peak beforehand might help me in the selection process.

"Senior Brother Liu, could you take me to see the Spirit Plant Peak?"

Without someone from inside Spirit Plant Peak to guide him, Ma Guanming cannot enter Spirit Plant Peak.

If someone leads you, you can enter and leave the Spirit Plant Peak.

What Ma Guanming asked for was indeed a small matter, something Liu He could easily do with a "touch."

For Ma Guanming, however, it was a major event concerning his future.

Not only him, but as the selection for the Spirit Plant Peak approached, many miscellaneous disciples sought out various schools to increase their chances of passing the selection as much as possible.

As the saying goes, cats have their own ways and mice have their own ways; it all depends on one's connections.

Even if Ma Shiming wanted to ask someone to give him a gift, he didn't know anyone. He only thought of Liu He, so he came to ask for a baptism.

"Selection of Spirit Plant Peaks —"

Liu He suddenly realized that it was indeed the Spirit Plant Peak selection, which was held once a year by the Three Masters.

This favor is nothing to mention; he can help. Fortunately, he plans to go to Talisman Peak to inquire about learning talisman drawing.

As he pondered his free time, Ma Shiming took out two spirit stones: "Master Liu, this is just a small token of my appreciation."

"What are you doing? Put it away."

Liu He frowned, feigning anger.

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