Cultivation Starting from Full Talent

Chapter 56: Chapter 55 Mantis Stalking the Cicada

Fire Spot Toad, a Second-stage Early-stage Demon Beast, had cultivation comparable to an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator of the Human Clan.@@novelbin@@

Unexpectedly, it could transform itself into a piece of Spiritual Medicine and used that guise as bait to hunt Human Clan Cultivators, truly a malicious creature!

Ning Daoran’s heart raced, aware that a Second-stage Fire Attribute Demon Core resided within the Fire Spot Toad—a treasure he had sought fruitlessly for years.

Now that he had encountered it, it was time to avenge the three fellow Daoists from the Purple Cloud Sect!

And conveniently harvest the materials from the Fire Spot Toad’s body.

He used the Wood Escape Technique inside the trumpet vine tendrils, releasing his Divine Sense to scan within a hundred feet radius, confirming that aside from himself and this Fire Spot Toad, no other life forms were present.

Time to strike!

Using a Returning to the True Level of Concealing Breath Technique, Invisibility Technique, and Sound Absorption Technique, he rapidly moved through the surrounding trees and vines silently with continuous escape movements.

In no time, Ning Daoran was less than ten feet away from the Fire Spot Toad, yet the beast remained completely unaware.

“Burp~~~”

The Fire Spot Toad, having devoured so much flesh and blood of Human Clan Cultivators, let out a satisfied burp, squinting its eyes as its body slowly shrank, transforming back into a shaking Sky Grass in the wind.

But Ning Daoran pulled an Azure Dragon Spear from his Storage Bag, fixing his gaze intently on the target. Though he saw the Sky Grass, his Divine Sense precisely revealed the figure and location of the Fire Spot Toad!

With a faint movement of his left hand, a thread of blood-colored silk vibrated intense.

Amid a piercing and suppressed sound, a Broken Porcelain piece shot directly towards the head of the Fire Spot Toad!

“Gua!”

The Fire Spot Toad cried out in surprise, involuntarily backing away.

However, at that very moment, Ning Daoran, like a falling leaf, silently descended from the wind, lunging directly towards the back of the Fire Spot Toad’s head!

His Azure Dragon Spear, wrapped in the remnants of a Silver Dragon, struck ruthlessly towards the top of the skull with the force of thousands of pounds.

Secret Skill: Silver Dragon Water Collection!

“Boom!”

A loud bang shattered the protective aura condensed with evil Qi above the Fire Spot Toad’s head, the power of the Azure Dragon Spear crushing the skull and opening a skylight above the creature.

“Gurgle…”

The Fire Spot Toad let out an agonized scream that did not travel far, completely absorbed and erased by the Returning to the True Level of Sound Absorption Technique.

Ning Daoran hovered in the air, aiming at the blood hole on top of the Fire Spot Toad’s head, his left hand lifting up, shooting out a fiery red Sword Point!

With the Eleventh Layer of Evergreen Technique as the foundation and the terrifying power of Samadhi True Fire, the Sword Point penetrated the Fire Spot Toad’s body in an instant, creating a large hole from the top of the head to the chin.

“Pupupu!”

He shot out six Shadowless Needles with a flick of his hand, each piercing through important veins where the Demon Qi flowed, followed by another stab with the spear!

The Fire Spot Toad immediately lost all vitality and was directly killed.

Ning Daoran moved like flowing water, first pulling a Second-stage Fire Attribute Demon Core into his hand, and then storing the whole body of the Fire Spot Toad into his Storage Bag.

A Second Order Demon Beast—a treasure wholly, to be meticulously dissected later.

“Swish!”

The moment he finished collecting, Ning Daoran cast a spell, his body immediately sinking into the ground as he used the Earth Escape Skill to leave the area.

Two hours later.

Ning Daoran slowly moved along a dark mountain range, carefully remaining invisible from start to finish to prevent other cultivators from discovering his trail.

Soon after, near an old and robust pine tree, a rich fragrance of medicine wafted through the air.

“Hmm?”

Ning Daoran furrowed his brows, finding a purple-red ginseng hidden beneath a few fiery-red maple leaves.

Suddenly, his mind buzzed blank, astounded to find it was Purple Blood Ginseng—exactly as described in the sect’s provided records, one of the three main ingredients in Foundation Establishment Pills!

Moreover, it was a Purple Blood Ginseng of at least five hundred years.

Purple Blood Ginseng, Earth Ganoderma, and Heart-focusing Grass; these three Spiritual Medicines only needed to be a hundred years old to be used in Foundation Establishment Pills, but five hundred-year-old Purple Blood Ginseng could greatly increase the chances of refining top-grade or even high-quality pills!

Coming across a main ingredient for Foundation Establishment Pills so quickly was beyond Ning Daoran’s expectations.

His heart raced with excitement, and his breathing grew difficult.

Something wasn’t right; it shouldn’t be this easy.

He frowned, still using the Wood Escape to hide within a dead vine about fifty meters from the Purple Blood Ginseng, dispersing his Divine Sense to explore the movements in the vicinity.

Moments later, he detected a presence under a pile of decaying leaves.

It was a Perfect Qi Refining Cultivator, lying in ambush without moving, like a hunter patiently waiting for his prey.

Had Ning Daoran not possessed Divine Sense in advance, it would have been impossible to detect this person.

“Such cunning…”

Ning Daoran felt a chill down his spine, relieved he had restrained his excitement earlier.

Just then, a voice came from afar.

“Sister, it’s right here…”

A female cultivator in a plain dress, holding a similar Jade Scroll-like Magic Artifact, approached, her eyes lighting up with joy the moment they landed on the Purple Blood Ginseng, “Look, it’s Purple Blood Ginseng, one of the three main medicines for Foundation Establishment Pills!”

“Sister, be careful.”

Her senior, an older woman who was also a Perfect Qi Refining Cultivator.

“Yes.”

The junior raised her hand, and a small red sword floated above her shoulder, its point defensively aimed around.

The senior pulled a protective talisman out of her sleeve, her phoenix eyes fixed ahead.

“Sister, be careful, dig out the Purple Blood Ginseng entirely, don’t damage the roots, we do not want to impair its medicinal properties.”

“Understood, Senior Sister.”

Just then, a streak of blood-red light flashed through the decaying leaves, piercing the heart of the junior sister. Blood spurted from her back as she fell dead on the spot.

“Junior Sister!”

The senior sister screamed in shock, hastily ignited a talisman, and a yellow spirit light enveloped her body.

But a second streak of blood-red light swept by, “pfft,” it pierced through the senior sister’s throat with such force that it carried her body off the ground, like a drifting fallen leaf.

“…”

Ning Daoran remained silent, watching the two sisters fall.

There was nothing he could do; it’s better not to interfere in these situations, especially since it wasn’t the best time to act.

The person hidden in the shadows was very powerful, his blood-colored flying arrow magic artifact capable of piercing even the protective spirit light of a first-tier mid-grade talisman. If he were to make a move, he would need to find an opportunity for a fatal blow.

…

After the tragic deaths of the Star Moon Pavilion sisters, that man didn’t come out to loot the bodies.

He still hid under the leaves, motionless.

Ning Daoran frowned slightly, such patience, this person was truly troublesome!

Not long after, footsteps approached again.

This time, a man dressed in the Purple Cloud Sect disciple uniform, a middle-aged man, at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, extremely cautious.

“Hmm?”

He quickly dropped down after smelling the scent of blood, then used some technique to conceal his breath, which became very faint, and then cast a spell that made his body blend into the surroundings.

He had actually perfected the invisibility technique!

Ning Daoran shivered slightly, thinking to himself that he was not alone in this…

The man slowly moved forward, taking a long time for each step, first reaching the bodies of the two female cultivators to loot them.

His gaze towards the senior sister was fervent, and it became even more intense when he looked at the Purple Blood Ginseng.

He moved forward silently, merging as much as possible with the natural surroundings.

But he couldn’t hide from the hunter’s gaze.

“Whoosh!”

A blood-colored arrow shot through the air!

“Who?!”

The Purple Cloud Sect male disciple panicked, quickly trying to defend himself, but it was too late.

A blood-colored arrowhead shot through his forehead, penetrating his entire skull, and blood spattered on the ground behind him.

In the bushes, the Perfect Qi Refining expert remained unseen.

Ning Daoran wasn’t in a hurry; he also stayed out of sight to see who could outlast whom.

Some time passed.

Footsteps approached from afar, and the figures of two Steel Gate Sect disciples appeared.

It was a pair of Qi Refinement ninth level brothers.

“Purple Blood Ginseng!”

The elder brother immediately recognized the old ginseng under the tree!

“Brother, be careful, someone has been killed nearby, and there’s likely a guardian beast around.”

“Exactly!”

The elder brother frowned, “We can leave the Purple Blood Ginseng, but those people’s storage bags… Junior brother, perhaps we can just take the storage bags and not provoke the guardian beast.”

As he spoke, the elder brother pulled a magic artifact rope from his storage bag, threw it far away, and then took out a jade flute, starting to play it.

As he played, the rope lifted like a snake and slithered away, swiftly collecting the three storage bags from the body of the Purple Cloud Sect disciple before returning to its owner.

“Got them!”

The elder brother grabbed the storage bags, stashed the rope and jade flute back into his chest.

“Junior Brother, let’s leave!”

The two turned into afterimages and disappeared with the wind.

…

‘Damn…’

Ning Daoran was stunned, the people of Steel Gate Sect really had no sense of honor?

“Tsk…”

In the leaves, the figure also couldn’t hold back and suddenly rose, brushing off the leaves on his body, revealing the appearance of a sinister young man dressed in the attire of a Devouring Soul Sect true disciple.

A man from the Demon Path, no wonder.

“Trash from Steel Gate Sect, don’t fall into my hands, or I’ll leave you with no corpse to speak of!”

He spat out saliva, seemingly tired of this game, and directly headed towards the Purple Blood Ginseng.

“Thud!”

Unexpectedly, just three steps out, his body shook, a blood-red silk line flashed across his neck, and instantly his head rolled off his body.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

From beginning to end, this person, believing he was in control of everything, never noticed Ning Daoran’s presence.

After waiting for thirty minutes to ensure no other orioles were around, Ning Daoran immediately used the Earth Escape Techn管理,effortlessly looting the Devouring Soul Sect disciples’ storage bags and magic artifacts, and the Purple Blood Ginseng too, gathering everything in one swoop.

Then he used the Wood Escape Technique and left the ominous place.

In his hand, he now held a blood-colored sleeve arrow, freshly taken from the Devouring Soul Sect disciple, a first-tier top-grade magic artifact, similar in grade to the Shadowless Needle and broken porcelain, invisible in killing, a true treasure.

Thus, underground, Ning Daoran immediately refined the sleeve arrows, quickly converting them into his own combat power.