Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Chapter 704: Chapter 704: Treasure Hunting on Manglong Mountain (Part 2)

Hu Jiao’s refusal was so adamant that it seemed as though the item in front of her was a bomb not to be touched.

Wang Chen found this somewhat amusing yet frustrating.

He didn’t insist, and after thinking it over, he took out a bead from his Qiankun Ring and handed it to her, “Then take this as a gift from me; you can at least accept this, right?”

What Wang Chen took out was an Utmost Yin Bead.

It was the last bead of Utmost quality he owned, having used most of the others to refine Pure Yang Pearls for his body strengthening.

“A Spirit Pure Treasure Bead?”

...

Hu Jiao’s eyes lit up immediately, “How do you have such a thing?”

Wang Chen smiled and replied, “Got it a while ago.”

Seeing her genuinely tempted, Wang Chen decisively grabbed the fox monster’s hand and stuffed the bead into her palm.

What Wang Chen didn’t expect was that Hu Jiao’s hand, seemingly rough, was actually as soft as if boneless, and the skin was extremely delicate!

Hu Jiao was caught off guard and froze for a moment before regaining her senses.

She quickly withdrew her hand, a faint blush spreading across her face.

Wang Chen nonchalantly let go of her hand.

Indeed, she was just a fledgling.

He had long sensed something amiss about Hu Jiao, and now his suspicions were confirmed.

It should be said that the fox monster’s ability to disguise herself was very strong; Wang Chen hadn’t harbored any suspicions at first.

And this was normal, after all, when coming out for experience or adventure, being male or a male of any species generally made things a lot easier.

Wang Chen had no interest in probing into Hu Jiao’s secrets, dismissing the moment of embarrassment with a smile.

Hu Jiao, realizing she might have exposed her secret, looked down silently, fiddling with the Utmost Yin Bead in her hands.

Wang Chen, not good at small talk, decided to focus on the spoils of their conquest instead.

He collected all the Spiritual Artifacts into a Storage Bag, then began to check the seized Storage Bags one by one.

If there were any restrictions, he would forcibly break them, or if that failed, he would destroy them with brute force!

Although there were quite a few Storage Bags, the contents were disappointingly mediocre. It seemed these Purple Mansion Loose Cultivators had poured most of their resources into their equipment and Qi Cultivation, their combined savings not even amounting to a million Spirit Stones.

What a bunch of paupers!

Wang Chen muttered to himself.

As for the two or three dozen Spiritual Artifacts, he suspected they wouldn’t fetch much if he tried to sell them.

Not a single Magical Treasure in sight!

Wang Chen also understood that Magical Treasures were rare among the Purple Mansion, and even rarer among Loose Cultivators. Not seizing any Magical Treasures was normal; seizing one would have been unexpected.

Remembering how he had obtained the Thousand Mechanisms Changing and the Heaven-Ensnaring Punisher Net from two Qi Cultivation cultivators in the past, he now found it incredibly unbelievable—it was a stroke of enormous luck!

After tallying up the spoils, Wang Chen coughed lightly and asked, “Daoist Hu, do you know where Worship the Moon Peak is?”

Because of his recent actions, the relationship between him and Hu Jiao had become somewhat awkward. To break the tension and avoid continuing the discomfort, he had to find a topic to discuss.

“Worship the Moon Peak?”

After thinking a bit, Hu Jiao asked in return, “Are you talking about Monkey Worshiping Moon Peak?”

Monkey Worshiping Moon Peak?

Wang Chen suddenly recalled the records in that book, and eagerly nodded, “Exactly that!”

“I know of it,”

Hu Jiao responded with a charming smile, revealing a dimple on her left cheek.

Only with her wearing the face of a handsome man, this looked particularly incongruous!

“Monkey Worshiping Moon Peak is about five hundred miles from here,”

Hu Jiao said seriously, “If you want to go, I can take you there.”

“Thank you, fellow Daoist!”

Wang Chen said with delight, clasping his fists in thanks: “I appreciate your trouble.”

The Manglong Mountain range stretched for hundreds of thousands of miles, and who knew how many peaks there were. Although according to records, the Worship the Moon Peak that Wang Chen was looking for shouldn’t be too far, without a specific location, finding the target was undoubtedly very difficult and bothersome.

Fortunately, the book had a detailed description of this peak, including a mention of “Monkey.”

That matched exactly what Hu Jiao had said!

“It’s nothing.”

Hu Jiao asked curiously, “What are you doing at Monkey Worshiping Moon Peak? It’s not a Cave Heaven and Blessed Land, and there aren’t any Spiritual Medicines or Spiritual Materials to pick.”

In the Manglong Mountain region, many places had been explored multiple times by human Cultivators and the Monster Race. To avoid letting the other side benefit, any resource that could be utilized was never easily overlooked!

The situation at Monkey Worshiping Moon Peak was almost the same.

There were neither Monster Beasts nor members of the Monster Race entrenched there.

Wang Chen pondered for a moment, then said, “Do you know about Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng?”

“How could I not know about Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng!”

Hu Jiao couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Wang Chen: “Don’t tell me you’re saying that there is Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng growing on Monkey Worshiping Moon Peak, unpicked by anyone, just waiting for you to dig it up!”

As she spoke, she burst into laughter, probably because she found the idea too preposterous!

“I’m not certain whether the Worship the Moon Peak has Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng…”

Wang Chen calmly explained: “But I am sure that there is a clue to Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng there.”

“You sure dare to claim!”

Hu Jiao obviously didn’t believe him and wrinkled her nose as she said, “That is Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng, an essential treasure for refining top-tier Golden Cores, I’ve only seen up to five leaves before.”

Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng is a general term for a kind of Spiritual Material, and in fact, it is distinguished by the number of leaves it has, such as One-leaf Mysterious Ginseng, Two-leaf Mysterious Ginseng, and so on.

Merely as a Solidifying Pill material, even Two-leaf Mysterious Ginseng can make do.

But for anything above third-tier, there’s no need to even think about it!

For Hu Jiao to have seen Five-leaf Mysterious Ginseng was already quite remarkable.

“I know…”

Wang Chen sighed, “But if I don’t go and have a look, I won’t have peace of mind.”

Many things can be settled haphazardly, but when it comes to his own Condensing Core Treasure, Wang Chen would definitely not make do with just anything!

One wrong step, and he might have to pay a price tenfold or even a hundredfold in the future to make up for it.

“Then I’ll accompany you!”

Hu Jiao said straightforwardly, “I also have a task to find Condensing Pill materials while I’m out gaining experience. If you really find the Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng, I’ll pay you in Spirit Stones for a share!”

Wang Chen agreed without hesitation: “Alright.”

The two shared a smile, and any previous awkwardness had vanished.

Long nights must eventually pass.

When the sky outside began to brighten, Wang Chen and Hu Jiao flew towards Monkey Worshiping Moon Peak together with Sword Control.

For high-tier Cultivators, distance was hardly a problem anymore.

It was merely a matter of speed.

With both Wang Chen and Hu Jiao’s high Cultivation Levels, they drove their True Qi without stinginess, so they arrived at their destination in just over half a two-hour period.

Monkey Worshiping Moon Peak was quite unique, standing isolated among the mountains, a solitary peak piercing the heavens, covered with various ancient cypresses, pines, and oaks and so on.

And on the side of the mountain lay a huge “Monkey,” kneeling on the ground as if in earnest prayer.

In truth, this “Monkey” was merely a large rock eroded by the wind, but it looked so remarkably lifelike, as if crafted by the natural wonders of a divine artisan!

———

The second update is here.