Chapter 54, Spirit Root Test and White Snake’s Alchemy

Translator: Tamon

 

“May I also have a name?” The wolf king asked.

 

“You can take mine, Hei Ergou.” Hei Huang butted in.(Tamon: ergou litteraly means second dog. Used in a teasing way to say you’re second, or sometimes as an insult.)

 

“Isn’t calling someone a dog a curse? I’m a wolf!” The wolf king didn’t fall for it.

 

“Awo!” Hei Huang snapped his jaws shut around the wolf king’s thigh, making him squeal.

 

Xu Hei was speechless.

 

The wolf king ended up agreeing with his unconventional name.

 

Named, yes, but Ergou found himself demeaned from being stuck with a name he didn’t want.

 

But looking at his black and white fur, he did resemble a dog.

 

Next came the sharing of booty.

 

Xu Hei opened the first two storage bags with ease, belonging to the two inner disciples. The items inside were mediocre and bland.

 

Most were demon parts and inner cores.

 

“Go ahead, take anything you want,” Xu Hei said.

 

He was in the late Awareness Stage, making these low-grade items useless. Ergou and Xu Bai were happy to do it.

 

Then came the main event, Ye Haichuan’s storage bag, which Xu Hei had its Divine Sense mark removed since three days ago.

 

In a gaudy light, a dozen treasures spilled on the ground.

 

Among them were three hundred spirit stones, two pill vials, three talismans, and many jade slips.

 

The two flying swords, a soul flag, and pill furnace were Foundation Establishment Stage spiritual treasures.

 

As for the herbs, materials, and ores, they piled high.

 

There was also a conspicuous crystal ball.

 

“Is that it?”

 

Xu Hei was let down, thinking a Foundation Establishment cultivator had to be carrying a whole treasury filled with glittering mountains of magic treasures.

 

[It’s less than Zhao Yiduo’s thousand spirit stones.]

 

“His type of penniless geezers only get poorer as they dump all their fortunes into trying to pass the wall in their cultivation. Only clan scions have tons of money,” Hei Huang spoke.

 

Xu Hei wasn’t too disappointed as he picked up a flying sword, the soul flag, all the jade slips, and half of the pills and talismans, leaving the rest to Hei Huang.

 

The dog grabbed the crystal ball with a smile. “This is used to test spirit roots. Who’s first?”

 

Ergou jumped over. “Me, me!”

 

Xu Hei was also excited.

 

He watched Ergou’s paw on the crystal ball supply it with Spiritual Energy. The energy inside unravel until the crystal ball shone three colors.

 

Hei Huang shook his head. “Metal, fire, and water. Mixed spirit roots and poor talent.”

 

Ergou stepped back in dejection.

 

Xu Bai approached with interest. The crystal ball released a bright green light that covered the entire cave in it.

 

“What…” Hei Huang gasped.

 

Xu Hei stared hard. From what he knew, a single color meant genius level.

 

“Single attribute, top wood spirit roots!”

 

Hei Huang was in awe. “You can only find one such genius within five thousand kilometers in the human society. Every sect would fight over them. It explains her incredible sense of smell.”

 

Xu Bai had no idea what all that meant, shrinking back from the light explosion.

 

Xu Hei took out some wooden magical art jade slips to give them to her and train.

 

Hei Huang gave him a knowing smile. “Wood spirit root would make her an outstanding beauty among humans. Flawless and enchanting. If she could transform, I wonder how many men would buzz around her.”

 

Xu Hei was silent.

 

He went forward to test his own roots.

 

The crystal ball shone in five colors at once, beginning with yellow and following with scarlet, blue, gold, purple…

 

“Mixed spirit roots? Six, seven attributes?” Hei Huang was stunned.

 

[It makes no sense. How can Xu Hei train so fast then?]

 

The multicolored light grew brighter and brighter, even blinding. The most eye-catching was earth’s yellow.

 

The crystal ball was overwhelmed, causing cracks to spread across its surface.

 

Xu Hei withdrew his Spiritual Energy and the ball fell silent.

 

“What’s going on?” Xu Hei asked with shock.

 

Hei Huang pondered. “You have many spirit roots, that’s a certainty, but they’re all so high. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

 

Anyone knew that the more spirit roots one had, the worse their talent.

 

But Xu Hei had both many and in high-quality.

 

Especially that earth one, at a level he couldn’t even begin to describe it.

 

This was madness!

 

[That’s how Xu Hei picked up any magical art the moment he learned it. Their strength wasn’t minor either. It’s because he has all spirit roots and at amazing quality.]

 

Xu Hei didn’t dwell on the reading, focusing on earth magical arts since it was his best spirit root.

 

When the demons left, Hei Huang placed his paw on the ball. The crystal ball shone a murky black, like a bottomless abyss. He took his paw back.

 

“Time to pay the Shifting Mountain Sect a visit.” Hei Huang’s eyes glinted evilly.

 

…

 

Xu Hei was outside the valley, with brown earth around him and scanning a jade slip with his Divine Sense.

 

“Sixteen earth magical arts in total.

 

“What I need right now are Earth Armor and Earth Spike. With one for defense and the other for offense, even if I can’t defeat the next Foundation Establishment cultivator, I can at least escape.”

 

The two magical arts were top-notch for the Qi Refining Stage, having seen fairly good use among Foundation Establishment cultivators as well.

 

With Xu Hei’s top earth spirit root, he’d become much stronger.

 

“Earth Armor!”

 

A tan layer of light appeared over his body, giving him the appearance of a rock as it left not an inch uncovered.

 

The glow faded the next second.

 

Xu Hei eased a breath, gratified it worked on the first try. He really was the best in the earth element.

 

Over the next days, Xu Hei used his breathing exercise inside the cave during the daytime while practicing his earth magical arts outside in the evening.

 

He breezed through the arts like they were nothing, being competent in using them and showcasing a power his other arts could never reach.

 

Only his cultivation remained the same.

 

The Yang Sand no longer worked on him, as did Qi Pills. He ran out of high demon meat as well.

 

Demon meat was easy to solve, but the real issue was pills.

 

“I have the spirit stones but lack the pills. Most pills no longer work on me due to having a high cultivation and for having built resistance to them.

 

“Only the Qi Refining Stage’s top pill, the Minor Boost Pill, would have some effect.” Xu Hei pondered.

 

He had found half a vial of Minor Boost Pill in Ye Haichuan’s storage bag that boosted his Spiritual Energy by a third.

 

Other than that, Ye Haichuan had another vial of Major Boost Pill, but that was for a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s consumption. Xu Hei tried taking one, only to be on the verge of exploding. No further attempts were made.

 

“I have plenty of ingredients to make the Minor Boost Pill, as well as the Snake Fruit Tree, but I don’t know alchemy.” Xiao Hei frowned.

 

Alchemy was one of the cultivators’ six professions. Any attempt at learning one would mean squandering fortunes.

 

Xu Hei learned the puppet art and didn’t feel like dabbing into alchemy. Besides, his wood spirit root wasn’t high and might not have the talent for it.

 

Then it hit him. [Wood spirit root?]

 

“Doesn’t Xu Bai have it? It’s also the only one and at the top level!”

 

Xu Hei’s eyes widened.

 

Upon more careful consideration, Xu Bai was an alchemy genius, practically born for it! [Why didn’t I see it sooner?]

 

It just so happened that Xu Hei also had a high-grade furnace he could give her.

 

Xu Hei held the furnace and ran to Xu Bai inside the cave.

 

He found her tinkering with the herbs, forming pills from them in her mortar.

 

Of the haul, she took most of the herbs and spiritual plants.

 

“Xu Hei!”

 

Xu Bai perked up and rushed to him.

 

“Are you practicing alchemy?”

 

Xu Hei looked at the pill inside the mortar with a stunned face.

 

[What kind of alchemy skill is this? Novel alchemy?]

 

“Yeah, I have a top wood spirit root, the best for alchemy. I asked Ergou to help me with testing the results, and he was happy to help.” Xu Bai beamed.

 

Xu Hei now noticed Hei Ergou’s presence.

 

But the wolf had a bleak face, blank eyes, and was stiff as a board. What made it creepy was the faint chuckle.

 

“Ergou, are my pills amazing?” Xu Bai asked him.

 

Ergou’s chuckle went on, drooling all the while.

 

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