ATPnovel Chapter 135 Harvest
Chapter 135 Harvest
The scorpion emerged silently.
The giant blue stomped down, crushing it to pieces, its carapace making a sound like metal breaking.
"The Iron Needle Scorpion, a demonic beast, has an iron-like shell, a powerful tail stinger that shoots like a short crossbow, and a venom sac in its rear that can be used in medicine. It is an excellent material for breaking through to the Golden Marrow Realm."
"It likes to gnaw on exotic plants; we must have stumbled upon its lair!"
"Oh no, these things live in groups!" Ji Jinliang was just identifying the materials when he suddenly remembered their gregarious nature, and his expression changed drastically.
Swish!
The ground around them collapsed, and iron needle scorpions emerged from the ground, numbering around a hundred.
The big green scorpion was extremely ferocious. It leaped high and stomped with all four hooves, each step producing a crisp crack. Its hooves shimmered with a purple light, and the iron needle scorpion's carapace was as thin as paper.
However, the iron-needle scorpion swarms operate in groups, raising their tails and shaking their buttocks.
A sharp hissing sound rang out.
A hundred or so poisoned needles were shot at the two men and their two riders.
"You guard the front, I'll guard the rear!"
As Yang Silang blew his sharp bone whistle, he hurriedly gave an order.
He dismounted and wielded his spear with such force that it was impenetrable; Ji Jinliang also protected his own escort horse behind him, using a whistling stick that was thin at the front and thick at the back, with markings on it, which made a whistling sound when swung and created an iron curtain.
As for the iron needle scorpions crawling out from the ground beneath the feet of the two mounts, Da Qing naturally dealt with them. The dart horse was already trembling with fear and could barely stand. Fortunately, it hadn't gone mad and fled, adding to the chaos.
However, he did not expect that the Iron Needle Scorpion's venom sac contained more than one needle. It shot round after round, and Yang Silang tried to counterattack several times but could not find a good opportunity.
On the mountaintop.
Upon noticing the disturbance, Pei Buqi immediately blew his bone whistle and pointed the red ribbon tied to his serrated knife in this direction.
The others rode up on their horses.
Everyone worked together to surround the swarm of iron needle scorpions and clear them out from the outside.
Su Zhixiu, the young lady of the merchant guild, suddenly had a repeating crossbow in her hand. With a series of "poof poof poof poof," fine needles shot out from it like a torrential downpour, instantly killing a large number of iron needle scorpions.
Zhu Hecheng flipped his belt over, revealing neatly inserted knives, arrows, needles, and other weapons. He swung his hands rapidly, leaving afterimages in the air as if he had grown eight arms, and launched various hidden weapons. He was actually a master of hidden weapons.
The two were the most prominent, while Pei Buqi, Zhuang Sheng, and Bai Lang served as reinforcements, each wielding a long weapon.
Thus, even with the forces of both inside and outside, it took quite some time to drive back the group of iron needle scorpions. These demonic beasts were not fearless; seeing that they could not win, the rest burrowed back underground and fled.
When they retreated, the green grass was stained with scarlet blood, and the ground was covered with one-inch-long iron needles that they had shot out. The iron needle scorpions were dead in droves, their corpses lying on the spot.
Yang Silang swiped the gun behind his back, and it clanged.
Several needles immediately fell from the armor.
He could protect the front, but there were times when he couldn't cover the sides and rear. He was hit by several needles, some of which almost pierced through his armor plates, showing how dangerous the iron-needle scorpion was.
Turning my head, I saw that Daqing was standing there unharmed, and had even opened its mouth to start eating voraciously, swallowing several iron needle scorpion corpses, seemingly unafraid of the toxins on the creatures.
Yang Silang saw that there were more than a dozen needles hanging on its body, and when he flicked them with his gun, they fell to the ground. Peeling back the fur, he saw that a layer of dense scales on its skin was gradually disappearing.
Those poison needles just now didn't even penetrate its skin. I don't know if it's a talent it already had, or if it evolved after using the Repair Source.
at the same time.
Ji Jinliang squatted in front of his escort horse with a gloomy expression.
The horse was lying down; five thin needles had somehow been inserted into its rump, causing purple blood to flow. Its body was twitching, it was foaming at the mouth, and its large eyes had become lifeless and vacant. It was clearly beyond saving.
Pei Zhuangbai, Zhu Su, and the others arrived late and were not attacked by the Iron Needle Scorpions; their mounts, on the contrary, were unharmed.
"This secret realm is indeed dangerous." Pei Buqi patted Ji Jinliang on the shoulder, seemingly to comfort him, but his next words only made Ji Jinliang more depressed.
"Brother Ji, you don't even have a packhorse anymore."
"You can only get 60%!"
"Of course, if you can catch a mount in the secret realm that won't fall behind, then we'll still split it equally."
The weighing and measuring made him want to cry, but he had no way of knowing whether he had the ability or the luck to do so.
The crowd, without bothering to comfort him, worked together to collect the corpses and venom sacs of the iron-needle scorpions, as well as the poisonous needles scattered on the ground. The iron-needle scorpion corpses were of poor quality and were discarded on the ground.
Daqing took the opportunity to feast and eat extra food, crunching each bite.
After finishing, the group spent another half hour searching the hillside, finding many good things, and the pack bags on both sides of each person's saddle were bulging.
Daqing carried two pack bags and had an extra weight on his saddle, yet he still galloped like the wind, running happily among the troops.
Seeing this, Pei Buqi simply discussed it with everyone and decided that if Daqing could persevere to the end, then the remaining 40% would go to Yang Silang.
The group continued south, and by nightfall they had traveled a hundred miles. It wasn't a long distance, but that was because exploring and mapping the terrain, collecting supplies, and defeating two groups of monsters had taken up their time.
At night.
Having passed the oasis, they re-entered the Gobi Desert. The group chose a sheltered spot on a weathered boulder to set up camp, lit a campfire, herded the horses together, sprinkled medicinal powder around the area, and implemented various small precautions.
After everyone tallied their harvest, smiles appeared on their tired faces.
The most precious item is, of course, the venom sac of the Iron Needle Scorpion. A hundred or so venom sacs can yield more than a pound of venomous oil, which is essential for a Mercury Blood Grandmaster attempting to break through to the Golden Marrow Realm.
Additionally, you have received a new chapter update: Chapter 134, "Harvest," here's the reading link. Zhuang Sheng Bailang found a piece of five-hundred-year-old lightning-struck wood. This wood is as solid as steel, and is primarily suitable for Daoist cultivators to forge magical artifacts, such as a perfect place for a powerful being in the Manipulation Realm to store their soul.
The other gains were countless.
Overall, losing one horse is still acceptable.
Of course, if there is a stable water source, bringing extra horses is also a strategy. However, there are not many water sources in this secret realm, and some are even poisonous, so everyone chose to ride one horse per person.
The group immediately tallied up their respective shares. Since the lightning-struck wood was worthless once it was cut open, Pei Buqi was put in charge of keeping it for the time being.
Everyone happily munched on the specially made dry food dumplings and drank the water from the leather pouches. This was a spiritual spring provided by the aristocratic family; a small sip could quench their thirst and quickly restore their vital energy and true qi.
Only the weighing and balancing of goods caused him distress, his heart aching as if being gnawed by rats.
As for Yang Silang, he happily closed his eyes to settle the matter.
The size of the grid in his inscription system increased again, reaching the size of a dan (a unit of weight). This was the effect of killing these iron needle scorpions with demon blood. What if he actually killed two great demons?
Other rewards are to be shared equally with teammates, but this grid is what truly belongs to you.
Pei Buqi then made another suggestion.
"Brother Yang, I find your blue donkey to be extraordinary. Even with an extra person on board, it ran all day without showing any signs of fatigue."
"How about this: if you can carry Brother Ji down from beginning to end, all the shares he allocated will be yours."
"Something went wrong along the way, and Brother Ji ended up riding with someone else. In the end, we'll definitely give you a bigger discount when we settle the bill."
"Does anyone have any objections?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, and Yang Silang did not object.
Anyway, since it's Daqing who's doing all the hard work, his master will reap the rewards. Not only will he get an extra 40% share, but with the treasure-hunting rat on his shoulder to weigh the goods, his harvest will be even more substantial.
Today on the hillside, some treasures are quite hidden. For example, the broken star iron ore only has a small tip showing on the ground. If it weren't for the squeaking of the treasure-hunting rats, he wouldn't believe that he could find it by weight.
Ji Jinliang heard the decision made by everyone and was powerless to overturn it. He looked pitifully at Yang Silang, but Yang Silang turned his head away and pretended not to see him.
Dude, who told you not to pick a good horse but you still came over here?
You can ride the big green horse freely, but you can't skimp on the riding silver.
Nothing happened that night.
The group set off again the next day.
However, I'm not having much luck today.
Before they had gone far, they encountered two streams of demonic energy soaring into the sky.
Climb to a high place and look out.
There stood a massive two-headed camel with more than ten humps, over three zhang tall, confronting a huge, red snake as thick as a water bucket, with sharp horns on its head and long fangs in its mouth.
The two demons were several dozen feet apart, with a small, jade-colored tree no more than three feet tall between them, on which hung a bright yellow fruit that emitted a strange fragrance.
The demonic aura emanating from the heads of the two demons condensed into cloud-like shapes, remaining stagnant and unyielding.
Moreover, these two demons clearly possessed spiritual power, as they could speak human language. It seems that this secret realm has been connected to the human world more than once, and that humans have visited it before.
"Old camel, I found this yellow jade fruit first, it's rightfully mine!"
"Bullshit, you old poisoner, I was the one who found this treasure first."
"If we stand our ground, we might just be letting others take advantage of us. You know, outsiders have recently come to the secret realm. How about we split it 50/50?"
"Hmph, if people don't bother me, I'll be eating them! Who dares to steal my things?" The camel's face was fierce as it turned its head to look at Pei Buqi and his group from afar.
Pei Buqi and the others were about a hundred feet away, but they could hear the two demons' booming voices clearly, like thunder. They were so frightened that they spurred their horses and turned to flee.
Yang Silang felt his crotch trembling, and he knew that these two demons had become powerful and were not to be trifled with.
The group fled for several miles in one breath, and only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the two demons guarding the yellow jade fruit had not caught up with them.
"Brother Ji, what is the Yellow Jade Fruit?" Yang Silang asked.
He said he didn't know how to calculate the weight and couldn't answer.
However, it was Su Zhixiu, the eldest daughter of the Sanjiang Chamber of Commerce, who hesitated.
"It seems that the Yellow Jade Fruit is a supreme treasure for demons, capable of helping them return to their ancestral origins and enhance their bloodline."
"It is also a rare treasure for the human race. It is said to be a natural elixir. Dao cultivators can place it into their Niwan Palace and spend several years refining it, allowing it to grow and strengthen their soul day and night, enough to support them until they break through to the True Person Realm."
Everyone was drooling with envy, but since the Yellow Jade Fruit was being fought over by two great demons, they would only be left to fend for themselves if they went there, so naturally they wouldn't go back.
It seems that even if there really are rare and precious treasures, they have already been targeted, making it difficult to find such a great bargain.
A river inexplicably appeared in front of us in the Gobi Desert, blocking our path.
The river stretched endlessly, about a mile wide. The key feature was its deep, murky yellow water, upon which floated many withered bones, some no smaller than the camels and venomous snakes we had just seen.
There was a lingering miasma on the river, and occasionally fish would emerge from the water, their heads sharp and teeth gleaming, their colors vibrant and menacing.
Even Bai Lang, the most skilled swimmer, dared not go into the water.
Zhuang Sheng, who was the strongest, lifted a huge rock and threw it far away. It sank into the river with a thud, and there was no echo. He didn't know how deep the river was.
The group gathered together to discuss the matter. There were trees nearby, which they could cut down to make a boat, and they had enough ropes and nails. However, no one could guarantee that there might be any powerful monsters in the river.
If the boat capsizes midway, everyone will suffer the consequences.
After discussing it, they decided to swim downstream along the riverbank, hoping to find a place to cross the river.