As Xiao Fei walked out of the gates of Star Moon City alone, a loafer sitting by the city gate picking his toes immediately dashed towards Ling Quan Mountain Villa.
The loafer knocked on the door of the Lin family manor. Upon seeing Lin Da Gou emerge, the loafer hurried forward and whispered a few words into his ear.
"Got it. This is for you."
Lin Da Gou casually handed the loafer a large gold ingot.
Cultivators disdained gold and silver, these worldly possessions. But for the mortals in the city, this was already a considerable income.
The loafer kissed the gold ingot and then excitedly descended the mountain.
...
Star Moon City was located at the convergence of a spiritual脉, with relatively dense spiritual energy in the surrounding areas.
In places with dense spiritual energy, various spiritual items were prone to appear, including spiritual ores, spiritual herbs, and spiritual fruits. Simultaneously, demon beasts would also emerge.
Demon beasts were similar to human cultivators. They were a part of the animal kingdom that absorbed spiritual energy, causing their bodies to mutate and thus gain formidable strength.
Some families had demon beast parents, and their offspring were born as second or third-generation demon beasts. This trait could be passed down through bloodlines, forming demon beast clans.
However, demon beasts generally had a flaw: they lacked sentience. Before awakening their sentience, their intelligence was not much better than that of ordinary wild beasts.
For a demon beast to awaken its sentience and possess intelligence comparable to humans was a very difficult matter.
Lion Peak Ridge, outside Star Moon City, was rich in spiritual medicines. The three spiritual medicines required for refining Qi Gathering Pills—Spirit Gathering Grass, Thousand Gold Flower, and Red Veined Yellow Ginseng—could all be found on Lion Peak Ridge.
At the same time, the various spiritual items on Lion Peak Ridge were also the favorite food of demon beasts. A large number of demon beasts gathered on Lion Peak Ridge daily to forage.
After two days of arduous travel, Xiao Fei finally reached the foot of Lion Peak Ridge.
This was his first time venturing far from home. Fearing encounters with bandits or treasure-snatching cultivators, he moved as cautiously as a mouse, constantly looking around.
He was currently wearing a blue robe, the first finished product from Huang Fei Fei since she began learning to make robes, custom-made for Xiao Fei.
The fabric used for the robe was interwoven with threads containing spiritual essence. Various formations were then embroidered onto the robe through techniques like embroidery.
Depending on the formation, the robe could serve different functions.
For instance, some robes made people look more handsome and younger, while others could ward off dust and repel water and fire.
However, all robes shared a common basic function: to block divine sense.
Without a robe, a person was no different from being naked under a cultivator's divine sense; every hair would be seen clearly.
Except for a few exhibitionists, this feeling was quite uncomfortable.
Although probing others with divine sense was impolite and taboo, there were many impolite people in this world.
Besides blocking divine sense, Xiao Fei's robe also provided protection against cold and heat, and repelled dust.
Beneath this robe, he wore a layer of thin, close-fitting armor.
He had previously tricked and killed a demon beast and a large green snake on Black Stone Mountain.
He had kept the hides of both creatures. This time, he found a refining workshop and had both hides processed together to create a set of personal soft armor.
The refining of this set of soft armor alone cost dozens of spirit stones for the craftsman's labor.
Wearing this soft armor underneath significantly increased Xiao Fei's sense of security.
Gazing at the undulating mountains of Lion Peak Ridge ahead, Xiao Fei tightened his soft armor and walked in.
Upon entering the territory of Lion Peak Ridge, he could clearly feel the spiritual energy becoming denser, and even the vegetation grew more luxuriant.
As he proceeded, he spread his divine sense wide, carefully observing everything around him.
This was both to prevent sudden dangers and to search for spiritual medicines.
Lion Peak Ridge was indeed a treasure trove. Within an hour of entering the mountain, Xiao Fei crouched down in front of a rock.
In front of the rock grew a small grass, about two inches tall. This was one of the spiritual medicines he was looking for—Thousand Gold Flower.
What he saw was merely a seedling of Thousand Gold Flower, which had not yet bloomed and possessed no medicinal properties. However, this did not affect Xiao Fei.
His spatial artifact had a tenfold growth acceleration. Once transplanted into the artifact, it would bloom in a few months.
Xiao Fei carefully dug out the Thousand Gold Flower seedling, along with its roots and soil, and immediately transplanted it into his spatial artifact.
On his subsequent journey, Xiao Fei found two more Thousand Gold Flowers and a spiritual medicine called Snake Blood Grass.
These were all first-tier spiritual medicines, which could be sold for at least four or five spirit stones each in the market.
As dusk began to fall, Xiao Fei found a large patch of Iron Thorns.
Iron Thorns were also considered a first-tier spiritual item, but they had little medicinal value. Some people used the branches of Iron Thorns for refining artifacts, such as nets and other magical items.
On this patch of Iron Thorns, many ripe red fruits were growing.
Xiao Fei happened to need the seeds of Iron Thorns. The branches of Iron Thorns were tough and covered with sharp thorns, making them ideal materials for him to use in his entanglement technique.
However, as he approached the Iron Thorns, he stopped after only a few steps.
Beneath the clump of Iron Thorns lay an Arrow Porcupine.
This porcupine was a mid-grade first-tier demon beast, with a strength comparable to cultivators at the sixth or seventh, or seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining. It favored eating various spiritual medicines and fruits.
As the Iron Thorn fruits had ripened recently, the Arrow Porcupine had been lying under the bushes daily, eating and sleeping.
Xiao Fei's arrival had alerted the porcupine, and its quills, like arrows, were now all standing on end.
The quills pointed at Xiao Fei, as if ready to unleash a volley at any moment.
Xiao Fei drew out the only Golden Armor Talisman he possessed, holding it ready to be activated, while slowly backing away.
Once he retreated to a certain distance, the Arrow Porcupine slowly retracted its quills.
However, it continued to stare warily at Xiao Fei.
If possible, it did not want to risk its life fighting this two-legged monster.
It had never eaten such a two-legged monster before, and it was unsure if it was edible. A reckless fight was not worth it.
After retreating far enough, Xiao Fei did not leave.
The seeds of the Iron Thorns were of great use to him.
However, the quills of the Arrow Porcupine were not to be trifled with. A single volley could turn him into a hedgehog.
Even if his soft armor could block them, his face was still exposed, and with his thin skin, he doubted it could withstand the arrows.
He mused that sometimes having thin skin was a disadvantage.
As for the Golden Armor Talisman in his hand, worth eight spirit stones, he was not willing to use it just yet.
Xiao Fei hid in the distance and pondered for a while. Then, he took out his flying sword artifact and found a place to dig a pit.
He never expected that the artifact worth sixty spirit stones would be used for digging soil on its first outing.
His cultivator physique was good, and his strength far surpassed ordinary people, so digging soil was also extremely fast.
In just a short while, before it got dark, he had dug a pit six feet square and over twenty feet deep.
He then covered it with very fine, soft branches and leaves.
After completing all this, Xiao Fei once again approached the clump of Iron Thorns.
The Arrow Porcupine, as before, threatened him with its quills.
Xiao Fei estimated the distance and cast a Wood Thorn spell from afar, then turned and fled.
His spell was cast from too far away, and by the time it reached the Arrow Porcupine, it had lost most of its power and was easily blocked by its quills.
However, this was enough to enrage the Arrow Porcupine, which then gave chase after Xiao Fei on all fours.