Volume 1, Chapter 95 – Harvest

The moment she slipped into the water, Shi Lan’s muscles and bones completely loosened, and waves of dense spiritual energy surged uncontrollably into her body.

This hot spring was rather deep. Even at the edge, Shi Lan had to stand on tiptoe just to barely touch the bottom.

Underfoot were jagged rocks that poked at her soles, rather than the mud Shi Lan had imagined.

Not seeing any sign of Wu Lingkong after a quick glance around, Shi Lan dove under, toes tapping lightly. A wave exploded open as she shot across the water, and in the blink of an eye she was by that Crimson Cloud Lotus.

In the somewhat murky water, a pale figure was squatting at the root of the Crimson Cloud Lotus, tugging repeatedly at something.

Shi Lan had just been about to go over when a barrier of condensed Innate true qi suddenly unfolded, squeezing all the spring water away and opening up a pocket of space.

Although it was dim at the bottom, Shi Lan’s vision was unaffected. Wu Lingkong, completely bare as she squatted by the lotus root, was laid out clearly before her eyes.

“Come help me. The lotus root of this Crimson Cloud Lotus is wedged in this crack. The reef here has been tempered by spiritual energy for years; it’s no softer than an ordinary magic artifact. I can’t manage it on my own.” Wu Lingkong looked a little helpless.

Shi Lan pushed down the weird feeling in her chest, manifested the blade of the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd, then went over and squatted down beside Wu Lingkong. With just a few strikes she split the reef apart.

A lotus root like red jade was half-buried in the rock.

The lotus root was about as thick as an arm and over three feet long, giving off a faint fragrance. The reef wrapped around it had turned nearly transparent, spiritual energy overflowing from it, not far off from spirit crystal.

Shi Lan dug the lotus root free, and before she could speak, Wu Lingkong withdrew the true qi barrier around them. The hot spring water rushed back in, rolling up into a whirlpool.

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“Phew.”

Shi Lan broke the surface, let out a long breath, stepped over the water to the bank, and set the lotus root and those few lotus leaves down on the shore. When she turned back, Wu Lingkong had disappeared again.

A pale shadow slipped through the water and came up beside Shi Lan.

Wu Lingkong broke the surface, looked at the lotus root, and the joy in her eyes deepened. Just this haul alone, even if she split it evenly with Shi Lan, would be enough to raise her by one or two minor stages.

“Shi Lan, has your skin always been like this since you were little?”

Wu Lingkong tore her gaze from the lotus root and looked at Shi Lan. Her hand moved through the water, lightly brushing across Shi Lan’s back.

Feeling that warm, smooth touch like mutton-fat jade, Wu Lingkong’s eyes filled with even more envy. Her own skin was far from rough, but compared to Shi Lan’s, it clearly fell short.

And also…

Shi Lan was playing with the Crimson Cloud Lotus bud when she heard Wu Lingkong’s question and answered on reflex.

She was just about to pry open the petals to see the stamen when she suddenly felt a body press up against her from behind, followed by a sudden tightness across her chest.

“Skin like jade is one thing, but why are you this well-endowed too?”

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Wu Lingkong wrapped her arms around Shi Lan from behind, rested her chin on her shoulder, and muttered in a low, slightly wistful voice.

Feeling those rather unruly hands at her chest, Shi Lan’s expression went blank. When she came back to herself, flustered and just about to struggle, Wu Lingkong let go and swam toward the shore, looking a little dejected.

Shi Lan’s heart was like leaves swept up in a gale. She had a whole mess of things she wanted to say, yet nowhere to start, and somehow felt like she’d been taken advantage of. She fell silent for a while.

After soaking at the shore for the better part of a quarter-hour, Wu Lingkong slowly stepped onto land. Her long hair, hanging past her waist, spilled down her back. Droplets slid along her long legs, slowly dripping into the short grass by the bank.

Wu Lingkong’s figure was extremely well-proportioned, her muscle lines smooth to perfection. She was like a she-leopard, brimming with wild strength.

Shi Lan stood in the hot spring with half her face submerged, watching Wu Lingkong’s movements, feeling utterly deflated.

The setting was perfect, the beauty was right there—but the transmigration gods had confiscated her “equipment”. Faced with such a sight, her body didn’t react in the slightest. That gap between mind and flesh left her not quite sure how she was supposed to feel.

Circulating her true qi to steam the water from her skin, Wu Lingkong slipped on her underclothes in a few easy motions. She didn’t rush to put on her battle armor, instead starting to sort through the gains from their journey.

On the way here, they’d gathered a total of seven stalks of second-grade spiritual materials similar to Flame Spirit Ganoderma.

Wu Lingkong split one stalk of Goldrock Grass in half. “This half is yours, this half is mine.”

She set one half of the spiritual material aside, then turned her attention to the Crimson Cloud Lotus.

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There were four lotus leaves in total. The long stems connecting root and leaves were useless and were tossed away by Wu Lingkong. The lotus root was also cut cleanly into two sections.

Wu Lingkong picked up the Crimson Cloud Lotus bud, pried open the leaves, removed the stamen, then walked to the edge of the spring and beckoned to Shi Lan.

Shi Lan swam over to the shore and had just opened her mouth to speak when something sweet slipped between her lips—Wu Lingkong had directly stuffed the lotus stamen into her mouth.

“Even though this Crimson Cloud Lotus hasn’t blossomed or borne seed yet, its stamen still holds a lot of refined spiritual essence. It’s a great help to cultivation.” Wu Lingkong smiled, casually tore off two petals, and popped them into her own mouth.

A surge of dense spiritual energy melted in Shi Lan’s mouth and poured into her body. She didn’t bother thanking Wu Lingkong, just closed her eyes slightly and began refining the energy.

With her Innate spiritual body and the Yuqing Creation Art, her speed at converting spiritual energy was frightening. In no more than the time for half a stick of incense to burn, Shi Lan had refined all the energy, and her cultivation had risen another step.

Wu Lingkong sat cross-legged on the shore, clearly also refining the spiritual energy within the petals.

Shi Lan rose from the water, steamed herself dry, and quietly put her clothes back on.

After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Wu Lingkong finally opened her eyes. Seeing that Shi Lan was already up, she sighed inwardly. Sometimes, talent really was just that obvious.

Wu Lingkong got to her feet, tore off a few more petals, and stuffed them into Shi Lan’s hands. After packing away the spiritual materials on the ground, she walked over to the cliff wall and began picking out some of the more potent first-grade spiritual materials.

She might not have use for these herself, but for those Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers who had yet to reach the Innate Realm, they would still be of great help.

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Shi Lan followed her over to the cliff wall. She didn’t know how to judge the quality of spiritual herbs, but her Innate spiritual body was very sensitive to spiritual energy. If she just picked based on the density of the qi she sensed, it probably wouldn’t go too wrong.

Once they’d more or less finished harvesting the herbs, the two of them rode their artifacts into the air, heading for the opening overhead.

Before long, they had flown out of the fissure.

“Skree!”

“Skree!”

Several long cries rang out above their heads. A few white birds with wingspans of over ten zhang circled in the sky, their bodies completely unimpeded in the blizzard, moving as freely as fish in water.

Seeing these birds, Wu Lingkong frowned slightly, feeling things had just gotten tricky. “Those are Wind-Snow Kites, a very rare type of flying demonic beast that loves icy, snowy lands. In the three years I’ve been in the Demon-Suppressing Army, this is only the second time I’ve seen them.”

Judging from Wu Lingkong’s expression, Shi Lan asked in puzzlement, “Are these Wind-Snow Kites that hard to deal with?”

“In this kind of environment, Wind-Snow Kites have their strength boosted by at least thirty percent. And fighting flying demonic beasts in the air burns way too much energy.”

Shi Lan nodded in understanding. “I have a way.”