Chapter 26 : One More Heist
In the pitch-black night, a large wolf beast moved swiftly through the forest. The giant wolf looked fierce and savage. Behind it, a several-meter-long crocodile followed, also moving through the undergrowth.
These two predatory demonic beasts showed no hostility toward each other. On the contrary, if one listened closely, it was clear they were actually talking.
“I’m telling you, Brother Crocodile, listening to me this time was the right choice. Sure, there was some risk, but we gained quite a lot. That Purple Heart Grass cleared the obstacle blocking our promotion!” the Dread Wolf said, its eyes gleaming as it spoke to the crocodile.
“Heh heh! That’s thanks to you, Brother Dread Wolf!” the crocodile replied happily, completely forgetting how it had nearly been sold out by the wolf earlier.
“Brother, although we don’t have any worries left now, we still lack some foundation if we want to advance to the higher-tier demonic beast stage. How about… we pull off one more job?”
The Dread Wolf stopped and stared at the crocodile.
Originally, their plan had been simple: find the Purple Heart Grass as quickly as possible, leave the mountain lord’s territory immediately, and locate a quiet place to digest and absorb it.
However, the appearance of the Demon Envoy had allowed all of that to be accomplished ahead of schedule.
Now the door to becoming higher-tier demonic beasts had already opened—but the Spiritual Power inside their bodies was still insufficient to push them through it.
The Dread Wolf had done the math.
If they relied solely on absorbing the moon’s spiritual essence each night, it would take at least one full year before they accumulated enough power. But if they could find a mid-grade spirit herb that increased Spiritual Power, that time would shrink dramatically.
And if they were lucky enough to discover a high-grade spirit herb, they might even break through immediately after swallowing it.
That was precisely why spirit herbs were so precious to demonic beasts. Unlike Refined Spirits, demonic beasts could not actively absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Their cultivation speed was extremely slow. Without special encounters or opportunities, it was very difficult for them to evolve into Refined Spirits. Because of that, whenever a demonic beast found a spirit herb suitable for itself, it would often guard the herb and wait patiently for it to mature.
Only a true demon, like the Lord of Mount Qi, could possess such a treasure land.
This area contained the most concentrated spiritual energy in Mount Qi, which was why so many spirit flowers and rare herbs grew here. But they were the mountain lord’s private property.
Normally, the demonic beasts of Mount Qi could only admire them from afar; they would never dare harbor greedy thoughts.
But now… things were different.
A strange glint flashed in the Dread Wolf’s eyes, making the Armored Crocodile’s heart skip a beat.
“But what if we run into someone like Luo Yi the Green Snake again?” the crocodile asked hesitantly.
Earlier, when they had seized the Purple Heart Grass, the situation had been extremely dangerous. Whether they could defeat the Killer Bee King together was only a small part of the problem.
The real issue was that the spirit herbs in the mountain lord’s territory were coveted not only by demonic beasts, but also by powerful Refined Spirits.
“Brother, think about it,” the Dread Wolf urged when it saw the crocodile hesitate. Without the crocodile’s defensive power, it wouldn’t necessarily be able to seize the herbs alone. “Aren’t there only seven Refined Spirit experts in all of Mount Qi? Did all of them come tonight?”
“That’s right.” The crocodile nodded. “Among the Refined Spirits in Mount Qi, only Lord Chu Xi the Earth Bull didn’t come.”
Chu Xi was the only underground-dwelling Refined Spirit in Mount Qi. He had a lazy temperament and had skipped even an important event like tonight.
“Exactly,” the Dread Wolf continued. “If Chu Xi isn’t here, then there are only six Refined Spirits in the mountain lord’s territory. And because of the Demon Envoy, even if we run into Luo Yi again, he probably won’t attack us.”
The wolf carefully laid out its reasoning.
“As for the remaining Refined Spirits, at least three or four of them must be working together to intercept the half-demon if they want to succeed. So if you think about it, the number of Refined Spirits we might actually encounter in the territory is probably only one or two. And this territory is enormous. The chance of running into them is extremely small.”
He grinned.
“We can’t possibly be so unlucky that we meet a Refined Spirit every time we find a spirit herb… right?”
The crocodile listened while nodding repeatedly. It sounded very reasonable. Surely they couldn’t be unlucky enough to encounter a Refined Spirit every time they found a herb.
“Alright! I’ll do it with you!” the crocodile finally declared.
Spirit herbs were scarce. If it didn’t take a gamble now, how many years would it take before it could become a Refined Spirit like Lord Chu Xi?
“Exactly! The timid starve while the bold feast! One day, among the Refined Spirits of Mount Qi, there will definitely be us two brothers!” the Dread Wolf roared as it began sprinting forward.
In truth, over the past seven days it had already done extensive preparation. It had located several spirit herbs in advance and specifically sought out the Armored Crocodile as a partner because of its defensive strength.
Right nearby, there should be a patch of Spirit Moss.
Otherwise, the Dread Wolf wouldn’t have tried to persuade the crocodile at this exact moment.