Chapter 127 - 105: Foundation Establishment Pill
Both the Cyan Leaf Snake and the Golden Carving were Tier One Upper-Grade Spirit Beasts. In his current condition, if either one broke free in an hour, he would be in grave danger.
—After his battle with Geng Wen, he had used up eighty percent of his Talismans, and his Magical Power and Geomagnetic Primordial Light were nearly depleted.
And an hour was only enough time for him to roughly complete the Refinement of one of the Beast Taming Tokens.
Therefore, he had to make a choice: kill one Spirit Beast and perform the Refinement on the other’s Beast Taming Token.
For Wei Tu, this wasn’t a difficult choice. After all, he had a personal vendetta against the Cyan Leaf Snake.
—Kou Liang had died because of the Cyan Leaf Snake.
Besides, the Cyan Leaf Snake was considerably inferior to the Golden Carving.
Flying Spirit Beasts were considered some of the most valuable in the Cultivation Realm.
「An hour later.」
Wei Tu successfully refined the Golden Carving and learned some details about it from the Beast Taming Token.
Its name was Wind-Splitting Carving, a creature with a Profound Tier bloodline, captured and tamed by the Jing Country Beast Taming Sect.
Demon Beasts, similar to the Human Race, also had Cultivation Levels. They were divided into Yellow, Profound, Earth, and Celestial Tiers, which corresponded to the human stages of Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul.
The Beast Taming Token for the Wind-Splitting Carving recorded it as having a Profound Tier bloodline. This meant that within its lifespan, the Wind-Splitting Carving could potentially break through to the Profound Tier, becoming a Profound Tier Demon Beast—the equivalent of a human at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Generally speaking, however, Cultivators were more accustomed to classifying Demon Beasts in the same category as Talismans, Elixirs, and Magical Artifacts, using a tier system: Tier One, Tier Two, Tier Three, and so on.
’Since this is a Beast Taming Token from the Beast Taming Sect, I don’t have to worry about its origin when using it in Zheng Country.’
Wei Tu breathed a small sigh of relief.
While performing the Refinement on the Wind-Splitting Carving, he had worried that the beast was a Spirit Pet that the demon, Blood Elder Demon, had stolen from a Cultivator of Zheng Country.
Now, with the mark of the Beast Taming Sect, he could relax a little about the Wind-Splitting Carving’s origins.
He had no desire to inadvertently make an enemy of a Major Influence in Zheng Country over a single Spirit Beast.
"Hide in the surrounding mountains and watch for any approaching Cultivators. If you spot any, notify me at once..."
Wei Tu commanded.
He was worried the recent battle had attracted the attention of nearby Cultivators, who might now be approaching out of curiosity.
It was a risk he couldn’t afford to ignore.
The Wind-Splitting Carving received its orders, spread its golden wings, and soared into the sky, quickly vanishing from sight.
If he couldn’t still sense the Wind-Splitting Carving’s location through the Beast Taming Token, Wei Tu would have worried that the Golden Carving had already broken free of his control and escaped.
...
’Now for the hardest part.’
’What am I going to do about Zhao Qingluo...’
Wei Tu put away the Beast Taming Token and looked toward the back of the cave, feeling deeply troubled.
If he had rescued Zhao Qingluo *before* she was affected by the Aphrodisiac Powder, everything would have been easy to handle.
Zhao Qingluo would have repaid him for saving her life, and he could have asked for a reward—another Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, or even a Foundation Establishment Pill... anything would have been possible.
It would have been a perfect, win-win situation.
But as it happened, Zhao Qingluo had already been dosed with the Aphrodisiac Powder and fallen into a delirious state *before* Geng Wen and Blood Elder Demon had their bloody falling-out.
He had been forced to witness her "unseemly state."
That was the fatal part.
If Zhao Qingluo was the type to repay kindness, then it wouldn’t be a big deal.
But if she wasn’t...
Having his eyes gouged out would be getting off lightly.
More likely, Zhao Qingluo would kill him to prevent the scandal from getting out, then compensate his descendants as a gesture of goodwill.
The latter was the standard operating procedure for Nobles in the Cultivation Realm when dealing with such incidents.
Wei Tu had no intention of staking his life on Zhao Qingluo’s "mercy."
Besides, he figured he wasn’t much nobler than Alchemist Wang. Zhao Qingluo’s "good" attitude toward him was likely just a casual attempt to foster goodwill, seeing as he had some talent in the Talisman Dao.
’But killing Zhao Qingluo to eliminate future trouble is even more out of the question.’
Wei Tu shook his head.
He wasn’t like Geng Wen, who, with little Lifespan remaining, had to go all-in on this one gamble and could therefore act without restraint.
Zhao Qingluo was the Celestial Pride of a Golden Core Family.
She most likely had a Divine Sense Mark on her, left by a Foundation Establishment Master or even a Golden Core Ancestor from the Qiyue Zhao Family.
The moment Zhao Qingluo died, that Divine Sense Mark would awaken, transfer to him, record his appearance as her killer, and transmit the information to the Foundation Establishment Master or Golden Core Ancestor.
Besides, Wei Tu didn’t really want to kill Zhao Qingluo.
For one, he and Zhao Qingluo were acquaintances and had a decent rapport.
And he wasn’t some ruthless, bloodthirsty fiend.
Second, the "evil deed" Zhao Qingluo might commit was, for now, merely his own speculation.
Third, Zhao Qingluo had helped him once before with the matter concerning Shan Xianshou.
If he had wanted to kill Zhao Qingluo, he would have just stood by and let Geng Wen assault her.
After all, that would have been the moment Geng Wen was at his most careless and vulnerable—the perfect opportunity to land a fatal blow.
’There’s no point in dwelling on this. First, I should check Geng Wen’s Storage Bag and see if there are any records describing the effects of the Aphrodisiac Powder...’
’If the Aphrodisiac Powder causes confusion, muddles the senses, and makes it so Zhao Qingluo doesn’t even know I was here, then I won’t have to agonize over this decision...’
Wei Tu took Geng Wen’s Storage Bag from his waist and began rummaging through the large pile of belongings inside.
Although Geng Wen had destroyed most of his belongings before dying, he had primarily destroyed Elixirs. The information-recording Jade Scrolls, being much tougher, had mostly survived.
Soon, Wei Tu found seven Jade Scrolls inside the Storage Bag.
He pressed the seven Jade Scrolls to his forehead one by one, using his Divine Sense to probe their contents.
’Found it!’ Upon checking the fourth Jade Scroll, Wei Tu finally found information related to the "Aphrodisiac Powder."