008. Even Spiritual Herbs Can Be Drained of Their Essence?!
Lu Wu endured two days without finding Ziyu, and instead wandered the entire Grand Void Palace in search of a new target.
After half a day, he arrived at the Spirit Beast Garden.
The aura inside the Spirit Beast Garden was terrifying.
There was definitely something formidable lurking within.
But Lu Wu had no intention of venturing deeper.
After observing for a while, he finally picked a target on the outskirts.
A cute little white colt.
This colt was brimming with spiritual energy; at a glance, it was clearly a dragon-horse, not some ordinary foal!
“You’re the one!”
As Lu Wu approached, the colt sensed something and flicked its tail.
Crack!
Lu Wu beat his wings furiously, reaching a frequency of six hundred beats per minute in an instant, and shot away at top speed.
The little colt looked over its rump in confusion, but saw nothing.
With a shake of its head, it hopped away to find its mother for milk.
Lu Wu was stunned. “Damn, no wonder it’s a spirit beast—so fierce?”
This was far beyond the strength of an ordinary mortal child.
A woman’s laugh echoed telepathically, “Taught you a lesson, didn’t it?”
Lu Wu was speechless.
The female sage continued, “In the early stages of cultivation, spirit beasts and demon beasts are far stronger than human cultivators. Their bodies are spiritual tools in themselves, whereas human cultivators must rely on magical treasures to match them.”
“But that little colt couldn’t have killed you, so I didn’t stop you. Let this be a lesson: in cultivation, caution is key—don’t be reckless.”
“Greed is the cause of most cultivators’ deaths.”
“Even if you’re an extraordinary beast with innate talent, you’re no exception.”
Couldn’t have killed me? Lu Wu, in his mosquito form, was dumbfounded.
His physical strength was at negative thirteen.
If he guessed right, the colt’s body strength far exceeded that of a mortal.
There were dozens of levels between them.
Even a random swipe of that tail could leave him dead or crippled.
Even with the strength of a celestial ox, he wouldn’t survive a blow from a horse’s tail.
But with his soul energy, four times that of a human’s, to protect him, he was still relatively safe.
Lu Wu was like a top-level assassin—extremely fast, but with a frail body.
If he ran into anything agile and quick to react, it would be truly dangerous.
After all, assassins counter mages, while warriors are meant to crush assassins.
Without looking back, Lu Wu darted out of the Spirit Beast Garden.
Who could handle this?!
After leaving, he flew over a field of medicinal herbs.
After soaring a hundred or so yards, Lu Wu turned back.
“If I remember correctly, female mosquitoes suck blood, while males feed on plant sap.”
“My ability to suck blood comes from the Book of Knowledge, which granted me the entire mosquito race’s abilities, including the female’s bloodsucking.”
“So I ought to be able to feed on plant sap as well, right?!”
Feed on plant sap?
Did spirit herbs count as plant sap?
Lu Wu fixed his gaze—under the scrutiny of his soul energy—on the grass with the lowest spiritual energy.
He pierced the leaf with his proboscis.
“Spirit-Gathering Grass sap, evolution path unlocked.”
“One, evolve into a fly.”
“Two, mimic an earthworm.”
“Three, store spiritual energy for Foundation Establishment.”
He chose “mimic an earthworm” without hesitation!
This was a spiritual herb field! Many herbs’ effects resided in their roots!
The female sage was amazed. “You can cultivate by absorbing plant sap?”
“Of course, if you can absorb blood, plant sap is even more refined.”
“I’ll teach you a secret method for refining medicinal power—listen well: ‘Refining the Origin’.”
Lu Wu hesitated for a moment. After absorbing the plant sap, just like blood, the Book of Knowledge converted it directly into energy for evolution.
But could he also absorb the medicinal effects inherent to the herbs?
If it was just like blood, then whether it was Fire Lingzhi or Ice Lingzhi, it was all the same—just a new, untapped energy source.
But if he could also absorb the medicinal properties, then the spirit herbs would be doubly beneficial!
Lu Wu took some time to practice “Refining the Origin”.
This technique was actually a method to store the spiritual energy of medicines, most importantly by filtering out excess impurities.
A technique from the female sage, as expected, was powerful.
In the herb field, a mosquito burrowed into the soil.
Lu Wu immediately mimicked an earthworm, went underground, found the root system of the Spirit-Gathering Grass, and sucked at the root.
A large amount of spiritual energy was swiftly refined and stored.
Lu Wu felt his body strengthening!
This...
He quickly checked the Book of Knowledge.
Host: Lu Wu.
Race: Mosquito.
Lifespan: 240 days.
Realm: Foundation established in soul, mortal body.
Body strength: Negative twelve.
Strength: Six oxen.
“Previously, my physical strength was four oxen. After absorbing about four oxen’s worth of sap from the Spirit-Gathering Grass leaf, this bite must have added another two oxen’s strength.”
“Now it’s six oxen—my body has grown stronger!”
This increase wasn’t from the Beast Mimicry path, but from his body’s strength rising to negative twelve!
Lu Wu continued refining spiritual energy, and after each successful refinement, took another bite.
“As expected! Now seven oxen’s strength!”
So far, whenever Lu Wu found a target, the first bite triggered evolution, the second gave him two oxen’s strength, and the third and fourth together amounted to six oxen’s strength.
After that, resistance developed, and further feeding became useless.
But now he discovered that spirit herbs could not only serve as blood for feeding, but their medicinal properties could also be harnessed, allowing him to store spiritual energy as if taking medicine!
“Wait, I can’t keep draining the same Spirit-Gathering Grass, or I’ll get caught.”
After all, there’s never been a mosquito that sucked a single person dry without moving on.
They always switch targets.
Equal opportunity!
Switching to a different Spirit-Gathering Grass, Lu Wu quickly absorbed again.
“Now, using herb sap as blood should give me six uses before resistance sets in.”
“But using it as a medicinal herb to eat, I can strengthen my body with spiritual energy, though too many times will still cause resistance.”
“When eaten as a medicine, ninety-nine percent is wasted.”
“But when sucked like blood, utilization is one hundred percent.”
After all, sucking as blood leads directly to evolution, while eating as medicine converts spiritual energy into physical strength more slowly.
Lu Wu quickly made a decision.
As long as a type of herb could still trigger his evolution, he would both suck blood and consume the herb, doing both in tandem.
If it lost its evolutionary effect, he’d switch to a different variety.
That way, the damage to any one herb would be minimal and wouldn’t be noticed.
“I’m so clever!”
...
In the Medicine Hall, Elder Chen frowned as he examined the herbs brought by disciples on duty. “Strange, why does this batch have such severe loss of medicinal power?”
He scrutinized the appearance of the herbs.
A mosquito’s bite was barely a pinprick.
And plants don’t swell at the bite site.
After a tiny puncture, the wound would heal within minutes, leaving no trace.
Only if Elder Chen happened upon a herb bitten by Lu Wu less than ten minutes earlier might he notice the mark.
Otherwise, even if he suspected a disciple damaged the herb in the harvesting process, he would never imagine a biting insect was stealing the medicine.
Normal insects latch onto a single plant and stay there until found out or until the plant dies.
What kind of bug hits and runs?
Elder Chen had not noticed Lu Wu’s actions at all.
While he was puzzling over this, Tang Quan, a third-generation inner disciple of Grand Void Palace, arrived, riding his flying sword. He landed and saluted, “Elder Chen.”
Elder Chen rolled up his sleeves to put away the herbs, clasped his hands behind his back, and said, “Tang Quan, are you here on the Palace Master’s orders?”
Tang Quan smiled. “Elder, the Palace Master knows the new disciples have been selected in recent days. How many have qualified for the inner sect?”
“The Palace Master needs to initiate the ceremony.”
Elder Chen took out a register. “There are a total of one thousand four hundred and sixty new disciples. Of these, ninety-six have entered the inner sect, and four have already achieved Foundation Establishment.”