“Looking at the map, we should head in this direction. That place is located deep within the mountains, so we’ll encounter quite a bit of danger along the way.”
After leaving Tianbei City, the two of them spent most of the day entering the Northern Mountains’ region.
Then, they leapt off their Flying Sword and started to travel on foot.
In this wild and untamed jungle, flying at low altitude was extremely dangerous.
Only after reaching the Ling Emperor stage and mastering the art of high-altitude flight could a Cultivator safely traverse the skies above the Northern Mountains.
But even Ling Emperors would occasionally fall victim to the various hidden dangers of the mountains, crashing down before they knew it.
Many Spirit Beasts were capable of long-range attacks—if a Ling Emperor flew over their territory, it could easily trigger their defensive instincts and provoke an attack.
For little Spirit Masters like Hua Jian and Linglong, traveling on land was much safer.
When they first entered the Northern Mountains, Hua Jian still saw the occasional trace of human activity, but as night fell and they went deeper into the region, the entire jungle fell silent—no sign of people anywhere.
It was so quiet that a faint thread of fear rose in one’s heart.
“If we start a fire here, do you think someone will use a Spirit Technique and attack us directly?” Hua Jian remembered a scene from a novel she’d read in her previous life.
The setting right now was exactly the same as in those stories.
A pitch-black jungle, an isolated environment—firelight was a beacon of danger…
“No. Unless there’s a serious conflict of interest or a blood feud, most people wouldn’t make the first move.” Linglong shook her head.
The Cultivators within the Northern Mountains were still Cultivators.
As long as everyone held goodwill, cooperation was always possible.
As for evildoers… well, bad people were just bad people—there was nothing more to say about them.
“You’re right.” Hua Jian nodded, but she didn’t boldly light a campfire.
Instead, she took out a Weiguang Spiritual Artifact she’d bought earlier in Tianbei City.
This Spirit Tool resembled a lantern, providing a faint light—a real advantage out here in the wilds of the Northern Mountains.
After all, even if Cultivators didn’t come to attack, the ever-present Spirit Beasts in the mountains weren’t known for their intelligence.
If they saw light in the forest, their first reaction would be that prey had entered—their chance for a meal.
Compared to other Cultivators, it was these creatures that Hua Jian worried about most.
“Do you think any reckless Spirit Beasts will come courting death?”
“No idea. I hope not.”
The fewer unnecessary battles, the better. But reality seldom aligned with one’s wishes.
Near midnight, as Hua Jian was resting with her eyes closed, she caught a faint noise from the woods.
Her previous experience in the Dragon City Secret Realm had taught her never to cultivate outdoors—when she cultivated, she attracted Spirit Beasts even more strongly than firelight did.
If a wave of Spirit Beasts rushed her, she’d really be in trouble.
Opening her eyes, Hua Jian turned to warn Linglong—only to find that the little dragon girl was already awake.
Those golden, lamp-like eyes were fixed intently on a spot in the woods, as if something was there.
No—there really was something there!
Hua Jian saw that patch of darkness squirm, and a jet-black leopard slowly emerged. Its blood-red eyes were full of violence.
There was no stand-off. The black leopard lunged straight at them.
Linglong immediately raised her sword and charged forward.
To minimize noise, she didn’t use her signature lightning techniques; instead, she enchanted her Spirit Sword with electricity and engaged the leopard in close combat.
If you compared the black leopard’s strength to that of a Cultivator, it was roughly equivalent to a strong Spirit Master.
But against Linglong, one of the best among Spirit Masters, it stood no chance.
Other Cultivators might be weaker physically, but Linglong was strong in both body and technique, walking the path of dual cultivation—she had nothing to fear.
Soon, the black leopard was driven back step by step. After a few strikes of lightning, its eyes began to roll in confusion.
At that moment, Linglong suddenly ducked. Before the black leopard could react, a bullet shot past Linglong and hit it right in the head.
Its luck was terrible—the bullet hit one of its eyes and exploded inside, dealing a fatal blow.
Though the Yusui Hua Jian used for her bullets was low in durability and would explode when hitting something hard, a Spirit Beast’s eye couldn’t withstand its force.
After the eye was hit, the Spirit Beast instinctively used its Spiritual Power to block the bullet’s advance. That only caused the bullet to explode inside its skull.
Colorful mist sprayed from the leopard’s eye socket. Under Hua Jian’s astonished gaze, the once vigorous black leopard collapsed to the ground, convulsed, and soon died.
Linglong walked over to examine the cause of death. It turned out to be Hua Jian’s bullet.
She’d hit its weak spot—one critical strike. Had it been any other part, the black leopard wouldn’t have died so quickly.
This time, Hua Jian used a simple Maze Mist Bullet. Instantly killing a Spirit Master-level Spirit Beast was difficult; she needed Linglong to tire it out first.
“It’s a Hunting Shadow Leopard—a common nocturnal Spirit Beast in the Northern Mountains.” Linglong recognized the black leopard as one of the mountain’s many predators.
There were plenty of these leopards. The most valuable part was their pure black pelt—a key material for crafting Nightwalking Spirit Garments.
As for the rest of the beast—well, it was a pity to waste, but nothing special.
Some had tried cooking the leopard’s meat, but the results were always disappointing—no matter how well prepared, it never tasted great.
“We can skin it and sell the pelt, but as for the rest…”
“It can be used as Huafei!” Hua Jian’s eyes lit up, immediately continuing Linglong’s sentence.
The Huafei Making Guide given by the Lingcaifeng Master clearly stated: the bones and flesh of Spirit Beasts were great materials for making Huafei.
Unlike people, Spiritual Flowers and Lingcao weren’t picky—they just needed nutritious, spiritual things to thrive.
Hua Jian hadn’t succeeded in making Huafei yet. With this conveniently delivered leopard, how could she let it go to waste?
She couldn’t just skin it and toss the rest, could she? That would be far too wasteful for someone as thrifty as her!
“Huafei… huh?”
Linglong didn’t quite know how to respond. Something felt off, but then again, it also seemed perfectly normal.
Hua Jian’s interest in growing flowers was well-known, and the Lingcaifeng Master had indeed taught her how to make fertilizer for Spiritual Flowers and Lingcao.
So was there any problem with Hua Jian wanting to try it herself?
Not really.
“Alright, do you need help skinning it?”
“No need, I’m good at this!”
Hua Jian took out her specialized tools and began processing the leopard’s carcass with practiced ease.
When she was scraping by in the Secret Realm, she hadn’t survived on just people—she’d hunt good Spirit Beasts and Spirit Herbs whenever she could, and after killing a Spirit Beast, she’d process the body herself.
She couldn’t just toss everything in a Storage Pouch and call it a day—corpses would rot, take up space, and fetch a lower price if not handled properly.
After some effort, Hua Jian successfully removed the leopard’s pelt, handing the most valuable trophy to Linglong before continuing to process the rest.
“Sigh, if only there were a way to grow a few more hands…” she muttered as she separated bones from flesh.
With only two hands, her efficiency was a little low. If she could sprout multiple arms like Qianshou Guanyin, wouldn’t processing Spirit Beast corpses be much faster?
Linglong heard her complaint and gave a speechless look—she wanted more arms just to be lazy?
That was impressive.
“If you’re a Wood Element Cultivator, why not use Spirit Techniques to summon vines and use them as extra hands?” Although Linglong was speechless at the premise, she still gave a suggestion.
Wood Element Cultivators naturally had the advantage here. Their summoned spirit plants were much easier to control than those of other elements.
Even Shui Element Spirit Power, which was highly manipulable, couldn’t compare in this regard.
After all, vines didn’t need Spiritual Power to exist, but Shui Element water would revert to ordinary water without constant support.
“Uh… I’m not very good at that…” Hua Jian scratched her head. She knew Wood Element Cultivators could do that, but, “Isn’t that a Spirit Technique?”
She thought those Cultivators who manipulated summoned plants like snakes were using specialized Spirit Techniques—but she didn’t know any such techniques. How could she control summoned plants?
“There are indeed such Spirit Techniques. But they’re basically a combination of one plant-summoning technique and one precise control technique. Nothing complicated.” Linglong explained.
Those controlling Spirit Techniques were essentially combo-packs. As long as Hua Jian mastered the two techniques separately, she could combine them herself.
“You should have both, right? Why not give it a try now?”
Almost every Wood Element cultivation method started with a plant-summoning technique, or using Spiritual Power to imitate plants. It was the same for other attributes.
The foundation of all Cultivators’ combat power was Spiritual Power-generated or imitated objects. At low levels, raw Spiritual Power was less damaging than a physical blow.
A hit with raw Jin Element power wasn’t the same as getting smashed with a Jin Element sword, after all.
All Wood Element Cultivators basically knew the first, but not necessarily the second.
Generally, Cultivators only learned precise control of Spiritual Power at the Ling King to Ling Emperor stage, as it required a strong enough Soulforce.
But as luck would have it, Hua Jian actually possessed the latter.
The flower-growing Spirit Technique she bought from the Old Swindler included manipulation techniques that were unexpectedly useful now—making her a little speechless.
From Handmade Bullets to Handmade Spirit Techniques, this spell had become indispensable—despite its original use being flower cultivation!
It was supposed to help with flowers!
Yet now, no flowers, just all sorts of odd jobs—she really didn’t know what to say.
“First, grow a plant that’s completely under your control. Then infuse it with your Spiritual Power and imagine it as an extension of your hands…”
This was basic technique for higher-level Cultivators—even Linglong herself had mastered it to a certain extent.
So when she taught Hua Jian, Linglong was quite confident, guiding her from real experience.
“Okay.” Hua Jian spread her hands in front of her and slowly released her Spiritual Power.
As her power drained, she felt a tickling in her palms.
Several slender Cai Vines broke through her palms, sticking out adorable little heads.
It should have been a creepy scene, but Hua Jian felt no pain at all, and the little Cai Vines were entirely under her control.
If she withdrew her Spiritual Power, the vines retreated into her body; when she infused power, they appeared automatically.
With more Spiritual Power, the vines grew longer—but as their length increased, controlling them grew harder.
At just over a meter long, she could barely keep them from flopping over, let alone perform delicate tasks.
But that was enough for her now.