UGB Chapter 16 News
Chapter 16 News
Two months passed quickly.
Even though his body had been strengthened more than once under the nourishment of spiritual energy, Zhao Cheng'an still looked exhausted. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were bloodshot.
At first glance, it even looks a little scary.
However, compared to his physical exhaustion, Zhao Cheng'an was in high spirits. After more than two months of tireless efforts day and night, he finally completed the condensation of the first rune in the "Yi Wood Morning Sun Scripture".
At this moment, close your eyes and completely immerse your mind in your body.
At the dantian, a complex rune emitting a faint green light was slowly rotating, shimmering with a dim glow.
As the runes circulated, specks of green light in the surrounding air, like moths drawn to a flame, continuously converged towards his body.
Throughout the process, Zhao Cheng'an could clearly feel that his own spiritual energy was slowly growing and strengthening.
It's like a seed buried deep in the soil sprouting a tender shoot.
Although it was only the first step, it was enough to excite Zhao Cheng'an.
Previously, absorbing spiritual energy had been passive and inefficient. Now, although only the first rune has been condensed, the passive approach has been transformed into an active one, greatly increasing cultivation efficiency.
Of course, the consumption of spirit stones has increased after the efficiency is improved.
Originally, one spirit stone would have been enough for Zhao Cheng'an for more than four days, but now it couldn't even last two days. This was after Zhao Cheng'an had devoted a large portion of his time to studying runes and cultivating the "Yi Wood Rising Sun Scripture".
"Click."
A soft, crisp sound rang out in the quiet room.
The intact spirit stone in Zhao Cheng'an's hand was covered with cracks, and then turned into a puddle of grayish-white dust, which fell through his fingers.
He subconsciously wanted to pick up a new fragment of spirit stone from the side and throw it into the Qiankun Cauldron in his mind to synthesize it.
My hand reached for nothing.
Zhao Cheng'an opened his eyes and realized that the spirit stone fragments he had previously stored had been used up.
It's time to head to the market again to buy fragments of spirit stones.
Zhao Cheng'an sat on the bed, looking at the spirit stone fragments in his hand that had turned to dust, and pondered in his mind.
He stood up, grabbed the coat hanging on the screen and put it on, then casually tied the black waist tag that Shen Yanshan had given him to the most conspicuous position on his belt.
In the previous two months, he had gone down the mountain several times. The grandmaster assassin did not appear; it was unknown whether he had left Cangwu Mountain or was held up by something else.
However, just to be on the safe side, it's best to carry this amulet with you at all times.
Pushing open the door of the bamboo house, Xiao Wu was squatting in the courtyard, holding a whetstone and diligently sharpening a short knife.
"Stop dawdling, get the car ready, let's go down the mountain together," Zhao Chengan called out.
"Okay!"
Xiao Wu immediately threw down the whetstone, dusted off his hands, and ran to the backyard to fetch his horse.
The carriage traveled down the bluestone road and soon stopped in the passageway outside the Blind Man's Quarters.
Zhao Cheng'an lifted the carriage curtain and jumped down, only to notice that familiar gaze.
"It's still there after all."
Zhao Cheng'an thought to himself.
This time, however, he didn't panic as before. He landed on his feet, his movements unhurried, and turned around to face the direction from which the gaze was coming.
The black array token on his belt swayed slightly with his movement, becoming exposed to the air.
The assassin's gaze snapped back as if struck by lightning, then vanished completely without a trace.
It actually worked!
However, it seems that this assassin is indeed someone of great importance, as he was able to recognize the Zi Ling of the Imperial Academy's formations and understand some inside information.
Zhao Cheng'an breathed a sigh of relief, while secretly thinking to himself.
Although the cultivation resources received each month are very limited after passing the Imperial Academy's examination, the benefits in other aspects are much more generous.
The Imperial Academy issued a special type of silver note. These notes could be used freely in shops and markets around Cangwu Mountain without any restrictions, and could be spent at will.
It seems that gold and silver treasures, which are more important than life itself to ordinary people, are like roadside dung in the eyes of the Imperial Academy, basically having little value. The economic crisis that had previously troubled Zhao Cheng'an for some time was thus resolved.
Upon entering the blind man's quarters, Zhao Chengan easily found his way to the stall he had previously visited.
His gaze swept across the stall, only to find that there were only one or two broken spirit stones left. Over time, Zhao Cheng'an and the stall owner became quite familiar with each other, and he had previously told the stall owner that he would buy similar items.
At this point, he couldn't help but ask, "How come there's so little left?"
The stall owner sighed, his face showing some worry.
"Young Master Zhao, you are unaware of the situation. Something has happened at Black Wind Valley."
"I don't know why, but lately the wild animals in the valley seem to have gone mad, becoming extremely aggressive. Several of our best brothers in the group went in to scout ahead a few days ago, and they all got injured and had to be carried back."
"These stones were originally scattered deep in the valley, and finding any depended entirely on luck. Now that it's much more dangerous inside, no one dares to go deep in, so the yield has naturally plummeted."
It turned out to be the case.
Zhao Cheng'an felt a little regretful.
Spirit stones have played a crucial role in his cultivation during this period. Without a sufficient supply of spirit stones, his speed in condensing runes would definitely decrease significantly.
What should we do?
Should we personally go to Blackwind Valley and explore what's inside?
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Zhao Chengan decisively extinguished it.
A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.
He has only just begun his cultivation. Although his physique is already superior to that of ordinary people, he has not yet learned any of the techniques of a cultivator, so he certainly cannot take any risks.
Let's talk about it later.
Zhao Chengan bought the few remaining spirit stone fragments.
The interruption of the supply of spirit stones made him feel slightly irritable.
He wandered aimlessly around the blind man's quarters.
The goods inside were basically unchanged; they were still the same dried-up mountain products, strangely shaped animal bones, and some burial objects that smelled of mud and looked like they had just been dug out of an ancient tomb.
But at that moment, one of the items caught Zhao Chengan's attention.
Those were several plants that resembled foxtail grass.
However, they are much larger than ordinary foxtail grass, with thick stems and plump golden spikes at the top, emitting a faint grassy fragrance.
Zhao Cheng'an stopped and examined it carefully.
The shape of this thing seems somewhat similar to the spirit rice that Qi Weizhao planted in the valley.
A line of gray-white subtitles appeared in view.
Wild Spirit Rice: Extremely resilient, capable of surviving even in harsh environments. However, its yield is extremely low, and it contains almost no spiritual energy.
The results of the test surprised Zhao Chengan.
This really is spiritual rice.
When Zhao Cheng'an received cultivation resources from Qi Weizhao, he took the opportunity to have the spiritual rice provided by the Imperial Academy appraised.
The displayed terms at the time were: high yield, many children and many blessings, rich in spiritual energy, but with harsh living conditions.
In the past two months, Zhao Chengan had also had the wild idea of trying to cultivate and plant the spirit rice he had received in the backyard of the bamboo house.
As expected, all the grains rotted in the ground.
The Lingmi rice grown at the Imperial Academy has very demanding growing conditions.
Not only is it necessary to set up special formations to gather spiritual energy, but it is also necessary to pay attention to the prevention and control of various diseases and pests at all times.
Zhao Cheng'an examined the wild spiritual rice in his hand, his eyes gradually brightening.
A bold idea took shape in my mind.
I wonder if we can use the synthesis function of the Qiankun Cauldron to hybridize these two types of spiritual rice?
If this attempt succeeds, it will cultivate a type of spirit rice that can adapt to ordinary environments and produce spiritual energy.
Then he will be able to completely get rid of his dependence on spirit stones in the future, right?
Moreover, this will allow us to truly unlock the potential of the Qiankun Cauldron, and we can try to synthesize even more different things in the future.
There's no need to waste time on spirit stones.
Thinking of this, Zhao Cheng'an became somewhat excited.
He immediately took out some loose silver and bought the wild spiritual rice. He then quickly walked out of the blind man's quarters, got into a carriage, and rushed back to the bamboo building of the Imperial Academy.
……
Before you knew it, a month had passed.
After returning to the bamboo house, Zhao Cheng'an immediately began to try to hybridize the two different types of spirit rice.
The good news is that his idea is entirely feasible. The Qiankun Cauldron can indeed fuse two different types of spiritual rice, and has a chance to inherit the characteristics of both.
The bad news is that the synthesis process is full of randomness.
The spiritual rice from the Imperial Academy has seven attributes: three attributes for increasing yield, namely "Many Children, Many Blessings", "Polyploidy", and "Nutrition Reabsorption", two attributes for gathering spiritual energy, namely "Rejuvenation" and "Spiritual Energy Sealing", and two negative attributes, namely "Sickness and Weakness" and "Attracting Disaster".
The two negative and positive terms are linked together; the terms "polyploid" and "disaster-bringing" always appear together. The same principle applies to the terms "spiritual energy sealed" and "sickness."
The wild spirit rice that Zhao Chengan bought from the market only had three entries: "Survival", "Spiritual energy dissipation", and "Disaster relief".
After Zhao Cheng'an synthesized the hybrid spirit rice using the Qiankun Cauldron, the resulting hybrid rice could inherit four to six entries from its parents.
The probability of obtaining a rice variety with six entries is less than 10%.
Therefore, in the most ideal situation...
Zhao Cheng'an hoped to obtain a plant that already possessed the four attributes of "Rejuvenation", "Spiritual Energy Sealing", "Weakness", and "Survival in Desperation", and then obtain two more attributes that would increase yield, such as "Many Children, Many Blessings" and "Nutrition Reabsorption".
However, the probability of this is extremely low.
The probability of obtaining a rice variety with six keywords is already extremely low, and specific keywords are also required.
The overall probability is less than one percent.
And there's no guarantee of a minimum return.
It's even more of a rip-off than some of the gacha games I played in my previous life.
With a flash of white light, Zhao Cheng'an took the latest batch of synthesized spirit rice out of the Qiankun Cauldron and placed it on the table for identification.
As the subtitles appeared, Zhao Chengan's eyes lit up.
Hybrid Rice: More Seeds, More Blessings, Polyploid, Nutrient Reabsorption, Disaster Resistant, Disaster Survival
This is the second time in a month that Zhao Chengan has obtained six entries for rice varieties.
Unfortunately, it lacks the two most important entries: "Return to Green" and "Sealing of Spiritual Energy".
However, this time the results were not entirely fruitless.
Although this hybrid rice lacks spiritual energy, it possesses both high yield and disaster resistance, and can survive in harsh environments. If this rice variety could be widely cultivated in the mortal realm, it would greatly alleviate the food shortage during famine years and save countless lives.
He just doesn't know what the specific taste and yield will be like, since he hasn't personally tried planting it yet.
Zhao Chengan found a small wooden box, carefully collected the hybrid rice seeds, and put them in the cabinet next to him.
He was about to sit back down at his desk and continue studying the remaining rune structures in the "Yi Mu Chao Yang Jing".
Suddenly, there was a rapid knocking at the door.
"Bang bang bang!"
The knocking was heavy, and it sounded anxious.
What happened?
Zhao Cheng'an stood up, walked over, and opened the door.
Xiao Wu stood outside the door, his face flushed and filled with excitement.
"What happened? Why are you running so fast?" Zhao Chengan casually grabbed a towel from the shelf and handed it over.
Xiao Wu didn't take the towel; instead, he vigorously rubbed his clothes with both hands.
"Great news! Absolutely fantastic news!"
"Your Highness, someone from the Great Yin Dynasty has arrived!"
"what?"
Upon hearing this news, Zhao Chengan was also shocked.