184: Chapter 184 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (132)

Qiu Feng leaned against a tree trunk, panting heavily, yet his face was full of excited smiles: "That was so satisfying! Senior Brother, you didn't see Zhou Lie's face; it turned the color of pig liver from anger! And that hypocrite Lin Mo, he must be so angry his lungs are about to explode!"

Qiu Yang also nodded with a smile, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at Chu Shi: "Senior Brother Chu, that move of yours just now was so decisive. I thought we would have to fight for it, but I didn't expect we would actually snatch it just like that."

Chu Shi smiled, looked up toward the depths of the dense forest, his gaze distant.

The waters of Golden Ear Valley were even murkier than he had anticipated. However, it is only in murky waters that one can catch fish; this was only just the beginning.

The three of them traveled another two miles through the dense forest and found a natural cave hidden by vines to settle down.

Qiu Yang set up two simple warning arrays on the perimeter, and Qiu Feng gathered some dried grass to spread on the ground; they finally had a place for a temporary rest.

A small campfire was lit inside the cave, the flickering light casting shifting shadows on their faces.

Chu Shi took the three Golden Ear Grasses out of his Storage Pouch; the golden ears glowed with a gentle spiritual light under the firelight, and the refreshing fragrance of the medicinal power wafted toward them.

"We agreed on a fifty-fifty split."

He picked out one complete stalk, then pinched half of another one off and pushed it in front of Qiu Yang. "The two of you get one and a half stalks in total; split it yourselves."

Qiu Yang was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting Chu Shi to divide them so decisively, without even a hint of hesitation.

He had originally thought that since the other party was powerful, he would take more, and he had even prepared himself mentally to accept forty percent.

"Senior Brother Chu, this..."

"The rules were agreed upon beforehand; there is nothing more to say."

Chu Shi waved his hand, picked up his share, and with a slight movement of True Qi at his fingertips, he cleaned the dirt off the surface of the Spiritual Plant.

"Absorb the medicinal power first and restore your condition. We are not far from the battlefield, so we must maintain our combat readiness at all times."

After saying this, he closed his eyes and placed a piece of Golden Ear Grass into his mouth.

The sweet medicinal power dissolved down his throat, turning into wisps of warm current that seeped into his limbs and bones, nourishing his skeleton.

The Copper Bone Realm Mid-Stage requires the tempering of sixty-two lower limb bones. He had only just achieved a Breakthrough recently and had only tempered one bone; there was still a significant gap before reaching the Late Stage.

This Golden Ear Grass had a gentle and long-lasting medicinal effect, which was perfect for steady refinement.

The Qiu brothers looked at each other and stopped being coy. They each took their share of the Spiritual Plant, sat cross-legged, and operated their Cultivation Technique to absorb it.

The cave went quiet for a time, with only the crackling of the campfire.

After about half a day, the three of them opened their eyes one after another.

Most of the medicinal power of the Golden Ear Grass had been absorbed, the fatigue on their bodies was swept away, and their auras had become much steadier.

Chu Shi moved his fingertips slightly, feeling the added sense of solidity in his bones, and nodded slightly.

In just this short half-day, he had steadily tempered another four bones; the progress was several times faster than solitary, arduous cultivation.

"Refreshing!"

Qiu Feng stretched, his bones cracking, his face full of contentment.

"This Golden Ear Grass is just more effective than those miscellaneous Spiritual Plants in the outer areas. If we could get a few more, it won't take long before I can temper another two bones."

"You are just greedy."

Qiu Yang scolded him with a laugh, then sighed.

"It's not that easy. Golden Ear Grass is rare in the valley to begin with, and most of it is controlled by those large factions. It was a stroke of luck that we managed to snatch three stalks."

Qiu Feng curled his lip, then suddenly seemed to remember something. His eyes lit up, and he leaned in toward Chu Shi, lowering his voice: "Senior Brother Chu, actually... our brothers found a good place before, and the items there are even better than Golden Ear Grass! It's just a bit tricky, and we couldn't handle it."

Qiu Yang's expression changed slightly, and he glared at him: "Qiu Feng!"

"What are you afraid of? Senior Brother Chu isn't an outsider." Qiu Feng shrank his neck but couldn't help continuing to speak.

"Half a month ago, we were scouting towards the Cold Iron Mountains and discovered five stalks of Cold Marrow Jade Ganoderma in a crevice of a cliff! That is a High Grade Spiritual Plant; its effect on tempering bones is more than twice as strong as Golden Ear Grass. One stalk is worth a month of arduous cultivation!"

Chu Shi raised an eyebrow, becoming somewhat interested: "Since there are such good things, why didn't you take action?"

"How could we dare?" Qiu Feng said with a bitter face. "That crevice is guarded by a Black Iron Back-Armored Beast, at the Peak of the Copper Bone Realm Mid-Stage. Its entire body is wrapped in a layer of black iron shell; even if you slash it with a blade, you can't leave a white mark. We tried to sneak an attack with a sword, but the sword almost snapped, and we were chased by that beast for three miles. We barely escaped."

At this point, Qiu Yang stopped trying to stop him and took over the conversation, adding:

"That's right, that Yao Beast has thick skin and flesh, and its strength is immense. Its only weakness is that its speed is slow and its turning is clumsy. Unfortunately, the entrance to that crevice is narrow, and the space inside is not large. It couldn't unleash its full ability, but we couldn't get behind it either. It guarded the Cold Marrow Jade Ganoderma at the very back. We tried twice and didn't succeed, and instead almost got injured, so we had to give up for now."

He paused, looked at Chu Shi, and his tone carried a hint of probing:

"Senior Brother Chu, you practice the Blazing Sun Cultivation Technique. Earlier, you were able to resonate with the Blazing Sun Sword Qi, so your mastery must be quite deep. Although the shell of the Black Iron Back-Armored Beast is hard, it fears high-temperature scorching. If you were to take action, perhaps we could really take it down."

Chu Shi tapped his glabella lightly with his fingertips and lowered his head, pondering.

The Cold Marrow Jade Ganoderma's benefit to the Copper Bone Realm is indeed not small. If they took all of them, splitting half would mean about two stalks, which would be enough to push his bone tempering progress forward by a large margin.

As for the Black Iron Back-Armored Beast, a defensive Yao Beast at the Peak of the Middle Stage is indeed tricky, but it happens to clash with his Great Sun Vajra Body and Blazing Sun Body Casting Method, so there might be a chance of victory.

Moreover, the edge of the Cold Iron Mountains is some distance from the core area of the chaotic battle, and it is rarely visited by people. Taking action there means he wouldn't have to worry about people intercepting, making it much safer than fighting for resources in Golden Ear Valley.

"We can go take a look."

Chu Shi raised his eyes, his tone firm. "First, confirm the state of the Yao Beast and the terrain. If we can fight, we fight; if we can't, we retreat."

"That's great!"

Qiu Feng jumped up all at once, rubbing his hands together. "With Senior Brother Chu taking action, that broken shell will definitely be scorched until it howls!"

Qiu Yang also breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face. He had actually been tempted for a long time but didn't dare to bring it up because he wasn't confident. Now that Chu Shi had agreed, he felt a bit more anticipation.

The three of them didn't delay, packed up simply, and set off.

Qiu Yang led the way in front, specifically choosing secluded forest paths to avoid several areas where Martial Artists were active.

The further they went to the southwest, the heavier the chill in the air became, and the vegetation along the road was gradually covered with a layer of faint white frost.

The ground also changed from soft black soil to blue-gray gravel; they were already approaching the range of the Cold Iron Mountains.

After walking for about an hour, Qiu Yang suddenly raised his hand to signal a stop, pointed to a steep cliff in front, and said in a low voice:

"It's just ahead. That crevice is in the lower half of the cliff, blocked by vines. The Black Iron Back-Armored Beast usually lies at the cave entrance basking in the sun, so we have to sneak over carefully."