22: Chapter 22 King Cobra

The Wild Boar King was becoming increasingly intelligent. Seeing Lu Hu take out unfamiliar herbs, it knew to proactively put on the plow, huffing and puffing as it plowed the land and dug pits.

Plowing every day, the Wild Boar King's fat body also underwent changes. While maintaining its massive size, it also developed slightly bulging muscles. If it kept this up for a while, the Wild Boar King might just become a muscular, fierce hog.

"Good pig, good pig!"

Lu Hu cheered, having already decided to boost the Wild Boar King's intelligence a bit.

When the time came, it would be the veritable Grand Marshal of Pigs under his command, King Tiger!

After all three types of medicinal herbs were transplanted, for the next few days, Lu Hu brought Tiger Dad and General Hei along to cultivate together.

Tiger Dad's intelligence was growing higher and higher, and the breathing techniques it followed from Lu Hu were becoming increasingly profound.

As for General Hei, although it had a cultivation technique, it clearly didn't match it well. Moreover, Lu Hu was a cultivator, so imitating Lu Hu's breathing method was far better than its own technique.

While cultivating, Lu Hu also frequently checked on the growth of the green lotus. For some reason, even though he used spirit fertilizer and spirit soil, the green lotus was still growing very slowly.

Lu Hu felt helpless. He didn't have a method for cultivating the green lotus, so he could only do his best to make the green lotus's growing environment comfortable.

Days passed by, and in the blink of an eye, it was time to harvest the transplanted medicinal herbs.

The three 'harvest' tasks for the dendrobium, spatholobus, and sedum were all completed. After the seventh task was finished, there wasn't the gift package reward Lu Hu had imagined.

"It seems it's one, three, five, ten."

Lu Hu guessed that upon completing the tenth task, a gift package reward might appear.

Having completed three herbal tasks this time, he unlocked three brand-new tasks. Lu Hu took a glance; they were once again herbs not found nearby, requiring him to search further afield.

Lu Hu was in no rush to set off. He was used to resting and planned to rest for another three days.

Lu Hu slipped into the sinkhole and stood before a spirit ginseng.

This spirit ginseng was from the first spirit ginseng seed he had obtained. After planting it, except for a few days in the middle when he lacked funds and didn't apply spirit fertilizer, it had been absorbing spirit fertilizer to accelerate its growth the entire time; one day was equivalent to one year.

Calculating it, this spirit ginseng was roughly seventy years old and contained an immense amount of spiritual energy. Just standing in front of it, one could absorb that pure vital energy.

When Tiger Dad slept, it no longer slept under the Tiger Fruit Tree. Like General Hei, it lay beside the spirit ginseng, absorbing the vital energy emitted by the spirit ginseng.

Lu Hu estimated that once this spirit ginseng became a century-old spirit ginseng, the medicinal power it contained would be enough for him to break through to the third stage.

He had been stuck at the second stage for two months. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth was thin, and there wasn't enough energy to support his breakthrough.

tiger fruit, in the end, did not count as a spiritual object. The energy it contained was useless to the current Lu Hu, even if he ate a large amount.

The spiritual power needed to break through to the third stage could only be pinned on this spirit ginseng.

Lu Hu looked up and gazed into the distance. The ten Tiger Fruit Trees were all bearing fruit under the reinforcement of spirit fertilizer, emitting an alluring scent every day.

Added to the scent emitted by other spiritual herbs like the spirit ginseng, divine ganoderma, mountain essence, and epimedium, even though the sinkhole was secluded and hundreds of meters deep, it was impossible to conceal this spiritual energy.

These past few days, many birds had already flown into the sinkhole, and he had even seen beasts that had fallen to their deaths on the edges.

This situation had not stopped since the Strong Tiger Fruit Tree matured a few months ago; animals were constantly smelling the scent and wanting to jump down into the sinkhole.

"Roar~"

Lu Hu cultivated on the spot. In just half an hour, he had completely absorbed the spiritual energy in the sinkhole, along with all the scents emitted by the Tiger Fruit Trees, spirit ginseng, and other spiritual herbs.

Lu Hu finished his cultivation. The spiritual herbs continued to emit spiritual energy, but for it to diffuse outside the sinkhole, it required half a day of accumulation. By then, Lu Hu just needed to cultivate once more.

Without an effective method to conceal the scent of the spiritual herbs, Lu Hu could only choose this clumsy method.

The next day, Tiger Dad returned from hunting. To Lu Hu's surprise, the prey it brought back this time was a large snake. When straightened out, it was estimated to be over four meters long; this was a King Cobra.

Lu Hu didn't know many snakes, but a cobra, with that iconic flat head, was easy to recognize.

It was also thanks to Tiger Dad's increasingly picky taste in food lately; the prey it caught would always be left with a breath of life, so when it was time to actually eat, it would still be fresh.

This King Cobra was still alive.

Lu Hu stopped Tiger Dad from killing the snake. The King Cobra had some fame; Lu Hu had heard of this kind of snake.

The King Cobra's venom was not the most potent among venomous snakes, but it was the most generous.

No matter how large the target prey was, as long as it was bitten, the venom would be injected as if for the size of a bull, even if the prey was a rabbit or a mouse.

Being generous with its attacks was an advantage other venomous snakes didn't have; it could secrete a large amount of venom at once, and the volume of its venom was said to be enough to take down an adult elephant.

Although Tiger Dad's physique had become stronger and it had internal energy, if it were bitten by a King Cobra, it wouldn't be able to handle it. The fact that it dared to keep it alive and bring it back showed it had real guts.

His attempt to cultivate the Poison Spirit Body had failed last time; with this King Cobra, perhaps he could make some progress.

Lu Hu took matters into his own hands, using Earth Manipulation techniques to create a cage, locked the snake inside, and caught a rabbit to feed it.

He planned to keep it to use for cultivating the Poison Spirit Body.

...

Hiss, hiss~~

The King Cobra was held by Lu Hu, with a porcelain bottle pressed against its mouth, forcibly squeezing out the venom. Once the King Cobra was so weak it didn't even want to move, Lu Hu threw it back into the cage and tossed in a rabbit for feeding.

Looking at the half-bottle of venom in the porcelain bottle, Lu Hu sighed with emotion. As expected of a King Cobra, its venom output was truly massive.

In just a few times, he had managed to get almost ten grams of venom.

It was time to give it a try.

Lu Hu poured the venom onto his body and operated the Body Tempering Art to absorb the venom into his body.

Lu Hu did not use spiritual power to resist the toxins. For a moment, Lu Hu felt dizzy, and the scenery before his eyes was swaying.

"Awooo~" (It's... quite potent.)

Lu Hu shook his head and quickly returned to normal. This poison was truly fierce; even he had briefly had an adverse reaction. He must keep the snake locked up tight.

If Tiger Dad were bitten, it would be over.

Bang!

Lu Hu lay on the ground, operating the Body Tempering Art; his body's immunity to the toxins was visibly improving.

Lu Hu was cultivating, Tiger Dad was in the Tiger King Valley urging the Wild Boar King to work, and General Hei was out hunting.

Meanwhile, a white-haired old man stumbled along and arrived above the sinkhole. His cloudy eyes saw the sinkhole below, which was obscured by dense fog and whose depth was impossible to discern. He took a scroll of paper from his bosom, opened it, and compared it with the sinkhole. After a long while, the old man's body trembled with excitement, his eyes welling with tears.

"Found it, I have finally found it."

"The legendary place where the Medical Immortal lived in seclusion in his later years, I have finally found it, hahahahaha... I found it! Hahahaha..."

"Hahahaha... The Medical Immortal's inheritance... Hahahaha... It's too late, it's too late!"

...

The old man laughed and cried. He had found the Medical Immortal's seclusion place, and the Medical Immortal's inheritance was in this sinkhole.

But it was already too late. What good would it do to find the Medical Immortal's inheritance? He was already at the end of his rope, beyond saving!

"It was my life's wish after all. Let me see the Medical Immortal's inheritance before I die."

The old man murmured, took a pill from his bosom, and without hesitation, swallowed it in one gulp.

Soon, the old man's complexion became rosy, and his aura of twilight dissipated.

Bending his legs slightly, the old man jumped straight down. His figure was agile, light as a spirit monkey, as he descended along the wall of the sinkhole.

"Why is it so deep!!"

...