Mortal Alchemy

Within the territory of the Heavenly Fox.

Chen Ping arrived before the fourth-order Vajra Wrathful Gaze Tree, his eyes filled with greed:

"A fourth-order spirit tree..."

Outside the Changtian Secret Realm, it was difficult to find even a second-order spiritual plant. In his decades of cultivation, Chen Ping had never seen a third-order spiritual plant.

Now, before him was a fourth-order spiritual plant. If he could take it away and plant it on a spiritual vein in the Hao Jade Sea, the fruits it bore would be incredibly powerful.

Unfortunately, with his current strength, Chen Ping couldn't move this fourth-order Vajra Wrathful Gaze Tree.

Fourth-order spiritual plants had already developed their own intelligence to some extent. With great fortune, they could even transform into human form and cultivate like people.

By the time Chen Ping had enough strength, he would no longer have the opportunity to enter the Changtian Secret Realm.

Which meant that no one could take this fourth-order Vajra Wrathful Gaze Tree away.

"What a pity," Chen Ping sighed, shaking his head.

But obtaining a Vajra Wrathful Gaze Fruit was already a stroke of luck unimaginable to other Foundation Establishment cultivators. He should be content and not too greedy.

Of course, Chen Ping wouldn't reveal that he had a Vajra Wrathful Gaze Fruit. If anyone asked, he would deny it.

The Heavenly Fox King sat on her jade throne, surrounded by various second-order spiritual fruits.

With the Heavenly Fox's help, Zhou Ying and Pei Fengge had gathered another large batch of second-order spiritual herbs. If all these points were given to Chen Ping, his total would exceed eight thousand, securing his first place!

"I'll grab one more fourth-order spiritual herb and then stop."

"Little White, Little Tiger, there are still three places in this Changtian Secret Realm with fourth-order spiritual herbs. Which one should I choose?"

The Heavenly Fox King rolled her eyes and said in a delicate voice, "Master should choose the Ghost Ginseng Demon," seemingly with ill intentions.

The Crimson-Eyed Tiger King said, "Master, with Little White's assistance, you should choose the Gold-Devouring Ants. The Ghost Ginseng Demon hides underground and will fight to the death if provoked."

"Master only wants to take the spiritual herb. I can use sonic attacks, and Little White can use illusionary powers. With this combined approach, we can control the Gold-Devouring Ants, making it easier for Master to take the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine!"

Chen Ping narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly, "Alright, then we'll choose the Gold-Devouring Ants."

Although the Heavenly Fox King had become his spiritual pet, she was restless and always trying to harm Chen Ping in order to regain her freedom.

It seemed that he had to be wary of the Heavenly Fox King and assign her all the dirty and tiring work.

...

In the waterside pavilion.

"Hmm?"

"Junior Brother Chen Ping actually didn't kill the Heavenly Fox King, but subdued her as a spiritual pet!"

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator subduing a third-order demon king as a spiritual pet is indeed a rare occurrence."

"Judging by this, he's going to seek a fourth-order spiritual herb?"

Bai Jianjia's eyes faintly revealed excitement and anticipation, "Which spiritual herb will Junior Brother choose?"

With Chen Ping's current combat power, plus two spiritual pets, he was definitely qualified to compete for a fourth-order spiritual herb in this Changtian Secret Realm.

The Luo Que Python, Ghost Ginseng Demon, and Gold-Devouring Ants were all extremely troublesome demon beasts, with the Luo Que Python being the most ferocious.

Seeing the direction Chen Ping was heading, everyone's spirits lifted, "He's going to choose the Gold-Devouring Ants. That's a tough nut to crack."

Among the fifty Foundation Establishment disciples, thirty had died at the mouths of the Gold-Devouring Ants. Only a dozen were still struggling to survive the encirclement, seeking a breakthrough.

The Gold-Devouring Ants were small, extremely fast, and had sharp teeth. They fed on metal and were best suited for sneak attacks and assassinations.

A deep basin, resembling a mine, was the territory of the Gold-Devouring Ants.

The White Jade Flying Boat arrived, and Chen Ping stood on the deck, looking down, "There are many mine tunnels here. How do we find the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine?"

The mine tunnels were dense and numerous, with countless Gold-Devouring Ants gnawing on metal, like mining operations.

Although ants were weak, they could devour elephants with accumulated strength.

Chen Ping didn't dare to be careless. He put away the White Jade Flying Boat, and everyone cast invisibility charms to conceal their aura.

The Heavenly Fox King rolled her eyes and said, "Master, it's simple. I'll use illusion magic to control a Gold-Devouring Ant and have it lead us to the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine."

Chen Ping's expression remained unchanged. The Heavenly Fox King's words sounded fine at first, but upon closer inspection, there was a big problem.

The Gold-Devouring Ant was controlled by her. Whether it led them to the spiritual herb or to the ant king was up to her, and Chen Ping and the others couldn't tell the truth from the false.

If the Heavenly Fox King wanted to harm Chen Ping and force him to lift the spiritual pet contract in the face of death, that would be a big problem.

This Heavenly Fox King had many tricks up her sleeve.

Chen Ping said, "What you said makes sense. How about this, you and Little Tiger go. You use illusion magic to control the Gold-Devouring Ant and then bring back the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine."

"I'll wait for you here."

The Heavenly Fox King's delicate and sweet voice trembled slightly, "Master, I am delicate and weak, and the Gold-Devouring Ants are my natural enemies..."

Chen Ping's eyes were cold, with a flash of killing intent, "I'll give you three months to bring back the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine. If you do, I'll spare your life. If you do it sooner, I might even lift the spiritual pet contract and give you your freedom."

"But if you can't bring back the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine, it's useless for me to keep a waste like you. It's better to die inside."

This Heavenly Fox King was trying to outsmart him and had forgotten who was the master and who was the spiritual pet.

This time, the Heavenly Fox King's cleverness backfired and trapped herself.

The Heavenly Fox King gritted her teeth and left with the Crimson-Eyed Tiger King. Then, starlight surged, and the Heavenly Tiger King successfully used illusion magic to control a batch of Gold-Devouring Ants and began to sneak into the territory in search of the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine.

Beside Chen Ping, Zhou Ying said, "Senior Brother, what do we do?"

Chen Ping had already entrusted the most dangerous task to the two spiritual pets.

Chen Ping frowned slightly, "Obtaining this fourth-order spiritual herb is not easy. There are so many Gold-Devouring Ants. We need to set up some backup plans nearby."

The Heavenly Fox King, as the weakest one, had already made Chen Ping exhausted. Provoking these Gold-Devouring Ants would likely be even more dangerous, so it was best to set up some formations and talismans.

...

It must be said that the Heavenly Fox King successfully infiltrated the territory of the Gold-Devouring Ants.

"Hmm? Human cultivators?" The Heavenly Fox King didn't expect to encounter more than a dozen living human cultivators underground, surrounded by dense swarms of Gold-Devouring Ants.

"The ant king is not someone to be trifled with." The Heavenly Fox King didn't want to risk her life by being targeted by the ant king because of the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine.

But she couldn't stand the anger and wanted to retaliate against Chen Ping, wanting to let Chen Ping experience the feeling of near-death.

Now that the Heavenly Fox King encountered these dozen human cultivators, her eyes rolled, and she immediately came up with a wicked idea.

She immediately controlled a batch of Gold-Devouring Ants, deliberately allowing these dozen human cultivators to find a breakthrough and head towards the direction of the Eight-Leaf Jade Luo Vine.