Chapter 61: A Vermilion Fruit Falling from the Sky

After the three Vajra Bamboos matured, they were swiftly cut down.

Zhao Xing began patiently crafting Herculean Straw Men.

Ever since defeating Zong Shichang during the Beginning-of-Autumn examination, he had not neglected his Straw Man arts; they accounted for a substantial portion of his cultivation. Every day, he would spend two to three hours crafting straw men in Xue Wenzhong's backyard.

Among them, the progress of the Herculean Straw Man was the fastest, because Zhao Xing found it exceptionally useful. Putting aside combat, even for moving bricks or plowing fields, the Herculean Straw Man was the primary choice.

Presently, among Zhao Xing's five straw man arts, the Replicating Straw Man was at the sixth turn.
The Entangling Straw Man was at the fifth turn.
The Swift-Traveling Straw Man was at the third turn.
The Thorny Straw Man was only at the second turn.
However, the Herculean Straw Man had already reached the seventh-turn level!

"Three Vajra Bamboos can probably make fifteen Herculean Vajras, but it has only been a little over two hours now. I might as well plant another batch."

"Green Vines are quite sufficient; three Green Vines are enough to make forty or fifty Entangling Straw Men."

Zhao Xing took out another three Vajra Bamboo saplings from his Bamboo Literature Box and planted them. Following that, he cast the Cloud-Gathering and Rain-Bringing technique, as well as the Flourishing Growth spell.

The spiritual Qi of East Lake Mountain was quite abundant. Even though a batch had already been planted there, Zhao Xing estimated that these three Vajra Bamboo saplings would mature in at most four or five hours.

The gathering clouds enshrouded the area beneath the cliff, and Zhao Xing began to focus intently on crafting straw men.

[You have crafted a straw man puppet (Herculean), Proficiency +5]
[Straw Man Puppet (Herculean)]
[Proficiency: 7201/9999]
[Utility: Indestructible, possessing boundless strength.]
........
[You have crafted a straw man puppet (Herculean), Proficiency +8]
[Straw Man Puppet (Herculean)]
[Proficiency: 7209/9999]
[Utility: Indestructible, possessing boundless strength.]
.........

The Straw Man arts were easy to learn but difficult to master. Once the Herculean Straw Man reached the seventh turn, it no longer provided proficiency to [All Vegetation Becomes Soldiers].

Even with the Vajra Bamboo materials used, the proficiency provided by the Herculean Straw Man itself was only in the single digits.

Zhao Xing's comprehension of spells had entered a smooth transitional period.
If he wanted to bring the Herculean Straw Man to perfection in a short time, he would have to use more and better materials.

"Go hide in the perimeter."

After producing four Herculean Vajras, Zhao Xing had them lie low in the soil not far away to act as ambushers.

Then he pulled off two Green Vines, made two fifth-turn straw men, and hid them in the trees, blending seamlessly with the environment.

With protection in place, Zhao Xing dedicated himself even more single-mindedly to the creation of the straw man puppets.

Immersed in deep concentration, he lost track of time.

Zhao Xing reached behind his back, but grabbed only empty air.

He discovered that the materials had been completely used up.

"Whew~"

Zhao Xing let out a long breath, straightened his back, and rubbed his eyes.

"It took an hour, but the fifteen Herculean Vajras are finally finished."

Slow work yields fine results; these fifteen Herculean Vajras were all products of extraordinary performance, possessing a rather remarkable spiritual charm.

"Crack~"

Zhao Xing plucked a handful of Green Vine fruits to satisfy his hunger, lying on the green vines while looking up at the sky.

Tianyuan Pears had to be eaten at a critical moment; eating them now would simply be a waste of resources.

"I wonder if Ziyu and Qian Dong entered the mountains. I didn't seem to see them this morning. Shen Zhui from the Martial Affairs Department is at the seventh tier of Qi Gathering; he has good popularity within the department and even invited companions, so he should be fine."

During his leisure time, he inadvertently thought of his friends, and Zhao Xing even felt a trace of worry for Zong Shichang.

"I wonder if that young master has descended the mountain. Huh? Why am I thinking about him? Could it really be that accepting someone's hospitality makes one soft-hearted, and taking someone's gifts makes one's hands short?"

Rolling over, Zhao Xing looked toward the distant mountain stream.

Suddenly, a black dot appeared at the edge of the sky, catching his attention.

Activating his Clear Vision spell, Zhao Xing looked far into the distance.

He saw that above the mountain stream, someone was actually riding a horse and flying across. The figure was holding a long spear and wearing armor, looking quite heroic and martial.

"Huh? A bamboo horse leaping across the stream, galloping through the empty air—which expert is this?"

"What is he jumping back and forth for?"

Zhao Xing watched in puzzlement.

He saw that bamboo-horse-riding knight repeatedly leaping across the stream; just from his watching, the knight had gone back and forth three or four times.

While in mid-air, this knight even stood up on the horse's back, gazing around in all directions as if searching for something.

"Is he harvesting spiritual essence?"

"I wonder what he has discovered."

The spiritual essence of the mountains could be a tree, an object, or even a handful of yellow soil, or a patch of clouds.

Zhao Xing's eyes flickered as he stared at that patch of the sky for a while, but he didn't notice any abnormalities.

"Too far away, I can't sense it."

A moment later, he withdrew his gaze and paid it no more attention.

Among the upper, middle, and lower grades of spiritual essence, the higher the grade, the vaguer the sensing became, making it even difficult to identify.

Able to defeat the eighth-tier Qi Gathering martial artist hired by Zong Shichang, this person's strength might even be at the ninth tier.

It was better to watch less.

...........

In the blink of an eye, dusk arrived. At this time, the three newly planted Vajra Bamboos of Zhao Xing were nearing maturity.

"The destructive power of wild growth is still too great. Even with East Lake Mountain's abundant primordial Qi, replanting in the exact same spot makes the second growth much slower," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

"Fortunately, they are almost ripe. Once they mature and I finish making the straw men, I'll switch to another location later. Tonight, I'll take a good rest to recover my primordial Qi, and head up the mountain tomorrow morning."

Just as he was patiently waiting for the Vajra Bamboos to mature—

Suddenly—

"Rustle~"

The branches above the Vajra Bamboos shook, and the sound of bamboo leaves rubbing against each other reached his ears, as if something had fallen down.

"No way, something dropped again?" Zhao Xing became alert, but the next moment he realized that the falling object shouldn't be very large.

At least, it wouldn't be a person.

"Could it be a rock falling off the cliff?"

Zhao Xing walked closer to the Vajra Bamboos and looked up following the sound.

He saw that lodged among the branches of the Vajra Bamboo was a fist-sized, crimson-red fruit.

"Thump~ Thump~"

Upon seeing this fruit, Zhao Xing's heart began to beat uncontrollably.

A premonition stirring in his heart!

This was the sensation triggered upon encountering spiritual essence!

"Damn, spiritual essence falling from the sky? This fruit was actually condensed from the spiritual essence of the mountains?"

However, before Zhao Xing could even approach—

"Rustle~"

"Rustle~"

Two more sounds rang out.

Two vermilion fruits fell right at Zhao Xing's feet.

One of them was only the size of a fist, but the other was actually as large as an infant's head!

"..."

Looking at the three vermilion fruits before him, Zhao Xing couldn't help feeling somewhat dumbfounded.

Judging from the sensing, these three vermilion fruits were at least lower-grade spiritual essence, and the largest one might even have reached the middle-grade level.

"Is Grade Two Destiny Qi this powerful? I haven't even gone up the mountain yet, just staying at the foot of the mountain, and I can pick up spiritual essence?"

Zhao Xing's heart beat relentlessly. The fragrance emitted by the fruits, just by a mere sniff, refreshed his spirit, and the primordial Qi consumed while crafting straw men actually recovered by half a percent.

"Thanks for nature's bounty." Zhao Xing smiled from ear to ear as he bent down to pick up the vermilion fruits.

However, at that very moment, the Disaster-Averting Almanac in his bosom suddenly flipped a page.

Simultaneously, a soft female voice came from the other side of the stream.

"Brother, so you were here all along. It has been so bitter for this maid to search for you~"