Chapter Six: Two Types of Spiritual Creatures

With immense strength backing him, the stones hurled by Yang Fan were as powerful as handheld cannons.

Bang...

One struck a stone pillar, carving out a deep pit. Another smashed into the python’s body, leaving a bloody hole.

The python began to slither frantically, its head raised high as it searched around, instantly locking onto Yang Fan and speeding toward him, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

Being stared down by the serpent’s gaze sent a tremor through Yang Fan’s heart. He kept throwing stones, though his aim was not perfect, but every hit sent the snake flying.

In just a short time, the python was left utterly crippled.

“My strength now is truly extraordinary!”

Looking at the blood-soaked, barely wriggling snake lying on the ground, Yang Fan leapt down, grabbed a large stone, and smashed it onto the serpent’s head.

Splatter...

The head was thoroughly crushed.

Gazing at the corpse, Yang Fan hesitated. Snake gall was a valuable item, but extracting it would inevitably stain him with blood.

In the mountain forests, the scent of blood was an invitation to disaster.

He shook his head, suppressing his greed, and looked toward the distant stone pillars, feeling another headache. Within his senses, he detected a yellow glow inside one of the pillars.

Though not bright, it was still a treasure.

He hefted a stone and began to smash the pillar.

Fortunately, the pillar was not thick; otherwise, he would have been powerless.

Soon enough, the pillar broke apart, revealing a thumb-sized yellow stone, within which a droplet of liquid shimmered. As he took it in hand, information flowed into his mind.

[Stone Yellow Jade]: Jade is a treasure of the earth, essence within stone, and Stone Yellow Jade is the finest of treasures, a rare gem among jade. Accumulated over ages, enduring the rise and fall of lands, it absorbs the earth’s essence and the radiance of sun and moon, sometimes birthing Stone Yellow Jade Essence. Contains a drop of jade essence, which can be converted into two points of vital energy.

Yang Fan absorbed it immediately.

The Stone Yellow Jade dimmed, losing its luster. With a squeeze, he crushed it into powder and tossed it aside. He was about to search for the Silver-Headed Scarlet Flame Ant when Yang Da Hu came running over.

“You killed the python?” He held a stick still bearing branches and, upon seeing the snake’s corpse, was astonished. He raised his thumb in admiration, “You’re incredible.”

“What brings you here?” Yang Fan walked over.

He activated his earth sense to search for traces of the Silver-Headed Scarlet Flame Ant.

“I was worried about you, didn’t expect you’d finish so quickly,” Yang Da Hu said with concern. “You weren’t hurt, right?”

“No! Do you know where the Silver-Headed Scarlet Flame Ant is hiding?” Yang Fan hadn’t found it yet.

“Over here, follow me!” Yang Da Hu was excited, having already found the discarded herb basket and the digging tool.

In a short while, Yang Fan discovered it too.

Beneath the rocks ahead was a small hole—the ant nest.

“It ran this way, but before I could catch up, the python entangled it. No idea where it burrowed. Yang Fan, let’s search carefully.” Yang Da Hu kicked aside nearby stones.

“Look, here’s a hole. The soil outside is clumped, clearly pushed out from within. Da Hu, try digging it open.”

“Alright!” Yang Da Hu rubbed his hands together, picked up the digging tool, and got to work.

Yang Fan looked elsewhere.

There were several mountain caves over there, each entrance barely a foot across, but inside they were deep, and the further in, the wider they became.

“It’s really here!” Yang Da Hu exclaimed in surprise.

Yang Fan glanced over and saw a Silver-Headed Scarlet Flame Ant scurrying out, only to be flattened by Da Hu’s shovel. He couldn’t help but say, “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry, these things are tough.” Yang Da Hu was even more excited now.

He dug out one after another, squashing them as they appeared.

The ants moved quickly, and when one escaped him, Yang Fan stepped in to pin it down.

Then he looked toward the cave entrance nearby, his brow furrowing and his expression darkening. He hurriedly said, “Da Hu, I feel uneasy. There’s probably a fierce beast hiding in that cave. The python’s blood scent is strong—chances are high it’ll be drawn here. Hurry!”

With that, he squatted down to dig too.

He unearthed a pigeon-egg-sized lump of black earth.

Yang Fan’s eyes gleamed.

[Silver Scarlet Essence]: The excrement of Silver-Headed Scarlet Flame Ants, aged over time, absorbing the earth’s metallic energy and transforming into this. Only found in their nests, with a rare chance of forming. A special material, containing 1.3 points of vital energy.

He sniffed lightly, then absorbed it.

For him, vital energy was more valuable than anything.

After absorbing, he crushed the Silver Scarlet Essence, letting it crumble in his hand.

Yang Da Hu glanced up at the cave, his expression growing more serious. He nodded quickly, “Alright!”

Seven ants!

Eight ants!

Nine ants!

Yang Fan suddenly looked toward the cave, where a spider emerged, twenty centimeters tall, with eight slender, jet-black legs like spears.

Most uncanny was the human-face pattern on its back.

More kept crawling out behind it.

“Ghostback Human Spider!” Yang Fan recognized it at once and shouted, “Stop digging, run!”

He sprang up and rushed over, swatting one aside with his shovel.

Several others were already heading their way.

They moved swiftly as the wind.

At the same time, they shot webs from their tails, which Yang Fan dodged easily, but another opened its mouth and spat out a stream of liquid.

Yang Fan knew better than to touch it.

He was well aware that insect secretions were almost always poisonous.

Dodging aside, the liquid landed on the ground, sizzling as it corroded the stones.

“Deadly stuff!”

Yang Fan’s face turned grim.

He saw Yang Da Hu had already collected the Silver-Headed Scarlet Flame Ants and urged him, “Go, now!”

“Alright!” Yang Da Hu noticed the danger, his face pale as he stood up. “You go too!”

He retreated first.

Looking back, he saw Yang Fan following, which made him pick up speed.

The Ghostback Human Spiders moved quickly, but they were faster, soon leaving the swarm behind.

Only then did they stop.

Glancing back, their scalps tingled with terror.

A mass of Ghostback Human Spiders had gathered around the python’s corpse, with even more swarming behind.

“If we were surrounded by those things…” Yang Da Hu shivered.

“We’d die!” Yang Fan’s scalp tingled too.

Old hunters often said the true terror of the mountains was not the fierce beasts, but the poisonous insects. Today, he’d learned firsthand. If they’d been trapped, there was no way out.

They lost all interest in foraging for herbs and headed straight for their base.

“Yang Fan, Brother Fan, my dear brother!” Yang Da Hu rubbed his hands, beaming obsequiously. “I caught ten in total. I only want three. With the herbs I gathered in the last few days, I’ll have enough to earn a spot. Don’t worry, I just want the spot. The money from selling them is all yours.”

“What do you take me for?” Yang Fan quickly waved his hand. “This is our joint effort. We split it half and half.”

“Nonsense!” Yang Da Hu shook his head. “Not to mention you saved my life, and you killed the python for these. How could I take advantage of you? That would weigh on my conscience—how cruel! Brother Fan, my dear brother, for the sake of my conscience, we must do it my way.”

“You’re older than me!”

“The grandson from Second Uncle’s house is older than me, but he still calls me uncle! Haha, who would have thought, I get to be a medicine apprentice—just thinking about it excites me.”

“Once you’re a medicine apprentice, life may be harder, more exhausting, and you’ll lose your freedom.”

“No matter how hard or tiring, is it worse than now? Every trip into the mountains is risking our lives. As an apprentice, at least there’s a bright future.”

Yang Da Hu, for once, became a bit more serious.

“That’s true!” Yang Fan said. “Da Hu, when we get back, you take six, I take four. I’ll let you have the chance to shine in front of everyone. You know I don’t like the limelight, but all the money is mine.”