Chapter 75: Chapter 58: Searching for Bait to Hunt the Fox (Update 4)
Zhang Chen’s skill upgrade filled his heart with passion, motivating him to eagerly dig the soil.
"How strange! The Dragon Qi siphons the water vapor from a region, yet it can’t affect the frozen soil at all. Truly peculiar!" Zhang Chen carried out all the baked soft soil from last night, and watched the ice with no loss of water vapor, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.
"Could it be that ice truly no longer belongs to the domain of water?" Zhang Chen touched the piercing cold ice before him, a thought flashed through his mind, at least his Water Control Technique was ineffective against ice.
Seeing that even the Dragon Qi was helpless against the ice, Zhang Chen felt somewhat relieved, a look of contemplation in his eyes: "It seems it’s not that my skill is lacking, rather this ice no longer falls within the realm of water."
Zhang Chen dug out the soil and went outside to fetch firewood, which he carried back into the cave. Inside, he lit a fire to roast the frost-covered soil.
Stepping out of the cave, Zhang Chen watched the wisps of smoke slowly rise within and shook his head in contemplation: "I really want to block this cave entrance with soil to prevent being spied upon, but that wouldn’t work since blocking the oxygen would extinguish the flame inside. The cave is inherently oxygen-deficient, sealing it for long periods would definitely extinguish the fire. Too bad I don’t know how to make a smokeless stove, otherwise, it wouldn’t be such a hassle. Fortunately, this place is deep in the wilderness, infested with wolves, leopards, and bugs, so I don’t fear people coming over anytime soon."
Clearing the traces on the ground, Zhang Chen traced his steps yesterday to the water source, sensing the underground moisture, finding no reduction. It remained abundant, which eased his mind quite a bit.
Zhang Chen drew out some moisture, forming it into a water mass the size of a water tank, and washed off the soil from his body, not a speck of dust remained. Only then did Zhang Chen leave, satisfied. He wanted to explore further into the mountains to seek out mountain resources.
Currently, with three enchantment skills, he can convert passive into active and actively probe the Fox Spirit. He just lacked bait, and lately, the Fox Spirit rarely visits his home; he must find bait to attract it.
He spotted a Sika Deer yesterday, which makes for the best bait. Perhaps today, he could find a way to hunt one.
The Fox Spirit loves Sika Deer meat; if I can hunt some, the Fox Spirit will surely come to my home. Then I can use the Golden Light to test the Fox Spirit’s methods.
As Zhang Chen walked through the mountains, he casually broke off a tree branch and infused it with Golden Light. To the naked eye, it was just an ordinary tree branch, but with his Dharma Eye, it glowed with golden light, exuding divine power that seemed capable of dispelling all evil.
"I wonder if my Golden Light infusion can change the properties of the tree branch, like Sword Qi, making it indestructible." Zhang Chen wielded the branch against a nearby tree, only for it to snap and break into two pieces at his feet.
"Oh well, I was thinking too much! Golden Light Retention really is just that—retention against mysterious power without any real-world effect." Zhang Chen watched the two broken pieces of the branch; the golden light circulating within did not fade away.
"The existence of Golden Light does not disappear even with the destruction of objects." Zhang Chen looked at the snapped twig, pondering, then proceeded to break it into seven or eight segments. His eyes saw the golden light continuing to shine within, without any diminishing or dissipating features.
Zhang Chen took a hammer, smashed the twig into fragments, yet saw each piece still imbued with golden light with unchanged properties.
"My conclusion is clearly correct, but now I wonder if that Golden Light can attach to living beings. If it can, surely it will possess astounding capabilities, and the potential becomes vast." Zhang Chen’s eyes sparkled with golden light as he glanced at the chisel in his hand, casually tossing away the branch and scanning his surroundings, seeing no traces of ’strange aura’, he felt at ease walking through the mountains.
"Even in the mountains, I fear no dangers. As long as my Beast Taming Technique exists, no creature in the wilderness can touch me; I am the king of these forests!" Zhang Chen carried a basket, continuously climbing the mountain. Since the day of his rebirth and bloodline transformation, though he hadn’t gained strength, fatigue seldom affected him. By manipulating his blood to accelerate circulation and nutrient supply, all weariness dissipated, leaving him unburdened and unprecedentedly agile.
"Though my previous blood absorption seemed pointless, it was not in vain." Zhang Chen felt the constant supply of energy within his blood, speculating in his heart.
Traversing seven or eight mountains, the area was now desolate, without human presence, and the landscape was filled with brambles. Zhang Chen, confident due to his talent superpower, dared to venture into this deep dark forest.
Unknown birds chirped in his ears, and animals occasionally darted up, fleeing into the dense woods.
Zhang Chen didn’t chase them, knowing the forest was filled with tangled branches and weeds, making it difficult to squeeze through, let alone running after them.
"The desolate deep forest is eerily terrifying; were it not for my Beast Taming skills allowing me to sense all animals within a hundred meters, I’d be wary to tread easily." In his spiritual world, the presence of animals within a hundred meters emerged naturally, giving him ample time to react and avoid snake bites.
And he carried Dragon Qi; poisonous snakes and insects dared not attack, instead exuding a sense of closeness.
"These snakes are really dense!"
Zhang Chen brushed aside a branch before him, surprising him as it twisted urgently to climb the shrub—this was no branch but a well-camouflaged venomous snake!
He patted his shoulder, where a colorful spider the size of a rice grain had landed unnoticed. Zhang Chen knew this spider, infamous for its venom within the nearby regions; a human bitten would become infested, breeding countless larvae in their bloodstream.
The spider silently perched on Zhang Chen’s shoulder without attacking, instead emitting an unusual closeness that Zhang Chen inexplicably sensed.
"This spider is quite interesting." Zhang Chen extended his hand, gently stroked the spider, which obediently crawled onto his fingertip, blinking at Zhang Chen with an adorable charm.
The spider was beautiful, vibrant like a colorful Crystal Stone, yet its venom was feared widely, capable of killing humans.
ps: Four Chapters presented today, seeking continued readership from my brothers.