Qin Shi Lei watched the retreating beast horde, disappearing over the horizon, and turned back into Feng Die Valley.
He hadn't expected there to be several thousand ordinary Illusionary Sound Butterflies milling about inside.
"Xiao Qiang, these guys are all yours."
Qin Shi Lei was too lazy to deal with these common pests himself.
In less than ten minutes, not a single live Illusionary Sound Butterfly could be seen in Feng Die Valley.
This also marked the official conquest of Feng Die Valley, which had boasted a Platinum-peak boss and nearly thirty Gold-level beasts, by Qin Shi Lei alone, along with hundreds of thousands of Illusionary Sound Butterflies.
At this moment, Qin Shi Lei had already collected all his spoils and, with the demeanor of a master, approached the ancient tree by the lake.
According to the Golden Armored Beetle, they had to offer a batch of rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures to the Frost Worm Emperor at regular intervals.
Although the Frost Worm Emperor might possess storage equipment similar to a spatial ring, there was still a chance that its palace hid some good treasures.
This was the perfect opportunity for Qin Shi Lei to search for treasures.
After searching most of the palaces, he failed to find any high-grade items that suited his needs.
Qin Shi Lei strode into the most magnificent palace atop the ancient tree.
This was likely the Frost Worm Emperor's dwelling.
As soon as he stepped inside, a bone-chilling coldness washed over him.
Simultaneously, wisps of chilling spiritual energy seeped into his body through the capillaries of his skin.
Following the source of the cold, Qin Shi Lei soon reached the innermost part of the palace.
What first met his eyes was a transparent ice crystal, nearly two meters tall.
Crystal Source (Ice): A source stone formed from the condensation of heaven and earth spiritual energy, possessing the ice attribute. It inherently contains a massive amount of ice-elemental spiritual energy. It can also absorb spiritual energy from the air and convert it into its own pure ice-elemental spiritual energy.
Nice!
To seal the Frost Worm Emperor, Qin Shi Lei had lost his only combat barrier, but gaining a source stone made him feel he had completely broken even.
Qin Shi Lei immediately sat down cross-legged near the crystal source and attempted to cultivate for a short while.
Although this crystal source was an ice-elemental source stone and not as convenient as his previous attribute-less one, it was perfectly usable for cultivation.
[Perform attribute refresh?]
[Refresh.]
Transformation (Red): This source stone will randomly transform into a source stone of another attribute.
Ice Seal Hundred Miles (Purple): The spiritual energy within the source stone will be released at once, creating an effect of freezing a hundred miles.
Whale Devouring Dragon Sucking (Purple): The efficiency of the source stone in absorbing and converting external spiritual energy is tripled.
He hadn't expected to find the top-tier attributes he couldn't get from his previous source stone on this one.
Qin Shi Lei joyfully fixed the Whale Devouring Dragon Sucking attribute.
Temporarily shifting his focus from the ice source stone, he resumed his search within the palace.
However, he didn't find another gem like the ice source stone. He stuffed all the ordinary items into his Qiankun Ring.
In a corner of the palace, he discovered an area resembling a warehouse.
He casually inspected several items, all of which were ordinary. He had no choice but to pack them all into his Qiankun Ring and have them sorted back in Hope City.
After emerging from the ancient tree, Qin Shi Lei meticulously searched the entire Feng Die Valley once more.
Flying to the end of the canyon, he was suddenly drawn to a small, fiery red tree halfway down the cliff face.
The small tree was only a little over two meters tall. Its trunk and leaves were all fiery red, and it bore twelve fruits the size of peanuts.
Qin Shi Lei curiously used his Purifying Purple Eyes to examine the small tree.
Mystic Spirit Fruit Tree: An ordinary heaven and earth spirit tree. The Mystic Spirit Fruits it bears can rapidly evolve exotic beasts.
... It's actually a spirit tree, I almost missed a treasure.
"I must transplant it. Only by planting it in my own small space can it be safe."
Qin Shi Lei made his decision instantly.
However, he was neither an agricultural expert nor a wood-elemental ability user.
He wondered if crudely transplanting the Mystic Spirit Fruit Tree would destroy it.
If he went back to Hope City to fetch Zhang Xiaoli before transplanting, he feared the Illusionary Sound Butterflies might return and dig up the spirit tree.
After a moment of contemplation, Qin Shi Lei decided to dig up the spirit tree directly.
He looked up at the Mystic Spirit Fruit Tree again.
[Perform attribute refresh?]
[Refresh.]
Robust Growth (Blue): The growth rate of the spirit tree increases by thirty percent.
Tenacity (Green): The spirit tree possesses the tenacity of a blade of grass; it can grow even in the most barren soil.
Increased Yield (Red): The yield of the spirit tree increases by thirty percent.
Qin Shi Lei thought for a moment and chose the Tenacity attribute.
He then took out a shovel, dug out a two-meter square clod of earth centered around the Mystic Spirit Fruits, and tightly wrapped it with cloth strips.
Holding the large clod of earth, he instantly teleported to Xiao Qiang's back and instructed him to fly towards the spatial rift.
Qin Shi Lei had originally intended to leave the Golden Armored Beetle in the insect world, letting it lead its subordinates in conquest there.
He hoped the beetle would find an opportunity to break through to the Platinum realm and eliminate more insects in that world.
However, after obtaining the ice source stone, Qin Shi Lei changed his mind.
He decided to have the Golden Armored Beetle stationed in Hope City to guard the ice source stone for him.
As for the Ant Queen, through faint sensations, he knew she was doing well and had even leveled up.
It seemed the ant colony was adapting well to the insect world, so he would let them continue to wreak havoc there.
Despite carrying several tons of spirit tree and soil, Xiao Qiang's speed was not diminished. A few hours later, they successfully returned to Hope City.
He called Zhang Xiaoli, and together they entered the small space.
They found a spot near the spirit spring and planted the Mystic Spirit Fruit Tree.
He took a bucket and poured two large buckets of spirit spring water onto the spirit tree.
"Revive!"
Zhang Xiaoli chanted incantations and cast several abilities on the spirit tree.
With their combined efforts, the Mystic Spirit Fruit Tree, which had started to look a bit wilted, regained its vibrant fiery red state.
[Perform attribute refresh?]
[Refresh.]
Increased Yield (Green): The yield of the spirit tree increases by twenty percent.
Rapid Growth (Red): The growth rate of the spirit tree doubles.
Accelerated Growth (Purple): As long as sufficient energy is provided, the growth rate of the Mystic Spirit Fruit Tree will increase tenfold, and the fruit maturation speed will also increase tenfold.
Qin Shi Lei chose the Accelerated Growth attribute without hesitation.
What did "sufficient energy provided" mean? Could this spirit tree, like the Enlightenment Tea Tree, absorb and devour exotic beasts?
Qin Shi Lei tried burying a small exotic beast near the spirit tree. After a quarter of an hour, there was no reaction.
On the other hand, when watered with spiritual energy or when Zhang Xiaoli cast wood-elemental abilities on it, he could clearly see the fruits slowly growing and new buds sprouting from the spirit tree.
"Husband, do you think burying crystal cores next to the spirit tree will promote its growth?"
Zhang Xiaoli suddenly proposed an imaginative idea.
"Let's try and see." Qin Shi Lei took out a few crystal cores and threw them into the pit he had dug earlier.
The spirit tree's fine roots immediately grew out, wrapped around the crystal cores, and in a blink of an eye, melted them into nutrients.
The new buds that had just sprouted from the spirit tree slowly unfurled and then grew into complete leaves.
"We don't have enough of our own crystal cores for ourselves, so for now, let's just water it with spirit spring,"
Qin Shi Lei said helplessly.
"Okay," Zhang Xiaoli nodded in response, "I'll come and cast more spirit spells on it every day."