Mortal Alchemy

On the vast expanse of Wandao Lake.

Chen Ping had been flying for two hours, covering over two hundred miles.

This was his first time venturing so deep into Wandao Lake, where numerous uninhabited islands dotted the landscape, and the spiritual energy was sparse and mixed.

Chen Ping asked, "Brother Diao, are we not there yet?"

"Ying, ying, ying." The Treasure-Seeking Sable peeked its silver-white head out from Chen Ping's sleeve, chirping a few times.

It meant that they hadn't arrived yet and would have to wait a little longer.

Chen Ping wasn't flying fast, paying attention to the Treasure-Seeking Sable's reactions to avoid missing the direction of the Jade Marrow Mushroom.

After another hour of flight, Chen Ping had been in Wandao Lake for three hours, flying three hundred miles, but still hadn't seen the end of the lake.

The lake was simply too vast.

Suddenly, the Treasure-Seeking Sable chirped excitedly twice.

Chen Ping jolted, quickly stopping his flight and looking at the Treasure-Seeking Sable in his sleeve. "Brother Diao, are you saying that the Jade Marrow Mushroom is on an island nearby?"

"Ying." The Treasure-Seeking Sable nodded its little head.

Chen Ping's heart burned with excitement. He took a deep breath and slowly controlled the flying gourd to descend toward the island below.

The island directly below was irregularly shaped, about six or seven acres in size.

Its surface was covered in dense forest.

Chen Ping landed cautiously, his eyes alert and wary. He lightly tapped his storage bag and took out the Green Bamboo Jade Sword.

This sword was currently a first-grade, mid-tier magic weapon. Since being reforged, this was the first time Chen Ping had taken it out to use.

Arriving on a new island, he didn't know what dangers might be hidden within. Moreover, if there really was a Jade Marrow Mushroom here, then there would definitely be a powerful demon beast guarding it.

His other hand gently held the Radiant Prism.

"Ying, ying." The Golden-Fur Treasure-Seeking Sable crawled out of Chen Ping's sleeve, ran a few steps ahead with great agility, and then turned its head to chirp at Chen Ping.

It meant for Chen Ping to follow it.

Chen Ping said, "Brother Diao, I don't know if there are any dangers here. It's better for us to proceed slowly."

He had been searching for the Jade Marrow Mushroom for so long, he didn't mind taking a little extra time to walk through these six or seven acres.

But if some hidden danger caused him to fail, or if he lost the Treasure-Seeking Sable, it would be a greater loss.

"Ying." The Golden-Fur Treasure-Seeking Sable responded, its movements no longer as fast as before, but rather walking slowly on the ground, leading Chen Ping.

As Chen Ping walked, he kept his spirit extremely tense, his eyes constantly observing the surrounding environment, looking for any dark places.

After walking slowly for half an hour, the Treasure-Seeking Sable stopped in front of the entrance to an underground cave.

Its pair of intelligent little eyes showed fear.

"Ying, ying."

"Brother Diao, are you saying that the Jade Marrow Mushroom is inside, but it's dangerous for you?"

"Ying."

Chen Ping's expression changed slightly. He took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with a resolute and indifferent light:

"Even if it's a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, I have to venture inside!"

He said:

"Brother Diao, if it's dangerous inside, hide in my sleeve. I will protect you."

The Treasure-Seeking Sable immediately burrowed into Chen Ping's sleeve, only poking out its little head and a small paw.

Chen Ping used the Turtle Breath Technique, tore open an Invisibility Talisman, held the sword in one hand, and pinched the Radiant Prism in the other, slowly stepping into the dark underground cave.

As he walked inside, Chen Ping felt that the cave was a completely different environment from the outside.

Warm, humid, and full of gravel.

It was very similar to the dojo in the Mu family's Pill Hall, where there was a ground vein spirit fire underground. If there was enough water here, it would be a hot spring.

This scene alone allowed Chen Ping to judge that there was a ground vein spirit fire here.

But not every ground vein spirit fire could nurture a Jade Marrow Mushroom. It also depended on the spirit fire's attributes and the surrounding environment.

The Golden-Fur Treasure-Seeking Sable's nose was much more sensitive than Chen Ping's. After walking inside for a short time, the Treasure-Seeking Sable in his sleeve trembled in fear, as if there was great terror inside.

And Chen Ping soon saw a huge snakeskin.

The width of this snakeskin was three or four meters, and its body length was probably over a hundred meters?

A demon snake with a body length of over a hundred meters... just thinking about it made Chen Ping's scalp tingle. What level of cultivation would this snake demon have?

"Could this cave be a snake den, with a snake den above ground and a fish nest underground?"

Chen Ping continued to walk inside, and saw a huge, ferocious spider with eyes all over its head.

However, this spider demon only had the aura of a first-grade, initial-stage demon, and posed no threat to Chen Ping.

Moreover, Chen Ping used an Invisibility Talisman, so even if Chen Ping walked in front of the spider demon, it wouldn't notice him.

The Golden-Fur Treasure-Seeking Sable's intelligent eyes showed surprise. This demon actually didn't notice it. How magical.

In order not to alert the snake, Chen Ping didn't kill the spider demon. Otherwise, a Golden Light Spell would have killed the spider demon.

Continuing to walk inside, Chen Ping's heart couldn't help but beat faster. He was very worried about encountering that huge snake demon.

However, just as he was about to reach the end, red light appeared in front of him, and Chen Ping's nose smelled the fragrance of the Jade Marrow Mushroom. He didn't see the huge snake demon.

"Could this snake demon not be home?"

Chen Ping felt a slight relief in his heart. This was a good thing for him.

Walking to the deepest part of the underground cave, Chen Ping saw magma, spirit fire, and lake water.

On the rock above the magma, there grew a golden and translucent Jade Mushroom, with fragrant golden jade marrow flowing through its center.

"Jade Marrow Mushroom!" Chen Ping couldn't help but feel excited.

He had been in this Wandao Lake market for almost a year, and he had finally seen the Jade Marrow Mushroom!

But he didn't dare to be too excited, because in the lake water next to the magma, there was a huge fish demon.

"How come there's a Fish King here too?" Chen Ping's heart was filled with fear of this Flame Blade Fish King.

When he came over, he saw the Flame Blade Fish King with blood-red eyes searching for traces of human cultivators everywhere.

And now, there was actually a fish demon in the depths of this cave.

"Two half-step second-grade Flame Blade Fish Kings?"

The Flame Blade Fish King in front of him had many injuries, which made Chen Ping speculate:

"Could it be that this Flame Blade Fish King fought with other demons to compete for the Jade Marrow Mushroom, drove them away, and wanted to enjoy the Jade Marrow Mushroom alone?"

The aura emitted by the half-step second-grade Flame Blade Fish King made the Golden-Fur Treasure-Seeking Sable in his sleeve tremble.

And Chen Ping didn't dare to pick the Jade Marrow Mushroom rashly.

The power of the half-step second-grade Fish King was terrifying. In this cave, once he was attacked by it, Chen Ping, who had not yet broken through the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, would not be able to resist it.

Now that he had already seen the Jade Marrow Mushroom, Chen Ping didn't want to fail at the last moment.

He wanted to safely and securely take the Jade Marrow Mushroom away.

He slowly retreated from the underground cave and returned to the island.

Chen Ping's eyes were indifferent and firm:

"I have to lure the Fish King away."

"Then, I'll get the Jade Marrow Mushroom and leave Wandao Lake immediately, returning to the Mu family."

Chen Ping opened his storage bag to check, and there were still many talisman stocks inside.