Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Spirit Beast
"This is a Purple Ink Mandala, with nine petals at maturity. According to the herbal medicine compendium, the Purple Ink Mandala is highly poisonous; even a light touch on the petals could allow the poison to seep into the body. Spiritualists of Tier One and Tier Two would die upon contact, and if ingested mistakenly, even Tier Four and Tier Five Spiritualists would suffer internal organ decay, making survival difficult."
After listening to Xiaopang’s explanation, Huang Xiaojia and Xiong Gang swiftly moved back a dozen meters, goosebumps rising all over.
Xiaopang also took a few steps back, swallowed, and said:
"I don’t know how to safely dig out the Purple Ink Mandala... maybe we should just forget about this flower."
"Mm, mm!"
Huang Xiaojia and Xiong Gang nodded like pecking chickens.
"Then let’s go."
Xiaopang looked reluctantly at the Purple Ink Mandala; the software showed that a mature Purple Ink Mandala was worth around 2 million, with each petal valued at over 200,000.
Although 2 million wasn’t a huge amount for him, and splitting it four ways would leave only 500,000 each, earning money himself was quite different from relying on family.
"Wait a minute."
Just as the three were about to turn and leave, Qin Tian spoke up suddenly.
"Brother Qin Tian, do you need something?" Xiaopang asked.
Qin Tian: "Can I borrow your tools?"
"Huh?"
Xiaopang was surprised, "You don’t intend to dig it up yourself, do you?"
"Brother Qin Tian, herb gathering is a technical task. If you accidentally touch the petals or damage the roots, causing poison leakage, the consequences would be severe."
"Mm, mm! Better not dig it up," Huang Xiaojia also advised in support.
"Don’t worry, my constitution is special, and I have a high resistance to poison."
Qin Tian calmly said, "Just give me the tools, and you all step back a bit."
Special constitution?
The group exchanged glances, and a term simultaneously surfaced in their minds—
Bloodline Martial Artist
All along, the Spiritual Energy intensity Qin Tian displayed in martial arts class was not high, in terms of depth, it might not even match the weakest in the class.
However, Qin Tian was able to defeat the class’s strongest, Xiang Dongyang, without relying on Spiritual Energy.
So everyone speculated
that Qin Tian is a Bloodline Martial Artist
and also a Martial Artist with a very high bloodline level.
This speculation was confirmed by Qin Tian’s recent statement.
He really is a Bloodline Martial Artist.
Mixed feelings flashed in Xiaopang and the others’ eyes. They came from wealthy families, but compared to those well-established bloodline clans, mere wealth seemed insignificant indeed.
In their view, Qin Tian must hail from a prestigious bloodline family; otherwise, he wouldn’t be so aloof.
"Brother Qin Tian, here, be careful."
Xiaopang handed gloves, a shovel, and a sealed box to Qin Tian and immediately ran back a dozen meters, watching from afar.
Qin Tian symbolically put on the gloves and mimicked Xiaopang’s previous herb-gathering process, slowly digging out the rocks around the Purple Ink Mandala, then using the shovel to dig down, doing his best to preserve the root system intact.
But since it was his first time handling it, he still accidentally damaged the roots during the process, causing purple juice to flow out, leaving purple marks on the gloves.
Qin Tian put the Purple Ink Mandala in the box, snapped the seal shut, and then tossed the box into his backpack, saying:
"Thanks, here’s your stuff back."
"I have spares in my bag."
Xiaopang waved his hands repeatedly; the shovel and gloves were tainted with the Purple Ink Mandala’s poisonous juice, and he wouldn’t dare to touch them.
"Alright."
Qin Tian glanced at the three standing far away and said, "The Purple Ink Mandala will be stored with me for now, and after it’s sold, the proceeds will be distributed equally to you."
"No need, no need."
Huang Xiaojia and Xiong Gang flatly refused, stating that the Purple Ink Mandala was discovered by Xiaopang and extracted by Qin Tian, and had nothing to do with them throughout.
They could accept Xiaopang’s money because of their friendship, and those previous herbs together weren’t worth much, not significant to them.
Just some pocket money, so to speak.
But they weren’t familiar with Qin Tian and didn’t want to take advantage of him.
Xiaopang’s eye twitched; he actually wanted to accept the share, as he did contribute, and over 500,000 would cover his living expenses for three months.
But since Huang Xiaojia and Xiong Gang refused, he worried Qin Tian might give him trouble later if he took the money.
"Haha, we three already abandoned the Purple Ink Mandala just now, so it has nothing to do with us how much it sells for later," Xiaopang said magnanimously, though tears flowed inwardly.
Qin Tian raised an eyebrow, seeing through Huang Xiaojia and Xiong Gang’s genuine indifference, while Xiaopang’s subtle expressions betrayed his true thoughts.
"We’ll talk later then."
Qin Tian said blandly. As he spoke, his right hand discreetly reached into his backpack and tossed the box into his spatial bag.
Highly poisonous items are safest stored in the spatial bag.
"Let’s go."
The group continued on, having to complete a full sweep of their assigned area within two days; the task was fairly demanding.
The breeze blew, and the leaves rustled.
Suddenly, Qin Tian paused, raising a cautionary hand gesture.
Being Special Warfare Department students, everyone was naturally familiar with tactical gestures and immediately dropped their backpacks, gripping their weapons tightly.
"Brother Qin Tian, what’s wrong?"
Xiaopang asked softly.
"Something is approaching quickly," Qin Tian said gravely.
Walking through the forest, he turned into a human radar again, with all senses—smell, hearing, heat detection—on alert, perceiving the subtle movements nearby.
He clearly heard sporadic sounds from afar, growing closer and seemingly coming from above, as if from the trees.
Hearing this, the three became tense at once, storing Spiritual Energy without releasing it.
Soon, they heard rustling above.
They looked up to see a dark shadow rapidly moving through the trees, using sturdy branches as springboards to leap across ten meters at a time, agile and nimble.
"It’s too big to be human."
Gripping his weapon tightly, Xiong Gang felt both tense and a bit eager.
As a Spiritualist and a military school student, he hadn’t encountered other types of enemies outside of sparring with classmates; this might be an opportunity.
"Not human, could it be a Spirit Beast?" Xiaopang speculated in surprise.
Spirit Beasts are creatures evolved from beast species, with remarkable innate talents and abilities similar to Spiritual Energy.
Unlike Beastmen, Spirit Beasts lack human traits and culture within their tribes, being more scattered overall, posing no threat to the Empire.
But individually, encountering a powerful Spirit Beast in the wild means having to fend for oneself.
The shadow arrived swiftly, perched on a branch, gazing down at the four of them.
It was a black Fury Ape, massive in build, with muscles bulging prominently like they were carved from hard rock. Its arms were thick and powerful, hanging almost to the ground, with crimson eyes glaring at them, emitting a fierce, chilling aura.