CHAPTER 86: CHAPTER 86 SPIRITUAL MEDICINE_1

"Let me see."

The Spirit Storage Rat communicated with a thought, then sniffed the air and quickly turned its head towards a region in the west.

"Over there, about three miles away, there’s something."

"What is it?"

"I don’t know." The Spirit Storage Rat shrugged in a very human-like way. "I have to see it to know. I can only tell if something is valuable from its scent."

"Let’s go check it out then."

Shen Mo, complying with the suggestion, piloted his sword in that direction.

Soon, he saw the treasure that the Spirit Storage Rat had been sniffing out.

It was a fully mature green lotus, growing unexpectedly in the crevices of a rock.

"A Grade I spiritual medicine, Green Lotus. It’s a rare auxiliary ingredient for the Breakthrough Pill and can be sold for three Spirit Stones in the Market."

Having studied numerous pharmacopoeias and elixir recipes, Shen Mo was familiar with many spiritual medicines and recognized it at a glance.

He picked the Green Lotus and then returned to find Cao Ren.

Cao Ren had also finished cultivating. Upon seeing Shen Mo, he was incredibly excited, "Where did you run off to? Just now, while cultivating, I actually relied on the richness of this nature’s spiritual energy to forcibly break through my bottleneck and cultivate my cultivation method to Senior mastery!"

"You broke through?" Shen Mo raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Congratulations. I went ahead to scout the area, saw a spiritual medicine, and brought it back."

As he spoke, he opened his palm, showing Cao Ren the Green Lotus.

"Tsk tsk, this truly is a treasure land! To think we found spiritual medicine so easily!"

Cao Ren was visibly envious.

Seeing this, Shen Mo casually tossed him the Green Lotus. "This spiritual medicine, aside from being used to refine the Breakthrough Pill, can also consolidate one’s cultivation and enhance the Spiritual Qi in the body if consumed directly."

"Since you just broke through in your cultivation method, I’ll give it to you."

So generous? Cao Ren was slightly stunned and surprised. "This spiritual medicine must be quite valuable, right?"

"Not expensive. Its price in the Market is about three low-grade Spirit Stones."

"Thank you so much." Hearing its value, Cao Ren felt even more grateful.

For Shen Mo, who juggled three side professions and was adept at making money, three low-grade Spirit Stones were indeed not much.

However, Cao Ren lacked such sources of income. Though he had finally been promoted to a Sect Disciple, his days were still very tight.

He definitely couldn’t afford to casually give away three low-grade Spirit Stones.

"It’s just a trifle."

Shen Mo didn’t think much of it.

This was just his first harvest after entering the Mountain River Realm.

During the ten-day trial, he was confident that the spiritual medicines and treasures he would find would be worth hundreds, if not thousands, of times more than this Green Lotus.

Having teamed up with Cao Ren, he had intended to help him out from the start, so he naturally wouldn’t be stingy with such a small thing.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"

At that moment, the Spirit Storage Rat climbed onto Shen Mo’s shoulder again, rubbing against his cheek as if seeking credit.

Although it hadn’t sent any message via Divine Sense, its meaning was self-evident.

"Here, eat as much as you want."

Shen Mo took out a piece of prepared demonic beast jerky from his Universe Bag and gave it to the Spirit Storage Rat as a reward.

He knew this lazy fellow would only work if it was fed.

Before entering the Mountain River Realm, he had specifically bought two Double-horned Red Bulls from the Market, made them into jerky, and stored it in his Universe Bag.

Even if the Spirit Storage Rat was a voracious eater, this would be enough to keep it working for him for these ten days.

"You actually brought this rat with you?"

Cao Ren was somewhat astonished to see the Spirit Storage Rat.

"This creature is no ordinary rodent." Shen Mo said with a faint smile, stroking the Spirit Storage Rat’s head, "Its abilities are quite significant. It can detect all sorts of treasures. We’ll be relying entirely on it for treasure hunting in the Mountain River Realm these next few days."

"It can find treasures?" Cao Ren was amazed.

He had visited Shen Mo’s cave mansion several times before and had always seen this large rat sleeping under a tree, so he hadn’t paid it much attention. He had assumed Shen Mo had simply picked up a small spirit beast to guard the gate while out. He never expected this Spirit Storage Rat to be so capable.

Soon, Cao Ren witnessed the treasure-finding ability of the Spirit Storage Rat.

Over the next day, Shen Mo and Cao Ren, guided by the Spirit Storage Rat, searched all over.

By nightfall, they had harvested a large quantity of treasures.

Sixteen stalks of Dragon Blood Grass, seven pieces of Red Flame Copper, half a catty of Heavenly River Stonemilk, three Nine-curved Spirit Ginseng...

Their many gains, large and small, numbered more than a hundred items.

According to Shen Mo’s estimate, if sold in the Market, they would be worth at least eight hundred low-grade Spirit Stones.

"This is an absolute fortune!" After taking inventory, Cao Ren was dumbfounded.

Only then did he realize why Shen Mo wasn’t willing to team up with others.

Such a harvest in a single day would make anyone enormously envious.

"If we calculate based on such a daily harvest, this trip to the Mountain River Realm, not even counting the improvement in cultivation, just the value of these spiritual medicines, minerals, and rare treasures could reach eight thousand low-grade Spirit Stones!"

What did eight thousand low-grade Spirit Stones represent?

With Shen Mo’s abilities in alchemy and talisman crafting, he was already considered quite skilled at amassing wealth among Qi Gathering Realm cultivators. Even for him, without accounting for expenses, it would take several years to earn that much.

"All the harvest from the Mountain River Realm is yours. When we get out and you’ve sold everything, just give me two hundred Spirit Stones." Cao Ren hesitated for a moment before finally stating his number to Shen Mo.

He had teamed up with Shen Mo and contributed some effort, so he naturally deserved a share.

However, Cao Ren also knew well that finding these treasures had little to do with him; he was purely a gofer who dug up spiritual medicines. It wouldn’t have made much difference whether he was in the team or not.

Therefore, after some mental calculation, he only asked for a very small share.

"Alright. For future harvests, if there’s any spiritual medicine you need, feel free to take it yourself." Shen Mo nodded, agreeing to this method of distribution.

If Shen Mo hadn’t brought Cao Ren and relied solely on himself, as long as he wasn’t robbed, it wouldn’t have been difficult for him to work hard and return with spiritual medicines and rare treasures worth a hundred Spirit Stones.

Despite such a massive harvest, Cao Ren ultimately chose to take only a two-hundred-Spirit-Stone share.

It seemed that teaming up with this fellow and giving him a helping hand had not been the wrong decision.

This fellow’s strength was mediocre, and his personality rather timid. His only merits were perhaps his self-awareness and his lack of excessive greed.

This point alone made him better than many people.

Night fell, and the biting wind chilled to the bone. Shen Mo lit a bonfire, and the group prepared to rest.

As the greatest contributor, the Spirit Storage Rat received an unprecedentedly lavish dinner.

Shen Mo took out over fifty catties of prepared jerky and let it feast.

The Spirit Storage Rat ate from dusk until late at night before finally finishing all the food.

After eating and drinking its fill, the Spirit Storage Rat suddenly communicated with Shen Mo via Divine Sense, "I sense a treasure twenty-one miles southeast of here."

"We’ll look for it tomorrow; it’s too late tonight." Shen Mo was cross-legged in cultivation. His resources were unprecedentedly abundant, and he was using the rest period to consume spiritual medicines that increased Qi and blood, hoping to cultivate the Dragon Body of the Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body sooner.

"That treasure is very valuable." The Spirit Storage Rat sent another Divine Sense. It was extremely sensitive to this aura. If it didn’t point it out, it would feel an unbearable itch.

Very valuable? Shen Mo exited his cultivation state. "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go."

Shen Mo genuinely wouldn’t have cared about ordinary items anymore, as today had already been a great harvest. But if there was a truly good treasure, he still couldn’t sit still.