Chapter 165

Chapter 165: Plan to Capture the Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit

Before Rong Shu could come up with a solution, she sensed two forceful auras racing toward her.

Her expression shifted. She flicked out several Formation Discs and rapidly set a concealing formation to hide herself.

One of the newcomers shouted sharply: Uncle Feng, the Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit is over there.

Seeing who it was, Rong Shu’s eyes flashed with surprise: [It’s the one who snatched the Exotic Flame. Is he after the Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit too?]

She grew wary. Ordinary cultivators should have no way of knowing there was a Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit in the medicine garden. Had this young man stumbled on it by luck, or did he come specifically to seek it because he already knew?

Those questions could wait. What mattered most was that she absolutely could not let him get the Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit. She wanted it.

Kindhearted, warmhearted Rong Shu had no ulterior motive. She simply felt that a Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit that had been “wandering” the medicine garden for a thousand years must be terribly lonely, so she wanted to find it a home and, while she was at it, a playmate for her Wind Spirit.

The moment the young man spotted the fruit, the middle-aged man beside him moved. To make up for his earlier lapse in letting the fruit escape, he spared no effort this time, swallowing a pill and surging to mid Golden Core in an instant.

Rong Shu’s heart clenched as she thought frantically: [No, don’t!]

She cheered inwardly, words tumbling over themselves: [Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit, go! Don’t get caught! Run, run!]

Naturally, the fruit did not sit there to be captured. With a single hop, it sprang from its treetop and resumed “swinging” through the forest.

The middle-aged man chased relentlessly.

Rong Shu, who had just managed a breath of relief, tensed up again as she willed directions with her mind: [You can do it, Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit. Dodge now. Right, right. Left, left!]

Irritated, the fruit let out a single hou hou at the two pursuers. Then a sea of fire erupted from its body, suddenly cutting them off.

For good measure, it wagged its backside at them again before swaggering away.

The young man’s face darkened as he snapped: damn it.

He slashed a hand through the air and ordered curtly: keep after it.

Yes, young master.

After the two departed, Rong Shu stared toward the direction the fruit had fled and sank into thought: [Catching a Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit is trickier than I thought.]

She rifled through her memory: [I think the handbook jade slip mentioned that the Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit had always been fed with a special pill, and that as a result it loves that pill. It would show up the instant it smelled the scent.]

Her eyes brightened: [It hasn’t tasted any pills in a long time. It’s probably longing for it.]

Rong Shu let out a small, mischievous laugh and whispered to the distant treetops as if the fruit could hear: hey now… don’t be sad. I’ll soon let you remember the taste of home.

Little Hamster, perched on her shoulder, peeped and tilted his head at her odd smile as he asked with a quizzical chirp: Gu?

Rong Shu pulled out the handbook jade slip and flipped quickly through it: hmm… the pill is eighth-grade?

She winced. She was barely a third-grade alchemist; how could she possibly refine an eighth-grade pill on the spot?

She tapped her chin as a new thought sparked: [If I can’t refine the exact pill the Fire Spirit Tribulation Fruit loves, what if I make a mere decoy, something with the same scent, to lure it over…]

Feasible.

Rong Shu felt her spirits rise: [This could work.]

She set her course and, scooping Little Hamster into her palms, gave him several habitual scritches before saying with a grin: let’s go, Yan Yan.

Gu! Little Hamster answered with all the vigor in his chubby body, then promptly flopped on his back in her palms in lazy contentment.

Several hours later, Rong Shu searched a spirit field for the herbs she needed.

Outside the field, a bear-shaped demon beast watched her every move.

She had just refined the Trial Gate Pills required by this area, which was why the demon beast allowed her passage. She could not, however, harvest too much; otherwise, the bear-shaped demon beast outside would be displeased.

Found it. Rong Shu carefully picked several stalks of a spirit herb whose form resembled flowing water, and a pleased smile touched her lips.

She muttered half in relief: good thing the pill-trial here is only third-grade. If it were higher, I wouldn’t have gotten this herb.

She tucked the herbs into her Storage Pouch and immediately left that region.

She still needed to gather several other ingredients. For the higher-grade herbs she could not acquire, she would have to hunt down substitutes.

After scrounging from here and there, Rong Shu finally pieced together five full sets of materials.

She chose a secluded spot, laid a defensive formation capped at Golden Core Stage strength, and began to refine.

The first batch failed. The proportions were off, so she made adjustments.

The second failed. The mischievous Exotic Flame singed the materials by accident.

The third failed. During the final fusion, several ingredients suddenly repelled each other, and the furnace exploded.

Little Hamster had been peeking in curiously. Having never experienced a furnace explosion before, he was caught off guard and caught in the blast.

A pitch-black Little Hamster was born on the spot.

Rong Shu had sensed danger early and shielded her face, so when she saw Little Hamster’s sooty appearance, she could not help laughing: pfft, hahahaha…

When the furnace blew, her formation activated automatically and blocked the damage, but there was no stopping the billowing clouds of ash.

Gu? Gu!! Little Hamster looked down, realized he had turned all black, and squealed in horror.

Rong Shu flicked a cleansing spell and restored him to snowy-white plumpness.

Gu gu gu!! He let out several indignant squeaks of relief, then, remembering how loudly Rong Shu had laughed, voiced his displeasure at her.

Ahem. Rong Shu produced a bag of fruits and seeds, set it on the ground beside him, then patted his head and coaxed softly: be good. Go a little farther away. I’m going to keep refining.

Little Hamster huffed, turned, and waddled toward the bag, his little tail swishing.

Once he was appeased, Rong Shu immediately consulted the handbook jade slip again, skimming with swift eyes. In moments, she found the culprit: among her ingredients was a spirit herb she was unfamiliar with. Under high heat, its properties changed quietly and then gifted the alchemist with a surprise furnace explosion.

She thought quickly: [How to suppress that property change… got it.]

Sinking her consciousness into the Han Chuan Cosmos Pearl, Rong Shu took out several preserved herbs, then began grinding them into fine powders.

When everything was ready, she placed the fourth set of ingredients into a new Pill Furnace.

The initial steps went smoothly.

When the flame roared at its peak, Rong Shu tipped the ground powders into the furnace.

Then she steadied her breath for the final step: forming the pills.