Xu Lanyi snorted, "This little pervert is just like master, I don't know who is worse."
Li Yuechan rolled her eyes but didn't bother to retort. She laid the worm down and shook it slightly.
"Rwwwrrr…" A soft growl came from the furry beast as it awoke.
It looked up at Li Yuechan, almost like clueless baby. Its faceless head swayed slightly from side to side.
"Little Carrot, go scout out the caves. Stay close, alright?" She said.
It nodded its head obediently. It then disappeared into the ground like a fish returning to water. Nothing could stop its digging prowess, not even the limestone that made up the cave all around them.
Xu Lanyi suppressed a grin, "Little Carrot?"
"What? Master just keeps calling it worm this and worm that. I think Little Carrot is a great name."
"Uh huh… and what did you have to do in bed for it?"
Li Yuechan blushed crimson, something she rarely did. She mumbled something softly which only Xu Lanyi could hear.
"What! No way, really?" Xu Lanyi exclaimed, "Hehehe, sis, you're the worst one of us all."
"Whatever, laugh if you want." Li Yuechan said in a huff. "We should focus on our challenge or we'll be letting him down."
"Fine, fine."
They followed Chen Wentian's map and descended past the second level and into the third level. The fiery air was much thicker now and pressed against them from all directions. It was even hotter than a sauna and they started sweating profusely. It was like their body was on fire and they were being cooked alive. They had to do something or they wouldn't be able to stand it anymore.
Li Yuechan raised her right hand and gathered the strength of Summer's Blazing Sun.
1st Stage, Blazing Fist!
A reddish spiritual aura erupted from her fist, clashing against the fiery energy of Hell's Grotto.
It wasn't completely enough as the spiritual energy within the cave was created from the very earth all around them. A single person's strength was still limited and could not completely push back everything. The pressure was cut down by half but the remainder was still sizable.
Li Yuechan extended her left hand and summoned the icy powers of Winter's Snow Dance.
1st Stage, Ice Blade!
Her hand glowed blue and she waved it around. The ice-attribute spiritual energy perfectly counteracted the remaining foreign energy in the air.
Xu Lanyi followed suit and summoned fire and ice powers as well. It was equally effective.
A gust of wind danced around them, cooling their bodies down. The tunnel they were in was now totally comfortable, like a castual stroll on a spring evening. They used only a small bit of spiritual energy to counteract the challenge of the third level completely.
This was the absolute advantage of a fire and ice dual-attribute physique. When faced with fire, it was much more effective to use both fire and ice energy at the same to counter act it. If one only used one element against fire, the side that was weaker would lose out in a straight up clash. It was completely different with two elements, especially one that was directly the opposite.
Li Yuechan and Xu Lanyi first used their own flames to blunt to force of the external flames. Their ice then chipped away at the rest until it was all blocked. Using two elements together, they only needed to use half the amount of spiritual energy needed.
"Heh, this is quite nifty." Xu Lanyi said.
"This is good practice for us. Let's not waste it. Let's surprise master by improving our dual-attribute body without his help." Li Yuechan suggested.
"Alright!"
They wandered around the third level, practicing their dual elemental arts while searching for any signs of Red Reapers.
Their luck was good and they soon encountered one in a small cavern that had a particularly strong concentration of fiery energy. It was so strong that a normal cultivator at the 10th Level of the Spirit Initiate Realm would have needed to used most of their strength into order to not suffer serious burns. For them, it was a short an easy walk.
Li Yuechan held the Red Reaper plant in her hand and Xu Lanyi examined it closely. The stalk was red as expected. It was slightly larger than ordinary garlic. The bulb was around the size of a small apple and there were three ripe cloves within it.
She took a sniff and almost choked, "It certainly is spicy. I wouldn't want to use it cook anything."
Li Yuechan nodded and put the garlic away in her spiritual bag. One down, one hundred and ninety-nine to go.
They traveled the caves for the rest of the day but only found around one every hour. It was a huge maze of interconnected tunnels and most of their time was spent making sure they wouldn't get lost. After spending a whole day, they had explored less than one tenth of one percent of the whole third level.
They didn't meet any other groups the first day but met five more in the next three days. By a rough estimate, there were twenty to thirty challenge orbs handed out that pertained to Hell's Grotto and the Red Reapers. It was one of the most straightforward ones and it was popular one to start out with.
Competition became a problem and their harvest diminished continuously. By the fifth day, they had gathered less than fifty of the three-clove garlic. At this rate, it could take them an entire month!
"Sis, what do we do? This challenge is stupid and boring. Can we give up and come back later without all these losers?" Xu Lanyi complained.
She sat down on a rock and refused to walk anymore. There was nothing but rocks and more rocks all around. They didn't even find any spiritual beasts. They almost got into a fight the previous day with another party over a single stalk of garlic. If Li Yuechan had not held her back, Xu Lanyi would have really started fighting to vent some frustrations.
"Are you always this impatient with master?" Li Yuechan teased.
"Come on, sis! I'm tired. Stop teasing me…"
"Fine, fine. Since you've been so patient the past few days, I won't keep it from you any longer." Li Yuechan said, "Rejoice, our challenge is already finished."
"What?"
There a small rumbling beneath their feet and a familiar face appeared, or the lack of a face. The was the Giant Mole Worm. It had grown in size and was thick as a python.
"Little Carrot!" Li Yuechan said and rubbed its head affectionately. "Did you find everything?"
It nodded and growled softly, almost like a purr.
"Good, let me see."
The Giant Mole Worm opened its mouth and something fell out. It was a Red Reaper!
"That's what it's been doing!" Xu Lanyi cried and picked up the garlic bulb, "Three cloves, perfect! I didn't know it had this kind of ability."
Li Yuechan smiled, "It's been learning a lot about plants. Gathering a few Red Reapers is too easy with its strength."
The Giant Mole Worm was already at the Spirit Lord Realm. Although this was a minor miracle because its intelligence was seriously not great, it was still an immortal spiritual beast. There was nothing in the third level of Hell's Grotto that posed a challenge. It was their secret weapon to a successful challenge.
Xu Lanyi excitedly counted each Red Reaper that was spit out. The number soon far exceeded the two hundred they needed but there were still more left over. She was left with a small mountain of garlic at her feet. It was as if all the garlic in the caves had been harvested.
"I think it went a bit overboard." Li Yuechan said helplessly.
"Hahaha, who cares. Let's get out of here!"
"Alright!"
--
Thank you to all my patrons!
Support me and read ahead by 5 or even 10 chapters!
p atreon.com/kigreenwriting
Join my discord for updates, delays, and my ramblings :)
d iscord.gg/dY5UApw
--
My second novel The Treasure King has just finished its first arc, please take a look!