After such a long time cultivating, Chu Chen was exhausted. He got off the bed and stretched for better circulation, then made some food.
Having his stomach filled, he took a look at the jade slip on the table. After a moment's thought, he sighed and put it away in his pocket.
His junior sister did not visit him, most likely busy with her own matters. She had already reached the sixth level of Spiritual Droplets Stage; therefore, her cultivation was of more importance than his. It would not be a good idea to disturb her.
With that, after a moment of silence, Chu Chen went into deep thought. He needed to plan out his next moves very carefully given his current situation.
Should he continue practicing the cultivation method within the black jade slip from Black Fog Valley, or practice the Spirit Drawing Mantra from his own sect?
Chu Chen was unable to decide. The cultivation speed of the unaffiliated cultivation method within the black jade slip was slow beyond imagination. With that, his goal of being able to condense spiritual droplets within a month was almost impossible.
However, he already had his fate intertwined with Black Fog Valley that led to him discovering this jade slip from there against all odds. Giving it up would seem to be a little wasteful.
Moreover, Chu Chen also considered that despite his fast cultivation speed at the moment, it would definitely slow down once he enters the Spiritual Droplets Stage. If he utilized the regular cultivation method of Crystal Spring Sect, it would be impossible for him to stand up to Yao Jinghai within a year.
Meanwhile, this mysterious cultivation method from the Black Fog Valley might be his only chance of catching up with Yao Jinghai within a short period.
There was a way for Chu Chen to solve his slow cultivation speed, and that was to use the spiritual gathering elixir that helped increase cultivation speed.
The elixirs he purchased from the plaza were all level-1 low-grade elixirs. These elixirs were cheap stuff that helped temper the body.
The elixirs to increase spiritual energy gathering speed would be at least a level-1 regular grade elixir because level-1 low-grade spiritual gathering elixir was not safe for consumption. Using it could easily cause one to go insane.
Level-1 regular grade spirit gathering elixirs were not something Chu Chen could afford, much less in large amounts. However, as long as the matter could be solved with money, then it should not be too much of a problem.
Nevertheless, Chu Chen had to settle the immediate issue, to submit his monthly herb quota!
It was already close to the herb quota deadline. If he failed to fulfill that month's herb quota, he would be expelled!
That was something Chu Chen would never allow to happen. He must never let Yao Jinghai get his way.
As a matter of fact, Chu Chen had already formulated a plan to gather the herbs. It was to use his spirit clone, the mutated eaglet!
He was unsure what species the eaglet clone that he obtained accidentally was, but Chu Chen knew that the eaglet had a heaven-defying talent...it was immune to the magical fog of Black Fog Valley!
He remembered it clearly. When his soul projection toured the celestial mountain, he saw corpses strewn across the land in Black Fog Valley. Moreover, there were a lot of spiritual herbs.
On the great mountain range, there should be some celestial herbs. It was most likely nourished by the godly demon's flesh and blood, allowing it to flourish. Although it was sparse, they were definitely priceless.
If the eaglet was immune to the black fog, then it would only need to pick a few clumps of those high-grade spiritual herbs, that would be sufficient to fulfill that month's herb quota.
With this money tree of a clone, he had the means to acquire the massive amounts of spirit gathering elixir he needed for his slow and weird cultivation method.
Chu Chen finally decided. He would grit his teeth and soldier through the slow and weird cultivation method. With spirit gathering elixirs, the cultivation speed would not be too slow. He should start by searching for spiritual medicine.
At that thought, Chu Chen shut his eyes and slowly extended his senses. Very soon, he could feel the eagle nest on the old withered tree above Black Fog Valley. Within it, the eaglet was slumbering peacefully with its eyes shut.
His consciousness swapped, gaining control of the eaglet. Chu Chen took a long stretch and woke up from his slumber.
Taking a careful look, after two days of rest, the eaglet had grown a layer of fine feathers. The densely packed feathers had already covered its entire body, no longer exposing large patches of skin like when it had freshly hatched.
'Mm, I don't have to run around naked again now that I've got some clothes.'
Chu Chen's mouth twitched, then he tried to stand. He realized that he was able to fully stand, much better than when struggled to balance when he first hatched.
As long as he could stand, that meant he could walk. If he could walk, then he could enter Black Fog Valley to collect spiritual herbs! His eaglet's body was invulnerable after all, impervious to falling.
With that thought in mind, Chu Chen scanned his surroundings. To build up some energy, he picked up a bean-sized piece of eggshell and swallowed it. The shell melted the moment it entered his mouth, transforming into a warm current that flowed into his stomach. In an instant, a wave of warmth washed across all his pores, giving Chu Chen the feeling that he was filled with boundless energy.
He felt that every time he ate the eggshell was similar to eating an elixir, instantly filling him with boundless spiritual energy.
With an eggshell down the hatch, Chu Chen excitedly approached the edge of the nest. After taking a look at the tall tree, cliff, and also the magical valley filled with black fog, he gently patted his chest with his little wings.
'I won't die from falling after all. I'll get used to it after a few jumps.'
While falling, the sense of weightlessness hit him again, causing his world to spin.
Chu Chen flapped his little wings in a panic, flapping wildly in the air. However, with his thick neck and body, the tiny little wings were useless, leaving his body to slam into the ground.
Bang!
After landing awkwardly on his face, he shook his head and opened his eyes, immediately noticing the valley surrounded in black fog further in front of him. Elated, he shakily rushed toward the valley.
There was the saying of '
Chu Chen was looking at it from the perspective of a male human. He was only a few miles away from the entrance to the valley. If he ran, he could reach it within the hour.
However, he forgot that as of then, he was just a hatchling who was a few days old. The speed of falling from the nest high up was no doubt extremely fast.
On top of that, if he were to walk, his little feet could only move a few inches each step.
With those small little hops, it would take him forever to cover the distance.
Eagles were creatures of flight. Their stage was the skies, not on the ground. Their eagle claws were not suited for walking like other animals. After some walking, Chu Chen felt his claws were tired, sore, and unbelievably itchy.
What else could he do? He had to bear with it. All for the spiritual herbs, he had to grit his teeth and move forward, or...crawl!
In his mind, 'When I know how to fly in the future, I'll never come down from the sky.'
After an unknown amount of time passed, Chu Chen, who had used a mix of walking and crawling, finally limped himself to the entrance of Black Fog Valley. As he got closer to Black Fog Valley, the invisible pressure in the air grew stronger.
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