Chapter 131: The Improved Stone Spirit

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"Serve yourselves. Still waiting for something ready-made to eat?" Qing Hu waved his hand, signaling them to help themselves.

Ba Lie and Hei Zhan immediately sprang into action, hurriedly filling their bowls to the brim, then sipping carefully.

It was incredibly delicious—*cough, cough*.

Ba Lie was the first to cough up a large mouthful of foul, black blood.

Then Hei Zhan followed, coughing out several mouthfuls of dark red-black blood.

Qing Zhen looked on in surprise. "What’s wrong with you? Why are you coughing up blood? I drank this soup myself, and there’s no poison in it."

"No poison," Ba Lie carefully set down his half-finished bowl. *Cough, cough* He coughed up a small mouthful of thick black blood again. "I’m detoxifying and clearing the stasis inside me. This soup is truly amazing." *Cough, cough* He coughed again.

For him, this was a rare blessing—actually able to heal internal injuries and expel toxins and blood stasis. Ignoring his own coughing, he quickly drank the rest of the soup little by little.

"Oh my heavens, I forgot—the Cang Ji is a rare treasure that not only detoxifies and removes stasis but also extends lifespan," Qing Zhen suddenly recalled. "Back then, we all had severe diarrhea."

But diarrhea and coughing up blood seemed quite different.

At least they didn’t have such a terrifying reaction.

*Cough, cough, cough* Hei Zhan was also incessantly coughing up blood.

Good heavens, coughing up blood together like that was truly unsettling...

Qing Zhen’s mouth twitched.

"Ah, after coughing up those mouthfuls of black blood, my chest feels so much better. I was once injured in the chest during a fight. Even after taking healing pills, it never fully recovered, always feeling a bit stifled, especially during intense battles. This soup seems to have repaired the hidden injuries inside me, pushing out the stasis," Hei Zhan said joyfully.

"Of course. This is a blend of mutated golden shells and eighth-rank rare Cang Ji. Your luck is incredible. This one bowl of soup is equivalent to ten seventh-rank Resurrection Pills," Ruan Qingwu came over, took a small spoonful for herself, and exclaimed in delight. "Eighth-rank rare treasures are truly different—its power is overwhelming."

"If you want soup, serve yourself. Don’t look so pitiful," Qing Zhen said to Ruan Qingwu.

Ruan Qingwu seemed about to put down her spoon and leave but thought better of it. She pulled out a large wooden bowl herself, ladled a full bowl, and ate it all.

Helan Che hurried over. "Can you serve me a bowl? I’ll make up for it later with spirit stones."

"Sure, serve yourself," Qing Zhen replied.

Ruan Qingwu immediately added, "I won’t take your generosity for granted. When I return, I’ll send you some pills."

"What good pills do you have?" Qing Hu perked up.

"Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you when I’m back," Ruan Qingwu said grandly, drinking her soup.

"Top-tier Foundation Establishment Pills, and the highest quality Fortune Qi Supplements—give me a full strip of each," Qing Hu said generously.

"What? You want ten Foundation Establishment Pills and ten Fortune Qi Supplements? The Fortune Qi Supplement is for peak Foundation Establishment cultivators forming their Golden Core. Why do you need so many?" Ruan Qingwu nearly dropped her bowl.

No, she had to keep steady.

This was Cang Ji soup!!

"A full strip isn’t twelve pills?" Qing Hu had seen in their Panlong City’s pharmacies that medicines were cast in strips with beeswax and resin for convenient storage and transport.

"What are you thinking? You’re not in Wuding City. The Human side only sells strips of ten pills," Ruan Qingwu rolled her eyes.

"What a sly merchant, shorting us two pills per strip," Qing Hu said. The skimping was so blatant she didn’t know what to say.

"What do you mean shorting two pills? Fine, I can get you a strip with twelve pills, but this bowl of soup can’t be exchanged for those twenty-four pills. Our Bajingshan produces less than a thousand Fortune Qi Supplements a year. They’re quite expensive," Ruan Qingwu explained.

"What does Bajingshan need most now?" Qing Hu asked while eating a tumor fruit.

*Hungry, hungry...*

After coughing, Ba Lie and Hei Zhan hurried off clutching their stomachs.

"I knew it! We all had bad diarrhea back then, so why did they have no reaction?" Qing Zhen and the others exchanged looks, clearly expecting this outcome.

"Their bodies have heavy hidden injuries and stasis, likely from multiple near-fatal wounds. So the Cang Ji soup caused a strong reaction, making them cough up black blood immediately. Poor guys, and they’re not even that old," Ruan Qingwu said with a pitying expression.

Though that expression seemed a bit out of place for her age.

But since she was a precious alchemist, Qing Hu chose to ignore it.

Qing Zhen noticed it too but said nothing, just smirked inwardly.

"Ruan Qingwu, you haven’t told me what Bajingshan needs most now?" Qing Hu asked after finishing the last tumor fruit.

At that moment, the dog brought her another fruit with the shell already removed, wagging its tail with a pleased smile.

Qing Hu gave the dog a meaningful look and instructed, "Go serve the soup—one bowl for you, one for the little lion, and one each for She Eleven and She Seven."

"I!" Shou An suddenly spoke up.

"Right, give Shou An a bowl too."

"Got it, I’m on it," the little dog immediately bounded off. He had wanted to drink the soup but wasn’t sure if Hu Jie would share.

"I," Wei Dongting called timidly, arriving late.

"Little dog, if there’s any left, give him a bowl," Qing Hu rolled her eyes.

The dog glanced at Wei Dongting, disdainfully curling his lips.

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The dog reached the soup pot just as the little lion was already there, holding a huge wooden bowl.

The dog glared at him irritably. If he filled such a big bowl, the three bowls wouldn't even last.

That wouldn’t do—Hu Jie had told him everyone gets one bowl each.

So the dog pulled out a large pile of wooden bowls and served the soup evenly.

Except for the last bowl, which had only a little broth, the rest were full to the brim.

"Good distribution," She Seven said.

"Little dog, you’re pretty good," She Eleven smiled warmly.

"Little dog, come to me if you ever need anything," Shou An happily patted the dog's shoulder.

"Hmph," the little lion grumbled as he carried his large bowl away.

Meanwhile, Wei Dongting whined pitifully, "Why did I get so little?"

"You’re human. Can your stomach handle that much?" the dog said arrogantly.

"But it’s still too little," Wei Dongting whimpered. "All of you got big bowls. Even that Helan Che fellow got a big bowl."

"Can you beat Helan Che?" the dog asked in astonishment.

"No."

"Then why are you, a useless burden, complaining about only getting a bowl of broth?"

Wei Dongting was stunned by the dog’s words.

"Have some self-awareness about your own abilities," the dog snorted disdainfully, then put away his large wooden bowl and went to wash pots for Qing Hu.

After peeling fruit earlier, now washing pots—Hu Jie would surely recognize him as a useful little dog.

Wei Dongting felt wronged but had no choice. Among this group, he and his companions were definitely the weakest.

Fine, he’d drink the broth.

*Cough, cough, cough* The broth was quite tasty too.

Helan Che came over, poured some of his soup into Wei Dongting’s bowl, and said, "Drink up."

"Th-thank you, senior," Wei Dongting was deeply moved.

"No problem. There aren’t many clear-headed people in the Dao Sect these days. We should cherish this," Helan Che said.

Wei Dongting: "..."

Why did he not understand?

Helan Che saw Wei Dongting’s confused face and chuckled.

Qing Hu ate several large fruits, then said to Fourth Brother, "Brother, I’m going to sleep for a while. Don’t disturb me."

She set up a tent, laid out a mattress, covered herself with a small quilt, and fell asleep.

Qing Zhen’s eyes widened. He hadn’t realized when Qing Xiao Hu had brought so many things.

"What’s Hu Jie doing?" the dog asked, curious.

"Probably planning to break through," Qing Zhen guessed.

"Isn’t breaking through cultivation supposed to be done by sitting meditation and carefully circulating inner power?" the dog was puzzled.

"That depends. Qing Xiao Hu always breaks through by just sleeping. She’s never been seen to break through seriously—she just sleeps through it," Qing Zhen said, full of envy and resentment.

Breaking through was easy for Qing Xiao Hu.

"Sleeping and breaking through? I feel like all my careful breakthroughs before were so silly," the dog complained.

"You’ll still have to be careful next time. Sleeping breakthroughs only work for her. Not for you or me," Qing Zhen earnestly advised. His own breakthroughs were careful and cautious.

No one else was as lucky as Qing Xiao Hu.

*Uh uh uh...*

*Ah ah ah...*

After drinking the soup, everyone’s stomachs began to rebel, and they all dashed off to take care of personal matters.

Among those who drank the soup, Qing Zhen—who hadn’t eaten Cang Ji even once—had the strongest resistance.

Once the dog, lion, Hei Zhan, and Ba Lie had all finished and returned, Qing Zhen stepped out briefly.

When Qing Zhen came back, the dog and the others had already positioned themselves at four points, surrounding Qing Hu’s sleeping tent.

Their attentive watch made Qing Zhen’s heart ache and grow anxious. What if Qing Xiao Hu’s secret were exposed?

What if something happened? She felt a little scared.

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Qing Hu slept until early the next morning. Upon waking, her cultivation advanced to the sixth level of Qi Refining. Qing Zhen was at the seventh level but close to breaking through soon.

Of course, the increase in power wasn’t the main point.

Qing Hu’s body underwent another transformation.

She finally reached the first level of the Mortal Body. If her original body was as fragile as a sheet of paper, now it was at least three sheets thick. The change was significant, though still weak.

The benefit of the first-level Mortal Body was that her appearance and physical development became more perfect.

She even grew a little taller.

Most importantly, when she used a thread of divine energy to temper her body, the damage from the divine energy was greatly reduced.

Still, when she reached the ninth level of Mortal Body, it would be best to use the Earth Marrow Pearl to temper her body.

Divine energy was still too early for her.

Good things take time.

"Hey, Qing Hu, you’ve grown taller again?" Qing Zhen immediately noticed the change when she came out. His little sister had grown taller and looked much more spirited. The bean sprout had finally grown into a small seedling—it was no small feat.

Their parents would surely be comforted.

"Have I grown taller and fatter?" Qing Hu asked happily.

"Yeah, not bad," Qing Zhen considered and said.

"What do you mean 'not bad'?" Qing Hu wasn’t pleased.

"I’m just complimenting you without making you too proud," Qing Zhen smiled.

Qing Hu brightened instantly.

"Let’s go down to the dungeon to find Big Brother."

"Alright, just waiting for you. Hey, wait—didn’t you say you were going down to the dungeon? Why are you bringing a pot?"

"I haven’t eaten breakfast yet. At least wait for me to finish."

"Hmph."

"By the way, have you all eaten?"

"We’re all done, just you left."

"I’ll eat quickly. Fourth Brother, go dig some Ghost Yan trees. Their fruit is delicious. I want to bring back a few to plant."

"No need. I’ve already had people dig them up. There are three hundred trees in this storage bag. Hurry and put them into your little shell," Qing Zhen said.

"Fourth Brother, you’re quite good, you have my style."

"Hurry up and make your breakfast."

The three hundred Ghost Yan trees were directly planted inside the little shell, which had soil and earth.

After eating fish and rice porridge for breakfast, Qing Hu set off again.

They crossed a valley and finally reached the entrance of a dark mountain cave.

"This is the entrance. Inside is a long stone passage with many collapsed sections. When I came up, I cleared a small passage out from inside," Ba Lie said.

"Alright, let’s go," Qing Hu said.

They had only taken a few steps when they heard rustling sounds.

A large swarm of corpse crickets appeared before them again.

"What do we do?" Ruan Qingwu asked in shock. "Can we still go down?"

"Since we’ve been discovered, we fight our way in," Qing Hu said.

"So many corpse crickets. How long will this take?" Qing Zhen’s scalp tingled. "Besides, our pills and supplies are limited. We can’t fight a prolonged battle."

"I never said you had to fight," Qing Hu rolled her eyes at Fourth Brother, then waved her hand.

The stone floor immediately bulged into mounds. From these mounds, stone dolls about the same height as the corpse crickets but with thick arms and legs popped out.

Once released, they charged at the corpse crickets.

Old grudges and new enmities fueled an intense battle.

These stone dolls were improved versions Qing Hu had made, specifically designed to counter the corpse crickets’ encirclement.

Their small bodies enhanced their agility, unlike the previous large stone spirits, which were slow and easily trapped by the corpse crickets.

———Side note———

Taking a day off today, no update.

Le Wen