Cultivation begins with ice harvesters

Chapter 29: Red Willow Leeches

This icy area is not a typical area where demonic beasts roam, but for him, it is secluded and provides a relatively safe and hidden environment that will not attract the attention of other cultivators who aim to hunt demonic beasts.

After all, for Tong Bingfeng, who currently lacks the ability to protect himself, keeping the special effects of the Big Fang a secret is undoubtedly more important than quickly hunting down a monster.

"Ice-attribute spiritual energy is relatively scarce, and there is not much difference between each stream of spiritual energy coming from different directions. It will be quite difficult to find a suitable lair for a demon beast here."

After a stick of incense had burned, the two pairs of large incisors reached their limit in the extremely cold environment of the icy region, and the first search ended in failure.

Tong Bingfeng was naturally prepared for this outcome. After all, although Da Ban Ya had a talent for being sensitive to the flow of ice-attribute spiritual power, this was based on the presence of relatively obvious traces of demonic beasts within a certain range.

"Although there are few cultivators traveling through this icy region, the number of demonic beasts is equally scarce. The first search yielded not a single clue."

Tong Bingfeng's face showed a hint of doubt. In his previous search career, he had failed many times, but it was rare for him to come up empty-handed.

In most cases, Tong Bingfeng can find clues during the first search. The second search is based on the failure, and is carried out to lock on more deeply and in more detail to improve the success rate of subsequent searches.

"Fortunately, my cultivation has already reached the fourth level of Qi Refining. My two pairs of large incisors should be able to sustain me through three searches in this extremely cold environment. I shouldn't return empty-handed today."

Failure is the mother of success, and this is especially important in the cruel world of cultivation. The Northern Ice Region is already a place where there are more wolves than meat, and most of the stable and effective resource points have been occupied by sects and families.

The remaining few scattered resource points were occupied by powerful rogue cultivators, making it impossible for a minor cultivator like Tong Bingfeng to obtain them.

Therefore, the monsters and spiritual herbs scattered throughout the entire ice field are the only resources that can be seized. However, such attempts to snatch food from the mouths of beasts often come at the cost of life if they fail, and the whole process is not easy.

"Persistence pays off. Although this icy region is relatively remote, there are still monsters living here. This faint, almost imperceptible fishy smell, unique to water-attribute monsters, is the most powerful evidence."

After changing locations, Tong Bingfeng's second search finally revealed the most subtle difference among the ice-attribute spiritual energy coming from all directions.

Based on past experience, it can be judged that it was brought by a first-tier mid-grade water attribute monster that had lived in the mud for a long time.

There are two reasons why this fishy smell is so faint: firstly, the monster's lair or the area it frequently visits is far away; secondly, this is a special monster that loves cleanliness and frequently cleans itself.

If it weren't for the help of the two pairs of big teeth today, even if it were a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator with rich experience in hunting demonic beasts, it would probably be in vain.

"Big teeth, locked."

Tong Bingfeng decisively drew upon even more abundant magical power from his dantian, and with the assistance of Da Banya, successfully locked onto his target in the first instance.

The magical power flowed backward, guided by his divine sense, and entered the meridians of his feet and legs. Tong Bingfeng then transformed into a stream of light, quickly chasing after the direction from which the foul smell emanated from the large teeth.

After all, monsters are real living creatures, and their locations are often in a state of flux due to hunting, searching, and other reasons.

This faint, fishy stench was already quite difficult to detect; perhaps with just a slight delay, it could be completely cut off, causing us to lose all trace of the monster.

"Buzz"

After the refining was completed, the first-tier mid-grade Azure Water Sword, which had been quietly staying in its scabbard, seemed to have also sensed the impending battle, and emitted a series of urging or impatient buzzing sounds.

After this Azure Water Sword was forged, it had not yet slain any demonic beasts and still needed to be opened and nourished by the essence of demonic beasts.

"Red Willow District, how could such a monstrous beast thrive in such a barren area?"

After a quarter of an hour of brisk walking, Tong Bingfeng stood in a densely packed area of ​​red willows. These special aquatic plants grew half below the ice and half above the ice, densely packed and numerous, with each stalk only as thick as a finger, dozens or even hundreds of them intertwined together.

Red Willow District is a notoriously barren area within a thousand miles of Ice Spirit Island. Apart from a few rogue cultivators at the first or second level of Qi Refining who come here to try their luck and pick some worthless first-grade low-level spiritual herbs and medicines, very few other cultivators set foot here.

Of course, the monsters born in such barren red willow areas are quite rare, let alone first-tier mid-grade monsters that already possess a certain combat power.

"Since we're here, we might as well make the best of it. Big Tooth's guidance is never wrong. No matter what kind of monster it is, confirming its whereabouts is the top priority."

After calming down a bit, Tong Bingfeng didn't hesitate and headed straight for the depths of the Red Willow District to explore. Under the cover of thousands of red willows, his figure quickly disappeared. The slight swaying caused by the cultivator's entry soon returned to its original calm.

Even if other cultivators appeared here, they would never have imagined that a Qi Refining Level 4 cultivator had already ventured deep into the Red Willow District to hunt demonic beasts.

After a cup of tea, Tong Bingfeng stood three to five zhang in front of a red willow tree as thick as a person's waist, staring wide-eyed at it with disbelief on his face.

"No wonder only a slight fishy smell spread; the Red Willow District actually has such a rare mid-grade first-tier demonic beast as the Red Willow Leech."

Tong Bingfeng muttered to himself, but the surprise and disbelief in his eyes began to turn into joy and happiness as he looked at the rare, thick red leech on the opposite red willow tree. The leech was entirely red, its length was no less than that of an adult's arm, and its thickness was basically the same as that of a little finger.

The red willow leech is actually just a type of leech and has no value in itself. However, once it awakens its intelligence and refines the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to become a demon beast, it can accumulate a small amount of spiritual water in its body through the leech's special organs.

As the name suggests, spiritual water contains the purest water-attribute spiritual energy. Its importance to water-attribute cultivators is beyond doubt. It aids in cultivation and has no side effects whatsoever, making it superior to the pills sold in the market.

Because it can accumulate spiritual water to aid cultivation, many types of leech-like demonic beasts, including the red willow leech, have basically disappeared due to the frenzied hunting by cultivators, and it is extremely rare to see their traces. Today, he can be considered to have turned his luck around and had a stroke of good fortune.