Chapter 20: The First Spiritual Item is Obtained

Bang!

The giant hammer smashed into the ground just a centimeter from the toad’s backside, creating a five-foot-wide pit and causing the ground to tremble slightly.

“Now that’s more like it.”

Moments later.

The crimson-gold treasure toad lay on the ground, its pale golden demon pupils slightly raised, blinking occasionally as it watched the black-clad man in front of it writing a spiritual contract on a piece of spirit paper.

Whoosh!

After finishing the final clause, Shen Mu tossed the contract in front of it. “You know what to do next… No need for me to say more, right?”

“…”

Despicable human…

The crimson-gold treasure toad grumbled inwardly but, under the circumstances, reluctantly signed the slave spirit contract.

As the contract turned into a stream of light and entered the toad’s forehead, forming a slave spirit seal linked to his mind, Shen Mu smiled with satisfaction.

This crimson-gold treasure toad was a natural expert at finding rare treasures. With it, locating those elusive spiritual items would be much easier.

Moreover, if he could find opportunities in the future to advance its bloodline and evolve it into a Heavenly Treasure Toad, he’d gain a rare quasi-immortal beast.

“By the way… what kind of name would you like me to give you?”

Though still harboring some resentment, the crimson-gold treasure toad answered reluctantly, “It’s… up to you, Master.”

“How about Jinbao (Treasure Seeker)?”

“It fits your special ability and has a nice meaning.”

“…”

The crimson-gold treasure toad was speechless at the rustic name.

It was, after all, a sixth-grade demonic beast with a rare bloodline and immense future potential. Such a pet-like name hardly suited its status!

It’d be mocked by other demons if they heard it.

“Um… Master, could you give me a slightly more imposing name?”

“More imposing?”

Shen Mu rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment…

“Golden Toad. That should do, right?”

“Yes, thank you for the name, Master.”

At least it was better than Jinbao. It wouldn’t get laughed at by other demons.

The Golden Toad thought to itself.

On the other side.

Lin Yuhe hurriedly arrived at the spiritual lake where an intense battle had taken place.

But she seemed to have arrived too late again, finding only a blue-haired woman in a white moon robe flying on her sword, retrieving unconscious figures floating in the lake.

“Disciples of the Moonshadow Immortal Sect?”

This made things easier.

Recognizing their distinctive attire as outer disciples of the Moonshadow Immortal Sect, Lin Yuhe quickly approached the blue-haired woman rescuing her fellow disciples.

“Golden Toad, do you know about the Mysterious Purple Spirit Ginseng?”

On a forest path, Shen Mu suddenly asked.

The Golden Toad, now shrunk to palm-sized, poked its head out from his robe. “Never heard of it.”

Shen Mu pulled out a spiritual herb compendium, flipping to the page on the Mysterious Purple Spirit Ginseng and showing it to the toad. “This is the spiritual item.”

The Golden Toad looked at the illustration, tilting its head.

“This thing…”

“I think I saw it in a dense forest to the east of the Hundred Demons Forest.”

“Think harder.” Shen Mu felt a surge of excitement.

He’d been searching far and wide for the Mysterious Purple Spirit Ginseng without a trace.

Even checking environments listed in the compendium where it commonly grew yielded nothing.

Finally, the heavens rewarded his persistence with a lead.

“I remember being drawn by a particularly pure and strange medicinal fragrance, stumbling into the territory of a thousand-year-old tree demon.”

“I accidentally saw this thing in a patch of spiritual sand filled with yin energy.”

Shen Mu’s eyes narrowed. “And then?”

“Before I could figure out the source of the fragrance, I was chased out by its poisonous vines.”

The Golden Toad’s tone carried a hint of frustration. “If I had five or six more decades to cultivate and form a demon core, I’d be no weaker than that old thing.”

Shen Mu ignored its latter complaints, deep in thought.

For a thousand-year-old tree demon to guard it so closely, the source of that medicinal fragrance must be extraordinary.

However, a thousand-year-old demon, regardless of its grade, would be safest to tackle at the Nascent Soul Realm.

For now, he’d focus on getting the Mysterious Purple Spirit Ginseng.

After weighing his options, Shen Mu chose caution over greed for things he couldn’t yet handle.

“Tell me, what kind of moves does that thing usually use, and what does its true form look like?”

“Master, are you planning to steal this thing from its territory?”

“Yes, I really need the Mysterious Purple Spirit Ginseng.” Shen Mu didn’t hide his intentions.

“That thing’s intelligence is much higher than other demons. I think we could negotiate with it, maybe find a peaceful way to get the ginseng.”

Though the Golden Toad had recently experienced Shen Mu’s prowess, it didn’t want to endure more physical pain at this stage.

Shen Mu considered it.

While that could avoid the losses of a fight, it would likely take much longer.

And time was what he lacked most right now.

“No need. Just tell me the moves it commonly uses and what its true form looks like.”

Though he could only resort to stealth and cunning against a thousand-year-old tree demon for now, he was experienced in such matters.

A few days later.

Boom—!!

In a gloomy, dense forest in the Hundred Demons Forest, thick, dark green vines woven into a dense net were uprooted, kicking up dust a hundred zhang high!

It was like waves stirred by a giant’s hand!

Amid the surging, dark yin energy covering dozens of miles, an aged voice roared with earth-shaking fury.

“Sneaky human! If I catch you, I’ll tear you to pieces!”

“Aaah!!!”

At that moment, Lin Yuhe, searching two hundred miles away, looked up, drawn by the overwhelming momentum.

“Hm? Another big battle?”

[I doubt it. From the echoing words, it sounds more like something was stolen.]

Stolen…

Lin Yuhe’s eyes darkened, her mind racing as she considered a possibility.

“I bet this is his doing again…”

Completely hiding his true cultivation and appearance to freely unleash his real skills.

As a fellow transmigrator, she was all too familiar with this “pretending to be weak to strike hard” routine.

[Don’t say I didn’t warn you—with your current strength, going after that thing is asking for trouble.]

“Don’t worry, I think I know where he’s headed next.”

Lin Yuhe’s lips curved into a mysterious smile as she dashed toward Tianjian City.