Chapter 174: The Spirit Herb Is About to Bloom
Translator: OnGoingWhy Editor: Vermillion
The head elder of the serpent-men tribe gave Bu Fang a meaningful glance. However, he did not rashly approach Bu Fang but instead forced himself to calm down.
Bu Fang did not notice the look on the head elder's face. He was watching the numerous serpent-men relishing in his dish with a smile on his lips. The greatest affirmation for a chef was their customers enjoying their dishes. Seeing the smiles on their faces, a chef would feel happy as well.
The amount of meat on the fish was not much. After everyone took their turns, the entire fish was picked clean. After all, there were so many people present but only a single fish available.
Everyone stared at the fish bones remaining on the spirit herb leaves with yearning in their eyes. They wanted to eat more but Bu Fang only prepared a single serving.
The young serpent-girl licked her lips while narrowing her eyes. Even though she only got to eat a small portion of the fish, she was feeling really full. The spirit energy inside the fish was more than enough for the young serpent-girl to digest.
After everyone tried his dish, no one there doubted Bu Fang's culinary skill anymore. His ability to cook such a delicious grilled fish was already astonishing enough for them. Even elder sister Mu was nodding her head while eating the fish. The more she ate, the more she became aware of the techniques used in the grilled fish.
True energy culinary… Good heavens! She could hardly believe that the young man before her eyes was actually proficient in true energy culinary. When true energy was infused into a dish, its flavors would improve and its fragrance would become even more enticing. Furthermore, the spirit energy in the ingredients would even be fully retained. It was simply unbelievable.
"Alright… Since we're all fully rested, everyone should get ready. There's still a bunch of spirit beasts waiting for us outside, so let's not lower our guard." When the head of the serpent-men noticed that everyone was still engrossed in the dish's aftertaste, he coughed a few times to get their attention.
Outside of the tribe, a humongous figure was quietly coiled into a ball. With an eye-catching, blood-red crown on its gigantic head, a hissing sound could be heard as it flicked its forked tongue.
The growls of the spirit beast were continuously resounding in the surroundings, lingering within the Illusory Spirit Swamp, and echoing into the distance.
The head elder's words immediately woke everyone up from their stupor. As they looked toward the humongous Blood Crown Black Swamp Boa, their expressions became grave.
However, most of the serpent-men were actually not too worried. For the serpent-men tribe to exist within a treacherous place like the Illusory Spirit Swamp for such a long time, they were naturally not just relying on a single seventh grade Battle-Saint. Beneath the tribe, there was a gigantic barrier magic array that encompassed the entire area. Each serpent-men tribe was protected by a magic array such as that.
The presence of a seventh grade Battle-Saint was only to ensure that they would not be too defenseless during an enemy attack. This protective magic array was their actual safeguard.
Since the magic array was passed down by the Serpentine Sovereign, a mere seventh grade spirit beast would not be able to destroy the barrier.
"Head elder, even though we have the protection of the magic array, the medicinal herb farm is not included in its range… Furthermore, the aura of this beast is growing more and more powerful. It looks like it's about to undergo another molting. This won't be easy," The serpent-men Battle-Saint gave the Black Swamp Boa a glance. He felt the situation was really troublesome.
Sometimes, spirit beasts were harder to deal with than humans because of their tough skins and thick muscles as well as their strong capability in combat... Therefore, most humans were unwilling to face spirit beasts with equivalent cultivation levels as them.
"The Ice Soul Monarch Lotus must be protected… We need the seeds of the lotus, this beast must not be allowed to ruin the spirit herb!" the head elder solemnly said with a grave expression.
The serpent-men Battle-Saint let out a sigh and a hint of determination flashed in his eyes. He understood the importance of the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus toward the tribe as well.
As seconds passed by, the mood within the serpent-men became tense once more because everyone could feel the serious atmosphere that was spreading in the air.
The aroma emanating from the faint blue bud of the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus was becoming more and more intense. As the fragrance spread and enveloped the area, everyone felt refreshed and their eyes lit up.
"Looks like… the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus is about to bloom!" the head elder said.
Wu Yunbai nodded as well and signalled toward the Battle-Saint behind her to get ready for battle.
With two Battle-Saints guarding the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus, there was still a chance for them to succeed… The problem was the large bunch of spirit beasts gathered around the Black Swamp Boa. Even though there was a barrier protecting the tribe, activating the magic array would use up a large amount of crystals... Wu Yunbai was not sure how many crystals the serpent-men tribe's storage had.
If their storage of crystals was not enough and the barrier went down, they would be facing a horde of disgusting spirit beasts...
Bu Fang was quietly standing on one side. He was observing the humongous Blood Crown Black Swamp Boa with a slight frown on his face. Something was on his mind.
He stared at the blood-red crown of the Black Swamp Boa for a long while and then smacked his lips. An idea seemed to have struck his mind.
"This blood crown… looks pretty good, it might just be a decent ingredient. However, acquiring this will be difficult," Bu Fang muttered to himself.
Elder sister Mu was standing right next to Bu Fang. When she heard Bu Fang's muttering, she was immediately dumbfounded. As expected of a chef, he could think of cooking even when looking at the Black Swamp Boa.
All of the essence throughout the body of the Blood Crown Black Swamp Boa was gathered in its blood crown. Without a doubt, the blood crown was a highly nutritious ingredient and definitely its most valuable body part. However, this Black Swamp Boa was just about to undergo another molting and become a terrifying eighth grade spirit beast. Not just anyone could treat this spirit beast's body parts as an ingredient...
Bu Fang was naturally unaware of elder sister Mu's thoughts. He was busy staring at the Blood Crown Black Swamp Boa.
The fragrance was growing stronger and stronger. The aroma of the spirit herb seemed to possess some kind of magical power that caused their true energy to seethe with excitement and a faint coldness to spread throughout their bodies.
"This Ice Soul Monarch Lotus is not just any spirit herb. If it's properly handled, the cultivation level of the person who consumes it will greatly increase. It's a valuable spirit herb that increase one's spirit energy… That's the reason why this Black Swamp Boa is yearning for the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus because it needs the spirit herb to achieve a breakthrough," elder sister Mu promptly explained when she noticed the perplexed expression on Bu Fang's face.
"This beast won't be able to snatch away our Ice Soul Monarch Lotus! With the elder around, this beast will not succeed! If Yu Fu's father wasn't heavily injured, this beast wouldn't… Hmph!" Ah Ni snorted while tightly clenching his fists. He was extremely infuriated by this Black Swamp Boa.
Yu Fu let out a sigh. The one who needed the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus the most was her. The head elder wanted to protect the lotus because of her father, a heavily injured seventh grade Battle-Saint who was also the leader of the serpent-men.
She did not anticipate that the blooming of the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus would attract so much attention. That Wu Yunbai appeared to be someone from the White Cloud Villa, and that mysterious chef… She did not know where he came from but his objective was definitely the Ice Soul monarch Lotus as well.
However… she could not let the Ice Soul Monarch Lotus fall into the hands of others because she needed to use the herb to treat her father. This was the objective of all of the serpent-men in the tribe.