Chapter 701

Chapter 701: Sea Spirit Grass

Seeing that the Xuan Water Puppet was so powerful, Fang Lie felt delighted instead of scared. Although the Xuan Water Puppet itself had no value, even if it were destroyed, it would merely turn into a puddle of Spiritual Water, which wouldn’t be worth much.

However, its presence indicated that there were likely treasures hidden nearby, and the stronger the opponent, the higher the quality of the treasures.

Thinking of this, Fang Lie quickly activated his Twin Eyes of Heaven and Earth to look behind the Xuan Water Puppet and instantly spotted treasures concealed within a towering dragon column.

It was a plant, blood-red and resembling kelp, measuring over two yards long. Its paddle-like body was covered in glistening, sticky droplets of water, which clung firmly despite being submerged. Occasionally, a droplet would fall, immediately dissolving into the Spiritual Water, causing the surrounding Spiritual Energy to increase significantly, at least doubling!

Upon seeing that object, Fang Lie exclaimed, "Heavens, Sea Spirit Grass? Two and a half yards long? That means it’s over 200,000 years old! Goodness, it must be the best in the world! Originally a sixth or seventh-rank spiritual item, now it must be at least considered ninth-rank or higher!"

The Sea Spirit Grass is a special type of spiritual herb found in the ocean, capable of absorbing the original energy from the seabed and forming pure sticky droplets on its surface. The amount of Spiritual Energy contained within is comparable to that of a spirit stone. Consuming it directly can enhance the magic of water element cultivators, with effects akin to a spirit pill.

Of course, the quality of the herb matters; it grows only an inch every thousand years, with most being less than a foot long. The older it is, the more potent its effects, and the higher its rank.

Generally, Sea Spirit Grass under one foot, having grown for thousands of years, is classified as a sixth-rank spiritual herb, with the droplets benefiting Wind Tribulation Immortal considerably.

Sea Spirit Grass over one foot long is regarded as a ten-thousand-year herb, at least seventh-rank, with droplets that can enhance the Fire Tribulation Immortal’s magic.

Historically, the strongest Sea Spirit Grass reached just over nine feet and took at least ninety thousand years to grow, producing droplets that could even boost the magic of the Thunder Tribulation Immortal and had a faint effect on Semi-Immortals. It is recognized as a ninth-rank high-grade spiritual herb.

The current one, two and a half yards long, is at least over 200,000 years old, and its droplets could significantly bolster the cultivation of a water element Semi-Immortal, valued as highly as a ninth-rank water element spirit pill!

This means that this singular spiritual herb acts like a money tree, with its special droplets potentially earning someone a fortune.

Naturally, such a large Sea Spirit Grass would produce few droplets, perhaps only one or two in a year, but even so, it would be a considerable wealth. Therefore, its worth is unrivaled by any eighth-rank high-grade treasure!

Seeing such a treasure, Fang Lie could hardly contain his excitement. Although it was not particularly useful to him, it would greatly benefit Mo Lanyun, so he was determined to bring it back.

Consequently, Fang Lie wasted no time, waving his hand to command his three hundred clones to encircle the Xuan Water Puppet.

As he approached, Fang Lie silently lamented, "Sigh, everywhere is water, but my best techniques are fire element. Even my spatial divine skills are suppressed by the special laws of this place; I can’t use any of them. With both my specialties rendered useless, how can I battle this thing? Isn’t this just putting me in a difficult position? Thank goodness I acquired the Innate Constructed Wood Nascent Fetus last time and practiced some wood element divine skills; otherwise, I’d be in trouble today!"

At this moment, Fang Lie completed his encirclement, and it seemed the Xuan Water Puppet sensed danger, continuously launching attacks at him and his clones. The invisible yet tangible terrifying water flows crashed into Fang Lie’s clones, with a force comparable to a full strike from the Thunder Tribulation Immortal, making it difficult for them to defend even at full strength.

Luckily, Fang Lie felt the timing was right and began his counterattack.

He watched as all three hundred clones moved in unison, forming hand seals, and shouted, "Heaven-reaching Jianku Wood, suppress!"

As soon as Fang Lie’s words fell, a gigantic ancient tree’s shadow appeared above the Xuan Water Puppet. The lush ancient tree towered into the sky, its height and girth unimaginable, resembling an immense pillar. The once-great Xuan Water Puppet now appeared as merely an ant in its presence!

Though the imposing Jianku Wood was only a shadow, it emanated an unresistable and terrifying pressure. Even the formidable ninth-rank puppet was temporarily subdued by the pressure and dared not move!

This was one of the three wood element divine skills Fang Lie obtained after acquiring the Innate Constructed Wood Nascent Fetus, named "Control," while the other two were "Wither" and "Flourish."

Control means to suppress. Once this divine skill is activated, the shadow of the Jianku Wood appears, subduing all living beings; it is the ultimate group control move and can stack effects. If all three hundred of Fang Lie’s clones used it together, even the Thunder Tribulation Immortal would be completely immobilized, at their mercy.

In contrast, "Wither" and "Flourish" have completely opposite effects. "Wither" can immediately drain the vitality from living beings, leaving them as dry as decayed wood.

Conversely, "Flourish" can infuse immense vitality into a being, granting them unlimited life and even a miraculous effect of restoring youth.

These two moves can also be stacked, and using them against the same target with three hundred clones would be unimaginably terrifying.

Given the unique conditions of the Dragon Palace, where water was ubiquitous and space prohibitions prevented anyone from using their spatial skills, Fang Lie’s combat power was significantly reduced. Under such circumstances, he could only resort to the three devastating wood element techniques he originally planned to keep hidden.

And these three deadly techniques were indeed impressive, originating from the Innate Constructed Wood Nascent Fetus, each displaying astonishing power. The formidable ninth-rank Xuan Water Puppet stood no chance against the suppression of the Heaven-reaching Jianku Wood shadow and quickly became Fang Lie’s captive.

Seeing that he had captured a Xuan Water Puppet, Fang Lie was filled with excitement and approached to Inspect it.

He discovered that this Xuan Water Puppet was quite unusual; its surface had almost merged with the Spiritual Water, making it difficult to distinguish where its skin began.

In fact, if not for the puppet’s internal density being much greater than that of the surrounding Spiritual Water, causing a light refraction phenomenon, making it cast shadows while moving, it would have been challenging to see them at all.

As a disciple of the Mo Sect, Fang Lie was naturally very intrigued by such a strange and mysterious puppet. He quickly contacted Bird Bro, saying, "Hey, look! I caught a Xuan Water Puppet, ninth-rank!"

Bird Bro’s divine sense immediately probed over, and he excitedly replied, "Well done! It’s indeed an ancient creation of the Dragon Clan; their mechanisms differ significantly from those of the Human Tribe. I remember Mo Ancestor once sought to visit and was refused. Now, I finally have the opportunity to study it!"

"Really?" Fang Lie frowned and said, "But their principles seem similar to those of Law Enforcement Heavenly Soldiers?"

"Well…" Bird Bro awkwardly admitted, "They do share some influences!"

"Weren’t you just saying they wouldn’t let you study their work?" Fang Lie asked curiously. "How did you manage to borrow some of their ideas?"

"They indeed didn’t agree to let us study it, so Mo Ancestor and I ‘borrowed’ a few, and for that, we were pursued by the Dragon Clan for thousands of years!" Bird Bro grumbled, "It was only a few hundred low-priced Xuan Water Puppets! They’re ninth-rank for goodness’ sake, why such persistence?"

Fang Lie couldn’t help but laugh at that situation. He then replied, "So how many ranks did those supposedly low-priced puppets possess?"

"Eighth-rank!" Bird Bro explained, "Back then, eighth-rank wasn’t particularly high and was similar to today’s Wind Tribulation Immortal. Honestly, it wasn’t anything that impressive; besides, these puppets could only have their outer shell stolen, and they’d regrow quickly, so they weren’t a big deal, right?"

"Got it, got it!" Fang Lie said, shrugging with resignation. "Do you still want to study it now?"

"Of course! I dream of continuing my research, but there’s a lack of materials!" Bird Bro replied.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Fang Lie urged. "Quickly tell me how to store it!"

"This is simple!" Bird Bro immediately said. "I’ll teach you a special sealing technique!"

Soon, a slew of information filled Fang Lie’s mind, and he quickly comprehended it, proceeding to perform it.

With Fang Lie’s fingers twitching, special divine patterns appeared out of thin air, imprinting themselves onto the surface of the Xuan Water Puppet and steadily moving towards its core divine pattern until it was completely sealed.

Finally, when all the divine patterns landed on the puppet’s core divine pattern, the Xuan Water Puppet exploded, leaving only a glowing orb behind.

Fang Lie transmitted the orb to Bird Bro, who immediately shouted excitedly, "Haha! As expected, ninth-rank puppets are indeed superior to eighth-rank, and they come with many unique crafting methods. I need to dedicate myself to studying this! The Law Enforcement Heavenly Soldiers of our Mo Sect might be numerous, but the highest quality is only seventh-rank, far from matching their Xuan Water Puppets!"

"Do you want all the Law Enforcement Heavenly Soldiers to reach ninth rank?" Fang Lie exclaimed, shocked.

"Ninth rank? That’s nothing! The Dragon Clan’s Xuan Water Puppets even reach tenth rank, which is Semi-Immortal-level!" Bird Bro then issued an order: "Go find me some Semi-Immortal-level Xuan Water Puppets for my research!"

"Ah?" Upon hearing this, Fang Lie was taken aback and smiled wryly, "Given my current level, do you think I stand a chance against Semi-Immortal-level puppets?"

Bird Bro pondered for a moment and replied, "That is indeed a concern, but no matter! The Xuan Water Puppet has a critical weakness – its pure water attribute, which is easily countered. Once I find a pure earth attribute treasure, you’ll be able to deal with it effortlessly!"

After saying this, Bird Bro fell silent.