Chapter 687: ‘Small’ Gains

Actually, Kou Chongxue’s Clone wasn’t surprised by the fact that Shang Xia’s extermination origins could dissolve dipper qi. He was shocked that the youngster could do it so quickly. Earlier, everything happened in an instant.

Shang Xia chuckled, “Disciple’s inner qi is extremely effective when it comes to destroying formations and restrictions…”

Kou Chongxue’s Clone remained silent at that. The brat was hiding god knew how many secrets and there were even rumors going around that he managed to comprehend 2 martial intents.

How is it even possible to comprehend 2 martial intents?

Because of the sudden burst of pine needles, Shang Xia wasn’t in a rush to enter the hole he created earlier. Instead, he started to examine the needles in his hands.

Kou Chongxue’s Clone chuckled at the side, “There’s nothing to see. Those pine needles would only possess hardness akin to a low-grade weapon when it first emerges. After some time, most of them will go back to being ordinary pine needles. There is only a single pine needle on every branch that will be able to maintain its hardness at the level of a low-grade weapon…” Kou Chongxue’s Clone stared at the pine tree before he continued, “The opening you made wasn’t large and the tree only shot out a tiny portion of pine needles. It should be alright if you manage to find 3 to 5 of them. They’re not very useful.”

With the hardness of a low-grade weapon, it could only be considered a rank two spiritual treasure.

Moreover, the pine needles were extremely tiny. They were truly of no use to Shan Xia.

However…

Shang Xia picked out 5 pine needles that were 3 inches in length. They shone like jade and he turned to Kou Chongxue’s Clone and asked, “Patriarch, why don't these pine needles seem like rank two spiritual treasures? Moreover, they felt like mid-grade needles when I stopped them earlier. Could they actually be rank three spiritual treasures?”

“What?!” Kou Chongxue’s Clone’s face changed as he took several steps over to Shang Xia to retrieve the pine needles. “They are actually rank three spiritual treasures!”

After his realization, he turned to look at the Ten Thousand Needle Pine again with a burning gaze.

Rank two or three spiritual treasures held no meaning in the eyes of Shang Xia or Kou Chongxue’s Clone. However, the Ten Thousand Needle Pine was different! It would normally nurture pines that were rank two spiritual treasures at best. It was extremely unusual to obtain rank three pine needles!

“Could it already have reached the level of a rank five spiritual treasure?” Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask.

Even though rank four and rank five spiritual treasures were separated by a mere rank, the difference between them was like the heavens and earth.

Shang Xia might not care about a rank four Ten Thousand Needle Pine, but things would be different if it was at the fifth rank. Even Kou Chongxue wouldn’t be able to hide his desire for the treasure if that was the case.

If not for the fact that Kou Chongxue’s true body and the other clone had something important to do, the clone beside Shang Xia might have already called them back to deal with the situation in front of them.

With a solemn expression, Kou Chongxue’s Clone examined it a little more closely. The more he looked at it, the stranger his expression became. “No… It’s not a rank five spiritual treasure…”

Shang Xia was slightly taken aback. No matter how he scanned the treasure with his divine perception, he felt that it had surpassed the level of a rank four spiritual treasure.

“Could it be in the process of advancing?” Shang Xia gasped.

“That isn’t the case either. This is really strange. Half the tree seemed to have already reached the fifth rank while the other half is at the fourth…” Kou Chongxue’s Clone muttered.

Noticing the look of utter confusion on Shang Xia’s face, Kou Chongxue’s Clone pointed at the tree and explained, “Go examine the crown of the tree and you will understand. It seemed to have suffered from some sort of heavy damage. Half of it seemed to have withered but it still managed to maintain itself at the fourth rank. The other side is completely undamaged and it possesses the qualities of a rank five spiritual treasure. Moreover, it seems to have advanced recently…”

“Is that even possible?” Shang Xia exclaimed in shock.

Kou Chongxue’s Clone remained indifferent and he continued, “There are many strange things that can happen out there. This isn’t too weird.”

“What should we do next? This is a rank five spiritual treasure… Even though it’s only half…” Shang Xia wondered.

“Are you able to bring it out of the Celestial Remains?” Kou Chongxue’s Clone threw a bucket of cold water over him instantly.

Opening his arms to display a helpless gesture, Shang Xia sighed, “Aren’t you here? If you can’t bring it out, what other idea can I have?”

“Right then. Looks like we can only think of a way to hide it. We should place it in a location only we know about before laying down a complicated restriction around it that others will find hard to destroy. When we enter the Celestial Remains again, we’ll be able to harvest the treasure!” Kou Chongxue’s Clone declared.

He turned to look at the spiritual plant and muttered, “Let’s just pick all the treasures off it before thinking of a place to hide it. Also, we better hide our auras before the other half of the tree starts shooting pine needles at us.”

Shang Xia nodded and started to conceal his presence with his Man and Heaven Synergy Chapter. It didn’t take long for him to appear like a regular mortal who couldn’t cultivate.

Kou Chongxue’s Clone shot Shang Xia another deep look before concealing his own aura. Unlike Shang Xia, his aura was hidden in a formless water screen around his body.

When they stepped through the hole Shang Xia made to arrive under the crown of the tree, Kou Chongxue’s Clone greedily sucked in a breath of air. “What a strong aura of life. It’s a pity it’s far from being able to condense a strand of fate dipper essence. Otherwise, it’s possible to condense another Eternal Spring Fate Dipper here…”

Shang Xia was disappointed by his evaluation. He was missing 2 fate dipper essences, and one of them was of the Yi Wood Element.

The Eternal Spring Fate Dipper was something Kou Chongxue refined back then, and Shang Xia was pretty sure it was of the Wood Element. The only thing he didn’t know was if it was of the Jia Wood or Yi Wood Element.

After closing in on the trunk of the tree, Shang Xia reached out and touched it. The Crimson Soul Tablet quickly gave an evaluation. “Damaged rank five Wood Element spiritual treasure.”

The only rank five spiritual treasure Shang Xia was missing was of the Water Element and he raised his head and looked at the ripe fruits and thought to himself, Looks like I can only harvest some pinecones and pine needles…

Who would have thought that Kou Chongxue’s Clone would exhale a deep breath to cause a massive cluster of mist to fill the space within the restriction?

Shang Xia looked at the increasingly blurry tree before turning around. “Do you plan to hide the Ten Thousand Needle Pine in a sea of mist? Shouldn’t we destroy the restriction around it before anything?”

The clone didn’t respond and chuckled mischievously. He took a deep breath and gathered the mist that was released earlier.

This time, Shang Xia noticed a strange tint coloring the mist when he retrieved it.

“Is that… Extermination mist?! It’s not just a single type either.” Shang Xia gasped.

Kou Chongxue’s Clone nodded with satisfaction before replying, “Don’t you have a Spirit Extermination Gourd on you? Hurry up and store them.”

Shang Xia brought it out hastily and kept the mist Kou Chongxue’s clone sucked up.

Next, Shang Xia went around to pick the tree clean. A huge portion of the pine nuts he gathered were rank four spiritual treasures. There was also a third of it that had already turned into rank five spiritual treasures along with the advancement of the tree. Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue’s Clone instantly felt as though their trip hadn’t been made in vain.

There was no need to mention brewing wine with those rank five pine nuts. Even if they were eaten directly, they could bring about wondrous effects to Martial Dipper Realm experts.

It was only a pity that there were too few of them.

Rank three pine needles were left on the tree, but Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue couldn’t be bothered retrieving them. It wasn’t because those treasures were lacking. Instead, they wanted to preserve those pine needles so that they could surprise anyone in case the tree was found.

Done with their harvest, Shang Xia planned to destroy the restriction around the tree. However, he was interrupted by Kou Chongxue’s Clone.

“Pluck a branch of the tree before that.”

Shang Xia was stunned. Even though the Ten Thousand Needle Pine managed to enter the fifth rank in such a strange way, those branches were merely rank four treasures.

It wasn’t as though everything on the tree would transform into rank five spiritual treasures the moment the tree advanced. However, Shang Xia nodded after a short moment of contemplation. Without using his extermination origins, he climbed up the tree and picked out a branch that had the thickness of an egg.

Seeing the branch in Shang Xia’s hand, Kou Chongxue’s Clown chuckled, “You should give this to the Weapons Hall and get them to craft a good spear. It’s definitely going to be a high-grade treasure once it’s done.”

Finally, Shang Xia worked with Kou Chongxue’s Clone to get rid of the restriction around the Ten Thousand Needle Pine completely. They then laid down a complicated restriction of their own before finding a secret spot that was both out of the way and surrounded by danger before hiding the tree. Not satisfied, they laid down many traps before finally, Kou Chongxue’s Clone covered the entire region in dense fog.

Unless one knew where it was, or had heaven defying luck, it would be almost impossible for anyone to locate the Ten Thousand Needle Pine.

Only then were they satisfied enough to take their leave.

As they went away, Kou Chongxue’s Clone noticed Shang Xia to be deep in contemplation and thought that he wasn’t satisfied with their hiding spot. He couldn’t help but laugh, “There’s no need to worry. When the Celestial Remains opens again, all of us will enter together. We can rush over to look for the Ten Thousand Needle Pine together and no one will be able to fight us for it. Moreover… Brat, where the hell did you learn how to lay down restrictions like that? You managed to conceal the aura completely and linked the life force of the tree with our restrictions. If anyone tries to forcefully destroy the restriction, they will kill the tree along with it… Your method is sinister alright!”

Shang Xia shook his head in response. “Disciple isn’t worried about the tree. Instead, I’m thinking that I will be able to nurture it the moment I enter the Martial Dipper Realm. It might be able to fully transform and become a true rank five spiritual treasure.”

Kou Chongxue’s Clone froze.

When Shang Xia turned to look at his clone, he was greeted with a pair of shining eyes. “Are you sure you can do it?”

Shang Xia wasn’t too sure, but he replied nonetheless. “I should be able to.. I am 80 percent certain I can do it. After all, the vitality from the other half of the Ten Thousand Needle Pine seems to be suppressed by some sort of dipper qi. As long as I manage to get rid of it, the tree will recover.”

“You better not tell anyone this for the time being…” Kou Chongxue’s Clone muttered.

Shang Xia wanted to press further and look for the reason, but Kou Chongxue’s Clone simply waved his hands to dismiss him. “Wait till you meet my main body again. He’ll explain. Whatever it is, this matter is of extreme importance.”