Chapter 8: Collection (Part 2)

The mutated Soul Vine Wood had intelligence roughly equivalent to that of a child. It had realized that the being communicating with it was powerful enough to destroy it, so after a brief hesitation, it obediently surrendered: “You… you won’t kill me? I… I’ll surrender…”
Li Ran nodded and said, “Don’t worry. I won’t kill you, as long as you obey.”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but mutter, “Big gray wolf… strange uncle…”
Li Ran turned to glance at Guo Shier with a faint smile. Guo Shier pretended not to know anything, rubbed his nose, and asked, “Brother Li Ran, how do we collect them?” He was just talking nonsense.
The body of the mutated Soul Vine Wood kept writhing, and its main roots gradually emerged from the ground. Guo Shier noticed that the main roots were covered with black fruits the size of fists. Out of curiosity, he picked one, and a faint fragrance filled his nose. Being a food lover and now at the Altar level, his body’s resistance was far different from that in his past life—he could tolerate poison, so he bit into it right away.
A sweet aroma filled his mouth as a honey-like pulp flowed in. Guo Shier threw away the fruit skin and silently ordered the tentacles of Gu Xi Bi to pick as many fruits as possible.
Li Ran asked curiously, “Shier, what are you doing?”
Guo Shier grinned and said, “These are fruits. Hehe, I like them…” As he spoke, he used the tentacles of Gu Xi Bi to pick all the exposed fruits.
The mutated Soul Vine Wood showed no reaction. These fruits had been there for who knew how long, and they weren’t important to it—they would grow back after some time.
The others didn’t compete with Guo Shier either. There was no shortage of fruits in the world, with each continent having its own specialty fruits.
As the main roots gradually emerged from the ground, they resembled a giant snake. Then, countless branch roots also appeared, slowly covering the ground. Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “Damn, it’s so big…” In no time, he had picked up all the fruits.
Guo Shier knew he couldn’t get the main roots of the Soul Vine Wood, but that didn’t stop him from reaping some benefits. Yang Miluo and Fan Zhen weren’t as quick-witted as Guo Shier, so they missed many opportunities. Only when they saw Guo Shier take away a few strange red fruits did they realize what was happening. But they were too embarrassed to ask for them, and by the time they tried to collect more fruits, they were already gone.
Yang Miluo kept shaking his head, realizing he was too slow. He laughed and said, “Shier is still faster, hehe.”

With a wave of his hand, Li Ran brought the mutated Soul Vine Wood into his sealed secret realm, then drew out the Soul Spring from the ground. The Soul Vine Wood could not survive or grow without the Soul Spring.
The ground immediately became open, with all the trees here turning to fragments. Li Ran smiled and said, “Those red fruits are the true essence of the Soul Vine Wood. They can be planted. Were there six or seven? I won’t take any. Give one each to Yang Miluo and Fan Zhen. They can be planted in a Planting Talisman. However, without the nourishment of the Soul Spring, it will be difficult for them to grow to maturity…”
Guo Shier smiled and handed one red fruit each to Yang Miluo and Fan Zhen, saying, “There are eight in total. Hehe, I happen to have a Soul Spring. After I seal a small secret realm, I can transplant them in.”
…
The professionals trapped by the vines of the Soul Vine Wood suddenly noticed the vines retracting back into the ground. Watching the Soul Vine Wood disappear rapidly, they were all stunned.
After a while, the leader among them asked, “What’s going on?” Then he realized and said, “Could it be… those people over there won?”
Soon, everyone understood and began to cheer loudly.
One professional said, “Ancestor, should we go over… to thank them?”
The leader, a professional at the sixth-tier altar level, thought for a moment before saying, “Good. Let’s go thank them and also ask around. This place is very strange.”
Since they had heard noises in the distance from the start, they knew which direction to go. They took turns clearing the path. Without the obstruction of the Soul Vine Wood, they progressed smoothly through the dense forest and quickly cleared a path. After about twenty minutes, their vision cleared, and they had entered the area where Guo Shier and the others were.
The ground was covered with many holes, with broken trees everywhere. There were also four professionals hovering above the ground, one of them carrying an altar shaped like a pagoda. The group of professionals was instantly terrified—what kind of strength was this?
The four people here were all at least at the sixth-tier altar level, with the highest being a master far beyond the ninth-tier altar level. No wonder they could defeat the Soul Vine Wood.
The leader immediately stepped forward and said, “From the Gujiang Family, Jiang Daling. We greet our elders and thank them for their help.”
Li Ran was momentarily puzzled and asked, “Help?” Then he understood and smiled, “You were trapped by the Soul Vine Wood?”
Jiang Daling replied respectfully, “Yes. We were all trapped by the vines and almost couldn’t get out.”

Guo Shier laughed and said, “Good luck. If not for us taking this Soul Vine Wood, you wouldn’t have been able to get out. Hehe, strange—how dare you enter the Great Abyss Pool? This is a place where mutated talisman beasts gather.”
Jiang Daling asked in confusion, “The Great Abyss Pool? I didn’t know about it.”
Li Ran and the others were shocked, their eyes wide open. This guy didn’t even know about the Great Abyss Pool—no wonder he dared to come this far. Guo Shier said with a smile, “It’s better for you to retreat. If you keep going in, the mutated talisman beasts will become stronger and stronger. If you encounter a particularly fierce one, you’ll be in trouble.”
Jiang Daling smiled bitterly and said, “We didn’t know… No wonder it’s getting harder to move forward.”
Li Ran said, “This place should be relatively safe.”
Jiang Daling replied, “We’ll retreat… But we don’t know which direction to go. Could the senior give us some guidance?”
The professionals from the Ancient General Family were already exhausted. They fell to the ground one after another, and someone immediately set up a Hidden Talisman Hut and laid out thick animal skins for Li Ran and the others to sit on. They found that Li Ran and his group weren’t arrogant and were easy to talk to, so they relaxed. Not all experts are easy to deal with.
If Li Ran had told them to leave, they wouldn’t have dared to object. Their professional levels were far too low compared to his.
Soon, someone from the Ancient General Family prepared various dishes and brought them over. Guo Shier laughed and said, “Hehe, I finally don’t have to cook. I’ll get to eat something ready-made too.”
They sat cross-legged on the animal skins with large plates in front of them. Professionals usually ate casually—as long as they were full. There were various kinds of marinated meats, roasted meats, breads, and rice—a truly sumptuous meal.
Li Ran and the others hadn’t eaten for some time. At their level, going without food for over ten days was normal, but once they started eating, their appetites were enormous. For example, Guo Shier could eat hundreds of pounds of meat at once, along with dozens of pounds of bread, without any problem.
Everyone ate until their mouths were greasy. Guo Shier found the meat they cooked delicious and asked curiously, “What kind of meat is this?” Since there were countless wild beasts and mutated talisman beasts in this world, what professionals ate was very varied. The meat of mutated talisman beasts contained a large amount of life energy, but not everyone could cook it properly. Cooking it deliciously was an even greater challenge.
Jiang Daling called out, “Erzi, come here.”

A two-layer altar professional hurried over. Here, he was the weakest professional, only responsible for logistics. Although on the continent where his family lived, he was a ruler of that continent. He asked, “Ancestor, what’s the matter? Hehe.”

Jiang Er said, “Jiang Er is our logistics officer. He’s in charge of all the food. Hehe, our senior is asking you—what kind of meat is this?”

Jiang Er had a fat face and big ears, looking wealthy. He smiled with his eyes narrowed and said, “This is a specialty from our place—color pigs. Hehe, they’re not mutated magical beasts, but their meat is really delicious.”

Guo Shier was stunned and said, “Color pigs? How so? Do they get excited when they see sows…?”

Jiang Er replied awkwardly, “It’s not that kind of excitement. I mean… the pigs have variegated colors on their bodies. The best ones have seven colors, and their meat is the most delicious… On our continent, professional families raise many such variegated color pigs.”

Li Ran laughed heartily. Pointing at Guo Shier, he said, “Color pigs, haha! I can’t believe you thought of that. How so? Haha…”

Guo Shier was speechless for a while before saying, “That name is too ambiguous. By the way, do you have any living color pigs?” He had a collecting habit and had already gathered a large amount of unique items since coming to this world.

Jiang Er forced a smile and said, “No… Hehe, what I have are fresh or pickled color pig meat.”

Guo Shier said, “This meat tastes great. Sell it to me.”

Li Ran laughed and said, “You’re really a food lover, hehe. Following you, I get to enjoy good food too.”

Jiang Er said, “Everyone who has color pig meat, hand it over.”

Soon, everyone took out two large storage talisman bags and handed them to Jiang Er. After checking them briefly, he handed them to Guo Shier and said with a smile, “I’m sorry, but it’s a pity it’s not from our family. Otherwise, we could give you as much as you want.”

Guo Shier took the storage talisman bags and checked them. Inside were dozens of tons of various raw and pickled meats. Satisfied, he took out a section of soul vine wood about an arm thick and a hundred meters long, with dozens of vine leaves on it, and said, “I’ll give you this piece of soul vine wood as a trade.”

Jiang Er was stunned. Such a trade was a huge bargain. He said, “Use this as a trade? Uh, okay…” He was stunned for a moment before realizing it was like finding gold coins from the sky—how could he refuse?

Li Ran watched with a smile. Although he didn’t stop Guo Shier, his expression clearly showed disapproval. He said, “Shier, you’re so generous. Give me some…”
Guo Shier replied with a laugh, “No way! I’m still full of envy and resentment up to now…”
Li Ran burst into laughter and said, “When you have your own sealed secret realm, I’ll have the Soul Vine Tree split off a high-quality branch for you to plant. By the way, you must have a Soul Spring, right?”
Guo Shier nodded. “I do. True Sister helped me collect it.”
He stared eagerly as Jiang Daling collected the Soul Vine Tree. Jiang Daling noticed him and joked, “Erzi, stop looking. You’ll get your share! I can’t cut it off now. We’ll talk about it when we get back. Everyone will get a share.” Immediately, everyone began to express their gratitude.
Suddenly, Li Ran raised his head and said, “Hehe, it’s really lively here today. Someone else has come…”
Fan Zhen also stood up and said, “There are quite a few people—at least twenty or more.”
Because of the collected mutated Soul Vine Trees, the previously blocked passages all became visible. As long as a professional passed by, they could immediately notice them and tell that they had been created by someone.