Chapter 94: Harvest

Li Zhen once again suppressed the urge to use his spatial divine ability, repeating to himself, Wait just a little longer.

He had only one chance to use this ability. If discovered, he wouldn’t get a second opportunity.

Standing up, he began to explore the cave.

He found himself in a space that had been artificially created. As he carefully felt his way around, he discovered that the Scarlet Thunder Dragon seemed not to care about his movements within the cave.

There were restrictions only at the cave’s entrance; the rest of the space was unobstructed.

Following the entrance passage inward, he noted it was built according to the Scarlet Thunder Dragon’s size—twenty meters high.

After walking over two hundred meters, Li Zhen arrived at a enormous chamber carved out from the mountain’s core.

Few had ever seen the lair of a third-rank great demon and lived to tell the tale.

The lair, though undivided, was partitioned into various distinct areas.

In the center stood a large bed, constructed from tree branches, reminiscent of a bird’s nest—this was where the Scarlet Thunder Dragon slept.

Li Zhen approached the massive bed, sensing that every branch was composed of second-rank spirit wood.

He couldn’t help but examine the Winged Wood, which he had refrained from allowing the Dragon Heart Space to engulf. Even though he knew that by doing so, his wood elemental spirit root talent could significantly improve, he still hadn’t consumed the Winged Wood.

Second-rank spiritual objects were incredibly rare, at least to someone like Li Zhen.

“This is utterly extravagant!” Li Zhen couldn’t help but touch the massive bed as he muttered to himself.

The real texture of the wood beneath his fingers confirmed the presence of second-rank spirit wood.

As he gazed at the enormous bed again, he was already calculating whether his Dragon Heart Space could accommodate such a large amount of second-rank spirit wood.

When did second-rank spirit objects become so plentiful that they could fill up more than ten cubic meters? This mind-boggling quantity left him in a state of extreme shock.

However, he still had several storage pouches on him, which could be used for holding items.

At that moment, he stopped thinking about the Scarlet Thunder Dragon and focused solely on the task at hand—storing away as much of the second-rank spirit wood as possible.

One piece of second-rank spirit wood vanished from the bed, reappearing in his Dragon Heart Space.

“Devour!” Without hesitation, he commanded the Dragon Heart Space to consume the second-rank spirit wood.

He didn’t even need to know its name; regardless of how precious it might be, with such an abundance before him, its individual value mattered little.

Within the Dragon Heart Space, the second-rank spirit wood transformed into ordinary wood. This was a unique property of wood-based spiritual objects: some would dissipate into nothingness when consumed by the Dragon Heart Space, while others would leave behind some residue.

The wood elemental spirit artifacts were somewhat less affected, as their internal spiritual essence had been extracted.

Li Zhen gazed at the mundane wood, his heart stirring as he replaced it in its original position on the large bed.

He activated his identity bracelet to access his information.

Not only had his Wood Spirit Root increased by three points, but his Lightning Spirit Root had also risen by three, catapulting it to become a mid-grade spiritual root.

“A dual-attribute spirit wood, both lightning and wood!” Li Zhen’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the second-rank spirit wood.

Lightning elemental spirit artifacts typically exhibited exclusivity; the lightning element was particularly dominant. He never expected to find a second-rank spirit wood containing lightning attributes.

What he didn’t know was that the lightning attribute within the second-rank spirit wood wasn’t inherent. Instead, it was gradually formed over time by the “Scarlet Thunder Dragon’s” body, which continuously nourished the wood with its thunderous energy.

It made sense that the area where the third-rank Great Demon Dragon frequently rested would be influenced by its presence.

Li Zhen’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. He proceeded to place another second-rank spirit wood into the Dragon Heart Space, allowing it to consume the wood’s spiritual essence before returning it to its original spot.

With each consumption, his Wood Spirit Root and Lightning Spirit Root rapidly progressed.

Although the enhancement from each subsequent spirit wood diminished, the sheer quantity ensured that both his Wood Spirit Root and Lightning Spirit Root quickly reached the 40-point threshold.

The second-rank spirit wood on the large bed before him was minimal compared to what he’d consumed.

Li Zhen gritted his teeth; these second-rank spirit woods were highly unusual, and given his status, using them could potentially attract the attention of exceedingly powerful beings.

Thus, he decided to rely as much as possible on the Dragon Heart Space to devour the second-rank spirit wood, precisely to understand how to break through the spiritual root bottleneck using similar rank spiritual objects.

One by one, the second-rank spirit woods were swallowed by the Dragon Heart Space, yet the 40-point bottleneck of the Wood and Lightning Spirit Roots remained unchanged, like an unyielding mountain.

It was only because these second-rank spirit woods were acquired by chance that he felt no pressure consuming them.

After devouring around a hundred second-rank spirit woods, he sensed a change between himself and the cosmos.

He could clearly perceive the flow of spiritual energy in the void, with the wood and lightning spiritual energies acting like mischievous children, showing a particular affinity towards him.

Li Zhen once again checked his identity to review his information.

:]

His wood and thunder spirit roots both showed 40.1, surpassing the 40 mark for high-grade spiritual roots.

Is this what it feels like to have high-grade elemental affinity? He spread his arms wide, embracing the wood and thunder spiritual energy around him.

No wonder individuals with high-grade elemental affinities were highly sought after. When cultivating with such affinities, the spiritual energy would cooperate effortlessly, leading to incredibly rapid progress!

However, he hadn’t fully experienced the changes brought by the high-grade elemental roots yet. Primarily, his current environment didn’t allow him the time to explore this further.

His gaze returned to the large bed before him. Most of the second-order spirit wood had been depleted, leaving only eleven pieces remaining.

He carefully stored these eleven intact pieces of second-order spirit wood into the Dragon Heart Space. Now, he could rest assured about the potential loss of these precious resources.

Moreover, by preserving the integrity of the large bed, removing just eleven pieces from it, its overall appearance remained largely unchanged.

Despite such a significant gain, Li Zhen observed no sign of the Scarlet Thunder Dragon. This confirmed that the dragon indeed wasn’t nearby.

If the Scarlet Thunder Dragon had been monitoring him, it would never have allowed him to dismantle its resting place so freely.

Feeling reassured, Li Zhen decided to continue exploring the area briefly before departing.

As Li Zhen ventured into another area, he found it completely empty.

Frowning in disbelief, he moved to another spot. From the traces on the ground, it was clear that these places had once held some spiritual artifacts.

Li Zhen shook his head helplessly. No wonder the “Scarlet Thunder Dragon” felt confident leaving him alone in its lair. It had taken away all its treasures.

The reason the large bed remained was likely because the dragon had assumed Li Zhen wouldn’t have the audacity to dismantle it.

“What is this?!” As Li Zhen entered the final chamber, he nearly fell to his knees.

An terrifying aura filled the space. If not for his peak first-layer body tempering strength, the crushing force would have pinned him to the ground.

Before him, emanating this fearsome presence, was a skull of some unknown creature.

“A third-stage great monster’s skull!” Li Zhen deduced, comparing it to the Scarlet Thunder Dragon’s aura.

This skull wasn’t nearly as massive as the dragon’s head. Rather, it was of normal proportions.

Li Zhen’s eyes were fixed intently on the third-stage great monster’s skull. He knew all too well that such a third-stage spirit object—a head from a third-stage great monster—was exceedingly rare. Even after ascending to Foundation Establishment, let alone before, one would be hard-pressed to see such an item, much less possess it.

The Scarlet Thunder Dragon confidently left the third-rank great demon’s skull behind, knowing Li Zhen couldn’t get close to it.

This third-rank great demon’s skull was a prized trophy collected by the Scarlet Thunder Dragon, showcasing its glorious combat achievements. It had always been on display in the cave.

Li Zhen extended his perception, and in an instant, the third-rank great demon’s skull vanished. The overwhelming pressure in the area also disappeared at once.

Within Dragonheart Space, the skull of the third-rank great demon floated serenely.

Upon closer examination, the skull’s surface glistened like precious jade. Despite having no way to know how many years had passed since the death of this mighty creature, the skull still emitted the aura of an ordinary third-rank great demon.

“Devour!” Li Zhen commanded.

This time, Dragonheart Space’s devouring process was noticeably slower. A radiant glow emanated from the third-rank great demon’s skull, but little change was visible. Normally, the space’s devouring process was swift; this marked the first instance of consuming a third-rank spiritual object, and Li Zhen couldn’t predict how long it would take to complete the process.

Having thoroughly explored the entire cave and found nothing else of interest, it was time for him to leave.

Li Zhen activated his spatial divine ability, waiting until it was fully engaged before vanishing from the spot. Notably, the Scarlet Thunder Dragon did not reappear.