The Ascension of Contracted Spirits

Chapter 164 - 125: Astonishing Mutated Mushroom_2

Before it could try to break the insect web, the sting suddenly turned numb, and strands of coolness radiated into its brain.

The Mud Blade Mantis stopped struggling, its body slightly stiff. It stared at Li Jingming nervously and curiously, remembering his scent and appearance for the moment.

"Here." Li Jingming took out another bottle of honeydew and placed it in front of the mantis’s mouthparts.

This was the favorite food of the Ghost-Faced Moth. It was delicious and nutritious, and he figured it would suit the Mud Blade Mantis’s taste as well.

"Mud..."

The Mud Blade Mantis refused to eat.

Its eyes were filled with caution; brief contact was not enough to alter its past mentality and become close with a strange creature outright.

"It seems like it would take a long time to build even the simplest relationship..."

Su Mei sighed, "Li, you are in for a struggle."

"Let’s try this again."

Li Jingming took away the honeydew. A drop of sticky orange liquid secreted from his fingertips and he directly offered it to the mantis’s mouthparts.

"Mud?!"

The mantis’s mandibles jittered in unison. Its compound eyes fixated on the droplet, refusing to look away.

Under the scrutiny of three pairs of human eyes, it hesitated and pondered, but eventually couldn’t resist the temptation; it opened its mouth and swallowed the liquid.

"Mud...Mud..."

The sharp cries of the Mud Blade Mantis became slightly softer.

Li Jingming’s eyes lit up; he murmured to himself, "It indeed works!"

"As long as I control the secretion of the Sweet Slime to the minimum dosage, it would not seriously stimulate the insects’ perception ability. Instead, it would become a short-term gustatory pleasure."

A faint smile curled at the corners of Ye Hanjun’s mouth.

It seemed that this ability had many potential uses.

If the Mud Blade Mantis could not resist its temptations at the first instance, then all Li Jingming had to do was feed it occasionally, subtly fostering some intimacy. Wasn’t that enough to meet the bare minimum?

He roughly estimated his plan to tame an external Fond Spirit was 80% successful.

Ye Hanjun stepped over the insect corpses to a tangled insect web.

"Whoosh--"

With a sweep of the Blood-Sucking Dagger, the insect web was cut.

Something small and gold flapped its wings trying to escape. Ye Hanjun casually reached out and securely caught it in his palm.

"Hiss hiss..."

A golden beetle, the size of an eyeball, lived up to its name: ’Golden Beetle’.

This was also a rare Fond Spirit. However, the rarity didn’t lie in its bloodline or abilities, but in its beetle shell.

The shell of this insect Fond Spirit had a high medicinal value. A trace of powder could enhance the effectiveness of ordinary medicinal ingredients by some percentages. If it was paired with rarer medicinal ingredients, the combined effect could be pleasantly surprising.

"Plop--"

Ye Hanjun found a small box and prepared some food, then put the Golden Beetle inside.

In order to fetch its highest price for sale later, the Golden Beetle had to remain alive. Once the color of its shell faded with death, it would be a piece of junk.

As living things could not be placed in the Dimensional Space Bag, Ye Hanjun could only attach it to his robe and carry it with him.

"Su Mei, come and clean the battlefield."

"The spoils of war this time are more fruitful, with many materials to collect. Don’t let them go to waste."

"Okay!" Su Mei replied, dragging her Pink Ostrich away from the Mud Blade Mantis.

From her reluctant looks, it seemed that stomping a few times on the large mantis’s head made her ostrich unhappy.

"There, there, what’s a few lost feathers? I’ve already applied medicine, they will grow back soon!"

"After this adventure, how about we dye your hair again? Look at you, you’ve lost your vibrant colors after a few baths. It’s time to reward yourself, let’s get a cooler hairstyle!"

Su Mei deployed her killer technique "Hair Perm/Dye/Nail Art".

To the Pink Ostrich, it probably counted as a "Unique and Unmatched Technique".

Upon hearing these phrases, the ostrich calmed down. Ignoring its pain in the rear and the side, it stood upright and valiant, like a soldier awaiting inspection, brimming with vigor.

"Tuotuo, this time you have had a huge gain."

Ye Hanjun cast a glance, and laughed involuntarily.

Li Jingming’s Mud Blade Mantis wouldn’t be of much use until its trust was formally earned and it became an external Fond Spirit.

However, the Pink Ostrich was different. After consuming a ’Fury Potion’, it grasped two abilities in just 15 minutes due to the stimulation of its injuries.

’Air Step’—although it only had 45 spirit patterns.

But it could bounce up and reach higher places that it couldn’t originally reach. It’s unexpectedly useful for both evasion and pursuit.

’Whirlwind Leg’— was even more impressive.

For the first time, Ye Hanjun saw this ability manifested in the Pink Ostrich.

It wasn’t a racial skill from its bloodline, but a general one.

When pinned down on the Pink Ostrich, its intensity was measured in 80 Chaos Spirit Patterns, putting it squarely on the borderline of a high-quality Clay Body technique.

Imagine—using Whirlwind Leg in place would sweep across a wide area.

If you precede it with Air Step, jumping into the air and then activating Whirlwind Leg— the combo was of high damage and wide coverage. Flying avian creatures or insects would find it hard to predict and evade in time.

"I’m also amazed. With Tuotuo’s massive body and pink fur..."