“You must have had quite some heaven materials and earth treasures to reach this size.”
Watching the clouded leopard falling onto the ground, getting back up and then gazing at him closely, Fang Qiu shook his head slightly, “It is unfortunate you only consumed these heaven materials and earth treasures to nourish your body but didn’t absorb the energy of heaven and earth from these heaven materials and earth treasures.”
As he spoke,
A word suddenly jumped to Fang Qiu’s mind.
Demon!
If this clouded leopard really absorbed all the energy from the heaven materials and earth treasures it had consumed, would it be able to maneuver its internal Qi to fight like a martial artist?
If it could, could it be considered a demon?
“Roar… Roar…”
The clouded leopard was enraged by Fang Qiu’s inattention.
The loud howl shook heaven and earth!
In fact.
It had long arrived, hiding in a distance because Fang Qiu’s breath really frightened it, keeping it from getting closer.
So it chose to wait.
Waiting for Fang Qiu’s leave to eat that just matured Red Spirit Date.
To its surprise,
Fang Qiu discovered the Red Spirit Date well hidden in the grass.
It had no choice but to come out.
As soon as it came out, it was played by Fang Qiu, which really enraged it.
“Not yielding?”
Asked Fang Qiu with his brows raised, looking at the furious clouded leopard.
The clouded leopard couldn’t understand a thing he had said. It growled again and then jumped at Fang Qiu abruptly.
This time the clouded leopard didn’t jump that high, afraid of being flipped over by Fang Qiu again. It targeted at Fang Qiu’s lower body and attempted to tear him to pieces.
“It would be awesome if I could keep it as a pet.”
Fang Qiu heaved a sigh.
He could only think about it.
After all, the clouded leopard was under the first class national protection. Let alone such a huge clouded leopard. He would be in the news across the country if he had it as a pet.
Thinking about it,
Fang Qiu rapidly stretched his hand out and pressed right before the clouded leopard reached his body.
Accurate and fast.
Fang Qiu’s palm landed on the clouded leopard’s head and pressed down with overwhelming force from his arm. In a flash, the clouded leopard’s sturdy body, despite its inertial force, was pushed down on the ground.
Its jaw again.
However, this time it was not pushed but smashed into the ground.
“Woo…”
With its head pressed by Fang Qiu, the clouded leopard growled and kicked with all four legs, trying to break free from Fang Qiu’s grip.
No matter how hard it struggled, Fang Qiu’s hand remained tight.
Helplessly.
The clouded leopard attempted to scratch Fang Qiu’s forearm with its front claw.
Fang Qiu released his arm for a split second to avoid the clouded leopard’s claw and then pressed on its head again accurately and quickly.
The clouded leopard continued swinging its claws.
Not yielding!
No matter what!
Fang Qiu simply let go.
“Shush.”
As soon as free from Fang Qiu’s hand, the clouded leopard jumped away far.
“Woo…”
Low roars with extreme anger came from its throat.
Standing three meters away,
With its eyes fixed on Fang Qiu, the clouded leopard dared not make another offense. The two confronted each other.
Fang Qiu didn’t seem to care about it at all.
He squatted down and reached his hand out towards the Red Spirit Date.
“Roar!”
The clouded leopard moved forward suddenly, appearing ready to kill and howling like crazy.
“Humph!”
Fang Qiu smiled at the clouded leopard and said, “I don’t have time to pet you.”
As he finished the sentence,
“Whir…”
A gust of forceful air flooded out of his body abruptly like a gale, spreading in all directions.
As this powerful Qi emerged,
Fang Qiu’s disposition changed at once.
From a refined and cultured gentleman to a sharp blade.
Sensing Fang Qiu’s breath,
The clouded leopard ran away without a second thought. It turned around after a few strides and howled again as its gaze met Fang Qiu’s.
Fang Qiu narrowed his eyes slightly.
A beam of light flashed by.
The clouded leopard jumped into the forest with fear and disappeared quickly.
Withdrawing his bearing, Fang Qiu smiled gently as he began to dig for the Red Spirit Date.
As described in the Scroll of Heaven Materials and Earth Treasure,
As he carefully removed some of the mud, Fang Qiu discovered a glittering red fruit in the shape of a date of the size of his thumb under the cardamom.
This fruit connected with the cardamom was very pretty.
“This would probably be mistaken as a jade ornament.”
Fang Qiu chuckled at the Red Spirit Date.
The goal of his long trip to Mount Tai had finally been achieved.
In possession of this Red Spirit Date, he had a chance to clear his debt of 270,000.
“First, let me feel this Red Spirit Date’s specialty.”
He rose.
Fang Qiu observed the Red Spirit Date under sunlight but didn’t find anything special. Then he placed it in his palm and began to feel it.
Once he started feeling it,
Absolute touch and the sense of his internal Qi appeared at the same time.
With the sense of his internal Qi, Fang Qiu could clearly see a small puff of the energy of heaven and earth, as if bundled, floating in this Red Spirit Date.
By using the absolute touch,
The Red Spirit Date’s situation emerged clearly in front of Fang Qiu’s eyes.
It was a puff of red light.
Like a candle but not as dazzling.
“It has the energy of heaven and earth indeed!”
After feeling it,
Fang Qiu nodded his satisfaction and then heaved a sigh of relief.
It was all for curing the old master’s illness.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t study medicine, wouldn’t meet Xu Miaolin, wouldn’t come to Mount Tai in search of heaven materials and earth treasures.
Now.
This Red Spirit Date couldn’t heal the old master’s disease but it could help Fang Qiu progress in his medical study. He could learn more to get ready for curing the old master in the future.
“Time is running out. I should get going.”
After spending a day and a night practicing in the cave, Fang Qiu had two days left. It would take him half a day to get out of the mountain and then he had to make the journey back to Jiangjing. Together it needed a whole day.
Fang Qiu dared not waste time.
He carefully packed the Red Spirit Date away and took his leave at once.
Fang Qiu quickly ran out of Mount Tai following the map on his mobile.
“Two more hills to go.”
Fang Qiu stopped after climbing over several mountains to take a good look at the map.
In front of him were two hills and a village.
That was Fang Qiu’s destination.
After all, he had sneaked into Mount Tai. He could leave via the tourist area but it wouldn’t be good if someone found out his illegal entry into Mount Tai.
Hence,
Fang Qiu had to reach that mountain village first and take a ride from there.
He rested for a short while before continuing with his journey.
Soon,
Fang Qiu arrived at the village marked on the map.
This village was small with merely twenty families but it appeared more bustling and lively than other mountain villages.
Close to Mount Tai, the village was frequented by outside visitors. There were organized trips into the mountains but only in the region nearby, not too deep.
Some visitors would pick a few rocks to bring home as their guardian stone.
Rocks from Mount Tai were the best for home protection.
It would be perfect if the characters “Mount Tai Stone Tablet” were carved on.
As far as Fang Qiu knew, rocks from Mount Tai had long been banned from mining. Most rocks from Mount Tai were not from Mount Tai at all.
“I don’t know if there is a station.”
Fang Qiu mumbled to himself and shook his head with a sneer.
Such a tiny village certainly had no station but there must be bus services or there wouldn’t be so many people here.
At the end of the village, Fang Qiu headed towards the head and looked around for buses.
Reaching the middle of the village,
A voice through a loudspeaker came to his ears.
“Collect mountain products. Collect mountain products. Fair price. Cheat neither old nor young…”
Hearing this call,
Fang Qiu stopped at once.
Following the voice,
A young man in linen pants and undershirt sitting at the back entrance of a van was yelling through a loudspeaker.
He had ganoderma and wild mountain ginseng.
It wouldn’t hurt to get some money out of it.
“Wild ganoderma and ginseng. Are you interested?”
Fang Qiu approached to inquire.
“Yes! Of course!”
The young man’s eyes brightened upon Fang Qiu’s words.
He quickly jumped down from the van and stepped towards Fang Qiu. “Brother, how lucky you must be to have chanced upon wild ganoderma and ginseng! No one has found them for many years.”
“I was quite lucky.”
Fang Qiu replied with a smile.
“Show me. If you really want to sell, I can guarantee you a fair price. I cheat neither old nor young.”
The young man laughed loudly.
Without hesitation, Fang Qiu took out the three wild ganoderma and two ginsengs from his backpack.
As soon as he took them out,
The young man’s eyes shone brightly.
Then he raised his brows, looking at Fang Qiu’s goods without reaching out his hand. He said, “Brother, these are indeed wild ganoderma and ginseng but their quality is not very good. And they are still pretty young.”
“Be straightforward with me. How much would you pay?”
Asked Fang Qiu directly.
“3,000 for these wild ganoderma and 2,000 for the ginsengs. What do you say?”
The young man looked at Fang Qiu and said fairly casually.
As if he didn’t think highly of these medicinal ingredients.
Fang Qiu chuckled and shook his head.
“Too low.
“I’m a medical student. I know pretty well the value of these medicinal ingredients. Your price is too low.”
Upon hearing that.
The young man said with a grin, “But these don’t look very good and are not aged enough.”
“Looks don’t matter when it comes to medicine. What really matters is their efficacy.”
Fang Qiu glanced at the young man and continued, “These plants are in perfect condition with no loss of their efficacy. They are not very old but certainly not young. You won’t get many of this given an entire year.”
“Brother, you are expert.”
The young man laughed with some embarrassment. “Fine. I’ll take all of them. 5,000 per plant. How does it sound?”
“10,000 per plant.”
Answered Fang Qiu, determined.
“10,000 per plant is too dear. I will lose money if I make this deal.”
The young man shook his head, giving a cold shoulder. After a long moment of pondering, he added, “8,000. That’s the highest I’ll pay. It’s up to you now.”
“Never mind then.”
Replied Fang Qiu. He turned around and put the plants back into his bag.
Once Fang Qiu walked away,
The young man immediately became anxious.
