I Can Devour Spirits

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Wild Boar Mountain

The old man was chopping wood in the yard. Hearing the voice, he looked up, his gaze swept over Duan Rong’s cow tail saber at his waist and the chestnut horse behind him, and he said, ”Guest, please come in!”

The old man said this and got up to open the fence gate.

Duan Rong walked in, leading the horse into the yard as well.

The old man went to the kitchen, scooped out a large ladle of clear water, Duan Rong thanked him, took the ladle, and drank it all down in one breath with a gurgling sound, then looked up and smiled, ”Old man, one more ladle.”

The old man, seeing Duan Rong’s friendly smile, let down his guard immediately, turned around, and fetched another ladle of water for Duan Rong.

By the doorway of the main house, a small boy with dark skin was hiding, showing only half of his face, watching Duan Rong drink like a cow, giggling foolishly.

Duan Rong finished the second ladle of water, then finally felt satisfied.

The old man noticed Duan Rong’s dusty face, and the horse behind him seemed fatigued, so he began to chat, ”Guest, where are you headed?”

Duan Rong looked up and glanced at Wild Boar Mountain not far east of the village, like a giant beast lying there, and said, ”Preparing to head into the mountain!”

”Alone?”

Duan Rong smiled. ”Alone.”

”How can you enter Wild Boar Mountain by yourself? There are often tigers and black bears there. Even hunting parties with fewer than twenty people wouldn’t dare to go deep into the mountains. Young man, let me advise you, don’t take unnecessary risks!”

Duan Rong smiled and said, ”Old man, thank you for the warning! It’s not a problem!”

The old man looked at Duan Rong and could only shake his head.

”Old man, please take care of this horse for a few days! And feed it some fresh grass! I’ll come to fetch it in a few days!”

As Duan Rong spoke, he pulled out a piece of broken silver weighing about four or five ounces and placed it into the old man’s hand!

The old man was stunned when he saw the size of the broken silver and said, ”Why so much?”

”No worries, old man, save it for the kid, buy him some clothes!”

Duan Rong noticed the child hiding by the door, naked, with black shiny skin, so thin that every rib was visible.

The old man had kindly warned Duan Rong about the dangerous beasts in the mountain earlier!

This piece of broken silver was just a mere trifle for Duan Rong at this moment.

”This...” the old man still wanted to decline. In a year of farming, his harvest would only convert to a few ounces of silver.

But Duan Rong had already placed the chestnut horse’s reins into the old man’s hands and turned to leave...

The old man watched Duan Rong’s departing figure, muttering to himself, ”To dare venture into Wild Boar Mountain alone, he must be quite capable!”

The old man then led the horse into the cattle shed and tethered it next to an old ox...

The old man called to the dark-skinned child hiding behind the door, ”Hei Yazi, go out later to cut some grass, give that horse some too! Pick some fresh grass, the guest paid for it!”

Among the deep forest of Wild Boar Mountain, naturally, many fierce beasts roamed.

However, Duan Rong entering the mountain alone was not an act of recklessness!

A martial artist at the Inner Breath Realm First Level no longer feared beasts, not to mention Duan Rong had the Cloud Serpent Step!

Wild Boar Mountain, with its treacherous terrain, rugged boulders, old pines, and cypresses, was seen everywhere!

Duan Rong used the Cloud Serpent Step, leaping across the mountains like an old ape!

In less than half an hour, he had traversed a mountain peak. Duan Rong stood by a low pine tree on the mountain peak, and as the mountain wind blew, he suddenly felt a chill on his back!

Using the Cloud Serpent Step consecutively took quite the toll, and he was already sweating all over.

Below the mountain peak was a surrounding valley!

A stream trickled by, and ancient woods formed a forest!

Duan Rong smiled; this was exactly the kind of place he was looking for!

After just catching his breath, Duan Rong leaped down into the ancient forest!

In front of Duan Rong stood an ancient pine tree as thick as a pair of arms stretched wide, towering into the clouds.

Duan Rong pressed his palm against the trunk of the ancient pine tree. At this moment, a shiny squirrel leapt out from the high branches, its small, dark eyes curiously watching Duan Rong, the unexpected visitor from the mountains!

Duan Rong glanced at the squirrel’s cute and docile appearance and smiled slightly, then focused, murmuring to himself, ”Read Artifact Spirit!”

Artifact: Old Pine Wood (Tree age: One hundred twenty-one years)

Artifact Spirit Tier: Tier Two.

Devouring Requirements: Host’s Spiritual Power Level 2 (Not Met).

Devouring Effect: Possesses initial intelligence (Can slightly increase host’s spiritual power).

As Duan Rong looked at this set of data, his eyes flashed.

This was crucial data; the tree spirit was at Tier Two, the tree age was one hundred twenty-one years, while a ninety-two-year-old tree spirit was not even tiered yet.

Though it was Tier Two, he still could not devour it. However, based on the comparison of these two sets of data, a tree spirit at Tier One must exist between ninety-two and one hundred twenty-one years!

And a Tier One tree spirit, he could devour!

Duan Rong suddenly felt energized and leaped through the forest, constantly reading artifact spirits on one ancient tree after another.

”Ninety-five years! Not tiered!”

”Ninety-eight years! Not tiered!”

”One hundred twenty-three years! Tier Two!”

...

”One hundred twenty-nine years! Tier Two!”

Duan Rong searched for ancient trees roughly the same thickness as the one hundred twenty-one-year-old tree to read artifact spirits.

In the mountains, ancient trees grow slowly; if there’s a noticeable difference in thickness, the age gap would be even greater!

Duan Rong suddenly stopped by a rock!

His eyes sparkled as he looked at the old camphor tree before him!

The old camphor emitted a faint fragrance, and its mottled bark resembled the serene face of a wise woman weathered by time.

Artifact: Old Camphor Wood (Tree age: One hundred three years)

Artifact Spirit Tier: Tier One.

Devouring Requirements: Host’s Spiritual Power Level 1 (Met).

Devouring Effect: Awakening (Can slightly increase host’s spiritual power).

After much effort, he finally found a Tier One artifact spirit, and it did indeed have a devouring effect that slightly increased spiritual power, albeit weakly.

Duan Rong couldn’t suppress his excitement!

Duan Rong compared the data of the one hundred three-year-old old camphor wood with the one hundred twenty-one-year-old old pine wood.

Duan Rong made a preliminary judgment: tree spirits should awaken at around one hundred years, becoming a Tier One artifact spirit. And after another twenty years, around one hundred twenty years, they gain initial intelligence, becoming a Tier Two artifact spirit!

Whether it’s a Tier One or Tier Two artifact spirit, their increase in spiritual power is slight!

When compared to three-hundred-year-old ancient ginkgo wood’s experience through the ages and one thousand two hundred-year-old ancient mulberry wood’s vicissitudes, Tier One and Tier Two tree spirits are still very weak, akin to a nascent stage.

His spiritual power could finally grow; even slight growth is still growth!

Duan Rong’s gaze was bright, and he declared, ”Devour Artifact Spirit!”

What harm is slight growth! At worst, he would stay in this mountain, becoming a mountain dweller, devouring every day!

After devouring the artifact spirit of this old camphor tree in front of him, Duan Rong was slightly surprised that this was also a Tier One artifact spirit, but the previous discomfort in his brain after devouring the artifact spirit did not occur!

Duan Rong didn’t consider this a good sign!

Where there’s a deviation, there’s usually something peculiar!

Unprovoked changes typically indicate that something has happened!

Duan Rong deliberately drank some water by the stream while observing his reaction after devouring the tree spirit!

The result was that there was no change, in a way, it was seriously normal, as if he hadn’t devoured anything!

”But... there doesn’t seem to be any adverse reaction either?”

Since that’s the case, then try devouring more!

Suddenly, Duan Rong moved like a phantom, leaping among the trees in the forest!