Chapter 50: The King’s Nest Treasure Hunt, Meteor Arrow Broken
Author: Gu Zhenren
The king’s nest of the Black Wood Crow flock was built on a giant tree about thirty feet tall. The entire nest was tightly constructed, with branches layered upon one another. The giant tree served as the central pillar of the nest, with black branches forming its structure, extending from the crown to the roots. At first glance, it resembled a hollow, black skyscraper.
Chu Yun and the other two entered from the bottom, breaking through the branches that blocked their path. They carved a small trail through the dense and thick bird’s nest, then approached the central giant tree and began to climb.
Midway up the giant tree, they stopped, and to their surprise, they found that the extending bird’s nest was covered with layers of black Demonic Beast eggs. These Demonic Beast eggs were only the size of a fist and were pitch black. Their surfaces were not smoothly rounded but uneven and pockmarked, much like lumps of charcoal.
“These are all Black Wood Crow Demonic Beast eggs, there should be more than three hundred!” Yan Que said excitedly.
Even Jin Bihan was somewhat surprised, “To think there would be so many Demonic Beast eggs.”
“This indicates that the Vital Energy of life in this forest was very abundant before the Black Wood Crow flock arrived,” Chu Yun analyzed. He continued, “There are too many of these Demonic Beast eggs. We should notify the Academy to send personnel to collect them.”
Black Wood Crow flocks often caused disasters for the natural ecosystem. They were similar to locusts, voraciously consuming the Vital Energy of the forest. After absorbing it, they would lay a large number of Demonic Beast eggs, thereby expanding their population. Once a green forest was occupied by a Black Wood Crow flock, it would slowly transform into a black forest. The current mission of Chu Yun and the other two was to accept a task from the Academy to exterminate the Black Wood Crow flock and restore peace and tranquility to this island village.
However, seeing these Demonic Beast eggs, Chu Yun and the others were unable to collect them. Lower grade Immortal Pouches could typically only store one Demonic Beast. Middle grade Immortal Pouches could store Demonic Beasts of the same type. Chu Yun had three Immortal Pouches: one, the Small Cumulus Immortal Pouch, stored the Cyclic Vitality Tree; another, the Fiery Silk Immortal Pouch, stored the Sky Fox; and the third, commonly known as a saber pouch, was shaped like a scabbard and worn on his back to hold the Drunken Snow Saber. All three Immortal Pouches were lower grade.
Jin Bihan possessed a middle grade Immortal Pouch, but it was already filled with a batch of Demonic Butterflies. Yan Que also only had a lower grade Immortal Pouch, rendering him powerless when it came to the Black Wood Crow Demonic Beast eggs before them.
“When, Yan Que, will you raise a Prime Minister Pig, or perhaps a Grass Wrapper? Hmm, a Pocket Flower would also be good. We need a storage-type Demonic Beast,” Chu Yun said to Yan Que.
“Young Master may not know, but your subordinate is already cultivating a Grass Wrapper. However, it is currently only at the young demon level and has not yet comprehended the innate Cultivation Method, ‘Enveloping Heaven and Earth’,” Yan Que replied.
“Then cultivate it well,” Chu Yun nodded, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. Since Yan Que had truly submitted, his attitude had been exceptionally serious. When Chu Yun overlooked something, Yan Que would diligently fill in the gaps. He never sought credit and was sincere and diligent.
The three continued to climb upwards, reaching the upper section of the giant tree. This was where the Black Wood Crow King resided. Yan Que’s eyes flashed with anticipation, and Jin Bihan’s breathing also quickened slightly. Black Wood Crows were Demonic Beasts of both wood and dark attributes. Therefore, they often collected treasures of the wood and dark elements and placed them in their nests. They used the rich vital energy emitted by these treasures to enhance their living environment. This situation was common among wild Demonic Beasts.
“Brother Shi, you are the lightest among the three of us, so it will have to be you who takes action,” Chu Yun said to Jin Bihan. Jin Bihan nodded, having been eager to try for a while. To be honest, the Dunhuang Princess had fallen in love with this feeling of treasure hunting. She carefully stepped off the main trunk of the giant tree and onto the bird’s nest.
*Creak…*
The bird’s nest immediately made a heart-pounding sound. If this king’s nest were to collapse, while it might not cause any severe injuries, searching for treasures within countless branches would become troublesome. Jin Bihan cautiously walked a distance and then, her eyes suddenly flashed, spotting treasures hidden within the branches. She slowly approached, ensured there was no danger, and began to collect them.
“Young Master, what do you think we will gain this time?” Yan Que asked, gazing forward intently.
Chu Yun smiled faintly. Having experienced such things before, minor gains like these no longer stirred his heart. He replied nonchalantly, “A flock of Black Wood Crows, what good collection could they possibly have? Compared to those treasures, I value these Black Feather Woods used to construct the nest more. They are excellent materials for building warships.”
Yan Que nodded in agreement. “Especially the Black Feather Wood on the upper level, it gleams with a dark light and is of higher value. However, what Shu Island lacks now is not shipbuilding materials, but a master of Weapon Forging skilled in shipbuilding. This time, the Island Lord personally invited Master Bafang, but was refused. This has happened several times, almost certainly indicating someone is obstructing behind the scenes.”
With the sea salt trade, Shu Island had truly achieved prosperity. Shu Tianhao, now with capital, wanted to build formidable warships. While materials and shipwrights were not lacking, a genuine shipbuilding master was. However, on several recent occasions, Shu Tianhao had personally invited several masters, only to be refused. This situation was unreasonable; it was clear that someone did not want to see the Shu Island navy grow.
“We’ll talk about this later. After the sea salt crisis, Shu Island became the sole beneficiary, which is enough to make other forces resentful,” Chu Yun frowned and sighed. Although he had defended Shu Island, saved Shu Tianhao, and even driven out the Ning Family’s commercial forces, allowing them to become self-reliant, there were still many difficulties and obstacles hindering Shu Island’s development.
“Look what I found!” While they were contemplating, Jin Bihan returned, her voice joyful. A faint excitement lit up her fair, jade-like face. Chu Yun glanced over. The so-called treasures did not exceed his expectations; their overall value was not significant. However, seeing Jin Bihan so excited, he did not want to dampen her spirits and immediately said with a smile, “A fruitful haul. Hmm, what is this?” His gaze paused, and Chu Yun reached out, pulling a broken arrow from among the plants and stones.
The arrowhead was missing, and half of the arrow shaft was broken, leaving only the half with the fletching. The arrow shaft was severely worn, exuding an aura of age. The faint markings on the fletching further confirmed Chu Yun’s current thoughts.
“It’s just an arrow made of meteorite, what’s the problem?” Jin Bihan asked, puzzled.
Yan Que, however, noticed something amiss. “The design of this arrow seems to be a Meteor Arrow from its heyday.”
“You mean the famed Meteor Archery?” Jin Bihan’s expression changed slightly.
“Precisely. This is a Meteor Arrow specifically made to complement Meteor Archery. Each Meteor Arrow is a Lesser Demon-level Demon Soldier. However, this broken arrow is dead. Its Spirit has completely vanished…” Chu Yun said, fiddling with the broken Meteor Arrow in his hand.
“What a pity. If it were a complete Meteor Arrow, we could analyze its manufacturing method,” Jin Bihan’s eyes dimmed.
“Even so, it is the most valuable item from this trip. Many nobles in the Mongol Yuan Nation like to collect Meteor Arrows. Although this Meteor Arrow is a remnant, it is a genuine antique. Its value of 50,000 Disha Stone Coins should be no problem,” Chu Yun said with a smile.
“50,000 Disha Stone Coins?”
“So much?!” Yan Que and Jin Bihan stared at each other in disbelief. It was normal for them not to understand the antique market. In fact, many people in Xingzhou enjoyed collecting antique Demon Soldiers. In Chu Yun’s past life memories, a wanderer accidentally obtained such a Meteor Arrow, also broken, and even more damaged than the one Chu Yun held. However, after selling it to a prominent figure in the Jianghan Kingdom, he received 55,000 Disha Stone Coins. This news once made Chu Yun so envious that his eyes turned red, motivating him to pay attention to the antique Demon Soldier market.
Chu Yun pocketed the broken arrow, then took it upon himself to divide the treasures equally. After that, the three searched thoroughly one last time, confirmed no treasures were left behind, and then flew out on the White Jade Albatross to notify the Academy to send someone for pickup.
It was already late morning the next day when they returned to the Academy. “As expected of Lord Zhihu, completing a high-difficulty mission like exterminating the Black Wood Crow flock in just a day and a half.” “Who do you think you’re talking to? But a day and a half is still too terrifying. I heard that flock of Black Wood Crows was even more powerful than described in the mission.” “Didn’t you see? Lord Zhihu brought back over three hundred Black Wood Crow Demonic Beast eggs from this trip. In addition, there was a large quantity of Black Feather Wood.”
In the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, everyone watched with awe and admiration as Chu Yun and the other two submitted their mission results and received their reward academic credits.
“How many academic credits have you saved up?” Chu Yun asked Jin Bihan as they left the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall. He knew she had a goal: a Supreme grade Monster Taming Cultivation Method that required a hefty 1,000 academic credits to redeem.
“Still 646 points short,” Jin Bihan exhaled, replying. Saving academic credits was not as easy as imagined; the mess hall, courses, pills, and other necessities all consumed academic credits for redemption. In comparison, Chu Yun was in a worse situation. His academic credits couldn’t be saved, consistently fluctuating around 50. Although he received a 13 academic credit reward for this mission, he had already set his sights on a scroll in the Scripture Repository, which would require him to pay an additional 5 academic credits.
“Actually, you could challenge me. If you defeat me, you’ll receive a generous academic credit reward,” Chu Yun suggested. Jin Bihan shook her head, refusing, “I originally had that plan, but now that Brother Chu’s prestige is so high and he’s at the peak of his power, losing to me would be a significant blow to your reputation. This is something you’ve worked hard to build up; I wouldn’t do such a malicious thing.”
“Reputation isn’t everything. I hope you’ll change your mind someday,” Chu Yun sighed. Seeing Jin Bihan’s serious expression, he didn’t press further. In fact, he had made this suggestion many times before, and Jin Bihan had always refused. Fortunately, there were still group missions, which offered substantial academic credit rewards. Chu Yun, Jin Bihan, and Yan Que, as a team, were highly efficient and achieved great synergy, resulting in significant gains.
After the alchemy class in the afternoon, the white-browed Alchemist detained Chu Yun. “I have a secret mission here. If you can complete it, the reward is 150 academic credits. Interested?”
